1st Hydro Grow

Up to this point I have been adding veg nutes to stimulate a little vertical growth and it seems to have worked pretty well. The thing I'm starting to wonder is when to switch to bloom nutes. Should I wait until bud formation actually begins or do I need to jump in a little before that to assure a proper nute balance for bloom? There seems to be a real lack of consistant info about growing AF strains. There is information there but much of it, even among the same strains, is different or in some cases outright contradictory. Just a suggestion to the powers that be here. Perhaps this would make a good sub-forum in the Seeds, Clones & Strains forum. These plants obviously are unique and an organized area for discussion and information exchange would be most beneficial IMHO.

I'm going to change the res out again Wednesday and wonder if I should make the switch then or go another week with the veg nutes.

Plants are rocking right along!!!

Happy 420!!!

:thanks:
 
SPIDER MITES!!! Can't get a good pic of them...but just found some webs and a few blotches on the leaves. I can't get to the hydro shop until Wednesday, so anyone who has a remedy other than neem oil, please hit me up quick.
 
Spider mites:
Spider mites are by far the worst pest to have, because they are the hardest to kill and can literally kill any plant. They are by far more active in warmer climates than cold ones, they also suck sup from the leaves leaving tiny white spots on the leaves from where they suck on. The damage they do is just like thrips, but with spider mites they pierce the surface of the leaves and can show tiny holesor white speckling damage, unlike with thirps they eat the surface of the chlorophyll. You can tell when you have infestation of spider mites , because you will have distorted growth, shortened internodes and petioles.
When you have bad infestation you will see webbing with larva in them. You get spider mites from either store bought soil mostly when your soil is not sterilized. Most brands do not state weather or not they are, chances are if you buy cheap soil, you have a less likely chance of the soil being sterile.Also, bringing outdoor plants indoors, or getting plants from someone else who was infected with spidermites.
Spider mites live on the plant itself and are under the leaves most of the time and are usually are so tiny you can't see them with the naked eye. In order to get rid of spider mites one of the best ways to start to get rid of them is to use NO-Pest strips.NO-Pest strips work well and should always be used with other methods. Neem oil helps get rid of them as well. Also by raising the humidity in your grow room a lot will kill the spider mites off, by them absorbing to much humidity and will burst. You can use soap solution like Safer Insecticidal Soap to get rid of most aphid problems. Use some tobacco juice and chili pepper powder added to this for mites. (see below how to make tobacco juice)
Pyrethrum should only be used in extreme circumstances directly on plants, It starts to breaks down around a week and is easily washed away with clear water or. If your plants are in flowering and you have spider mites, using safer chemicals is your best bet. The tobacco and pepper soap solution works well and should be used daily, spraying on the underside and top leaves and later the whole plant. Since spider mites are very residual to common products, you have to find or try any number of ones until you get rid of them. make absolutly sure you retreat as stated, other wise you will get resistant spidermites and then you have a bigger battle on your hands.Also do not allow pets that go outside a lot to be around indoor plants,mites have been known to be carried in from pets to plants. PLEASE NOTE, below are ways to get rid of spider mites, but no 2 mite infestations are identical, you almost always have to use different products to get rid of them, also make a habit to check for at least a whole month after thinking you got rid of them, that way your chances of the spider mites that became resistant breeding and then having a bigger problem. Make sure you spray your plant down very good and enough and on time.
Here are some more products that may help get rid of spider mites:

Chemicals
Hot Pepper Wax,Safer Yard & Garden Insecticide (which can be used right to the day of harvest),GNATROL( used in hydro in the water as well as soil),Doc's Neem Pest Soap,Safer Sticky Stakes,TR-11000 Pyrethrum. Anything that says dicofol on the back. ( should be used in vegging or early flowering)

Tabacco Juice recipe

Take 3 strong cigarettes soak them over night in water
Boil it for 2 to 3 minutes, let it cool off and spray the plants 3 to 4 times a week. You can add safer soap if you like to the mixture.
(make absolutely sure you use gloves/face protection while handling and spraying)
Neem oil works very well too!!
ZBQ has an excellent thread on how to use neem oil without geting your plants to oily!! OpenDNS :tup: Your Last resort is to use Avid.

Sorry man.:cool:

Happy 420:rollit:

Pan4
 
I had success taking plants into the sink, blasting them (towards an open window) with the sprayer - water adjusted to room temperature - to knock all the borg off that I could, then spraying liberally with Safer's.

They didn't come back. Plants looked kind of used & abused for a few days though.
 
Well, the hydro shop owner (we've become pretty good friends) took pity on me and dropped me some Pyrethrum by the house on his way home. He confirmed spidermites but said I caught it very early. Unfortunately, I was told to wait 30 mins or so after I killed the lights to hose em down, and with the way my schedule lays out that means it'll be tomorrow before I can apply it. He told me not to sweat it, to apply it tomorrow and once a week for a couple more weeks. The mites are currently on one plant only,actually on one leaf of one plant, so hopefully waiting to spray them shouldn't hurt to awful much.

Pan...appreciate the post. I had read that myself in the "Pest Post" and was working on the old hot pepper cure when Paul showed up.

Didn't think to ask when he was hear, was just happy to have somthing to fix this problem with, so I'll ask here. Why wait? Do the plants need to cool...does Pyrethrum work better in dark conditions? And also, after I spray em, do I need to "rinse" them later as well? If so when?

Thanks for all the help guys...I guess seeing some of these problems now is going to help me be a better grower in the long run, but it sure does worry me now.
 
There are a few species of marigold that are supposed to be pretty high in pyrethrum. Anyone ever grow them in their closet as a preventative?
 
Day 18

Ph 5.8
Room temp 74
Water temp 72
rh 38%
nute ppm 525


Well, so far, we've dealt with an algea bloom and spidermites. Will be spraying for mites as soon as I finish this post, and hopefully that'll wipe out the vampires. It must be clearly stated that were it not for timely and sound advice, they would all be quite dead by now, and I would be a sad panda.

Gigabud is still kinda leggy and slow growing...but she is growing. Last week I germed 5 Thai Super Skunk seeds. All 5 cracked and are currently in 1 qt containers full of my own personal soil mix, but I'm running out of light. A friend has a 6 lamp t5 fixture that he is going to drop off this afternoon and I'm going to put them under that. I'm starting to run out of space upstairs, so the little lady, in exchange for a new car, has kindly consented to allow me to redo a 20x20 space in the basement to turn into a full blown grow room. She drives a hard bargain!

I'll be working on that for the next two weeks or so and when I'm done, I'll post pics. I havent really decided if I want to actually build a room or just divide off an area and put a couple of large grow tents side by side. one thing is for absolute sure, it won't be a shoestring effort this time. Hell, the seed order alone is over a grand...don't want to have to order seeds ever again so I've ordered everything I want to grow/cross...although I'm sure somthing will pop up that I have to try.

Well, no pics today...nothing much new to see. I'll post pics again tomorrow or Thursday, depending on my schedule. Hope y'all had a great 420.
 
pan4gold49 said:
SouthernWeed Everything looks Good today.:cool:

Your plan for a grow room is very good I'd go with a Veg & flower room. Made with 2x4's and sheetrock over a tent no zippers.:ganjamon:

Fine job your doing.:peace:

Pan4
Click to expand...

Thanks Pan...somehow I knew it would end up like this. The indoor/hydro growing is quite addictive.
 
TorturedSoul said:
There are a few species of marigold that are supposed to be pretty high in pyrethrum. Anyone ever grow them in their closet as a preventative?
Click to expand...

SouthernWeed said:
Very interesting idea...
Click to expand...

I have in the past had success with planting marigolds, onions, and garlic as a border around vegetable gardens. When I just did a section, that section in general had far less bugs of all types than the other section. And the plants inside the border that were closest to it also had less flying ones. I'm thinking about also planting some here and there throughout it this year to keep the flying pests completely away.

I'm not a fan of spraying things on crops that I will eventually eat.

pan4gold49 said:
Your plan for a grow room is very good I'd go with a Veg & flower room. Made with 2x4's and sheetrock over a tent no zippers.
Click to expand...

So would I in any area that you plan to live at for the forseeable future (the one clear advantage that grow tents have is that you can put them back in a small box when moving). And with a 20'*20' space to play with you can really customize things with separate environments for growing and flowering.

It's going to cost you a little bit, but if you didn't balk at buying your better half a new car (I'd have given you a full basement for a used one lol) then hopefully you can deal with it.

I saw a grow cabinet that looked like one of those free-standing double-door metal cabinets one sees in classrooms advertised for well over $4,000 the other day so I guess it's all relative.
 
TorturedSoul said:
It's going to cost you a little bit, but if you didn't balk at buying your better half a new car (I'd have given you a full basement for a used one lol) then hopefully you can deal with it.
Click to expand...

Damn...now you tell me...lmao. I have decided that whatever the cost of building a state of the art grow room will be worth it to me. I'm fortunate enough to be relativly comfortable in my finances, so I'll build me a castle. Been talking to Paul this AM and he told me that he'd knock off 30% of the price if I got my stuff through him. Thats nice because my initial estimation of the purchase price for all this gear (not counting the solar panels on the roof, I failed to mention that part to the missus, she shouldn't have held a gun to my head for her damn little BMW convertable) is around 12k and I ain't done yet.

Buying that cheap little DWC kit to start learning hydro, may have been the best money I ever spent. It has allowed me to get a practical understanding of hydroponics without risking a ton of money upfront. Don't think, however, that just because I'm building a new space, that I think I know everything (anything...lol). The questions will still be coming for the next several crops. Then maybe, just maybe, I'll feel comfortable enough with it to start helping other people.
 
A solar-powered grow room?

I love it! Make sure and file for the tax break for installing & using alternative-energy sources so that the govt. can help pay for your grow operation!

Yeah, I understand what you mean about not knowing everything.

I try to learn something every single day.

On a good day, I'll get it in before noon and then I can coast the rest of the day.

LOL Just kidding! But seriously, yeah... We can learn right up until we die. If we choose not to, we're kind of wasting space.

And yup, the best way to pay back those who've taught us something is to teach someone else. It's one of those "circle" things.
 
Great journal so far. I too made a room in the basement, I only had a 7x12' area though. Think about possibly making 3 rooms inside your space. 1 for flowering 1 for veg and 1 for curing, clipping and storage. I'll be expanding my room soon, it's just to tight of a squeeze. Make sure to think through everything very well, where the fans will go, where you'll pull fresh air from, where you'll exhaust air from, how the ducting will work, whether to insulate or not, where you'll get water from. I thought I had everything thought out perfectly than once I got into it I realized I didn't. Not that I'm not happy with my results, it's just not as perfect as I imagined. I'm also not a do it your self type of guy. Good luck
 

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