This is my 3rd grow using the 250W HPS DIY light that I bought off a buddy who upgraded his. Previous grows were done in a 2 gallon pots using 100% perlite. First grow was a bag seed that yielded 64 grams The 2nd plant was a clone from my buddy of Violator Kush but due to some over zealous pruning of leaves on it + temps dropping too much in basement yielded a mere 32g. For this grow I went out and purchased feminized seeds from a local seed bank (Super Lemon Haze and LSD) and since due to time I can currently only do 2 grows a year I'm trying to make the most of every plant. This is my first ever SCROG as before had just done some basic LST. I am getting ready to flip her to flower soon as I know it will still double or more in size, but I am trying to fix a few issues I see with it and getting a better water/nutrient feeding schedule established which is where I hope the knowledge of this board can help. Current Set Up: 250 W HPS DIY light 5 gal Lowe's pot blacked out with duct tape and a garbage bag so no light get to roots 3:1 Perlite/Vermiculite Ratio for soil Here is a pic of the nutrients used along with the chart Im currently going off for mixing. Tap water that is left out for a few days in 4L jugs are used to mix in and the solution is PH'd down to 5.5-6.5 range using PH tester device. Currently doing feed/feed/water rotation every 4 days, after seeing signs of what I think to be over watering and possibly still see some now. When I do water the plant I use the full 4L but with such a large reservoir and now plant I barely see any run off any more, so not sure if I should be using more water but less often or what? As I know you want to flush out approx. 10-20% each time. Here she is after a month and a half of veg, I'm not counting the approx. 2 weeks it took the roots to make it to the res in such a large pot. Underneath the cage, slowly pruning the fan leaves out from under in prep for flower, trying to give the few tiny stems a last chance to make it to the top before they get cut as well. I find the leaves are much more light green then I am use to, I'm not sure if this is the plant or where I may be lacking in some nutrients. Tried to get a pic of it but not the best with a shitty camera. Here you can see some of the slight curling of the fan leaves, is this over watering or light burn or something else? I have the light approx. 8-9inch away from the cage and can easily leave my hand under it without feeling it. Anyways hope everyone can come take a look, as the real fun part of the plant is about to come and lend a hand to make it a monster.
trimmed some more fan leaves under neath and keep tucking the new bud sites back under the screen. Id say its close to 70% or so covered on the screen. I didn't top or FIM this plant but I am thinking for next time it may make things slightly easier under the cage, and im moving it into a bigger room next time since I currently cant get to the back of the plant easily as its growing in a downstairs washroom. Any one have thoughts on my watering and leaf colour question? As im hoping to water her again tomorrow, and would like to flip it to 12/12 within the next week or 2.
So Ive been watering every 4 days but forgot yesterday morning and didn't get around to it until late last night. Needless to say it looked a lil extra crispy on all the leaves. I watered it last night, with a little over 1 gal of PH'd water until I saw some trickling out of the res and shes looking better this morning. Over head shot of the screen Under the light the colours look much paler which is why I feared a nutrient issue but on the camera they don't look as bad so what the fuck do I know. Here is a pic of what would be the newest growth from the "top" of the plant. Is the slight striping I see in the 2nd pic anything to worry about? As I said in my first post just not seeing the real dark green ive seen in previous grows. Unsure if its me or the stain.
Maybe its a buildup or a nute lockout. Or overwatering. You use perlite and vermiculite now so that's something new you said. And also you are using a feed, feed, water system with a gro micro and bloom -Have you always used this? It might just need a flush but don't rush into anything. Keep checking other threads to see if you can't find your answer. Best of luck.
Yes ive used the same 4 nutrients on my previous 2 plants. Just trying to figure out the few issues so once it hits flowering stage it will be smooth sailing. Previously I had fed it every time but noticed this plant did not like that at all hence the feed/feed/water schedule im currently on. I see all these monsters people grow and im just hoping for something on par since im only using a 250W light. If I can get 2-3o from this plant id be happy for sure.
Your doing it right with the scrog setup. Only time will tell but I mean that's a good size plant already. 250 watts should be able to yield 84 grams.
I counted like 15 decent size tops... If they all came out to 7 grams dried flower that would be over 100 grams.
it's possible that the light might be too close. i know it's only 250 watts but 8" might not be enough. i used to keep the 250W close but i always had a little fan blowing almost directly on the light to stay cool. the thin, pale leaves could be the plant and obviously the HPS light always makes it look more yellow than normal. i've never used perlite+vermiculite but it could be that the vermiculite is holding a lot of water. i don't think you need to have a non-nutrient feeding. i feed mine with every watering every three days (but i use 100% perlite only). it could be that the plant isn't getting enough grow nutrients (which could make the leaves thin and pale), also, in the OP you mentioned that your pHing between 5.5-6.5. i personally go between 5.2-5.8 for my hempies. 6.5 might be too high. also, i try to move it around in that range with each feeding (i.e. sometimes i'll pH to 5.8, next time i'll pH to 5.4 sort of thing just to make sure the plant can access all the nutrients).
Thanks for the input man, will try it out for sure. Going to feed it one more time before flush and flip to flower in a week or so. I do have a big fan blowing over the light and plant but a smaller one better directed may also work better. Next time im using a bigger space I hate not being able to access it properly. Over all the room is staying around 25C and 50ish% humidity but will start the dehumidifier once flowering starts to slowly lower it.
Thinned out some fan leaves especially in the middle to allow light down to the last few stragglers below the cage before I flip to flower. More tucking leaves under the cage/moving my tie down points. I just keep moving it between the next node spacing to hopefully allow best possible coverage. Over head shot without the damn HPS light on Shot of the stragglers - 5 sites im hoping can make it to the top
Fed the plant on Friday and removed the last of the leaves with major nute burn on them. Think the lower PH helped on the last feeding and will continue with more of a 5.5-5.8 range from now on. Im also thinking my leaf issue is in part to a nitrogen deficiency, which I will slightly increase on next feeding. Still been keeping with watering every 4days, although once it goes to flower may increase it to every 3. Over head shot showing all the new bud sites. Looks like 4 of the 5 stragglers I was hoping for are gonna make it to the screen. Whatever doesn't, gets snipped before the flip to 12/12
Flipping the plant to flower tomorrow and giving it the first flower feeding. Think I am going to also pick up some GH Liquid Kool Bloom to increase bud size as well. Hopefully local hydro shop sells it. She has been looking much healthier since I lowered the PH I was feeding at, and I also increased the Nitrogen intake slightly on the last feeding which I also think helped with the colour issue, any of the burned leaves visible are all old growth and all the new leaves are looking healthy. Overhead of the SCROG "The Gap" - the 4 sites are just about to the screen now, will be trimming off the remaining lower fan leaves and any bud sites that aren't going to make it to the top when I flip to 12/12. I have been trimming the undergrowth slowly in preparation for this already so it wouldn't be a total shock to the plant. Looking forward to the real fun phase of the grow. I hope all my time/effort pays off since I now know SLH isn't the best yielder.
Looking forward too seeing how you come along and looks as though you perlite/vermiculite mix is holding on to too much water and id say the full 4l in one water is too much, i also use 5 gal pots and feed every single day but just use just 1.25L/per plant and they seem to love it Sent from my GT-I9505 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I find that without the large amount I don't get the run off, so maybe I should just worry less about that. Thanks for the input and hope you keep an eye out on my thread.
Yeah id probs flush the plant with phd water, reduce the volume you feed it each time and change schedual to feed/ph'd water/feed that way you shouldnt get a nute build up and ill keep an eye on it man (y) Sent from my GT-I9505 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Oh and i found this artical a while ago and found it pretty indepth into sick plant diagnosis http://www.thenug.com/galleries/diagnose-your-sick-marijuana-plants Sent from my GT-I9505 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Are you also growing in a hempy with similar soil? Cant wait till I start to see bud on this plant. Too bad it will take like 11 weeks.
No i did on my last grow im using a coco mix this time in plastic pots it working great atm and thats a long ass flower time haha it a sativa? My lemon kush is supposed to take 8 i think Sent from my GT-I9505 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Ya its a Haze X Sativa mix so its a freakishly long time to flower. I picked this seed after reading such great reviews on the smoke, but next time think I will stick with bigger yielding/faster flowering strains. At least until I can figure out how to get a set up going where I can have a mother plant and grow from clones all the time and not waste so much time from seed.
Well after feeding the plant for the first time with the transition nutes, I spotted an issue that was probably leading to the plant being over watered. A giant root had pushed its way out of the drainage hole and then under the garbage bag I have the bucket wrapped in and had been sitting in run off water which I don't always clear right away. Last feeding this was especially bad as the wife put too much water through it and also left the run off bin with all the water in it (I was out of town). There is no getting the giant root back through the hole so for now its just tucked back under the bucket and will be sure to clear the water right away after a feed. Note to self for next grow pay more attention to what's going on BELOW the screen just as much as above. *smacks head*