So this is my first grow. I am on a budget and know I will likely not have the biggest yield especially cause this is my first grow. I've read a lot though lots of books and grow journals on here but I'm still stumped on this. I thought it may be a defficiency in the water maybe. I use rain water. I don't have a ph meter or strips I'm kind of going by ear. Can I add baking soda to raise ph, and vinegar to lower it? So I had 3 plants and they were my buddys actually. He had one flouro on them. I knew they wouldn't surviive so I took them and put them in good organic soil. Mixed it with perelite and bone meal. Its all I could afford. They are under 4 various wattage flouros, and 2 65 watt cfls. What could be wrong? I've got pics up too.
The one with the nicest looking plant was when I first got it from my friend just before I transplanted it.
They could be overwatered. Its what it looks like to me. Also, It wouldn't hurt to trans-plant them. Lastly, they're awful young for feeding, might want to back off the nutes. As for raising and lowering the ph, will you can use that combo, it would be better if you used a little lime for raising your ph.
First of all you need to get a ph meter or test strips and measure the ph of the run off from bottom of container. Once you have done that you will know what to do to correct any ph issues. I would act fast those plants look pretty bad. Stop watering every two days. You should allow the soil to dry out almost completely between waterings. You may have already caused root rot from to much water. You also need to set your lights up better it looks like they are all on the side. You need light directly over the plant with a couple inches between plant top and bulb for healthy plants so do not put the unhealthy ones that close or it may kill them.
Yeah I'm growing at a friends place so I'm doing what I can. I did offer him most of those suggestions but its his place so I can't do what he doesn't wnat me to. I'm about to put a box over the top of the plants and then put the lights on top of the box to setup the lights better. And yeah he waters them a lot but he's always worried they aren't watered enough.
Ok I put a box over them covered in foil. Got rid of one flouro cause of room so I'm left with 3 flouro and those 2 65wt cfls. Will water less and give an update soon. I will go and invest in a meter, how much will a decent one run? And where?
Tell your friend he needs to listen up and do what you tell him to do or the plants will all be dead soon. That smallest one is already beyond saving and the others do not have much time remaining.
if you're over watering your planting medium is not drying out fast enough. just get a thick needle and poke holes all around the plastic cup, it will get the plant more oxygen if you're using vinegar and baking soda you must get some PH measuring kit or meter. vinegar will radically alter your PH especailly if youre not using a solid buffer/ liquid nute. you need to get those lights aligned vertically, so they are shining the light downward, and put some black/white plastic, or car winshield reflector, or mirrors, around it to keep the sides well lit. Also are you using aquarium tubes there? nice....
Haha yeah I will. And I will tell him not to water so often. And yes those are aquarium lights..is that bad? And I did set them up above the plants..did you not see the new photos? Also where can I get cheap nutes? And a cheap meter?
the lights are ok. check out the organics section, thread by MI wolverine titled "let's get cheap" doing some basic plant ID and allowing the plant's leaves to ferment you can get your plants all the nutrients they need- probably better than many synthetic liquid nutrients for that matter. cheapest thing for your PH is a test kit, either drops or paper slips. find it at your local garden store or homedepot.
Here's my advice. I tried to grow my first grow just like you. Use what ever lights I had and put a seed in the soil. It died because I didn't understand had to care for the plant. I learned very fast that watering a plant is a lot harder than it looks. Thats why I went hydro. You don't have to worry about watering and feeding the plant. It's all taken care-of.
Not to rain on your parade but mirrors are a bad option...the saying goes glass eats light...mirrors are made of glass. If you can't get or afford mylar or black/white, just paint the walls and top with flat white paint.
on the contrary that's good to know. I once had a miror near my plants,... a few years ago. what a newbie move Ha. I've grown in tents and closets since then. by the way charon001 I am determined to try hydro some time. I am trying to get a couple grows under my belt though, in coco the organic way for now. It has so far been real easy. the one slight mess up I had was nutrient burn by disturbing the balance of nutrients in my medium and adding P guano to my water. all in all I water my plants once every 4-5 days. takes about a half hour. mix water, humic acid, some kelp and molasses ph to 6. no major nutrients added to the water start to finish. all my nutrients cost around 150$. Including several bricks of coco, bags of EWC and humus, pumice, several guanos, lime, kelp and alfalfa meals, glacial rock dust, bone meal, neem seed meal and crustacean meal. I'll be re-using the medium as well.
those babies are 100% overwatered. Dont just tell your friend to not water so often, tell him to not water them at all! Like an aforementioned post, let the soil almost dry out completely before watering, this promotes root growth as the roots will stretch searching for water. Also, i see that your pots are sitting in trays to catch runoff. Always, dispose of your runoff after watering. NEVER let your pots sit in standing water, this is probably part of the reason your having overwatering issues. Just make sure you have no water in the trays after watering. Also, are you using tap to water? Most taps from what I have seen are rather alkaline, maybe 8 or higher. I would suggest using distilled water from the store if you can, considering you know the pH of it will be 7 or a tad lower. Cheap pH test kits can be found at a fish store of some kind. Or I would suggest [ame=http://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-pH-Control-Kit/dp/B000BNKWZY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313512900&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: General Hydroponics pH Control Kit - PC500: Patio, Lawn & Garden[/ame] . This allows you to test pH and adjust it if necessary. Cheap nutrients...Try home depot, or lowes in their gardening sections. Tomatoe plant food can be used for the veg cycle http://www.homedepot.com/Miracle-Gr...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 . And they also offer flower nutes http://www.homedepot.com/Miracle-Gr...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 . If these are your only choice then they should work. However, I would suggest ordering quality nutes online if this is available. Do not feed with recommended dosage on the boxes. Always start 1/4 to 1/2 strength. pH your water after adding nutes, from my experience it should be around 6.5 pH Try to find out what Kelvin your lights are. You want 6500K for veg, 2700K for flower. From your pics it looks like your spiral CFL's are 2700K, them flouro tubes look to be in between, maybe around 4000 or so. Wal-mart has any CFL's you would need Be careful with your box setup. You want fresh air to your plants all the time. Good airflow is a must. If you have your setup walled in with no intake/out take you need to change this immediately! Set up 3 walls or maybe only 2. Have a fan sucking air out of your boxed in area, and one taking air in. Whats your temps look like? Cheap temp/humidity meter can be bought at wal-mart, about 10$ i believe
I am using rain water, so I don't believe I should have any problems with ph? I have a friend who lives not too far and he's growing a few plants outdoors. He barely looks after them and they are huge! I am saying this because he waters them with river water and he does not test ph or use nutes of any kind, so would ph strips really be necessary? Also the top of the box is open, so I think air circulation is ok, there is a cieling fan above. And an update on this. All but one plants died, there is new growth on that one, and it seems to be healthy. Probably because I told him not to water.
It looks like overwatering. That is one thing that can cause that wilty look. Do not add anything to adjust ph if you do not have a ph meter. Also, your water source could be an issue so instead of using rain water use tap water that you let sit out for 24 hours or more to get the chlorine out. Preferrably with a small air pump and airstone.
Just an update. Set the plant into flowering about a week agod now. Bought some of those miracle grow veg and flower nutes from lowes as brought up my Araltus, and the plant looks a bit better, but now has grown 3 new tops. Not sure how long it has to go, but looks pretty healthy to me. Let me know what you guys think. Do I need for cfls? And I am not using the tubes right now cause I don't know what they put out, I hope that's ok. Have 2 of those 60wt cfls above it now. Set up a water schedule to water every 5 days. Also bought some ph test strips and the water is at about 6.0 with nutes. I used 1/4 the nutes as suggested by Araltus. When should I increase them? If at all?
Nice bro, that looks like some healthy new growth! Im glad some of my info helped you out . As far as when to up the dosage, maybe continue using 1/4 for a couple more waterings then bring it up to 1/2 and see how she reacts. How do you determine when to water? Seeing as how small your gal is she prolly does not drink too much but later on down the road, possibly a week or two from now she might need water every 3-4 days. I prefer feeling the weight of the pot. It is "heavy" when you fully saturate the soil with water. When it feels relatively "light" is when you want to water again.