First grow, 250w HPS cabinet...off to a rough start, let's hope for a great ending

Hey RIU! All comments/help/gripes/newb-insulting welcome!

First, big thanks to sickstone, desertrat and legalizeitcanada for their help in the problems thread. Your help was and is greatly appreciated.

On to the grow. My first grow, 250wHPS, in a cabinet roughly 20x30x72, lots of ventilation and RH at 40ish. temps sit between 73-83F. I have 8 1 gallon pots atm, with Miraclegro moisture potting mix, and it sucks rear-end.

Had a lot of problems with them, but yesterday gave them a good flush with distilled water, then fed them Fox Farms Grow Big at 1/2 with a ph of 6.2. Runoff was almost 8. WOW, running hot, and I'm thinking this was my problem, causing nute lockout and stunting growth something awful. 1 day after the flush, I've already seen a big burst of growth, and they're looking better, though still not great. I think I'll be needing to give them some more lower PH water not too far in the future. I'm worried abotu drowning them, but at this point I think it's better to take that chance then to let them sit in that horrible environment.

If this post goes thorugh, I'll upload some pics (my second try at posting this-the first one was longer).

Peace!

Hey! your plants do not look terrible! These things are survivors! Mine have been through hell and back, but they still growin steady!
How old are the plants? ll your stats seem about right.
I personally keep my grow box at a steady 76 degrees now, and at a RH of 50%
I have used nutes once in my 2 week old plants life, some no name brand NPK 1o,10,20 diluted to 1/8th strength.
I will not be using anymore for atleast another 2 weeks.

Try cool up your setup. The droopiness could be due to overwatering or intense heat.
Check out my grow sometime!
It is pretty similar, only smaller, and of course with different seeds! Also, I am using CFLs, and I must say, the results are FABULOUS!

Good luck with your grow!

Your grow looks nice man! I'll be keeping an eye on it.

my plants have exploded! they're looking great, aside from the leaves that had earlier problems. New growth is looking much better, and they're getting bigger fast. I will post some pics tomorrow. the pots are feeling pretty light, so tonight I will water them with some H20 no nutes, but lower the PH as I'm pretty sure the soil is still a bit hot. It's only been 3 days since last watering, but I am going to risk overwatering since at this point since I think clearing out the time-release nutes and getting PH in good range is going to be more important at this stage.

3 weeks today since I planted them! most of them except for the runt are getting bigger every day. Leaves were a good green today on the new growth.

I watered them this evening, with 1/4 nutes, PH 6.5 and runoff was 7.2. I took some pics but can't UL from here so will get them up tomorrow night.

They are all real short and bushy, and the new growth underneath seems to be shriveling up a dark green color.

The stems are looking way better, green and not purplish now and pretty dang thick, some of the higher (newer) branches seem to be reddish though.

some of the leaves seem to have some spotting, and i'm wondering if it's not calcium deficiency from the pics on the diagnosing thread. doesnt look like Miraclegro or FF Grow Big had any mention of calcium in them.

Another week or two until I can tell sex, right, then I need to transplant them. Should I transplant them before flowering? I'll do some research on that. feel free to comment.

see ya tomorrow with pics!

Some pics from yesterday...they're starting to put off a real sweet smell!

Day 23, the plants looked pretty dang happy today, and of course more growth. Will try and snap somepics tomorrow morning and get them on tomorrow night.

6/14/2010 Day 24

The plants are getting bigger, and putting out more smell - it's almost time to try out my DIY carbon scrubber.
The pots are getting light, but that damn MG moisture soil always feels damp in the center under topsoil, so I'm going o let it slide and waer tomorrow maybe Wednesday. The soil around the sides of the pot has contracted inwards though.

I also topped the largest plant, to see what it will do. Im pretty much planning on just doing a straight up grow since it's my first and I can learn to read the plants better.

Some Pics! Can see the one I topped, the run, and some other pics.

4 weeks old today. I fed them wednesday night and they are really taking off. I is hard to tell, but i looks like some of he plans are preflowering. The 2 largest plans seem to be showing, and I think they are male, bu it can be hard to tell without experience. I also put on the carbon filter Tuesday. It has raised the temps in the cab by 2 degrees, but no more smell unless I open the cab.

I was hoping to get rid of the males and grab some clones of the females, wait a week and transplant them before I hit 12/12, but I dunno. Let me know what you guys think!!

6/23/2010 Day 33 from seed.

Go some Big Bloom for the last feeding, fed 1/2 strength Grow Big and 1/2 Big Bloom, and wow, they are aking off. hey're looking tons better than when I was having serious problems.

I got rid of the runt, leaving 7. I've positively sexed 3 as female. can see a hair on one of he pics. looks like another 3 are male based on balls and/or "crab claw" calyxes.

I'm going to transplant the 3 females and 1 I'm unsure of into my 4 gallon pots in the next day or two.

My main questions now are should I keep a mother and take the hit on yield, or try to get some clones from each plant. Also, when should I take the clones, and when should I switch to 12/12. in 2 days will be 5th week from seed. The plants are about 9" tall from soil now.
If anyone reads this, Id love to hear your thoughts.

I transplanted the girls into 4gal square pots this morning, root systems looked good, and had no problem transplanting them whole into their new homes. They looked good tonight, a tad droopy but thas it. We'll see how they look tomorrow.

Peace

6/27/2010 day 37 from seed

I took 2 cuttings from the mos vigorous, healthy plant, and 1 cutting from the other two, and will see if I can successfully clone them.

the plants are looking pretty good, leaves becoming a dark green, fragrant, and are between 10 and 11 inches now! tips are getting a tad yellow, some slight nute burn? Will use very little nutes if any next time. I'm hoping to go to 12/12 in about a week, after 1 more watering.

Oh, I named the three ladies Sasha, Jenni, and Lexi.

The wife made me name the cuttings: Victoria, Alice, Jessica and Bella (she likes Twilight)

Will get some pics up in next day or two

Wow, I really am slacking. I should have updated a couple times, and still no pics, but...

I fed the the girls once more with 1/2str grow big and big bloom on Wednesday, he girls really love it though I do see a few leaf tips burning up, I think, since they turn yellow then crumble to a strong touch.

The tallest of the girl was about 13 inches, but after 6 weeks now, Gave them 20 hours of dark yesterday then flipped the switch to 12/12. It might jus be me, and I didn't measure, but they seemed a lot bigger today. My cab is getting pretty small for them, though most of the leaves that hit the walls just spread out to get the light even better I think.

I stretched the budget (yet again) and got some tiger bloom. Their next feeding I may put some nutes in, or just give them sraight water.

The clones are sill in the dome wih some CFLs, but I don't see any roots yet, not sure how long to wait. only Bella looks like she may be on the way down, but she was from the Lexi, who didn't seem as robust as Sasha and Jenni. I have no idea why I'm calling them by name.
I keep the dome misted, and mist the clones a couple times to 3 times a day. the little soil pellet deals are still quite moist.

Should I let them dry out more with dome vents open until they dry up some to stimulate root growth? Or have they even sprouted roots yet?

I have tomorrow off so I will put up some pics in the morning. They're really starting to take off, pistils growing out and showing up already too.

Peace

Fed the girls 2 tsp Tiger Bloom and 1 TBS big bloom per gallon today. Tiger Bloom has a low PH! Raised it with some dolomite lime and tap water to 6.1, we'll see how they like it.

a bit worried about the clones, though they look like they're rooting now.

It's hard to tell due to the angle, but Sasha is a full 17 inches now. I'm also finding pistils all over the girls now.




Oh yeah, While watering I noticed some roots already coming out of he drain holes in their new pots. really took o the transplant!

So I just checked on the girls to rotate them before lights out for the day, Jenni is 19 inches now....2 inches about in 1 day and a half. wow.

Wow, Jenni and the girls are really taking off. 24" this morning, growth of 11" since flowering, almost doubled. I fed the yesterday, same as before, 1/2 str TB and BB, but used PH up to adjust PH rather than tap water this time.

Sadly, the Twilight clones are all dead/dying. Only one sprouted a tiny root from the cut. So, I'm thinking of maybe ordering some Jack Horror to get the started vegging in a mylar tent or something while these finish flowering.

Lastly, I know my cabinet is a bit small. You can see how crowded the cab is. Would this cabinet be better for a Sog or Scrog type grow using smaller pots? During veg I fit 8 1 gallons in there with a tad of room to spare.

Anyways, PICS! They're so big now haha it's awesome.



Peace all!

The girls keep getting bigger. Looks like some of the buds are starting to form. Fed them again yesterday, with nutes. Havent seen any nute burn or anything else looking bad, so I'll keep feeding them as long as they like it. They take off every time I feed them too.

You can see the little light cages I made with left over wire from my carbon filter (which I think I will need to change the carbon in soon).

Will try and update again soon. am pressed for time today so peace!

looks good man. ill check it out again. good luck

Thanks Sir! I'll be watching your grow. lots of lights lol.


7/18/2010 Day 16

Fed the girls yesterday. Still giving 2tsp Tiger and 2tbs big bloom. They were very thirsty, I'm going to have to step up the watering schedule. This morning 33" tall! 3 times veg size already in 16 days of flowering. I did train Jenni's top a tad as she was taller than the others. Sasha is now caught up to her in height.

Buds are starting to form real nicely all over the girls. Will work on getting some pics up in the next day or two.

I had pruned some of the lower leaves and some getting in the lights way, though very sparingly since this is my first time. I dried up the leaves, and can get high off them, though only for about 20 minutes. Still, keeps me from having to buy as much.

Peace.

Filling out! nothing new to report though

hey man. looking good im currently a lil bit behind you on my first grow 250w cheese an white widow. what are you aiming for,yeild wise? or what do you think youll pull i mean.