First Grow - 150W hps Cabinet Bagseeds

[etncrew]

So this will be my first indoor grow, and its coming along fairly nicely. I was going to make a thread sooner, but for some reason it takes forever for your account to get approved so you can post replies/edit posts. I digress.

Like I have already mentioned this is my first indoor grow, i have grown some crappy outdoor before, but I wanted to get my feet wet indoors. Let me quickly say that this is simply a learning experience and i'm not too worried about the harvest size, more looking for some decent bud but more importantly experience gained.


I have a 150w hps shoplight and a panasonic whisper quiet 100 cfm fan. I was going to rewire it for a remote ballast but i really wanted to get the cab built as my plants had already vegged for over a month and i wanted to try to get them flowering asap.


As of right now this is day 3 of 12/12 with both plants showing preflowers, the one had some hairs before i even switched to twelve twelve. everything seems to be going ok, other than i have some burning issues, or possibly a deficiency with nutes. i fed them advanced nutrients 2-1-6 grow for the first while, as long as some organic fish emulsion 5-1-1. anyway, i'll post some pics and wait (hopefully not too long) for some comments

 

[etncrew]

the cab sideways





inside the cab




preflowers


more preflowers



something is burning


doesnt look too bad from here



wtf is going on here??

 

[etncrew]

also, my temps are fine (18-23Celsius), and humidity is very low

 

[etncrew]

boo to lack of responses

 

[etncrew]

i believe i shall test the ph of the runoff tomorrow, where can one find litmus strips if not a scientist? i watered with tap water during vedge and we have pretty hard water here so i think the ph could be a bit high

 

[mg00c]

looking awesome for your first grow. You can check this sight for what the problem with your plant is:
http://www.drugs-forum.com/growfaq/97.htm

Also, you should invest in a digital PH reader because they're alot more accurate and precise than litmus paper.

Peace,
m

 

[etncrew]

thanks alot mg00c, i am going to try to find a digital pH tester at home depot tomorrow.

i'm fairly certain my problems are due to ph, as i have only been feeding half strength, either way my problems are fairly minor for now, knock on wood. worst case scenerio i have to use 4 gallons of water to flush them out.

and those preflowers look like the female variety, no?

 

[Rob547]

Details on your HPS? Shoplight? I've always been interested in doing that but I lack electrician skills. Also, make sure your flower cab is light sealed completely, light leaks could stress your girls and make them grow balls

 

[mg00c]

yeah etn those are deffinately female preflowers you can tell the males because you can see a little bulge near the base of the node where the preflowers grow out of. keep up the good work man.

 

[etncrew]

Details on your HPS? Shoplight? I've always been interested in doing that but I lack electrician skills. Also, make sure your flower cab is light sealed completely, light leaks could stress your girls and make them grow balls

its just a hps spotlight i picked up at rona (home depot type place for the americans) for like 75 bucks...next time around i will probably make it into a remote ballast but like i said i just needed to get the cab built, and i didn't cheap out on my fan, which is right next to where the light sits, so temps aren't an issue.

as for the flower cabinet, its in my mechanical room/laundry which no one goes in after 10pm, and before 10am (dark cycl). between the door to that room, and my cabinet, i'm pretty sure that i'll be ok. plans are in the works to totally light proof it for future grows, but by then i'll have much more grandiose plans.

in other news looks like all three plants, including the weird ass runt which lost half of its root mass during transplant the 12" pots, are showing female preflowers. i don't really know what to do with the run though.

i got my hands on some litmus test strips today to hopefully resolve my minor pH issues, going to give them a good watering with RO h20 tonight as my finger comes out bone dry when i stick it in the soil.

other than that so far so good. new growth seems healthy, other than the odd leaf tearing, anyone know what that might be a sign of?

anyway, i'll keep everyone posted, thanks for the words of encouragement and tips, i've rambled enough, thanks to some kind bud a friend hooked me up with, sour diesel ftw

 

[etncrew]

ph is 5.5, too low, no?

 

[breeder]

yea thats abit low for soil. Try to get up around 6.3 or so.

 

[etncrew]

is dolemite lime my only choice there or can i use something a bit more...available in my house right now...hydrogen peroxide? baking soda?

 

[etncrew]

whoah whoah whoah i have a ton of calyxes right now i will post pictures later this afternoon.

and i highly doubt the reliablility of the pH test i bought...i might have to invest in a digital one

 

[etncrew]

well i retested the soil pH three times with this stupid CIL soil test kit, anyway, all three times the soil appears to be too basic (somewhere in the 7.5 range), above 7 and below 8 anyway

 

[FishHead]

Doing fine

Doing fine

Your grow is looking good man. Keep on keepin' on. I wish I could help, but dirt is not a method I am familiar with. Light looks close but that wouldnt affect the bottom leaves like that hmmm. If you pH is that high you have to get it down so all nutrient can be available to the plant. Be patient, your doing the right thing by posting in the infirmary. Hope it all works out. I'm going to be following along and will try to help if I can.

Fish

 

[breeder]

Yes...invest in a digital ph pen. Worth it's weight in weed....if ya get my drift!

 

[etncrew]

Your grow is looking good man. Keep on keepin' on. I wish I could help, but dirt is not a method I am familiar with. Light looks close but that wouldnt affect the bottom leaves like that hmmm. If you pH is that high you have to get it down so all nutrient can be available to the plant. Be patient, your doing the right thing by posting in the infirmary. Hope it all works out. I'm going to be following along and will try to help if I can.

Fish

Thanks alot Fish! I would really be appreciative of that, I've been reading your thread as well. It's good to know that there are so many people willing to lend their knowledge to other grows

Yes...invest in a digital ph pen. Worth it's weight in weed....if ya get my drift!

HAHA Breeder! I should have listened to your advice in the first place! I wasn't too pumped about driving 30minutes to the nearest home depot(i hope i can find them there because i am going right now to get one!), so i just went to a smaller hardware store and got a soil test kit, which didn't work very well.

I'll get some more pictures of tonight.

 

[green_grow]

what is that reflective material you have on the walls ?

by the way, if you cant find a ph pen, a ph test kit (using drops) will do a good job. you can find in in the aquarium section of a pet store or the pool section of home depot. the litmus test strips will do, also, but they are less accurate.

 

[etncrew]

the reflective material i'm using is an emergency blanket or whatever. It sort of looks like tin foil because its super thin, i had to double it up its so thin!

the pH test kit i have has a powder you put in along with the soil, then you fill it up with distilled/ro water, shake, and wait then compare colors.

i couldn't find a pH pen at home depot, and north of the 49th home depots don't have a pool section, its too cold here.

i've done three tests and they all look like my soil is above seven and below 8, so i figure i need to lower the pH about a point.


new pictures on the way, the shorter, bushier plant looks much healthier after a thorough watering