400Watt HPS..1st attemp..unknown/known seeds

Hey everybody..hows the bud treating you? Good I hope! Welcome to my first grow..Check it out..So its day 17. I transplanted 6 seedlings into Fox Farm Ocean Forrest soil on the 11th day into 3gal pots. I had cfls on them for the first 7 days, then I put them aside and let the HPS do the work. 18/6. This is my first grow, and for it being my first I guess you can say im doing ok. Just prefer the experienced eyes to lend a hand so I can skip a little trial and error

Info.
2'8"x2'8"x5'3" Tent
Seeds - THC Bomb, Mazar, Unknown Sack
400watt HPS
4" fan blowing air in
4" fan sucking hot air out

Nutes
FF Grow big, Big bloom, Tiger bloom
Liquid Karma
Sweet
Superthive

Here are some pics of of them on day 17..If you have any questions/comments feel free to post.


How do they look?

Lookin' good!!! How's your temp in that tent? High temps retard growth, among other nasty things like burn. You gotta keep it between 75 and 80 optimally.
2 things. Watch your watering. They now do not need to be watered that much. I water mine every 3 or 4 days. Let the pot get dry before you water each time. Second thing is don't overfeed. Use your nutes at 1/2 strength MAX, and slowly build up. I'd say you're using good nutes, but I've never used any of the "Grow Shop" formulas. My first was Miracle Gro (they call it that 'cuz it's a miracle they grow and don't die) and I am now all organic. Pain in the ass when you're used to the other, but it gets easier to understand fairly quick.

Those 2 things practically wiped out my first grow. I brought 1 out of 8 to harvest.

Don't go "looking" for problems (and cures) and stay the hell away from the "Plant problems" threads. Thats like a hypochondriac getting on Web MD. You'll start seeing problems where none exist. If you do get a problem, you'll know it after watching them for a while. They go thru changes and "moods" daily. Don't freak.
Relax, watch, learn then enjoy!!!


TLP

Hey TLP, thanks for the encouragement/advice.

I know all about the common new guy mistakes, and over watering being one of them.

Temps - 74low 81high

I gave them a watering Mon. and then Fri.
On Fri I gave them a little liquid Karma, Superthrive, and Big Bloom...1/4 Recommended serving.

I have the rest of the FF Nutes, but im going to wait until the 3rd-4th week to use them.

Why only 1/2 MAX?

Should I grow these puppies out, or train them?
I heard the more LST, the more bud.

They look OK, but at this point they should probably a little bigger. It looks like you've got the basics covered pretty well, but you must be careful not to go overboard with the nutrients, supplements, and watering. You should not be using any type of nutrients before the plants are at least two weeks old. Young seedlings get their tiny requirement of nutrition from the trace elements found in the soil. They just cannot handle additional supplementation at this stage. SuperThrive is something you need to be using with great care. It fine to use as a one-time treatment for seedlings, and when taking clones, but it should not be used on a consistent basis throughout the plants life. Same thing with the Liquid Karma. One treatment at the beginning of the plants life, one treatment in the first week of flowering, and one last treatment 3 weeks before harvest. Heavier use can lead to stunted growth and nute burn. The Sweet you are using can be put on the shelf until your plants are flowering. It is not necessary to use it during the vegetative phase and doing so is pretty much a waste of money. Don't fall into the newbie trap of overwatering your plants. It's tempting to want to give them water all the time, but you'll just end up killing your plants if you do. Saturate the soil, then leave it alone until the soil has almost completely dried oujt. Then repeate the thorough saturate and, again, leave it alone so it dries out. Depending on the size of your container, you should be waiting 3-5 days between waterings. Good luck and welcome to the community

Yeah, I thought that they should be a bit bigger too, which is why I asked about the temps. They're between 75 - 80, you cant argue with that.

Dude, for the veg phase, you want a higher N, and for the flowering phase you want a higher P. (N-P-K) While I'm sure that those "Hydro-Shop" pre packaged nutes are tried and proven, now that I'm getting an understanding of them I'll stick with the Guano's, worm castings, meals, kelp etc.

And for your next grow, you want to be adding some mycorrhizal fungi to your soil, along with dolomite lime. I added them this grow, and I really do see a big difference in overall growth and vigor. Google mycorrhizae. If you're gonna go organic (or even if you don't) you oughtta be using them.

I tried to over engineer every aspect of my first grow, and got my ass handed to me by mother nature. She let me know real quick to quit fucking with them so much. They'll do just fine on their own (With proper lighting and temp control), all we can do is help them on their way.
Other than over watering or over feeding (nute burn), any problems that arise should come on slow enough for you to figure it out and correct it. That is IF you do have a problem. But you give them a little food, a bit of water, and lots of light and let 'em go at it. In about 4 months you'll be smiling!!!

I agree they should be a tad bigger but now that they are in those huge assed pots they should grow 2 inches a day in a week or 2, or even more. well make that an inch,,,, they are still pretty young lol. But lookin good dude. Peace out.

It's fuckin' amazing how fast these things will grow, once you give them a bit of leg room.

The highest my temps have gone up were 82F, but thats not THAT bad. I do have "Earth Nectar, and Earth Ambrosia" and I think they are the mycorrhizal fungi your talking about.?

They really are growing fast though. I transplanted them, but I think its when I added a little superthrive and a dash of big bloom. When I water them either tomorrow or on day 2o I will be adding ferts. 1/4th strength.

What did you notice from the mycorrhizal fungi? Better yields/potency?

thelastpirate said:

Yeah, I thought that they should be a bit bigger too, which is why I asked about the temps. They're between 75 - 80, you cant argue with that.

Dude, for the veg phase, you want a higher N, and for the flowering phase you want a higher P. (N-P-K) While I'm sure that those "Hydro-Shop" pre packaged nutes are tried and proven, now that I'm getting an understanding of them I'll stick with the Guano's, worm castings, meals, kelp etc.

And for your next grow, you want to be adding some mycorrhizal fungi to your soil, along with dolomite lime. I added them this grow, and I really do see a big difference in overall growth and vigor. Google mycorrhizae. If you're gonna go organic (or even if you don't) you oughtta be using them.

I tried to over engineer every aspect of my first grow, and got my ass handed to me by mother nature. She let me know real quick to quit fucking with them so much. They'll do just fine on their own (With proper lighting and temp control), all we can do is help them on their way.
Other than over watering or over feeding (nute burn), any problems that arise should come on slow enough for you to figure it out and correct it. That is IF you do have a problem. But you give them a little food, a bit of water, and lots of light and let 'em go at it. In about 4 months you'll be smiling!!!

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Mystery101 said:

The highest my temps have gone up were 82F, but thats not THAT bad. I do have "Earth Nectar, and Earth Ambrosia" and I think they are the mycorrhizal fungi your talking about.?

They really are growing fast though. I transplanted them, but I think its when I added a little superthrive and a dash of big bloom. When I water them either tomorrow or on day 2o I will be adding ferts. 1/4th strength.

Click to expand...

Since I have only the one other grow to my name, I couldn't say as to the yield, but I have noticed that these are alot bigger and more robust than the last grow at the same stage (Comparing pics). I am gonna flower them soon, so I guess we'll see soon enough.
Your temps are now and have been fine.
I have no clue what those "Earth" products are. The mycorrhizae I know about is from either Myco-Stim, or BioTone Starter Plus w/ mycorrhizae. OhSoGreen knows about some others, as well as Seamaiden. I am using bat guano, blood meal, bone meal, kelp meal etc as nutes. They come as a powder that I sprinkle on top of the soil. Seems to be working well, I just hope it's worth while. They say that there is a world of difference in the taste using organics as opposed to chemical nutes.
Sounds like you got it going on.

Peace.

TLP

Tomorrow I was gonna water my plants, but should I give them 1/4th strength nutes? I was also going to lst would this be recommended at such an early age?

Mystery101 said:

Tomorrow I was gonna water my plants, but should I give them 1/4th strength nutes? I was also going to lst would this be recommended at such an early age?

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I start manipulating stems and branches from the time they are about two weeks old. I focus on guiding the side branches through the fan leaves so that they have access to direct light. If I didn't do this, all my nice side shoots would live sadly beneath the fan leaves, never leaving the shadows, never growing up big and strong, and up to their full potential.

I was so worried about over watering in the beginning stages of my veg that I was under watering! Is it possible your under watering? Once they get in bigger pots they grow like crazy....

rolla8 said:

I start manipulating stems and branches from the time they are about two weeks old. I focus on guiding the side branches through the fan leaves so that they have access to direct light. If I didn't do this, all my nice side shoots would live sadly beneath the fan leaves, never leaving the shadows, never growing up big and strong, and up to their full potential.

Click to expand...

What do you mean by "guiding the side branches through the fan leaves"?

I was going to bend the top stem sideways promoting the lower branches to get light. Then LST those branches that pop out sideways in the future to get the most bang out of this.

What should I watch out for, so I don't uproot my plant, or break the stem.
I was going to tie it at a 45 degree angle instead of 90 to SLOWLY decrease because I DO NOT want to fuck this up.. Plus i've been reading a lot of LST information.

The nutes I plan to use for this feeding are
1TSP Big Bloom
1TBS Grow Big
1TSP Liquid Karma
Maybe a little super-thrive but not too sure yet.

Sound Good?

Hey Hey Man! Lookin good! Ever think about ScrOGing them?

Thanks bro!
If I knew that they were going to be girls I would ScRog, but these are from seed I don't want to risk it.

aaahhh yyeeaa... that part! My bad... I'm so high I forgot the UNKNOWN SEED headline! HAH! Well, good luck with the LST!

Mystery101 said:

What do you mean by "guiding the side branches through the fan leaves"?

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I carefully move the large fan leaves growing off the main stalk and guide the shoots growing out from the lower internodes up through the spaces I created between the fan leaves. Sorry if that doesn't make sense. It's not the easiest thing to describe. Tomorrow when I take new pics i'll snap a few illustrating what I am talking about. I don't bend the top stem like a lot of other people do because I don't have a problem with light not reaching the lower branches. By positioning the fan leaves and side branches the way I do, sufficient light is able to penetrate the canopy.

Mystery101 said:

The nutes I plan to use for this feeding are
1TSP Big Bloom
1TBS Grow Big
1TSP Liquid Karma
Maybe a little super-thrive but not too sure yet.

Click to expand...

You've got your measurements wrong with the FoxFarms products. If you feed your plants using this formula you've put together, you're going to end up burning the shit out of your plants. For one gallon of water, you want to use 1/2 teaspoon of GrowBig and 2 tablespoons of BigBloom. If, after a week or two, you start showing signs of nitrogen deficiency, you can increase the GrowBig to 1 teaspoon per one gallon of water.

Another problem with your proposed formula is the use of both BigBloom and Liquid Karma. Both of these products serve the same purpose and consist of approximately the same ingredients. Both of them are biological growth catalysts intended to be used as a supplement to your normal nutrient regimen. So, you really need to choose one or the other. Since you're already planning on using the FoxFarms product line, I suggest you stick with that and remove the Liquid Karma from your plan. If you want to use SuperThrive in your feeding solution, go right ahead because it will not conflict with the rest of your formula. Use 1-2 drops of SuperThrive per one gallon of water. You can add it right into your mixture of GrowBig and BigBloom. If you do decide to use the SuperThrive, make sure you don't exceed 2 drops per gallon of water, and discontinue using it at the same time you begin your 12/12 light cycle because it's only appropriate for use during the vegetative growth stage.

Thanks for the clarification Rolla
I'll be watering with the recommended nute strength you gave me and giving each pot 2 liters of water.

Here are some pictures before I water them.
2 have 3 nodes while the other 4 only have 2.
The tallest two are 5" whiile the other 4 are only 3"

Well today marks the 21st day since two of these babies popped the surface.

Im about to go to class, but I had to empty out the saucers with the r/off water. I know i was suppose to do that right after watering, but im a noob sooo..
Anyway...
I fed yesterday (first feeding), and am going to LST two of them today (other ones are younger, and 2 of them have 3 nodes developing 4th)

I can see little leaves forming around my bottom branch too (at the first node), I just gotta get that sucker some light!
I'll try and get some pins of some sort, then a tie/string to hold those suckers down..
Suggestions are welcome, advice is always appreciated
Lets see if they shoot up

Everything is looking good so far.
Im not sure If I should move the light closer to the plants though..
I have a cool-tube and the temps are 72F-80F. And the light is 2' away.

Moving on to what I did today:

I went to the dollar store, and picked up some twine, and a couple of screws. I came home, and started poking holes in the pot so that I would be able to LST them right.

I only tied 3 of them down, because the others were just a LITTLE behind schedule.

Skills?:

1st pic - The group, without LST
2nd pic - Side pic(You can see the screw in the pot)
3rd pic - Tied down the base (So plant will not get uprooted)
4th pic - Plant LST'd
5th pic - Top view
6th pic - All of them together chilling (3 LST'd While others veggin out!)

Comments/suggestions/advice is alllll gooooooodddd