Pawn's First Crack At The Safe!

[Pawn]

Howdy Farm! The saying is pics or it didn't happen, right?



I'm going to use this as my journal. This is my first indoor grow, so please don't hesitate to tell me what I'm doing wrong! I'm more worried about getting this right than I am having my feelings hurt.

I'm growing in a 3x3 tent, under a 900W MARS II. I'm using FFOF soil, and H&G Base nutes as fertilizer.

This run, I'm growing 1x Vanilla Kush, 1x Liberty Haze(barney's farms), and 1x Bubblegum XL(Royal queen).

I'll keep this updated on the regular. Until next time!

 

[titanium]

I'm in. Let's see some flowers!!!!!

 

[tobh]

Did you cut that ocean forest before use? It can be a bit hot for starting plants in without cooling it off a little. Looks good so far though! Pulling up a chair.

One Love,
tobh

 

[Ned Kelly]

Ill be pulling up a chair

 

[str8smokn]

I'm in. I'd like to see the Liberty Hazes structure,smell and taste.
STR8

 

[john martin]

2nd @ Ocean Forest being heavy for seedlings. At any rate, with Ocean Forest and even Roots Original, I think its good to flush some water through the soils before using them. Some batches come really hot on the PPMs.

 

[Pawn]

Thanks guys!

The seedlings' roots hadn't broken out of the Rapid Rooter yet, So I cut about 4/9 of the soil with Miracle Gro Seed Starting Potting mix. It's on hand, and I know it doesn't burn seedlings. On future grows, I'll just use recycled soil with EWC for the babies.

 

[Pawn]

Did I mention this was my first attempt? hahaha! It's so crazy how easy you guys make all this look. I've already learned a couple lessons, and it's been like 4 days.

First, you CANNOT vent the heat from a grow light into a closet and not keep the temperature below 84F. I managed to fix the problem and am now just working on getting it to 75F from 80F. This is going to be a challenge, we're hitting 100F outside this week.

Second, you need a strong light from the beginning or they stretch like crazy. As a result of lesson #1, I've had the babies "under" a CFL desk lamp with 2 bulbs. I couldn't get the plants close enough to prevent some pretty gnarly stretching. My poor Vanilla Kush was nearly on her side when I woke up this morning. Today is day #1 under the Mars II, so I'm hoping by this time next week I'll have beautiful little plants that are happy and healthy.

Also, I woke up this morning to my ventilation just pumping hot air into the room from the tent(you get what you pay for, even with tape). Temp was <83F at it's peak. One of the frustrating things I've discovered is that while good information is out there, bad information is more prevalent if you don't know where to look. Thankfully I have the farm to provide me wind in my sails and a compass to guide me to the promise land! I can't thank you guys enough.

That's all for now. Again if you see anything I'm not doing right, please tell me. I'm here to learn first, and have a good time second. I leave you with some pictures, and +vibes~

 

[tobh]

Yeah that initial stretch can be a killer, literally. I've had seedlings straight shit out on me because they couldn't pump what they needed through their mile long stem. Live and learn man.

As for the temps, 83 isn't terrible. If you can manage, get it down further. Otherwise, raise your humidity and get some good circulation going and take advantage of a good VPD. Some guys run at 80 degrees and 60% RH in flower, but they also supplement with CO2 and have their environments thoroughly dialed in. I know the struggle though man. I live in the desert right now and heat has been my #1 issue since my early days. If you don't have refrigerated air in the place you're growing, it's a real uphill battle. Swamp coolers are just not capable of doing what needs done unfortunately. For this reason I will be relocating somewhere else that isn't so damn hot (and has better work opportunities) and will have these heat issues as a distant bad memory instead of the constant headache.

Good luck man! Looking good!

One Love,
tobh

 

[john martin]

@Pawn, I think with the heat issues and seedlings so small you should focus on a humidity dome for them and maybe consider co2 as mentioned above, as it will help them adjust to the high heat (VPD mentioned above is also very important to make sure they are getting correct RH with the heat they are dealing with).

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/vpd-questions.48270/#post-843279

 

[Pawn]

Thanks for that link/info so much man! I'll go get a humi when I can. I'm not going to play with CO2 just yet, I have many mountains to climb before I get to that one.

 

[john martin]

If you do get co2, wth this heat, I recommend an actual c02 tank with a release valve. The other common method is to get a gas tank and burn it to create co2, but this produces heat.

Until you get a humidifier, you can get a dome and just keep an eye on things... water foliar sprays too...

 

[john martin]

Also, many here have had better results with seedlings and young clones under low lighting. Too much light too early on can stress out the plant and over-whelm it.

 

[SourDank]

Also, many here have had better results with seedlings and young clones under low lighting. Too much light too early on can stress out the plant and over-whelm it.

Yea @john martin is right, you gotta find that balance. You don't wanna have em stretch too much from low light but you don't wanna over do it either. I usually keep my CFL's bout 12 inches above n it works very well. And I know everyone has different experiences, but I put seedlings in straight FF a few times, including 19 as we speak, and they're doing just fine.

 

[john martin]

I think the issue with the FoxFarm is inconsistency. Some of their batches come real hot and need a pre-flush first. Their west coast formula is also different than their east coast one, so I have read and heard. The soil mix itself being hot is one thing, but having a 'hot' batch of a hot soil mix can cause issues, even if not early on, late in the game for people who don't use drain-to-waste.

 

[SourDank]

Yea I wish they would make it consistently. They fuck people's shit up doin that

 

[Pawn]

Total Massacre today. I woke up at 10am to discover the temperate of the apartment was 87F(I work 2nd shift, don't judge me XD). The tent got up to 91F before I swapped back to CFLs. Currently working on getting the apartment temperate to something reasonable, will see what factors are causing the heat problem. The lady of the house is not very happy with me right now.....the current apartment temperature is hovering at 88, and it's not going down(problem was solved hours ago, and the grow light was turned off).

At some point last night, the ducting came unbound to the fan, so the hot air was being thrown into the bedroom. Also, the hot air from outside was leaking inside. Those factors combined with it being 100F today outside have made today a sad day for me and the plants. Once I get the apartment back below 75, I'm going to play with the light some more. I'm thinking that had the ducting not failed, the heat issue wouldn't be what it is. Yesterday I was able to keep the temperature in check, and it was only a couple degrees cooler outside.

I'll check back in once I get this mess sorted. One thing's for sure, I'm learning far more far faster than I thought imaginable. This is all so exciting, I love it.

Everyone stay cool and have a great day!

 

[john martin]

Sounds like you need to invest in some bad-ass ducting and duct tape lol


Extreme weather 'Flex-tape' works nice in my experience.

 

[Pawn]

I have conquered my enemy that is the southern heat. The AC was fixed at around 1p EDT yesterday(blown capacitor), and the temperature got back to 75 in the apartment around 8p EDT. I went out and got some Gorilla Tape, which is 2 times the man of Duck Brand Duct Tape. My ventilation is sealed, and the temperatures are good to go, sitting about 82F right now(reading says 86, but there's no place that's shaded at "canopy level.") I'm using the intake vents at the bottom of the tent(passive intake), and pumping out the top of the tent


I also picked up a cool mist humidifier, and also have a fan blowing on a pie tin with 2" of water in it to bring the humidity up. I've also been spraying the girls with RO water twice a day. Once after lights on, and once more 9 hours into the 18/6. I figure the morning mist simulates dew accumulation, and the second spray keeps them nice and moist.



(Vanilla Kush; Bubblegum XL; Liberty Haze) This is honestly only their second day under the LED, but they already look much happier. I lowered the light to 18" from the floor, to ensure they get all the light they need. No light burn so far, I'm keeping a very close eye on them though. I sat the Liberty Haze into the bottom of the pot, so that she could stand under her own stem. The bubblegum has been a champion. I repotted the Vanilla Kush for the same reason as the Liberty Haze. It's not the breeders fault, I wasn't giving them enough life early on and they stretched.

My next challenge is removing any light leaks. I know it's not a serious problem in veg, but I'm not 100% on how to allow air into the tent but not light. I'm going to try to block the light with scotch brite pads over the vents. Thankfully, I have enough time to conquer this before it's a problem.

That's all for now folks, +vibes~, and have a great week

 

[john martin]

That gorilla tape probably won't last you long. Check out Flex-Tape (all weather) or get some metal / plastic zip ties (all found in HVAC section in your local hardware store!)

You can use insulated ducting to prevent light leaks. Just curve it: