600w Organic Bubba Kush Grow Journal~ First Grow

I plan on having a vivid and detailed grow journal on here so i can get as much help as possible to learn new knowledge and to possibly spread the knowledge i have. here goes --- So this is my first time growing and im now day 3 in my grow. got 6 bubba kush clones in a 6x7 closet currently being ran at 300w. Here go the deets.. Comments and criticism highly appreciated

Soil- Fox farm organic potting soil

Nutess- Just fed nutes today on day 3, first feed was water only
For vegative~Grow Biotics Grow Nutrient (4-4-1, 2 tbsp per gal) and Seaweed bloom Advanced Floriculturue (.17-.027-3.278, 1 tbsp per gal)
For flowering~ still deciding

Lighting- Sun Systems Hood with a ventilation fan, Quantum series dimmable ballast, 600w Hortilux High Performance Light

Ventilation- Little 6 in inline booster fan for intake, big ol grey fan for the hood, hepa air filter + fan, oscilating 16" wall fan

And now the pics..

Started out under a shitty 8 cfl set up, 6 5000k 23w i believe and 2 6500k dont remember the wattage







Then got the big lights in and decided to get real high, stay up all night, and fix up the rest of the grow room




Was told i no longer need cfls (Would it hurt?) so tore them down, And then the ventilation set up~








Finally the girls currently...





the 2 struggling clones.. wondering if they are going to pick up or not

decided to fix up ventilation a bit.. got the intake duct pointed up right behind the oscillating fan which spreads fresh air through out the room


Confused about why these 2 aren't doing so well.. could they just be bad clones? should i go out and buy 2 more to replace these suckers with?


Also i'm guessing im going to need to transplant soon yeah? any suggestions on what gal pot i should go for? thanks

New pics.. day 5 from clones. decided to pick up 2 new clones to replace the other 2.. using the first two to screw around with with my cfls in the back to see if i can find out whats wrong with em. and also told that my lights were too close and decided to raise em up a bit

Here are the 2 new girls


the whole grow

Looks like you have a real nice setup, fat! It looks like you are using Fox Farm Ocean Forest, am I correct? If so, do not feed you plant for 2-4 weeks! Zero nutes, just water. Read into that, may shock your clones...? Other than that, looks like you have a prime spot to get a good return. Bought the right gear, right strain. Better than my first... your all set!


Less is more.

Thank you big flats, i'm looking forward to the return

the thing is when i got these clones they were already fed so dunno if not feeding them for that period of length would be a good idea now. they do seem to have a bit of burning though not sure if thats from the nutes, the lights being to close, or under or over watering.

Nice setup....rep...

This is just one occasion I could find quickly (search ffof). "LINK: https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/484246-plant-ready-nutes.html LINK"

I'm just saying you will read this everywhere you go about not giving nutes to prebagged soil with additives Allready mixed in dry to young seedlings. 2-4 weeks. Especially 2tbsp/gal. I suggest getting a PPM meter for WAY more accurate feedings when the time comes.

I use this method with success. I'm not telling you what to do, just advising. Hope all goes well!

Look's like the light may be too close, I have heard it should be 18-20" above the tops. I am pumped for this 'cause I just
sprouted a couple Bubba Kush from Greenhouse Seeds and growing under (crappy cfl's?!?!?!). I have had some luck with them
and am interested in how this grow works out.

Thanks DSB65

Big Flats.. i think you maybe right. you're the man, i think that they're getting burnt from the nutes and the lights probably not helping either. i'm going to try to give them just water to see how they do otherwise maybe water down the nutes to like 1 tbsp per gal since they've already started to been fed. what you think? and i'll definitely look into that PPM meter

puck1969- thanks so much, this is the reason why i put my grow journal on here so people can correct my stoney mistakes. i raised up the lights quite a bit now and no offense to cfls! when i got my hps i just kinda looked down on the cfls but i have nothing against em. good luck with your bubba!

noticed some burns on the 2 new girls.. the light was way too close




Raised up to about here, think this is good enough or higher??

Your doin fine, but def have nute burn going on... Here is the ppm meter I use: http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-TDS-EZ-Quality-Tester/dp/B00138S6WM It is not water proof why it's so cheap. Drop it once into the water, it's done.

wait what does a ppm meter do? haha i'm stoned as shit thought it was something else.
so i didn't know this until now but my roomate had bumped the light up to 75% of the 600w being.. should i take it back to 300w to keep the plants from getting damaged?

Hey fatnut: I happen to know a lil bity about FFOF soil... Infact I'm still drawing up my full analysis but what I can tell you is that With Foxfarm the soil is pretreated with nutes in which you prolly already know but by the looks of things, I can tell that either you dont care if your clones make it or not or you're not aware that even ORGANIC nutrients can sometimes be overbearing to the roots. I can go further into details about the misconceptions ppl have about FFOF but that would waste time. Let me get you the info that will help you and your hurting clones out. Please dont take my writing style as arrogant: and with that said, I'll start by asking you what is the Runoff EC of your Ocean Forest soil, I cant tell u that by using a 5 inch soil pot you are probably around a 2.4EC to as much as 3.6EC which is too high even under the BEST growing conditions. If you have an PPM meter here is what you will need to do and this will give you immediate results with in 3-5 hours but do as I've mention. Flush your soil with ph'd 7 water meaning if you have a 5 inch pot you'll pour about a half a gallon of ph 7 water done the plant as you do this dont flood the top of your plant with water pour slowly and rotate the pot around as to pour water through the soil to evenly flush it out. Each time you pour dont pour the full gallon of water because as you are pouring you will be bringing your EC down to a number in which that plant's roots can uptake nutrients from the soil, And from the looks of it I would suggest a .8EC, so by pouring in half gallon increments this gives you time to see what the EC is. And dont worry about flushing all the premixed nutes out of the soil because Foxfarm has mixed the soil and bark and perilite in a way that, after a few days if you pour more water down your plant you'll find that the EC has replenished back up to a high EC. This is because of the slow releasing of more nutrients,(which by the way isnt 100% whats going on) what I believe is actually going on is the soil has microbes in it which is working in the soil converting the organics into usuable fertilizer for your plant. But they are so zealous that if you dont have a heavy eater, then your soil is gonna be to concentrated with Organic fertilizer that your roots will have trouble uptaking the nutrients. Some ppl say that Foxfarm soil has "slow release" nutrients and to some degree that is true and if you noticed on Foxfarm's website they DONT give the NPK breakdown for Ocean Forest soil, Foxfarm Original Potting mix but for their other potting soils and Organic mixed soils such as Happy Frog or Peace of mind they DO mention the NPK. Now the reason for this is "Technically" Foxfarm Ocean Forest Potting mix is a "soil conditioner" intended for you to mix with dead soil(soil that has been depleted of its nutrients) or mixed with Coco Coir,(which is a great combo btw) some how ppl started using it as if it was super soil, because A. Its a "healthy" organic way of feeding your plants and 2. It drains very very well...almost too well.(drains to the point that, as long as you have holes at the bottom of your potting soil then you can never be able to "over water" your plants. which is a great thing for MJ because from what I've found the roots of MJ loves to be dry(Specially if you are growing some Malawi Gold)...but NOT BONE DRY...even tho if you do let the Malawi Gold's soil get bone dry that plant will still appear to be growing like a champ! until once its fully consumed all the moisture out the soil it slumps. Anyhow I hope I've helped you, you are one of the first to get this info from me. but I'll probably make a "FFOF Demystified" post where I speak on this

fat if I were you I would go for BlueLab ppm /EC pen and also their ph pen which will cost you about $70 if not more but they are water proof and as long as the batteries are good you'll get accurate measurements everytime....tho I do calibrate my "PH meter" only.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/89/mg6145a.jpg/ I transplanted this plant from a redcup and in 14 days this is what the root structure looks like...my only problem now is, I need a bigger pot

thanks for all the info hardygrower.. i should have stated this and im not sure if its relevant but i'm giving them reverse osmosis water. i definitely plan on flushing them and stopping the nutes. do i still need to check the ph of the water on filtered water? and i dont have a ppm meter yet but i definitely plan on investing in one soon.

Hey Fat; Infact RO water for flushing or for feeding is great and as long as your RO water is a ph 7 then YOU DONT HAVE TO ADD ANYTHING to the water But if your RO water comes from a Reverse Osmosis system you have set up in your home then I'd check the ph on that, my RO system I have in my house leaves my PH at a 9 ph and 0.0EC so I only have to ph the water by taking a eye dropper syringe(they sell them in pharmacy stores) and sucking up 9ml of RO water and that last 1ml will be of PH down, This allows me to drop my ph with more control as oppose to using straight "ph down" in a gallon jug which will drop you pass your mark. but by using 9ml water and 1ml "PH down and mixing it up it only takes a drop at a time, then, then stir then wait 20 seconds to see how far the ph drops then you give a drop again until you are where u need to be(in my case its only 2 drops per gallon) get things where they need to be, this may be different for you as you may need NO drops. If your ph is between 6.5 - 7.0 then DONT mess with no PH'ing then, ....but if you kinky you can put your ppm meter( and by ppm meter I really mean ppm meter...lol) in the RO water just to make sure that it reads 0.0 sometimes RO water might read 0.1 and I hate that!, but its fine. You mentioned Filtered water, and I'm not sure you ment microfilter water for example Zephyrhills's has a Distill water that isnt RO it uses microfiltering which leaves trace minerals and my plants were more sensitive to this & not in a good way, and I hated it, Now if you have a microfilter on your water faucet then you might be causing problems to your plant and not even knowing it. My recommendation is to NOT use only a microfilter but to buy you a RO system and install it or just by Distill water that ACTUALLY SAYS ON THE JUG something like " Ozonation, Ultraviolet Light AND Reverse Osmosis"..all distill waters are NOT THE SAME,...The Key things you look for on the jug is "Ozonation and Reverse Osmosis" personally I like to see additional filtration such as Micron Filtered or Ultraviolet Light, and those things are fine in conjunction with "Ozonation and Reverse Osmosis" but not necessarily needed BUT if one of the(1. Ozonation or 2.Reverse Osmosis) are missing from the jug's Filtration process I wouldnt buy it, technically you'll be able to use it BUT you're gonna have to be even more careful how you feed your plants and that takes away from getting dialed in quick!(your Goal in life as a grower is to get dialed in quick!) and u cant get dialed it quick if you trying to figure out your plants feeding habit with different brands of water. Some waters added extra things that is good for people but NOT good for when u are trying to feed your plants accurately.

This being your first grow, I wouldn't try to do to much. I don't event check PH, many don't. I use city water (200ppms). I just fill up one of those large storage tupperware bins, just let it sit open for a couple of days to evaporate the chylorine out. Just get good at the basics. Read the "Stickies" in the Newbie section, TONS of good info!

Once you get a grow or 2 under your belt, you'll know enought to take on more growing techniques.

I cant remember exactly but I think it took me but start with just one half gallon flush wait 3 hours then flush with another half gallon, With out your meters to get the exact metrics you can still get where u need to be but it takes a little longer, but even if you added 1 full gallon at a time, you'd be ok because as I said before your soil replenishes its nutrients....(those dang Microbes be workin they @$$ off) but this is partially the reason why Foxfarm and everybody and they're mom's say dont add nutrients to feeding your plant for the first month or so...well once you understand this part, most of the time if you PH is right and your plant is drooping you'll know that it needs a flushing. (I forgot to mention that FFOF made a or makes a product called Sledgehammer which is just about a good to u as RO water is that they suggest you use when your plant is getting that nute burn, so THEY ARE AWARE of this common problem which is probably why they started to market Sledgehammer as oppose to not marketing it( See FF created Sledgehammer at first around the time they had the Original Potting soil but Sledgehammer never hit the shelves, then later on I guess someone had a change of heart$ and put it out) -I SAY ALL THAT TO SAY... FF figured that people would just use RO water anyway so why put out Sledgehammer a product that has something in it??? when flushing is best done with NO added ingredients, so YOU DONT NEED SLEDGEHAMMER to flush your plants, just use RO water. This solves like half of you problems. Then after about a week of getting use to this flush process you actually begin to build a relationship between plant and soil, a trick I like to do is heavy flush my 5 inch potter till the EC is about .4 then I started adding JUST Big Bloom @ 2 Tablespoons per gallon,(my RO water was ph at 7 so I dont adjust PH) I gaurantee in 3 - 5 hours your plants leaves will be point up in a good way!...(I really love when they do that)

BigFlats: The reason you are able to get away with this is because FFOF soil comes pre' ph'd too I'm completely aware of this but my deal wit that is...as time goes own the soil loses some of its initial qualities such as the nutrients in the soil eventually get consumed and I'm not sure with it if the ph soon losses its hold as well, but what I will say in your case is, you might get away with it in a short grow or if you have a long grow you'll prolly get away with it only in Vegg but come Mid Flowering you'll prolly notice your leaves acting funny...lol and you'll be like WTF??? "I been feeding this dang plant the same way with no problems since early flowering now its acting up!" well if this is u....just check your ph and remember Hardy told u so As for Fat:: I meant to add two things on why I say to wait 3-5hours, I say to wait 3-5hours because from what I've seen this is the time it takes for changes to effect in soil In (aeroponics its way shorter response time, almost immediate!!), which is why I love aero) But anyhowzers, in Soil either the leaves raise or they droop 3-5 hours after a feeding. SPEAKING OF DROOP!!! please please READ THIS IF YOU DONT READ ANYTHING ELSE!...when learning to read your leaves you'll find that almost immediately after each Watering or Feeding of Nutrients by way of water, is that your plants first response is to droop over, Make SURE YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE between a "Plant's uptake droop"(which is good!) and a plants "Nutrient burn droop" (bad thing) which has an eagles claw right at the tip of the top leaves....top leaves normally give you the first sign of something wrong, Sometimes depending on How hungry your plant is....They tell u right away, but the signs are so subtle that it normally takes an average grower the 3-5 hours for results to stand out clearly!.