Barking Mads Grow Journal, with Pics

[hothousemary]

just a thought here but I think ya might have just a lil stretching going on... Getting your light closer will cause the plants to grow out (bushy) instead of up and skinny.. this will help them to be strong for flowering and allow them to hold the dank bud ya gonna have... Ya can add some cfls cheaply and you can put them as close as a inch to your plants and really get some good veg growth...

 

[unity]

Hey Barking, I agree with the guy above, I think they are stretching a bit. Next time you re-pot you need to burry the stems within 1-2 inches of the first inter-nod and get the lights closer (without burning them)
Looking good though

Unity

 

[Barking Mad]

Thanks Unity.
yes I realised afterwards that I hadnt planted some of them deep enough, also, I didn't have enough soil to fill all the pots as much as I wanted.

I think Alice is the worst affected of them all but I don't really want to replant them, at least, not until I get some more soil.

What do you think about starting with the nutes now that they are 4 weeks old? I thought I would begin with the bigger plants (the theory being they will be able to take them more than the small ones). I could argue that the smaller ones need it a bit more but, they were the worst affected with nute burn so that could be why they have not done so well. Also, the same - small plants - were all flushed, so I don't know if the flushing slowed them, the nute burn or, it could just be that they are slower developers. Everyone that I hve seen with multiple plants have some big and some small. There is another theory that the males grow quicker in order to be able to pollenate the females from above - which also makes sense.

Anyhow, I'm sticking with plan-A and introducing the nutes to the bigger ones on their next watering. Unless I am advised to do otherwise.

I have been keeping an eye on the soils' moisture and checking the weight of the plants before watering. I give them just enough to see a little seepage come through the bottom of the pots.Since I started this, they have only needed watering every 4 to 6 days. Does that sound about right?
I thought they would need watering more often but, I guess they are still babies at the moment and the pots are approximately 2 gallons.

 

[Barking Mad]

Thanks HotHouse,
I'm using a 400w MH and a few of the top leaves already have some curling at the edges. It's 2ft above the plant tops and the light temp keeps the plants at 80+ unless I can ventilate the area. During the day I have a small window open, (see pic) which gives just enough ventilation unless it is very warm and still outside.

Thats 'Bert' my Border Collie, looking out the window. I got 3 dogs in all.
Today was perfect becuase it was quite chilly today with a good wind blowing so I didn't even need the fan running.
I have to cover it at night to stop the light showing but it's ideal during the day. The only downside is, insects, flies etc coming in.
I saw two little yellow flies the other day butI haven't seen them since.

I think I might need an extractor when I swith to the HPS because it runs a lot hotter than the MH.

Genie is looking good.

The bit of burn was from the light, I had just misted the plants, (I was doing every day) and forgot to raise the light while they were drying off. I have stopped misting them now, I'm not sur they benefit from it.

 

[hothousemary]

yea you are deffinatly going to want to exhaust it when you get the hps running!!!! Also to help with the pest a couple of moving fans would help there, it will also help strengthen your plants which will be good when buds start forming.

 

[Barking Mad]

Yes I have a 9" desk fan which oscilates across the plants, today the leaves were fluttering in the breeze from the window so I switched the fan off. I leave the window open all the time but at night I hang a heavy curtain over it and have the fan running. It's on a timer cycle of 15 mins on 15 off. I know between 5 and 10 would be better but that is the restriction on the timer. I have the door open at night and the landing window open so that there is some fresh air coming in.


I'm just chillin n lovin it.

 

[hothousemary]

I have constant air movement in mine... the only time the fans are off are during co2. which for this grow is just seltzer water for 30 min a day.

 

[GotBeat5.0]

looks good man very nice and green for sure

 

[greenbehemoth]

That plant looks really great Barking, good job. I wouldn't mist them at all as it just concentrates the light and burns them. I don't think it does anything for them. Keep up the good work mate

greenb.

 

[Barking Mad]

I have constant air movement in mine... the only time the fans are off are during co2. which for this grow is just seltzer water for 30 min a day.

I have a home made jobby for co2, its just some yeast and sugar in a bottle of water, I shake it up a couple of times a day.
I don't have a meter so am not sure how effective it is but, I doubt it is doing any harm.

 

[hothousemary]

I didnt start with co2 untill I got to flowering..

 

[Barking Mad]

I like the new avatar.

 

[Barking Mad]

Thanks OB.
.

 

[Barking Mad]

Can anyone tell me what could be cuasing this?

I thought it could be from the light being too close to the light but that doesn't make sense because this is Eden, and she is 2 or 3 inches shorter than some of the plants and therefore, 2 or 3 inches further away from the light.
Another posiblity is lack of water,
The soil was a bit dry. I have watered and added nutes at 1/4 strength. The waters pH was 6 with nutes and the run-off was 7. That seems ok, maybe a lttle high but I don't want to stress the plant trying to bring it down.

I have seen this on one or two leaves before now but not to this extent. The leaves I have seen like this before are all ok now

Could the plant be dying?

 

[greenbehemoth]

I don't think the plant is dying, it looks really healthy. Probably from being a little dry, or if you've had your fan blowing directly on this plant it's possible it's just drying up a couple of the leaves. As long as you water sensibly I think it should be fine.

 

[Barking Mad]

I don't think the plant is dying, it looks really healthy. Probably from being a little dry, or if you've had your fan blowing directly on this plant it's possible it's just drying up a couple of the leaves. As long as you water sensibly I think it should be fine.

Thnx Greenbee, a little reassurance goes a long way?

I have raised the light another 6inches and put a 2ft warm white fluoro down the middle to compensate for the loss of light on the lower leaves., I have made up some wooden frames today and will get some mylar to fix to them tomorrow. I am going to put these around the plants to reduce my light loss (which I think is quite high).

Do you (or anyone else) think this will help?

 

[greenbehemoth]

Sounds like you're going to end up with a killer setup Barking - the mylar will make a huge difference to the amount of light the plants get and, therefore, the final result (yummy). Looking good, keep it up mate

 

[hothousemary]

have ya considered throwing some cfl in the mix? Ya can get em super close so as to keep them from stretching to the light.

 

[Barking Mad]

have ya considered throwing some cfl in the mix? Ya can get em super close so as to keep them from stretching to the light.

I was going to add a couple more of the fluorescents like I put in today.
I did look for cfls and saw something that looked like them but they were long life low energy bulbs, I'm not sure if they are the right things. I noticed a few people talking T4s and T5 but couldn't find anything like that. The one I got today is T8 1.150 lumens, what do the cfls give out and what specs should I look for.

 

[Barking Mad]

have ya considered throwing some cfl in the mix? Ya can get em super close so as to keep them from stretching to the light.

I am posting a close up of one of the
curled leaves to be able to follow its progress easier.