First 400W Grow Journal + Pics

So I finally have my flood table set up , complete with air stone & adjustable flood height. I also have a air cooled Yieldmaster Pro 6" supreme with a 400w MH and switchable ballast (HPS to flower). I'm experimenting with both 4 and 6" rockwool cubes. In just 2 weeks my roots were showing through the bottom of my 4" cubes, so they just got transplanted into 2 gallon Smart Pots w/ hydroton. My second set of quality seedlings were just big enough to go into the 6" 'Hugo' cubes so they too have been transplanted. The ones in the 4" cubes are just bag weed but I can contest for the seed in the larger cubes, good stuff. Anyhow, I've been using the flood system once per day about 30 minutes after the light comes on and finding it may actually be too much. The rockwool holds a large amount of water, I'd recommend anyone trying this setup to only water every other day. I'm hoping the rockwool being inside hydroton will help the roots to breathe a little better. I'm currently using Ionic 'Grow' 3-1-5 @ 75% strength and Maxicrop liquid seaweed (50% recommend in res) with good results. My plants are a nice dark color, but the new growth is light green as it should be. Have 11 plants in total, 6 are what I consider known 'good' seed. What kinda harvest can I expect if I veg until 12-15". Look forward to updating this journal at least once a week so stay tuned. Feel free to comment if you see problems, this is my first grow so I'm trying some experiments and learning best I can. Smoke One and get at me.

thought about tryin out those bags if i eve did ebb flow, interested in seeing the results, good luck!

pdillo said:

thought about tryin out those bags if i eve did ebb flow, interested in seeing the results, good luck!

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Thanks. I also wanted to add http://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/ is a good seed bank, delivery in about a week. So I will be adding one feminized pineapple express to my lineup . Hope I don't ruin her since this is my first grow!

Anyone used these 6" cubes before? seems like they will hold plenty of water for a few days. Maybe 4" cubes are the way to go for more watering?

Changed the res today after two weeks, it was getting a little smelly and nasty. 75% strength nutes, 25% Maxicrop liquid seaweed (stuff is messy if you use it at full). Also added some new pics, two in to the left look the best, what do u guys think?

Watering only every 3rd day to control over watering issues now. For some reason my Ph in my rockwool got all screwed up and samples I pulled directly from the cubes were nearly 8. I really don't understand the ph going up so much considering my rez has been very steady @ 6.0. At this point I'm flushing with ph'd water once a day and draining the cubes well manually to avoid over watering. Anyone else have this problem growing in rockwool cubes? My lower leaves were starting to yellow due to nute lock I believe. Now that I've changed things up and trimmed the yellowed leaves they look a lot healthier (well except my runt).

So one total month in, the other 2 plants in 4" cubes (1 regs, 1 chronic) were placed into the 2 gal. smart pots with hydroton. I've been manually watering, checking each cubes Ph every day. It's a little time consuming but necessary as I can't seem to control Ph properly only watering every 3 days on the timer. Pineapple express is looking great, hoping to start flowering in 45-60 days when pineapple express is showing pre-flowers & 12" tall or so.

Removed my plastic covers & made deep vent holes in my cubes with a ballpoint pen. They are just holding too much water so I'm hoping this will help them dry out a tad quicker and improve oxygen to the roots. My chronic seeds seem to have come out variegated, with the exception of one of the six. Pineapple express (sprouted 10/26) is doing great and is just now sprouting its' third set of true leaves. I've got my humidity around 45% with the light on now and 60% off and dropped the temp to 80 lights on, 70f off. Hoping my droop will dissipate in my larger plants, haven't watered them in 3 days but they still look pretty sad. Planning to hold out atleast two more days before watering to see if it improves/worsens. Feel free to comment, not the type who cares if you post in my journal

Someguy15 said:

I've got my humidity around 45% with the light on now and 60% off and dropped the temp to 80 lights on, 70f off.

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Where do you have your thermometer or hygrometer set up?

JimmyT said:

Where do you have your thermometer or hygrometer set up?

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It's off to the left, just out of the direct light. It has a black plastic housing and I was noticing the light was throwing off the temp readings.

Someguy15 said:

It's off to the left, just out of the direct light. It has a black plastic housing and I was noticing the light was throwing off the temp readings.

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I think it might be interesting to know what the temps are on the canopy. You're running the metal halide correct? Bit hot under there, try bringing the light a bit back maybe.

It is fan cooled, the housing for the light itself is hardly even warm to the touch. Is there still going to be a lot of heat under the glass if I'm about a foot away from the tops?

im not an expert, defn don't know rock wool or hydro, but i keep my fan cooled 600w hps at least 18" away. your big plants leaves are kinda droopy, is that under watering, or light burn? i don't know, im a newb. i just have a similar setup, but soil. temp readings are confusing too, because i've been hearing a lot that ur supposed to read on the top of the top leaf, not the surrounding areas. what are your opinions? for me it was hard to get it cool on top of the to leaf, so i settled for when it got to 80*.

Something I found about light distances and foot candelas.

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Someguy15 said:

Something I found about light distances and foot candelas.

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While I do think this is a great template to go off of for general purposes, it is important to keep in mind that it does not take into account if the bulb is being air-cooled, water-cooled, or with a light mover. All of these factors allow you to bring the light closer than what the chart claims within reason.

The reality at the end of the day is that it all comes down to what your temps are from the canopy of your garden to the base of your plants

Moving the light up to 12" and putting the fan directly into the tray seems to be improving my droop. I orderd a TDS meter today that should be here around next Thursday. Hopefully when I get that meter I can better figure out my waters base PPM as well as how strong my nutes are. Guessing based off the label is no good! I'm starting to get a little nute burn so i wanna make sure I am able to back it off to the proper amount.

The temp measured at my front left plant is reading between 80-83 with the fan, this is a bit high I know, but will this due?

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I'm finally seeing some droop relief! I was hesitant to put the box fan blowing directly across them (windburn) but I've been keeping it on low and have yet to see anything but positive effects.

The plants in the middle are now both 7" tall. The one to the front right is now 6.5" tall. Moving the light to 10" for a little more lumens and seeing if the fan helps keep the droop away.

Couple inches of growth in the past few days, diluted the nutes some to reduce nute burn. Flushed with Phd water today to help relieve them a little too.

Watch the nutes dont get carried away.heeeeeeee Good luck .

Someguy15 said:

Couple inches of growth in the past few days, diluted the nutes some to reduce nute burn. Flushed with Phd water today to help relieve them a little too.View attachment 613438

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Don't forget too that any changes done to water or nutes in hydro don't usually show until 2-3 days later