1 month today (w/pics)

Thanks mared. I looked up those flower boosters you mentioned and it seemed those were all for hydro plants, unless I missed something.

Was curious about thoughts on the lights.

I have four 26W, 6500K cfl lights.

Should I add more?
Or maybe take out the Y-splitters and just have one light in each dome and if I should get a couple bulbs closer to the lower part of the plant? (I have a couple more of those dome lights)


Thanks.

Oh yea I keep thinking you grow in coco. I grow in coco and it looks like your soil but not the same thing. Since coco is considered hydro I can use all that stuff. I'm positive they make similar bloom boosters for soil. That light should be plenty for that one plant for veg. You want lots,lots more for flower.

It looks alot better since the first couple pics... mine does the whole droppy thing. Ive read its the plants way of saying wow lights dont go off soon?... That will change once you go 12-12.. they will wake up nice and perky... Drop your cfl closer to the plant.. you should have it around 4 inches from the top or folliage.. Looks great.. I use to use fox farm but i hated having to pay for the nutes so i switched to scotts plus with two month nutes... now i just flush at flowering and add scotts boom bloom plus... workd great... gl.. and keep the picks coming.. I also added some 8 dollar shop lights for flowering should densen up the buds little more than just cfl.. def try dropping the lights to 4 inches i sware youll get bushier check out my grow

I have some WW plants that are a month old today. I have been using Grow big 6-4-4, 1 teaspoon per gallon in every bit of water they are getting. This is also the high end for foliar feeding with grow big. I noticed that some plants of a different strain were getting solution burn when drops were getting onto the leaves during watering sometime in the last few days, I cut the concentration back by 25% and resumed foliar spraying at the same concentration. It is important to note that solution burn will occur on the interior (or anywhere) of leaves while over-fertilization will always start to show along the tips edges. The plants range in height from 6.5 to 9 inches and i have calculated the growth rate at around 1/70 inch per hour. If your plants haven't been subject to accidental solution burn under hot lights and aren't over-fertilized, but are still developing necrotic spots it is very possible that you may have hard water. Calcium in the water can lock out magnesium from the plants causing foliar chlorosis beginning in the older leaves and can also cause necrotic spots. This can be solved with foliar feeding of a good veg fertilizer that also contains micronutrients, which should also help with any nitrogen deficiencies. I have always used Grow Big 6-4-4 to great results. In the long run I would suggest buying a good reverse osmosis machine so you won't ever have to worry about nutrient lock out. In the mean time you may have to do what i do and buy a ton of reverse osmosis water at the store. Good Luck!

Thanks mared, homegrwn and atmt888.

I was looking on the Fox Farm website and it looks like they have three different kinds of flower boosters. When you says lots, lots more light, was curious about how much you think. The only place around here that has the bulbs I've been looking for is a grocery store. They're 42 watt, 2700K and they're damn near 12 bucks a bulb.

The other day I moved one of the dome lights to hang directly over the plant, but in the process I about screwed up cause I dropped it and it fell right on the plant. So for the rest of the day the top half was bent and leaning over. It seemed to pop right back up by the next morning though.

I'm not sure about the water. Originally I was using tap water, which apparently is a big no-no. I also tried rain water a couple times but it didn't seem to like that either, so then I started buying spring water and that has seemed to work the best so far.

With xmas on the horizon I'm too broke to pick up much of anything other than water right now : (


a couple pics from last night.......

I use 100% tap water. It is 120 ppm and it does cause minor problems from time to time with dry crispy patches on the leaves but if you are choosing between buying a whole bunch of water or more light, I would spend the $ on more light. Any money you spend on light will be paid back to you many times over when harvest comes around. So whatever you can spare I would put into light.

theshape said:

Thanks mared, homegrwn and atmt888.

I was looking on the Fox Farm website and it looks like they have three different kinds of flower boosters. When you says lots, lots more light, was curious about how much you think. The only place around here that has the bulbs I've been looking for is a grocery store. They're 42 watt, 2700K and they're damn near 12 bucks a bulb.

The other day I moved one of the dome lights to hang directly over the plant, but in the process I about screwed up cause I dropped it and it fell right on the plant. So for the rest of the day the top half was bent and leaning over. It seemed to pop right back up by the next morning though.

I'm not sure about the water. Originally I was using tap water, which apparently is a big no-no. I also tried rain water a couple times but it didn't seem to like that either, so then I started buying spring water and that has seemed to work the best so far.

With xmas on the horizon I'm too broke to pick up much of anything other than water right now : (


a couple pics from last night.......

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Your plants are looking much much better! Save your 12 bucks for water though. The thought of someone growing with grocery store bulbs makes me want to cry plus they will be of little added benefit. The spectrum for veg needs to be around 5000k and whats really important about picking out light is spectrum and LUMENS. 2500k just is not what your plants are gonna be able to use during veg (cant remember ideal flowering spectrum). Most of the CFs I have seen at stores, not counting T5s, put out around 2000 lumens. Your plants are going to need 8000 to 10000 lumens to be all they can be. The main problem with growing under CFs is that they have absolutly no penetrating power. You end up losing drastic amounts lumens only a few inches from the bulbs. On the flip side, they run so cool that if you MUST grow with CFs i would recommend moving them as close to the light as is possible. Maybe 2 inches away from the tops and if you can arrange the bulbs horizontally put some around all sides that you can and even in between plants if that is possible. I have never witnessed or heard of light burn from plants under CFs even when they are actually touching the bulbs. Frankly, I am stunned that your plants are doing as good as they are under CFs! As for the water, always try to buy reverse osmosis water. Spring water contains minerals which vary widely in concentration from spring to spring. If you haven't noticed any problems after a week or so of use I would say that whatever brand you're using is probably fine but do not assume that this will be the case for all brands. Remember, out of millions and millions of springs worldwide, most are not potable without processing and only a handful are bottled and sold as is.

That plant has recovered nicely. Lots of new growth

Hank.

Thanks mared, atmt888 and Hank.

I guess I'm way behind because I've never heard of reverse osmosis water.
Is this something thats pretty easy to find?

I'm certainly open to suggestions, what would y'all recommend to use other than a bunch of cfl's for a closet grow?

Thanks

For the water, just look on the label and it "should" say how it was treated (carbon filtration, steam distillation, or reverse osmosis. The walmart brand is the cheapest around here and it is treated with all three methods. For a regular size closet i would suggest a 400w switchable ballast but you may be able to get away with a 250k if your just gonna do a few plants and you plaster the walls in mylar which you should be doing in any case. Don't forget a fan, EVER. It's way easy to get heat build-up in a closet or enclosed space.

Thanks atmt888. I'll be going there in the next day or two so hopefully I'll be able to find some. I started out with just one plant to try and learn how to grow, but a few weeks into it the plant started looking really bad. I thought it was going to die, so I pulled out another bean and now have two plants growing.

I've been to several stores but so far I haven't been able to find any mylar.

I have a fan in there, but I don't point it directly at the plants.

You'll have to go to a specialty grow shop to find mylar. If there aren't any where you live you can order it from any number of websites for pretty cheap. Go ahead and spring for the slightly thicker mylar as it is way easier to work with than the thinnest stuff and dont be afraid to point your fan at the plants. The wind action has always seemed to make much stronger stems, at least for me anyways.

Thanks atmt888. Hopefully will be able to pick some up this weekend. Its a pretty small closet, thats why I've been pointing the fan at the wall.

a couple pics from today.........
Its about 8 weeks old now, last couple of days it has been drooping more than usual. It was watered about four days ago..........

hey man, sweet plant - its looking very green, lush and healthy! Definitely point the fan right on the top of the plant! no need to point the fan away, in the wild, breeze is usually constant and strong.. there is only advantage in wind, no disadvantage (as long as u not making it too strong for seedlings so they bend over!)..
as for the drooping.. its slight so I wouldn't worry about it.. just make sure that the roots aren't bound and/or sitting in water (make sure the pots drainage is good).. I suggest you cut off those yellow/dead/dying leaves at the base of the plant.. the plant no longer has any use for them...
agree with atmt, get the 400w switchable HID its the best... and yea, walmar walmar walmart, cheap shit! well, also cheaphydroponics.com is great too! good luck!

Plant # 2....
It's about 6 weeks old

theshape said:

a couple pics from today.........
Its about 8 weeks old now, last couple of days it has been drooping more than usual. It was watered about four days ago..........

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Mine droop when they want water and perk up a few hours afterward. 4 days is probably too long between watering. Use the lift test as its much more accurate than the finger test. Have you noticed any pre-flowers yet? Are those terracotta pots?

Thanks Consciousness420. Yesterday the drooping was the worst its been yet. I think I need to raise my fan cause right now its on the floor pointing up. I'd sure like to get a 400w switchable HID but it wont be until January until I can even consider getting one of those.

atmt888 said:

Mine droop when they want water and perk up a few hours afterward. 4 days is probably too long between watering. Use the lift test as its much more accurate than the finger test. Have you noticed any pre-flowers yet? Are those terracotta pots?

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Thats what I've been doing instead of the finger test now. I haven't noticed any pre-flowers yet.Yes, the one is in a terracotta pot.