My First Grow Ever!

Thanks Wildwelshman, that's a good ref chart. I did not have a ppm meter until yesterday and being my first grow, and first attempt at hydroponics, I have been chasing the nutrient/water devil. That being said I'm not sure it's going to get much better, but I'm trying.

Since all my plants are roughly three weeks from seed, I'm taking everyone's advice of less is more when it comes to feeding for now. Yesterday was water change day and each bucket got a fresh 3 gallons distilled h2o with 7ml micro, 7 ml grow, 3.5 ml bloom Humboldt nutes. I am measuring my nutes with plastic droppers so I know they aren't each going to be exactly the same, and I expect some variation of ppm between the buckets. However measuring ppm before and after the nutes were added, they all didn't reach the ppm most suggest ~300-400 for early veg. I am keeping a close eye on them watching for any negative changes and so far they look healthier. Even had some noticeable growth overnight. So, questions for the collective minds: Add more nutes to bring up the ppm on those lacking? Ride it out till next water change and up nute use gently then? Or quit worrying until something starts looking like death sucking a lemon?

Below are the ph and ppm readings taken during the water change:

#1- plain h2o 200ppm, after nutes 430ppm(230), ph 5.9

#2- plain h2o 165ppm, after nutes 451ppm(286), ph 5.1

#3- plain h20 162ppm, after nutes 524ppm(362), ph 5.5

#4- plain h2o 165ppm, after nutes 494ppm(329), ph 5.7


I don't want to be spoon fed, but I'd sure appreciate some feed back from more experienced growers.
Things I'm going to work on doing better...measuring nutes, adjusting ph, watering.
 
I'm asoil guy my self mate so can't really help on this one..there are a few people on my journal that grow hydroponics give a shout out on there mate..i think Green Dreams and British Green may be able to help you out ..
 
I picked up an ultrasonic humidifier this weekend. I've managed to raise the RH from ~32% to a pretty constant 50% inside the tent. It appears that a side benefit to the increased RH is an overall lower ambient temperature at the base of my plants, between 8-10deg F.

Noticed that the bubble kush autos are putting out pistils like crazy when I put them to bed earlier. It looks like #3 is going to be the producer of the two. #4 went through a growth spurt that was almost scary and stretched to the heavens while her sister just sat and got fat. <grin>

According to the seed bank I should harvest around 25 Jan. Sooooo looking forward to sampling the fruits of my labor and eventually being cannabis independent.

I'll follow up with more pics Friday coming. Happy cultivating all !
 
Khraevyn said:
Hey Rifleman!!:welcome:

I am new myself, but this site is really nice. A lot of people actually take the time to respond and help others out. In regards to ur heat issue, i would imagine if you could keep a good supply of clean cool water available, you could try to control your temps that way. I see that having a lot of issues though. A lot of wasted nutes and making sure your water is perfect every time. If u can get a fan and place it up higher to act as an exhaust, that would help. Keep it as high as you can as that's where the hot air is. Even just a little desk fan or something to at least create a flow or draft. Just getting the air moving will help cool it down some. You can also try something like this to blow cool air in:

This seems like a pretty simple setup as long as you're not blowing the air directly on the plants. They may not like the cold air.

Good luck and I'll be watching with excitement!!

~K~:Namaste::bravo::goodluck:
Click to expand...


I tried this, but with a styrofoam cooler and - it wasn't NEARLY as effective as all the videos i saw. Now, to me, its more of a novelty idea, a proof of concept, more than an actual solution. :( I ended up having to put an AC in, and have half of the AC directed thru a dryer vent into the grow cab itself, while the other half is cooling the room. Sucks up electric like a son of a bitch, but keeps it under 82 degrees, so thats good. But when good bud in my parts goes for close to 400 a O - its well worth the bill.
 
Had some thirsty girls today. Everyone took ~1/2 gallon. Used some pipe cleaners to lst #4. She is about 13" tall with the third nodes reaching almost 10" up, her sister is barely 8" tall, tight and bushy. I spread her open as much as I dared. Even managed to do it without breaking any stems either. Felt awfully generous after exposing her dignity though, so I set the light to 750w for the rest of the day(10 hrs) :o

Stay tuned for my Friday update, both 3 & 4 are flowering and I hope to tease you with some close up pics.
 
ok rifleman my apologies - I am already subbed to your journal :) - man i have 125 journals i follow - hard to remember sometimes when they are not the usual 20 i always check - I will adding you to the list of 20 - still looking good bro! keep it up :)

Seems we have a defoliating discussion arising here - I love these :) - always new info and ideas come out each time -
 
Merry Christmas everyone !!

Simple chores this morning like topping off the humidifier, giving all four a little drink prior to a complete water change tomorrow, etc. I wasn't going to water them, but since I turned the light up to 750w and will be leaving for the day I figured it couldn't hurt. Same thing I thought about a quick adjustment to #2's stance. Oh well, I had painters tape and pipe cleaners on hand. I'll see tonight or tomorrow if I am successful at saving the branch.

BTW numbers 3 & 4, my known female autos, seem to love the 750w over the 600. <seg>

Pictures tomorrow.
 
Here we go folks, the best part of a journal, picture updates. When I have time later this weekend I will post the technical data of ppm out, ppm in, and the changed feeding routine, additional light, etc. I feel like a blind mouse running from the farmer's wife, but I must be doing something right. As always you can click on the pic for a larger view. Enjoy.


Everyone together.


Number 1 side and top views.



Number 2 side and top views.



Number 3 side and top views.



Number 4 side and top views.



The very top of number 4.
 
Finally a little quiet time to post some numbers. As I was doing my water change in an assembly line fashion, I forgot to take ph readings on the discarded water, I did remember to get ppm out readings though. <sigh>

Below are the ph and ppm readings and measurements taken during the water change:

#1- plain h2o 182ppm, after nutes 769ppm(587), ph 5.0.....ppm out 247.......9" tall

#2- plain h2o 179ppm, after nutes 680ppm(499), ph 5.6.....ppm out 301......7" tall

#3- plain h20 180ppm, after nutes 920ppm(740), ph 5.0.....ppm out 265......13" tall

#4- plain h2o 180ppm, after nutes 882ppm(702), ph 5.4.....ppm out 264......20" tall (grown 3.5" in last 4 days)

The feeding schedule has changed a bit. Since they are flowering numbers 3 and 4 had their ppm of nutes almost doubled since last week.
Into 3 gallons of distilled h2o numbers 1 and 2, still in veg, got 10ml micro, 10ml grow, 6ml bloom. My pretty flowering ladies each received 3 gallons with 10ml micro, 14ml grow, 20ml bloom.

On a side note 48 hours after snapping a branch at the juncture with the main stalk, I see NO wilting. It appears the tape and pipe cleaners did the job of saving it. WooHoo !

Hope everyone is enjoying my journal. As always questions, comments, suggestions, etc. are welcome and encouraged.
Thanks for having a look.
 
Wow. My girls are thirsty. The bag seed plants each sucked up 0.5 gal in 36 hours, and the auto plants took up 3 qts each in the same time.(ph'd h2o only) I'm raising the light daily as #4 just keeps getting taller. Almost 2' already and only day 29 from breaking ground. With 5 more weeks to go and only using 750 of the 1K watts available, I might have the makings of a fat harvest.

So here's a question for the collective; Since most growth seems to happen in the rest period, would there be any advantage to cutting back to 12/12 around week 5, figuring 8 to 9 weeks total? Maybe go 12/12 and bump the light to 1K ? Thoughts or observations ?
 
Hey, Rifle Man love what your doing check me out!

I Started With Miracle Grow (Don't Shoot!!) LOL! i know i shouldn't have but as a newbie i really didn't know much as far as Soils, Nutes ect... But After doing some extensive research i realized that MG wasn't the smartest thing to do but they seem to be doing fine so far. I will be transplanting these Mudasuckas! very soon to some FoxFarm Ocean Forest Soil. Being The Newb that i am i know i probably made a few Mistakes, but i'm very eager to Learn and am great at following directions, NO I HAVEN'T BEGAN TELLING MY STORY AS OF YET LOL... BUT HERE IT GOES>>

THIS IS MY 1ST GROW BOX I KNOW ITS TERRIBLE! BUT IM WORKING ON BUILDING SOMETHING MUCH BETTER SOON.


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CURRENTLY I HAVE 2 ( 23W CFL's PUSHING 1600 LUMENS EACH AT 6500K )

1 6 inch fan BLOWING AIR AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOX TOWARDS THE TOP.

AND I CUT A FEW 2 RECTANGLE HOLES ON THE OTHER SIDE TOP SIDE OF THE BOX FOR THE HEAT TO ESCAPE.

>>>>

Unfortunately i started my grow in MG and i found out later on that it wasn't the brightest thing to do.
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AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH I GERMINATED EACH SEED FOR ABOUT 2-3 DAYS IN A DARK SLIGHTLY WARM PLACE AND BOOM THEY STARTED SPROUTING SO I PLANTED THEM AND WATERED THE NEW SOIL. LIKE A MUDASUKIN FOOL,I ADDED THIS SHIT TO THE WATER>>
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SMH! :hmmmm:

SO FAR ITS BEEN 1 WEEK, BUT THEY SEEM TO BE DOING OK IM NOT SURE DOE THAT'S WHY I CAME TO THE GODS LOL FOR SOME GUIDANCE! ANY WAY THIS IS WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE SO FAR.>>
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THIS ONE RIGHT HERE HAS SPECIAL STORY!>>

This lil guy is about 2 weeks old and i started it with the same process. But as it got bigger the leaves started kind of burning out, i also had a Misting bottle that had MG Fert in it and i was misting my life away SMH i Know ( Please Don't SHOOT!! ) Lol any way as soon as i started to see this i flushed the soil with regular H2O and it seems to be bouncing back not sure doe >>
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NO YESTERDAY I ACQUIRED SOME NUTES AND SOME pH TEST STRIPS. Nooooo its not FoxFarm but it seems to be some great REAL ORGANIC STUFF The Ratio is 10-4-3 its By All natural organ stuff its my first applying the right Ratios Of Nutes But I Only applied to 2 of my babies just to try it out.... i didn't want to jump the gun. But from my understanding and research, the babies love a bit more Nitrogen than anything in their Veggie Stage so i made sure to get the right ratios. I flushed the soil of the 2 FURTHEST TO THE RIGHT UNDER THE LIGHT i let them sit for a bit and then watered them again with some Distilled Water and my Daniels 10-4-3 Nute as directed 1tsp per gallon, i tested the pH i it was between 6.7 and 7.0. One of them look the stem is turning into jello pudding and the other one seems to be fine so far not sure, but it hasn't been 24 full hours yet... we will see. >>
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HELP!!
 
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