Hello everyone Im new to this forum. I wanted too see what you guys think about my grow op I have going on. This is my first grow op ever so I have a lot of things to learn and find out. Details- 5x3 ft from wall to wall & top too bottom is 8ft tall, 1000w HPS With 8 inch hood & 6 inch fan running through hood, 7x8 inch pots, Miracle grow soil, My Nutriuents are the Botanicare pure blend for vegetation and flowering & thats about it. I havent bought suppliments yet & I need you guys to recomend me some good ones for the flowering stage of course. The air flow is proper and the plants look healthy so far. They have bin vegetating for 26 days. Its only 2 plants right now and there from seeds not clones. There was a plant that was vegetated for about 2 months but it was too hot and the plant seemed to be burning (Leavs turning Yellow) since it was tall. So I guess I have to go with the basic one month veg and flowering stages or can I veg for a longer period? I need a lot to know. Thanks.... (Let me correct my self. 3 plants, The big one is not as healthy as it looks, Thats the one burning from being too tall. The medium sized one is healthy since the veg time is right. The lil one is kinda irrelevant since I'm soon to change the lighting times for flowering mode for those 2 cool ones. They all where planted at separate times on other lights that where house hold ones lol. I basically just sprouted them at separate times obviously but Im just experimenting. Soon I will have 10 seeds or clones ready to sprout or grow at the same time.)
First thing is get some premium soil and stop using the Miracle-Grow. It will make your grow so much easier. Wait until the plant is sexually mature before putting it under 12/12. You will know it is mature when the nodes on the branches begin alternating.
You can veg for however long you want (normal is a month or two and it depends on how much space you have too since the plant will grow 50 to 100% more in flowering), once you kick to 12/12 it is going to start flowering.
Keep in mind veg times with a 1kw lamp. If the hood is say at 7 feet and the pots are maybe a foot or so, you have like 5 and a half feet to work with when all is said and done. So depending on strain you want to flip when the plant still has plenty of space both to grow and space between the tops and the hood to not burn.
I used to wait for alternating nodes but I don't think it's neccesary. Start flowering when the plants have reached about one third of their desired height. This works for me. Good luck.
Your more likely to get hermies if you do it this way. Im with Julius Caesar, if you wait til the branches are alternating then its less stess on the plant when you flip your lights. If your ceiling in your coset is 8 ft then i would veg them until they preflower. Top em once and you wont run out of room. The only reason to flip early is if your on a perpetual grow or your space is limited. If the ceiling is your height restriction then one top and youll be good. The least amount of stress you cause the better off youll be in the end.
They look healthy but plant at the same time or get a space for vegging so you arent making things so difficult, even though you are just trying things out. Try not to let the little one die, it would be a pointless loss, try a new grow technique on it you want to use since you dont care too much for it.
They look nice and healthy. My only concern is the pots you are using. I cannot tell if they have good drainage at the bottom or are sealed. Also, the soil seems like it doesn't have any perlite which is good for allowing voids to provide oxygen to your roots. Once you have a dense rootball you may have drainage issues. Just keep an eye on it. Also, if you plan on flowering soon, I would top the tallest to the height of the shortest so it grows out evenly and you can keep your light closer.