How am I doing, First Grow, need some advice
- Thread starter Ganked
- Start date
Ninjabowler
Well-Known Member
ok, the organic moss needs to go, those house lamps too. You had a nice thing going until meathead fd it up, do that and post pics of all the nutes you are using and how much.
i knew it wasnt nute burn. you need to supply a constant stream of nutes for hydro. if you dont want to do this, you may want to replant them in soil.
BCBuddy420
Well-Known Member
You don't need nor should have any HID near that thing right now unless far away. Use lower wattage lights and increase as growth improves read up on this if you want to learn lighting... KNOW YOUR LUMENS and read your babies!!
How much light is needed for growing?
Light seen and perceived with the human eye is measured in Lumens. There is an ideal amount of lumens for growing and a minimum amount of required lumens. The very minimum amount of light required for smaller sized plants grown is around 3000 lumens per square foot. Let me put emphasis on "minimum amount" of light. However, that's not 100% exactly accurate, since although you may have a 10,000 lumen light, the amount of light that reaches the plant varies with the distance between the light and plants, and the reflectivity of the grow area. The ideal amount is somewhere around 7000-10,000 lumens per square foot for average sized plants. As long as the plants do not show burn, as much light can be used as you want to use. (Note, the sun produces about 10,000 lumens per square foot, on a sunny mid summer day).
Determining lumens for your grow area:
First determine the square footage of your area (example in a 4 foot by 4 foot area, there is 16 square feet, 2 by 2 feet is 4 Sq ft. ) If you have a 1000 Watt High Pressure Sodium Light Bulb, that produces approximately 107,000 lumens. Divide this by 16 (your square footage) 107,000 divided by 16 = 6687 lumens per square foot. So just divide the total amount of Lumens, by the total amount of square feet, and that's your lumens per square foot.
How far away from my plants do the lights go?
The lights in your grow room should be as close as possible to the plants without burning them. There is no such thing as too much light, unless there is overly sufficient heat to dry out and burn the leaves. A good rule is to put your hand under the light, if its too hot for your hand, chances are that the plants will be too hot too, so move the light up until your hand feels more comfortable. For seedlings or sprouts, I keep them a little further away from the light, because they are very susceptible to burning and drying out, at these young stages.
How do I decide which lights to use?
Factors are COST, Room Space, and HEAT!
Efficiency is very important when choosing a type of light. The wattage is not the most important thing, different types of light produce different amounts of lumens per watt. For example, a 300 watt incandescent will produce about 5100 lumens. (not that you can grow with incandescent bulbs) While a 300 watt Metal Halide (just an example, they do not come in 300 watts), will produce 27,000 lumens. Obviously far more efficient for growing, while still using the same amount of electricity.
Approximate light production:
Incandescents: 17 lumens/watt
Mercury vapor: 45-50 lumens/watt
Fluorescents: 60-70 lumens/watt
Metal halide: 90 lumens/watt
High pressure sodium: 107 lumens/watt
Incandescent lights: Incandescent bulbs are the most popular type of lights in the world. They may come advertised as incandescent, tungsten, quartz, halogen, or simply standard. The important thing about incandescent bulbs when it come to growing is simply this: they suck. Using incandescent bulbs to grow plants is like trying to flag down the Space Challenger with a burnt out match! You can do it, but it won't work. There are some incandescents which are sold as "grow lights." They usually have a blue coating and usually come in 60W and 120W sizes. While they may seem like a good choice to new growers, they are next to useless; they produce some light at a usable spectrum, but only have about a 5% efficiency and generate more heat than usable light. Most of us have these in our homes right now. Don't use them for growing, instead opt for a Compact Fluorescent, CFL, as a cheaper but more efficient alternative.
Fluorescent lights: Fluorescents are far more useful than incandescents. They are efficient enough, and much less expensive than HID (High Intensity Discharge) lights. Compact fluorescent tubes, (commonly called CFLs) are popular with growers because of their good output to size ratio. They are easily moved around too. Compared to standard 4 foot tubes, CFLs are smaller, more easily moved, and more can fit into a given small area. CFLs are good for small grows on a tight budget, and for novice growers, since they do not require any special sort of wiring or understanding of the necessary bulbs for a given fixture, and the small wattage ones (23, 42 and 65) are very widely available. AND THERE IS THE VENTING AND THE HEAT. Fluorescent lights come in many different Kelvin (spectrum or color) ratings; often the spectrums are labeled on packaging as being 'cool white' or 'warm white.' Cool white is more blue, and is good for the vegetative stages of growth. The bulbs are ultra white. Warm white light is more reddish in spectrum, and is best for the flowering stage. The bulbs are almost cream colored.
Color rating - Measured in Kelvin (K). The higher the number, the more bluish the light. 4000K-7000K is mostly on the blue side of the spectrum for Vegging or GROWING, while 3000K and under goes from a white spectrum, to a redder spectrum and is best for BLOOMING or FLOWERING.
High Intensity Discharge (HID) Lighting Systems:
Mercury Vapor (MV)
Mercury vapor lights are not the most efficient light for growing. They are very bright, and relatively cheap. They do emit light at the wavelengths necessary to support your plants growth, but not nearly as good as a MH or HPS light. Much of the light emitted by MV lights is bluish-white. Street lighting is what most MV lighting is used for.
Metal Halide (MH)
Metal halide lighting systems are optimal for use in the vegetative phase of growing. They emit mostly blue light, which encourages vigorous growth of foliage. They are very efficient, but can get rather expensive to start with; fluorescents may seem more appealing because of their lower price, and they are not much different when compared on a lumen-to-lumen cost level. These lights can be used through-out the grow, but leave a lot to be desired in the BLOOM stage.
High Pressure Sodium (HPS)
High pressure sodium lights emit mostly orange, yellow, and red spectrum light, which is perfect for the flowering stage of the plants growth. They are (in my opinion) the most efficient type of light available for any application if you are not on a budget and can vent the grow area for heat. HPS lights can be used through-out the entire grow. They produce more dense and usually larger flowers or fruit than any other light. HPS lights are generally a little more expensive than MH systems of similar wattage. They are more commonly used by experienced commercial growers because of their ability to produce tighter denser flowers, higher lumen-output-per-watt, and will produce from start to finish.
Just like everything else, available grow lights are evolving. Remember how the sun produces 10,000 lumens per square foot in the mid-summer.
Ninjabowler
Well-Known Member
That stuff is probably just micro nutrients, it has aolnost zero NPK in it. You need to get fertz specific for hydro, anything organic will cause root rot, you can tell if you have it because your roots will be dark in color and smell bad. Check that, if they are wash them off and change your rez.
Ninjabowler
Well-Known Member
omageeeeeeeee!!! Wheres see4? I need him to kick in your door and cut you. Quiet, grown ups are talking.
Canna55seur
New Member
Very informative post BC
Ninjabowler
Well-Known Member
Its probably not root rot yet, the plants too young.
HAHAHA! the roots are the most vulnerable when they are toddlers..im amazed by how much experience and time youve put into growing..but youre still so ignorant. hows that possible?
i will let the hydro guys handle this though. i dont play with hydro YET. PEACE
i havent been giving them full nutrients i just have been putting alittle bit in the water since they say to not go full force with the nutes... thats why im thinking it isnt nutrient burn...
View attachment 2504176
View attachment 2504176
zero phosphorus..is that standard? could explain rooting issue. how do the roots look? cant you check roots in a hydro grow?
someone also suggested that adding organic material can cause rot..i wouldnt doubt it. organic material in water = algae
turn the hps on when you flower. make sure its not too hot in there when the hid is running.
someone also suggested that adding organic material can cause rot..i wouldnt doubt it. organic material in water = algae
turn the hps on when you flower. make sure its not too hot in there when the hid is running.
Canibitual
Well-Known Member
I looked up those nutes...
32 oz bottle,
0.13 - 0 - 0.6
so... .19% nutes, 99.81% filler (water+non plantfood)...
Label says it makes 10 gallons....
32oz/10 = 3.2oz per gallon...
I'd say start off with 1.6oz per gallon and slowly move it up to 3.2, however... it doesn't say it contains phosporus... so It isn't going to be a good all around mix... hopefully your soil contains some of it...
Look for something else if you want to use it as a single base mix...
high N - veg
High P and K for Flower
but whichever mix you use should have some of all... unless you want to buy another mix that has the P and add that too...
32 oz bottle,
0.13 - 0 - 0.6
so... .19% nutes, 99.81% filler (water+non plantfood)...
Label says it makes 10 gallons....
32oz/10 = 3.2oz per gallon...
I'd say start off with 1.6oz per gallon and slowly move it up to 3.2, however... it doesn't say it contains phosporus... so It isn't going to be a good all around mix... hopefully your soil contains some of it...
Look for something else if you want to use it as a single base mix...
high N - veg
High P and K for Flower
but whichever mix you use should have some of all... unless you want to buy another mix that has the P and add that too...
Ninjabowler
Well-Known Member
ya, if your not adding much of that stuff your in trouble. The NPK values as you can see are less than 1. See how this two part has alot of N in it when you add it up? Your probably Lacking N and thats why the leaves are yellowing from the bottom up. Oh and next time you use hydroton, wash it off or all that dust on the inside of that 10" net will be in your rez eventually. Yu may also want to move that light 6" higher if the temps are stable for the moment.
Attachments
Ninjabowler
Well-Known Member
Are they hydro nutes?