"Cinco De High-O" cabinet grow

[Joncoh101]

That looks like over watering or its too cold at the moment man, you must monitor the temps through the night in there. I had the same issue with wilting and slow absorption of water and nutes. Got a oil space heater and the plants are growing healthier and insanely fast

 

[GrassBurner]

Thanks for the response!! The temp usually drops to around 70 at night, and is around 78-80 during lights on. I've been leaving the cabinet door slightly open to help with fresh air. I could have over watered them as well. I've got the fan set in there now blowing on them. I'll give them a few days to dry out, and I'll keep an eye on the temperature swings with the thermometer I just put in there.
Do you like to keep your plants at a pretty consistent temperature, or a slight swing from day/night?

 

[Joncoh101]

Ah i see, those are good temps tho man, consistency is key with temps so the aim is to keep between 65 degrees and 80. However the rule is when its lights off they should be around 5 to 10 degrees less than when lights on. As plants like to be slightly cooler when its their dark period

 

[GrassBurner]

Good to know, I appreciate the advice. I know I've read about temperatures somewhere, but I've been reading so much I have trouble remembering what I've read

 

[GrassBurner]

So I just checked, and your overwatering diagnosis seems to be correct. The top inch or 2 of the soil is relatively dry, but using my moisture meter I'm getting a "wet" reading about 3/4 of the way down. Ran the meter down a few times to try to help aerate a little. Thanks again for the heads up!

 

[Slobberhose]

Shit, just got a chance to check in on your grow.

I used diatemacious earth on top of my soil to get rid of a few white flies, also yellow sticky boards. I can't recommend diatemacious earth enough, has cleared up the bugs and seems to help with water drainage.

I struggled with getting my watering schedule down, but finally dialed it in. I was watering too often but not using enough water when I did. The easiest thing to do is let the soil dry completely, lift the pots and get a good sense of the dry weight, then get the soil good and soaked. Check every morning to see when they're back to their dry weight. Once you know how often they're using up their water it will be simple to keep them happy.

 

[GrassBurner]

Thanks for the info! Sounds like what I am doing, watering too often without enough water. I've got a spiral notebook I was using to record all my waterings and info, but I've been so busy I've gotten lazy recording. I definitely need to make that a priority, will be much easier to keep track of how much they drink.
I'm more than likely overthinking things and forgetting the basics. In the beginning I was waiting until the pots felt super light, then watering, but I never watered until runoff, just gave then what I thought they needed. Then when things started going wrong and I switched soils, I probably kept them too wet. Now that I think about it, I dont believe I lined the bottom of the pots with vermiculite when I switched soils like I did originally.
Thanks for taking the time to look at my grow and sharing some knowledge. I really appreciate it. The girls are looking much better this afternoon. I raised the light a day or two ago, I thought it might be too close (18" from canopy) and could be causing some of the light coloring. I could be way off, but I thought better safe than sorry. Thanks again, I feel much better about my situation. I switched the plants around, put the smaller one in front so the air from the fan could better circulate air to both plants.

 

[Slobberhose]

1 gallon of water is what I use, currently every other day (they're drinking more now than they were before they started packing on buds). I soak the outside edge of the soil, then give them a minute to soak it up before I water the center. Otherwise I'd get runoff way before the water was distributed evenly, any runoff in the trays gets soaked up within an hr or 2. I was ready to give up on the fabric pots before I got it down.

 

[GrassBurner]

Good looking grow! What size pots are those? I'm in 2 gallon right now, but I've got a couple 7 gallon fabric pots as well. I dont know if I want to transplant again though, I feel like I've stressed them quite a bit already.
Okay so the pots sit in the runoff and absorb it back up. Right now I've got them propped up on stands that let the water flow out from the bottom. Doesnt give the soil the opportunity to wick moisture back up. Am I losing nutrients this way? I'll find me some saucers and give that a go.
Makes sense about watering around the ring, then waiting to water the center. I always noticed when the top soil got real dry, the water seemed to run around it instead of absorbing into it. I'll try your technique on my next watering once the pots are really light.

 

[Slobberhose]

These are in 3 gallon pots but I rolled the top over to make them shorter, they probably have 1.5 gallons of soil in them. Your 2 gallons are plenty big. On the males I pulled the root system was basically the entire pot minus the first 2 inches of soil.

 

[GrassBurner]

Awesome. Thanks again for all the help. Knowing how much you water gives me something to work off of. I can "learn" out of books, I was always good at testing in school. But to really understand something I need to be hands on, and I like having real world numbers from people so I can get in the ballpark. I'll update in a day or two, hopefully sharing pictures of beautiful girls

 

[Mr. Cheetah]

Good looking grow! What size pots are those? I'm in 2 gallon right now, but I've got a couple 7 gallon fabric pots as well. I dont know if I want to transplant again though, I feel like I've stressed them quite a bit already.
Okay so the pots sit in the runoff and absorb it back up. Right now I've got them propped up on stands that let the water flow out from the bottom. Doesnt give the soil the opportunity to wick moisture back up. Am I losing nutrients this way? I'll find me some saucers and give that a go.
Makes sense about watering around the ring, then waiting to water the center. I always noticed when the top soil got real dry, the water seemed to run around it instead of absorbing into it. I'll try your technique on my next watering once the pots are really light.

worth trying, ive never grew anything in fabric pots tbh, they deff looks better today mate

 

[GrassBurner]

They look better everytime I check on them!

 

[Mr. Cheetah]

They look better everytime I check on them!

dont overcheck mate

 

[GrassBurner]

Got the vent cut in the door for the big cabinet, installed a piece of the leftover charcoal filter I had. Gonna build a box without a bottom to cover the filter, probably 2" thick without a bottom for air intake, and to keep light out of the cabinet during flower.



Built a small shelf for the fan. Its adjustable up and down so I can adjust it as the plants get bigger. It's just screwed to the wall, so I can move it up and down if I need. Let's hope they keep improving.

 

[GrassBurner]

Letting the girls dry out. Pots felt pretty light last night, moisture meter was reading just at the edge up moist/dry. Gonna give them some water the way @Slobberhose recommended this evening. With the new fan pulling air from the door intake, and exhaust fan running, temps are pretty steady at 83 during lights on, mid 70s at lights off. Thanks again to everyone who offered advice, me and the ladies sure appreciate it!

 

[Mr. Cheetah]

bushy as hell brov, looks like they are getting better n better, touching wood

 

[GrassBurner]

They're looking so much better!

 

[GrassBurner]

@Slobberhose your watering method seems to be working great!! The ladies are looking happy as ever. They soak up the runoff super quick.
I transplanted some seedlings yesterday into 2 liter bottles, this new soil has the roots growing like crazy! The roots had filled the edges and bottom inch or two of their solo cups. When I transplanted from solo cups to bigger pots in the FFOF I didnt have roots anywhere close to this developed. Not much else has changed, I'll upload a pic this evening of the happy girls. Thanks again!

 

[GrassBurner]

Here they are after their second watering with an improved method.


I noticed some of the leaves that were affected previously, were pretty damaged. They were very large, and covering a lot of the bud sites. Decided to give them a little haircut to get more light on the new growth. I've got some Bio Bizz Algamic coming in, gonna give them a dose at their next watering, and once they look good and healthy, I'll flip them. Where should I take clones off the shorter plant? I like that it's a nice stocky plant. The stalk is almost the same size as the bigger plant.