Help plants are struggling

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dasmokinbudz

Active Member
i have some mid grade seeds i started about 20 days ago. ive had many seasons outdoors but never really had a true indoor hydro grow. this is the first, i designed my own system out of a 12 gallon tub and a 4 gallon tub. there about the same size around but not the same height so i have the smaller ine inside the bigger and theres enough space at the bottom for my resivour. im using the general hydroponics nutes and im using 6 gallons of spring water with the proper nutes for gal raio. my plants look nowhere near what some others on here do. i was using a 500w halogen about 36 in away b/c of heat and i chanded them tonight to 27w cfl soft white. im cutting back on the watering b/c i was watering on a constant basis but my rockwool is growing algae.i plan on cutting bck to two times a day. should i water from the top of the rockwool or can i water at the bottom. im using the like 1/4in cubes in a 1/2 gal net pot for now. i lowered the lights to about 4 inches away to hopefully help them fill out. i only have 3 nodes not including the seedling leaves. seems like im far behind. any suggestions. ill have pics soon.
 
email468

email468

Well-Known Member
dasmokinbudz said:
i have some mid grade seeds i started about 20 days ago. ive had many seasons outdoors but never really had a true indoor hydro grow. this is the first, i designed my own system out of a 12 gallon tub and a 4 gallon tub. there about the same size around but not the same height so i have the smaller ine inside the bigger and theres enough space at the bottom for my resivour. im using the general hydroponics nutes and im using 6 gallons of spring water with the proper nutes for gal raio. my plants look nowhere near what some others on here do. i was using a 500w halogen about 36 in away b/c of heat and i chanded them tonight to 27w cfl soft white. im cutting back on the watering b/c i was watering on a constant basis but my rockwool is growing algae.i plan on cutting bck to two times a day. should i water from the top of the rockwool or can i water at the bottom. im using the like 1/4in cubes in a 1/2 gal net pot for now. i lowered the lights to about 4 inches away to hopefully help them fill out. i only have 3 nodes not including the seedling leaves. seems like im far behind. any suggestions. ill have pics soon.
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i use HIDs so can't say for certain - but if i had to guess what the problem is/was - it would be your lighting.
 
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dasmokinbudz

Active Member
ive been reading and i think i should be ok with my compact flourescents. will that make them grow slowly or is it something else? theyre looking really nice except compared to the ones i see on here it looks more like an outdoor plant and not hydro to me. like i said ive never grown hydro. im using the right nutes and the ph is ok. do i absolutely need a ppm meter or can i survive without it?
 
email468

email468

Well-Known Member
dasmokinbudz said:
ive been reading and i think i should be ok with my compact flourescents. will that make them grow slowly or is it something else? theyre looking really nice except compared to the ones i see on here it looks more like an outdoor plant and not hydro to me. like i said ive never grown hydro. im using the right nutes and the ph is ok. do i absolutely need a ppm meter or can i survive without it?
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I think the CFLs will do well - but maybe they aren't close enough - or you may not have enough of them. I haven't tried using them so can't be much help in this regard. But bumping with posts may catch some more experienced eyes.

Accurate meters are always handy to have around.
 
email468

email468

Well-Known Member
dasmokinbudz said:
what do you mean bumping posts? im new to this whole forum thing. never did find one useful till now
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this forum is awesome!

The more responses a thread gets the more likely it will be one of the top threads of the section.

Which is why you often see the OP (original poster or thread starter) reply to their own thread saying "bump, bump, anyone?" trying to get a response.

does that make sense?
 
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dasmokinbudz

Active Member
that makes sense. ill remeber to try that. all i have right now is superthrive and the, flora micro,gro, and bloom. iv never heard of or seen the extras you used in your plants. how often should i water, at first i was on a constant flow but algae stopped that, now its like maybe oncea day. it seems like my rockwool is staying too damp. also can i water from the bottom of my my flood table since its flat and all pots are net pots with str8 rockwool. i think theyll soak up the nutes but im not sure.
 
email468

email468

Well-Known Member
dasmokinbudz said:
that makes sense. ill remeber to try that. all i have right now is superthrive and the, flora micro,gro, and bloom. iv never heard of or seen the extras you used in your plants. how often should i water, at first i was on a constant flow but algae stopped that, now its like maybe oncea day. it seems like my rockwool is staying too damp. also can i water from the bottom of my my flood table since its flat and all pots are net pots with str8 rockwool. i think theyll soak up the nutes but im not sure.
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i use an aeroponic system and bubblers before that so that is all i know - there really isn't a watering schedule - it is always on.
 
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dasmokinbudz

Active Member
could i drop my plants str8 into the resivour. i have an air pump i it to keep it circulating. maybe drop the water level so i could. would that make my plants go into shock or would it be ok? if i dropped them into the res. my setup would be exactly like a bubble sys.
 
malachi

malachi

Well-Known Member
hey smokin first off I definitely think that the problem is your lighting, you were with halogen wich is next to useless in lumens to wattage ration, its more of a heater element than anything else, 27 cfl is good but if you're still in vege i think you should go for cool white cfl resembling the blue daylight spectrum, imho I think that would help, but as 468 points out HID is definitely the key, and I would think about top flushing with fresh water to just clean out the residue, if anything it probably would help your plant roots to breath some fresh air, i,m thinking you do have an air bubbler in your reservoir for you roots to get some fresh oxygen?

and a ppm meter is a necessary tool i think, cuz by guessing it we usually see the damage once it appears on the leaves and that means that the plant has been
stressed, for a while before you saw what happened,

hydro needs attention and care where on outddor mother nature takes care of it, I am also on my first hydro but I read for months what to do and get and sometimes a little investment goes a long way,

how many cfl's do you have on your babies?
 
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dasmokinbudz

Active Member
2 but i plan on getting 2 more on tuesday. both will be a 42w. how do you tell which spectrum to get for veg stage. the cartons for the lights are retarded and dont say wavelength just stuff like soft white or cool white
 
malachi

malachi

Well-Known Member
well i c an ssure you the soft white like you got are more of the red spectrum and represent more the fall season, cool white cfl's are a very blueish light a lot colder light if i can express myself that way

coolwhite= vege
softwhite= flowering

if you stick them one beside the other the different is striking and you can dtect the red in one and the blue in the other just by looking at them.

when i stuck coolwhite neons beside my Metal halide lamp the spectrum color was identical. to the point where they didn't even seem turned on.

and also if you are going 4 cfl's you should think about mixing both in if you have to softwhites right now get 2 cool whites and you'll be good right up to harvest time.
 
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dasmokinbudz

Active Member
i bought 2 diffrent kinds one kinda turns the room red and the other turns it blueish kinda like an office building light, so that is the ones im using. how about reveals. i saw on the box of thos that a 100w puts out like 1975 lumens. i know its not much compared to hid but i havent got the cash
 
malachi

malachi

Well-Known Member
i have never used cfl lighting so to wich extent they are efficient i,m not sure, but i saw people on here get some freakin decent yields with them so i think if you keep them close to your babies and get the biggest ones you can for your budget, than there is no reason why you can't get a good yield out of it.
 
email468

email468

Well-Known Member
malachi said:
i have never used cfl lighting so to wich extent they are efficient i,m not sure, but i saw people on here get some freakin decent yields with them so i think if you keep them close to your babies and get the biggest ones you can for your budget, than there is no reason why you can't get a good yield out of it.
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and i picked the seemorebuds book (How to grow marijuana - See More Buds - video DVD reviews) which documents a three plant grow with miracle grow soil and CFL lighting and the plants and yield turned out very good.
 
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