Getting Started. Help Please.

Here's the setup.
4x8 tent
2 - Solistek ballasts lighting 1000w hortilux bulbs in sunsystems 8" blockbuster
There is a 8000btu portable ac blowing cold air in and a Maxfan 675 cfm pulling heat off the lamps and out of the tent.
There are currently 6 Bubble gum and a group of six others that is mixed East Coast sour D, Choc Thai, and a couple random kush plants I think...Did I rescue them or did they rescue me?
anyway, here are some issues. some i'm dealing with and some i would happy to get assistance with.
1. During peak day hours the heat in the tent gets up to the mid 80's and as high as 88. Should I switch to a 18-6 cycle and rest the ladies from 11-5? Is that light wasted when its so hot?
2. The plants weren't pruned when I got them and some of them have a lot of larfy stuff on the lower half. Here if you could provide both general pruning advise and advise about these specific plants.
3. They have only been receiving water for the last week. I'm about to start a nute regiment on these. Their previous nutes were General Hydroponics Flora series. I was considering using those but would be open to getting other suggestions.
4. This problem I should have fixed by the time anyone sees this. The humidity is low in the tent and house in general. 30-40%. I'm going to pick up a little humidifier for the room and will provide an update when i get the readings from that.
5. On most plants there are branches that are purple or dark. They are trying to talk to me and I don't speak the language yet. Please translate.

Thanks

If there is any info or pictures I left out that could be helpful just let me know and I'll get it out there.

#1 and #4:
Swamp cooler = higher humidity and lower temps. 2 girls. 1 cup. err.. 2 birds. 1 stone.

Honestly, take a flamethrower to those things and start fresh. You asked if you should "switch" to 18/6...What are you running now, 24/0? Those temps are way too hot and I'd be very surprised if those plants are/stay, female. They're droopy as hell so it looks like you're over-watering. Some closer up shots would help but either way those are some seriously, sad plants.

Agreed... they look bad . the growth is fucky and unhealthy. Nice set up you got there

Sparkticus said:

Honestly, take a flamethrower to those things and start fresh. You asked if you should "switch" to 18/6...What are you running now, 24/0? Those temps are way too hot and I'd be very surprised if those plants are/stay, female. They're droopy as hell so it looks like you're over-watering. Some closer up shots would help but either way those are some seriously, sad plants.

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Ouch..gotta start somewhere. Better to have problems now n learn how to fix them than to have a flawless first grow n learn nothing imo...

ayr0n said:

Ouch..gotta start somewhere. Better to have problems now n learn how to fix them than to have a flawless first grow n learn nothing imo...

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He's not going to be able to fix those. The way he's talking it sounds like he adopted those from somewhere so he didn't start them himself. I agree he should learn through experience but he's got so much bad going on there, regular advice isn't going to help him...those plants are already fucked.

Sparkticus said:

He's not going to be able to fix those. The way he's talking it sounds like he adopted those from somewhere so he didn't start them himself. I agree he should learn through experience but he's got so much bad going on there, regular advice isn't going to help him...those plants are already fucked.

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Yea you're right...probably better to start from seed anyways

ayr0n said:

Yea you're right...probably better to start from seed anyways

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Exactly... This way if problems come up you catch them early and handle them. That's good learning experience. Trying to fix those is more than likely going to lead to a circle-jerk of advice which will cause more harm than good.

the lower leaves look like a re-vege imo fix the heat and they should perk up, start doing lite misting with water on the top of the leaves and prune back the single leaves at the bottom.

also I would think about dropping the double light setup for a little while and use one 1000w centered and turn the plants daily. because right now i see some upper leaves that appear to be cupping which is usually from the plant sweating from heat.

Damn. I really don't want to toss these. They still have lessons to teach me.
My temps peak during the day but return to the mid-70's in the evening. Does the plant loose the ability to absorb light energy in the eighties?
Is the discoloration on the branches due to the temp?
PREFONTAINE does re-vege mean they transitioned to bloom and I reverted them back to veg?
Unless there is some communicalible disease that these would pass on I would like to learn as much as possible even if yield suffers in quality and quantity. Thanks again to AryOn, Sparkticus and Prefontaine

Ur running a 1000 watter in a small tent. Don't U think u could have gone with a 400 or even a 600 instead? Less heat. Even LED would have been better. If they were mine I would have turned off the HID's and put in some T5's and waited for them to perk up. There is such a thing as too much light.
Can u dim down the light? Do it if u can.
Don't trash ur grow. Just bring them back and veg longer. I might cut them back by 2/3 and reveg but that's just me. The temps aren't too high and I think ur rh is ok too. But def cut that light back.
Hmu with probs I'll walk u through ur grow if u need it.

FrostyTheNugMan said:

Damn. I really don't want to toss these. They still have lessons to teach me.
My temps peak during the day but return to the mid-70's in the evening. Does the plant loose the ability to absorb light energy in the eighties?
Is the discoloration on the branches due to the temp?

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I personally think ur hitting those plants with too many photons dude. That would explain the bleaching. U can get great metabolism even up till 90F but then they start tryna conserve moisture by wilting and slower growth. I don't think 88 is outta line. But almost. If u don't dim that ballast down I might swing by n do it myself haha.

I looked up the re-veg that Prefontaine mentioned. Looks like he was right. Some of the plants' new growth has swirled leaves, a sign of reverting back to veg state from what I read.
Danny I'd like to take your advise. I'm going to adjust the lights, first raising them a little, then I'll turn them down if that doesn't work. I'd like to trim them back to help get them back to regular, healthy growth. Can you send some tips for cutting them back or if you have links please share.

Here's the story: Just moved to Colorado. I intend to grow in a proper room once I get settled into permanent housing, I'm in an apartment for six months. A buddy had extra plants, true rejects he didn't want for his garden. I had already invested in some equipment and decided to adopt them. Picked up the tent and now we are here.

I don't have any experience growing but I'm excited to learn. Thank for the help

Umm , you live in Colorado...you have access to healthy plants. Once you get some yrs under your belt you will look at plants like these and trash them too. You could put time and money into healthy plants, instead of trying to salvage these and most likely not get nothing from them. js

You shouldnt have your ducting running through the lights and then back across the tent. That ducting has metal ribbes that heat up the longer the lights have been on. I would suggest if you can put your exhaust on the other side and dont let that ducting run back through the tent. Get some insulated ducting. If your balast are dimmable dim them down. And hook one last piece of ducting to the end of your hood where there is none now and run that piece to the very top of your tent.

I closed the system so I'm drawing fresh air across the lights then back out through the top. I also put the portable ac in the tent. The temp is still getting into the 80's during the day but returns to the 70s at night.
In addition to the ventilation and air situation I have trimmed back the unhealthy growth and started a general hydroponics nute cycle. I'll update with photos in a couple days to show progress or lack of progress.

Question. I have 1000w dimming ballasts and 1000w bulbs. Can i run the 600w setting without damaging the bulb or do I need the bulb's wattage to match the ballast setting?

Thanks for you time and the help.

FrostyTheNugMan said:

I closed the system so I'm drawing fresh air across the lights then back out through the top. I also put the portable ac in the tent. The temp is still getting into the 80's during the day but returns to the 70s at night.
In addition to the ventilation and air situation I have trimmed back the unhealthy growth and started a general hydroponics nute cycle. I'll update with photos in a couple days to show progress or lack of progress.

Question. I have 1000w dimming ballasts and 1000w bulbs. Can i run the 600w setting without damaging the bulb or do I need the bulb's wattage to match the ballast setting?

Thanks for you time and the help.

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U can use the 1000w bulbs with the dimmable ballast and turn it down with no probs. U can't use a 600w bulb with a 1000w ballast.