This is my first attempt at medical indoor grow...Pls leave tips or advice.

DirtyTerry

Member
This is my first attempt at a decent setup. Its an Apollo Horticulture UM42 42inch reflector with a 400w HPS/MH. I'm using about an 8x9 foot room with 4 5gal buckets with holes in bottom for drainage, + i'm using all Fox Farm soils and nutrients, with Mylar surrounding my 4 10 inch blue dream clones, Which by the way are approx. 1month 1 week old, Please any advice or comments will help me. 20150226_161848_HDR.jpg 20150226_161947_HDR.jpg
 
well an 8x9 room is much too large of an area for only a 400w light. the standard is 4x4 for every 1000w light. you should scale down the area you are trying to grow in to be appropriate for only 400w, like 3x3 or less. if you try to illuminate that large of an area with so little light you will not see the results im assuming you are looking for.
 

DirtyTerry

Member
well an 8x9 room is much too large of an area for only a 400w light. the standard is 4x4 for every 1000w light. you should scale down the area you are trying to grow in to be appropriate for only 400w, like 3x3 or less. if you try to illuminate that large of an area with so little light you will not see the results im assuming you are looking for.
I have enclosed the plants with mylar covered panels to where its about a 3x3 area and dropped the light to about 16inches from the plants...you think the area being sized down with having the panels to block the loss of the light would be ok?
 

old shol4evr

Well-Known Member
you are using the mh bulb right now right ,do you have any air moving over the plants,if you are wondering that they are growing slow it is becuase of the pots ,the clones are working on root structure right now so be patient when they take off it will be on,they look ok for this stage in there life
 

DirtyTerry

Member
you are using the mh bulb right now right ,do you have any air moving over the plants,if you are wondering that they are growing slow it is becuase of the pots ,the clones are working on root structure right now so be patient when they take off it will be on,they look ok for this stage in there life
Sounds good and yes I was using an MH bulb for veg and now i switched to HPS to start the first flower cycle, and yes I put a rotating fan so it make kind of a little wind tunnel to keep the clones moving a little, so other than that looks good eh?
 
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DirtyMcCurdy

Well-Known Member
Looks like you're on the right path. Its good you switched to flower already because you won't be able to get very big plants under that 400 watter. But it will work for small plants. However, that being said, being only a 400 watt bulb you can drop that parabolic down closer to the plants. You'll have to rotate your plants as they will grow right towards the bulb and the sides away from the bulb will need rotated anyways, that's where the mylar or a tent would help reflect light back. Some growers grow in open rooms, a closed up grow room isn't necessary all the time.
 

DirtyTerry

Member
Perfect then, thank you guys so much for the tips, it has really helped me alot...that being said, I probably will be getting a 1000w hps/mh so i can grow them a little taller in the next harvests. Again thank you guys.

DT
 

indicat33

Well-Known Member
This is my first attempt at a decent setup. Its an Apollo Horticulture UM42 42inch reflector with a 400w HPS/MH. I'm using about an 8x9 foot room with 4 5gal buckets with holes in bottom for drainage, + i'm using all Fox Farm soils and nutrients, with Mylar surrounding my 4 10 inch blue dream clones, Which by the way are approx. 1month 1 week old, Please any advice or comments will help me. View attachment 3360615 View attachment 3360616
Everything looks great to me, Keep it up. Nice, 5-gallon buckets, they will have PLENTY of root space. Try to reflect as much light back to the plants as possible. The plants look nice n healthy. Good Job so far bro 8)
 
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DirtyTerry

Member
Everything looks good to me. Keep up the good work. Nice, 5-gallon buckets, they will have PLENTY of root space. Good Job so far bro 8)
Man, feels good to hear the good comments, I was worried at first because the bottom sun leaves looked a little droopy, but the upper plants are flourishing, They are about 2 days into flowering so ill post picks at about 2week increments. Thank you again! Feels good!
 

indicat33

Well-Known Member
Man, feels good to hear the good comments, I was worried at first because the bottom sun leaves looked a little droopy, but the upper plants are flourishing, They are about 2 days into flowering so ill post picks at about 2week increments. Thank you again! Feels good!
Very welcome bro, is that MH or HPS bulb you are using? I would use the HPS to maximize your Lumen output (55,000) for the 400w HPS Bulb. Happy growing ! :bigjoint:
 

Gary Goodson

Well-Known Member
Watering properly is a big deal, lift your buckets right after you water them to know what they feel like wet and then wait till they dry and lift em again. Just by picking them up you'll get to know when to water them.

I would also remove some of the lower branches/leaves, it looks like some leaves might be touching the soil and that could possibly lead to problems
 

DirtyTerry

Member
Sweet, I was wandering about the lower foliage, taking up energy the upper plant could be using....keep the info coming, I've done alot of research online, in books and from just hands on experience. And as far as preventing the possibility of Nats or other pests would a sticky strip or few of them help or what is best to prevent them from showing up. I keep the entire room sealed except for feeding and check ups, no food drink or cross contamination from clothing or anything of the sort.
 
Never remove any leaves unless they are completely dead and dry. Think about the leaves as a way of the plant gathering energy. The more leaves the more light energy the plant can soak up the faster it will grow.
 

panhead

Well-Known Member
Never remove any leaves unless they are completely dead and dry.
This is not correct , by the time a leaf has gone yellow it's used up it's stored energy , the lack of green pigment means no photosynthesis is happening within the leaf , leaves should be removed as soon as they go yellow .

Also allowing leaves to stay in contact with moisture laden soil, hydraton,coco etc is a good way to invite powdery mildew into the grow , air should be able to flow across the top of all mediums .
 

DirtyTerry

Member
This is not correct , by the time a leaf has gone yellow it's used up it's stored energy , the lack of green pigment means no photosynthesis is happening within the leaf , leaves should be removed as soon as they go yellow .

Also allowing leaves to stay in contact with moisture laden soil, hydraton,coco etc is a good way to invite powdery mildew into the grow , air should be able to flow across the top of all mediums .
I have to agree with this, as I cropped out some of the leaves that were along the medium line, and i topped two of them and now they are Flourishing and looking amazing, gonna give it a week then post picks... =D
 

DirtyTerry

Member
and not sure what's causing this on just a few leaves but i removed a few that were like this but do not want to mess with plants too much in flower stage....any thoughts?Not sure whats wrong here.jpg
 

Sunny Organics

Well-Known Member
and not sure what's causing this on just a few leaves but i removed a few that were like this but do not want to mess with plants too much in flower stage....any thoughts?View attachment 3365289
Don't want to give you any wrong info here, but it looks to me some kind of calcium deficiency or it might be your pH. ( i say ph because i can see yellowing in the tips of your leafs and can look similar to a calcium deficiency. ) If i was you i would go out and buy some CALiMAGic, never hurts to add it to your waterings and it's not expensive ( around 14$ for a quart ). If you're using tap water make sure you let it sit for at least 24hours to get rid of anything the water might have. Im assuming youre checking your pH on your waterings? Also if you're having issues, let the plant be and don't remove anything. That's just going to bring you more problems. The fan leafs isn't the thing causing you issues,it's the plant itself telling you that it needs something. Hope you find your solution!!
 
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