1000 Watt MH and 2000 Watt HPS first grow

D

Dylatk

Member
I have watched friends grow and read and read and read. Once I was ready I put the below room together...





2 1000 Watt Digital Ballasts
2 1000 Watt High Pressure Sodium Bulbs
1 1000 Watt Metal Halide Bulb
2 8" Hydrofarm Hoods
1 Can-Lite Filter 8" 1000 CFM
1 Can-Fan 8' 932 CFM
1 8" 245 CFM input fan
1 Oscillating Fan
1 Grow Tent Zipper System
20 Feet of 8" Ducting

I took the above equipment and started by covering from floor to ceiling with "Panda Paper." A highly reflect eve heavy ply grow room plastic. It is water and smell proof. I wanted to create a negative pressure in my room with the setup.

Let me know what you guys think!

When I have a few minutes I will show you my babies that are a week into veg
 
r.i.kid

r.i.kid

Well-Known Member
lol dude those ballasts are gonna melt your panda plastic= no more sealed room...move those things outside the room asap
 
thenotsoesoteric

thenotsoesoteric

Well-Known Member
Also if that is a 1k MH then I'd move the light up to light 4-5 ft above plants until they're growing steady. Cheers good luck
 
D

Dylatk

Member
Yeah I read about all the issues with ballasts getting hot yesterday and that combined with the water issue I think they are gonna get moved out tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up guys.
 
slinger36s

slinger36s

Well-Known Member
Definitely move the lights up or dim your light if your ballast allows, no need for 1000w blasting 1 week veg ladies. Besides that and the ballast issue others pointed out, looks great for a first grow, best of luck sir!
 
D

Dylatk

Member
Here are my babies a week into veg. From the top I think they look amazing. The new growth look perfect and is growing 1/2 inch a day ATLEAST. I eased them into the 1000W MH. I started at 600 watts with it about 4 feet above. Then after a few days uped it to 750 watts. Then 1000. Now it is over 2 feet above and as far as my newbie eyes can tell they are not suffering any light shock. The temps are at a max of 75 with a low of 65. With all the ventilation and it being in a basement I hit the nail on the heat for temps I think. Once the second light comes on I will be able to increase the output of my can-fan which I think should do the trick. That with winter coming and an AC unit on standby I am not stressing temps. I am a bit worried about diagnosing some lower leaf issues.

The new growth looks GREAT to me. I have them in FFOF which they have been in for 2 weeks now. I realize this may have been a little hot for them off the bat. When I transplated to 5 gallon pots I mixed in about 10% grow stones for aeration. I have watered with clean PH balanced water every time but once where I used half strength Fox Farms Big Bloom. I have posted my sexy pics as well as my problem pics below. I am desperately trying to figure whats going on with the lower leaves myself as I do not want to be one of those people that just has it hand fed to them so here goes my reasoning to my issues.

I know that there is some Nute burn... I know I know, hot soil too soon. I will do better next time. But I am also concerned that there may be a nutrient deficiency as well. Owing to the yellowing older lower leaves I have been led to believe that it would be a deficiency in a mobile nutrient. Likely Nitrogen from all the reading and picture comparison I have done. However as they have been in FFOF for just under 2 weeks how could they have used up all the N by now. So is it ALL nute burn or is something else going on? Any input is appreciated or good guides you guys know about. I have read several exhaustive posts on nutes but by the end I am convinced my plants have half of the deficiencies. So I need a little guidance from someone experienced please. Here is a;ink with all my pictures that seem relevant. http://imgur.com/a/tVlU5







 
slinger36s

slinger36s

Well-Known Member
Dylatk said:
Here are my babies a week into veg. From the top I think they look amazing. The new growth look perfect and is growing 1/2 inch a day ATLEAST. I eased them into the 1000W MH. I started at 600 watts with it about 4 feet above. Then after a few days uped it to 750 watts. Then 1000. Now it is over 2 feet above and as far as my newbie eyes can tell they are not suffering any light shock. The temps are at a max of 75 with a low of 65. With all the ventilation and it being in a basement I hit the nail on the heat for temps I think. Once the second light comes on I will be able to increase the output of my can-fan which I think should do the trick. That with winter coming and an AC unit on standby I am not stressing temps. I am a bit worried about diagnosing some lower leaf issues.

The new growth looks GREAT to me. I have them in FFOF which they have been in for 2 weeks now. I realize this may have been a little hot for them off the bat. When I transplated to 5 gallon pots I mixed in about 10% grow stones for aeration. I have watered with clean PH balanced water every time but once where I used half strength Fox Farms Big Bloom. I have posted my sexy pics as well as my problem pics below. I am desperately trying to figure whats going on with the lower leaves myself as I do not want to be one of those people that just has it hand fed to them so here goes my reasoning to my issues.

I know that there is some Nute burn... I know I know, hot soil too soon. I will do better next time. But I am also concerned that there may be a nutrient deficiency as well. Owing to the yellowing older lower leaves I have been led to believe that it would be a deficiency in a mobile nutrient. Likely Nitrogen from all the reading and picture comparison I have done. However as they have been in FFOF for just under 2 weeks how could they have used up all the N by now. So is it ALL nute burn or is something else going on? Any input is appreciated or good guides you guys know about. I have read several exhaustive posts on nutes but by the end I am convinced my plants have half of the deficiencies. So I need a little guidance from someone experienced please. Here is a;ink with all my pictures that seem relevant. http://imgur.com/a/tVlU5







Click to expand...
Have you been checking the PH of your RO water? You are correct that there should be no deficiencies, I used FFOF for a long time and constantly had issues, til I started mixing in powdered dolomite lime into the soil as a pH buffer. Now I have made the switch to Fox Farm Happy Frog as it already has dolomite lime in the mix and have had great results thus far. FFOF always had way too low of a PH in the RO water without the addition of the lime, was a constant battle. Just because your watering with PHed water does not mean your soil PH is the same as the water you are putting in. Just my two cents, hope that helps. At a quick glance I would guess that your either having a iron deficiency or cal/mag issue due to possible nutrient lockout due to ph issues. Hope this helps:) happy growing! Edit: also why are you using bloom nutes in veg?
 
D

Dylatk

Member
So checking in on my babies today the nute burn seems to be getting worse. I no longer think it is a deficiency I think it is nute burn. Some of the leaves appear to be "clawing" randomly which would seem like a nitrogen toxicity. I checked my soil PH today and it was 6.95 which is on the high high end of acceptable. Do you guys agree that a flush is on order? What ph should I use, 6.4? I can not find an exact answer. I am growing in FFOF with 10% grow stones added in.

PLEASE I NEED HELP!!! Hand feed me please haha



More pictures here --> http://imgur.com/a/7HnhC
 
D

Dylatk

Member
slinger36s said:
Have you been checking the PH of your RO water? You are correct that there should be no deficiencies, I used FFOF for a long time and constantly had issues, til I started mixing in powdered dolomite lime into the soil as a pH buffer. Now I have made the switch to Fox Farm Happy Frog as it already has dolomite lime in the mix and have had great results thus far. FFOF always had way too low of a PH in the RO water without the addition of the lime, was a constant battle. Just because your watering with PHed water does not mean your soil PH is the same as the water you are putting in. Just my two cents, hope that helps. At a quick glance I would guess that your either having a iron deficiency or cal/mag issue due to possible nutrient lockout due to ph issues. Hope this helps:) happy growing! Edit: also why are you using bloom nutes in veg?
Click to expand...
The Fox Farm feeding schedule says to use Big Bloom during the first week of veg so that is what I was following... For even more confusion it says to use 4 tablespoons for "normal" feeding on the back of the bottle but the feeding chart says to use 2 tablespoons. This is the chart I used http://www.420magazine.com/gallery/data/500/Foxfarm_Soil_Systems_Feeding_Schedule.jpeg

I have not been checking the PH of my run off water. I will when I flush. If you guys think I should flush.
F&^@
I am really really starting to freak out now. I have almost 4k invested in this :(
 
slinger36s

slinger36s

Well-Known Member
I would put the amount of space in your pots of phed water thru your pots, half of the water at a time. For example if you have a 1 gallon pot, put 1/2 gallon in , then wait 5 minutes and put the other half gallon thru, collect the water from the 2nd half gallon coming out of the bottom and check the ph of that, the first half gallon of water run off will not be a very accurate account of the ph of your soil as most of the first half gallon of water will push right thru your soil without saturating it therefore giving you a bad read. As for your nutrient schedule, it is correct in saying to put half the dosage of nutrients recommended on the back of the bottle for the first nutrient feeding, though you should not even need to feed for 2 weeks after transplant as your soil is already full of nutrients. I would start that nutrient schedule as it is except I wouldn't use any bloom, just veg nutes at half the recommended dosage for your first feeding. Personally I steered away from the fox farm nutes as I always had issues with them, currently I run the botanicare pro line and have excellent results. Don't fret, I started off just like you, cannabis is a weed, I have seen it ran over with a lawn mower and grow back. Your still early in the growth and still have plenty of time to get things more balanced. As for the dolomite lime, when you transplant I would suggest ordering some off ebay and mixing 1 tbsp per gallon of soil. Also for your nutrient issues, if it is lockout which it looks that way to me, I would suggest getting a cal/mag with iron foliar spray til you get your ph fixed and remember, no foliar spray during lights on or you will get burn spots on your leaves. Again don't worry, your not in trouble just yet, your at the beginning of their life cycle and still have time to make corrections, if you were already flowering that would be a definite problem but your not so cheer up!
 
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D

Dylatk

Member
So you do not feel like I am in danger of losing all my plants? I guess I am most afraid as it is now slowly working its way up the plant. At first it was just a few old leaves at the bottom but now they are looking worse and the symptoms are spreading up the plant. Thanks I am a bit calmer now...
 
Olive Drab Green

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
Dylatk said:
So you do not feel like I am in danger of losing all my plants? I guess I am most afraid as it is now slowly working its way up the plant. At first it was just a few old leaves at the bottom but now they are looking worse and the symptoms are spreading up the plant. Thanks I am a bit calmer now...
Click to expand...
No. Cannabis is very resilient. Most problems with new growers involve two things: lack of confidence and abundance of ignorance. Knowledge is power. If you study and remain confident in your knowledge and ability to apply that knowledge, you will never need to ask anyone again, because you won't be afraid.
 
slinger36s

slinger36s

Well-Known Member
Dylatk said:
So you do not feel like I am in danger of losing all my plants? I guess I am most afraid as it is now slowly working its way up the plant. At first it was just a few old leaves at the bottom but now they are looking worse and the symptoms are spreading up the plant. Thanks I am a bit calmer now...
Click to expand...
Also are you letting your water sit out or put through I filter to remove chlorine?
 
D

Dylatk

Member
I am putting 5 gallons into a Lowe's bucket with a lid. I PH it when I fill it up. Then every day at least once I check the PH and mix it with a power drill and paint mixer. I feel like the agitation oxygenates it and helps mix it up. I do leave it with the lid on most of the time in a dark room. My tap water before any PH down has a PH of about 8.0 and 25ppm. After PH it is about 6.4 and 35-40ppm... Does all this seem in line? Pictures below
Lowes Paint Bucket.jpg Lowes Paint Bucket Lid.jpg Paint Mixer.jpg
 
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