New Grower 1st grow; Amare SolarEclipse 450, Advanced Nutes, Coco

[Only1Sky]

My 1st ever MJ grow. I expect to make lots of mistakes, but hope to learn fast and benefit from the AFN community. Here’s my set-up:

· 4’x4’ Gorilla tent
· Amare Technology SolarECLIPSE SE450UVB
· Coco in 3 and/or 5 gallon fabric pots
· Advanced Nutrients:
(Sensi Coco Grow & Bloom A&B, Voodoo Juice, B52, Big Bud, Overdrive, Flawless Finish.)
· Can-Fan 736746 Max Fan Pro Series 6 inch 420 CFM (for exhaust)
· Two 9" Oscillating Fans (Wall Mount or Clip On)
· Horti Control 6” Dust Shroom (for filtering passive air input)
· Reverse Osmosis system from APEC Water Systems
· Tools: Blue Lab EC & PH tester, Control Wizard Soil pH and Moisture Meter, Acurite temp & RH meters, & LED glasses

Note: I don’t have any CalMag or PH up/down chems. I got the impression that I won’t need them when using the “pH perfect” Advanced Nutrients line in coco, but that could be just wishful & erroneous thinking. I also don’t have a carbon odor filter yet – I figure I can get that later.

In this grow I’m trying for 1 each of 4 different stains, from 4 different seed banks:

· O.G. Kush (Humboldt Seed Organization)
· Girl Scout Cookies (FastBuds Seeds)
· Chemdog (Auto Seeds)
· Trainwreck (Sweet Seeds)

Seven days ago I wrapped the 4 seeds in RO wet paper towels and placed in a small propagation dome on a heat mat. I came back 36 hours later to find that the paper towels had dried out. Ooops, me bad. I re-wet everything. 2 days later I had the white tap root showing from 3 of the 4 seeds. Those 3 went into Rapid Rooter plugs and back into the dome.

2 more days and I had the 1st leaf from GS Cookie and OG Kush. Chemdog had not surfaced from the plug, and Trainwreck was still dormant in the paper towel. So I replaced Trainwreck with a 2nd seed.

3 more days and still nothing from Chemdog or Trainwreck. But Cookie and Kush had their first true serrated leaf, so I planted their plugs into 3 gallon coco cloth pots and into the tent.

It’s now day 7. I declare the Chemdog and 2nd Trainwreck as non-viable. I’m starting over now with a 3rd Trainwreck seed and a 2nd Chemdog. This time, no paper towel. Using Ronin Method – they went straight into the soaked plug and then into a sealed plastic Glad container and back into the heated propagation dome under a T5 light. We’ll see.

Meanwhile here are photos of the Cookie and Kush. The Amare light is 32” over the top of the plants – maybe that is too high for this stage?? The temp in the tent is running 77-83 F and the RH was 35 until I added water trays to the tent floor, now it’s around 39-43.

Using a turkey baster, I’ve been putting a small amount of RO feed water around the Cookie & Kush. The feed is a highly diluted mix of Sensi Grow A&B, B52 and Voodoo Juice.

Any suggestions or critiques?

 

[jingo]

Nice setup! Plants are looking good.

I think you'll want some calmag with LEDs you can use more than other lights. If that can can gently blow those seedlings around the stems will get stronger. I like to put clay pebbles on top of my Coco, it keeps it from drying out on top and provides a barrier to bugs as well as introducing extra o2 as the water splashes through.

Got the potential to grow monsters, may be better if they all don't sprout this time around.

 

[Only1Sky]

Hey Jingo, thx for stopping by & the tips. I'll follow up on the clay pebbles. You can't see from the pics, but one of my 9" oscillating fans is mounted 12" off the floor & blowing directly across the girls. But you're right to notice that they're stretched and spindly. That happened before I put them into the tent and under the Amare. But I'm wondering if I might have the Amare too high (32") anyway.

 

[jingo]

I'm trying to think of the grower on this forum that's using those Amare I don't think you're holding too high though I think they're pretty powerful lights.

 

[AMARE-TECH-Vic]

We recommend using only the surrounding 5w monochrome LEDs (veg spectrum) on young clones/seedling up to 6" at 22". You can opt to turn on the COBs with no lenses at 6"+ for maximum growth. Flower at 22" with both COB(no lenses) and 5w mono's. The lenses are designed for high-bay application that are recommended at 42-46".

 

[Only1Sky]

@AMARE-TECH-Vic Thanks for the quick response. Glad to make your acquaintance. So, I've dropped the Eclipse450 down to 22" and turned off the inner lights (COBs?). Once the plants are >6" I'll turn the COBs back on. It sounds like I can/should maintain a 22" canopy-to-light distance throughout the entire grow --- unless I see damage from too much light intensity. Eh?

 

[AMARE-TECH-Vic]

Correct. We do not recommend the SE450 with both spectrum at <18" due to the extreme intensity that will surpass their light saturation point of ~1500umol/sec/m2.

 

[Burr_nit]

Hey dude!

I like your style on your first grow, go big or go home! Your going to have a great grow man, you got a killer setup with all the fixings lol. I will definitely sub-up!
I don't have any suggestions because it seems like you have everything covered! Lol. Rock on brother! Reach out anytime!

 

[Only1Sky]

UPDATE - DAY 10
Well, here's how things look after ten days above ground. I can't say that I'm thrilled. In fact, (after looking at so many other members' journals) I'm a bit disappointed in the the slow growth. I also worry about how tall and lanky they are. 3 to 3.5 inches. I suspect that's my fault for leaving them in the propagation dome too long with the 17 watt T5 light a full 6 inches above them.
[/ATTACH]

I'm misting them several times a day. The coco is not dry. But the RH in the tent hovers between 35 and 40. Is that too low for this stage, or it is OK?

Yeh, looks like I may be back onto a 4 strain 1st grow. Using @Ronin germination technique, I now have leaves from the Trainwreck (Sweet Seeds) and a germinated seed trying to pop up from the Chemdog (Auto Seeds). I'm keeping them in my propagation dome, but this time raising them up so the 17 watt T5 is just 3+ inches above them.

 

[Burr_nit]

Becareful misting @Only1Sky .. with such powerful LEDs I don't recommend any type of misting or foliar feeds while the lights are on.. you can essientially fry the shit out of them. Just cut back on the misting.. they should recover just fine, I've seen worst seedlings make a come back. The GSC Look fine. The OG kush I'm not sure, but I think they can make it..

You definitely want to get that humidity up. With seedlings ideally you want humidity anywhere from 60-70% ..do you have a humidifier?