My LED fluoro grow #1

Treeth thanks again for the updates on my questions and the wealth of knowledge! I did hear that can flower with longer light cycles then 12/12 i plan to try it, would you go for the 14/10 from the get go or maybe 13/11? i've heard depending on the plants origin it can differ and i have no clue where my may have come from though they definitely look like an indica strain. I'm going t the hydro store maybe this weekend to check out their uvb and ir bulbs i like the hands on approach when shopping. I'm still wondering on the wattage for the ir's though? what determines how many watts of IR you need number of plants , room size? i think I will put the uvb in the strip fixtures gradually exposing the plants to them as they show sighs of flowering. and use cfl for additional light. i have an old bathroom vanity fixture ( i call a hollywood strip light real cheap but I think it will do the job)that is essentially six light sockets about 3-4 inches apart that i cut in half so that I'll have 3 on either side of the ufo I bought 4 14 watt, 60 watt equivalent daylight cfls with a 5500k rating would these be better for veg or flower? i was wondering if something in the 3000k range would be better for flower or maybe a combination of both, need to do a little research. either way I will add them soon. do you think reflectors would help with the cfls (i think they probably would but) ? idon't wanna block the ufo so i think i'm gonna use plain old light sockets I'll also look into to those root promoters you spoke of at the hydro shop, but i think you were right about them being close to really taking off, and about letting the soil dry out too. your setup looks great i have a homemade setup similar to yours made out of a 30 gal rubbermade tub using six 3 inch baskets. not sure if i wanna go bubbleponic with air stones or aeroponic with sprayer heads i have things for both (I made the sprayer manifold and hooked it up to my garden hose and it worked awsome I'll try to post some pics )but the timers for the pump( recycle timers) are like $100 and I think i would need one of those digital temp/ph/ppm meter which aren't cheap either(like $300), but I wanna try to make my own timer if possible.( i have some electrical experience) but again i ned to do some research. and since its my first time indoors I went with soil (more forgiving)but when i take some clones i think its on. sorry if that was to much info , i think that this is my longest post ever.

here are the pics i spoke of what do you think go cheap with bubbleponics and take my chances testing ph with general hydroponics vile style tester or spend some serious dough and try aeroponics? first plant pics is my go getter( hope its not a male) it leaves seem to be a little droopy and are cupping downwards.( maybe over watering?) and the second is probably the next largest but is looking good all around Treeth can't remember if i said so but your setup looks tight kiss-ass hahaha

I like the water. I actually think it is easier and more forgiving... If you're able to be around nearly every day. I think this because the time delay from when you take an action, to being able to witness the plants reaction to it, is a fraction of the time. Roots grow faster, the plants grow faster, you can feed more, and keep things clean.

bubbleponics and aero are pretty compatable- You can find a cheap pump to drive the aero online or somewhere like Harbour Freight if you know it...

You could even start bubble and add the aero later if you wanted, sharing the same resivoir.


Heeelll bean... I would even drop those girls in now! They would shock a little bit... but I think you would be happier in hydro. PH issues are not bad if you have decent nutes. I've been using flora nova, testing with the simple liquid indicator, and it's gone up from 6.5 to 7 over like a week and a half?

Its really not too intimidating.

I would take some cuttings from your girls that your gonna have... And put them in the bubble or bubble aero set up...

What a nice transition that would be. Have those cuttings veg during flower... And you are well on your way to perpetual!

I hear you on the recycle timers, I've ran into that problem. I think you can run aero constantly however, esp. if the resivoir is well aerated.

About the cfls... I dunno. I would mix. or do half and half and see who responds better. I do know that the warm is recommended for flowering, you want as much red as fucking possible!

Peace

Ok so things are looking pretty good now. I seem to have a better handle on my watering and feeding schedules as well as ph levels. I'm curious what others think as far as how much longer to veg before i start to flower? Knowing that I'll be using the LED and some fluoros to flower I real don't want them to get too much bigger. 9 out of the 12 are 6-6+ inches tall and then I have 3 shorter plants. the larger plants are now showing their second set of 5 point leaves, and the smaller 3 just have 3 pointers I rearranged them as to keep the lights as close as possible. Now I have heard that males tend to have the most vigorous growth so I hope the larger ones aren't all male? is this generally true? I hope not.
Treeth you were definitely right about letting the soil dry out between watering. I though you always wanted the soil to be slightly damp but not any more. also I try to just water closely around the stems I feel that this gives them access to water but still allows the roots to breath. thanks again for the tips

Ok so after a little reading here on rollitup I decided to go check on my little ones for the first time today i discovered that one of them shot quite a bit or at least more than the others in the last 24 hours. This got me to thinking do "I really what these things getting this tall and stretched" and I decided "no" and since I couldn't decide on how I planned on managing the plants height I decide to diversify my approach. And to make an already long story a little shorter I attempted what I believe is supercropping or LST by squeezing the stem between my fingers and bending the plant over. please correct me if I'm wrong. I did this to the one that stretched the most and then on three others cut the center growth on a angle which I believe is called FIM (f*ck I missed) technique. I guess I went this route because I couldn't decide on one or the other and I thought it would be a good experiment. Just thought I let you guys know and by you guys I mean nobody, since no one replies in my thread except Treeth( thanks again) maybe I'll post some pics of what I did tomorrow Peace I'm out

They look mad stretched.

Mysticlown yeah I think they're stretched a bit but "mad stretched" i don't know, the more compact plants are about 4 inches tall and the nodes are about 1/4 inch apart on the taller plants about 6 inches the nodes are 1/2 inch apart. I'm not sure but I think the pics are a little deceiving but I don't have any past indoor experiences or plants to base that on, just one outdoor grow and to be honest with you i think they are more compact then the ones I grew outdoors. Both were bagseeds so not like they were the same strains either. I didn't have anything other than the LED for the first 3 weeks and it was about 24 inches above the plants, read that was the correct height somewhere, now it about 18 inches. Thats about as close as I can get and still get good overall coverage, I think that is why the main stems stretched as much as hey did. since then I added the 2 fluoro strips and I think it has helped. I appreciate you or anyone actually posting here positive or not all input is good) so I don't feel like I'm talking to myself but, I think I sense a little LED doubt in your post? Yes , No let me know what you think any suggestions? Sorry if I sound defensive but they are my babies. Here are some new pics from today

So there's a little new growth a the site where I topped the plants and where the fan leaves meet the main stem so i decided to add more light. I added 4 14w CLFs in the 6400k range which I believe is good for vegging. Also 2 other 14w CFLs with the plastic domes that I had lying around, don't know the K rating but figured it couldn't hurt. I vented the exhaust too, it was starting to smell. now the fan is a 4 inch inline duct fan that was rated for 200 cfm. I have it running 24/7 already and was curious to see how much the temps would go up with the new lights haven't checked yet but have been running in the high 60's low 70's here are some pics

They look nice bean!

Very tight internode spacing. Mad stretched no longer.

Those vanity fixtures are holding those lights in the perfect place!

Here is what my girls have been up to... More CFL's for me too

Treeth thanks for the props things are going well. You grow looks great to next round for me will definitely be hydro

So nothing major to report Things are still going well. Since adding the CFL's temps seem to be right around 74-75 degrees F when the lights are on don't know temps when the lights are off, also humidity seems to be lower in the 50% range topping out at 60% don't if its the new cfl's or the weather but I think its better either way. Growth in terms of heights seems to have slowed down on the plants that I've topped and the new growth where the fan leaves meet the main stem is taking off. On one of the plants the leaves look healthy but kind of hang down right on top of the leaves below curling towards the stem is this normal? what might cause this? all others look normal. Here are some pics from today

I didn't get a close up pic of the plant i described but you can see it in the first pic, its on the right hand side

check my plants to see if the roots had reached the bottom and they have. I will be transplanting them no later than this weekend maybe tomorrow. I think I'm gonna pick up some fox farm soil and larger pots. any suggestions on a pot size that will be big enough to finish in? On a good note the roots were looking a healthy white cream color

Nice job looking great man, hope mine start looking like that really soon.

Droski7 Thanks for the compliment and checking in. I have to transplant soon they are getting rootbound hope it goes well on mine and your end

Beanie!

I'm sure that they'll love the new digs.

Hey Brother,

before you go out and get those new pots, and mix in all that new soil...

Why not flower first?

Give them a couple of weeks to show sex...

and then move your girls into better homes?

(they aren't rootbound until the roots have circled the bottom a couple of times and represent a solid chocking mass)

My girls and roots again!





Taking cuttings in a day or two,
veg for a week,

and finally a flowering plant.

Or eight.

Treeth those roots look a little dark you think everything alright down there? But on the other side those plants look great congrats can't wait to see them fully in flower

I know that brown crap right...

Well, I fingered it, rolled it around in between my fingers, and it is not slimy. It is some sort of insoluble formed with my nutes, and maybe something else, like the chlorates in my tap water.

I have been adding in more cannazym just in case, and they seem to be liking it...

I even went out and got a couple more air pumps since those pics,

and I have a lot more healthy / recovering root system.

I need them to stretch more so I can take some decently tall cuttings!

Just flushed for the first time because I had some yellowing and some brown spots. drilled 1/4 inch holes in the catch trays at the bottom of the pots and bought plastic trays to catch whatever runoff may come out. Here are some pics. I'm wondering what I can do to help my girls so I can go from to Any suggestions?

odd... Mine went through a similar depressed, mid-life crisis as well...
They forget their roots!

If you flushed em good I'll bet that they'll begin to perk up soon,
as the soil dries out and such.

Add some more nutes to complicate things!
Hygrozyme can be used in soil... it eats dead shit.

I know that Brown spots are a magnesium deficiency...

What kind of water do you use?
You can have a mag problem if you don't use tap.

epsom salts can be used as a cheap and available source for mg....

I hope you don't loose any! I did...

Survival of the fittest... who can and who cant survive shock.