First time growing inside, Help Please!

[FreeTheWeeds]

I've always grown outside, pretty much plant them and forget them in the corner of the garden. Garden has become overshadowed by tree growth so I'm not getting the sunlight the plants need. So I'm trying it inside.

I started a single plant (Granddaddy Purple, feminized) in a 20" x 36" grow tent. Tent is located in the furnace room, setting on plywood raised off the floor with 2x4s. Room temp during the day is in the low 70's and at night drops to low 60's.

To keep costs down, for lighting I'm using 4 of the following:

Barrina Grow Lights for Indoor Plants, Full Spectrum Sunlight, 4ft 80W​

The led's are clipped to the 4 metal posts inside the grow tent.

To generate heat and humidity, I'm using a low wattage coffee warmer, with an aluminum heatsink and pie tin filled with water. I'm able to maintain 81 degrees with about 70% humidity during the day with this setup.

I started about 5 weeks ago planting one seed in household starter soil over 2" of gravel at the bottom of the pot. Other then the initial watering, all water has only been added to the pan at the bottom.

Several days ago I noticed tan spots on the two original leaves, which I pinched off. Since then the condition seems to be spreading. Not sure if I have too much light? Any help would be appreciated.

Grow tent inside:

Closeup of leaf damage:

Closeup of plant:

Thanks again for any help in the right direction.

Have a good day.

 

[Pike]

Looks like to much moisture, otherwise plant looks good. Maybe knock the humidity down a bit. Soil appears to retain moisture well.

 

[FreeTheWeeds]

Some photos and a few questions.

I'm running my LED lighting 17/7. I've been having trouble maintaining above 75 degrees, so I'm trying one of those heating pads. I did my last toppings a week ago. Here's a top view.

Full side photo.

Closeup.

I fed the plant with this stuff twice so far. The last time was a day before I topped it.

Here's a far shot of my grow tent, 36" x 20".

So my questions are:

How much more should I let it veg before going to flower by changing the lighting to 12/12? I thought that I'd wait until I'm getting full leaves at each of the new topping sites, about 12 splits right now. Is that too long to wait?

When switching to 12/12, I plan on having the top LEDs running, as shown, and also have the four 4' long LEDs that are on each pole turned on. If that's too much lums, I'll try having only two of the pole LEDs on, along with the top LEDs. Will this be too much, maybe preventing the plant from stretching and flowering?

Any recommendations on feeding formulas? Looking for something along the lines of what I've been using, but for flowering.

Thanks for any feedback.

Have a good day.

 

[brotherfrombelgium]

I like your set up nice and clean very nice amigo bueno.

Now in a tent like that you have to be careful if you flip too late it will simply outgrow it.

You have heaps of height available which is great, if you want max yield i would veg them for awhile yet maybe consider a little scrog in there to keep them all in line, etc.

Lumens don't mean anything so don't worry about that, a single led from the top is enough i would save some power and turn them off.

You have weeks of veg to go before you flip, me personally i flip after it's around 8 weeks old, but i grow in water I don't grow in soil so i know someone else will be able to chime in who understands the growth rate of soil grows better.

Eventually you will go perpetual, 2 tents, 1 veg and 1 flower tent and you'll love it all the best with it.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Back to the humidity situation ... You should be fine if your rH is sitting around 50%. This time of year, mine can drop into the 30's in my grow area. I don't do anything to raise humidity. Low humidity is far less of a problem than having your humidity too high ... and once you flower 70% has a potential to cause some problems for you. I agree with the poster that stated your soil looks like it will retain water well. With that in mind, a cheap moisture probe will take the guessing out of the watering task. Mine was under $10. I like this one because it has 10 marking levels. I water at about 3 on my probe. I also take multiple readings in different parts of the soil.

 

[FreeTheWeeds]

Tonight I started to lower the time by 15 minutes a day, down to 12 hours for flowering.

I'll start to trim the lower leaves once I hit 12/12. Need to raise the LEDs about 6".

Closeup of the tips. The plant has about 15 good solid tops that I'm hoping will turn into buds.

Anyone have any suggestions on type of feeding for flowering stage?

Have a good day.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

What have you been feeding it so far?

Edit: Your using Dr Earth. I would switch to a flowering formula. Something with less nitrogen and more P and K. What you have now is 3-2-1. My organic flowering nutes are 1-5-4 I believe. Dr Earth brand is fine.

 

[Dye]

Looking good do not rush, almost at flower stage or there
Closer to the finish line , no cheating.

 

[Tonymayo]

I'd take some leaves and prune before flipping to flower

 

[GNick55]

looks perfect as is..

 

[FreeTheWeeds]

So I finally reached 12/12 yesterday and have been using liquid Bloom when feeding thru the light time change.

Here's the plant before I started trimming.

Closeup

Here's a side view.

A few pics after the first trim.

I've also started running the vertical LED lights along with the 2 footers at the top. Due to the location, I've had to increase the heating, trying to maintain at least a 75 degree / 55% humidity atmosphere. I'm hoping that the extra LED lighting will also help raise the temp.

Have a good day.

 

[FreeTheWeeds]

Nine days later, time for another trim. Before photos, long shot and closeup of a top.

After the trim. Long shot, showing the leaves cut off at the bottom of the photo. Closeup of bud after trimming large fan leaves.

I'm sure that there will be another trim in the near future.

I've got the tent temps running at 82/day - 68/night degrees, with the humidity staying between 35 - 45%.

I'm hoping to get at least 1/4lb, if not more, out of this plant when fully mature.

Have a good day.

 

[GNick55]

Nine days later, time for another trim. Before photos, long shot and closeup of a top.

View attachment 1214394
View attachment 1214395

After the trim. Long shot, showing the leaves cut off at the bottom of the photo. Closeup of bud after trimming large fan leaves.

View attachment 1214396
View attachment 1214397

I'm sure that there will be another trim in the near future.

I've got the tent temps running at 82/day - 68/night degrees, with the humidity staying between 35 - 45%.

I'm hoping to get at least 1/4lb, if not more, out of this plant when fully mature.

Have a good day.

mmm 1/4 pound,
i’m guessing 2 ounces dry, maybe more if you stop trimming leaves.

 

[PK1]

mmm 1/4 pound,
i’m guessing 2 ounces dry, maybe more if you stop trimming leaves.

lol, you beat me to it

 

[FreeTheWeeds]

One month and 3 days since I went to flowering mode, along with two trims during that time.

Nine days since the last trim. Full lighting top and 4 sides, 12/12 hours. Plant is taking up about 4 12oz cups of water every other day. Every other watering I'm adding liquid bloom fertilizer to the water.

Full plant.

Closeup.

All the buds are developing some very nice trichome's. All the buds a growing larger daily and more and more are popping out at all the fan leaf junctions. I'm sure that the side lighting is helping the growth of the lower buds.

Have a good day.

 

[FreeTheWeeds]

Some updated photos. Progressing and filling in nicely.

A few closeups:

Still bottom watering and feeding every two waterings. I did one watering with water and molasses mixed.

Have a good day.

 

[Petrochemical]

Maybe keep the leaves.....use kite string to gently pull down the branches .....
I was sad to see all those leaves gone...not something ud do growing outdoors would u?

 

[FreeTheWeeds]

That second trim was the last one. With my vertical LEDs, I wanted full LUM coverage from all sides. By having light from all sides, the buds are growing bigger and denser up the whole plant.

Outdoors I would not have trimmed as severely, probably only once. More wind movement outside, giving the lower leaves more opportunity to have sunlight hit them.

Have a good day.

 

[PipeCarver]

That second trim was the last one. With my vertical LEDs, I wanted full LUM coverage from all sides. By having light from all sides, the buds are growing bigger and denser up the whole plant.

Outdoors I would not have trimmed as severely, probably only once. More wind movement outside, giving the lower leaves more opportunity to have sunlight hit them.

Have a good day.

I' have those same lights arriving tomorrow. I was planning on using the horizontally on 3 sides just below the canopy 12 - 18 " away as those are the buds I want to bump up....I'm not chopping any leaves I don't have to, I like my solar panels on the plant....I'm also not limited in space and can make my walls any size to fit my needs....well within reason...........

I was asking around before I ordered side lights why others are not using them, I didn't get many replies....I can't see it doing any harm to the plants so wtf I'll giver a try.....

It'[s good to see another grower trying to boost their girls pompoms in a similar fashion....

 

[FreeTheWeeds]

So far, I've only been using 120 watts total for lighting. That's having 4 two foot long and 4 four-foot-long LED lights running. Add another 35 watts for heating and air movement. I'll be damned if I'm going to burn 400 watts or more, and then also have to run a fulltime exhaust fan or air conditioner to keep things in control.

In the next week, I'll be adding 2 15-watt Uvb bulbs to the mix. They will only be on 4 hours a day, during the middle of the light cycle, to simulate the high altitudes that the plant is native to. Granddaddy Purple is an indica that has landroots based in the mountains of Afghanistan, usually grown at elevations of 15k feet., which results in higher exposure to the Uvb rays. This is supposed to result in a higher trichome count as the plant tries to protect itself from UV damage.

Time will tell.

Have a good day.