First grow...advice please!

[Buck99]

Hi, I’ve got a thread going elsewhere and I’d like to move it over to Grow Journals…how do I do that?

Anyway, I’m 2.5 weeks into my first grow. I think things are going quite well…plants seem to be growing at a good pace, generally happy I think:

I’m certain I am having some nutrient issues tho:

Here are the basics I’m working with…

What strain: 2xRed Dragon, Barney’s farm,1xCharlotte’s Angel, Dutch Passion and 1 x Jack Herer, Native seed co.

Method: Organic soil

Light period: 24hr for first 10 days of seedlings in solo cups, then 18/6 after potting up…still 18/6 at week 2.5 (19 days on)

Vessels: 15litre pots

PH of Water, Solution, runoff (if Applicable): Water 6.5, run off can be over 7!

PPM/TDS or EC of nutrient solution if applicable: NA

Indoor or Outdoor: Indoor

Tent: 90cmx120cmx160cm

Light system HLG550 LED

Temps; 24-25ºc

Humidity; avg. 70%

Ventilation system; Yes, small

AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier: AC/Heater

Co2; No, but brewing in same area so Co2 can be a bit overwhelming at times!

I check PH daily, but seems stable at around 6.5.

Added a dilute of Cal/mag 4 days ago as I thought that might be the problem…

They seem very light green…I would want them darker I would think.

Fed them once only at this point… with Organic Nitrosol (N8, K3, P6) a blood and bone with minerals and trace elements.

Main concerns are splotchy leaves, light green, and some leaf curl:

Also, I might be getting close to training time…
As I’m a bit new, I was thinking of trying topping one , Fimming another, and maybe another technique on a third…and leave one alone!

Any suggestions on how to go?

At this point, it’s about getting the feeding right.

What’s a good schedule to follow? I know overwatering is a big problem with newbies.

Cheers!

[elheffe702]

Which thread? I can move it for you.

I think that’s a great idea, trying the different techniques to learn what works for you. Just read up on each, and do your research about the timing of what to do and when to do it. Follow the schedule for whatever nutrient line you’re using, starting at about 1/4 to 1/2 strength at first. As far as when to feed them, you want to wait until the pot feels light before you feed/water. They react better to underwatering than they do to overwatering. They look great so far!

[Buck99]

Thanks @elheffe702 here is the topic I’ve been post to: QB V2 120/132s 3000K

I’m a new grower, so I thought that’s where I should be…in Grow Journals…

Any thoughts on the splotchy leaf pic?
Leaf curl in other pic?

Watering: I’m doing it sparingly…this week I did a good watering with no nutes, just to get some runoff to check my PH. I waited 48hr and watered again with the first nutrients @50%. pots are still pretty heavy, so may wait another day and hit them with more nutrients @50%. From then on, I’ll use 100% dose of nutrient with the water.
PH seems stable over last few days at 6.5-7.

I’m quite pleased at this point :o)

[elheffe702]

Ah, I see. Just make this thread your journal then, no worries. We can change the title if you like?

The drooping I’m seeing on the other thread looks like they’re much too wet. I wouldn’t do a thing for a few days at least. The soil shouldn’t stay wet. You want it to dry up some before watering again. Make sure they have good air circulation, and keep on top of the environment as far as temperature and humidity. You can easily run into problems with fungus, pests, etc. with too much moisture. Sometimes the best thing you can do for them is step back and watch.

The pics on this thread look like they’re either too hot, or the light is too intense or too close, the way the margins are curling up. They do look happier, wetness-wise in these pictures, too.

[Buck99]

Cheers,
Moved the light up a couple of inches.
I will just observe for the next day or so…pots are quite heavy. I’d like to see the curl go from the leaves…
Do I keep the lamp height to the canopy top of 24" constant while the plant grows?
It’s a HLG550…I could turn it down a bit? Tent tends to stay about 25ºc at 55-70 RH. Installing my ducted filter fan next week…air circulation isn’t great at the moment, I’ll admit. I’m getting an AC Infinity T6…apparently the temperature controller works well…10 speed!

[PharmerBob]

I run 2 hlg 260 and find I need to dim and work into a full force lighting over time.

Let them bush out nice then blast them. But yes try dimming

You’ll also need to start to dim back down towards the last 2 weeks of flower. It’ll trick the plants into thinking they are losing the sun and over produce rosin

[elheffe702]

Sorry I bailed on you! @PharmerBob has you covered!

[Buck99]

I hadn’t noticed! All good advice and I’m glad I found this place. Chime in anytime!

[Missiles]

They really look good good luck I’ll be following along

[Buck99]

They are growing fast and generally OK, but the darn leaf-curl is looking a bit worse.

No water for 2 days…surface is drying, and the pots are getting lighter. Might fill a dummy pot with soil out of bag to feel the dry weight…then I can tell better if they are needing water.

So, in the last 24 hrs I’ve raised the light to maintain 24" from Canopy, and turned down the light by about 1/3 of the sweep of the control…so still pretty bright, but noticeably less hot on the back of my hand.

Turning light down has caused the temp in tent to drop from avg 26ºc to about 23ºc, (in the 70’sF) which is fine…I thought 28ºc(80ºF) was a bit hot, and it was getting there with the light on full.

I will be installing my AC Infinity T6 fan tomorrow! It weighs nothing, built in timer, keeps temperature steady by auto turning up speed when temp reaches a preset amount…and slowing down if too cool…very quiet too!

[elheffe702]

The fan will help immensely with…well, everything

[monkman]

great start @Buck99

[Buck99]

So I didn’t water for 5 days until the pots became light enough for one-handed pickup…
I did about a litre per plant of just water with a nice 6.5 PH to evenly wet the soil, but not get it too wet.
Next day I did another litre per plant with nutrients (Nitrosol, blood and bone, 8-3-6)
At this rate, I get no run off.

IS THIS AN OK WATERING REGIME?
-when they are dry/light (+/-3 days) I give them a water
-next day, I give 'em more water with nutes
-leave them til one-handed dry again, then repeat…?

Should I give them a better soaking once in a while?

The plants seem happy:

Yesterday I decided top top my 2 Red Dragons…It went well I think…they look happy and some small new branches are already becoming more prominent.
Top and Bottom solo pics are the newly topped Red Dragons

The other two weren’t as ‘leggy’ so I haven’t done anything to them…yet.

I think I’m doing OK…the leaf curl isn’t a big deal I don’t think, they are growing like crazy and no sign of trouble.

[PharmerBob]

@PurpNGold74 your a wiz with the soil man. Thoughts and opinions? I usually run the Ppm at about 800-1000 ppm at this point but without run off you can’t test the output to see what your getting.

I run a rdwc so I can text runoff ppm at any point in time I’m not sure how to test soil.

Looks good curling could be from too much light, they need some darkness like a 18/6 so they can release the co2 that builds up in the plants

[DankGunslinger]

Hey @Buck99 hey how does the controller for the fan work? I didn’t get it with my t6 heard negatives was curious what you think.

[Jbum]

@Buck99

Might fill a dummy pot with soil out of bag to feel the dry weight…then I can tell better if they are needing water.

Absolutely nothing wrong with that!

[PurpNGold74]

Thanks for the tag Bob. Sorry so late. Been celebrating .

Buck your ladies look GREAT! The lil curling is as Jefe stated more likely an environment issue. Leaning towards too warm. U adjusted accordingly. They will catch up to you. Also food for thought. The hlg’s are a HIGHLY intense light source. Calmag and N are things they will need in abundance at this stage. Maybe not ‘pour it down her throat’ abundance but it doesnt hurt to supplement in watering and feeds. Well didnt hurt me.

The water, feed, let dry; is a nice plan. I more Feed sunday. Water tuesday feed thursday repeat. But that was mature feeding. Definitely listen to the pots. Its more important than any ‘one schedule fits all’ type of deal.

O and last thing. At 2.5-4 weeks 600-800 isnt bad. But u wanna know what the 800 is. Like. What is ur water ppms to begin? Then after u add calmag? So the remaining is the… meat and potatoes. One last thing. What type of soil are u using.

Finally again ur girls look excellent. Keep doing what ur doing

[Buck99]

Cheers for the encouraging words!
I think i need to get a couple more tools…PH meter and a meter that does ppm readings.
I’ve been using PH drop tests…OK for water, but not for soil or runoff measuring as they only work with clear water…I also have one of those $10 probe meters I use for soil, so my readings are ‘ballpark’ at best…

• would appreciate any recommendations for PH/PPM measuring equipment…is there a holy grail multi-meter that is popular. Hannah is a brand I see, and Bluelab too…

Today I’ll do a full water with Cal/mag and get some runoff happening so I can try to measure…with my crap testing gear…but I think a Cal/Mag boost is required.

I try to keep my tent around 21ºc (70ºF)…I think it was getting too hot at 25-6º.

I set up the ventilation yesterday…kept the fan outside the tent, so just filter inside for space consideration. I’m venting it into the roof cavity…

Wanna make sure I can get the light to the top of the tent if required…It’ll just squeeze by.

I’m very encouraged from the positive remarks I’m getting.
Thanks!
The hardest bit for a newby is KEEPING MY HANDS OFF THINGS!

[Buck99]

So far, so good. I haven’t programmed it yet…but in playing around with it, I realise it’s great at bringing down temp. I was getting a bit hot at 26c, so I turned it up from 3 to 4, and in about 2 minutes the temp dropped to 24. In reverse, the tent was down to 18 this morning, so I turned the fan down, temp went up!
Once I get more familiar with how it works, I’ll try programming it.
Light as a feather, very quiet 1-3, starts to become more audible from 4-10…
I set it up outside the tent for space consideration…
Love it!

[Buck99]

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