First Grow Almost Complete Lessons Learned - Thoughts?

[Profzim1]

Hello All,

This is my first post, thanks in advance for your advice and thoughts. I've learned a great deal here and on other boards and I hope to share my experiences and observations after my first grow. I'm currently in the 7th week and I've run into a bit of trouble with my plants, which I'll detail shortly.


The setup:
3x3 tent
growing in garage (heat issues), although I do have intake from outside and exhaust back into garage (unfortunately)
2 x 300 watt LED lights
started with 8 plants, different strains, most of them clones from dispensary, a few from seed.
FFOF soil mostly in 2.5 gallon square pots, switched from FF to Roots nutes during early flowering



Issues: My Girl Scout Cookies plant suffered from heat stress, so I increased the intake and exhaust to cool the tent. I then moved the LEDs from 8" above to 16" above. I then started noticing my Citrus Sap (GG4 x Tangie) had some small pests in the soil, so I started treating it for fungus gnats. That is a small plant so I noticed that the soil was not drying out very quickly, and likely invited the gnats in. A related issue with some of the plants was that I was overwatering since I'd give them a week and they weren't drying out.


I then saw that the leaves were getting very dark green with yellow tips, so diagnosed that as nitrogen toxicity. I went on a one week trip to the Northwest and came back and my Headband and Sour D were in bad shape (wilted, dead leaves), underwatered and who knows what else. I watered them thoroughly and hope I can salvage some kind of harvest from them.


So, at this point, I am harvesting in 2-3 weeks probably and hope to have some buds I can use. I'm looking forward to my second grow but here are some of my takeaways:


1. Don't grow in summer again. Ever. Gets too hot in there (as hot as 91 but consistently in the low 80's during day even with fans turned up)
2. Watch over feeding
3. Watch over watering, especially indoors. I never had that issue outdoors with the heat from the sun drying the soil out quickly.
4. Grow less plants, consider particular strains e.g. my Skunk #1 which has a reputation as being pest resistant, is doing great despite my fuck ups lol
5. Consider smart pots indoors - I think it will dry out quicker than plastic pots and I won't have to deal with them getting root bound
6. bottom line - be more observant and respond quickly!


Do you all have any other advice or thoughts from what I've said here? Any ideas are welcome. Thanks.

 

[Scrappy-doo]

Switch to a water only organic soil recipe. Pick one out from the organics for beginners sticky in the organic section. Then you won't have to worry about overfeeding anymore. Much easier, healthier plants, and better quality smoke.

 

[HydeRowe]

Did you consider running your grow at night time instead? That can really help out in the hot summer months. Also it sounded like your plants stopped up taking water and that was the reason your soil never seemed to dry out. Perhaps some form of lockup.

You learn a lot from your first grow! You'll get there eventually. keep trying

 

[Profzim1]

Thanks Scrappy and Hyde for your responses. Scrappy, that advice on the water only organic mix (yes I want to go all organic already) is exactly what I need. I was giving them a killer amount of nutes I realize now and didn't realize how powerful the nutes were/are. I invested in a bunch of Roots but I'll be shelving them next time or using perhaps a very minimal amount only if the plants are showing a deficiency.

Hyde, I have been running at night and that helps. Today for instance in the bay area, I got up to 99 degrees where I live. I checked the thermometer in the tent earlier and it got to 95 at one point. Ugh. I'm running a 4" hurricane intake and a 6" hurricane exhaust out btw.

Yes, on the lockout. I think that's it. Looks like I need to do some flushing and check ph which I'll do. I'll have some harvest but I'm really losing a ton of yield and potency. I think the initial thing to do is to maybe give up but I'm learning, so thanks for the words of encouragement.

 

[Granger2]

Why 4" intake and 6" exhaust? You're better off with passive intake equaling twice the sq in of the exhaust. Good luck. -granger

 

[Tonygreen]

dude bang my soil mix in my sig, youll never be happier straight water, itll give you a good baseline experience of what truly healthy plants look and grow like then you can go from there.

 

[Profzim1]

Granger, that's a good question. I just took the recommendation from the hydro store guy. I see the logic in pulling in cooler air from outside as opposed to the hot air in the garage (it gets really hot and stuffy in there in the summer). I think in cooler climate though I probably won't need that air and can pull from the existing cool air in the room although I've heard the optimum situation is to pull from outside and then exhaust elsewhere outside and not to mix the air.

Tony, thanks, man, I'll check it out! I just flushed some of my plants and man there was so much buildup in there from the roots nutrients. I think I'll be able to salvage something from this grow but what I've learned is worth more than the yield I will be getting. I also noticed the plants I grew from seed did better than the clones I purchased - hardier and less prone to all the mistakes we beginning growers tend to make.

 

[HydeRowe]

I know it might sound like a pain to setup but have you thought about running an air conditioner? or if your grow is in your garage you could just through an air conditioner in the garage to keep it cooler.

 

[HydeRowe]

also have you thought about switching from HPS to a high powered fluorescent T5 grow light during the summer?​

 

[amanda88]

First Grow Almost Complete Lessons Learned

Its now you get the chance to review the notes you took, from your grow journal and make improvements to your current situation

....and rarely does this stop?

 

[Granger2]

Profzim1,
What I'm talking about is you've got 2 different size fans for intake and exhaust. A 6" tries to pull a lot more air than a 4" can supply. Just doesn't make sense. And you're getting way less air thru the tent for cooling. -granger

 

[Profzim1]

Profzim1,
What I'm talking about is you've got 2 different size fans for intake and exhaust. A 6" tries to pull a lot more air than a 4" can supply. Just doesn't make sense. And you're getting way less air thru the tent for cooling. -granger

You're right, I've had to play with the controllers because I realized I was pulling out more with the exhaust than bringing in with the intake due to the different sizes.

Do you think I can keep going as I am while adjusting (lower on the 6, higher on the 4 to balance out) or should I get another six inch fan? Thanks.

 

[Lester Beans]

I think you should get an ac unit. Even in the cooler months the tent will run hot. Best to get an ac unit in there and have the tent a consistent temp with lights on and a consistent temp with lights off. Get your environment dialed in and the rest becomes a lot easier.

Get a 100$ window unit from wally world or Lowes and then you can setup a smaller exhaust to exhaust your garage. Its a cheap solution to make your grow way better.

Also I would look into a 600 hps for that tent. Trust me the results are more than worth it!

Best of luck!

 

[JamieShoes]

I use cooltubes in the summer, I wouldnt be able to grow during the hot days without them

 

[HydeRowe]

cooltube or no, if it is 95 degrees outside their is no way you are going to keep your grow tent/room cool enough.​

 

[Granger2]

You could get a 6" fan, but it would be cheaper to just use passive intake. Twice the sq in of passive intake as sq in of exhaust. Any shape will work. A 6" fan has about 28 sq in. You would need 56 sq in of intake. That could be a 7"x8" rectangle, a circular hole about 8.5" in diameter, etc. You won't have to buy another fan, and you can move more air thru the space, running your 6" at full blast. BTW, I'd stop taking advice from your grow store guy. Good luck. -granger

 

[TheReverend]

dude bang my soil mix in my sig, youll never be happier straight water/QUOTE]

Does this mean, you run this soil mix and there is no need for any other nutes? You simply water during the flowering cycle and that's all?

 

[aridbud]

dude bang my soil mix in my sig, youll never be happier straight water/QUOTE]

Does this mean, you run this soil mix and there is no need for any other nutes? You simply water during the flowering cycle and that's all?

Yep. Has everything you need(read through the 'recipe')....just good seeds/clones, good water...you're good to go!

 

[TheReverend]

Yep. Has everything you need(read through the 'recipe')....just good seeds/clones, good water...you're good to go!

Ok so follow the recipe exactly for the soil mix.
By good water, I assume you mean r/o?

I'm growing indoors in 5 gal buckets and it's just too much mess. All the damn soil is... well, MESSY! Trying to figure out a better way. My friend does much smaller pots on flood trays.

Any suggestions?

 

[Tom Hill]

in a 3x3 you'll probably find a single 300w is plenty,, you may in fact increase your yield over the double set-up.. heat stress is a killer it has many smart growers completely shutting down over the summer.