First Grow- LEDs, Coco, Hempy Pots.

Discussion in 'Indoor Grow Journals' started by tastebud, Jun 1, 2011.

  1. :wave:Hello Everyone. I am new here at GC and also new to growing. I have started a grow journal and will upload it here over a few posts to bring everyone up to where I am currently at with it. Thank you in advance to anyone who wishes to comment, offer advice, ctiticize. All info is welcome. This is my very first grow. I need all the help that I can get. Thanks again for looking.
     
  2. First Grow Ever- LED, Coco/Perlite, Hempy pots.
    Hello Everyone. I'm new to growing. I have always wanted to give it a go. Just small scale for my own use. I've been reading and following in the forums every chance I get. I'm addicted to it I think. It's great fun to watch everyone's progress and methods. I'm ready to see if I can grow my own. I thought that I would start out right by creating a journal to record what works for me and what doesn't. Also, more importantly, to try and absorb (like a sponge) all the info and help that I can.
    Here is what I'm doing.
    Space- Two grow areas. Each one 20” x 23” x 52”, one 20” x 46” x 12” top area for electronics, carbon filter, inline fan. Painted inside of everything flat white.
    Ventilation- Passive intake- 6- 2” holes on floor of each area, 6- 1” holes on ceiling of each area, carbon filter and 4” 170 cfm inline fan in upper top area, exhaust through top of cabinet through sound dampener. One 4” fan and one 6” fan in each grow area for air circulation.
    Lights- Two Hydroponics Hut Pro Grow 180 LED. One for each 20” x 23” x 52” area.
    Strains- (fem seeds) 3 Nirvana Northern Light in one area. 3 Nirvana Blue Mystic in the other.
    Pots- 2 gall. Hempy pots. 3:1 Coco/Perlite mix. Bottom 1.75 inches up to drain hole all perlite.
    Nutes- GH Flora- micro hard water, grow, and bloom.
    Supplements- Flora Blend, Diamond Nectar, Botanicare Cal Mag plus, Kool Bloom. With the exception of using the Cal Mag, I'm going to follow the GH feeding schedule at a reduced strength and see what happens as I go.
     
  3. It Begins:
    Wed. 5/18- Put all six seeds in wet paper towel and Tupperware with lid.
    Fri. 5/20- Three days later all six seeds cracked with tap root showing about ¼”.
    Prepped dry coco/perlite mix in pots using our well water (PH 7.0). Used PH down at 5 ml per gall. to PH 5.9. Base TDS of water 245 ppm. Added GH Flora Nutes at 2ml each Grow, Micro, Bloom. Total TDS 650 ppm. Watered until run off from hole in pot. Planted each seed @ ¼” deep, tap root down. Lightly packed soil over seeds. Put Pro Grow LED's 13” above the pots (took a guess). Used veg only function on the Pro Grow lights. Lights on 24/0. Exhaust fan on. Small 4” fan on in each area to move air around. End of day- 8pm Temp 86, RH 66%.
    Sat. 05/21- End of day 7:30 pm. All BM (Blue Mystic) breaking the surface of soil. Two NL (Northern Light) breaking through, one not showing. Coco still pretty wet. Left alone.
    Sun. 05/22- 11 am. All up and leaves starting to unfold. Here is I think my first mistake. Lights left at 13” above seedlings on Fri.. Sprouts now about 2 inches tall. Look too tall as compared to pics of other seedlings that I have seen at this stage. Should be very short right? Coco still wet. No water added. 5:30 pm temp 88. RH 53%.
    Mon. 05/23- 6 pm. All have first set of small striated longer leaves. Seedlings about 2” tall. Decided to lower lights to 6” above pots and turn on the flowering spectrum function on the lights. Now both spectrums on. Also turned on the additional 6”small fans in each area to create “breeze” on stems to help strengthen? Coco still moist. Pots feel significantly lighter though. May need to water next visit? Temp 88, RH 56%.
    Wed. 05/25- Temp 92, RH 44%. Pots felt pretty light. Gave the 6 seedlings a light watering with very diluted nute mix (2ml micro, 1ml grow, 1ml bloom). Aside from the stems being a bit too tall and thin, the leaves look healthy and I can see the beginnings of new growth. One NL seedling laying over today but leaves look ok. I made little stakes from wire ties to hold them up. Very thin stems on these. I hope that I haven't screwed everything up right from the start. Seedlings are about 2” tall and starting to grow a second set of leaves. Next time, I will start out with my lights lower. I placed my lights at 13” from tops of pots from the start (took a guess) with the veg only spectrum turned on. This caused my sprouts to stretch too much, I think. They went from just turning upright and unfolding the first little leaves to 2” tall and very thin stem in about 24 hrs. Moved to 6” and turned on both spectrums and the stretching seems to have stopped. My lights are two Hydroponics Hut Pro Grow 180. Each one covers a 20” x 23” area. I should have started with lights lower. Next time, I'll know.
    Here are some pics of where I'm at with this.
     

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  4. Thurs. 05/26- Here's a couple pics of the seedlings. Nirvana Feminized Northern Light and Fem. Blue Mystic. I think the seedlings have stopped stretching for the light after lowering my lights from 13" to 6" from the tops of the pots. Leaf growth looks good. Stems are looking better. Not so skinny and weak looking. Coco moist. No water needed. Temp. 83. RH 44%. I think I have learned my first lesson in regards to placement of my lights.
     

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  5. Fri. 05/27- . Temp 86. RH 59%. 6 days from breaking the surface of the coco. Starting to see 3rd set of leaves. Temp 90. RH 44%. Watered lightly with one gall. evenly between all six pots. 1 ml each micro, grow, bloom. 2ml each diamond nectar, flora blend.
    Sun. 05/29- Temp 88. RH 44%. 8 days old. Lots of growth happening. Upped the nutes to 2.5ml micro, 5 ml grow, 2.5 ml bloom. 5 ml flora blend, 2 ml diamond nectar, 5 ml Cal Mag. Slight cupping upturn leaves on a couple of the plants, slightly yellowing spotting on leaves also. Nute burn maybe? They are really taking off so I'm going to keep with the light feeding and live with it. Watered with 1 gallon water between all six pots. Still staying pretty wet with watering every other day. Plants have three sets of leaves. Starting to see fourth set on top and new leaf sets from junctions of the base of stem and lower leaves. Branching starting to happen maybe? Water base PH 7. Ph down 5 ml. Ph 5.7
     
  6. Tues. 05/31- Temp 88. RH 62%. 10 days old. Light watering with one gallon of water between all six 2 gallon pots. 2.5ml micro, 5 ml grow, 2.5 ml bloom. 5 ml flora blend, 5 ml diamond nectar, 5 ml cal mag. TDS 790 ppm. PH of water after nutes added 7.0. Added 5ml ph down to 5.8.
    Raised lights to about 9” from tops of pots. The plants seem to like these led lights. Look happy with lots of new growth. We'll see how they do later for flowering. I would have considered HPS for the proven results that most people get, but heat is a very major factor for me. So, I thought that I would try my hand at led lighting. Run way cooler but not as proven results for flowering. I hope that they work well.
    The yellowing (nute burn?) seems to have stopped. These plants are growing like crazy in my inexperienced opinion. Anyone that's interested please respond, comment, criticize, etc. All info and advice is welcome. I am trying to make a serious attempt at getting good at this. I need all the help that I can get.
    Here are some current pics.
     

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  7. #7 the Dane, Jun 1, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 1, 2011
    HI :wave:
    look really good there mate!
    love the LED! -are you sure its your first grow ;)
    you are good to describe what happens in progress! i hope the best for you and theese girls!
    how much did the led cost? im very courious about ledgrow.
    cheers :bongin:

    edit: Jesus the BM is going to be monsters IMO
     
  8. Hello Dane,
    Thank you! Yes. It's my very first grow. Thanks for the flattery. I'll take it. The leds are Hydroponics Hut Pro Grow 180. I have two. One for each area. They cost about $250.00 each on Ebay auction. You can also buy them directly from H. Hut for I think $299.00 plus shipping the last time that I looked. These were in my price range as a beginner and they seem to have a good warranty. I have no experience with them though. We'll see how they do. There are a few more well documented/proven brands on the forums. But, most cost a lot more. Didn't think that I was quite ready for that yet. Maybe someday. Thanks for visiting my thread. Please drop in anytime.
     
  9. Hey tastebud, good journal. I'm on day 8 of them breaking ground and mine look a little bigger than your day 6. Good job!
     
  10. Thanks Jesstany. Looking forward to seeing updated pics of your gals. Staying tuned to your thread bro. You mentioned that you were interested in the Northern Light. I am finding that the Blue Mystic seems a little heartier at this stage. How are your Auroras looking compared to your BM's? Cheers!
     
  11. The Auroras are skinner in shape than the Blue Mystics but they all look very healthy. I have one Blue Mystic that is growing way faster than the rest of them though. I'll post updated pics on Thursday. I'm following yours too, I hope atleast one of my Blue Mystics turns blue, I read online that putting it in a cold dark area for your dark period of flowering in your last week really helps them turn blue. you hear anything like that?
     
  12. #12 tastebud, Jun 1, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 1, 2011
    Yes. I have read that cooler dark time is needed for them to turn blue. The temps where I am are probably going to be too hot (no A/C where grow cab is). Lowest temps so far for me have been upper seventies at night. I'll be happy if mine come out sticky, plentiful, and tasty. Any color will be ok with me.

    Oh yea. I too have one BM that's growing way faster than the other two.
     
  13. Hello Everyone,

    Here's an update with pics of my grow. Thanks for looking. Everyone and anyone are welcome to comment, offer advice, etc. Any info will be appreciated. Thanks.

    Day 12- Thurs. 06/02/11. Temp. 88. RH 43%.

    Watered today. Now watering every other day. All measurements per 1 gallon of water. GH Flora micro 2.5 ml, grow 5 ml, bloom 2.5 ml. Flora blend 5 ml, Diamond nectar 5 ml, Cal mag 5 ml. Base PH of water after nutes added 7.0. Added 5ml ph down to 5.8. TDS 830 ppm.

    Plants looking nice. Stems getting thicker. Short and bushy overall. Lots of new growth. I'm growing Nirvana Fem. Northern Light and Fem. Blue Mystic. I am growing in Coco/Perlite mix in Hempy pots. I am using LED lights.

    If anyone out there is growing these strains or using Hempy pots or leds, please feel free to offer your experience. This is my very first grow. I have an idea of how to do it from reading lots of journals on the forums. But, I have a long way to go in gaining hands on experience. I would love to exchange ideas with anyone and everyone. It's the best way to improve in my opinion.

    Thanks to member Jesstany for keepin touch. I look forward to seeing updates on your thread. Eager to see how your coming along.

    Now the pics:
     

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  14. Damn dude you've left me in the dust. Mine seem to be stunned or something. I don't know wtf is going on.

    Your plants look amazing man, good effing job!
     
  15. Well thank you. Don't give up bro. I had my lights too high starting out (stretched, weak stems on seedlings). And, I caused some kind of yellowing, burning? Both were able to be corrected by taking some good advice from more experienced growers. Put up some current pics and ask for help. I'll bet one of the veterans on here will help you.
     
  16. :wave:Here's an update. Thanks for following along to whoever might be reading this.

    Day 14- Sat. 06/04/11 Temp. 89. RH 51%.

    Noticed on Fri. a little burning and coco dried faster than normal. Did my first flush with 1 gall. ph'd 5.8 water for each pot. Added 1 gall. of nutes/water between all six pots after flush. GH micro 2.5 ml, grow 5 ml, bloom 2.5 ml. Flora blend 5 ml, diamond nectar 5 ml, cal mag 5 ml.

    Run off was ph 5.6. Have been adding 5 ml ph down to my ph 7 water to get ph of 5.8. This time adjusted ph 7 water with 4 ml per gallon of ph down to ph 6. Going to see if this makes my run off closer to 5.8.

    Sat. already noticed improvement from the flush. Will be flushing once every 7 days from here on out.

    Current pics:
     

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  17. Hello tastebud. Just read through your thread. You're doing well - even I can't find anything to criticise. Good looking little plants.
    Regarding the runoff pH, however, I found that there's not much point in measuring it. As long as you keep feeding at 5.8, you can ignore runoff pH. It can be very misleading, unless you test the substrate using the 1:1.5 extraction method.

    It is, however, a good idea to monitor runoff EC as an indication of when to flush.
    When the EC approaches the strength of the feeding solution, a flush is in order.

    Anyway, I'm pulling up a chair to see how you do. Have fun.
     
  18. Thank you Wardrobe. I was hoping to hear from you. Thanks for the ph advice. I will go back to feeding at ph 5.8. I will also start measuring ec of my run off. Haven't been doing that. I want to get good at knowing when to flush. I have flushed one time and my plants really seemed to like it. I'm only 14 days from my plants sprouting. Got a long way to go and a lot to learn. Thanks for taking the time to help me. I look forward to any advice that you may have as I progress. I will follow any thread that you have going. Your current thread is an awesome read. GC rocks and so do you sir.
     
  19. Yeah, I forget where I first got that advice, but I've stuck to it and it's worked well for me. Trying to measure runoff pH will just drive you crazy.


    If you flush too often, you can end up with bleached/burned leaf tips. This method means that you only flush when you really need to, reducing the risk of damage. One day after a flush, my runoff is almost the same as my tap water. (Runoff EC 0.25, tap water EC 0.2) After a few days of feeding, the runoff rises to 0.35-0.4, even with 10% runoff with feeding. Still good, but when it gets above about 2/3 of the feeding EC, I flush with pH'd water at 5.8.


    More than happy to help. You have the right approach, you'll do well.
    And thanks for the compliments on my thread/plants.

    Keep up the good work.
     
  20. Ahh, this thread is much better! Plants have come a long way in the past couple days.
    As Wardrobe said: looks good.
     

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