1st Grow Journal- Will Win

Alright... I've got the following seeds popping and in their veg greenhouse now with 4x2' T5's @ 8,000 Lumens total. They are loving it. Temp: 72-80; Humidity: 48-60%.

This is my third grow. First grow hermied 2 weeks before harvest
Second grow was wonderful Lots of VK, LSD, LAW, KK and TSS. Now I'm ready to do it good...

Please give me any advice or criticisms you may have!

Seeds:
1x Dinafem California Hash
1x Dinafem Critical+
1x Barney's Farm Blue Cheese
5x Barney's Farm Violator Kush
1x Dinafem Deep Grapefruit
1x Barney's Farm Crimea Blue
4x Big Buddha Blue Cheese
6x Reserva Privada Kandy Kush (!!!!)
2x Barney's Farm Amnesia Lemon
1x Dinafem Royal Haze
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Total: 23 germ'd in greenhouse... hoping for 17 to make it through.

They are looking beautiful in their greenhouse.

I plan on doing 9 in soil like my last successful grows.
Soil: 2 parts FoxFarm OceanForest :: 1 part FoxFarm LightWarrior
Nutes: 100% organic FoxFarm nutrients
Veg: Grow Big + Big Bloom
Flower: Big Bloom + Tiger Bloom
using 1/4-1/3 of recommended on bottles

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I plan on doing 8 hydro in an ebb and flow system - tips appreciated
I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HYDRO PLEASE HELP!!!!!
-so far i plan on flooding 4 times a day for 15 minutes.
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SETUP::
4x T5's - Seedling/Clone
2x 600W MH/HPS lights
420 CFM Fan
12,000 BTU A/C unit
MicroGarden Ebb n Flow System (8 plants)
-Botanicare nutrient solution
9x Soil Pots
-Fox Farm 100% organic nutrient system

Day 2:
Light issue in morning, timer was set incorrectly. They woke up ~an hour late. I fixed the timer issue - set properly at 18/6 cycle. They wake at noon.


The first two pictures were taken when they woke up. The last two pictures were taken 3 hours later.

looks great. subscribed. cant wait to see how it turns out.

These are the prime ones of them all. Most all of them have done extremely well so far.

There are 3 main rows in the first picture. They each contain one strain per column. From left to right: Barney's Violator Kush, Kandy Kush, and Blue Cheese.

Just took my first peek at the roots and wow

Cool, I'll subscribe!

Some more pictures of the roots and popping babies. They all have their first set of true leaves coming out, and one of them (Barney's Blue Cheese) is starting to sprout set #2.

I took the dome off this afternoon...think this is a good idea so early? Some of the seeds haven't even popped out fully yet.
The light is approx 3-4" from top of tallest plant (BF BC).

Temp: 75F 3" below light, 74.4F Ambient
Humidity: 51%

One of my babies is all tangled up and having trouble popping out of its hole...see pic below.

Any ideas??

giving it a little pull to pop it up won't hurt it any.

Thanks for the advice. I gave it a tug and it popped right out. Now it already has its first pair of serrated leaves. Thanks a lot
On a sad note, I also tried this with another seed which I definitely should not have...and I believe Dinafem's Deep Grapefruit has died.
Also the Amnesia Lemon are not popping out...not much germination from the seeds. I'm worried about them.

I added water for the third time just now, and I added 1/8 strength FF Grow Big (6-4-4). I'm going to see how they react and if they are bad later I will refresh the water with pure pH 6.8

The roots are exploding underneath the tray...lots of side growth off the taproots. I am going to put some of these into hydro and some into soil. Any suggestions for how I can prepare them for the transplant (pH, nutes, temp, humidity, etc...)?


Before/After pics of tangled seedling:

They seem to be responding well to the weak-ass 1/8 strength of GB. I did just notice a slight less dark green in some of the serrated leaves (almost a slight tinge of yellow/greening). I will watch this closely. Hopefully, by the time the next feeding comes around (2 waterings away), there will not be a nutrient issue because I will have completed transplanting. My soil has all the veg nutes I'll need for my short veg cycle.

The hydro will be tricky and new for me...I read keep a pH of 5.8-6.2, and flood for 15-30 mins 2-8 times/day??? Is there any rule of thumb as to the ebb n flood timing and cycle?

Next big news:
I turned up one of my 600W MH's and have it angled around 40degrees pointing at the tray ~1.5-2 feet away. After an hour they had all turned towards it and leaf edges still look great. And now after 3.5 hours they still look good. I will watch this very closely cuz I don't want to shock them with too much light at such a young age.

I reworked my cooling system and A/C unit - lots of pictures showing modifications.
My A/C unit dehumidifies a bit automatically when cooling. Any ideas how to bring my humidity up about 10%?

Current Conditions:
Temperature: 73F (at top of plants); 75-77F (ambient room)
Humidity: 44%

Putting them in their new homes now. Or at least trying...
I'm having some heating issues...the A/C unit is taller than the lights, so i'm trying to find somethign big enough to set all of them on top of or something.
temp with both lights is 74-78.78F throughout the room. I'm trying with just one now. So frustrating.

successfully put 9 into soil. 3KK, 3VK, 2BC, and the cai hashplant. rest still in seedling tray awaiting transfer to new hydro setup. i've gotta mix the water, going to wait until later tonight.

Transplanted all seedlings into their new homes... 9 into soil and 8 into hydro. One is still left in the seedling tray without a home to go to....royal haze. I might or might not get her a home. we shall see. I don't plan on keeping all 8 in the hydro in the first place though.

I'm having issues with heating and lighting...too hot with both lights and the A/C is too tall, still don't know what to do about this...... any ideas would be greatly appreciated Light is approx 17-22" from plants (600 Watt MH). I want to get both lights on them, I'll work on it this weekend.

Also having issues with my ebb n flow. It would not drain properly, i think i just had the hose connected to the wrong port. I flipped it to the taller one and the drain is now at the bottom of the tray which makes sense. I will try another test run soonish... Unfortunately, I have a very busy day tomorrow and won't be able to check on the kids until later in the evening. I just hope the ebb n flow works properly between now and then or uhoh...

QUESTION::::: Note, in the last picture you can see my ebb n flow drain/filler. The first time, I had the pump connected to the valve on the right side (bottom of the tray). I have now switched the connection to the left valve (top of the tray). I am not sure which one it should be on.... Maybe I'm supposed to mix n match the pieces and make them closer in height or something. Is it fine for the drain to be at the bottom and only get maybe 2" max of water during the flood process?

Some updates... They are taking well to their new homes. The soil had no problems as anticipated, and the hydro went flawlessly!!! There is a little bit of yellowing in a couple of the hydro plants but I am putting that off to a pH issue cuz I just checked the reservoir and it was 6.8. I have adjusted it back down to 5.96 (goal 5.8-6.2). I guess I need to maintain the water semi-often. My A/C unit is giving me issues...making horrible squealing noises whenever the A/C is turned on for a few minutes - I believe I need to lubricate the motor, just need to get some lubrication.

All plants are sprouting their 3rd set of leaves now, and I anticipate vigorous vegetative growth to begin very soon - the roots should be taking hold now and in a couple of days I'm expecting them to double in size (I buried them almost all the way up to their first set of leaves in the transplant).

I just turned on my second light, using my squealing A/C unit without repairing it. It isn't making such a horrible noise now, but I'll be sure to get some lubricant tomorrow and lube it up all good n right haha. Hoping these two lights will give the kids a little energy boost. We shall see tomorrow.

Looks awesome. Not sure exactly what's in that hydro medium, but I'd keep a close eye on the pH after it floods a few times. Looks like the solution is soaking up a lot of whatever's in that medium and may be altering the pH over time as it floods.

Also, if you haven't already fixed the hydro drainage problem, you're going to want to hook up the fountain pump to the shorter pipe. For the duration that the pump is on, the table will continuously flood while the excess drains back down the taller overflow pipe to keep the water level at the specified level...I'm sure you can modify the height of the overflow pipe to fit your specific situation and pot size. When the pump shuts off, gravity should pull the water from the table back down through the pump and into the reservoir. In other words, after a flood cycle is complete, all the water should drain back down the lower pipe, through the pump, and back into the reservoir. Make sure you have a screen on the drain pipe to keep your reservoir clean. Lastly, you do have an additional air pump/bubble stone aerating your reservoir, right? Hope this helps.

correct about the pH issue with the hydro medium. It greatly upped the pH in a few days (from 5.9 to 6.! I will constantly check the pH in my reservoir from now on and maintain it around 5.8-6.2, probably going to lean towards 5.8/9 seeing as the pH creeps up pretty fast with this medium. After correcting the pH, they got a bit of a growth spurt.

chasseur said:

Also, if you haven't already fixed the hydro drainage problem, you're going to want to hook up the fountain pump to the shorter pipe. For the duration that the pump is on, the table will continuously flood while the excess drains back down the taller overflow pipe to keep the water level at the specified level...I'm sure you can modify the height of the overflow pipe to fit your specific situation and pot size. When the pump shuts off, gravity should pull the water from the table back down through the pump and into the reservoir. In other words, after a flood cycle is complete, all the water should drain back down the lower pipe, through the pump, and back into the reservoir. Make sure you have a screen on the drain pipe to keep your reservoir clean. Lastly, you do have an additional air pump/bubble stone aerating your reservoir, right? Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

What I did to fix this issue (and I still have not seen it in action), was connect the pump to the taller pipe and have the drain at the bottom so the chamber never really floods much higher than the drain I'd imagine. Do I need to switch the pump back to the shorter one and make the taller one shorter. Indeed I can modify the height of the taller one, maybe the shorter one too. Are you saying the drain pipe should be the taller one, and my input pump connects to the short one? How deep should I let the water flood it? I think my pots are 5x5x5 cubes.

On another note, my A/C is still not working...haven't had a chance to get some lube for it. I think lubing the exhaust blower will fix the problem, as this seems to be the source of the screeching noise, and the noise does not sound when the exhaust is off. I hope there is nothing wrong with the drive belts or something, I don't want to take apart my A/C unit to get to those parts.


Here are some updated pics: the last one is cali hashplant, she's a bit stunted This is the same one that had the tangled root issue during germination.

Yes, you should be attaching the pump to the lower drain. The idea is that when the pump is in one of its "on" cycles during the day, it should remain on long enough so the table completely fills and starts dumping into the tall overflow drain pipe. At this point, water is still being pumped up, but the level cannot get any higher because its dumping into the overflow. Then, the pump should shut off and the water will drain back THROUGH the pump into the reservoir until the table is empty. The only water going through the tall overflow pipe is when the table is completely full. Set the height of the overflow so that when the table is full the water will be ~2/3 [?? may be slightly off on this/if someone else knows, please comment] up the side of the pots. I'd think that the overflow would already be adjusted correctly for the pots that came with the system.

As for the A/C, is it new/nice? If it is, there might be a service warranty or something with it.

Everything looks great though. Don't think it's stunted, they just each have their own personalities. May take a day or two extra than the others to take off since you just transplanted too.

I just switched the pump to the drain on bottom. I lowered the tall drain a notch too, I'm wary of making such a huge change when they are doing well. I'm going to watch it tonight if I can and see what's up. EDIT:: I just watched the hydro table flood and drain. I like switching the pump to the bottom drain, it fills well and drains like a charm. Thanks chasseur

The A/C is a brand new Soleus KY-32/AS. Bought it from local grow store. There might be a warranty or something, I've been so f***ing busy with school and work its ridiculous. I get a little breather starting Thursday and I can spend more time looking into my A/C issue. For now i'm just using 1 MH, and temps are decent with doors shut and everything (light has to be raised fairly high). I can lower the light to about 14" when i open the doors.