Sup guys. I have a journal but no one is responding and I need help bad. I dont know what the problem could be. 2x2x2 box running 8 CFLs. This is because i had 12 going, and the temps were always high 80's. With the 8, they stay around 75-80. Its stable at 78.6 right now. The RH i try to keep around 30%. It gets low fast, so i have to mist to do this. The plants are about 14 days old now, and they are in a seed starting mix. Soil shouldnt have any nutes in it as far as I know. I keep them about 3-4 inches from the lights. Two exhausts, both CPU fans. One is pushing out a good amount of air, one is a strong fan but for some reason not much air comes out of the light trap. Intake: one ~4inch hole in the bottom center, and two ~3inch holes on the bottom sides. Bag seed. If I left anything out please let me know, here are pics. The first one makes me sad as shit. Seriously.
Step 1. Quit Misting. Step 2. What's your PH of water/runoff? To me it looks like a MAJOR lockout of potash/nitro. You have not fed yet? IMHO, sadly, it might be best to restart . They are rough, and might not make it. And if they do, the damage may stunt their growth for the next 2 weeks.
I know. im so sad. Anyway, I dont have proper pH equipment. I feared this was the problem. I have a cheapo $15 ferry morse detector from the depot, but idk if i ttrust it. It was like 6.4 - 6.7 between the three. No nutes from me. Why is misting bad? My RH is less than or around 23% without it. What about the high temps? Could that have done it? Its been 78-79 all day today.
they are already stunted they sprouted at the same time it sucks but i dont have any more seeds or anything. And i have no idea where to find mid grade. Is there anything I can do to help them pull through? What about the big GIRL! GIRL! GIRL! lol
Unless you know what's in your water you are misting with, you could be adding to the problem. Plus, it's not enough moisture anyhow to increase RH by anything worthwhile, even momentarily. By no means is high humidity completely needed. It does however help reduce stress by making transpiration easier. A better solution would be to invest in a humidifier.. I HIGHly reccomend a ultrasonic humidifier. It's what I use to keep mine up @ 60% or so... my area's RH is right around 20-30% year round aswell. Going to take some work to make them live, but it's entirely possible.. 78-79 is perfect! You should have a digital therm/hydrometer @ canopy level.
Best I can reccomend is that you go buy yourself some Distilled/RO water.. Add a few drops of lime juice per gallon to lower Ph. Keep doing this every watering!! You need to invest in at least a Ph meter. It's more or less drving in the dark with your headlights off. You're going to crash. It's amazing how fast a nutrient lockout can ruin a girl.
i dont really know man, other than using a different brand of soil. your plants wouldnt look like that if it was a good organic soil mixture. if your on the east coast i can most likely help you find good soil. when people say "its all about the roots".....well ya essentially your soil is the most important thing in a grow. and RO water is near 0 ppb, and extremely pure. extremely pure water of that nature doesnt need to be pHed and conforms to whatever the pH of the medium is it gets put in. now if you put nutes in your RO water, than youll need to balance it.... -OSUB
Yeah o, im east coaster! east coast pride! lol Anyway, the misting does seem to help, it raises the RH from 20 to high 30's routinely, but I will stop because you make a valid point. I knew I Would need a damn water tester. Im about to order up this $50 one from ebay. I know they say if its less than 100 its no good but this one will be ok i think link in a second. Ill start with distilled and lime as soon as they dry out. I guess its a waiting game from here then?
Products : Sunshine Advanced advanced sunshine mix #4......ignore the others.......you dont want that Contact Coast of Maine Organic Products these guys make AMAZING compost. if you mix the lobster compost in with your mix, you will never need to use calmag. their earthworm castings are incredible as well. Algamin Kelp Meal Fertilizer kelp meal, or algamin.......you only need like 1/4 cup for 1 c.f. Certificate of Analysis azomite, or glacial rock dust (NOT GREENSAND) for all of your micronutrients. have fun playing in the dirt!!!! a soil mix like this....man you wont need any nutes until you hit the flowering cycle. -OSUB
You're not going to hurt them as badly overwatering, as you would leaving them in HOT soil. I say FLUSH them babies!! pour water till you get a fair amout leaving the bottoms of your pots. Any pen is fine! it may not be .001% accurate, but who cares?! Get that going! Get yourself some Ph up/down while your are at it... Lemon/lime juice is a temp solution. But yes, it's a waiting game. Heck, at least you are learning something from them tho
Next time if you use that same soil, make sure you pick up a bag of perlite aswell. When they pull through, and you transplant, add lots of perlite to new soil... Your soil looks skimppy on the drainage, perlite will help.
Heck, I rocked a pen under $25 bucks for a long while... Rockin' cheap pens. Just get some cheap calibration solution while you're at it. Under 30 bucks for everything to take her to the next level
oh my god your a fuckin champion! I would +Rep you again if i could! I know that all i need is to get the pH right and even in my box with my CFL's i should be able to get some crystally buds. I just was trying to wing it without it, bad choice. I just watered yesterday, thats why the soil looks so moist. I transplanted the healthy one into its final container just now and it has organic potting soil in it. the soil 'looks' nice. lol
too much heat from those lights, cfl give off heat. 78-80 degrees? that's what your reading off to the side of the plant...how hot is it right on the top of the plant? probably in the 90's or more. try 20 hrs of light, 4 dark, give that plant a break. PLUS your soil has zero aeration, you need perlite in the soil to allow the roots to get oxygen and also this will help with the drainage. Your roots will LOVE it, think about DWC setups, the constant air bubbling, the roots loooove oxygen! try 2 parts soil 1 part perlite. you know, like 2 qts of soil 1 qt of perlite mix it up, also put clean rocks in the bottom of the pot (helps drainage also) then add in your soil/perlite mix. a seedling will grow with straight tap water in the first couple of weeks.. BUT it's better to ph the water correctly which will help the plant uptake h2o quicker and makes for a healthier plant overall
Both of my thermometers are actually at canopy level and one is part of a weather station. So its actually around high 80s, but has been staying low since i took some lights out. They dont look any better, but its not time to water yet so im waiting to try distilled water.