BBBold's First Grow [Attic, 400w, Soil]

BBBold said:

That's what I meant... a room for Veg/Clones, and a separate one for Flowering. I have both bulbs, but only one ballast...

I was hoping I could use CFL's for rooting clones and/or maintaining a mother? Obviously I can't root clones under my single MH on a 12/12 cycle.

Basically that's it... want a separate space for CFLs on a 16/8 cycle for clones and to keep a strong mother.

Only thing I worry about is insulating my space... because winter temperatures are not suitable to growing. That could cost some major $$$ not to mention make it obvious during snowfall periods. Really really big problem for me at the moment. Trying to figure out how to deal with that since summer's quickly passing by...

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yea you can use cfls for what you are wanting bro.. no problem at all... you need to have the clones and mother onand 18/6 or better cycle tho.. 16/8 is not good for rooting....

if you have both an mh and hps bulb you should just use the hps bulb the entire grow.. it will work in an mh ballast without any problems.. as long as the wattage for the bulb is equal to or less than that of the ballast you can use it in it.. you can not, however, use an mh bulb in and hps ballast...

the heat issue in the winter could be a problem.. best thing to do it make sure the hot air is being even distributed so the entire are is the same heat, and make sure the area above your lamp is the same temp as the rest of the room... maybe it wont get hot enough to melt the snow??

So its been a while. Males are gone, but my one female that made it is doing pretty well, with a few exceptions that I could use advice on.

Lets look at some pictures of my baby:

Week 15 [July 23, 2009]


Not counting the pot I would say she stands about 2'6" tall. Kinda slowed in getting taller once it started flowering in full force.


Buds are thickening up nicely...




Sweet looking little white pistils. All hairy and shit. I love it.




In the last picture you can kinda see how the very tip of most leaves are a wilting and turn crisp to the touch. I have a feelign it might just be because the light was too close? I'm hoping its that and not my other assumption: Fusarium Wilt.

Here's the deal. I have a water reservoir - basically just a Rubbermaid trash can filled with water which I pH balance as best I can before using it for watering. I remember thinking that the water smelled similar to an aquarium I once had... and since this smell is normal in aquariums, thought nothing of it.

Now I'm thinking I might have had a reservoir full of fusarium wilt bacteria, and have been feeding my precious female this the whole time.

Take a look at this... the bottom leaves have pretty much ALWAYS been a little pale and drooped a little. I figured it was because little light got down there, which is certainly the case with the foilage I've got going on.





I'm hoping I can fix the problem by adding some 3% Hydrogen Peroxide to the water, which I did yesterday. Now the reservoir smells pretty chlorinated for some reason. Is that ok? I hope so... heh.

Any advice or opinions are greatly appreciated!

shes really comin along bro.. looking like she'll end up giving you some nice buds... as far as whether or not you have a prob, i gotta know a couple things still...

are your temps still way up or have they since mellowed out at all??
are you PH'in your water prior to or after adding nutes??
are you checking the PPM of the solution before you feed with it??
do you know what the PH of your soil run off water and the actual soil itself is??

im thinking its more of either just heat or a nute lockout/burn situation.. but just need a couple other things to factor in...

simpsonsampson420 said:

shes really comin along bro.. looking like she'll end up giving you some nice buds... as far as whether or not you have a prob, i gotta know a couple things still...

are your temps still way up or have they since mellowed out at all??
are you PH'in your water prior to or after adding nutes??
are you checking the PPM of the solution before you feed with it??
do you know what the PH of your soil run off water and the actual soil itself is??

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Temps were cool for a few weeks, but this week it REALLY got hot out. Of course temps skyrocketed up there... I've been trying to ignore the issue for as long as possible, but if this heat keeps up I'm obviously going to HAVE to create some proactive climate controls.

I pH the water and leave it nute free, so I can add nutes later as I deem neccessary. Probably a mistake. Should I nute the whole reservoir and THEN balance pH? I assume so, now that you mention it.

I don't yet have a PPM meter. I need to order one. I do have a handheld microscope ready to assess when its time to harvest. Go figure. Know any mail order places I can order a cheap reliable one from? Someone that ships to Europe.

I only have a test tube pH kit. Are there cheap electronic handheld ones?

Really happy to hear your feedback simpson. I am VERY suprised at how well it appears to be coming along.

BBBold said:

Temps were cool for a few weeks, but this week it REALLY got hot out. Of course temps skyrocketed up there... I've been trying to ignore the issue for as long as possible, but if this heat keeps up I'm obviously going to HAVE to create some proactive climate controls.

I pH the water and leave it nute free, so I can add nutes later as I deem neccessary. Probably a mistake. Should I nute the whole reservoir and THEN balance pH? I assume so, now that you mention it.

I don't yet have a PPM meter. I need to order one. I do have a handheld microscope ready to assess when its time to harvest. Go figure. Know any mail order places I can order a cheap reliable one from? Someone that ships to Europe.

I only have a test tube pH kit. Are there cheap electronic handheld ones?

Really happy to hear your feedback simpson. I am VERY suprised at how well it appears to be coming along.

Click to expand...

alright.. so here is my 2 cents worth on everything...

good news is i dont think you have the thing you thought it could be...

issue #1 - if you are using a reservoir to water, and the reservoir is in the attic as well, then the water in the reservoir is equal to, or maybe slightly cooler, than the ambient air temp.. this can cause HUGE problems if its 85F or better in there... res water temps of 85+ can cook the roots, cause root rot, and even kill the plant.. it might be in your best interest to start watering my hand.. get a gallon jug with a lid on it so you can easily carry the water up to the attic...

issue #2 - when you add nutes to the water it lowers the PH... so lets say you lower the water to 6.0.. and then add nutes.. it could end up being 5.0 when your done... you really want to add the nutes and then PH everything out... this way you know what the final PH actually is.. remember, if your PH is too high or too low you end up with lock out... also you should try to get a soil ph test kit.. if the soil ends up with to high or low of a ph it cause the same problems... for instance if the soil ph is low, then you get lock out, which means fewer nutes get used, which means more salt build up in the soil from the nutes, and the ph drops even more...

issue #3 - temps.. of course you know that already.. you really should try to work on a way to cool things down up there... this will help you all the way around..

issue #4 - this is probably the least of the problems right now.. but not knowing how strong or weak your nute solution is is not a good thing... if you arent giving your girl all she needs she wont grow to all she can be..

as far as a link to anywhere that ships to your nexk of the woods, i dont have one... it should be fairly easy to find one tho...