New grower, needs input from experianced growers.

[stitch32]

Hello everyone. i am a new grower, very small scale. I Used to smoke pot reguraly but stoped after a very close call with the law 10 years ago. recientaly i was injured and had surgury. the meds not only took the pain away , but would knock me out. so i found green again. ok enough of my rambilings. I have a 28"w x 18"d x 70"h grow box. it is lined with panda paper, A/C duct line directly in to my box to cool it ( it is in the attic ) a diy carbon filter venting right to the roof vent. inside i have 58 watt ( 300 watt equivalent) CFL x2, 26 watt ( 100 watt ) CFL x2, and 48" T8 32 watt x2 and 48" T12 40 watt x2. the 48" T8 and T12 are vertical lights. all lights are in 2700k - 3000k range.


everything went great in grow. i used floranova in 5 gall bubble buckets. switched to root bags for flower. i am into my 4 week of flower, started with open sesame on fridays, water on mondays, Monties root and bloom on wednsdays, now i am useing beastie blooms on fridays instead of open. since my second week of flower i have been getting discolored leaves, and cant figure it out. any ideas.

 

[stitch32]

ok here are some more pics of my boxtemp stays 70 deg all day. with around 40-50% humidity. last pick is a diy carbon filter i amde with 4 carbon filter sheets and 1lbs of activated carbon.

 

[stitch32]

WOW you ppl are a lot of fucking help. over 300 views and not a single reply except my own. nice way to welcome the new guy

 

[tmt1958]

Stranger, I see your pics. The leaves can yellow if the plant gets too thirsty. It will also have yellow leaves when the buds are ripening. This is normal. What I do is pick them off and review what I am doing to the plant. Make sure you stick to a good watering schedule (not over or under) and don't over fertilize. I use Miracle Grow Moisture Control potting soil for my plants. Once a week I use Miracle Grow fertilizer (1 teaspoon per gal of water). I also use plant hormones once in a while if I think the plant is getting stressed for some reason. It comes in a little brown bottle for about $10 and you can get it in the garden centers. Don't fertilize 3 weeks before harvest. It will taste better. I hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[cc08150]

Those lights are WAY too far away from your plant tops that is why the lower leaves are yellowing. They are not getting sufficient light, therefore your plant is shutting down photosynthesis to the lower top to promote top growth instead. T5 and CLF lights need to be 3-4" away from the top of your plant with a small fan blowing on the bulbs to keep em cool. Place the bulbs closer and make sure those temps stay good like they are right now and you should see some good results and a lot of bud growth bro!!

 

[stitch32]

thank you for the reply. i am useing a blend of mushroom compost bone meal and kelp meal. i stick to my watering like clock work. i also use superthrive vitiman, hormone additive as well as earth juice microblast for added micro nutes. after consulting with a friend in the horticulture program at the local coledge it is nitrogen defiency. nothing more nothing less. the fertz i have been giving my plants are low on N. now i just need to find a fert that gives me enough P and K for flower and enough N to get the plant healthy again.

 

[stitch32]

the light was only in that position for the pic. if the light would have been in correct position you would not see the plants. correction my large CFL are 68 watt not 58 watt.

 

[cc08150]

Try to find some worm castings if you can. Otherwise blood meal is a good option for some strong Nitrogen fertilizer at 12-0-0 NPK. Figured it might be just for the picture, but just making sure

 

[cc08150]

Hey I would also recommend you to throw in some 5000k bulbs in the mix man. You will get much less stretch from your plants and get a better yield with that setup with the less stretch if you get 2 or 3 5000k bulbs.

 

[stitch32]

worm castings is easy find here. i am sure i can get some tomorrow after work.

 

[stitch32]

i know the lights get hot. if i have the intake fan on the timer with the exaust fan, the box will get over 100 deg in less than 15 minutes. with the intake fan constiant i can keep it at 68-74 deg no problem. i now need to find a way to keep co2 levels around 1000 ppm in the box. the box is 21.87 cf, and i currently have 2 gatorade bottles(32 oz) in from of the intake fan but i dont believe that is supplieing enough co2. any ideas

 

[cc08150]

worm castings is easy find here. i am sure i can get some tomorrow after work.

So you are running bubble buckets? Thats with a water pump right? I am pretty sure you can put some worm castings in a coffee filter and make a "tea bag" full of worm castings. Then, I'd fill up a small bucket with a gallon of water and let the "tea bag" sit in the water. Aerate the water for better results with an aquarium pump. Do this for about an hour or two and them mix that gallon of water with your resivoir water in both of those bubble buckets you got. Just try and make sure no pieces of poop get in the water you put in your bubble buckets bro you dont want that pump plugging up

 

[stitch32]

i really am not getting much stretch since putting in to flower. i would guess maybe 3 inches in height in now 5 weeks of flower. i am about to install a 10 watt UVB bulb in my light panel for the increased resin.

 

[stitch32]

i did the bubble buckets where in grow. i switched ofer to root bags for flower. if the wife will let me spend the money on a ppm meter i may try flowering in bubble next round. these are the first plants i have ever grown and are reggos. i was not about to waste any good seeds on a trial setup

 

[cc08150]

i know the lights get hot. if i have the intake fan on the timer with the exaust fan, the box will get over 100 deg in less than 15 minutes. with the intake fan constiant i can keep it at 68-74 deg no problem. i now need to find a way to keep co2 levels around 1000 ppm in the box. the box is 21.87 cf, and i currently have 2 gatorade bottles(32 oz) in from of the intake fan but i dont believe that is supplieing enough co2. any ideas

You may get slightly better results with CO2 enrichment but that usually is needed for more intense High pressure sodium light systems. You could try bakers yeast + sugar and it may get you a little bit more bud. Or get a CO2 pellet gun and some CO2 cylinders. The best time for CO2 enrichment is about 5 minutes after the lights come on. So if you do, plan to keep your fans off the first 15 minutes and enrich right when the lights turn on....then once it gets too hot you can turn the fans on and you will be good.

 

[stitch32]

i was sudgested to do the same thing with the pellet gun. and i know all to well about the bakers yeast and sugar. i have planted aquariums and have been useing it for years. in water it is a completly differen setup and you can tell you co2 consentrations by your ph and hardness readings. i dont want to use any sort of flame that is for sure( i love my wife and she puts up with a lot from me, fire in the house unsuppervised would be a sure way to find my grow in the street for all to see).

 

[stitch32]

OK a lot of things have happened since my last post. the plants where suffering from n deficiency, p deficiency, k deficiency and zink. i was watering with the correct pH, but it was the soil that was messed up. after dosing with the correct ferts and it only got worse. i took a sample of my soil to the local garden shop where they can check your soil for free. i was shocked at the results. even after a complete flush the soil pH was almost 10. all the readings for n,p, and k where in the normal range. now how do i fix the soil with only a few weeks left in flower ??

 

[cc08150]

wow, usually the ph is acidic in soil, not alkaline, unless there is a lot of dolomite lime added. What is the pH of the water you are using?? Sounds like your water is hard and probably has a lot of calcium and other disolved solids in it. You need to really get some kind of meter and check the ppm of the water you are using. I'd suggest going and buying bottled water for the rest of the grow if it is indeed your water that is hard and has a high pH. And add a teaspoon of regular food grade vinegar to your water to get it a little acidic. 10pH is crazy. You want 6.5 or so. Don't add any more fertilizer. The plants will not uptake NPK or any other micronutrients if the pH is off.

Check to see if your local store can check your water for you with a ppm meter

 

[sativafiend]

Hi,you could try using something like Earth juice catalyst as it brings Ph down bye quite a bit,it also feeds the soil with mollases,yeast,oat bran,kelp and other things,my PH is around 8.0 but after adding i get down to around 7.Or just add citric acid.Good luck .SF