1st grow pointers and tips.

So as the title says, this is my first attempt at cultivating my sweet sweet medication. I would like some insight on how the plants are looking at this stage.

I also have a question about the leaves being/becoming a bit crooked and SOME of the serrated edges of the leaves are bent up but not all of them are. i have four possibilities that i think might be the cause and would like some clarification.
1.) To hot....Tent stays between 78F and 82F
2.) low humidity....Cold weather has left me with a RH of 30% to 35%
3.) wind burn..... i have two fans in the tent one to supplement cooling of my already air cooled hood...and one for air movement at just about the tops of the plants with a breeze hitting the plants.
4.) over watered....i know, i know, rookie mistake. Plants are 8 days above ground in 1 gal smart pots with good draining soil ( Dr. earth organic potting soil). i was watering every other day but i think i need to push it to like every 3 or 4 days. i know there is no definitive answer for watering because of so many variables. but should i just let the plant tell me when it needs water or should i be advantageous and use the first knuckle test.

the following is my setup and conditions of grow project.
setup
-1k watt MH/HPS magnetic ballast 35 inch from tops ( was at 30 inches but when i saw the edges turning up a bit i raised it thinking it was heat burn even tho my temps read 78 to 82 at the tops)
-air cooled hood with 6inch 442 CFM exhaust with 18inch carbon filter
-4x4x6.5 Mylar grow tent
-1 gallon > 3gallon > 5 gallon smart pots
-dr earth organic top soil for the 1 gallon.
conditions
-light cycle 24hrs for veg
-humidity 30% to 35%
-Temp 78F to 82F ( ambient air and at tops of plants )
5 plants. 2 northern lights 1 moneymaker 1 lemon kush 1 blue dream
8 days above ground

if i missed anything please do not hesitate to let me know. Thank you guys so much ahead of time...ive crept through this site for ages learning and gathering information and now im glad to actually be engaging in the community with my first project.

1000w MH is wicked high, esp. on seedlings and small plants... In fact I dont run my 1k on MH..... ever. 250-400MH for veg, 600-100w for flower...

My suggestion is to get a small cheap T5 (or even some T8's if strapped for cash) for them til they are like 6" tall or better... and those you can keep like a foot away, WAY less heat... (1k MH is super hot!)

If these are not options, get them to the outside of the light footprint, its too intense.....

If a digital ballast, rock that bitch @ 50% them babies think they are growing on Mercury....

I run a sonic (mist not steam) humidifier in my veg room for small plants in the winter as well, help battle the low humidity... (Or dome single plants w/ old cashew containers)[my sugar gliders eat a lotta nuts n trail mixes] the domes also help diffuse intense light....

They look a bit small too me but they are also healthy. YES you should always listen to your gurlz...they will tell you what they need. To understand their language all you need is knowledge. You seem to have a lot of the basics needed to be successful. Continue researching and you will be able to answer your own questions.

Stop worrying so much! Cannabis wants to grow and nothing kills more plants then over anxious parents loving them too death.

Good Luck and Great Growz

the closeness and wattage of your light source is an issue that for whatever reason did not catch my attention (Thanks Flagg, great flick BTW!). I always start seedlings under cfl bulbs. I have 2 250w bulbs. I only do 2 plants per grow and that is what they start under. I then go to my 400w HID after about 2 weeks. The cfl's can be so close they almost touch the plants.

Flagg420 said:

1000w MH is wicked high, esp. on seedlings and small plants... In fact I dont run my 1k on MH..... ever. 250-400MH for veg, 600-100w for flower...

My suggestion is to get a small cheap T5 (or even some T8's if strapped for cash) for them til they are like 6" tall or better... and those you can keep like a foot away, WAY less heat... (1k MH is super hot!)

If these are not options, get them to the outside of the light footprint, its too intense.....

If a digital ballast, rock that bitch @ 50% them babies think they are growing on Mercury....

Click to expand...

I had a digital ballast but because i didnt realize about the RFI i purchased a stupid amazon one...lesson learned when cable company showed up to check out the cables...switched out to a magnetic ballast.
I know that the light is way overpowered for what is needed but ive seen alot of very successful grows accomplished with a 1k watt from the start...From my research ive learned that at 35 inches with my bulb im getting roughly around 4k lumens ( 5.6k lumens at 30 inches) and at that rate i should cease any stretching and keep the heat low on the radiant side of things. i spent my budget on this set up plus some extra due to the mag ballast i had not been expecting to purchase. so im trying to just get through it.
last but not least thank you for the input and what would you say about the crooked leaves?

$bkbbudz$ said:

They look a bit small too me but they are also healthy. YES you should always listen to your gurlz...they will tell you what they need. To understand their language all you need is knowledge. You seem to have a lot of the basics needed to be successful. Continue researching and you will be able to answer your own questions.

Stop worrying so much! Cannabis wants to grow and nothing kills more plants then over anxious parents loving them too death.

Good Luck and Great Growz

Click to expand...

i thought aswell that they looked a bit small for the stage they are in. i attributed it to the possible problems ive been having but i was not really too concerned because of the healthy green they are displaying. what about those crooked leaves? genetics?
thank you for the support and yes i worry too much...its the perfectionist in me....ill slow it down right after i test the soil for dryness for the 10th time in the last hour

$bkbbudz$ said:

the closeness and wattage of your light source is an issue that for whatever reason did not catch my attention (Thanks Flagg, great flick BTW!). I always start seedlings under cfl bulbs. I have 2 250w bulbs. I only do 2 plants per grow and that is what they start under. I then go to my 400w HID after about 2 weeks. The cfl's can be so close they almost touch the plants.

Click to expand...

so do you think i need to raise it further...i have plenty of room to adjust it i just dont want any stretching to happen?

Veg rooms got 3 125w CFL grow lights, them cheapy flourowing things... fucking love them... mounted a 4" fan from local store, cool to the touch @ 24/7 runtimes

TheGreatGreenChameleon said:

so do you think i need to raise it further...i have plenty of room to adjust it i just dont want any stretching to happen?

Click to expand...

It would help prevent crispy leaves from light/heat burn, but then you will get mega stretch....

You can grow the seedlings out under desk lamp CFLs, but til they got 3-4 sets of true leaves, I would keep them away from the HID entirely...

bump....anyone else want to chime in i would greatly appreciate it!!!

Topsoil is not soil, it's mulch later you may need to tranplant

1000 watts is way overkill for a seedling. I'd bump that light to 3-4 feet above the plant until it's about 8" tall. Top the plant and bring the light down slightly. Also, you are throwing money in the trash using that 1000wt so early. They cost a lot to operate.

Infant humans don't eat as much as toddlers. Toddlers don't eat as much as kids. And kids don't eat as much as adults. Apply that dynamic to lighting and nutrient needs of your plants. And buy a $10 moisture meter. Let the soil nearly dry out between waterings. I feed nothing to seedlings, a 15% recommended dose every watering at 3-6 weeks, then up it to 30% for the duration before a flush.

I agree with Commercial you are wasting electric.

Get a bigger fan to cool that 1k bulb. Otherwise swap down to a 600w.

CommercialGrow said:

1000 watts is way overkill for a seedling. I'd bump that light to 3-4 feet above the plant until it's about 8" tall. Top the plant and bring the light down slightly. Also, you are throwing money in the trash using that 1000wt so early. They cost a lot to operate.

Click to expand...

Totally. I always over kill on clones and seeds by using a 400w mh. But a 1k is wayyy to much. That's what I use to flower with

Get a t5 ,there is no need for anything stronger at the stage that you are at.Since using t5 light I have been using it ,full term during veg,I also have a t5. that I use for my mother plants,I have a 4 x tube 4 ft long that's the main light then I have 2 x 3 ft florescent 1 tube strip lights on the sides of the grow unit.these are warm day light spectrum,these tend to be more of a orangery reddish color ,where has the t5 is blue,plants in veg love blue.Any leaf canoeing,is normally caused by heat, if you still want to stick with the high intence lighting then I go with a ballast that has a up or down dial on it,so at least you can turn the light down .Good luck hope all goes well with the grow,be patient and look after them,and all should be ok.

Peace, jha bless

Tyke

Bbcchance said:

Topsoil is not soil, it's mulch later you may need to tranplant

Click to expand...

meant to write potting soil sorry for the confusion

CommercialGrow said:

1000 watts is way overkill for a seedling. I'd bump that light to 3-4 feet above the plant until it's about 8" tall. Top the plant and bring the light down slightly. Also, you are throwing money in the trash using that 1000wt so early. They cost a lot to operate.

Click to expand...

i understand its overkill for seedlings and i do have it now at 3.5 feet above them. but as ive said before i had a digital ballast that would at least let me dim it down but the RFI it created made cable company show up. and ive only got the 1000watt due to budget.

tyke1973 said:

Get a t5 ,there is no need for anything stronger at the stage that you are at.Since using t5 light I have been using it ,full term during veg,I also have a t5. that I use for my mother plants,I have a 4 x tube 4 ft long that's the main light then I have 2 x 3 ft florescent 1 tube strip lights on the sides of the grow unit.these are warm day light spectrum,these tend to be more of a orangery reddish color ,where has the t5 is blue,plants in veg love blue.Any leaf canoeing,is normally caused by heat, if you still want to stick with the high intence lighting then I go with a ballast that has a up or down dial on it,so at least you can turn the light down .Good luck hope all goes well with the grow,be patient and look after them,and all should be ok.

Peace, jha bless

Tyke

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yes the 1000watt is definitely the HARD mode for a grow op from start to finish but ive seen other grows do plenty fine with it. obviously i prolly should have and most definitely could have started under some t5s but as a new grower i got caught up in the hype of the magical 600 and 1000 watt HIDs...so thats my fault but, now i have to get through it and deal with it. im getting supper tight node spacing and no sings of heat stress at 3.5 feet above the plants, but im getting stunted growth i feel. i think i may be over watering, the first couple waterings i did like 24 hours apart. but then once i noticed the slow in growth and some ever so slight yellowing i reduced it to every 48 hours. but now im thinking i need to push till like 4 or 5 days...im in 1 gallon smart pots with good air circulation above around and underneath the pots.

You only need to water when they need it, not after X amount of days. It definitely sounds like you're over watering though so if you need to set up a schedule to help you water less so be it, but a better thing to do is to learn how to read your plants and soil so you can know when you need to water and aren't just guessing

astronautrob said:

You only need to water when they need it, not after X amount of days. It definitely sounds like you're over watering though so if you need to set up a schedule to help you water less so be it, but a better thing to do is to learn how to read your plants and soil so you can know when you need to water and aren't just guessing

Click to expand...

yeah i was checking soil and using the whole first knuckle rule and the soil was pretty dry i mean at least the top 1inch to 2 inch was just like dried dirt. so i used that as my tell tail sign to water. But do you think i should just wait until the actual plant is showing signs of needing water. like the drooping leaves and what not. i ask this because i feel i over potted as well ( 1 gall smart pot) which may make it more difficult to tell when to water with the knuckle test, or no?

What I do is go off the weight of the pot. So before your next watering, when you know it's dry (when you 2 knuckle it and it's dry wait an extra day or two, or till the leaves start dropping, to know its really dry) lift the pot and acclimate your arm(s) to the weight of it when it's dry, then water till partial run off. After you water again acclimate your arm to the weight of the pot when it's fully saturated. That way all you have to do is come in to your grow room, pick up the pots (now I also record the day I water and start to realize that it's USUALLY dry after X amount of days but I still check the weight), and if they are light enough you know it's time to water. No having to get your fingers dirty and no guessing.

Also, to directly answer your question, if you over-potted then it would be more difficult to tell when to water, yes.