First Grow EVER! Not A Game, it's real, fucking, LIFE!

My first grow EVER
Seeds are all random/unknown strains. Each plant is a different strain as far as I know.

Setup:
Sunburst Convertible switchable ballast/reflector combo
400W HPS - 18/6 cycle, 20in. from tops of plants (for now until I deal with my high temps)
6 plants in 6" net pots
Bubbleponics top fed recirculating drip system
(not to be confused with stealth hydro's kit. My DIY version is far larger)
160gph fountain pump
35 gal. rez. filled with 6 gallons, just a few inches above my pump
2 9in. airstones
Watering cycle: 15 min on, 2 hour off

Ventilation = Closet open to my room.

While the light is on, it ranges from 87-97F directly under the light. Temp changes accordingly to whether my window is open or not.
It's below freezing here most of the time so I cannot always have it open.

At night, the temp drops to about 65F in the grow room.

For nutes, using Botanicare Pure Blend Pro Veg & Bloom as were recommended by the hydro store guy. He said this was best for pure fucking n00bs.

1/3 strength at the moment. Added at day 15. Soon upping dose to 2/3 strength.

Starting this Journal at day 21. I do have pics of everyday of the grow, but I cannot possibly upload them all with my shitty tethered phone internet. I also wanted to make sure I didn't have a huge pile of fail on my hands before I posted. I will however post a timelapse video after I harvest

Here is each of my 6 plants at day 21


Some I propped up with some rockwool cubes as they seemed to be tipping a little bit. Better safe than sorry.

And there you have it! My shit Any tips, tricks, constructive criticism or what-have-you is all welcome.

Get the thermometer out of the light, if you have good air flow the temp should be very consitant through the area, but the light will give you false readings on your thermostat. If you were hitting 100 they would look worse i believe. A hole into the attic would work great for venting out the heat.....

TruenoAE86coupe said:

Get the thermometer out of the light, if you have good air flow the temp should be very consitant through the area, but the light will give you false readings on your thermostat. If you were hitting 100 they would look worse i believe. A hole into the attic would work great for venting out the heat.....

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There really isn't any airflow other than the wind blowing in my window and around my room. I don't have a fan as of yet. Working on getting one (I am so broke).

I measured 80 with no direct light contact on the meter, 85 on the edge of my rez. and then 89 directly under the light. I don't think it's a false reading as the temp clearly gets lower the further from the middle of my rez it gets, and out of the light it is still 80. It's just a hot room, but they look to be growing perfectly, so I can't say it's a bad thing as of yet. They've been at these temps since "birth" that's why I think they just adapted to their environment. But wtf do I know? Just a noob.

OK i don't know what i am talking about....... You clearly have the answers
My only question is why did you even post this if you didn't want our EXPERIENCED opinions? You think i have never moved a thermometer around the room?
Plants do not "learn" to deal with temps because thats what they were brought up in, they have an ideal temp range that they like, regardless of how they were sewn.
Good luck, i won't give any more advice as you clearly don't want it.
unsubscribed

TruenoAE86coupe said:

OK i don't know what i am talking about....... You clearly have the answers
My only question is why did you even post this if you didn't want our EXPERIENCED opinions? You think i have never moved a thermometer around the room?
Plants do not "learn" to deal with temps because thats what they were brought up in, they have an ideal temp range that they like, regardless of how they were sewn.
Good luck, i won't give any more advice as you clearly don't want it.
unsubscribed

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Ok so maybe I'm wrong about the adaptation part. I said, myself, "what do i know" for that exact reason: I don't know much about plants. I'm just saying what makes sense to me by what I'm observing in my grow room. You're seriously over-reacting. I apprecaite all the fucking help you and others give me. All I was saying is it's hotter under the light than it is not under the light. Which is pretty fucking obvious.

EDIT: Also, I think I have every right to question your advice on heat regardless of me being new at growing. I may be new to plants, but I'm not new to lights, heat, thermometers, and false readings. My other hobby is lasers, and I experience all those factors. This is a small closet with no ventilation and a very hot light. I'm pretty sure it can/will/does/did reach 100 degrees in there, and you're simply telling me its a false reading. Yeah, right. I was just trying to tell you why I thought it wasn't a false reading. That's it. Then you just throw what I say out the window because you're fucking Mr. Almighty pot grower and I'm a nobody. Real fucking cool.

*walks in, sees confrontation, walks back out**

you def. need a fan for a few reasons it helps grow strong stalks it helps with temps. and for leaves to tranpire elements from the stomata.it may not show now but high temps will have adverse affects on your plants.

its like going to work with a fever. yeah, you can do what needs to be done. but the quality of work may be affected and you still feel like shit. your girls have a fever lol

Wow...I agree with the OP on this one. There's no reason to remove the thermometer, that just doesn't make any sense. Unfortunately it sounds like your thermometer is telling you that your room is too warm. Your plants haven't "adapted" to the heat, they just aren't showing the signs of stress from it yet or you aren't seeing them.

If you want to grow successfully, listen to the experienced people here and read up. You will absolutely need to ventilate that room if you'd like to be successful. Even leaving the door open with a fan blowing would work if it's discrete. It sounds like you are leavin the door open now to ventilate, just put in a fan and blow some air around, it'll help tremendously.

See, you guys make more sense lol but now also have me worried as they look fine. Besides the temp being too high, how can I tell if they're not ok?

I know I need a fan. I've seen other peoples stems and they are grossly larger than mine lol. I couldn't find a fan when I bought all my gear, so I was like "i'll just get one next week" as I hadn't even started my seeds yet. So after they sprouted I started looking for a fan. It just so happens every single fucking store is sold out of fans and re-stocked with heaters for winter. Anyway, I should have one soon as a friend of mine may let me borrow one I know it will help ventilate tremendously, and my stems definitely need it. The new stem growing is like twice the thickness than the old lower stem :/

As always, thanks for the insight

Cheese&Rice dude, Walmart never ever runs out of shit.....
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lasko-12-Oscillating-Performance-Table-Fan/14282569

Click the add to cart button, then checkout..... Sam Walton will ship you one to your doorstep or you can go by and pick one up....

What a lame excuse in this day and internet age..... Sorry for the rant man.....

What he was trying to tell you is that placing your thermometer where it will be exposed to the light will give you a false reading......A very false reading, I know this for fact. Get a fan in there and place your thermo in a place avoiding the light, then you will know the exact temp....best of luck with your grow...

Dont Fear The Reefer said:

Cheese&Rice dude, Walmart never ever runs out of shit.....
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lasko-12-Oscillating-Performance-Table-Fan/14282569

Click the add to cart button, then checkout..... Sam Walton will ship you one to your doorstep or you can go by and pick one up....

What a lame excuse in this day and internet age..... Sorry for the rant man.....

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Besides being out of stock, I also said I was flat broke in my earlier post.
I ended up buying other gear because I couldnt find a fan, thus running out of money.
I also wanted to get one locally so I didn't have to wait for shipping.

smokey mcsmokester said:

What he was trying to tell you is that placing your thermometer where it will be exposed to the light will give you a false reading......A very false reading, I know this for fact. Get a fan in there and place your thermo in a place avoiding the light, then you will know the exact temp....best of luck with your grow...

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I know exactly what he was saying, and what I'm saying is, there's no airflow, so the heat is just accumulating under the light. It's a lot hotter under the light than it is in the rest of the room. False reading or not, there is a huge temperature difference. Placing my hand from the 80 degree part of the room, to the under the light, I can FEEL without a doubt an extreme temperature increase. I really cannot agree that the temp is as "very false" as you claim. It's fucking hot under the light. That's the only point I'm trying to get across.

Is that not the reason we must keep the plants further away from HID lights? Because the light is HOT?

Also, like I said, in the morning the closet is completely closed for several hours. In a small closed closet, with no ventilation, you think the light can't heat up the closet to 100 degrees? That's basically what you guys are saying, 'cause it's a false reading right? No, I say that's ridiculous. It definitely gets that hot in there. Which I know isn't great, but it's what I gotta work with for the time being.

Am I fucking insane, or do you people really not get what I'm trying to say?

Now making me look like a dick trying to over-explain what I mean.
I'm really a nice fucking guy lol I just don't know how to express my thoughts through text without coming off like a know-it-all :/
I'm not trying to oppose your thoughts, but rather collaborate them with my own.

if you have an old pc you could rip out the power supply and the fan(s) in it. Maybe a friend has one you can have.

smokey mcsmokester said:

What he was trying to tell you is that placing your thermometer where it will be exposed to the light will give you a false reading......A very false reading, I know this for fact. Get a fan in there and place your thermo in a place avoiding the light, then you will know the exact temp....best of luck with your grow...

Click to expand...

I dont understand this logic. the plants are in direct sunlight so wouldnt having the thermometer in direct light, right next to the plants show an accurate reading?

Dont Fear The Reefer said:

if you have an old pc you could rip out the power supply and the fan(s) in it. Maybe a friend has one you can have.

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I thought about using pc fans, as I do have a couple laying around. The only problem is how can I power them? I already looked to see if I had any 12v AC adapters around to no avail. Unless I MacGyver some long wire from my PC to my closet lol.

400aZip said:

I dont understand this logic. the plants are in direct sunlight so wouldnt having the thermometer in direct light, right next to the plants show an accurate reading?

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That's what I'm saying. The thermometer is going to absorb all the light and heat radiated from it just as the plants will. Also, common sense, not all thermometers are the same. I'm not saying they can't give false readings, but I know what 100 degrees feels like, which is why I believe what mine says.

I really can't believe what a shitstorm a thermometer can cause lol. Seriously, people need to fucking chill. Just because I'm a new grower and you're experienced does not mean I can't ask questions. I'm just trying to better understand why you're saying what you're saying. That's how you really learn things. But it seems for some people, when I question things, I'm automatically a faggot that you can't stand. That's just no way to treat people.

rip out the power supply with the fans and use that.. Just cut all the excess wires.

20 inches is too high.you should be able to have your light 12 inches above your plants comfortably.and you do need to get the temps down in there otherwise growth will be slower than it should be.the size of your plants now proves that.and yeild will be reduced.

Dont Fear The Reefer said:

rip out the power supply with the fans and use that.. Just cut all the excess wires.

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I don't have an extra power supply, just some extra case fans.

resinousflowers said:

20 inches is too high.you should be able to have your light 12 inches above your plants comfortably.and you do need to get the temps down in there otherwise growth will be slower than it should be.the size of your plants now proves that.and yeild will be reduced.

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That's why the light is so high, because of the temps. Really nothing I can do about it for the time being. 12 inches seems low. Using the "hand test" that's very hot on my hand. Even at 20" there's 2 plants that have one small brown spot each (that's burning right?). I did notice they were smaller than other peoples plants of the same age. Fuck if I knew a fan would really be that crucial I wouldn't have fucked around and just got one in the first place lol :/

I have been EXACTLY where you are now. Stores don't carry even a simple fucking box fan in the winter. As a matter of fact if my box fan dies in my grow room I'll be up shit creek.

Don't listen to the guy about the thermometer thing, he's just a wee bit, I dunno, wrong. Not only do I keep a thermometer telling me the ambient temperature in the room, I have a chain that hangs down from my light and 18" down that chain hangs....another thermometer. This one is telling me the temperature 18" from my light which is as useful if not more useful than the ambient temperature. I have done this for years and don't believe it has ever given me false readings. Thermometers don't give "false" readings because they are under a light, I don't even know where the logic COULD be in that. I try to keep the temperature under my light at canopy height between 82 and 86 degrees.

This thermometer basically sets my canopy height. I'm using a 1000w light, and flower at night so that the cool night air that I intake can cool my light and grow room down. Some nights it's a little warmer so I will either dim the ballast and lower the light or I raise the light a little and move my canopy closer to 24". When the night temps get REALLY cold I do the opposite, but it is all based on the info from the thermometer hanging under my light. Having that information has allowed me to maximize my light usage over the years.

You will need to get a 400w light much closer to 12" if you want useful buds when it's all said and done. I think that the real problem you are facing is that you a need an inline fan and a carbon filter. You'll need these items to flower successfully anyway and it's the proper way to vent your grow space. If you have an air cooled light hood it would help too, but on a 400w it's not really necessary.