Me and my babies.....all on roll it up!!!!

Damn, that tagging took foreva....what's up, this is who it says i am......all the tags and what not is because i spend alot of time researching asking questions, da, da, dis.....da, da, dat.........and it will be helpful for some one who doesn't know, to be able to see alot of info in one place........

Oh, i am new to growing, im just one of those people who studies hard and learns fast, so if i come off a like a know it all........that's my fault and im definitely not......the learning process is ever continous.........
Now..........here we go, my setup is as follows........,

room size:
Height-5' 4"-top to bottom
width-3'7"-left to right
length-3'10"-front to back
venting:n/a
note:no vents are in this room, no venting to the outside can be accomplished, no venting from the outside can be accomplished. The only achieveable venting at the current moment, is opening the door to the grow room, and then opening the front door.
Climate control: 1 regular indoor house fan(doesnt oscillate-i will be purchasing one that does)
no permanant heater, but occassionally i place a heater into the room to assist the plants in moisture consumption and humidity control.
Note:during the day time, in the winter, my climate is controllable, temperature stays around 75 to 83 degrees, humidity ranges from 37 to 45 relative humidity. During the evenings, the temperatures are alot harder to control, because the space heaters are being used for other rooms. The lowest temperatures hold at 60 degrees, but i have to leave the doors open, elevate the plants off the floor and keep the stove on all night, and the lights in the grow room have to remain on. The humidity drops significantlly(around 10 to 20 percent relative humidity), and the area promotes molds and insects if watered to heavily during the day.
During the summer, no heater is necessary in the room. Temperatures never fall below 70 degrees at night and never raises above 85 degrees during the day. Air circulation is cut off during the night and restarted during the day. Lighting schedules for vegging is 18/6 and can be excersised properly.
Light leaks-1-millimeter light leak vertically in closet door
light leaks-1 1/2" light leak horizontally at the closet door base, between the door and floor.
Note: I'm sure these leaks assist in venting a little, but definitely prevents the flowering process completely until remedied.
Soil-miracle grow and oceans forest-mixed(i already know, i will only use oceans forest from now on).
Pot sizes- ranges from-7 1/2" to 11 1/2"
plant size expectations-3 to 4' vertically, 1 to 2' horizontally
number of plants-6(two plants planted together in a 9" deep pot. Reason-competing, the two strains, and thinking about cross breeding them).
Strains-n/a
lighting-started off with- two floro units(4 t8 bulbs-40 watts), one unit directly over the top(1 1/2" to 4" away from the tops of all plants), another unit vertically placed in the right corner of the right side of the grow room(almost the length of the room from the farthest plant diagnally, so about 3' away from the farthest plant on the opposite side of the grow room). And a 20 watt cfl(i have different mounting areas for this cfl, so that i can put foccussed light on different plants daily on schedule).
Lighting-currently-one floro unit(2 bulbs-40 watts each). One cfl(that i move around on schedule). Lighting distances from the tops of all plants remains the same, within a range of 2 to 4" away from the tops.
Fertilizers: Piranha, fish emulsions, brown sugar, epsom salt and bloom fertilizer.
Insect control: Soap water(natural remedy for the foiliage.
Tools:temperature reader and humidity reader, timer, rulers, 20ml max measurer, homemade co2 container.
Things i need: Ppm meter, venting, fans, ph balance checker, better lighting system, air cleaners, high phosphurous fertilizer, insecticides(natural and chemical), baits(or something to allow more oxygen to reach the roots of plants).
Setbacks-money!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The current grow time frame-3/14/2009 to 4/27/2009
plant names and measurements todate:
Note:last recorded measurements were taken on the 22nd of april, 2009
name-freedom
measurements-12"
name-little bud
measurements-15 1/2"
name-mystery hemp
measurements-12 1/2"
name-mystic green bud
measurements-12 1/2"
name-lil ify
measurements-12"
name-tropical top aka t.t.
Measurements-10 1/2"

Let's see, i guess i'll give you all some of the earlier pictures of my babies.....when i started, i had alot of issues with stunted growth.....my babies were tall and lanky, only producing about two nodes of leaves with only about four leafs total.......one plant at that time that i named(little bud) was about 6 to 7" tall......the misconception, was that she was stunted in growth because she was unhealthy, but the reality was that i had her way too far away from my 40 watt floro unit......after intense studying, the solution was quite easy, move the top of the plant 2 to 4" away from the lights.......here's the before and after........

#1-little -before light was close
#2-mystic green bud(on the left in the clay pot & little bud(on the right in the black pot)
#3-little bud(about a month in two weeks later

see the difference....? Keep floros close to the tops of vegging plants.......

are you already flowering? why are you using bloom fertilizer?

The very first picture that i took of little bud was on the 22nd of february, 2009...but i had this plant maybe in december, before actually figuring out what was wrong, it was in march.....so, the plant was four months old, before i made any changes in the distance it was from the light.....the first measured recording of little bud was on the, 17th of march at-7 1/2" tall, on the last day of the month, she was recorded at 11 1/2" tall....giving you a total of 4 1/2" of growth, in about thirteen days.....my last recording of little bud was on the 1st of this month.....she was 1' 6" tall.....

odbsmydog said:

are you already flowering? Why are you using bloom fertilizer?

Click to expand...

i just actually started flowering a day ago.....the bloom fertilizer that i was using, was a foliar spray for the leafs......it wasn't for the buds.......

A friend of mines, who was already growing, brought all the fertilizers and other materials, and then i went and got the cheapest fertilizer i could find at the time(which was miracle gro), knowing that it wasn't the best thing to use. But being the enthusiaist that i was, i felt like something was better than nothing, the more the merrier and etc.

For anyone who is reading this thread, that was a bad idea........

Not only did i have tons of different fertilizers, but tons of different levels of nutrients, that created a complicated and overly complexed array of measuring, analyzing and adjusting constantly, with an inevietable outcome.......nutrient burn!!!!! I now personally know that all the nutrient talk is unnecessary.......when money is tight though, and you are eager to get the ball rolling, you will jump in head long and all hell will break loose......

My suggestion as far as fertilizer's go are broken down as follows:
Soil-ocean's forest(already contains npk and other trace elements)
nutrients-fish emulsion(vegging), if you feel you need to add more nitrogen.
Any high phospurous fertilizer(but make sure it has no nitrogen in it)
and these two fertilzers have enough p,k with the soil, to promote wonderful flowering.

Another natural way to add slow release phosporus to your plants inexpensively is to add regular rocks to your soil, these contain high levels of phospurous and other trace elements and they promote a good drainage system. Just get some good rocks and clean them, then break them and sprinkle the crushed rock in the soil(this helps the roots uptake the nutrients faster), and add the bigger chunks to the bottom of the soil.

Now, that i've made some of the most rediculous mistakes known to growing, im slowing down, taking notes, and adjusting and observing......here's some grow room pics and some healthier plant pics.......

At this point, the lighting arrangement has been improved as much as possible, now im moving on to the nutrition......right now, the babies look very happy, but they are showing some signs of foliar curling.....now, i started off with just ocean's forest(which already has nutrients in it), but seeing how my people brought me all these interesting new items, i just can't resist putting them to good use asap......so not only, did i use them on my little budding babies, but i put them in my other's as well. The fish emulsion(good for nitrogen) is the worst smelling but probably one of the best to use for vegging. However, my bamboo, was not pleased with it all.......everything else loved it......i transplanted my babies, after they were about a good healthy 4 to 7 inches high.....but i didn't have enough oceans forest left and couldn't get my hands on any for the low, low.....so i mixed it with miracle gro.....can't say i was totally please with the combo, and i definitely won't try it again, but i did what i had to do.....(miracle gro just doesnt drain well at all).....but anyway, i mixed them and started adding all the nutrients.....
The mix and measurments i used is as follows:
Water-every other day-amount-one gallon spread across 6 plants
fish emulsion-1 cup per plant every month-(this has to be mixed with water)
paranah-1 tablespoon per plant every month- (powder, sprinkled on the soil surface)
pure sugar cane-lightly coat the soil surface then mist until dissolved- once a month
bloom- once every two weeks to once a month- misting the foiliage heavily through out the day, until sprayer was empty. (this has to be mixed with regular water)
miracle gro fertilizer-24-8-16- once every 2 months(mixed with water)-only about 0.5 tsp to a gallon of water.
There's alot more to how i actually add nutrients, for instance, i only use the miracle grow, during the second month of vegging all the way to the first month of flowering. The fish emulsion during vegging. I only use the paranah during vegging. The bloom is only used during the first month of vegging. The sugar cane is used all the way round. The main reason is because, this is how i started off adding nutrients to my plants and this was the schedule i put myself on, and it hasn't let me down.....plants are healthy, the only real problem that i have, is actually keeping the bottoms of my plants from dying off....i do keep a cfl circulating under the bottoms and that helps, but i still get some dying of the leaves after time from the bottoms.....i have also, recently had a bad enconter with foliar feeding epsom salt to my plants as well as misting them with soap water to keep pest away.....im not too sure which one or if both had this negative effect on my babies but i believe i misted them too much so i stopped misting with those and just kept using the regular water and foliar bloom like i was scheduling myself to do from the beginning. This was a recent situation, but im still trying to catch everyone up from when i first started. Around the 24th of march, the nutrient schedule was working great and the plants were increasing in growth about an 1/2" to a 1" a day.....
Here are a few pics, and some of the notes that i took from the 25th to the 30th of march:

3/25/2009
tropical top(4" tall) & lil ify(2 1/2" tall) & mystery hemp(2" tall)- moved up about another inch closer to the lights from the day before on the 24th of march.
Observations
the previous adjustments made on 3/14/2009, showed immediate positive results for all vegatative plants. Although these adjustments were successful, more adjustments must be made for optimal performance and growth.
Heater- no adjustments have been made. New scheduling has been implemented in rotation with c02 release.
Fan-level 3 oscilliating is still preferred. New scheduling has been implemented in rotation with c02 release.
Lighting- one flourescent set has been moved to an elevated corner, opposite of original location. A new third light(cfl) has also been added; elevated in a second corner for more illumination.
C02- a slow release technique has been introduced into the grow room to promote growth and bud maturity for a minimum of atleast a 10% visual enhancement of size, foiliage health and bud density. Main objective is to promote vigorous or enhanced photosynthesis for plants in the flowering stage.
Watering- schedule remains unchanged. Watering amounts reduced form saturating to two cups per plant or one gallon for six to seven plants.
Grow room rating summary
growth=4
foiliage health=4- have not been able to reverse the leaves on freedom. They still appear to suffer on the main branches form over fertilization or nutrient defficiencies. More observations are being made. All other plants and leaves seem to be healthy.
Lighting=4- still need more light to promote rapid growth.
Air circulation, venting, heat & climate control=3- no exhaust system. Temp is slightly to high.
Soil health=4- a mix of miracle gro and oceans forest is being used. Doesn't drain as well, but isn't visually causing any negative affect on the plants.
Overall grow room score=3.8
notes: Freedom is being reverted back to vegatative stage effective immediately.
All plants in vegatative stage need atlaeast 6 hours of dark daily.

3/27/2009
lil ify has started showing signs of light interaction. Leafs have began to point in an upward position and growth of new foiliage appears to be more vigorous.
3/30/2009
mystery hemp has started showing signs of vigorous growth.
3/31/2009
little bud-(8 1/2" tall)
mystic green bud-(6 1/2" tall)
tropical top-(5 1/2" tall)
lil ify-(3" tall)
mystery hemp-(3" tall)
freedom- (11" tall)
there are a few things that i didn't include so i'll point out some of them and post the pics for those as well. First freedom: She was given to me by a friend and everything was going well until i overheated her, then fertilizer burned her, then tried to revert from flolwering back to vegatative. I over heated her first but she recovered, then i put her into flowering, she was doing good for a month, then i fertilizer burned her and from that, she never recouped, so i just recently put her to sleep, but here are the pics.......
Secondly, like i've already said from the other post on this thread, that all of my plants were looking terrible when i first started so the observations and rating system that i use was implemented to keep track of the everchanging babies. The first rating summary i did was on the 14th of march and was pretty much about me moving the plants closer to the lights, adjusting my fan and heater to the right notches so that i could leave the door closed and leave the plants unattended during the day, (only opening to vent and mist and observe and talk to them and blow on them etc., etc., etc.....), getting my watering schedule down packed and peeping out changes i could make in climate control, venting and exhaust......during this time i was also, observing freedoms foiliage and was pretty much assuming that she was nute burned, but it could have been defeciencies as well(still not sure). All of this leads up to the month of april where i go co2 & lighting ballastic.....im trying to get you all caught up.......

I should have read your email first, okay.....i've already chopped her down, but i should have waited.....here are some pics of her......this is like my third harvest, one of my main concerns is that my buds are looking like bud when i harvest, but after drying, they look fluffy, their not in a nugget shape like im used to seeing on hightimes and other pictures. Are people compressing the buds or am i drying to long, or what?

buds loses alot of weight and size but it sounds like ur plant want more co2 and ur buds will be fuller

co2 does contribute, but thats not it....i have a friend who's setup is pretty much like mines...me and him pretty much work together on it, he harvested and his buds came out circular, more compressed, and actuall looked like bud....mines come out like that, but after drying, they are more frizzled, and not compressed at all.....