First time grow - PPP from Nirvana

[Potseed McGee]

Hello everyone. This is my first time grow.

I have 1 PPP and 2 mystery seeds. I started this grow March 5th, spent 3 days germing before planting. Currently its a pretty basic setup, two of the $6 home-depot light clamps attached to a cardboard box (i know, i know. i'm getting a tent in the next couple weeks).

I have decided to update this original post with all new updates so that people who stumble here don't have to read the entire thread (should it get large).

I didn't take any pictures when i started to germ or anything, so the first picture is of the setup after i planted them in the dirt. Germination started March 5th, planted into soil March 8th.

March 8

Pretty basic setup, only 4 lights, all 100w equiv (~23 watts i think). I'm not sure if thats enough lights or not (although at this stage it doesn't matter much). Also, the temps remain cool. Always around ~70-72F.

In hindsight (as written on March 21), i realize i under watered the plants (and did not do an initial flush of the soil). I also think the soil may be too loose at this point

Mach 12

So this is the PPP. I actually had to dig out the sprouts from the dirt (i think on the 10th or 11th.)
I think at this point i'm severely underwatering the plants. I didn't flush the soil first (in the future i think ill do a boiling water flush to kill any gnat eggs)

Marth 13

Also the PPP next day afternoon ish. Not sure about the growth but its still alive so all is well. It's at this time i believe my soil is stunting growth. I started with Ocean Forest by Fox Farms but i felt it was too strong for the seedling. I mixed it up with some Light Warrior.

March 16

Still the PPP, second set of leaves are coming along. To me this seems like its progressing very slowly. Tonight I decide to water them more than i had previously, maybe 1/3 - 1/2 cup.

March 17

I think she really liked all the water i gave her as she grew a lot that night.
The second plant is the stronger of the two mystery seeds (started with 3, but it died).
Third is the runt of the mysteries.


March 19

PPP is doing really well (first). Second mystery has a crooked leaf.. i have no idea why. Suggestions?. Third is still the runt, kinda stunted. Also, I started to combat the gnats with sand. Plants seem find, i've killed 2 gnats but have seen none since.
The forth is the PPP last night (for comparison for next morning.) I also watered the plants for the first time at night.

March 20

Here's my baby this morning, growing 2 new sets of leaves!

March 20 - Box change

I changed the box up. I know its a hazard but for now its the best i can do.

March 21

Transplanted to new soil after running some tests. pH was too Alkaline.

I have the fan on the left blowing on the plants so hopefully they'll strengthen up. On the right the black fan is moving air and cooling the lights. Box temperature when closed is about ~75F

March 22

My girls are doing very poorly right now.. the two mysteries are currently the worst off and I suspect the PPP can only remain strong for so long. It looks like it also orange spots developing. I am unsure of what to do.

March 23

So last night around 6pm to 1am I turned off the lights and covered the box with a blanket. There appears to be some good new growth for my plants. Also did a cursory check for little black fuckers, appears they are gone. Saw some specs on my PPP plant but they didn't respond to the garlic water so I'm hoping its just specs of dirt or something.. Will keep checking but otherwise the garlic water solution has proven highly effective!

I think the nap did my plants some good as this is the first jump in growth they've had since the problems started.

 

[kmoo]

hey there!! anyway to resize the pics i can't really get the all over picture lol i think i went a bit cross eyed

 

[Potseed McGee]

kmoo,

I agree (as does my friend). I have cropped/resized so it should read much better

 

[Potseed McGee]

So I'm a bit worried about one of my plants. It has orange spots on one leaf and the new fan leaves are colored purple... I would really appreciate some insight into this

 

[Potseed McGee]

Well, I decided to go buy a cheapy $10 meter and some of the ph test kits

I checked with the meter and it seems less than precise enough for my desires (showed around 7.2). I then used the ph test kit and as you can see in the 'after' part of the image, it was very green (alkaline). I decided at the risk of killing my plants (whom haven't grown in 2 days) i would transplant them into fresh soil. I packed it, drained it, tested it, sifted it so it was looser dug a hole and put my plants back in. Hopefully they don't die on me but we'll see.

As you can see in the picture the ph test came back on the new soil mix much less alkaline and according to the chart is now around neutral.

Appreciate any feedback

 

[Potseed McGee]

Update for March 21.

Update shots for the plants in the new soil and a shot of the box.

The stems seem real weak and flimsy and not well rooted, not sure what i should do

 

[Potseed McGee]

Update. Found spider mites today. Little bastards. Bunches of them.

Found a recipe by AES110 and used it about 20 minutes ago.

Victory was quick and decisive! Little non moving black dots all over, sprayed with a lot of water (brita) so hopefully no permanent damage. I really hope this helps. they're having a hard enough time. All the plants are nearly at the top of the soil from falling over, its pretty bad

 

[KingBuda]

Thats a really nice setup you got going there McGee.

 

[Potseed McGee]

Thats a really nice setup you got going there McGee.

Yea.. it's nothing special..

March 22

My girls are doing very poorly right now.. the two mysteries are currently the worst off and I suspect the PPP can only remain strong for so long. It looks like it also orange spots developing. Please any thoughts as to why this is happening??

 

[mayhem8324]

They seem awfully small for almost a month old. Also(and this is from reading this site, not personal experience) the spots could be bugs which, as I understand, feed on the leaves and the result are the spots you see, which is where they "ate". So keep an eye out. Hope this helps. (and forum vets, if I'm mistaken about the bugs, set me straight for my future fyi.)

 

[Potseed McGee]

They seem awfully small for almost a month old. Also(and this is from reading this site, not personal experience) the spots could be bugs which, as I understand, feed on the leaves and the result are the spots you see, which is where they "ate". So keep an eye out. Hope this helps. (and forum vets, if I'm mistaken about the bugs, set me straight for my future fyi.)

I agree with you on all counts. They are small for being 17 days old. Also, I have discovered spider mites (after the most recent transplantation). I just boiled a ton of garlic and sprayed the plants and soil heavily.

I'll repeat this periodically for a couple days and see if they return.

Bugs don't like garlic

But aside from that, I don't know what to do about the stunted growth

 

[growone]

well, i tuned in here when i saw the PPP, just running my 1st PPP under cfl's
about the same age
i'd say watch for a couple of days, you've made a couple changes, it's easy to start trying too many things which may harm more than hurt
from the experiences i've read, PPP can take a bit of abuse, it should come back

 

[mayhem8324]

As far as the stunted growth goes, my current grow was stunted at first. I was using a seed starting mix from jiffy, in Jiffy cups(size 4)which was hell to keep at the right moisture level( will NEVER touch that mix again!!). After about a week and a half of no progress post-sprout, I plopped the jiffy cups into their new pots with some reg. Scotts poting soil(mixed with added perlite, and the soil has added nutes as well.). They shot 4'' up within 12 hours. Noting my changes I researched and found that it was nute deficiency and moisture stress.

What I'm thinking is if the plants get on a reg watering schedule(coupled with a moisture meter & the "check pot weight" method for "watering accuracy"), and also some small amounts (like quarter strength since they are small, if not less) veg nutes like sensi one grow or whatever one you would prefer, they should perk and shoot right up.

If anyone else has anything to add or correct, feel free. Hope this helps, and happy growing!

 

[Potseed McGee]

As far as the stunted growth goes, my current grow was stunted at first. I was using a seed starting mix from jiffy, in Jiffy cups(size 4)which was hell to keep at the right moisture level( will NEVER touch that mix again!!). After about a week and a half of no progress post-sprout, I plopped the jiffy cups into their new pots with some reg. Scotts poting soil(mixed with added perlite, and the soil has added nutes as well.). They shot 4'' up within 12 hours. Noting my changes I researched and found that it was nute deficiency and moisture stress.

What I'm thinking is if the plants get on a reg watering schedule(coupled with a moisture meter & the "check pot weight" method for "watering accuracy"), and also some small amounts (like quarter strength since they are small, if not less) veg nutes like sensi one grow or whatever one you would prefer, they should perk and shoot right up.

If anyone else has anything to add or correct, feel free. Hope this helps, and happy growing!

Thanks guys! Really appreciate the help!

After a bit more looking around I've seen that slow growth may also be a cause of the container being too small. I have a local HTG Supply store here and I think I'll go hit em up tomorrow. I'm currently thinking of planting them into much larger pots.

I'm also wondering if I should start a new batch just incase. I came across a thread where the plants were barely bigger than mine after 56 days, and when I found plants about 2.5 weeks old, they were at least triple the size of mine so I'm a bit worried.

Hopefully the garlic proves a permanent solution (and wont hurt my babies).

The PPP strain is definitely very resilient and I only hope she comes back to life.

My understanding is that when i transplant, I should just continue to water them for a while since the new soil should have nutes.

So my plan is this:

Get 3 gal pots (should i get bigger, would like for this to be the last pot the plant sees).

Sterilize the pot with boiling water. Fill with soil. Flush soil with boiling water to kill any little bastards crawling around and pop the seeds into the new soil (after its cooled of course)

Thanks for the input, really appreciate it!

 

[Potseed McGee]

Additionally, I'm considering getting a TDS/pH meter when I go. I intend to get the stand alone units and wondering if anyone had any experience with them.

pH: http://htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=54949
TDS: http://htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=54221

Also.. I've been using Brita filtered water, any reason I should not use it? I can't seem to find any of those RO dispensers anywhere around town which is highly annoying.

I wonder if I have enough light? 4x 100w equiv daylight CFLs for my three babies. I've considered the Ceramic Metal Halide bulbs..any thoughts? Does anyone know if they'll work in the cheap 400w hps kit from HTG Supply? http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=47929

It doesn't say digital ballast so from what i've read should work fine for a drop in replacement (for veg mostly, probably switch to HPS for flowering)

Lastly, I may consider buying a tent and move them away from the box of potential hazards.

Thoughts? Comments? Criticism? All are welcome!

Thanks again

 

[Potseed McGee]

Oh, forgot. I also raised my lights up a bit. They were about 3 inches from the plant, probably closer to 6 inches now. Not sure if thats good bad or plain stupid

 

[growone]

3 inches was fine. 6 inches is too far
i had a lot of trouble with small pot during a micro grow, 2 quarts
transplanted, and things took right off

 

[Potseed McGee]

3 inches was fine. 6 inches is too far
i had a lot of trouble with small pot during a micro grow, 2 quarts
transplanted, and things took right off

Thanks growone, I adjusted it so it was closer to 3 maybe 4 inches from the plant. However, while doing so i accidentally knocked a pot over and it all spilled out. What I noticed is that one of the plants has a terribly underdeveloped root system. I mean, there wasn't more than 3 inches in diameter of dirt around what clump stayed together. There was so few it seems, I think after 3 weeks it should have a much more developed root system. Any ideas?

 

[mayhem8324]

your game plan sounds good to me(though I've never heard of the boiling water thru the soil thing... interesting. must research). And the lights: my first grow, I used x5 26wcfl's, x2 42w cfl's, and they grew just fine (before turning out male). This grow I stepped it up and added a new reflector and 125w cfl. And with cfl, you need to keep as close as possible as the lumens utilized drop off pretty quick with each inch further away they are. I would say to be safe to get some 42 watters(if a 125w or better is outside of your budget), then keep the 26w bulbs they'll be replacing as side lighting.
Now you could do hps and mh lights but that then brings along more heat to contend with, and extra cost in extra bulb cooling/ventilation. Choice is purely yours depending on what you want to deal with.

As for ph meter, I got a $10 one from home depot, and it works like a charm. And the tents are definitly worth the money if your looking for something easy, convenient and quality.

 

[mayhem8324]

also, what is your light cycle right now? 18/6 works best cause it gives the roots some growth time, since they typically do there growing during dark time. If your doing 24/0, try switching it to 18/6, and the roots should improve.