room design

So i have a 1000 and 600 watt setup. My 600 is running at 75% power right now so i do understand that does not help. The space itself is 5 ft wide 8 ft long. i had around 20 plants in the area. It is kept cool by a portable ac. Temp runs around 75 and humidity no higher then 32%. I did read that 50 watts a square ft is minimum and by running short on the 600 i am only a tad over half whats needed. i am growing in pro mix hp and some are in sunshine number 4. My local hydro guy told me sunshine is not much different then the pro mix. I am using 3 part gh, voodoo juice, piranha, bud candy, tarantula,rhino skin and humboldt honey es all at the specific times according to the label. i have ro water and i add cal magic by gh every watering along with the honey. My first few autos were a not so great harvest. I know i screwed them up by topping them and that is likely a big reason why they were messed up. i have some big bud and some lsd by barneys farm still in early phase of flowering. I tried to cover everything I do and was wondering what can i possibly do different to get a better harvest from the non autos that will be done soon. i can upload pics with details later. Any ideas or tips would be much appreciated.
 

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
How many different nutes and additives are you using???

You're buying into the advertising and thinking you can purchase good growing technique
YOU CANNOT.

Slim it all down
Forget the Advanced Nutrients hype

A & B
ZYM
RHIZO

That's your lot.

No need for Mega Budz, Vampure Piss, Rattlesnakes Cock....
Whatever.
 
I am assuming the a and b are my base nutes per say zym and rhizo? sorry this is my first grow and with what the autos gave me i feel as if i failed miserbally so i am reaching out for help on what to improve.
 

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
I am assuming the a and b are my base nutes per say zym and rhizo? sorry this is my first grow and with what the autos gave me i feel as if i failed miserbally so i am reaching out for help on what to improve.
You can try too hard
Sometimes doing nothing is the best thing for the plant - and the hardest thing for the grower.

I use CANNA AQUA VEGA A & B
RHIZOTONIC and CANNAZYM
Plus pH up and pH down.

That's it.

I do not change to CANNA AQUA FLORE A & B - I stick with VEGA from start to harvest
(Flore has a strange NPK ratio that can cause LOCK OUT leading to deficiencies).

MY SUGGESTION
Select the essentials BASE NUTES (A & B), Some Root stimulant type like Rhiz
Maybe PK13/14 or CalMag - if you use RO water???

Just make a point of leaving the BASIC NUTES/ADDITIVES
and lock the rest in a box and forget you even have them.

Now concentrate of learning good, basic growing techniques
the types that gardeners have perfected over centuries.

Learn to make your nute mix and take the EC/pH
then amend it to the levels you want.
Get used to taking daily EC/pH readings - and correcting any unwanted drift.

I need pH 5.2 - 6.2 (5.7 is perfect)
and EC0.5 for cuttings
0.8 for young VEG plants
Up to about EC1.6 for plants on the last part of FLOWER.

I will do all I can to help you but you NEED to uncomplicated things.

Too many different nutes and additives just make things unnecessarily complicated.

TASK ONE
Do you use TAP WATER?
What is the EC and pH of your tap water???

This is the base for ALL OTHER SUBSTANCES so knowing it's levels is important.

My tap water is (a very hard) EC0.5
so I collect rain water and mix 60% rain with 40% tap to make water with an EC of 0.2
A perfect base for adding nutes, etc.
 

vostok

Well-Known Member
NorthofEngland, is correct stop overdoing it, and being anxious about nothing, thats what growing is all about being comfortable with what you got, and seeing the plants thrive under your care, I'd be cutting down your visits to the grow shop by 50% as with the nute feeding, if you ain't got the light why give them the food, you will only nute poison them ...pics please

moment to consider you lighting a total of 1600 watts now see the advantage of having 4x 400 watts Mh/hps ...? over 1kw + 600w, time to improve venting to ...!
 

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
5 x 8ft = 40sq ft.
1000w + (75% 0f 600w) 450w = 1450w
1450w / 40sq ft = 36.25w per sq ft.
A bit low - but manageable.
More light = more yield BUT you'll still have potentially adequate yields with that intensity of light.

How much height??? 6ft?
A 5" inline fan is probably a bit small.
It's always better to have more fan than you need.
If temps drop low, due to excess ventilation, a dimmer switch can act as a fan speed controller.

Tell me the exact dimensions of your grow space and I'll post the equations for working out the air exchange needed -
and this is simply used to see which model fan is most suitable.

You'll do OK, mate.
When you start to feel relaxed around the plants they do their own growing.
You just hang around to watch.

It's nice
 

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
NorthofEngland, is correct stop overdoing it, and being anxious about nothing, thats what growing is all about being comfortable with what you got, and seeing the plants thrive under your care, I'd be cutting down your visits to the grow shop by 50% as with the nute feeding, if you ain't got the light why give them the food, you will only nute poison them ...pics please

moment to consider you lighting a total of 1600 watts now see the advantage of having 4x 400 watts Mh/hps ...? over 1kw + 600w, time to improve venting to ...!
A total of 1450watts
the 600w is only giving 75%.

It's 36.25w per sq ft
OK....if the nutes are given in proportion.

ALL THE MOST EXPERIENCED GROWERS I KNOW - THE GUYS I REALLY RESPECT - USE A SELECT FEW BOTTLES OF NUTES/ADDITIVES.

I don't know any seriously experienced growers that have (and use) more than 5 different types of substance.

The ADVANCED NUTRIENT regimes are fantastic bits of advertising
BUT THE NUTES ARE JUST THE SAME AS MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE ONES.
 
Ok i did forget to mention about my exhaust and intake. i use 2 6 inch active air fans. On the intake side i use a dust shroom to avoid any unwanted debris being sucked in. The exhaust end of things i am using a filter. I can post pics of the entire setup and of some ladies tomorrow when they wake up. As far as room size its a bit under 8 ft long and maybe 2 in over 5 ft wide height is also 8 ft. They are scheduled for feeding tomorrow. Should i stick with the gh 3 part flora series? I was doing a bit of reading on the lucas formula. I will lock away all the additives starting tomorrow and stick to just the base nutes. I now do see the advantage of having 4 400s over my present setup. Also like to thank you both for taking the time to give a newbie some pointers
 
IMG_20140126_154348.jpgbasic view of the room IMG_20140126_154329.jpg fresh air intake IMG_20140126_154034.jpgdust shroom on other side of intake IMG_20140126_154019.jpg view of filterIMG_20140126_154027.jpg another pic of room you can see the ac back there along with the filter. pics of the ladies are on the way
 
the ladies as promised IMG_20140126_154041.jpgIMG_20140126_154453.jpgIMG_20140126_154437.jpgIMG_20140126_154522.jpgIMG_20140126_160446.jpg < ----she looks all sad but shes watered and not over watered either ---->IMG_20140126_160453.jpgIMG_20140126_160723.jpgIMG_20140126_154502.jpgIMG_20140126_154513.jpgIMG_20140126_154518.jpgIMG_20140126_154522.jpgIMG_20140126_154720.jpgIMG_20140126_160011.jpgIMG_20140126_155458.jpgIMG_20140126_154706.jpgIMG_20140126_160020.jpg This is not all of them just a few shots of what is going on. I read grow journals and see people using cfls and it just seems that i am failing at something. Could be my autos still have me crying inside and these ladies will plump up but idk maybe i just try too hard. Any pointers besides what i have been told i am all ears
 

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Had a friend tell me its my lighting. Any ideas on this suggestion? Was also thinking of flushing all them so i can have a fresh start using just the base and enzymes as suggested. Thought they were gonna need water/fed today but all the pots seemed heavy still so it did not happen. After i flush should i feed next watering after? will post updates on ppm and ph of runoff as soon as i can.
 
So i flushed today using royal flush. They all started pretty high at first but i got the runoff to settle around 350? Some around 250 but no lower then that. should i feed next watering using base and enzyme as instructed above now that the medium is clean?
 
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