Second Grow, First Indoor. The Start Of Something Wonderful.

[DGP]

I didn't expect them to grow as fast as what I see you guys doing as I am a beginner, but it does feel slow. The seeds are just bagseeds from an unknown source. I've been collecting seeds for years so there are probably lots of different kinds in the tub, could be anything. I never thought to keep them separate until I decided to start growing. Doh. I have that sour headband and my friend has a few other branded strains to give me so I'll try something with a name next round.


Tap water read 24ppm last night. 25 today. Does that mean my tap water is unchlorinated?

On Monday I will buy some cal/mag and add it to the fresh res. I'll wait 2-3 more weeks then either flip them then or top, wait a week and flip.

Did you see anything conclusive in the photos of the plants I'm trying to sex? If I have two females I'll rip out the others right away.


Thanks

Peace

Males usually flower first before the females so you'll have time to cull them out if any of them are male.

Just for reference here are some plants I have in my veg room that are about 5 weeks old. They are a little droopy cause it was just after lights out and they tend to sleep with the leaves drooping. The green tape line on the wall indicates 24"....

 

[MelonFarmer]

I don't think chlorine adds to the ppm.....have never seen the municipal levels of chlorine affect my readings that I can tell. Your water is quite pure, we have the same issue here 10-25ppm right out of the faucet. This means there is almost no cal or mag salts in the water to start with. Most water sources whether well or municipal generally have lots of Cal and Mag in them and often read 200 or more from the start. Having clean water is a blessing since you don't need to spend money and energy on RO filtration but then you have to watch for cal and mag deficiencies. However, the nutrient makers know that typical water sources have plenty of cal and mag so thats why we have to add some when the water is that low in dissolved solids.

Dee

Ok, I thought Chlorine might have showed up.

I changed out my res yesterday, bumped up nutes to around 400ppm and about 200ppm cal/mag, 597ppm total. I added half what the bottle said per liter but it was still higher than I expected. The plants look fine today though, no drooping or discoloured leaves apart from the ones that were already there so I'll let them go for now and keep a close eye on them.
I'm planning on flipping the lights on the 23rd. The outdoor run took 12 weeks to flower and could have gone longer so I'm running with that timeline, an earlier finish would be fine though. Then I'll dry in the tent for a week or two. Then start my outdoor girls in there.

This is all subject to change of course.

23rd of June flip.
22nd Sep harvest (give or take a couple of weeks). Germinating new seeds now too. Clean the tent and get some seeds in a soil mix, the same super soil recipe from last summer.
Then they will have 1-2 months veg before going outside around 6th November, my last frost date.

This is all assuming I don't mess these ladies up lol

 

[MelonFarmer]

Wow. I wouldn't know what to do with that much greenery haha. They are topped right? What strength are your nutrients at this point? Are they ready to be flipped?

 

[MelonFarmer]

Quick update on my lunch break.

I have spoken with someone from AN and they said ph between 4 and 8 is fine with their ph perfect line. The yo-yo action of the ph may be doing more damage than good so I'm going to leave it alone and see what happens. It seems to be holding at around 7.

I moved the bar heater inside the tent to try and keep the temps more even and I moved the intake fan into the tent too, blowing over the top of the heater to circulate warm air. I opened the window on the side to bring in fresh air, the room they are in is almost completely dark, I have sheets over the window, so I don't think there is any light pollution.

I've been trimming the dead leaves once they start to go crispy and it seems the problem is not spreading quickly. They are also growing faster than before I think...hard to tell, even with pictures.

I had planned to flip on the 23rd but I will wait until I think they are healthy again. Some leaves are still a little pale in the middle.

I will try to post some pictures tonight and perhaps get some help sexing.

I want to buy a 400watt mh/hps combo. Digital, dimmable ballast and an air cooled hood. I am having a little trouble choosing brands because they all think they are the best. I like the look of Vivosun based on a review I read and the fact that it is supposed to be very quiet to run but I'm having trouble ordering all the pieces down under. The measurments they give for hoods, 4", 6" etc, is that diameter of the exhaust holes? I would want to match that with my fan right?

Pics later hopefully

Cheers

 

[MelonFarmer]

Pictures of two of the plants. One is pretty clearly male and the other I think is female. The other two are too small to tell for me.

 

[MelonFarmer]

These are the light kits I've been looking at. @DGP I know you use LED, do you know much about HIDs? Do you know someone that could give me some advice?

Cheers

Peace

 

[DGP]

These are the light kits I've been looking at. @DGP I know you use LED, do you know much about HIDs? Do you know someone that could give me some advice?

Cheers

Peace

Those ballasts are suspect to me. Most of the cheap Chinese ballasts come into the US and other countries with the FCC and CE marks on them and often it is just an outright lie. I had a couple of them early on and they were creating so much RF interference that a cable TV guy came snooping around with some electronic equipment and came to my door.

I ttok a spectrum analyzer to the grow shop and tested all the brands they carried and 7 of them failed completely and only one was quiet and didn't cause harmful interference. The one that worked properly and met regulations was Galaxy electronic dimmable ballasts. The majority of them are absolute shit. You could find 90 percent of the grows in my area just driving around in a car with a laptop and an analyzer. I didn't wan people to figure out what I was doing that easily. Those lamps will grow plants but i would look at Gavitas right now cause I think I saw several sales that were at very low prices, Like a 600 w one for 299 US. I don't know what your budget is but lights are the most critical tool you have in a grow and those sets are low end for sure. The other thing is I am not familiar with what is available to you in Australia. I like CMH but of course LED is my preference and for tents Quantum boards.

Best wishes with your grow as always,

Dee

 

[DGP]

I didn't say anything earlier but I have never been a fan of AN and I am just not buying this thing they say about ph being anywhere in such a broad range. Just them saying that would make me switch to a different nute supplier. I use a simple formulation of jacks but there are so many hyped up nute companies out there it can be daunting to feel like you picked the right one for your grow.

Dee

 

[MelonFarmer]

I didn't say anything earlier but I have never been a fan of AN and I am just not buying this thing they say about ph being anywhere in such a broad range. Just them saying that would make me switch to a different nute supplier. I use a simple formulation of jacks but there are so many hyped up nute companies out there it can be daunting to feel like you picked the right one for your grow.

Dee

The AN nutrients came with the tent kit I bought. I got a sample pack of MegaCrop which I will be using when I run out of AN. If I like it I'll keep using it. I can't find any where that ships Jacks to aus but I didn't spend that much time looking, megacrop I can order off their website to my door which is nice and simple.

I'll try find some Gavitas that I can get shipped to me. I definitely don't want to skimp on quality with my lights.

Any thoughts on those pre flowers? I'm itching to flip.

 

[MelonFarmer]

Thanks btw

 

[MelonFarmer]

What about these Gavita complete systems?

 

[MelonFarmer]

W

What about these Gavita complete systems?

Never mind. They are 600w or higher.

I am now tempted by the Ceramic bulbs.

I found this website which ships anywhere in Aus: https://www.hydroexperts.com.au

If you get any time I'd love some help choosing from that site. I've completely overwhelmed myself with info.

I'll get there in the end, I promise! Your time will not have been wasted when I am passing on what I've learned here to the next round of green thumbs :D

Thanks for bearing with me haha

Peace

 

[DGP]

What about these Gavita complete systems?

Those seem nice. Do you have grow shops in you country or do you have to shop online to keep things on the down low?

 

[MelonFarmer]

Those seem nice. Do you have grow shops in you country or do you have to shop online to keep things on the down low?

None of the equipment is illegal, just suspicious. There are a few local shops but they are pretty sketchy because no one wants to talk about what is probably being grown. Online is preferable.

Those Gavitas sound great but I can't find them any smaller than 600w. I have found some CMHs that seem good but I don't want to spend $700 without a second opinion.

https://www.hydroexperts.com.au/Hi-Par-Digital-CMH-Control-Ballast-Kit-315W-Philips-315W-942-Lamp

I can afford this and an air cooled hood.

 

[MelonFarmer]

Quick update.
Still battling root problems I think. After using h2o2 for a week hoping to sterilize the res I have reintroduced the Orca but the roots are more sludgy than ever and a second plant has started to curl down. A friend suggested that what I thought was pale green new growth might actually be dark green older leaves, with the clawing that would suggest too much nitrogen so I am going to change res with weaker nutes to rule it out. Either way I have decided to flip at the end of the month with the lights I have. I can't afford to keep trying things and waiting and waiting. If it doesn't work out I'll go back to soil until I can afford a chiller, bigger pump and new lights.

 

[MelonFarmer]

Flipped. Fresh nutes at 500ppm. Roots are less sludgy but they are stained rusty red from the calmag or micro nutes. The res looks and smells clean though.

I got a cheap temperature controller hooked up to a bar heater and my intake fan which is keeping the canopy temp at 19.5C. Water hasn't been getting over 16 that I've noticed.

Since I dropped the ppm down a bit the second plant to droop is looking a little better but I don't know about the other one. Too early to tell. The main girl is still spotty but reaching for the sky and perky and growing quicker than before. She is much bigger than the other two so I could be seeing deficiencies and over abundance simultaneously in my tent. Blegh.

Still not PHing as recommended by AN, it hadn't fixed the problem but it hasn't made anything worse. Ph floating around 6.9-7.4. Feels weird.

Right now I'm just trying to be patient and not mess with them too much so I don't skew the results of my changes.

More waiting :)

Peace

 

[MelonFarmer]

Tallest is 30cm. 8 nodes on either side.

sick looking leaves of smallest plant. Possible P toxicity? Also clawing.

Big plants leaves spotty and yellow.

 

[MelonFarmer]

Hi all. Plants and putting along. They are still not pictures of health but they certainly seem happier for the lowered ppm.

I now have some time to think about my summer plan. I haven't decided what to pop, either 2 Sour Headband and 2 baggies hoping for 1 female of each or all Sour Headband.

I was looking on this at some supersoil mixes and was in the process of buying kelp and neem meal etc and stumbled upon this pre mix
https://www.organicgardeningsolutions.com.au/products/super-soil-compost-mix
Can anyone offer their thoughts?

It contains:
Oyster shell flour
Bokashi
Biochar
Malted barley grain
Kelp meal
Neem cake
Epsom salts
Dolomite lime
Azomite
Blood n bone meal
Humic/fulvic acids
And a silica/sulphur rich guano

$100AUD for 25L but that is meant to be mixed with 25L coco coir and 20L aeration amendment, I'll be using rice hulls.

If anyone has any organic soil gardener friends that could offer two cents on this mix I would really appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[MelonFarmer]

Hi all,
3 weeks since lights changed and I've got pistils sprouting all over my two remaining girls. I've noticed way more pistils on the branches closest to the lights which makes me think the lower branches will always be a few weeks behind the top and that's why you get popcorn underneath with little lights like mine. The other two have been culled after sprouting balls. I'll chuck a picture up.
I'm wondering whether its worth taking both all the way or just arranging the big one under the lights properly. Because of my weak lights I think most of the under growth will be larfy at best so arranging one properly may yield more than two fighting over the one bulb. I have cleaned them up a little and spread them out a bit to help with light penetration. Worst case scenario I'll just BHO the lot.

I'm looking forward to the simpler soil approach over summer and also looking forward to next winter, either with a chiller or an outdoor reservoir, the natural/free chiller and a 315w CMH bulb. How cold can a reservoir be before it negatively affects a plant? It gets below freezing here most nights but with moving water it will never freeze solid. Probably too cold though right...

I think my biggest problem so far has been what @DGP and a few others told me right from the start. Need a chiller. I thought I could manage it by keeping my air temps down but that just slowed them right down, almost completely for a while. Now sitting around 19C 24/7 they are still slow but the water is under 18C and they are reaching for the sky again.

I'm sitting at 150ishppm cal mag 550 after micro, grow and bloom. Way under recommended but I think the low air temps having slowed their appetite which caused me to burn them, is that a thing? I had thought it was under feeding but they look much better with lower ppm.

Hopefully I can put up some bud shots soon.

Cheers for reading my rambling thoughts haha

 

[MelonFarmer]

Moving along slowly. I wondering if an epsom foliar would help the leaves

but I'm doubting my ability to diagnose so I'm just leaving them alone now and and doing res changes every 7-14 days.