New medical patient in Michigan needs advice.

[JesseL]

The girls are transplanted into their finishing pots and I'm just going to let them stretch a little before flowering. I'm thinking of using the scrog method for the rest of the grow, but I've been super cropping also, and I was wondering if it is necessary to put up a screen if I can train my plants without it? I just need to maximize my yield for this grow. I will be taking 24 clones from the best phenos in this bunch. Verified the sex of the unknown car floor seed. It's a GIRL!! That plant has been the biggest from the start. I started it outside about a week before the rest, and it's just been a mass of stems and new growth. I can't even get inside it to prune. I think it's a sativa dominant strain, but I'm not sure. The bucket says unknown on it in the pics, so if anyone knows, let me know. Anyway, people have gone silent on here, so I'm hoping for more input.
As far as the nutrient problems, they just went away with time and the right PH flushing. I have not fed them yet since the transplant yesterday, and I think I will do that when the soil dries a little. I also had to mix some cheap hyponex soil in with my foxfarm so I would have enough for the new pots. I checked the ph and everything seems great. It looks like they grew last night even though they were just transplanted a few hours before that. In the pics though you can see that one of the Bpc plants is still growing very strange looking leaves. It's growing very fast and vigorous, but the leaves are all a little off. I also had a supercropping accident on one of the plants. That's why it's so small. The main stem broke off. I think it's the 5th from the last picture.

Anyway, if anyone has any input about hyponex soil, I would like to hear that too. It seems like a good cheap supplement with no added nutes. It just needs a lot of perlite. I paid $2.99 for a 40lb. bag from ace hardware.

Here are some pics

 

[Corso312]

I would flip them right now..those pots are not all that big and they will veg for a week even after you flip to 12-12

 

[JesseL]

I would flip them right now..those pots are not all that big and they will veg for a week even after you flip to 12-12

Aren't they still a little small? Should I have used bigger pots? All of them are in 5 gallon buckets except for the three in the 10 gallon containers.

 

[Corso312]

Pots are fine...but they will veg for another week after the flip..sometimes ten days before they really get that signal to start to flower...they should be nice and big in ten weeks when ya finish....I just like to leave them room ...when they fill that pot out ..you will be feeding and watering often when they are in the last stages of flower...you will be fine..I would give them a good watering and flip them over the weekend.

 

[+ WitchDoctor +]

Hello everyone. Even though I've been a relatively silent member, I've been doing a LOT of reading on this site. I recently acquired my medical marijuana card in Michigan, and I would like some constructive criticism.

7x7 ft. space totally light proof with panda liner.

Two 1000w Magnetic Ballasts. ( I know that digital is better, but can't afford at the moment. I do have them outside the grow room, so they are not creating extra heat in the grow area).

Running two 1000w bulbs. One MH and one HPS. I currently have them about 24 inches above the seedlings. Ambient temp is 77 degrees. temp under the light is 82 degrees.

Two 6" inline fans with speed control. One is positioned near the ceiling and pushes the air for the cooled hoods and then vented outside. The other is bringing in outside air and blowing directly on the seedlings.

I will be using 5 gallon black canvas shopping bags for planters. (3 for $1) with aluminum baking trays under them for catching water runoff. I'm using half black gold all organic, and half fox farm ocean forest so I can do a side by side test.


I will be using all foxfarm nutes.

Right now my genetics lineup is as follows. (all are feminized seeds from attitude seed bank)
3 x Barney's pineapple chunk
3 x Great white shark
2 x Blueberry indica
1 x Cheese
1 x Blue Rhino
2 x white widow/ blueberry cross
Very impressed with attitude seed bank. Even though all the seeds come from different sources, the customer service is excellent. (MAKE SURE YOU PICK THE T-SHIRT OPTION FOR SHIPPING.) Pay the extra $6 for the T-shirt. It disguises the seeds very well. Plus if you buy the shirt, they guarantee your order will arrive at your door no matter what. If customs grabs your shit, they send you a new order a.s.a.p. for free! (So worth $6)

The seeds were popped in paper towels and transplanted on 8/2. They are doing well so far. The great white shark seems to be growing slower than the rest, but all three are the same height, so I'm thinking that's just the way the strain is.

Humidity has been anywhere from 40 to 55 percent in the room.

I have two zilla timers for the ballasts and fans. If I'm doing my math right, I'm pulling 11 amps per timer. (well under the rating for both the timer and extension cords.)

I'm running 18 and 6 to save some electricity.

Well, I think that's about it. If anyone has any advice, I would love to hear it.

Thanks.

Hi Jesse. I just skimmed through all the comments and I see it went in the direction of nutrients but no one has brought up room size in reference to lighting yet. How are you running the two 1000w ballasts, side by side?

A 1000w light covers a 4.5x4.5' area efficiently, so there is really no way to get good coverage of your plants in that room unless you use light movers. Hopefully you didn't mention that and I just missed it.

Also, there is a bit of debate over whether digital ballasts are better than magnetic. Magnetic ballasts supposedly run hotter, but digital ones run the bulbs hotter over the plants supposedly...but there is one very big pro to magnetic ballast and it's that you can use a splitter to power 2 600 ballasts. A 1000 watt magnetic ballast is actually rated at about 1300w, so when you split it there is plenty of power for 2 600 watt lights. Meaning if you can afford to buy two more reflectors and some 600w bulbs you can use those 2 ballasts to power 4 lights just as efficiently as with 2 600w ballasts and still only use 1000 watts of power.

I have two 7x4' tents with panda film that are side by side, so a similar set up to yours, but side by side instead of a square. Here is a pic of mine, one ballast powers both lights.


And here is a link to the splitter. http://growgreenmi.com/sunpulse-splitter Since you're in Michigan I'd refer you to this store/warehouse if it's within driving distance. Their prices are almost wholesale, check out the website.

Hello Fellow Michigan Medical Growers , I havn't been to this site since I was a new grower back in late 08-early 09 , This site helped me learn how to grow and I owe a big thanks to everyone that posts on it . Now I see you have been doin good on your grow I just wanna throw a few things out there , For Veg use 400 watt metal halides best watt per lumen , t5's are nice low heat , but don't come close to MH's. they are actually even more $ to run for lumen to watt ratio , only advantage is can put light closer to plants but 400 watt mh isnt that hot either and as long as you have air flow no worries, for nutrients I use general hydro series , cheap and if nasa uses it , you know it's good , don't waste any $ on more expensive stuff because it will do same for more $ , GH Grow ,Micro, Bloom , KoolBloom , and I like seaweed also only like 15$ bottle , Soiless for grow medium , Bcuzz or sunshine 4 , or anything close to that is best imo , air flow and lights, cheap grey or any dark color buckets 2-3$ local hardware store work great also , this is what my rooms are made up of , well I have 3 400w MH's , 6 600's and 1k hps's , 1k will be replaced by 2 600's soon , 600's you can put closer to the plants and better lumen per watt for 600's then 1k's , i used to run 1k's when I was new but changed to 600's and way better yields IMO. Will try to read more of your posts but I have to go work on the room some more . Oh for legal purposes I am also a medical card holder and caregiver in michigan ...

This kind of setup would also apply to you my friend, if those 1000w ballasts are magnetic at least. Especially since you already want to switch to 600's

 

[JesseL]

Pots are fine...but they will veg for another week after the flip..sometimes ten days before they really get that signal to start to flower...they should be nice and big in ten weeks when ya finish....I just like to leave them room ...when they fill that pot out ..you will be feeding and watering often when they are in the last stages of flower...you will be fine..I would give them a good watering and flip them over the weekend.

That's about the time frame I was thinking too. I'll flip them over on saturday. If I feed them now, would that be too soon since I watered them yesterday with no nutes? would they be able to handle the water or should I wait till I flip them to feed them. Remember, I haven't given them any N yet except for the little that is in big bloom. I still want to give them a good dose of nitrogen before I flower them.

 

[JesseL]

Hi Jesse. I just skimmed through all the comments and I see it went in the direction of nutrients but no one has brought up room size in reference to lighting yet. How are you running the two 1000w ballasts, side by side?

A 1000w light covers a 4.5x4.5' area efficiently, so there is really no way to get good coverage of your plants in that room unless you use light movers. Hopefully you didn't mention that and I just missed it.

Also, there is a bit of debate over whether digital ballasts are better than magnetic. Magnetic ballasts supposedly run hotter, but digital ones run the bulbs hotter over the plants supposedly...but there is one very big pro to magnetic ballast and it's that you can use a splitter to power 2 600 ballasts. A 1000 watt magnetic ballast is actually rated at about 1300w, so when you split it there is plenty of power for 2 600 watt lights. Meaning if you can afford to buy two more reflectors and some 600w bulbs you can use those 2 ballasts to power 4 lights just as efficiently as with 2 600w ballasts and still only use 1000 watts of power.

I have two 7x4' tents with panda film that are side by side, so a similar set up to yours, but side by side instead of a square. Here is a pic of mine, one ballast powers both lights.
View attachment 2330632

And here is a link to the splitter. http://growgreenmi.com/sunpulse-splitter Since you're in Michigan I'd refer you to this store/warehouse if it's within driving distance. Their prices are almost wholesale, check out the website.



This kind of setup would also apply to you my friend, if those 1000w ballasts are magnetic at least. Especially since you already want to switch to 600's

I'm running two 1000w cooltubes about 5 feet apart on magnetic ballasts. The ballasts are not in the room. I've got about a 7 foot ceiling. The area I'm covering is about 7 x 14. I was told that a 1000w light will take care of a 7' x 7' space. was I misinformed? I am going to be buying the splitter and running 600w instead on our next grow.

 

[Corso312]

That is the second time you mentioned big bloom...you should be using only veg nutes ...not bloom nutes..and I use veg nutes until 12 days AFTER they begin to flower..then I switch to bloom nutes.

 

[+ WitchDoctor +]

I'm running two 1000w cooltubes about 5 feet apart on magnetic ballasts. The ballasts are not in the room. I've got about a 7 foot ceiling. The area I'm covering is about 7 x 14. I was told that a 1000w light will take care of a 7' x 7' space. was I misinformed? I am going to be buying the splitter and running 600w instead on our next grow.

Yes, you were definitely misinformed. But that's ok, shit happens. With a 7'x14' space what is your goal as far as yield, or do you not really have a goal set yet? With a 600w light, you can get 12-16 oz under each light without even trying, even if you're new to this. I'm pulling about 16 oz under a light with vegan organics.

If you can afford to buy two more ballasts and some more reflectors and bulbs on your next grow(I don't recommend cool tubes but up to you obviously), you would make your set up most efficient by running 4 1000w magnetic ballasts with splitters with 8 reflectors all running 600w bulbs. Picture the tent in the pic I posted above times 4. That room is 4x7, so it's almost one quarter of what you have. I can take a canopy pic later of my blue dreams in there so you can see what I mean, because if you were already told that 1000 watts can cover a 7x7 I would understand you being a little skeptical about someone telling you to double everything and then some lol. But I promise it's the way you want to go.

I can also help you with ducting and fans and stuff if you'd like, I'm very good at grow room setup and I run my rooms very efficiently with minimal problems.

But yea, no reason to get all crazy right now if your belt is tight, just keep your plants underneath the lights, the plants that aren't withing a few feet from the light will hardly grow, unless you get a light mover or light rail. I don't have experience with them, but people that use them recommend them so I guess that has to mean something. But 4 1000w ballasts running 8 600w bulbs saves 800 watts on your bill every month and gives you a bad ass setup. You can still run a bunch of fans and timers and everything and keep your power under 5000 watts altogether. So if you decide you wanna do something like that before or after your next harvest let me know, I can help you source all the equipment super cheap and help you out with whatever.

Also, I'm joining in late to the nute conversation, but I agree, you don't want to use Big Bloom during veg, just the Grow and something for N unless you have other supplements as well. And I also use veg nutes the first two weeks of flower.

 

[JesseL]

That is the second time you mentioned big bloom...you should be using only veg nutes ...not bloom nutes..and I use veg nutes until 12 days AFTER they begin to flower..then I switch to bloom nutes.

foxfarm Big bloom is a veg nute. If you go by the foxfarm schedule, you use it in conjunction with Grow Big during the first few weeks of veg. There is already enough N in the soil for the first few weeks, so you use big bloom instead of grow big. Then after two weeks it says to add the grow big and Big bloom, Then switch totally to Grow Big. The big bloom is 0.01-0.3-0.7 so it's higher in potash and phosphorus, but when you use it with the Grow big ( 6-4-4) your still getting more nitrogen than anything else. I've been using the foxfarm schedule at half strength. Now, that being said, I know that foxfarm can't cookie cutter out a nute schedule for every situation, but I think they are right about the Big bloom in the beginning, and then switching to higher N a few weeks into veg. Just my opinion. I will gladly take the advice of a seasoned grower over a piece of paper.
By the way, I flipped them over tonight, so tomorrow is day 1 of flower. Will post pics in a few days. Thanks again Ganja for taking time to follow my progress.
By the way, I hated the way Breaking Bad ended this season, they cut it in half. Now we have to wait till next year again. I like the portrait. Big fan of W.W.

 

[JesseL]

Day 41 pics. Decided to flower yesterday, but there are a few plants that are behind, so I put them back on 18/6 today. I will flower them in a week. I'm just still seeing ph or nute problems in two of the plants, and I want to make sure that I take care of it before I flower. Here are a few pics from today. I topped them again yesterday, so they are not the prettiest today.

 

[JesseL]

Also, I've got the one plant the has leaves like thisView attachment 2335862. What is this???? Calcium def?

 

[+ WitchDoctor +]

Also, I've got the one plant the has leaves like thisView attachment 2335862. What is this???? Calcium def?

That looks like heat stress. Is it the leaves that either were, or are at the top and closest to the light? Or is it literally the whole plant? What kind of water are you using?

 

[JesseL]

That looks like heat stress. Is it the leaves that either were, or are at the top and closest to the light? Or is it literally the whole plant? What kind of water are you using?

The whole plant. Like I said I was supercropping and topping and I snapped two main branches off of it. I think they may be stressed. I have another plant with the same problem with the leaves, but it's growing like crazy, and it looks like the deformities disappear in the mature fan leaves. The fan leaves are alot bigger than the other plants also, so maybe that's just the way they look until mature?? I don't know.

 

[ryan1918]

Nice setup, I'm also a michigan grower, my new rooms will be done soon, so pictures of my flower room should be ready this week.

 

[JesseL]

Some pics of day 45. Last day of Veg cycle. I'm liking the growth the last few days. They really popped.

 

[JesseL]

Here are some updated pics for day 24 of flower.

 

[+ WitchDoctor +]

Hey buddy, they all look good. You're right, some did get a little more N than they needed, but they'll use some of that up over the next few weeks anyways. I'm excited to see what you yield with using less watts than I do per sq ft.

 

[BULLGOD420]

Hey buddy, they all look good. You're right, some did get a little more N than they needed, but they'll use some of that up over the next few weeks anyways. I'm excited to see what you yield with using less watts than I do per sq ft.

2000 w for a 4 x 12 area. = about 42 watts per sq foot. What are you at? I am definitely buying splitters and hoods along with another 1000w ballast for the next grow. Too many strains. The canopy issue is a bitch. With 6 lights, I can adjust for different heights. By the way, I changed my user name. Won't be posting under Jessel anymore.

 

[JesseL]

Hey buddy, they all look good. You're right, some did get a little more N than they needed, but they'll use some of that up over the next few weeks anyways. I'm excited to see what you yield with using less watts than I do per sq ft.

Hey, witchdoctor, I'm posting under a new name. I'm bullgod420 now. I lost all my rep and posts, but I don't want my first name out there.