430W hps - First Indoor Grow

[Parallax]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the site, and it looks great! I wanted to share my grow with you guys and get some feedback, ideas, you know, all the goodies this site and you friendly folks offer. Anyway, here's a bit about my setup and whatnot:

Lighting - 430w hps & 4 - 48" T8's
Medium - Fox Farms' Happy Frog
Veg. Nutrients - Fox Farms' Grow Big
Flower Nutrients - Pure Blend Pro Bloom
Grow Room - 3'W x 6'L x 8.5'H

I had one previous growing experience earlier this decade when I grew outside in pots. That went really well, being in Florida at the time, but I didn't have a separate source of smoke and ended up "selectively pruning" my plants into large beanstalks! lol Anyway, now I have a source of smoke besides my growing plants, and they're doing much better... So, without further ado, here's my first indoor crop:

The first image shows my lighting setup as it is now. I want to replace some of the red FLs with blue as the hps covers the red spectrum pretty nicely.

In total, I have 6 plants growing here, 4 of mine and 2 orphans. More to come...

 

[odinfolk]

Looks sweet bro. You got adequate space, adequate lighting, proper nutes, proper temps--what else you need?

 

[Dr.RR]

Looks sweet bro. You got adequate space, adequate lighting, proper nutes, proper temps--what else you need?

Lookin' awesome man. Real clean setup; I'll be watching this.

 

[Parallax]

The first plant shown above is designated Purple #3 and was germinated in mid-September. Today it is 12.75" and beginning to show the first signs of female trichomes... which is somewhat surprising since these plants have had consistent 18 hour days.

Grown from bagseed.

The only issue with this plant, aside from the surprising flowering, is some yellowing damage to the lowest leaves. If you know what this is, please let me know. Thanks.

The second plant shown is actually designated Purple #1. This germinated seed was planted on September 1st. This plant is different than all the others in one main aspect: I didn't use Happy Frog, but rather Miracle Gro... I hadn't found out about Happy Frog yet...

The results were very stunted growth compared to all subsequent plants. The leaves were a far lighter shade of green, almost yellow. The leaf size was really small.

Once I started with the fertilizer the plant started to respond and has been growing much faster and more robust.

Two days ago the first signs of trichomes began to form on this plant as well.

Purple #1 is 8".

Why would trichomes begin forming under 18 hour days? Thanks.

 

[Parallax]

Purple #4 is showcased in these images. Growing much like Purple #3, but without the yellowing on the lower leaves.

This plant is about one week younger than Purple #3.

Purple #4 is 9.75".

Again, everything from bagseed.

The next plant is Schwiz #3. So, I'm basically just testing things out here... My theory is this: If I get some awesome weed and happen to get some seeds from the bag, that's great. However, that seed will only likely ever produce a crop of the same or less potency than its properly maintained and harvested parent. However, with swag seeds, the plant it comes from wasn't properly harvested, to be sure, and may not have been ideally grown. Thus, the genetic potential of the swag seed is an unknown factor... I want to see the different between the swag and the swag seed grown in a grade manner... just a science experiment of sorts.

This plant is very robust, but it's also having some discoloration issues. Based on some research and reading at this board and in my reference guides, I believe this is a magnesium deficiency, but I want to hear some feedback if possible before addressing it.

Schwiz #3 is 7.5".

 

[Parallax]

The last two plants are orphans. They were originally in ground plants, apparently started in July. They never got enough direct sunlight, were obviously pruned nearly to death, and are just really sad little guys...

I got them just over a week ago, having just started to fully flower.

They were in really bad containers, so I transplanted the one and filled in soil on the other, but left it in the tupperware (poked holes through the bottom for drainage).

Their color perked up almost instantly and they're having some nice growth now.

My plan is to bring these two to term, harvest, and then try for a second growth out of them... again, this may be more trouble than it's worth, but I kind of want to compare these plants now with their next yield, as well as the clone I will take when they're healthy enough... that way the same genetics will be reviewed under 3 distinct growing patterns... should be interesting.

Orphan #1 - 6" in full bloom
Orphan #2 - 4.75" in full bloom

The original soil has these little fertilizer balls. I'm kind of concerned that they'll time release nutes when I don't want them to, but there's not much I can do about that....

Anyway, to those of you that have already replied, greatly appreciate it! I look forward to hearing from all of you. Thanks again!

 

[Parallax]

A couple questions... Thanks in advance for your answers.

1) How long after the plants begin showing trichomes should I switch to my bloom nutes?

2) I live in a very dry environment here in the desert. Still a no no to mist buds?

3) In the last picture posted, what is causing the yellowing issue shown?

Thanks again!