Magickz First ever grow. 400w HPS Chemdogs in COCO

[Test Master]

Im curious to see how the Chemdogs come out. I've been wondering what GreenHouse's chemdogs were like.

Just dont toss any of them. The one you toss could end up being the keeper. It looks like you had some sort of top soil in the pics on the other page. Top soil is usually very heavy in nutrients. I would flush the heck out of em for a couple weeks until you see your plants starting to turn a lighter shade of green. Then start back with using your nutrients and go half strength with them.

And buy a temperature gauge that you can place right next to your plants, so you can see what the temperature is there, and not the temp of the entire tent. Temps at plant level are what you want to worry about.

 

[magick81]

Yeah, they were in soil before, but since I chose a soil with no ferts, they were light green/yellowish and wilted from nutrient deficiency. Since swapping to coco and nutes they have slowly regained the lush green colour.
Im working on getting temps down and correcting the ph.
Got the cooltube and exhaust fan but it isn't enough since were nearly in summer.
I tested out a new light cycle. I'll check the temps when I get home. If temps are still high, I'll probably start using a portable aircon next door (my bedroom) then have the intake ducting going to that room.

 

[magick81]

OK, I was at work today so i wasn't able to monitor all the temps of the new lighting schedule.
I left the house at 10am, temps were around 27-28. Lights switched off at 3pm. At 4pm I made a call and asked my bro to check the temps. Lights had been off for an hour and the temp was 31. By the time I got home at 7pm, temps were down to 29.

So I reckon from 12-3pm the temps are in the low thirties for about 3 hrs then the light switches off and tent begins to cool. Do you think it is ok? It's better than before, I was getting home at 7pm and the tent was about 35oC and wouldn't drop until about 9pm.

When I checked the mail today, I recieved my 10x Jewelers loupe and my moisture meter :)

 

[magick81]

The raised lights and the new light cycle must have made a really big difference!
When I checked the plants tonight, the plants that looked really twisted (plants 2 & 5) look much better! Plant 2 is almost completely untwisted! It must have just been heat stress. Anyways, they were due for their watering/feeding, so i watered them tonight and took some photo's. I'll upload them shortly :D...

Plant 2 (Front row middle) almost looks completely normal now. Plant 5 (Back Row on the right) has corrected itself about 50%

Anyways, I watered tonight with nute solution with PH of 5.8.
I'll keep this new light schedule up to minimize the time the plants are in 33 degree heat. I'll buy a portable aircon unit next week payday, to hopefully help during those hours

Here is a closer pic of plant 2, looks almost 100% normal now :)

Alot of my other photo's didn't come out too good because of the HPS and fan, and I didn't wanna pull them out for photo's since I had just watered

 

[magick81]

Hi fellow farmers,
Thankfully the heat has subsided the last 2 days. I bought a portable aircon unit and pick it up on the weekend. In the meantime the 2 really twisted plants have straightened up. Because they were twisted over the LST'd themselves lol.
Anyways, it has me thinking my plants are ready for training. I plan to scrog. If I make a screen on the weekend, do u think my plants are ready for the screen yet? Or should I veg more before training?

 

[magick81]

I just recieved my second Attitude order today. So I have almost 30 beans i want to pop now, lols, but think its too late to add em to my current grow. I was looking forward to trying the pineapple chunk, super lemon haze, la confidential & white widow. Not to mention the Heavy Duty Fruitys and other freebies I got on my last order.
I think ill just pop a couple of these Critical Jack Autos and chuck em in the tent alongside my chemdogs, I guess its never too late to add those guys :)
I really don't wanna upgrade my lights at the moment due to the summer heat, what's the maximum number of plants I can flower under my 400. I plan to scrog the chemdogs, but I don't think I'll scrog the critical jack autos. It will just complicate things if one strain is ready for harvest, when the other isn't.

As for the non-auto seeds, they will have to wait for my next grow :(

 

[magick81]

It seems these plants pile on growth after each watering/feeding. I'm loving the coco!
Here's a pic, the ladies seem to be doing well. Had another really hot day today. Temps reached 31o. I ordered a portable aircon unit but it hasn't arrived yet.

 

[A-Roe]

Looking good, keep those girls happy.

 

[magick81]

-=Update=-
I pulled the plants out and took some pics tonight.
Plant 2 has made a remarkable recovery from the heatstress. Plants 4&5 look a little worse for wear, but I'll keep em in the meantime just to see where they go.

On a personal note, I just quit smoking cigs today. I got my Blu ecig and i think theyre great! Hopefully I can give up the darts permanently, then wean myself off the ecigs.

Now for the photos

 

[magick81]

Hey guys,
I was planning on SCROGing my chemdogs, but now that I have some Killing fields and some jackberry seeds on the way from sannies, I wanna finish this grow ASAP so i can start on them lol.

If I go out and buy the materials for my scrog screen, how long do you think I will need to train them before i can flip em? Up to a week, I will probably do so, but if it will take longer, I may as well just flip em now.

So what do you guys think. Scrog, then flip in a week? Or should I just flip now?
Also, if SCROGing, how big should i make the screens. Will 1ftx1ft be enough for each plant? I don't wanna scrog the whole tent as ive also got the jackberry seedlings in there.

Cheers
MagickzX

 

[magick81]

I flipped em. Today will be their first day of 12/12.
The hot weather is coming back and even at night its warm so its prolly the smart thing to do. Lights on from 9pm-9am.

I have read that these chemdogs strech alot after they're flipped to flowering. Should I bother adding a scrog to them?

 

[magick81]

Hey guys, now that I've started bloom, is there anything I should add to my feedings? All I am using at the moment is nutrifield coco nutes, which is used during veg & bloom. Is it really as sufficient as they say? Or should I add so other things to the mix, for healthier happier plants?

I took some photos last night, I'll upload them later this arvo...

Cheers
MagickZX

 

[magick81]

Attack dog guarding the crop :)

All the new growth at the tops of the plants and most of the middle, the plant looks really healthy. Around the bottom of the plants I have lots of burnt and crispy, leaves with yellowing. Should I cut them off, the sick leaves? Or leave them on?

 

[magick81]

This is plant #1 taken last night.
Cheers
DrMagickZx

 

[magick81]

 

[The Frost]

Nice work dude, the first grows are always testing. But you gotta learn somehow..
I think the most important thing to learn is about reading the plants and giving them what they want.. Don't force a thing, like adding more ferts during flower, thinking it will make them bigger, it will usually stunt them.. Try to maintain that lush green throughout the whole grow. Really dark green, tips starting to curl and burn, back off on the nutes.
I am only just starting to touch on 1.4ec now and i am in the meat of flower, using the same NF nutes, and coco.
For a flower booster i recommend Canadian express Head masta, you can get it here cheap, (in aus too) and its super economical at 1ml/ L..
The heat as you know is the other main issue, do what you can to keep them below 30, and they will be much better for it, now that your on 12/12 should be much easier.
Come check out my log, very similar set up. i also had a Critical + under a screen you can check out.. You can put it under the screen as soon as you top it if you want.. Alot easier to train straight into it too..
Cheers..

 

[magick81]

Thanks TheFrost :D

I just checked on my ladies before their lights switched off. They still seem to be stretching lol
Raised the lights, and rearranged the tent so that I can have my Critical Jack Auto's right under the lights. They are sitting on a stack of books on the stool, so I can get them closer to the lights. Although at the rate the chemdogs are growing, I'm fearful:
a)of having so many heavy books around my plants, if they were to topple over they may decapitate or decimate some of my plants.
b)I will run outta books to stack soon. That's a good thing I guess, I don't wanna stack em too high and make em unstable.

When I come home from work tonight, I will see if I can find another solution to getting the seedlings closer to the lights. If not, I may just have to invest in a small cfl setup for them. I'm leaning towards this option as:
a) I can pop more beans right now, haha, cant wait to pop my sannies killing fields and jackberry seeds, and TH Seeds Heavy Duty Fruitys. All up I have about 50 seeds i wanna pop lol
b) Going this way, as soon as my chemdogs finish flowering, I can have more plants ready to go into the flowering tent :D

I'll have to think about it....
In the meantime, here is a picture of the rearranged tent. Was take a few nights ago after I watered. The plants are taller since then :D

Cheers
DrMagickZx

 

[The Frost]

Nice, everything's looking sweet.
For the stacking solution I usually use a box on its side to get me out of trouble.
What are you feeding them at now? Decided if you are going to use a flower fert? If you do. I usually keep them on the base ferts for the first two weeks of flower, then slowly start adding the p/k fert while backing off on the base nutes the same amount your adding of flower solution.
Nice work.

 

[magick81]

I get paid tomorrow, so I'm planning on going down to the hydro shop to see what they have available.

At the moment they are on 1.6ec of the nutrifield coco a+b nutes.
Your method sounds like a good idea. Good timing too as they will finish their 2nd week of flowering this Sunday.

 

[magick81]

Hi all,
I was planning to go do some shopping for a cfl vegging setup as well as some PK booster for my flowering. Unfortunately, I've fallen victim to fraud. Fraudulent charges were placed on my card, cleaning me out :(
Being a visa debit, the money they stole came str8 outta my bank account.
Xmas is gonna suck this year :(

So for now, I am just gonna continue with the nutes I have.
To alleviate my worries, I popped another seed. Was a freebie from attitude.
CH9's Critical Mass 33

Since it is not an autoflower, I can't have it on 12/12 like the acj seedlings.
I have a cfl, which is a UV light, that is left over from my bearded dragon equipment. Never used it as i got a better one. Can I use this cfl to veg my plants?
If not, I will just have to fork some cash out for some lighting.

On the plus side, I have made many online purchases which should be delivered in the next week or two. Looking forward to getting them :D should bring my mood up when they arrive :)
Here's some pics of some of the item's I'm waiting on.
And before anyone tells me I got rorted cos i shop too much online, I made most payments thru paypal. I am sure whoever got my card details is local considering one of the charges, and all these items were bought from overseas.

Also, my tiny neglected opium poppies bolted. They are so tiny their so cute lol.

Anyways, on to the pics :D