I'm a beginner looking for tips and tricks

I have no experience with hps/mh.

It looks like it’s doing a lot of stretching. Are you keeping it by a window @Ganjaboy? Try using a 32w cfl tube type of light for the first week 24hrs a day. What type of soil did you chose?

It’s about 8 days old is this normal it’s northern lights non auto

Schultz soil and I’m using a 20w led. At first it was stretching but it kind of stopped now

And I’m using the sun

The best soils to use for pot is organic soils. The stretching is caused by a lack of light. You want the soil to be light and airy. So the roots can plunge deep and wide. Id suggest a better soil medium. Roots organic, fox farm ocean forrest, or just any good organic airy type of soil. The leaves that have developed look stunted to me personally. That’s caused by the roots not having room to grow. But keep checking in, get advice from several sources before you decide.

@Myfriendis410 @Countryboyjvd1971 @MattyBear @Aolelon @raustin . Tagging some pros for @Ganjaboy.

That is a sure sign of not enough light. It’s not a terrible thing because you can bury the extra stem but it tells you that the plant wants and is looking for a better light source.

Covering with a dome (if you aren’t already!) is a good idea just to boost the RH until roots develop. Until then the plant derives it’s moisture from the air through it’s leaves.

2 Likes

I have no experience with HPS/MH lights but it would seem that you should have instructions with the light or at the web site for the company. 16" from the plant seems too close for that powerful a light.

A good starting soil for that is good to seedlings and grows good throughout is Fox Farms Happy Frog soil. It will not “burn up” seedlings due to having too many nutrients for seedlings. Later on if you transplant you can go to FF Ocean Forest which has more nutrients in it. Fox Farms trio is great fertilizer to start with.

THE most important thing to watch is the pH of the water and nutrient mix that you feed your plants. If it is too high or low, it can cause nutrient burn on the leaves or causing the plant to have nutrient deficiency due to not absorbing the nutrients as they are not absorbable at certain pH’s. pH range for soil is generally 6.3 - 6.7 with 6.5 being the sweet spot. For Hydro and coco grows 5.5 - 6.5 is the range with most shooting for 5.8. Very important to remember to check your pH AFTER adding the nutrients and before you water. It also is important to check the run off pH (this is mentioned in Robert’s Grow Bible) after watering. His book tells you how to do that. If your pH is too far off, most likely your grow will suffer.

I’ll be around to watch your grow progress. Jerry :us: :man_farmer:

3 Likes

Exactly what @Myfriendis410 said :v:

1 Like

I’ve never started seeds with hid, but I’d imagine 1000 watt you’d probably want to be more like 36” or so with mh possibly a little lower dimmed. But you definitely want to start higher and then lower as per plant growth.

1 Like

@TxGrowman thanks for your input. I have FF Ocean Forest. I currently have my sproutlings in root riots in a starter cube tray. I placed them under a regular lamp and will leave them there for the first week. Then will move the light to the ceiling of the 6.5’ tent. Will let you all,know how it goes from there.

1 Like

@MAXHeadRoom Just curious, I downloaded Roberts guides about 3-4 years ago, are they still relevant or do I need to get an updated version?

1 Like

It should be fine. But read the guides in this forum also. Thats where all the new stuff would get posted. Just read for what stage you are in.

1 Like

Thanks I do follow the forums religiously, I wanted to pass my guides along to a friend (not a member) to help him in his new endeavors!
Again appreciate your response. I’ve just recently been participating in the forums.

1 Like

Starting a grow journal also helps. There are people here that are more then willing to help.

1 Like

I’ve actually considered that, but not sure how. Do I just start a new post in the Grow Journal forums? And what information would everyone be interested in? I have two grows in progress, the first about two months along outdoors, two Purple Hazes. The second is going to be an indoor grow 1 Black Widow and 1 Bruce Banner. The second grow just sprouted.

1 Like

Snap photos. Type Day 1

Lol its literally that simple. Good info helps. Soil, soiless? Lighting? Grow area etc. but not required. Grow journals (photos at least) help me track of dates n growth.

1 Like

Gotcha, but this is not the place for that correct! I should start it in the Grow Journal forum right. I’ll gather my thoughts and put together something there in the coming days. Are there any individual tags you’d suggest?