First Timer Growing - Indoor With 125W CFL - Amnesia Haze Auto

[Massi]

Hi, I'm new to growing. This is my first attempt and I was recommended to start a journal right away. Pictures below!

My setup:
Seed: 1x Amnesia Haze Auto (Ministry Of Cannabis)
Tent: Secret Jardin 40x40x120cm (I don't have room for anything bigger)
Light: 125W CFL (one 2100K & one 6400K) - currently running 2100K for flowering
Soil: Generic organic soil from a local store with nutrients for the first 5 weeks
Nutrients: Terra Grow & an other 1-1-2 generic NPK - I use them in 1 1:1 ratio.
Water: water filtered with a standard issue dinking water carbon filter
Temp/RH-meter
pH-meter (still underway)

Journal so far (EU date format):
(23-07-2016) Day 1: Germination
(26-07-2016) Day 4: Mini-sprout
(27-07-2016) Day 5: Put it into my tent
(20-08-2016) Day 29: First signs of flowering - switched lamp from 6400K to 2100K . I've also started to give low concentrations of nutrients (less than a 3rd of the recommended on the bottle - my plant doesn't show any signs of shortages)
(23-08-2016) Day 32: Temperature/RH meter arrived. 50-55% RH, 24-25 °C

I water once every 1-2 days, a small amount - if the top 2-4cm of the soil feels dry. During the vegetative state, I ran 24h of 6400K. Now I'm running 18h of 2100K for the flowering state.

Comments, advice and tips are very welcome!

My setup:

1 image per day (with one missing, because I was on a holiday )

 

[Canna Montana]

Hey there Massi! I typed your name in there and it autocorrected to massive. I'm glad I caught that typo. Lol

to the mag! Starting a Lol was the right thing to do. From weekday I can see, your plants look good.

Have a great day bud!

 

[Manic4organic]

Gonna be popping my head in on this one. Your plants looking healthy keep up the work.

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[Massi]

I just an email my pH-meter should arrive within a couple of days!

Here's today's image:

 

[Massi]

Seems like it's keeping up it's growing sprint

 

[millertm]

Great job Massi, only thing I can advise is to keep air movement into and out of tent. You will be surprised at the size of your flowers with fresh air movement. Your flowers will be smaller due to low wattage, but fresh air will maximize size. Micro growing spaces lack CO2 due to very low air volume.

Cheers

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[Massi]

Great job Massi, only thing I can advise is to keep air movement into and out of tent. You will be surprised at the size of your flowers with fresh air movement. Your flowers will be smaller due to low wattage, but fresh air will maximize size. Micro growing spaces lack CO2 due to very low air volume.

Cheers

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I see. I'm using an NZXT FN200 (166 cfm ; 284 m3/h) fan to circulate air. The cardbox box on top is a DIY adapter because I couldn't fit my fan properly

It's taped down/isolated with tape so about 95% of what the fan moves is actually sucked out of the growtent (and fresh air is sucked in at the bottom). The high temperature and air humidity is because the weather outside is nearly 40 °C atm.

 

[millertm]

No, I'm sure it's ok for Temps. For size you need either added CO2 (light to weak to add) or increase air movement. I inject 560 cfm into 3x3 (63 sq' air volume) and pull 440 cfm out. This is air movement. Size will depend on a lot of things. Your light is bare minimum to flower and if you kill it you could get about 3 zips from your plant. But I've seen similar grows (micro) only get ~40g dry from 192 watt T5 which is far better then your 125 watt cfl. Micro grows always are short on CO2. adding a DIY might help too. Cheers

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[Massi]

No, I'm sure it's ok for Temps. For size you need either added CO2 (light to weak to add) or increase air movement. I inject 560 cfm into 3x3 (63 sq' air volume) and pull 440 cfm out. This is air movement. Size will depend on a lot of things. Your light is bare minimum to flower and if you kill it you could get about 3 zips from your plant. But I've seen similar grows (micro) only get ~40g dry from 192 watt T5 which is far better then your 125 watt cfl. Micro grows always are short on CO2. adding a DIY might help too. Cheers

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I see. But this is mostly a hobby and for my (very) mild personal use. The growtent is my closet, in my bedroom - so noise and potential CO2 poisoning are factors here as well. I've already pumped close to €250 in my tent, growing materials, equipment etc. From what I've read, automated CO2 regulation (or CO2 in general) is kind of expensive. From what I've read, adding CO2 works better in big tents with little intake and exhaust (to keep the CO2 in the tent). If I release extra CO2 in the tent, I would be venting most of it into my room.

If I did my match correct, I'm venting all the air in my tent nearly 1500 times per hour:
Tent volume = 0.4m*0.4m*1.2m = 0.192m3
Fan airflow = 284m3/h
Fan airflow/tent volume =~ 1479,2
Of course I'll lose quite some airflow caused my restriction, but even if I'm only moving a 3rd of that volume, I'm still flushing it nearly 500 times an hour. Maybe I overlooked something, but I think would be enough? Pushing more air trough won't magically increase the CO2 concentration above what it's outside of the tent. From what I've learnt in my studies (Biochemistry & Biotechnology), the air should be replaced faster than the concentration of CO2 can drop (to an amount that slows growth).

I should probably also mention the lamp is rated at 125W, but actually draws close to 180W from the plug. Many people aim for 400-600W/m3. My surface is only 0.16m3, so I'm hitting close to 800W/m3. Of course it's CFL and it has a lower light penetration compared to HPS or MH, but still...

How much (more) should I have aimed for?

The reason I got into growing is because it's cheaper on the long term and because I have control over what I'm smoking. I have no intention of farming an average of 50g/month

 

[millertm]

Oh, your doing great. If I'm coming off different I'm sorry. The extra watts above 125 are only heat from ballast which is why I use T5. Money goes quick in this sport. What I should have said, if your flowers are not inline with your wattage, you may be having a low CO2 issue. Those fans will work but your math could be off some. I'll turn my tent 5x min which is 300 times an hour, you might be 500, not 5000. I've just seen very small yields in small spaces. I agree, grow what you have going and see how it goes. Cheers

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[Massi]

Cheers

pH meter just came in. My soil is 6.8, my tap water is 7.3 from the pipe and 7.2 after filtering (but all least most of the chlorine and calcium are out). The concentrated nutrient mix I use is 5.2 (includes a bit of citric acid), bringing the pH of what I poor into the pot to 5.5-5.7.

I'm guessing 6.2-6.5 soil would be sightly better, but the 6.8 isn't dramatic?

 

[Massi]

I noticed some slight leaf discolouration today, in between the leaf veins.

My soil pH is 6.8, should I increase the amount of nutrients (Terra bloom, NPK 2-2-4 is what I have atm) or lower the soil pH?

 

[Integrum Stultus]

Im subbed in. Growing in a tight space myself (a little larger though). Looks pretty good.


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[Integrum Stultus]

The leaf discoloration is most likely lite bleaching. You should have taken some kind of precaution to avoid uncontrolled vertical growth (LST or topping). With that said it looks good! With such a small grow space you may be able to utilize a co2 drip (baking soda and white vinegar). Google it.


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[Massi]

The leaf discoloration is most likely lite bleaching. You should have taken some kind of precaution to avoid uncontrolled vertical growth (LST or topping). With that said it looks good! With such a small grow space you may be able to utilize a co2 drip (baking soda and white vinegar). Google it.


Posted via my iPhone 6s from Above and Beyond... Stay high

Even from a 125W CFL? I'm currently running 18/6, should I switch to something lighter like 16/8, 14/10 or even simply 12/12?

As for growth: I'm a first time grower, so I'm bound to miss on things or make mistakes. That said, autoflowers don't like to be topped from what I've read. My next grow will be a non-autoflower Bigbud XXL from MoC.

As for CO2, soda and vinegar is kinda expensive over time. I'm currently reading into just using yeast and sugar - very cheap, even on the long run. Have you tried that before?

-Massi

 

[Integrum Stultus]

Even from a 125W CFL? I'm currently running 18/6, should I switch to something lighter like 16/8, 14/10 or even simply 12/12?

As for growth: I'm a first time grower, so I'm bound to miss on things or make mistakes. That said, autoflowers don't like to be topped from what I've read. My next grow will be a non-autoflower Bigbud XXL from MoC.

As for CO2, soda and vinegar is kinda expensive over time. I'm currently reading into just using yeast and sugar - very cheap, even on the long run. Have you tried that before?

-Massi

18/6 or 20/4 lite schedule for autos is pretty standard. So it isnt the amount of lite they are getting its that (in the one image) the main cola is like 4"-6" from the lite. And its gonna grow more most likely also so you could run into a height issue. Id top it or LST the next time like i suggested before.. but if you do be extremely careful. If you stress them too much it will stunt growth and have negative effects on your yield. have never tried either of the 2 co2 methods but have heard they will enrich smaller areas like yours. I would run the yeast set-up (i forgot about that method) personally. It seems to be more cost effective. As for the topping search a user name thebeast27. Pretty damn awesome with topping autos. Has some feeds and journals that will take you a long way in topping autos. Somewhat of a noob over here myself, never grew high grade only bag seeds. Grew a little with my brother too, he was doing SOG grows though. Ive got a seedling of what was supposed to have been purple haze growing but not in a controlled enviroment and its a photo not auto plant. Kind of a little stretched. I also topped it.

Just kinda letting her (i hope its female) do her own thing as i watch and observe reactions/growth/etc. Ive been scouring forums and reading any and everything to get ready for my 1st high grade grow here in a month or so.

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[Massi]

I found the problem for with my plant.

It seems to be Magnesium shortage. While it's not entirely clear on the photo, it looks a lot like this:

 

[Integrum Stultus]

If I were you I would consider reading up on iron deficiencies also. After further review and this new pic thats what i think it could be. Lights are still too close. Typically you want them a little further away, and considering tou are only at about the halfway point don't be surprised when your lady out grows that tent. Ba k to the iron deficiency.. What I've read iron issues is it is an easily fixed issue pertaining to your ph. 6.0-6.5 is optimal for cannabis roots to absorb iron. Also mag m iron deficiencies can go hand in hand. Something to investigate.


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[millertm]

I found the problem for with my plant.

It seems to be Magnesium shortage. While it's not entirely clear on the photo, it looks a lot like this:

That's from high PH lockout. I believe you stated soil PH to be 6.8. I've seen those tiger stripes on my plants. You have plenty of food in soil but plant is locked out. I'd aim for feed and water PH to be at 6.5. A light cal/mag treatment along with PH water will do wonders for your plant. Good job so far, yellowing is also a low light condition. 125 watts is a bit low for these plants. I'd get a few 26 watt CFL'S for side lighting.

Cheers

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[redmud]

Yeah man I ran a ferment in my grow area for my whole grow and I had it vented I figured why not and it was some good beer.

My mix ratio is 1 pound of sugar and 1 pound of food for the yeast I would use unground wheat, corn meal or any grain rye what ever is cheaper or even windfall fruit from your neighborhood. To 1 gallon of water I let the chlorine evaporate first and 1 tsp of yeast or one packet, it can be just about any type of yeast for baking leave the top of the container open or get a balloon and poke a few holes in it with a needle and cap it with the balloon.
How did you come up with the 6.8 ph of your soil?
Run off or slurry test?

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