I need some advise on my set up and ways I'm going..

My set up and nutes:

Set up: 4' x 4' x 5 1/2' high, home built with 1/2" plywood. I caulked at every spot where any boards met and painted the interior with a roof coating made to reflect light (90%), it also has an anti microbial/ anti mold/mildew. I also covered the entire interior with Mylar except for the roof and used velcro for the corners of the Mylar. I also used aluminum tape to secure certain areas. I have a 4" inline centrifuge blower fan pulling the exausted air to a carbon filter. The exaust is at the top rear of the box near the corner. I have an inlet hole for fresh air at the opposite corner at the bottom of the box. There is a 4" aluminum hose running to just under my window for fresh air. I should mention that I live in Alaska and get cold air coming in. Today I havent even had to open the window because it was so cold last night. By closing and opening the window a small amount I am able to regulate the temp at around 73*F. My light is a 400 watt MH with a Hydrofarm hood. The exaust is vented from just above the hood of the light. I ran some 4" aluminum exaust from the blower inline fan to just above the hood so that the fresh air would run up through the plants and through/around the light. There are no light leaks at all except a small amount of ambient light that comes in from the inlet but very, very little if any.

Nutrients: Pro mix soil, Botanicare PRO grow 3-2-4, Botanicare CAL-MAG, Superthrive, Ph up. I just bought but havent used: Dyna-Gro K-L-N, Olivias cloning gel, Europonic Rockwool conditioning solution, some rockwool cubes, a flat to hold the cubes and a Hydrofarm starter heating pad to keep them warm.

I have been Ph ing the food to 6.5. I have been useing a liquid Ph tester so I'm getting it as close to 6.5 as possible.

I would really appreciate any help and advise. Thanks everyone. I have some other questions about cloning but don't want to overload with my first few questions. Thanks again for your time and help.

Some Questions too please:

I have Algae.. I started these Lemon Haze seedlings in clear party style cups. It just started the greening yesterday and I covered the clear cups with red cups so no more light to the root system. Do I need to do anything else to clear out the algae or just let them go on. I was told that the algae will die off now with no light if it was just starting to green up.


I have another question if u dont mind. I have 18 seed starts and they are on their 5th node. With the limited space I have 4' x 4'x 5 1/2' tall, is it possible to transplant them into 2 gallon pots and leave them in the 2 gallons until they are finished if I just feed more often? I dont have them sexed yet and I also wanted to know if I should top them before transplant or transplant and then top them, is there a waiting time that I should wait out if I top or transplant before I do either after doing one? Thats confusing but as an example I mean if I transplant can I top right away or should I wait for a while(how long)to top? They are on their 5th node now and I'm ready to top them but I also need to transplant them real soon, like now. What should I do?

I really am sorry for all the questions but I need some good answers because I'm used to outdoor only and this is totally different i've learned. Thank you so much for your time and advise.. Sincerely


I have 2 larger females that are about half way through veg so I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this grow.


Should I clone off the 2 larger females (very good but unknown strain) or go with the Lemon Haze seedlings and take my chances on female or male? The other option is to just keep the 2 larger females in veg longer and switch them all to flower when the seedlings get going more..?? I have no camera cord to upload pics but I will take some with the computer webcam when the light goes off tonight. Thank you much for the help and advise..



I really appreciate any and all advise. Thanks brothers and sisters. Peace to you all

I would not top and transplant at the same time -- no reason to double shock the plants. I would transplant, verify they are happy with continued growth for 2-3 days, then top.

I would top the 2 larger females until the seedlings get close. I don't see why you would take clones now unless you have another veg space open somewhere. You can clone 2-3 weeks into flower and get better cuts from the bottom then.

If you have 18 seedlings, odds are you going to get 9 females. With the other two, you'll have 11 plants. That's plenty for that space.

The rule of thumb is a gallon per foot of height. I think you're going to want 3g pots at least.

3 gallon pots it is. but the 2 large females are about 2 months old. they stunted and have been for about a month. I tried to lst train them. They were gonna be mothers anyway but they look good since I let them loose. I had topped all but the bottom ones right before I lst'ed them. They are about a foot and a half high but the tops are stretched either way opposite of eachother toward the ground. 1 is smaller than the other at only a foot high but they would probably be a foot taller if not lsted or stressed. actually they should be flowering well in by now. i think that i will just go with the 3 gallons if they will all fit the room. my local shop has a 2.6 gallon pot. still too small though huh. 3 gallons should fit.

what about the algae will it die?

what do you think that in ideal conditions that 11 plants in 3 gallon pots would yield? just curious. I get a 3 pound average outdoor in Oregon..

lifeizgood said:

Some Questions too please:

I have Algae.. I started these Lemon Haze seedlings in clear party style cups. It just started the greening yesterday and I covered the clear cups with red cups so no more light to the root system. Do I need to do anything else to clear out the algae or just let them go on. I was told that the algae will die off now with no light if it was just starting to green up.


"in clear party style cups."- Hate to tell you bro but plant's roots HATE light. outside they'd be underground with no light, so you need to replicate the same thing. Try getting your hands on some small flower pots or something (ask your mates or buy some, they go for pretty cheap) if they algae's real bad though you may need to do an early transplant into fresh soil and hope they recover from there. But yeh up to you if you want to wait, I'd be getting them into some nice soil though

I have another question if u dont mind. I have 18 seed starts and they are on their 5th node. With the limited space I have 4' x 4'x 5 1/2' tall, is it possible to transplant them into 2 gallon pots and leave them in the 2 gallons until they are finished if I just feed more often? I dont have them sexed yet and I also wanted to know if I should top them before transplant or transplant and then top them, is there a waiting time that I should wait out if I top or transplant before I do either after doing one? Thats confusing but as an example I mean if I transplant can I top right away or should I wait for a while(how long)to top? They are on their 5th node now and I'm ready to top them but I also need to transplant them real soon, like now. What should I do?

18 seed is pretty much a sea of green bro, they all female seeds? If not you might only get 9 fems and have to chuck the rest out, it's hard to say. sounds like you're limited on space though, haha wouldn't go topping them either if space is your concern! i'd save yourself the headache and go for quality over quantity for now..maybe scrap the seeds and take the clones if you feels you're up to it and it's a nice mother plant?

I really am sorry for all the questions but I need some good answers because I'm used to outdoor only and this is totally different i've learned. Thank you so much for your time and advise.. Sincerely


I have 2 larger females that are about half way through veg so I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this grow.


Should I clone off the 2 larger females (very good but unknown strain) or go with the Lemon Haze seedlings and take my chances on female or male? The other option is to just keep the 2 larger females in veg longer and switch them all to flower when the seedlings get going more..?? I have no camera cord to upload pics but I will take some with the computer webcam when the light goes off tonight. Thank you much for the help and advise..



I really appreciate any and all advise. Thanks brothers and sisters. Peace to you all

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Hope some of that helps mate!
peace

lifeizgood said:

what do you think that in ideal conditions that 11 plants in 3 gallon pots would yield? just curious. I get a 3 pound average outdoor in Oregon..

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I have a 3x5 space with a 600w HID and two 240w (135 pull) LEDs. I squeezed 8 plants in 3g pots in on my last grow and pulled 12 oz. I realized having so many plants was a pain and I dropped down to 6 in 5g pots on this grow. Not dry yet, but I'm guessing over a lb. I misread thinking you had a 5x5 space, not 4x4. 11 plants will be pushing it. I would cull down to the best 9 before flower. Indoors, 2 grams per watt is considered perfect, so 1.5lb would be the max under perfect conditions for your light.

FYI, two of the plants were mothers that I decided to veg and flower this time. Harvest has been a real pain because they had so many tops and buds everywhere. I've been working a couple days for a week and I'm still not done yet.

I bought some red party cups and just put the clear cups into the red cups. Kinda good way to start in hindsight because you can observe the root growth while they are still in the clear ones too, I just have to start them in the clear covered by the red from the beginning.

The seeds arent femenized so its gonna be a wait and see what sex they are. Thats why I was wondering if I could use 2 gallon pots and still get a good yield. My local shop sells 2.6 gallon pots. I think I will go with them and try to fit all 18 in and then pull all the males as soon as I sex them. Good idea or no?

The 2 larger females are topped and 1 is only about a foot tall and the other is about 1.5 foot tall. There is enough to clone about 20 off of them but they have been in veg for about 2 months and the clones would basically be the main stems. Originally I got those 2 seeds that are now the 2 larger girls from a bag of super killer purple (not the strain name and unknown strain to me), really high quality though. I just dont know if it would be smart to clone or to keep vegging them with the 18 seedlings then 12/12 them and pull the males. I like the latter of the 2 options because 1. I havent cloned before although I bought a heat mat and rockwool cubes and conditioning solution just in case and 2. I'm not sure that these would be great mother plants.

What do you think bud?

2.6g is fine as long as you switch to 12/12 soon enough. I think option 2 is the way to go.

Nice work first off. I love how all ya'll up there in Alaska seem to be alot more skillful and resilient at what you do. Building your box, reading and doing research first and you can see that you have and it will pay off big time. So congrats on that much.

Also I would flip your plants to flower at about 12-14 inches high tops and 2-3gallon pots will work just fine. Stretch in flowering is generally based upon both genetics and light height... closer the light closer the nodes.... less stretch for the most part although some genetics like real OG kush stretch bad!!!

Anyway you seem to be totally on the right track.... Oh about topping, personally i would top first, give them a few day to a week to chill then transplant them.... let them root for a few days like 3 or 4 then give them 24-36 hours dark and into 12/12 they go.

I posted a long reply and it didnt get posted for some reason, kinda lame but I will try to update you with where I am at because I do need your help if you dont mind.

Thanks for the compliment, I am proud of my set up and I'm a perfectionist so I'm gonna change 1 thing which I will when its time and make it 4x4x7.5 high (instead of 4x4x4). I just need to add about 3 feet to the top and it will be good, a semi-easy change.

I transplanted them all in to around 2.5 gallon pots (I think 2.6) using the Pro Mix as a medium. I used all of the nutes that a normal feeding would get but I added some Dyna-Care Grow for help with transplant shock and also I bought and used Silica Blast. I soaked them through perfectly I think. They got about 1/2 a gallon each. The other nutes were: Botanicare Pro Gro, Botanicar CAL-MAG, Superthrive 2 drops per gallon and Ph UP.

I bought a 6 pack of 1 gallon distilled waters and it was a long pain Phing them all and adding nutes, lesson learned. I went out and bought a 5 gallon water container for one of those office style water coolers and a pump and long line air stone to oxygenate my own water. Its just getting too expensive for the distilled water. Now I can Ph 5 gallons at a time. I'm learning. I'm used to outdoor in Oregon brother.

lifeizgood said:

I bought some red party cups and just put the clear cups into the red cups. Kinda good way to start in hindsight because you can observe the root growth while they are still in the clear ones too, I just have to start them in the clear covered by the red from the beginning.

The seeds arent femenized so its gonna be a wait and see what sex they are. Thats why I was wondering if I could use 2 gallon pots and still get a good yield. My local shop sells 2.6 gallon pots. I think I will go with them and try to fit all 18 in and then pull all the males as soon as I sex them. Good idea or no?

The 2 larger females are topped and 1 is only about a foot tall and the other is about 1.5 foot tall. There is enough to clone about 20 off of them but they have been in veg for about 2 months and the clones would basically be the main stems. Originally I got those 2 seeds that are now the 2 larger girls from a bag of super killer purple (not the strain name and unknown strain to me), really high quality though. I just dont know if it would be smart to clone or to keep vegging them with the 18 seedlings then 12/12 them and pull the males. I like the latter of the 2 options because 1. I havent cloned before although I bought a heat mat and rockwool cubes and conditioning solution just in case and 2. I'm not sure that these would be great mother plants.

What do you think bud?

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hey dude! yeh most definitely so long as those roots are in darkness they'll be happy. Having the clear cups underneath is a good idea too if you feel you gotta check where you're at!
Yeh that's the only problem with reg. seeds it can be a lottery sometimes..you could try taking a clone off of each individual plant when they're large enough, put them into flower for a week or 2 and check to see which one's are male and which are female? that way you'll see exactly how many keepers you're going to end up with, and if you have the time and space take some clones off of your 2 main plants in the meantime!
And don't worry if you haven't cloned before! haha give it a go, the worst that can happen is they won't take off and you can still continue on with your plants you already have

Hey brother, yea I like the clear cups put in the red cups for seed starts (sometimes mistakes lead to a better way or a new way of doing things, I always try to learn from my mistakes). Just a cool way to see the root system of different strain types and to see how fast and strong the roots are.

I only have my 4x4x5.5' tall so I cant really clone off and seperate them from the pack but I was gonna let them veg for about another month and a half, depending on growth rate, and then flip them and then pull the males. It would be nice to get all the males out now though so that I can manipulate the girls more, transplant the girls to 5 gallon pots and have more light under the canopy when its needed. I will supplement with aero grow 32watt cfl's, they impressed me when I started the first 2 large females. I also like the good* L.E.D. lights for supplemental also.

I was told by the person that I got these Lemon Haze seeds from that they were ordered from Amsterdam so they may be femenized. I asked him and he said he didnt think that they were but who knows because he got them from someone else, lol. If they are all girls should I just keep the top 10 strongest or try to keep all of them?

I transplanted yesterday from the party cups to the 2.6 gallon pots and didnt get finished until they had about 6 hours of light left for the day but when I looked in on them right before the timer went off they were already bigger, no joke brother, they were loveing their new homes and are stretching their legs. I may need to lift them off the ground and closer to the light so they dont stretch. They are about 3.5 feet from the light now..?? Should they be closer? I know how to do the heat on the top of your hand for the too hot test but I'm not sure if I should. They were started on the ground and they have tightly packed nodes already. I'm about to look in on them as soon as the sun comes up here in Alaska (should be around 9 a.m.) and see how they are doing. I'm sure great but I want awesome..

If I can seperate the males earlier, I can transplant the girls in to 5 gallon pots. I'm gonna raise the roof of my box to 7.5 light heighth when I switch to flower and when I move to a new house (looking now) I'm gonna add 2 feet to the width each way to make it end up 6x6x7.5.

I'll let you know how they are when I see them in a couple hours. Peace Brother, Any input is awesome friend. Thanks

I took pics with my laptop camera so not the best quality but the 1st is my 4x4x5.5 box(top hat housing is on the top-center). The 2nd is the temp guage(top temp is interior). The 3rd is the top hat that houses my 400 Watt MH in a Hydrofarm Hood (you can see the top hat on the exterior pic of the box). The 4th is the inlet (not a great pic but it leads to just under my window for fresh air). The 5th is the interior of course, it shows all of the set up with the 2 air king small fans, The 6th is a pic of some of the 18 unsexed Lemon Haze babies(they were transplanted yesterday). The 7th is a pic of the bigger of the 2 larger females(an unknown purple strain, the bag I got em out of was some killer purple anyway.) The 8th is a pic of the biggest baby Lemon Haze.

I've transplanted a ton of plants and never seen one shock as long as i was using the same soil mix.

about the algae... I grow 12/12 from seed so they dont stay in partycup for too long but when I see green (algae ?) on the surface, its usually time for me to transplant and I just basically cover it up with fresh promix... never had any problem from it.

what is your humidity? lots of containers in your room there make sure you keep it below 60% in veg and around 45% in flower.

EDIT I just saw on the pics your RH is perfect

lifeizgood said:

Hey brother, yea I like the clear cups put in the red cups for seed starts (sometimes mistakes lead to a better way or a new way of doing things, I always try to learn from my mistakes). Just a cool way to see the root system of different strain types and to see how fast and strong the roots are.

I only have my 4x4x5.5' tall so I cant really clone off and seperate them from the pack but I was gonna let them veg for about another month and a half, depending on growth rate, and then flip them and then pull the males. It would be nice to get all the males out now though so that I can manipulate the girls more, transplant the girls to 5 gallon pots and have more light under the canopy when its needed. I will supplement with aero grow 32watt cfl's, they impressed me when I started the first 2 large females. I also like the good* L.E.D. lights for supplemental also.

I was told by the person that I got these Lemon Haze seeds from that they were ordered from Amsterdam so they may be femenized. I asked him and he said he didnt think that they were but who knows because he got them from someone else, lol. If they are all girls should I just keep the top 10 strongest or try to keep all of them?

I transplanted yesterday from the party cups to the 2.6 gallon pots and didnt get finished until they had about 6 hours of light left for the day but when I looked in on them right before the timer went off they were already bigger, no joke brother, they were loveing their new homes and are stretching their legs. I may need to lift them off the ground and closer to the light so they dont stretch. They are about 3.5 feet from the light now..?? Should they be closer? I know how to do the heat on the top of your hand for the too hot test but I'm not sure if I should. They were started on the ground and they have tightly packed nodes already. I'm about to look in on them as soon as the sun comes up here in Alaska (should be around 9 a.m.) and see how they are doing. I'm sure great but I want awesome..

If I can seperate the males earlier, I can transplant the girls in to 5 gallon pots. I'm gonna raise the roof of my box to 7.5 light heighth when I switch to flower and when I move to a new house (looking now) I'm gonna add 2 feet to the width each way to make it end up 6x6x7.5.

I'll let you know how they are when I see them in a couple hours. Peace Brother, Any input is awesome friend. Thanks

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you can have your seedlings in a clear party cups that are inserted in a non-clear party cups, when you want to look at the root you just take the clear cup out

I saw them grow like they werent even transplanted the same day I did it. I started them in Pro-Mix and transplanted them into Pro Mix and am about to peak in on them this morning. Guaranteed growth i'm sure. Peace Brother. I think I will go ahead and top today.