Our First Grow: MH400/HPS600 Jack The Ripper/Buddha's Sister/AK-47/Island Sweet Skunk

Hello,

My girlfriend and I just started our first grow last week and we want to keep a journal for easy access to help or any other concerns we might have. We planted 4 clones from our local dispensary and put them in Happy Frog Potting Soil along with a Root stimulant. We used Earth Juice brand Rooter's Mycorrhzae.

We set up in our bathroom with a Sun System Magnum XXXL 6" Reflector and a Nextgen 400/600 Ballast with a 400w MH bulb and a 600W HPS bulb for Vegetative and Flowering respectively. The clones were 1-2 weeks old when we purchased them. We got Fox Farm nutrients including Big Bloom, Tiger Bloom, and Grow Big. We plan on getting some more including a flusher for the flowering stage.

We did 6.0 PH pure H20 for the first feed and then did nutrient feed 2 days later when they were dry. We have been switching off between nutrient solution feed and pure H20 feed and been needing to feed them every 2 days. We are on day 9 right now and will post pictures and more detailed daily care taking later. Jack is the runt of the litter and we are a little curious about why he is so much smaller than the other 3.

Any advice is welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!


Set up on Day 12
There is also a window that can be covered and uncovered for a breeze

Saturday 5/15/10

Day 1:

Transplanted clones around 2 pm. They were driven about 45 minutes from their home to reach us and looked a little sickly when we transplanted them. We used Happy Frog Potting soil and 5 gallon drums with draining holes. We wanted to start with some Indica strains and try to stick to one strain, but we didn't have that option unless we wanted to wait a month so we took what we could get. Jack the Ripper was not delivered and transplanted until day 2.

The clones are said to be 1-2 weeks old at this point

Our four clones: (Right left to right... AK-47, Buddha Sister, Jack the Ripper, Island Sweet Skunk)


Island Sweet Skunk looked the droopiest to start, but started to perk up after we fed her. We turned on a 400 W MH bulb within a half an hour of transplant. We started the light about 4.5 ft. above the tips of the plants. We lowered it to 3 ft. for a starting position about an hour later. Temperature in the room was ranging from 75-83 degrees Fahrenheit with little to know humidity. We lightly watered the plants with 6.0 PH H20 from the faucet and gave them mist from time to time. We reset the temperature gauge at 10 PM and the high from 10PM to 8 AM with the light left on the whole time was 87 degrees with the low being 66 degrees.

Day 2:

AK-47 looked a little droopy in the morning, while the other two looked good. We transplanted Jack around 2 PM and don't plan on turning the light off for our 18/6 cycle until tomorrow. We fed the rest of the gallon of 6.0 PH H20 we made the day before for light watering to the 3 plants and they all started to look better instantly. I don't think we gave them enough H20 the first day. We are giving them about 1/4 gallon of H20 per plant per watering now and plan to feed as necessary switching off between a nutrient mix and pure H20.

We have a few concerns about the tips curling and burning on Buddha's Sister, but we hope it is just the light. We gave Jack 1/4 gallon of H20.

The humidity is very low where we live so we bought a cheap humidifier for our bathroom. Temperature has been around 83 degrees so we are still trying to find ways to cool the room down a little. We introduced light wind by opening the window for a while and plan on getting a fan soon.

We also have been rotating the plants so they can get equal amounts of light, although, our light covers a wide area and it probably isn't making much of a difference.

Day 3:

-When we woke up the plants were 72 degrees with 20% humidity.
-All the clones look bigger and have more leaves.
-We also lowered the light to 2 3/4 ft. above the plants.
-Introduced small fan
-Turned light off for first time since transplant at 10 PM and back on at 4 AM

Day 4:

-Buddha's Sister looks to have the driest soil, but they are all pretty dry.
-Mixed 1 gallon of 6.0 PH H20 with 2 tsps. Grow Big and 2 Tbl. Big Bloom and fed equally to the 4 clones
-All clones look much bigger with AK-47 and Island Sweet Skunk growing the most new leaves.
-Temperature averaging 80 degrees with 30-40% humidity.
-Lowered light to 2.5 ft

Day 5:

-Nothing major, but Jack is growing the least and is a slight concern.

Day 6:

-Clones looking a little dry, especially Buddha's Sister.
-Fed 1/8-1/4 gallon of H20 to each clone.
-Continuing to rotate clones in the light.
-Island Sweet Skunk has some light green dots on some of the leaves.
-Light lowered to just < 2ft above plants.

Day 7:

-Nothing to report

Day 8:

-Added some more soil so the plants would take hold better.
-Fed plants 1 gallon of nutrient solution (2 tsp Grow Big, 2 Tbl Big Bloom) between the four clones.

Day 9:

-Some concerns about the dots on Island Sweet Skunk and burns on some of the leaves on all four clones, except AK-47.

Day 10:

-Moved fan closer and put on higher speed.
-Fed 1 gallon of 6.0 PH H20 dispersed amongst the 4 clones.

Day 11:

-Nothing to report

Day 12:

-Fed 1 gallon of nutrient solution, but we are now doing 3 tsp Grow Big instead of 2 and 2 Tbl Big Bloom.
-Added PVC pipes to help support the plants growth. Will be used to tie down branches.
-Concerns about Island Sweet Skunks leaves are growing. My best guess is powdery mildew? Hopefully, it is just part of the genetics.
-Went out for an hour at 5 pm and when we got back, light was turned off somehow. We may just keep the light on 24 hours.
Buddha Sister's and one burnt leaf

AK-47

Island Sweet Skunk healthy leaves and some we are concerned about. First and second powdery mildew??????? whats should we do?

Jack is a runt. Any ideas? some burnt tips...