a couple quick questions

HI,
I have been doing my first grow and learning alot. I have read aolt of info, and retained what was pertinant to me at the time. I have LED panels in the veg side, but I keep seeing pics of other people's crop, and I think the little buggers aren't growing very well... let's not turn this into an LED vs. everything else arguement.

Today, I decided to move my 250Watt HPS over my 5 seedlings. I have the light at about 6-8" off the tops. and have decided to run HPS during daylight hours, and LED at night (have been going 24hrs a day light... by mistake that was discovered today. I have a digital programmable power cord, os you can et the timer up for each plug.. but for some reason that one didn't set up right...

I had them on nutes since seeds, but due to some nute burn, and stunting, they are back on water after being flushed. And will likely remain so for a week or 2 at least.


I took that pic a few days ago when starting to see nute burn.. but just to give you an example of what my plant are looking like size wize.


So now you have background.. my questions.

1) What height should I set 250 Watter from tops of plants?
2) How often should I be watering them under the HPS. With LED I had them on 3 times a day. 6am, 1pm and 8pm. but I am not sure if this will be enough with the added heat.
3) is HPS ok to use in veg until I can afford to replace with flouros? I need 3 sets, so $100 including bulbs.. but when you ain't got it.. you ain't got it.

and

4) I am having issues with some of the seedlings not being able to stand up under a fan on light. some of them are ok, but a few will bend right over.. is that normal, and I should just let them fall over and pick themselves up? I have them braced to hold them, but I think that's setting myself up for a weak plant.

Thanks, I am not sure of which pic is posted, could be a 20 day old seedling or a 30 day old.. either way, I don't think it's doing so well.

I just looked at the pic, it's a 20 day old that was having nute problems.. the center is still a little yellow, but the new growth is green from the main stem.. so hopefully it will straighten itself out.

1)As high as it will go at that size, lower it an inch or so every day or two, depending on how they are reacting, until you hit the sweet spot. To find this point, hold your hand under the light, palm down, and move it until it is warm, but not uncomfortable. That is the spot the top of the plants should be at once they reach 6-8" tall.
2)Sorry, don't know hydro, I wouldn't like to guess and give bad advice.
3)HPS will work ok for veg, it's not ideal, as you know, but a couple of my mates use 4 & 600w hps from start to finish and they do pretty well so I can't see a problem.
4)When you say they bend over, is it just the stem or do the leaves wilt as well? If so they could be overwatered. If they are just getting blown over by the fan you might wanna move the fan further away from them if possible, or angle it so it blows over the top of the plants rather than at them. Staking them early on is ok as long as the plant is left to support itself as it grows taller, and you should be able to remove the support after a week or two.
It doesn't look like you've had the best of luck, but stick with it and by the time you have a couple of grows under your belt you should have your technique down and be growing some sweet buds.

Hairy Bob said:

1)As high as it will go at that size, lower it an inch or so every day or two, depending on how they are reacting, until you hit the sweet spot. To find this point, hold your hand under the light, palm down, and move it until it is warm, but not uncomfortable. That is the spot the top of the plants should be at once they reach 6-8" tall.
2)Sorry, don't know hydro, I wouldn't like to guess and give bad advice.
3)HPS will work ok for veg, it's not ideal, as you know, but a couple of my mates use 4 & 600w hps from start to finish and they do pretty well so I can't see a problem.
4)When you say they bend over, is it just the stem or do the leaves wilt as well? If so they could be overwatered. If they are just getting blown over by the fan you might wanna move the fan further away from them if possible, or angle it so it blows over the top of the plants rather than at them. Staking them early on is ok as long as the plant is left to support itself as it grows taller, and you should be able to remove the support after a week or two.
It doesn't look like you've had the best of luck, but stick with it and by the time you have a couple of grows under your belt you should have your technique down and be growing some sweet buds.

Click to expand...

Yup, lamp is now to where it's warm on the top of my hand.. I have digital therm/humity gauge that I have tied under the light at the height of the plants and it's showing 79.3degrees and 46% humidity.

I'll try playing with the fan, I have it et to blow on the light and across the plants, I'll see if I can get it to bounce around a bit.

I figure the first grow is a learning experience anyway. Like before you grow, you don't know how important to PH your water is.. you learn fast, lucky I did buy a PH meter because I read how important it is to have one.. so I ordered one, good thing. Like getting stuck using my HPS on veg till I can afford the lights for veg room cause I thought LED's would work and take a little less energy, but I want results dammit! I can't tell anyone or show anyone my grow but out here, and I dont' want to post puny plants!!!
Cheers thanks for the input.

Every grow is a learning experience imo, when you get the hang of growing you will want to experiment with different training methods etc to try to optimise your yield.
Imo if you don't learn something you probably weren't paying attention