First attic grow have I managed to avert disaster?

Hi,
Decided that it was too dangerous and expensive to bring back some samples from Amsterdam to the UK so am trying my first grow (much to the wife's disgust who now seems to see me as a hardened crim). So bought 5 easy kush seeds and stuck 2 of them in a jamjar with wet tissue. Then set about making a box to fit my attic and ordered a 200W CFL (dual spec). All went well at first seeds sprouted and I planted the other 3, 2 days later. I ended up with 4 seedlings but at 1 week disaster my CFL blew scattering glass evrywhere. I put the seedlings in the conservatory for a few days while a new CFL + spare arrived. Then decided on a whim that what I needed was a 90W LED UFO. Put the plants under this and the leaves turned yellow. Thinking they weren't getting enough light I moved it closer and almost burned all the leaves off the plants (see pics). Went back to CFL and they recovered but remained short (guess intense light has the opposite effect to stretching). Now on 12/12 after 5 weeks veg. Using HPS with reflector made from wifes mixing bowl (she will not be happy) will keep more pics coming if anyone is interested. Cheers All and Good Luck with your projects

Bucc.

Hey,,had quick read and look through your info and in pic 5 that look like light burn with a bit of root bound ness,, like you say you may have burnt the leaves. I grow in veg with a 250watt cfl and have it maybe 5 inchs max away from the tips..but rarely get leaf burn. Light burn is really where the heat is too intense for the light and the basically shrivel and die. I like the set-up for flower,,kinda like mine,,i have 250w hps,,but find that you really need to get air into and outta there to keep your temps down.. may i ask what temps you are at? I run quite hot and ferment yeast to add co2 which allows the plants to function at a higher temp. In relation to your question yeah 'stretching' is due to light intensity. Quick Point... that last photo... that seems to be male... I could be wrong...

Yeah I couldnt see a problem though.. you seem to be adjusting to the grow as it happens,, and fixing the issues,, maybe get a thermometer to find out that temp,,

sorry if this is all over the place... good effort though..

Good luck and keep it up...

sorry other questions,,whats the soil you were or are in?,, and were you giving them nutes when they were that small?
o and +rep for the grow box you built...

Hi Bunnyface,
There is a fan behind the HPS and a thermometer on the box wall. I am lighting from 2200hrs until 1000 to keep the heat down a little seems to be around 75 +/- 5 have a heat mat from 1000 until 2200 to keep the roots warm with temp of around 60. Pretty sure the plant is female just a bit blurred. Che
ers any advice gratefully received.

Soil started with John Innes for germination then went to John Innes for mature plants. Started feeding at 4 weeks (just a little babybio). Box started at 20' by 15' but has been extended and is now 20' x 27' and about 4 ' high. ventilation is simply achieved by opening the door various degrees which is ok as the attic is pitch black.

looking good pal. change that tin foil if you can. It's not supposed to be that good. I'm a 1st timer, not started yet though. Will be in my attic in a grow tent using hps. I was going to use led, then change to cfl & now I've decided on hps lol

How you dealing with the heat?

Keep us posted.

Oh & subbed

Got a small fan blowing across the HPS and over the plants. Also light cycle at night when it is cooler.

Buccanier said:

Got a small fan blowing across the HPS and over the plants. Also light cycle at night when it is cooler.

Click to expand...

does the fan seem to work well? Think I'm going with 600w hps if not then defo 400w hps.

OK the fan works really well - I have a feeling that the reason that the LED UFO burned my plants at 2 weeks or so (see pics) was because I had no fan at that stage. Although several people have reported LED burn with fans. My HPS unit is only a 150W but then again I only have 4 small plants in 3 sq feet. I vegged for 5 weeks until the plants were 6-8" tall and then plunged them into darkness for 36 hours to trigger flowering before reverting to 12/12 on Sat 14th. I intend to keep the HPS at around 6" above the plants and so far they seem fine. In fact so fine that I have checked them this morning (18th) and I am fairly certain that I have the early signs of flowering on at least one of the plants. Will post pics tonight if this is the case. Keep the advice rolling in Bucc

hey again,
that John Innes seem to be good from what I have heard,
Good spot on the tin foil DJ.. I seem to remeber from my grow bible that tin foil is actually worse than white paint,,not the glossy stuff the mat kind, let me go check that.

Can I ask are you staying with some babybio bloom fert?, a top tip is to defo get some form of flower stimulant,, something like top max, that will help develope them first calyxes.
Waiting to see some of them pic Bucc.

......just checked that tin foil info,,
yeah aluminum foil is 70-75 % reflective,
Flat yellow is 70-80%,
semi white gloss paint 75-80%,
flat(mat)white paint 85-95%,
reflective mylar 90-95%,
Folyon 94-95%.

These figure are from my Grow bible, I dont have a light mointer/meter to test them out but I kinda trust it..

take it easy,,,

I cant wait to get started. Its just going to cost quite a bit for all the equipment. I'm tempted to just build a box & start small but I want to do it right so may just wait a few weeks.

the burn u experienced is definatly the infamous led burn, go to the led forum, ive experienced it and u will find many others whome have,....the pics tell the story

Thought I was seeing the first signs of flowering but close up examination suggests further veg and leaf production.
will start using a flowering fert in 1 weeks time. The tin foil and mylar door coating was really put there for the veg CFL the HPS is more or less pointing directly at the plants.

Some pics from this morning (19th)




Pretty sure that they are all female (should be they were 100% feminised) typical female plant preflower pic added

looking good mate!

It's microscopic but we are in flower!! will macro photgraph regularly to show progress

1 week into flower cycle

4 weeks into flower

Looks good, only a few more weeks to harvest