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

[Only1Sky]

Updates: Day 21 for Humboldt's OG. Kush & FastBuds' GS Cookies /// Day 12 for Sweet Seeds' Trainwreck & Auto Seeds' Chemdog

Oops, I think maybe I got some nute burn for being a little over-zealous in my first full feeding a couple of days ago. Pretty sure I probably splashed a bit on a leaf or two, and in general it might have been too heavy a dose for the Kush & Cookie. I gave them all Advanced Nutrients products: 1 ml/l each sensi coco a&b, voodoo, B52, and .5 ml/l CalMag.

Any opinions? And should I flush, or just move forward with more caution and a lower chemical dose for the next feeding some days in the future?

 

[Only1Sky]

Seeing progress now at day 24. @jingo - I got the T5 system installed yesterday at 3+" over my two 10-day olds. I've seen the tent temp move up to about 76. And am refilling the humidifier 3 times a day to get the RH stabilized about 68+. Also seeing growth kicking in from my mutant Humboldt OG Kush. Its now the biggest plant at 6.5" height. So, slowly getting there. Pictures to follow later today.

 

[Only1Sky]

Updates: Day 24 for Humboldt's OG. Kush & FastBuds' GS Cookies /// Day 15 for Sweet Seeds' Trainwreck & Auto Seeds' Chemdog

I continue to struggle (but am seeing progress) with getting the tent's temperature and humidity up to higher levels. And I think that's been one of reasons for what I think is a slow start to my girls growth.

I added a humidifier, which I'm refilling 3-4 times over a 24 hour period. (Question -- what do you folks use for a longer duration solution to humidification? Will I need to "hard-wire" an additional Reverse Osmosis water line into a unit that accepts that kind of hook-up?) Seems like the frequent trips to refill the humidifier's tank is mostly working -- I'm now getting RH swinging between 47-68%. What should my target be for plants at this age?

Temperature was also a problem. Initially my tent temps were in the mid-sixties -- same as the ambient room temp. When I turned on my 430 CFM exhaust fan, temp and RH both dropped. So the exhaust fan has remained off - and will until I get the temp up higher. First attempt was a 150w ceramic infrared heat lamp on a bayite 2-stage controller (BTC201). That has helped, but not enough -- the lamp is just too under powered. So I've got a 250W bulb on order.

At the suggestion of @jingo, I've installed T5 lights about 3" over the two youngsters and will run them that way 'till those girls are over 6" in height. I think they like it so far, and of course its contributed to the heat, especially right over them. I'm now getting temperatures around the pots of 73-75.

Here's a photo of the tent's current configuration. The Amare 450 is still at 22" and running in just monochrome. The T5 is 2' with 4 bulbs = about 96 watts.

I did a feeding of everyone yesterday. The older sisters got 3 ltrs each of 1 ml/l sensi A&B, Cal-Mag, & B52. Here they are at 24 days:

Amazing to me how Humboldt's OG Kush has perked up and put on strong growth in the past 48 hours. It had always been stunted and mal-formed due to it not being able to shake off and out-of the seed husk until I applied tweezers some days after her initial appearance. She is now 6.5 inches compared to her sister, the GS Cookie at 3.5". My burning question, of course, with Advanced Nutrients and an Amare SolarSpec light, what did I do wrong to get such small growth after 24 days?

Here's the two babies currently hanging out under the T5. They are now at day 15. Yesterday they each got 1.5 ltrs each with 1 ml/l cal-mag, & .5 m//l sensi A&B & Voodoo.

 

[bad dragon bzzz]

doin great for a first grow.

what did I do wrong to get such small growth after 24 days?

dont be so quick to blame yourself.it takes time to dial things in/to get a good enviroment for the plants and to provide for all their needs.

What should my target be for plants at this age?

my rh swings 40-60 all day long.

(Question -- what do you folks use for a longer duration solution to humidification? Will I need to "hard-wire" an additional Reverse Osmosis water line into a unit that accepts that kind of hook-up?

sorry dont know anything about either.
2 babies looking good.
good luck

 

[jingo]

Hey dude

Looking good your temperatures and relative humidity are in a zone where the plants are going to be very happy. As they get bigger they're going to respirate a lot more and they'll put the moisture in the tent so you probably won't be refilling your humidifier as often as you are now by the time they hit flower. You also don't really want your humidity that high in flower.

The plants directly under the T5 are exactly correct as far as growth at their age they look excellent.

With your larger plant now is the time to water to run off each and every time. So if you're not what you want is to get about 10 or 15% runoff and he don't want re uptake that run off.

It seems like the biggest problem you're having if you can't run your ventilation as often as you'd like because you're temperatures won't stay up? What you can do is raise the temperature of the room that they're in by getting an oil-filled radiator or whatever you might find and then you can ventilate your tent with a warmer air than what you have been using.

Amy delay in growth that you have seen would have come strictly from the temperatures I wouldn't be blaming myself at this point. These plants will grow at amazing rates if you're able to keep your environment close to 78 degrees and your humidity close to 60. I like to run about 78 to 80 degrees and around 50 to 60% humidity and that's real stable in my grow room.

 

[Only1Sky]

@archie gemmill - hey, thanks for stopping by and the kind words of encouragement. I appreciate the feedback on RH and how it's OK to have swings of 30-50% throughout the day.

 

[Only1Sky]

Howdy @jingo. Thanks for the quick and very helpful response. Your earlier clay pebble and T5 suggestions were great, and I'm looking forward to my 2nd grow when both will be applied from day 1. And I'm happy to report that both of my major feedings to the 24 day old plants resulted in 10-15% runoff -- so I'll be keeping up with that regime.

In a couple of days I'll have the 250 watt heat bulb, and an additional timer (for my exhaust fan). Hopefully that will give me another 5-10 degrees of reliable consistency in tent temps and the ability to start running the exhaust for a few minutes each hour.

I hadn't thought about, but I liked your "Plan B" suggestion of locally heating the outside air in the room and then running the exhaust more readily. How important is it to be running exhaust at this stage? Obviously its not needed for odor control, but is the tent not getting enough CO2 via passive input created from the two oscillating 9" fans? Am I starving the girls if I'm not running more exhaust?

 

[jingo]

Howdy @jingo. Thanks for the quick and very helpful response. Your earlier clay pebble and T5 suggestions were great, and I'm looking forward to my 2nd grow when both will be applied from day 1. And I'm happy to report that both of my major feedings to the 24 day old plants resulted in 10-15% runoff -- so I'll be keeping up with that regime.

In a couple of days I'll have the 250 watt heat bulb, and an additional timer (for my exhaust fan). Hopefully that will give me another 5-10 degrees of reliable consistency in tent temps and the ability to start running the exhaust for a few minutes each hour.

I hadn't thought about, but I liked your "Plan B" suggestion of locally heating the outside air in the room and then running the exhaust more readily. How important is it to be running exhaust at this stage? Obviously its not needed for odor control, but is the tent not getting enough CO2 via passive input created from the two oscillating 9" fans? Am I starving the girls if I'm not running more exhaust?

No you really aren't harming your plants by not running your exhaust at this point. It's just that I have a work room outside of my grow room that I call a lung room. I use it to help stabilize the temperature in my grow room so I will cool the work room or heat the work room depending upon what I need to happen in my grow room. That allows me to let my exhaust fan cycle off and on more often which is a good way to keep the humidity down late in flower.

 

[Only1Sky]

Ah, makes sense. I never knew what you meant by Lung Room before. Good strategy - and certainly simplifies some of the equipment you might otherwise need to more directly regulate temp & RH in the tent.

 

[jingo]

Oh by the way, it's taken me years to figure this stuff out and to implement it. It's also takes some budgeting of time money, etc so don't get discouraged if you don't get there right away time takes time..