3 plants, 2 LED lights, and attempting to keep them short and tight.

Hola, I'm doing a budget grow with some scotts hyponex soil, its got pearlite, peat moss, worm castings and composted materials. I'm using two 60W L.E.D's at the moment, i want to upgrade but money is something I don't have so I have to find a way to get some stronger lights for flowering.

They've been in soil for about 3 or 4 days, terminated for about five but they got exposed to light and tried to shed the seed instead of growing only roots. I knew I would only have two lights so I planted two of them close to the side so I could use one light for two if I had to....which ended up being the case because the third one has very slow growth at the beginning, so I had to isolate her under her own light.
One ended up being about 3 inches before leaves came out but I used a headless safety pin to pin her down while the stem was still soft to set up for what hopefully could maximize yield but minute required space, I've done this to two and both of those are now sprouting new nodes (small still but noticeable) but I was worried about my light being to close and them not having enough space between nodes.
What I plan to do is to "snake" the main colas across the bottom few inches of the soil in a way that (hopefully) all nodes get light.
Again this is a budget grow, I've budget grown a few times before with 2/4 successes, but still have to hone what all I've learned. I've had to use different fruits and such for different deficiencies in the past so hopefully I can spot them quick.

What do you think about the nodes being too close...is that even possible since they stretch during flower?

I to sir am growing "on a budget" so to speak I happend to go the hydroponic route only growing 3 myself 2 OGKush and 1 SuperNova(Chronic) which was a cutting from our first grow UFO MaxYield 300W MarsHydro LED dual exhaust upgrade. So this is our 2nd go round, and the best advice I can give is PATIENCE it's hard not to freak out a little when problems pop up, although I feel it's a bit of an easier fix as far as the hydro goes just comes down to air quality/temp., light distance, or water quality in reservoir stay nice and light on the nutes and keep the ph levels in check I change the water out every 7-8 days or so and things seem to be rocking and rolling for grow #2 as well as our first, maybe even a little better. I wish I could give you more info just not too knowledgeable on the soil grow or it's tendancies. Here are a few pics in progress up until a few hours ago.

GORGEOUS, very nice man. Thanks for the reply either way, I've been on two sites like this and got hate for having such a low budget grow -.-
I'm hoping that I can get a DIY hydro set going on soon for possible future plants.
It is very difficult to not freak and start messing with them, I just get stoned and admire the quick growth.

I hate to even seem like I'm steering you in a completely different direction, I'm just trying to emphasize the EASE of hydroponic grow and how easy it is to trouble shoot or fix little problems along the way. As you see in the root pics, most of your problems that occur is all in your roots and water, and I feel like when you can actually look at your roots and see them up close they will usually tell you everything you need to know,especially the more you grow. Not sure if it's as critical in soil, but I feel like ph levels need to stay on point on a day to day basis. I usually check mine 3 or 4 times a day and try to keep it steady between 5.8-6.0 I'm always reading about with soil the ph levels are checked by the runoff from watering is that correct?

If you're curious about the numbers, I spent $575 on this box came preessembled ready to go just hang your LED and plug her in. Been using distilled water 1 gallon jugs from dollar general(or Wal-Mart I'm sure) they're only $1 each comes with 3 step GeneralHydroponics nutrients net pots bubbler stone co2 tablets (haven't used yet) timer for light fixture and I upgraded to the 300W MarsHydro LED dual exhaust version which put it at the $575 total. It's not the greatest grow box out there not alot of bells or whistles but I think it's FUCKING AWESOME for a beginner setup on a budget. You'll start picking stuff up here and there along the way like ph up and down liquid nutrient packs things like that. Good luck brother I wish your babies well I think if you worry about them everyday like most of us do you'll be fine. They're like your kids part of the family lol

As far as I know that is correct, I normally atone for signs of a oh imbalance. If I don't know if its too high or low, but I know its a ph imbalance, ill add crushed/powdered eggshells to neutralize it then go from there.
Hydro is way different and more expensive to set up as far as I know

jdVICK said:

I hate to even seem like I'm steering you in a completely different direction, I'm just trying to emphasize the EASE of hydroponic grow and how easy it is to trouble shoot or fix little problems along the way. As you see in the root pics, most of your problems that occur is all in your roots and water, and I feel like when you can actually look at your roots and see them up close they will usually tell you everything you need to know,especially the more you grow. Not sure if it's as critical in soil, but I feel like ph levels need to stay on point on a day to day basis. I usually check mine 3 or 4 times a day and try to keep it steady between 5.8-6.0 I'm always reading about with soil the ph levels are checked by the runoff from watering is that correct?

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Hydro has little room for error. You can kill plants literally hours. Good soil you never have to worry with ph it will buffer itself out. I grow both soil and hydro. @Silverstrings420 your little guy lights will be ok for babies however they wound do much as they age. You need to look at something better.

Lordhooha said:

Hydro has little room for error. You can kill plants literally hours. Good soil you never have to worry with ph it will buffer itself out. I grow both soil and hydro. @Silverstrings420 your little guy lights will be ok for babies however they wound do much as they age. You need to look at something better.

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I thought so, wasn't 100% sure.
Thank you sir, I hope to be getting better lights soon, Wal-Mart just seems to not have very good options....maybe I should have gone to ace hardware or something instead. Oh well, soon ill get a different set.

This is the Marshydro fresh out of the box. Just recently picked up GH Flora series pack along with a bottle of GH Diamond Nectar. I mean i think the roots speak for themselves gotta be doing something right, right?

I would go eBay or Amazon man and be on your doorstep in 3-5 days. I think these 300W marshydros go for around 75 80 bucks, not super expensive for the work they do. And they are a full spectrum LED again not the best out there but definitely a good bang for the buck

And I agree 100% definitely didn't want to put out there that hydro grow was better, just seemed easier to me, as I stated before I'm not knowledgeable about soil grow lol not sure I fully agree on killing them in hours. I just followed instruction the best I could. A new mother could kill her newborn baby in seconds, but we try to follow instructions as best we can. Just make sure you read comments posted earlier, as well as pics, I try to make sure to sandbag myself enough before that way nobody else really has to lol

jdVICK said:

And I agree 100% definitely didn't want to put out there that hydro grow was better, just seemed easier to me, as I stated before I'm not knowledgeable about soil grow lol not sure I fully agree on killing them in hours. I just followed instruction the best I could. A new mother could kill her newborn baby in seconds, but we try to follow instructions as best we can. Just make sure you read comments posted earlier, as well as pics, I try to make sure to sandbag myself enough before that way nobody else really has to lol

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Oh yah hydro roots are nice these are in one of many 27 gal totes in my rdwc. But it is very easy for anything in hydro to completely go sideways and lose an entire crop. I seen a friend lose about 40 plants on one of his runs as he slept.

Lordhooha said:

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Oh yah hydro roots are nice these are in one of many 27 gal totes in my rdwc. But it is very easy for anything in hydro to completely go sideways and lose an entire crop. I seen a friend lose about 40 plants on one of his runs as he slept.

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I know the possibility is there and I dam sure know I'm not immune to disaster striking at a moment's notice, I feel like maybe that holds truth for both sides to some degree both hydro and soil, hydro quicker to go down I agree that makes sense. I guess I just keep our plants on a strict checklist every day and like my dad told me I do cheat to a certain extent while I'm at work(4 10's) I have my wife do a ph check and balance and ice pack change out in reservoir twice a day before I get home from work, and not that I "make her" ok people lol she enjoys it as much as I do and really offered to help while I'm away. So there you go, that's my big secret, you happy!?? lol get your wife spouse significant other to do testing and balancing while your gone to work, assuming she's home tending to 4 kids and a household like Amanda. Love you baby you Rock! #stayathomegrowhelpers

And I'm liking that root system Lord looks thick strong healthy well set in to take off. I'll tell you what we ran into when we first started was this algae slime buildup stuff covering the roots brown color not all the roots just spots here and there mainly where the roots where thick and kinda clumped together. We mixed up some ph correct water with 1 cap full hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle and continuously spraying roots until that nasty shit ran off seemed to come off pretty easily. It was a live and learn found out why the slimy shit was even building up on the roots we happend to not be keeping our water cool enough and added a hydrogen peroxide bath for the roots once a week to help prevent algae or bacteria growth. Live and learn.

Apologies I notice I babble on way too much in these posts, I'll work on trimming down the use of words LoL