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my first grow
- Thread starter atomos
- Start date
Raedwulf
Member
i bought a PH tester and my water was a 9.8no:OMG
) i used vinegar to lower the PH to 6.2. its only been two days, and the plants are looking a lot better
:jawdrop: And I thought my pH of 8.5 was high.
Vinegar is ok for emergencies but try to get hold of some pH-down (Phosphoric acid) for the long term dude.
Your plants do look much better now and I wish you all the best with your growing.
The subject of growing weed can become complicated by the mass of differing (but no less valid) opinions out there, and it can be hard not to feel overwhelmed by it all.
However, if I may, I'd like to recommend two good links on ICM for you, if you have not already found them: 'Growing Good Weed' by KODIAK and The Complete Gude to Sick Plants, pH and Pest Troubles by MynameStitch, I found both of them to be invaluable when I was starting out.
Happy growing, and smoking dude
I'll go one further and say get a quality pH Down. Haven't tried them all but Advanced Nutrients works by the drop. General Hydroponics takes capfuls and works no better than vinegar.
all4theluvofit
Member
They are looking healthy and well now!
jolygreensprout
Member
looks like your well under way and are getting quality advice..
Last edited:
Phychotron
Member
I'm still not that experienced, but here's my two cents...
for wiring the fan, pick up a junction box (blue box that holds outlets and light switches), a 10+ foot quality (a shop type, not the cheap household cords with three outlets on the end) grounded extension cord and a FAN speed control (not a dimmer switch)
Check the AMP rating on your fan, and make sure to get a switch that has more than that. I saw they had a 1.5 amp and a 5 amp fan control switch ($10 and $15 respectively, both work with my 8" fan, but the 5A can run both if need be.)
cut extension cord in two pieces, however long you need each end and wire them to the switch in the junction box using wire nuts , and get a faceplate on it(adjust the switch first). you should now have an extension cord with a speed control in the center. If need be, wire the fan with a grounded plug so you can just unplug the fan as needed.
get rid of miracle grow, they call it that because it's a miracle if anything grows in it. It's made for house plants, and holds way too much water. I used it on my first grow as well, just to start the seeds, and the one's that were in miracle grow, compared to the Roots Organic soil were very tiny. Even after they were put in real soil they did rather poorly.
I suggest you get an LED instead of CPFs. For that small of a setup, check out "UFO" LED on ebay. don't just buy one, gotta research or let someone hold your hand when picking one out. they are reasonably priced, $80-$150 for 90-100watts. Definitely not equal to a 400w HPS like they claim, but it will do much better than those cpfs, and use less electricity too, only drawing 45-50watts for the 90-100watt models. If you have room for both then awesome. You will need ventilation. They will heat a small space up rather quickly. Instead of heat from the light like HPS, it's heat from the cooling fans on top. the plants can touch the light and not burn (i wouldn't push it though) So you need air being sucked out of the top, input toward the bottom.
on the yellowing, you said you were watering them by spraying every 6-8 hours, that will leech nutrients from the leaves if you do it too much. But also the miracle grow is too hard for the plant to grow in. Too compact or something, it's just bad news all around. When you feel a real quality soil you will understand. For watering you should only have to water like, maybe less than once a week in the first few weeks when the soil begins to dry out, but not before it dries completely. Weigh the watered plants by picking them up, when they begin to get light, they will need water soon. I always keep the seedlings moist, but let older taller plants dry out a bit, and the pot weighs much less before watering. 8 pounds per gallon of water, remember that.
ok, you say you want to go hydro, I was gonna go that route just to make it less work on the soil moving/watering, but then realized that it would be much too complex, because I wanted automation also, so I can leave my house for a few days I ordered some autopots, two double pots, and they are rocking like crazy, so after four weeks I ordered four single pots. They are $55 on ebay, free shipping. Passive hydroponics, it uses no pumps, gravity fed to a valve that waters it only when it needs, bottom feeds and no waste or circulation, meaning you just need to pH the nutrients when you mix them. Using 50/50 coco/perlite is awesome too, since they are both light mediums. One less thing to put on a timer. I also ordered the air dome that goes in the bottom of the pot and pumps air into the root zone. Haven't tried them yet, but they claim it "can increase yields by up to 130%". I highly doubt it's that good, but i gotta try it. I've spent maybe an hour every two weeks watering them, compared to the other plants that I still hand water needing 30-60 minutes every 1-3days. One well trained plant would be perfect in that space.
as for the interior of your box, if there is a hydro store around you see if they have panda film by the foot, should be around $1/foot for a 10 foot tall piece. easier and cheaper than paint.
good luck
for wiring the fan, pick up a junction box (blue box that holds outlets and light switches), a 10+ foot quality (a shop type, not the cheap household cords with three outlets on the end) grounded extension cord and a FAN speed control (not a dimmer switch)
Check the AMP rating on your fan, and make sure to get a switch that has more than that. I saw they had a 1.5 amp and a 5 amp fan control switch ($10 and $15 respectively, both work with my 8" fan, but the 5A can run both if need be.)
cut extension cord in two pieces, however long you need each end and wire them to the switch in the junction box using wire nuts , and get a faceplate on it(adjust the switch first). you should now have an extension cord with a speed control in the center. If need be, wire the fan with a grounded plug so you can just unplug the fan as needed.
get rid of miracle grow, they call it that because it's a miracle if anything grows in it. It's made for house plants, and holds way too much water. I used it on my first grow as well, just to start the seeds, and the one's that were in miracle grow, compared to the Roots Organic soil were very tiny. Even after they were put in real soil they did rather poorly.
I suggest you get an LED instead of CPFs. For that small of a setup, check out "UFO" LED on ebay. don't just buy one, gotta research or let someone hold your hand when picking one out. they are reasonably priced, $80-$150 for 90-100watts. Definitely not equal to a 400w HPS like they claim, but it will do much better than those cpfs, and use less electricity too, only drawing 45-50watts for the 90-100watt models. If you have room for both then awesome. You will need ventilation. They will heat a small space up rather quickly. Instead of heat from the light like HPS, it's heat from the cooling fans on top. the plants can touch the light and not burn (i wouldn't push it though) So you need air being sucked out of the top, input toward the bottom.
on the yellowing, you said you were watering them by spraying every 6-8 hours, that will leech nutrients from the leaves if you do it too much. But also the miracle grow is too hard for the plant to grow in. Too compact or something, it's just bad news all around. When you feel a real quality soil you will understand. For watering you should only have to water like, maybe less than once a week in the first few weeks when the soil begins to dry out, but not before it dries completely. Weigh the watered plants by picking them up, when they begin to get light, they will need water soon. I always keep the seedlings moist, but let older taller plants dry out a bit, and the pot weighs much less before watering. 8 pounds per gallon of water, remember that.
ok, you say you want to go hydro, I was gonna go that route just to make it less work on the soil moving/watering, but then realized that it would be much too complex, because I wanted automation also, so I can leave my house for a few days I ordered some autopots, two double pots, and they are rocking like crazy, so after four weeks I ordered four single pots. They are $55 on ebay, free shipping. Passive hydroponics, it uses no pumps, gravity fed to a valve that waters it only when it needs, bottom feeds and no waste or circulation, meaning you just need to pH the nutrients when you mix them. Using 50/50 coco/perlite is awesome too, since they are both light mediums. One less thing to put on a timer. I also ordered the air dome that goes in the bottom of the pot and pumps air into the root zone. Haven't tried them yet, but they claim it "can increase yields by up to 130%". I highly doubt it's that good, but i gotta try it. I've spent maybe an hour every two weeks watering them, compared to the other plants that I still hand water needing 30-60 minutes every 1-3days. One well trained plant would be perfect in that space.
as for the interior of your box, if there is a hydro store around you see if they have panda film by the foot, should be around $1/foot for a 10 foot tall piece. easier and cheaper than paint.
good luck
jolygreensprout
Member
sorry!
sorry!
sorry atomos, not at all i will check myself at the door! i am interested to see how your grow turns out i will follow along!:friends:
sorry!
sorry atomos, not at all i will check myself at the door! i am interested to see how your grow turns out i will follow along!:friends:
Im just giving you a hard time! Much love, peace, and good vibes sent your way
jolygreensprout
Member
right back at you!
all4theluvofit
Member
Looking good!
Chuck the shit in the rubbish bin.
rafe
Member
I started some plants at about the same time you did and yours are about 25% bigger than mine so good job. Are these under your house between the floor joist?? If you don't have much room for the plants to grow you might consider getting a couple of the military type shovels and get a buddy and some buckets and excavate. You will be surprised how much earth you can move filling buckets and moving it around. I had a friend in AK who dug a grow room under his house with his 2 brothers. The room was big enough to stand in and had a mother plant room and the budding room. Every 4 days 3 clones with a 4 day rotation on all of them until they were done. One of the professors at the U of A who was a botonist took a new job and gave the whole grow system to him. He was a engineer and had it vented out the vent in the roof of the house and super insulated. Of course seeing a heat signature on a house is normal. Keep up the good work. The ground under your house should be easy to dig in.
rafe
Member
You can get a light like the kind that goes over a fish tank and get the long skinny CFL bulbs. I got mine from a company that sells hydroponic supplies. Make sure you get the bulbs with the vegetation bulbs and then the flowering bulbs just hang a couple of small pulleys then put some light rope, I use clothes line rope. Just adjust it ever 2 or 3 days. Soon you will reap the rewards of your efforts. I would also recommend starting more seeds incase you run into a crop of males. I was gifted some really good genetic seeds and out of 8 of one strain I got one female. So prepare yourself for the males. Peace and good luck. With the help of thee people the odds are in your favor.
