First Grow G13 X Amnesia Haze and Romulan

Hi guys, so this is our (my boyfriend and I) first attempt to grow. Have been talking about it for a while now and finally got the nerve up to do it. The setup is:
4x4x7 SunHut Tent
4x4 Ebb and Flo Tray
25 Gallon Res.
Water pump and overflow
6 inch Vortex incline fan
1000w HPS Light w/ air cool reflector
6in carbon filter
3 small clip on fans
1 medium size fan
4x4 coco mat
12 6inx6in rock-wool cubes

And 6 G13 x Amnesia Haze and 6 Romulan that I got from a Northern California dispensary, 2nd day from transplant. The girls are on a 18/6 schedule. We have gotten the average temp down to 78-80, unsure about humidity, pH averaging 6, and we are using filtered bottled water as of right now but I think its going get too expensive so we will do distilled, hoping that's not a problem.

Nutes:
2 part FloraDuo
CalMagPlus
Bob's Brew Watermax

Its so exciting and just awesome to watch them, very peaceful. I do have some concerns with the single girl below, thinking beginning stage nute burn? She is the only one with that problem. Also any tips on the best flood and drain schedule. Right now we flood twice a day around 9am and 9pm for 7 minutes. The floods only come up a quarter or the cube, is this a problem? Or should we try and fit a bigger reservoir in there? Thanks in advance

Edited by StephanieMarie, 12 July 2011 - 06:27 AM.
Fixing pictures

bump..these look good

I don't know know much about flood and drain but your setup is lookin pretty good. Keep it up and check out my grow in my sig.

So we decided to add FoxFarm Sledgehammer and Superthrive to the res. for tonight's flood to help with the nute burn. Any ideas on if we should flush tomorrow or if the Sledgehammer be enough? More than likely we are going to flush. It seems like I have new questions by the hour..geeze. One of them being your ideas on if we should continue to use the expensive bottled water, distilled water, or if we can use pH adjusted tap water? Any ideas welcome!

bump..these look good

Thanks

I don't know know much about flood and drain but your setup is lookin pretty good. Keep it up and check out my grow in my sig.

Thanks once i figure out this forum better, I'll be sure to sub.

subbed
looks nice, for a first time you guys are doing spectacular!

Well I feel horrible , so thinking this whole time that the yellowing was due to nute burn we just realized we have been starving the poor girls only giving them 1 teaspoon, so on the advice or a pro we doubled the nutes and hope to see improvement on the yellowing. Also picked up a water meter today, yay. We also use the FIM technique on the two labeled girls, just to see how it goes.

Stats:
Temps 74-76
Water Temp 71
PPM 1060
G13 Haze heights ranging from 8in-10in
Romulan heights ranging from 5 1/2in-6in

Got some answers to the questions, we are continuing to use filtered expensive ass water, but my grandfather has an reverse osmosis thing built already that just needs a filter we think so that is to be further investigated.

I'm so attached to these girls...its incredible. I'm not even that high right now either.

subbed
looks nice, for a first time you guys are doing spectacular!

Thank you so much! We are freaking out so much its great to hear good stuff.

Double nutes have done wonders! Romulan has grown 1/2in ranging 6 1/2in-7 1/2in overnight and so has the G13 Haze ranging 8 1/2in- 10 1/2in. Very happy this morning! Tons of new growth as well! Pics tonight. Its my day off so I'm gonna go smoke in celebration of how awesome my girls are looking.

Alright so the girls are doing good. Lots of brand new shoots busting out everywhere looking delicious. The yellow spots are slowly improving, we are probably changing our water/nutes tomorrow. Thinking about picking up some FloraliciousPlus also. Waiting for the company that sells the filters for the reverse osmosis system to get back to me, but I was thinking about just getting a small one for like $150, but the filters look to be about $35 sooo that'd be awesome if they still sell whatever model my grandpa has for the system. Also decided to put in more ducting to draw in the outside air and cut some slits in it as well, for the ducting on the inside of the tent.

Stats:
Temp 75-78
Water Temp 68-73
PPM: 1100-1210
G13 Haze PM measures: 8 3/4in-11in (WOOHOO )
Romulan PM measures: 6 1/2in-7 1/2in (Meh )

And as always any recommendations, constructive criticisms, or ideas welcome!!

Edited by StephanieMarie, 13 July 2011 - 05:16 AM.
Full update w/ pics.

I sure do wish I could run down to the corner and pick up some clones.. I would be so much further along than I am now.. Starting from seeds is cool to see the whole process from the beginning... I guess.. thats about it though.

I sure do wish I could run down to the corner and pick up some clones.. I would be so much further along than I am now.. Starting from seeds is cool to see the whole process from the beginning... I guess.. thats about it though.

Yeah no way in hell I was going to start out with seeds, but props for having the balls to do it! I'm a scardy cat, but I might next one though. I'm already researching a different hydro setup. Hoping I can make enough with this one to finance a separate veg area, get some clones and mamas goin!

Hi StephM and welcome to the city!

I'm a new grower too. I encourage you to click on my sig. and check out my grow journal. All you have to do in order to subscribe to anybody's thread in Grasscity, is to just come into their thread and say "Hi." We're both new, but I'm about 20 days ahead of you. So, for you, it'll be like getting a sneak peek at the next couple of weeks' episodes and you'll be better prepared to know what to expect and it'll be relatively fresh in your mind. Also, i've made a lot of mistakes and have gone through the trouble of documenting all my boneheaded mistakes so it could potentially save people just like you some heart ache by learning from my mistakes. That's what the city's for! Check out lots of people journals, especially people with ebb/flow systems and people growing the same kind of weed you're growing. It's one of the best ways to learn.

I want to follow your grow because I'm intrigued by the ebb/flow system. One of the things I'm learning really fast is the limitations of my own system (I run a DWC /w drip system) and i've started to learn about other hydroponic systems as a result. I've heard a lot of good things about ebb/flow, so I have high hopes for you, hehe.

A couple suggestions from a fellow noob:

- You will have plant problems sooner or later. And unless you want to be public about what you're doing, you need to have the tools to diagnose the plants yourself. If you don't have the proper diagnostic tools when plant problems happen, then you're just flying blind and unnecessarily risking your girls' health.

- So what tools do you need? You already made a great start by getting a ppm meter. I see you have a thermometer which is good too. You also need a hygrometer (humidity reading thingy). You might as well get a combo digital thermometer/hygrometer that records the minimum AND maximum temperature and humidity readings. Like this one:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Chaney-Instruments-00613-Acurite-Humidiy/dp/B0013BKDO8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310540357&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Acurite Indoor Humidiy Monitor: Home & Garden[/ame]

It's only 13 bucks, and to be honest, you really don't want a little box for reading temps and another box for reading humidity. The KISS principle really, really applies to growing cannabis. You just don't want all kinds of clutter in there when they start to get big.

You also need (yes, need ) a digital pH meter. And calibration solution for the meter too. I got a cheap 20 dollar one by Hanna Instruments and the solution's pretty cheap too. I have to recalibrate it sorta frequently (like every 2 weeks), but it's not a big deal. I'm going to upgrade to one of those nice-n-fancy all-in-one meters later on (and just chuck all my other meters), but I'm getting by just fine with my cheapie meters.

- In your pictures, I see your plants are equally spread out across your space. I did that too when I started, but I think it was a mistake. What happened to me was that my girls in the far corners were "stretching" to the light too much and started getting too "stemmy" instead of "branchy." Now I know you've been dealing with a feeding problem so you haven't been able to observe the "normal" growth of your plants yet, but you might find that the same thing happens to you. You want all your girls the same height so that they won't block the light from each other too much later on. Also, if plants get too stretchy, then you start to sacrifice how much weed you end up with because too much space is wasted.

All you have to do is move all your babies to the center and lower your light and bathe those girls in that intense light. As long as the heat from the bulb isn't hurting them, they'll love you even more. And when your plants start growing into each other or maybe you're worried about roots getting tangled, then you can gradually spread out your girls and raise your light to cover the larger area. The ability to do this is one of ebb/flow's greatest strengths. I can't do that. I have pre-cut holes where the net pots sit. It took a bit more work for me to simulate what I just describe above. For you, it'll be a breeze.

- Reverse Osmosis sytems are totally, totally, TOTALLY worth it. Besides my hydro system, it's my single most important growing purchase and has impacted my grow more than anything else. You already know that light is the most important thing for a plant's health. Know what the 2nd most important thing is? Yup you got it. Oh and btw, did i mention RO systems are worth it? I got this one:
Portable Reverse Osmosis - Premium Counter-Top, RO Systems & Drinking Water Filters | APEC Water

It's a bit more expensive, but it's small, portable (no need to worry about plumbing, which is good for a renter like me), very sturdy, high quality, easy to use and works really, really well. I get like 5 to 8ppm water now (tap water is 250). That's more pure than Poland Spring or Evian. Water is the one thing I wouldn't cheap out on if I were you. It's better to cheap out on nutes than water IMHO. Go out and make sure you get a "good" one. Something with all their parts NSF and FDA approved and you want a system made in USA, not China. You shouldn't have to spend more than i spent to get a quality system.

- Read the stickies on all the relevant forums here. Soooo much knowledge here. They're a great resource.


Well that's what i can think of for now. It's gotten pretty long and I didn't even get to ask any of my questions, but i'm tired now (also did my own journal update tonight too). I'm going to go put some Sour Kush in my bong and go relax. Till next time. I'll be watching.

Namaste,
Buddha

Everything looks great!

Hi StephM and welcome to the city!

BIG HUGE HUG!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to explain and type all that out. I have already did some of your suggestions, as for the ph meter, etc gotta wait til pay day . But thank you so much, I'm saving that for reference and I'm gonna check out your journal and sub!

Everything looks great!

Thanks!

I am really really really tired, not growing related, but I had a long freaking day at the institution of 9-5 (more like 6:30) called work. I just felt the need to write that and bare with me if I start to not make sense. One day I'd like to tell my boss to fuck off and have a wonderful perpetual grow going. Ahhh one day. Anyway back to the girls. So i followed Buddha1127 advice and moved them closer together and lowered the light. Unfortunately due to finances (cause of the stupid 9-5 job that pays me a fraction of what I'm worth) couldn't afford to get an RO attachment for the hose and the company got back to be about the machine we already have and they no longer make the filters GREEATTT. So I know this is gotta get me lots ok tsks tsks but I'm forced to deal with tap water. The ppm of the tap water alone was 176 and adjusted the pH to 6. Changed reservoir water (obviously) with the dreaded tap added 250mL Part A FloraDuo, 125mL Part B, and 125mL Calmag. Flooded the girls with the revised flood schedule of 10 minutes once at 7pm. Yellow spots are clearing up slowly I think but the man thinks not..I guess I'm an optimist while he is Eeyore. OH, do note that our PPM went up after flood, so I know I said we thought we were starving them, but I originally thought it was nute burn which now he is slowly saying he thinks it might have been nute burn. Not sure any ideas? Pictures of the yellow spots on leaves are attached.

Stats:
Temp:78-80
Water Temp: 73
PPM (after nutes and top off) 854 before flood, 985 after
G13 Haze: 10in-11 1/2in
Romulan: 6 1/2in-9in (WOOT:hello:WOOT)
There is one Romulan baby girl (the 6 1/2 since most of them are around 8in) that I'm worried about. I put her closer to the light and hoping she will perk up a but here in a few days.

Thinking about LSTing, but I'm nervous, not quite sure why. Any advice, suggestions?

Well I'm going to relax and smoke some White Fire and Amnesia fresh from the dispensary this mornin. Have a FANTASTIC night guys

Hi again. Glad to see you moved'em all to the center. They're gonna thank you for that. Now that they're in the center, you can move the shortest girls to where the best light is, and move the tallest ones out to the corners. And if the middle ones get too tall again, then you already know what to do. This is one thing I love about your setup and deeply envy you for.

As for your current problem, unfortunately, the yellowing of the leaves can represent any one of a 100 different plant disorders. Lol, i think most plant disorders involve yellowing leaves now that I think about it. Mostly likely, in this situation, it's either nute burn or nutrient lockout due to imbalanced pH. Since you don't have a digital pH tester yet, we just have to guess until you get one. It could be just nute burn. It could be just nutrient lockout. Or it could be both at the same time. And last, it could just be something else altogether.

I think your ppms are very high. My largest girl, who is only about 10 inches tall herself, probably outweighs all your girls combined together just because she's so bushy and she only drink 600 ppms. Now, I haven't dealt with clones, so they might be different. But when I looked at my nutrient mixing chart, I looked at the section for feeding transplanted clones and there wasn't even any fertilizer listed at all. Just some B vitamin supplement to help them deal with stress and some root development additive. With my water, that would bring my ppm to less than 200 probably. Now, your nutrient brand and it's own mixing procedure may be different, but I can't imagine their feeding schedule for transplanted clones is much different. I certainly can't see them recommending you feed your babies at 900ppm. That's pretty grown up plant food. Even if your root system was developed enough to handle that kind of uptake, your girls still don't have the vascular system nor the required photosynthetic capacity to process such potent nutrients. You gotta feed babies baby food.

I looked up my particular strain (hybrid) and it's considered a "moderate" feeder. You have sativas and they're generally lighter feeders than indicas or hybrids, so that's another reason to think lower ppms would be better right now. For what it's worth, my girls are 50% Amnesia Haze. The whole reason i clicked on your thread in the first place is the word "Amnesia" in it. The other 50% is Skunk #1, which is very well known for being resistant to all kinds of stress and disease and very beginner friendly. Basically i wanted the Amnesia Haze high, but Skunk's resilience and short, bushiness. Some of my girls look like more like Skunk and some more like Amnesia. The Amnesia ones seem definitely more delicate to me.

So anyway, here's the catch. If i'm right, and you're causing nute burn and you lower your ppms, your plants could still be sick anyway. So you might bring your nutrient strength to an appropriate level, but your pH might still not be balanced, so that some your "properly adjusted" nutrients are not available to your plants.

Oh and as for your idea about LST, i think it would be logistically difficult and 12 plants can be a LOT of work to LST. But to be real, most of us (myself included) who do LST, do it to increase yields because we don't have a 1000watt bulb or because we have very limited space. LST works but it's high maintenance and delays your harvest the more you do it. And it sounds like you want to do this for profit and if you do, then you're not going to want to do things that make your operation more labor intensive and elongates your crop cycles.

So do what most of the people with 1000 watters do. Stick as many plants as you can under your light and go SOG style with almost no veg time. That's how people get 2 pounds every 2 months with their 1k watters. From a business standpoint, it probably makes the most sense. I plan on doing my 2nd grow in more of a SOG style myself.

Anyway, I gotta get goin. Good luck and keep us posted!

Edited by buddha1127, 14 July 2011 - 07:57 AM.

I feed rooted clones the same as I feed a larger plant in veg. As for your EC/TDS/PPM, what conversion is your meter? I am assuming it is .7 so you are at 1.4 EC. I would probably drop that to about 840ppm or 1.2EC. That's a pretty good starting place for rooted clones in E&F trays. I find that I have to feed a little higher in E&F than DWC. I would flood 2x a day right now, and go to 3x a day once they start getting bigger and rooted into the coco mat. Make sure you don't flood right before lights off, try to keep the last flood at least a couple hours before that.

Ok just flushed out the medium with 1/2 tsp/gallon of Sledgehammer. The ppm of the water before flush was 168 and after flush it went up to 287. I'm going to change the rez water now. I'm thinking about just adding Rhizotonic 15ml/gallon for the first couple of days to stimulate some root growth before adding any nutes. Any suggestions?