What's up, I've got a few questions regarding my first grow in a long time. I decided to go with a GrowLab 80 with a 400w HPS lamp cooled with a Tornado fan blowing outdoors. I also have a small fan running to move air around the lab as well. I chose a relatively easy strain to grow, or as I was told, Moby Dick. I soaked the seeds in water for 18 hours then planted directly into organic potting soil in a 9 oz Solo cup with holes cut into the bottom for drainage on a 17/7 cycle. Roughly a day and a half later (7/21) they were above ground and growing rapidly. I water them daily but only as needed, if they are still moist they don't get any water. The water is PH balanced, 5.5-6.0 and free of any nutes. The pictures below were taken today (8/2), what do you guys think? I originally had the light about 3 feet above the seedlings but today lowered it to about a foot and a half above them. Are they stretching? Do they look droopy? Should I repot them into bigger containers? Add more light? More air? Thanks a bunch.
I've gone ahead and added more time to the light, they are now on a 20/4 cycle and I've also decided that they may need more watering which would explain the droopy-ness. Any suggestions? Could really use some advice on what I should do. Thanks again.
they look good mate. they're in a fragile state so they'll droop very easily. don't worry too much about it.. as for the lights - I've only gone for 18/4. imo they look ready for a bigger pot but that's all about preference try not to do too much. I know it's tempting but most of the time you're better off leaving them alone to figure things out for themselves. they're weeds and grow like em
Thank you so much, I was beginning to worry about tie droopyness but now I'm going to do as you suggested and leave them alone. I turned the light back to 18/6 and will be repotting as soon as I have some alone time with them. What do you suggest for bigger pots? Should I put them in larger Solo cups or put them in larger pots to minimize the amount of transplanting? That way they only get repotted once, maybe twice, instead of three to four times. The less stress the better right?
Once I have roots I transfer one time only to my end stage pots. Minimizes shock at later stages, when the plant is doing more interesting tasks.
Marms got the right idea... Plants are looking great dude! It's obvious you've done your reading and are on the right track. When you get some time, look into smart pots/airpots w/e you wanna call em, they would make a great final resting place. Otherwise a 5 gallon pot should do the trick. Like it was already said, plants can be very susceptible to drooping when they are in small containers... Water gets used up so quick, plants just start to droop! So once you get these bigger pots, fill em with the medium your using and water em till soaked. Then dig a rootball sized hole and plunk er in! Shouldn't have any problems with drooping after that... Just dealing with the monster plant that results Peace n pot bruddah... -trails
I shoot for right at 6. 5.5-6.5 is the Acceptable range, but even that I've found to be strain specific.
Wow thanks for all the info guys. I repotted into 10 gallon pots using the same organic potting soil and watered the hell out of the soil before adding the ladies. All three were very droopy last night before I put them in the bigger containers. The roots had balled up at the bottom of the cups which would explain the drooping, I'm sure a larger home will suit them well. Thanks again for the info, one more quick question. Everything I've read says seedling stage lasts anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks, these girls are in their third week and I'm not sure how to tell when they go from seedling to vegetative stage. Will it be obvious with the amount of above ground action when its time for veggie? If I remener correctly, once at vegetative stage the light stays the same, 18/6? Flowering would cause a shift in light to 12/12 correct?
You are correct on lights. Don't feed till next week. There's enough nutes in soil to get the plant started, and too much now will be a shock.
What's the cfm going out? How's new air getting in? I personally would put then in 3 gallons now. If you have a cool tube you can put your light closer..like 13". Just make sure to watch your girls. Looking good though. You need more plants lol
The fan I'm using has a cfm rating of 200. The new air is entering the lab with a small fan mounted near an opening in the rear of the lab. It's not ideal and am currently brainstorming ideas of getting more air inside for circulation. Any ideas would be much appreciated. The ladies are doing well after the transplant, they are no longer drooping and seem to be happy in their new homes. I noticed that some of the lower leaves on two of them have a shade of yellow to them, could that be shock from transplanting or are they too close to the light? Here are a few pictures,
Don't worry about the lower leaves. It's def shock. If you would have given it some b-1 vitamin it prob would be better with no yellow. Bottom yellowing had to do with ph and micro nutrientsfrom my experience. What is the ph again? It may be a little low. You're doing great imo
Thanks for all the advice everyone, but I've got more questions. First of all, the ph is usually around 5.5 to 6.0. I try to keep it consistant but with hard water it makes it a little difficult. Now, the questions. Everything I've read says that CO2 is a must. How important is it? It obviously helps but does it help that much? I've stuck some money into this grow and really don't want to sink anymore into it, is CO2 worth the investment? Thanks.
Hey man, your grow is looking nice... Looks like you are doing things the right way... I agree with what the others are saying about the pH.... you may be running a little low, and if you happen to have acidic soil, you may need to bump it up a little... Instead of getting into the CO2, consider buying a digital pH tester and a TDS(ppm) meter instead. I think itd be a much better investment... That way you could test your runoff and see where your soil is really at... And if your water is really that hard, you may not need to supplement with calcium at all... but you'd need to know where your water's ppm is at.. Hope ya don't mind me throwing in my $.02!! EDIT: just realized that it wasnt in your thread that I saw the pH drops and papers So if you DO have digital meters.... my apologies
If you have a ample exhaust and intake of new air you will get enough Co2. Yeah get a ph and ppm meter. Adding dolomite lime will buffer your ph to around 7. Look it up and make decisions.
...you either need alot of fresh air, or co2 enrichment.....check out what Kubby says. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-iexjRgId0[/ame]
Nice, all good ideas and suggestions. Thank you. Here is what I did. I added a CO2 Boost bucket this afternoon. The bucket lasts for 90 days and has an attached pump with hose for direct placement of the CO2. It's the natural way to do it and much cheaper than getting a regulator and tank. I also got a pH soil test stick, cheap way out I know but it's better than nothing. I put it in all three of the girls soil today and all three were right around 7. The water pH level is always between 5.5 and 6.0. They all got nutes today as well, a mixture of energy and grow. Here's how the girls looked today, happy to have CO2 and nutes.