First time growers grow...

Hey all, first time growing be buying equipment and bits for a few months now and started something just for a little fun but it has turned more serious and I really want this to go well!

What I am growing?
1x Sour Orange Auto
1x Purple Lemonade Auto
5x Unknown Seeds

Why grow so many?
I didn't think they would all germinate! I was only expecting the sour orange and the purple lem to go... But they all germinated and I couldn't throw them out, I have become attached to them

What am I growing in?
Soil, due to the lockdown many places are closed so I was able to get Multipurpose with John Innes

Nutrients?
I didn't use any for the first 5 weeks but noticed a few deficiencies - I have Bio Bizz Grow, Bloom and Top Max (not using top max as hear mixed reviews of metal taste)

Now the autos are in flower (2nd Week) I am using 1ml of Grow and 2ml of Bloom

The others are 2nd week and using the same ratio to 1 litre

Set up?
1.2m tent with 1x 600w HPS for the Autos and 1x 400w HPS turns on when the 12/12s go in
Using quite a few extraction fans to keep the temps down and have a fresh air source coming in at night only (when the 12s are on their light schedule)

60cm x 60cm text with separate extraction where 5 of the 5, 12/12s go for their dark schedule

The other one is my cuttings to see if I can do that.

I have some photos, looking for advice to see if what I'm doing is on the right path, I understand this is my first grow but would love something to smoke at the end of it!

Photos are

Brown pot - Big one is the Sour Orange Auto Fem
Black pot - Scrawny one is Purple Lemonade Auto Fem

Will add more later after 9pm when the others are on their light schedule

Any advice, tips or tricks?

What kind of temperatures are going on where the plants are grown?

The first plant in flower has nitrogen toxicity.

Those plants have got Nitrogen toxicity really bad. You need to lay off the nitrogen or whatever you are feeding her. it's going to kill her at this rate.

Hey thanks for the replies, I did think it was nitrogen tox!

Temps are between 80f and 85f really struggling to keep the temps down even with a cold inlet from outside

What advice would you offer? For keeping temps down and the sick plant?

In fact andly advice would be extremely helpful

The plants with crispy and curled leaves look like its from heat stress. Exhaust fans are meant for exchanging air not for cooling tents although they can help move hot air out. If your exhaust fan is running full speed and you are still having issues keeping the temperatures down unfortunately your only option may be running an AC unit. Good luck!

Thanks for posting the pictures. You obviously have had some struggles, but you are pushing through. Use it as a learning experience and it will get easier.

Lots of good advice on here. If it was me, i'd feed only water for the rest of their life. Soak the pot real good and then go 2-4 days without watering. Pick up the pot and when it is VERY light, then water. Pick up the pot after watering, notice the difference. Easiest well to tell when it is time to water.

twentyeight.threefive said:

The plants with crispy and curled leaves look like its from heat stress. Exhaust fans are meant for exchanging air not for cooling tents although they can help move hot air out. If your exhaust fan is running full speed and you are still having issues keeping the temperatures down unfortunately your only option may be running an AC unit. Good luck!

Click to expand...

I understand, I think that running 2 HPS lights is causing this, I have 2 exhaust fans, 2 intake fans and two oscillating fans in the tent, maybe AC is the way forward.

Would running a LED be any better? (AC unit is more expensive than a 2000w Mars Hydro LED)

TheDifferenceX said:

Thanks for posting the pictures. You obviously have had some struggles, but you are pushing through. Use it as a learning experience and it will get easier.

Lots of good advice on here. If it was me, i'd feed only water for the rest of their life. Soak the pot real good and then go 2-4 days without watering. Pick up the pot and when it is VERY light, then water. Pick up the pot after watering, notice the difference. Easiest well to tell when it is time to water.

Click to expand...

Lots of struggles! And lots of just staring at them

I think the only water is a good option, I will do this for the rest of this grow on the autos

I have been trying this, I will get the nack soon, hopefully.

With run off, how much do you normally go for? 20%?

I usually don't feed until 4 weeks on autos.

The night before i plant a germinated seed, i soak my 3 gallon grow bags full of FFOF+perilite.. The next day the germinated seed is planted in that soil. I don't water again for 7-10 days. Then for the next 2 weeks I alternate waterings. One watering i will pour some around the outside of the pot. The next time I will pour the water in a plastic tray and sit the pots in the try, let them soak the water up from the bottom. I do this for 2 weeks, never giving them enough to SOAK the entire pot. Around 3 weeks or 15-20 days, I will finally soak the entire pot again. At this point I go for, as you said, about 20% runoff. Make sure to flush out any of the excess salts and nutes that may be built up in the pot. After that, I am usually able to go every 2-3 days and every watering after that I will soak the pot until runoff. I don't bottom feed/water after 3 weeks, everything is done from the top to help flush out any excess salts.

TheDifferenceX said:

I usually don't feed until 4 weeks on autos.

The night before i plant a germinated seed, i soak my 3 gallon grow bags full of FFOF+perilite.. The next day the germinated seed is planted in that soil. I don't water again for 7-10 days. Then for the next 2 weeks I alternate waterings. One watering i will pour some around the outside of the pot. The next time I will pour the water in a plastic tray and sit the pots in the try, let them soak the water up from the bottom. I do this for 2 weeks, never giving them enough to SOAK the entire pot. Around 3 weeks or 15-20 days, I will finally soak the entire pot again. At this point I go for, as you said, about 20% runoff. Make sure to flush out any of the excess salts and nutes that may be built up in the pot. After that, I am usually able to go every 2-3 days and every watering after that I will soak the pot until runoff. I don't bottom feed/water after 3 weeks, everything is done from the top to help flush out any excess salts.

Click to expand...

That's extremely useful, I will use this method on my next attempt

Any advice for my next, what is the best/better medium to use or what you have had a good success rate/easy management with?