Couple quesstions first time grow

[jhnfrmrby420]

Hey guys, been a member for awhile now, did hrs upon hrs of reading. I have a new grow started of AK47, Big Devil, lowryder #2'S and AKR's. I have 1 out of 6 plants thats a lowryder #2 and due to not transplanting in time shes stunted, so I'll chaulk that one up as a learning exp, shes about 36 days old now, the others are starting the beginning of the second week.... I have a couple questions. First, Im using FF nutes, FFOF soil tiered into 3 gal smart pots. My cab is 3x3x6ft, I have a 500cfm inline duct fan, and oscillating house fan below them blowing up undernieth, the fan is also in front of the intake hole cut into the bottom back, cant seem to get temps below 90, humidity is around 37-40%. Everyone tells me that you shouldnt water everyday, but due to the heat keeping the FFOF soil moist is a task. I just misted them even though the soil is dry, I watered them thoroughly yesterday morning. They have no discoloration, and seem to be healthy so the heat isnt bothering them much. Then again when people grow outside temps can get well into the 90's on summer days, so the temp thing is kind of confusing. I dont realy have expenses to add anything more. I have a total of 8-4 on each side of 27 watt veg CFL's and a 400 watt HPS over the tops running 24/7 for 6 plants, I have room for 3 more but dont know if thats enough light for 9. My walls in my cab are flat white and the plants are 1/2 way up on a heavy chicken wire type wire for a shelf, so air flows through it. Lately with the grow thread I have going under indoor growing, no one seems to be responding or commenting except for like 2 members. Here's some pics as of last night. Any help throughout the grow would be greatly appreciated. I also mixed up the seeds so I dont know which is which as far as strains go.

 

[Jonny K]

Take a look underneath your leaves and see if you see any tiny bugs. Looked like a few spidermite bites on a couple of leaves. Also do you exhaust your heat from the top? You should, thats where it builds up. Plants look pretty healthy otherwise.

 

[thc&me]

Does the thermostat in that pick read 41C? That's way too hot. Young plants like warm temperatures, but that's really pushing it. I built a small grow-box (4' by 4') and tried to run a 400W HID inside and experienced the same heat problems. The plants leaves will begin to curl under as it loses moisture at a faster rate than the roots can supply. Also, the heat from the lamps will dry out the air very quickly in a confined area, adding to your humidity problems. Marijuana enjoys a warm (28C) humid (60%-70%) environment during vegetation. You'll need to add an air-conditioner if you want to use HID lamps as they burn very hot. To increase the humidity in your grow area, keep a bowl of water in your grow space. The evaporation of that water will help to increase the humidity of the air.

 

[jhnfrmrby420]

Hey Jonny, thanks for the reply. No no spider mites and the exhaust vent is in the very top front corner. It might be the saw dust all over the plants, I had to cut the exhaust hole bigger for a bigger fan and saw dust fell in the cab and all over the leafs. How hot is the max without hurting autos? And what exactly will high heat do, herm them, kill them?

 

[jhnfrmrby420]

Hey THC! Thanks for the reply, the 41 you see, the top number is Humidity, its been like 90F, been trying to bring it down, but funds are low so I have to try something out to try and get it down to atleast 85. Im running a 400HPS besides the side veg CFL's....Another question, how long can you let water sit bubbling with nutes for? Someone told me to only water once every 3 days or overwatering can stunt them.

 

[805Farming]

Your best bet would be to get a couple of computer fans. One where your existing intake hole is, and another on the opposite side on the bottom of your box. The lower the fans, the cooler the temp with be of the air that is drawn in. Keep your house fan where it is inside the box so that it then disperses the cool air being drawn in from the computer fan(s)
Second, if that doesnt work, turn off your HPS and do it the long way. You should have enough light from your cfl's for the time being to get them through veg.
I noticed in your pics of the plant thats a little more mature that its developing buds, or at least looks like it. Are my eyes confusing me?

Tip with FFOF: Mix one bag of FFOF with FF Light Warrior. Perfect for the right drainage, yet retains moisture like a champ.

 

[jhnfrmrby420]

Thanks 805! The bigger one as I explined in the first post is a 5 week old low ryder that someone told me I stunted by waiting too long to transplant, so shes budding but not gonna get much taller. Today I put another fan outside the cab blowing into my lower intake vent, gonna see a bit later what the temp is with that. I also added a second inline duct fan on the same dryer hose to help draw better, dont know if it will help but its worth a shot. Thanks for the tip on the soil

 

[jhnfrmrby420]

This morning I drove over, open the cab and temp is 96. I just left the cab door open and that will solve that. Dont have to be stealth. Out of 6 plants 1 is turning a little yellow on 2 leafs. They were very dry so I gave them all a good drink this morning with the nutes. The stunted low ryder has actually stretched up a bit more and the others have no signs of yellowing. Below are some pics, in the one pic, you can see the exhaust fan in the top front left corner, below the plants is the fan and the other pic is another fan on the outside of the cab blowing air into the intake.

 

[Jonny K]

Do you keep the plants up that high all the time? Cooler near the floor. I think you were right about the sawdust. I had mites a couple of weeks ago so am constantly looking for the little fuckers.

 

[jhnfrmrby420]

LOL I hear ya Jonny, and this is my first grow, didnt realy know how high they should be, I was under the assumption that it was just a matter of how far the HPS was to the plants

 

[Jonny K]

If its too close to your ceiling the heat can't really rise. If its lower the heat will rise above. Other than that I think you are doing a fine job. Keep it up. Put your thermometer near the plants to see what they are really dealing with.

 

[lokie]

You may want to consider setting the plants on the floor and move the lights up or down.

The weight of the soil, water and plant will increase over the span of your grow.
Are you sure the screws in the wall will support all of the weight?

 

[Jonny K]

Good question especially adding water to big pots.

 

[jhnfrmrby420]

yea the screws are holding fine, but i'll try and move everything to the floor, just seems like alot of wasted space up top

 

[jhnfrmrby420]

With the lighting I have, could I get away with another plant? I used the soil that I had in a humidity dome while I was tryin to germinate seeds. I got 4 of the 6 that didnt germ out of the soil and put them in soil and those are 4 of the babys I have in this grow, but 2 seeds vanished, well I used that soil for this grow and now I found one of the 2 vanished seeds, it sprouted!!!!, and its one of the AK's I dont believe it. Those seeds were germed for 2 weeks in a heat dome with no sprouts, then they sat in dry soil with no light no water for another week and now one just sprouted. I wasnt expecting it and Im out of soil so I had to use this sta green potting soil I had from lowes laying around, if it works great, if not, than Its no loss being the seed was forgotten about 2 weeks ago........So Does everyone agree that it may help with temps if I lower the plants to the floor of the cab???? And does it matter that they will be right next to the intake thats near the floor?

 

[805Farming]

Adjust your lights as your plants get taller, and put your plants raised off the ground if you find it difficult to adjust your lights. Go spend a little money and get some pulleys for your HPS and move your CFL's as needed with the screws. Also, your intake vent is fucking tiny compaired to the fan your using. If it was me, I would jigsaw out a hole the size of the fan and strap that bad boy in there around the seems with duct tape. Like I said before, raise your plants so they are just about your fan, it looks like a pretty heavy duty house fan from the pics. Now you will be getting some cool, fresh air, that will rise through your plants, and be vented out the exhaust. What is the common temp of your house? The hotter your home, the hotter the box, the cooler your home...

I would get your temp and shit in line before you think about adding more plants. Get your basics in check, then evolve my friend. But hey, thats just me Happy growing!

 

[jhnfrmrby420]

Hey 805 Thanks, Your saying just have the plants above the intake? It wouldnt be hard if I just put them on the floor if that would be ok. Its in my buddys barn basement, very cool, 40's-50's. As far as the 7th plant, I wasnt expecting to have a 7th, it just sprouted from old soil, How I dont know but it did. I'll cut the intake hole so that whole window fan fits in it and duct tape it.

 

[happyharvest]

I have no clue what the Globules look like on the buds but it looks like one of them is really close to flowering time? Do you have a separate room ready for that? and Just a couple of things I have read (although I am sure you have too) that may be of some help.

HPS gives off more of a warmer/red/orange spectrum of light. While HPS is powerful and a step up from CFL, I would want to think that metal halide would serve you better for you little seedlings. Red spectrum is prime for flowering and the blue light spectrum of MH bulbs is more veg oriented.

Once more, I am currently in my first grow. Read that multiple people do 24 hr light but also read that is just unnatural and can stress a plant. Anyone care to add or critique?

 

[jhnfrmrby420]

Happy, these are Auto Flowering Strains, no need for switching lights. And a mixture of the 2 spectrums is what they love. I have veg cfl's on the sides and the HPS above them. They can all be grown in the same unit and you can continuously keep putting new sprouts in as you harvest ones that are ready. Most are ready to harvest within 8 weeks from sprout.

 

[happyharvest]

Ha I'm learning everyday! So with autoflowering strains there is no need to switch lighting schedule either?