Ryoken's noob WW grow

[Ryoken]

Some may remember me from my seedling issue thread

Ryoken's White Widow no0b initiation, frmly Yellowing edges on seedlings

sorry for the long post… I did do some searching and looked at the symptom pics… my white widow girls are about 8 days old… germed 4, 3 seem to be doing pretty good, (the 4th seemed to only be growing 1/2, one fan leaf… but anyway, I was only looking to grow 3 really anyway…) the other 3 seem to be doing “ok”… starting to see roots reach the clear pots I have them in… I’ve been watering them every 2 or 3 days… using a soil moisture meter to help me not over water them, I hope …

decided I needed a spot to log my no0b trials and tribulations… I do “builds” for my vehicles, might as well…

just a recap… first time grower, started 4 fem White Widows from ILGM, about feb 1…

first 2 weeks in Fox Farm Happy Frog, 25% Perlite, sprouted in Rapid Rooters…

learned fast how bad no ph’d water would treat my ladies…

after religious PHing at 6.7, 6.8 with runoffs now at 6.3… running 1/2 GoBox nutes… mang, PH-ing with all that schtuff in there is WAY less finicky than straight distilled, lol!!!

6 weeks tomorrow iirc…

transplanted into 7 gal smart pots using Fox Farm Ocean Forest…

gallon for size…

other than a couple leaves here and there, they seem to be going off lately… I have been training all 4 of them to some extent… but i don’t know what i’m doing, i start with a nice bend after topping at 6 nodes and bending over with pipe cleaners, but now I’m just pulling tall shoots to larger openings… all 4 have been topped now…

room is about 3’ x 5’… it is obviously too small for 4 plants… wanted 3, but the 4th took off pretty good too… we,ll see…

liner on floor… heat, humidifier and circ fan (#2 comng this week)

running 600w Solas Tek air-cooled MP/HPS setup with 6" pushing thru with a Gal Force fan… 4" ceiling fan for room exhaust, intake is under door crack…

here’s my current sheet…

Strain; Type - White Widow

Soil - Fox Farm Ocean Forest

System type? ???

PH of runoff ? currently getting 6.3… 6.7 or 6.8 going in…

What is strength of nutrient mix? GoBox, 1/2 strength…

Indoor

Light system, size? 600w MH/HPS Solas Tek

Temps; Day, Night 68 to 75 for the most part, but i’ve had lows of 58 and highs of 95, doh… see more below!!

Humidity; Day, Night 45% to 60%…

Ventilation system; Yes, Size 4" room ceiling, (6" hood cooling)

AC, Humidifier

Co2; Yes … ProCo2 tub…

by FAR… the biggest issue I’ve had other than the PH idiocy early on, has been temps… keeping the room at appropriate temps, is a full time job, lol! hopefully that will level out as outside temps get more even keeled…

if you got this far, thanks!! ANY suggestions ARE VERY welcomed…

I burn steel and fix engines all day, first green thumb attempt evA…

[yoshi]

What kind of Co2 unit is that you using, sugar and yeast, baking soda and vinegar are hot ice? But far ad your temps you might need to move more air in and out the grow space are add an portable air conditioner or cooker unit.

[Ryoken]

it’s a ProCo2 tub…

it’s just getting the room to stay at THE right temps ALL the time… being winter, i have a heater in there… and an AC in the adjacent room if need be… but most times i can’t run the ceiling exhaust fan because it draws too much cold air in under the door… i bought a $50 digital heater. but it’s WAY off with it’s therm, and is very finicky… next yr i’d definitely upgrade to a nicer one if i can find a small one…

sometimes you can get a nice temp setup for like 8 to 10 hr’s, than others, it’s great for an hr, than an hr later, it’s 88 degrees in there, doh!

i hope the spring temps make it easier…

[yoshi]

Have considered putting your heater on a timer with maybe a Titan controlled device are a commercial grade extension cord and a timer in 15 to 30 minutes intervals maybe instead of constant running, just an idea!

[Ryoken]

thanks!

the heater is supposed to be self controlled… reaches a certain temp, shuts off… kicks on when it needs to… it just seems WAY inconsistent…

after round #1 here, I’m probably gonna look at Titan type control for the room to help get a handle on it… i had BREIFLY perused that stuff, but i’m already in over a g on this and figure stuff like that would make good rd 2 upgrade…

i do have a power strip in there where each outlet is switched… timer on one of em that runs the lights, and hood fan… than everything is switched individually… ceiling fan (when i can run it ) humidifier, circ fan and the heater … the heater should technically be “on” all the time… and just kick out heat AS needed…

but just going from “day” to “night” brings big swings… that light, even with a big fan moving outside air past it, still put’s out a decent amount of heat… I’m sure the air conditioner in the other room is gonna get a workout once summer type temps are around…

love the "hobby’ aspect of it all… hardware, tech, etc… i get into it…

[Ryoken]

oh, and also, i forgot to mention…

i had read a bit about temps really affecting node seperation, and suspect that be a factor in why my plants have a bunch of nodes and seem kinda short…

[GamblingMan]

I have had the same problems early on, No heat at my location, Purchased a programmable thermostat to control what temps and time for the ac to turn on and have my lights come on at night when the temps are lower. with the cooler temps at night and the heat produced from a 1000 watt light even out and my temps stay between 70 and 80 and my ac is set on 62 while the lights are on 78 when yhey are off.

[Ryoken]

thanks a ton!!

I think my biggest issue is going to be the need for the closet door to be open to some extent at times to help cool off the closet… the AC will be in the other room… not sure enough cold air will come under the door…

iirc, the real nice controls i looked at diid that, fired up 2 different items depending on temp… an AC, or heater…

[GamblingMan]

I run duct from ac into the tent thru opening so you just need an opening.

[Ryoken]

oh, and any honest opinions on how my girls look for 6 is welcomed from the experienced… i want to know if they are small, average, etc… started out rough, but i think they are coming around now… how do they look compared to your WW’s, etc?

i’m really not in a rush, if i need to veg them a bit longer, I’m fine with that…

[Sl1]

I’m also a beginner but just for perspective I took these pictures of my 2 WWAF today. Mine had a rough start. Very different sizes. From seed Jan 15 and they started to flower around 2/24

[Ryoken]

very helpful, thanks… that’s good reference… did you top? mine are all roughly the size of the one on the left i’d guess, 2 a bit bigger maybe.

I don’t care, I’ll wait another month before cutting the light down, if it’s worth it… I’m hoping the budding goes well, got the HPS bulb waiting for it…

Ryoken reminder : go read up on “determining when it’s time to flower” articles…

I have 6 more WW seeds and 5 girl scout cookies extreme in the fridge… for the next round, I’ll definitely try out the cookies, stoked for that!

[Sl1]

@Ryoken no, I just let them grow naturally, but the larger of the two I have removed some larger lower leaves from recently. The smaller plant is too densely packed to really see what to prune (by my inexperienced eyes) so I’ve just left her alone. Hope this helps. Seeing pictures of other’s plants at various stages has helped me feel assured that I was on the right track with this first grow.

[bob31]

@Ryoken are they autos? Autos flower when they are ready. If not just change them to 12/12 lights and they will start flowering in about two weeks.

Looking good! Much better than the start lol

[Ryoken]

thanks, non auto’s… i want to make sure they’ve reached good veg peak, i’m in no huge rush… figuring at least 2 more veg weeks before i cut down to 12…

[Ryoken]

question for all, how often should i be nuting? i’ve been doing 1/2 strength every watering… should it be every other watering? they seem to be really thriving, no sign of a nutrient burn or anything…

i seem to be consistently watering twice a week… about every 3 days… wed and sat or sun depending on how the soil feels and the meters are reading…

cuz we all luv pics

girrl’s are thirsty… watering evening…

.

[ktreez420]

With them looking as healthy as they do, I’d keep doing EXACTLY what you’re doing dude, they look GREAT! Good job!

[Ryoken]

double like…

thanks mucho for the encouragement… I can’t tell you how much that input means… I’m a metal fabbing genius I’ve been told, but I’m absolutely giggeley over having LIVE things thrive at my fingertips… truly a new experience for me… and thrilling on whole new levels…

and I’m hooked!

I’m certainly excited to bud them, but I’ve been waiting a LONG time for this, so… it’s all good, I want them to be ready…

[ktreez420]

You should be happy dude, you’re doing an awesome job! Keep it up!

And stop over at the members lounge and show off some metal work, I’d love to see and I’m sure others would too!

[Ryoken]

thanks @ktreez420

2 question for the masses this evening…

1 - any brand recommendations for a jewelers loupe in 60x? all the cheapy ones get “meh” reviews, or should i just get any $10 one?

and more importantly…

2 - any signs to look for when it’s a good time to start flowering? I’m about 7 weeks right now and they are 2’ from the soil… will they really double in height?

thanks for any wisdom!!