1st grow ever, 4x4 indoor T5 / 600W HPS/MH

Hello, I'm a new medical cannabis patient in New Mexico, and I recently received my PPL. I am licensed to have a maximum of 12 immature plants, and 4 mature plants.

I have received a 48"x48"x96" tent, 2x in-line 6" vents, ducting, a T5 2' 4 bulb, and a 600w HPS + MH, reflector hood w/ glass & w/ dimmable ballast. Oh, and an electrical timer.

I knew one day I wanted to grow, but wanted to do it legally. I did a crazy amount of research before even starting this, and I fear the research will never end now.

I had saved some random seeds I had found in buds throughout the last 2-3 years, didn't label them or anything.. I threw them in a pill-bottle-like container, kept in dry conditions, and left where no light could touch it. I germinated 16 of the seeds, 12 came out with root tails in 3 days! I didn't even think I could get them to germ out..

I get a little anal / OCD with things.. hopefully I'm not going overboard.. but here we go!

I am running a cool-mist humidifier in the tent to keep it at 50-65% as much as possible. The first week I had it at 70% to make sure it was well humid. I'm using two hygrometers and a thermometer placed near the plants. I do not have a CO2 emission system; I have the tent placed in an area where fresh air from the outdoors can reach the area, and I leave the tent flaps open a bit, with the reflective side showing as much as i can, after the lights turn on, so the plants can breathe fresh air.

I germinated the seeds on 11/17, by 11/20 I planted 12 of the seeds in solo cups, using the first knuckles length of the index, and using a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon to ease the seedlings into the solo cups, taproot pointing down, of course. I decided to use the newer Ocean Forest soiless starter mix, I wanted to mix my own cococoir, perlite, azomite, and mycorrhizae, but this stuff is exactly that without azomite, but with earthworm castings I believe, its really good stuff, and I will be using it a lot more in the future.

These are the plants 5 days after seeing the root pop out of the seeds.



Today is 12/1, the plants are technically 1 week and 4 days old, or since signs of roots whence germinating. I may have had my T5 placed a little too close for comfort to the little seedlings. I had a fear of them overstretching, I understand that when you have the light higher, they will stretch more, making it difficult to train or control them. I suffered the consequences of heat, having the light to low, I'm afraid, which has stunted the growth on some of the plants, but some of the plants don't even look effected by the same heat.. I'm thinking this could be strain, gender, or age related I think. I have no clue if these seeds were from hermi-ed plants, or if some were from pollination, you never really know until the light cycle switch. Anyhow, right now the lights are about 6" from the highest plant tops. The T5 2' 4 bulb (24w HO) is actually quite cool, I can touch the bulbs after being on for 17 hours and it doesn't burn my fingers, so with that being said, and it being winter, I have had the light placed quite close to the seedlings. The temp at about 6" from the light, with the tent flaps open, without my ceiling fan running, is about 77-80*F.

Here are some pictures of the plants today.



I'm not sure if I have any questions.. but I'll keep updating as the days and weeks go by. If I do have any questions, they will be in new posts or new threads.

I also have closer pictures of the individual plants in an album on my account here, public view.

Good afternoon Viral505.
It sounds like you have done some homework and are on the right track. You have the right equipment and are keeping your environment in check. You can let the plants get nice and close to the t5's as they grow. I think 6" is a good starting point for very young plants but when they get a few nodes you can let them get a couple inches away and they will be fine. When you start using the 600w you will want to keep 12"-18" of space between the light and the tops of the plants. Some of the smaller seedlings may out grow some of the larger ones so give them all a chance. Don't veg them too long or they may stretch too tall for your tent once you flip to 12/12.
Most importantly enjoy your journey. Growing should be fun, especially your first run. Don't love them to death. Let them get pretty dry between waterings.
Good luck and have fun...Fiddy.

12-9 update

12-9 update

I wanted to do an update every Thursday, I ended up making some green dragon tincture (Master Wu's method) with roaches I saved up and trimmed lol.. ended up getting pretty elevated while testing it

Anyway. Here are some pictures of what's goin' on, they were taken last night. Some of them started showing signs of deficiency I believe, at two weeks, so I thought it was a good time to start giving them some nutrients. I'm using CalMagPlus and FloraNova Grow during veg, when it goes to flowering I'll use CalMagPlus and FloraNova Bloom. I'm following the directions on the bottle, except for last night, since they are still so young, I wanted to just give them a half dose of what the bottles say to use during the seedling stages, just in case if the roots are not ready for nutrient acceptance.. I'll also water with RO water in-between nutrient feedings.



Oh, and I did pull "E" out. It looked so sickly and burned.. so I'm just forget about it. Plus I only have 10x fabric 1-gallon pots to transplant to. So I'll end up choosing another to sacrifice soon.. lol..

I'll give another update next week

12-16 update

12-16 update

After I woke up on Tuesday morning this week, I opened my tent to find that my humidifier had been running on medium overnight for about 8-10 hours when I was sleeping. I quickly opened up all of the flaps to the tent, turned my fan on low, moved it a little closer for the day, and rotated my plants about six hours in so it would help dry the plants off more evenly.. needless to say I'm not running the humidifier right now. I normally run the humidifier on high mist and it works just fine, I have it set to turn off at about 50-55% room humidity, but for some reason I thought I needed to turn it to medium mist. The amount of mist it put out did not trigger the hygrometer inside the machine until it was too late, of course.

The end result of this mishap, and I thought it would happen, because it happened when I was watering my soil with a spray bottle.. Where I have the light placed, if the leaves get wet at this stage, it can amplify the amount of light that is being transferred to the plant... kind of like swimming at the beach with no sunscreen, if you think about it...

Anyhow, here you go!



I will upload, in my album, updated individual shots of the plants, when I have more time after I wake up.

Missed a week on updates lol

Missed a week on updates lol

Other than transplanting on 12-23, watering with regular RO water the night before transplanting, and the few nights afterwards, got rid of " L ", it was the last to sprout and showed the weakest signs of growth (other than " E "). Nothing is new except for today

I got a dedicated circuit to my lights now

So I am now able to run my HID. Since I vegged for four weeks under the T5, I'm just going to go straight to the HPS 600W at 50% power. I will veg until the end of Sunday to let the plants adjust to the new light, then I will switch my light cycle to 12/12

I plan to up the power on the HPS 600W to 75% in a few weeks or so, then a couple more weeks and I'll kick it up to 100%, I think.

12-24



12-30



I'm getting nervous lol.. two more days until gender begins to show.. ahhhhh!!! lol

Viral505 said:

So I am now able to run my HID. Since I vegged for four weeks under the T5, I'm just going to go straight to the HPS 600W at 50% power. I will veg until the end of Sunday to let the plants adjust to the new light, then I will switch my light cycle to 12/12

I plan to up the power on the HPS 600W to 75% in a few weeks or so, then a couple more weeks and I'll kick it up to 100%, I think.

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You would do much better with yield to wait until they are a little bigger. If you're space-constrained, then they will be fine flipping early, but the best plants will be adults before the flip. You will likely be able to tell 9/10 males, all before the flip.

You probably don't have to run a 600 that dim for that long. I've raised clones under a 600HPS at 100% and they loved it. Leave a little space, of course, but you don't have to go that slowly unless your temps start getting crazy. They look healthy.

HarvestMoon303 said:

You would do much better with yield to wait until they are a little bigger. If you're space-constrained, then they will be fine flipping early, but the best plants will be adults before the flip. You will likely be able to tell 9/10 males, all before the flip.

You probably don't have to run a 600 that dim for that long. I've raised clones under a 600HPS at 100% and they loved it. Leave a little space, of course, but you don't have to go that slowly unless your temps start getting crazy. They look healthy.

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I understand.. I'm just kind of time constrained atm.. I have to have my tent ready by March 1st for getting seedlings ready for outdoors. I'd totally love to veg them longer.

Right now the light is pretty high up there. I think you're right, the more light I give, the better they'll get.

The temp around the plant tops is about 72*F when the fan and light are running. I don't have the ducting in right now. No point for it at the moment.

Thank you, I am very happy to see a lush green on the plants. I just topped them for the first time last night. If its possible, I think I will just super-crop them from here on out, a week or so from now.

Viral505 said:

I understand.. I'm just kind of time constrained atm.. I have to have my tent ready by March 1st for getting seedlings ready for outdoors. I'd totally love to veg them longer.

Right now the light is pretty high up there. I think you're right, the more light I give, the better they'll get.

The temp around the plant tops is about 72*F when the fan and light are running. I don't have the ducting in right now. No point for it at the moment.

Thank you, I am very happy to see a lush green on the plants. I just topped them for the first time last night. If its possible, I think I will just super-crop them from here on out, a week or so from now.

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Trying to read as many tent grows as I can. Which tent did you go with? I haven't found many that are 8' tall. What is the ceiling height in your grow space?

onavelzy said:

Trying to read as many tent grows as I can. Which tent did you go with? I haven't found many that are 8' tall. What is the ceiling height in your grow space?

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Hey yea sorry dude, I can't edit my posts, and my info wasn't correct on the tent height when I made the post. I'm using an Apollo Horticulture 48”x48”x80” mylar.

may i make some suggestions?
exactly what harvest moon said. they still in 1 gal fabric pots? what are your medical needs, weight wise? i had a 4x4 tent with a 600 in it and would consistently clear a lb, running 16 3 gal pots though. but the plant numbers dont matter for weight so much. 4 mature plants under a 600 will still give you over a lb of good meds if you veg long enough and have bigger (5-10gal) smart pots.
i see you topped the plants before they sexed. that will slow you down for pulling males. a topped plant wont sex as fast. so, still, keep vegging, until you can transplant the prettiest females into bigger pots, then flip.
i would seriously suggest you let these sex out under 18 hrs of light at least, right how they are now, and turn that 600 up now. as long as its high enough (18-20ish") dont be scared of it. if you are worried about power consumption you shouldn't be.
oh, and as for starting plants for outside... dont sacrifice tent space for that. i know you have to watch your numbers, but i dont see why you cant start some cups while you have the 4 matures finishing. oh, yeah... just start them under that t5 somewhere. btw, each bulb is 24w, not the whole fixture so your 2ft 4 bulb is 96w. wasnt sure if you realized that. anyway ive started many seeds under that light, just in solo cups in 10x20 tray, or in smaller cups, or in small square pots, or 72cell count trays, get a dome, tray and a heat mat too, that will set you back 30$ but well worth the gains in your tent. just hang the light anywhere, put the heat mat under it, tray, containers of choice, and dome. just leave the plants under that light with the heat mat and dome removed when needed. let them veg there till they go outside. sorry if i over explained. hope this helps

nameless said:

may i make some suggestions?
exactly what harvest moon said. they still in 1 gal fabric pots? what are your medical needs, weight wise? i had a 4x4 tent with a 600 in it and would consistently clear a lb, running 16 3 gal pots though. but the plant numbers dont matter for weight so much. 4 mature plants under a 600 will still give you over a lb of good meds if you veg long enough and have bigger (5-10gal) smart pots.
i see you topped the plants before they sexed. that will slow you down for pulling males. a topped plant wont sex as fast. so, still, keep vegging, until you can transplant the prettiest females into bigger pots, then flip.
i would seriously suggest you let these sex out under 18 hrs of light at least, right how they are now, and turn that 600 up now. as long as its high enough (18-20ish") dont be scared of it. if you are worried about power consumption you shouldn't be.
oh, and as for starting plants for outside... dont sacrifice tent space for that. i know you have to watch your numbers, but i dont see why you cant start some cups while you have the 4 matures finishing. oh, yeah... just start them under that t5 somewhere. btw, each bulb is 24w, not the whole fixture so your 2ft 4 bulb is 96w. wasnt sure if you realized that. anyway ive started many seeds under that light, just in solo cups in 10x20 tray, or in smaller cups, or in small square pots, or 72cell count trays, get a dome, tray and a heat mat too, that will set you back 30$ but well worth the gains in your tent. just hang the light anywhere, put the heat mat under it, tray, containers of choice, and dome. just leave the plants under that light with the heat mat and dome removed when needed. let them veg there till they go outside. sorry if i over explained. hope this helps

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Hey whats up. I was able to clear my closet out, so my T5 actually just barely fits in there, and level too. Interior is painted completely white, so I'm just about good to go for vegging again.

Over the last two weeks I've been tapering the light up more, so now I'm running the full 600W about half a day, and it set to 475W before and after to let the plants taper. One day I forgot I had it on full and the smallest plant started to droop. First time a plant has totally drooped on me... I gave it RO water and over-night it perked back up. Still a little droopy, but doesn't look as developed as the other plants.

Well, 8 out of 10 plants have shown sex, and I see hairs. Lots of white hairs, out the tops and the calyxes.

Yes they're still in the 1-gallon fabric pots.

I'm not really concerned about weight, I just wanted some smoke before getting everything ready for outdoors Honestly I'm just happy to have 8 flowering plants, I thought I'd be lucky to get 3 or 4 females out of the bunch. Haha.

I'll have plenty of harvests this year, I have a feeling. I've got a lot of time to learn.

I am considering transplanting to 3 gallon fabric pots very soon. It seems like the roots have almost reached all the way to the edges of the pots! I'm very impressed. My phone is acting messed up, so I'll upload some pictures when I have some more time.

Does topping or super-cropping slow down initial bud-growth?

so when a plant gets droopy, youll want to check your watering amounts and or technique first, then container size, then temps and airflow then plant health,. if issue persists, light. if the other plants can take it, your limiting your grow based on your weakest plant. you want to be running things based on the majority of plants or the best ones, and make the stragglers keep up. does that make sense? super cropping will slow down vertical growth some, causing plants to branch more. and it will make buds bigger and sturdier above supercrop site. breaking the plant a little makes it stronger

My 3 gallon fabric pots just arrived in the mail, but some of the roots haven't stretched to the edges of the 1 gallon pots yet. I've been keeping my 600W at full the last week, and everything is looking great. I did do some low stress training, or bending, supercropping, whatever you wanna call it, and since I'm a noob I ended up only snapping 1 top/branch. It said low stress training but for the first time, it almost felt like a nightmare, it wasn't fun at all, in fact it was really stressful for me to do it (that was two days ago)

Now the plants are looking great, all of the tops are looking fine.

Only thing is my piece of shit Lasko fan just broke after like 1 months use. I'm fucking pissed.

Viral505 said:

My 3 gallon fabric pots just arrived in the mail, but some of the roots haven't stretched to the edges of the 1 gallon pots yet. I've been keeping my 600W at full the last week, and everything is looking great. I did do some low stress training, or bending, supercropping, whatever you wanna call it, and since I'm a noob I ended up only snapping 1 top/branch. It said low stress training but for the first time, it almost felt like a nightmare, it wasn't fun at all, in fact it was really stressful for me to do it (that was two days ago)

Now the plants are looking great, all of the tops are looking fine.

Only thing is my piece of shit Lasko fan just broke after like 1 months use. I'm fucking pissed.

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I would be extremely surprised if plants from 12/01/16 haven't found the boundaries of the pots yet. When you transplant, you should see quite a root mass. They will love the 3gals.

pictures

pictures

Yea I'm having to feed them about 16 oz of water every other day. I think you're right, once they get to about this size they need to be in bigger pots. I'm glad I ordered 10 3 gallon pots, so I can see what is going to happen

I did accidentally snap a couple of the tops, I thought I only snapped one, but I snapped two after watching a couple of days of one top not perking up. So I'm going to see if I can clone that too.. I'm not too concerned if I succeed at this or not, but it would be good to know how to do it, just in case. I've been told to take clones of your plants, because you might just find a genetic or phenotype that is very nice, or you just may end up liking the bud. Though I'm not too sure about the colloidal silver, I've heard that makes the plant hermi and produce seed, I guess I don't really understand what happens with the genetics to the seeds when it is female, goes hermi, and produces seed. Is this pretty much the same as cloning, but just in seed form? One of my friends plants last year went hermi because he wanted early smoke, so he tried to light dep, and it put out a ton of seeds lol..

Been a month since the last update. I took one out that went almost full hermi. Other than losing 8 tops total because of poor low stress training techniques (I know how to do it properly now), the plants are looking nice now.

Some of the plants popped some nuts and bananas, not very many, just a few. So I trimmed and picked em out where they were coming up. It must have been from turning the lights on 12/12 too soon.

Oh well, that's ok. When these are ready to harvest I'll wipe down the inside with H202 / water, and try again.