will this work?

princesshigh

princesshigh

Active Member
I am totally new at this and doing it on very little funds. I have a hps 1000 watt going on my plants for 18 hours a day. Everything I am reading says this light is best only for flowering. The temp in the closet is 85 to 80 degrees. I have a small fan pointing at the wall not directly on my plants circulating air. They seem to be growing but get a little droopy about an hour before I shut off the light. Is that normal? Help!
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
there droopy cuz there thirsty ;)
1000w puts off a good amount of heat, as im sure your already aware.... try upping the amount of watering
 
princesshigh

princesshigh

Active Member
Thanks for responding so fast! The soil on top doesnt look dry. Im worried about all the talk about PH. Should I not use tap water?
 
Arsehole

Arsehole

Well-Known Member
HPS will work for veg, MH is preferred because of the light spectrum, you can always supplement with cfl's. The only real problem I've noticed with using HPS for veg is your plants will stretch a little more than if you had used a MH light. As for the droopiness I agree with IAm5toned, check your watering if you pick up the plant you should be able to tell if it's dry.

Good luck!
 
princesshigh

princesshigh

Active Member
Thank You. So I guess the question is how wet do I want these plants? I thought I watered once every four to seven days?
 
Arsehole

Arsehole

Well-Known Member
princesshigh said:
Thanks for responding so fast! The soil on top doesnt look dry. Im worried about all the talk about PH. Should I not use tap water?
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You should be checking the ph level of your water as well as the tds/ppm. If your ph is too high use ph down to drop it to around 6.2 - 6.5 for soil or 5.2 - 6 for hydro. If your tap water is not the best quality (high ppms/tds) try mixing distilled/RO water and tap water to bring your levels down to an acceptable range. Most people also recommend leaving tap water out for 24 hours to help evaporate chlorine and other chemicals.
 
Arsehole

Arsehole

Well-Known Member
princesshigh said:
Thank You. So I guess the question is how wet do I want these plants? I thought I watered once every four to seven days?
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Water as needed. If you can stick your finger 1 1/2" - 2" into the soil and it feels dry it's time to water. How big are your pots? How old are you plants?
 
princesshigh

princesshigh

Active Member
I am such a rookie! I sprouted myself 6 white widows and they are still seedlings. I have a 10 inch sour diesel and 16 inch purple haze clone. I am way in over my head! Never even attempted growing before. So cold here the HPS keeps the temp in the 80's for me. Would it help if I added a CFL with it?
 
Arsehole

Arsehole

Well-Known Member
princesshigh said:
I am such a rookie! I sprouted myself 6 white widows and they are still seedlings. I have a 10 inch sour diesel and 16 inch purple haze clone. I am way in over my head! Never even attempted growing before. So cold here the HPS keeps the temp in the 80's for me. Would it help if I added a CFL with it?
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I'm growing some white widow myself, I hear ya on the cold. Freezing rain and snow all week here. Adding some cfl's wouldn't hurt. I vegged my ww with a 600watt hps, 200watt T5, and a few LED's. A few of them stretched a lot during early veg and are now 6'+ monsters, not a mistake I'll be making again.
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
oh yeah... they will grow grow grow grow!

tho u might not notice any growth at all, right away. this is becasue the plant is diverting most of its energy to root growth.

as far as watering schedules, there are SO many variables at work to deterine your watering needs, it is almost impossible to say with any accuracy what YOUR needs are, you need to be the judge of that... if your thinking that your watering enough, then perhaps you need to take moves to try and dissapate some of that heat, like with a fan ;)
 
mntman36

mntman36

Member
If it were me and I was working on small budget, I would try to get my hands on an 4ft shop floresent light and veg with it, does fine for 6 -8 small plants(up to 16"-18")easy, run 24hr light cycle for 4 weeks then use your 1000 to flower in separate room.....

Regards to water, very important to not overwater during veg for sure, you want to stretch root folicals to the max and they will not
do this unless you dry soil completely, just before droop,,, also for humidity concerns I have personaly found that a walmart humidifier
keeps my humidity right at 70% for vegging and it does make a huge difference in the growth of my little ladys,,,,,,

Anyways just some of the thing that helped a hillbillie grower like me, thought id share......

GoodLuck to You
 
princesshigh

princesshigh

Active Member
Oh no my babies are stretching too! Im afraid they are going to fall over. What do I do? Im afraid to put them closer to the light. They have the first rigid leaves and are starting to sprout the second leaves. They range from 5 to 1 1/2 inches tall . The runt is my favorite. lol. Do I need to plant them down further ?
 
DaBong

DaBong

Well-Known Member
princesshigh said:
Oh no my babies are stretching too! Im afraid they are going to fall over. What do I do? Im afraid to put them closer to the light. They have the first rigid leaves and are starting to sprout the second leaves. They range from 5 to 1 1/2 inches tall . The runt is my favorite. lol. Do I need to plant them down further ?
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When I transplanted my plants into 3 gallon pots I buried the stems up to the first set of leaves and they have been doing great. You can add a fan to let a mild to moderate breeze blow on them to strengthen the stems.
 
highgrower420

highgrower420

Member
u have to watch the temp in the eighties, ideal would be 72 to 78, at 90 the plants will stop growing all together, they like it warm, not hott, thats been my experience
 
princesshigh

princesshigh

Active Member
Thank You. Can I change from 18 hours to 24 without it affecting my plants? Will the difference in lighting put them in shock?
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
and no, it wont shock them... the only times you have to be worried about lighting schedules is during flowering.
tho it is my own opinion the plants do like some darkness...
 
princesshigh

princesshigh

Active Member
What if I take them out of the HPS and into a CFL? Will that shock them? Also the temp in the closet has varied. It got as high as 90 and lastnight as low as 65 degrees. I emptied the closet which dropped the temp. So now I have lowered the speed of the fan. Will the sudden drop in temp make them droop?
 
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