Indoor FIRST 600w hps organic multistrain tent grow (AKR, NLxBB, ER)

[fredtweenlegs]

Hey guys love this site. I'm new to growing and would like any and all advice! I know it's not completely organic but trying to stay as much as possible, I'll explain below. Not sure if this will turn into a proper grow journal or whatever but just wanted to update everyone where I'm at and maybe you can bounce some advice my way. I'm currently at the start of week 4 from seed, and all the girls have been flowering for 2 days now.

Strains:
3x Afghan Kush Ryder Auto
1x Northern Lights / Big Bud Auto (freebie from the tude)
3x Easy Ryder Auto

Grow setup:
-3'x3'x7' mylar lined tent
-6" inline charcoal -> 430cfm blower -> cooltube -> tent exit -> Big Blue UV-C inline ozonator -> exhaust (i like to be stealth)
-600w hps (overdriving to 660w) (used mh for first 2 1/2 weeks of veg)
-Foxfarm Happy Frog + 1/3 perlite added (roughly 3:1 mixture)
-Using some different puts to squeeze everyone in there (5 gal smart pots: 2x AKR, 1x NLBB, 1x ER, the rest are in 2 gal plastic pots
-Botanicare pureblend pro grow/bloom and Liquid Karma
-Tap water airstone bubbled overnight pH adjusted to 6.6-6.8 post nutes
-Lamp is 12inches above canopy
-Temps and RH are 30% RH day/night and 74deg F high 66deg F low

Ok I think thats everything. Oh yeah, 20/4 light schedule.

No real surprises yet thus far except for my cheapo pH meter wasn't calibrated. Luckily only got through about 2 or 3 waterings before. pH was reading .4 too high in reference solution. Since HF seems to be pretty acidic I think I escaped this one. Runoff has been around 6.8-6.2 with 6.2 being the most recent watering. Should I be trying to bump that up at all?

Anyways you all want to see pics so here ya go! Just watered with first dosage of nutes (1/3 strength Bloom and Liquid Karma) so they are lookin a little droopy



Happy family!



One of the Easy Ryder, not as "bushy" as the other strains so far, but smelling very fruity and delicious:


Northern Lights x Big Bud Auto. Looks like a pretty plant. Never seen anyone grow this out (must be new?)



Afghan Kush Ryder (stinky as all hell already):





first to flower was an AKR in a 5gal smart pot I thought I was gonna lose early on... Didnt pop her seed cap and ended up ruining some of the first fan leaves but shes pulling through nicely!



That's it for today let me know what u guys think about where I'm at and what I should change if anything

 

[The Squid]

Hey fred welcome to AFN. Sounds like you have an awesome setup dude. Everything is looking pretty good so far. Rock on :head:

 

[fredtweenlegs]

Thanks man!

All that I've really noticed is some curling of the leaf edges upward. I've done some research and as of right now, attribute it to lower humidity in the tent. Interested in opinions on that. Could be wind-stress too as I have a tower fan in there stirring things up. It's on the lowest setting but even still moves a ton of air across the canopy. I like how strong they are looking on the stems so I plan on keeping this for now. Might have to look into another "shittier" tower fan that doesn't work so well.

 

[Captain cure]

Looking good. I've had canoeing once as well. Mine was heat stress from having my 600 HPS a little to close to the plants. Once I raised it a couple more inches all new Growth was superb. My current grow Is a photo grow 19 plants under 1,000 watts. Kept the light a little higher out of the gate and no canoeing. Good luck.

 

[fredtweenlegs]

Yeah even with the cooltube maybe I am trying to cram too many lumens into them at such an early stage through veg?

 

[namvet]

12 inches above plants might to close ,have you checked how much heat ther getting at that height?Other wise they look great.Northern Lights and Big bud have around for years and are used as a mother plant for lots of hybrids.They both should do well with little problems.Big Bud is supposed to have a pretty good yield.You can never have too many lumens,just too much heat too close to the plants.You have a nice grow going and should have some nice buds coming for your effort.

 

[fredtweenlegs]

12 inches above plants might to close ,have you checked how much heat ther getting at that height?Other wise they look great.Northern Lights and Big bud have around for years and are used as a mother plant for lots of hybrids.They both should do well with little problems.Big Bud is supposed to have a pretty good yield.You can never have too many lumens,just too much heat too close to the plants.You have a nice grow going and should have some nice buds coming for your effort.

Thanks man for the kind words and suggestions I've seen a 4 ft tall NL (non auto) before and it was beautiful. Never seen the nl x bb auto cross though. Anyways yeah the heat right under the lamp is about 79 and ambient tent temp is 73 and im shooting an oscillating breeze across the tops with the tower fan so im guessing temp is between 79 and 73 at canopy top. I've seen how much usable light is "wasted" every 3 or 4 inches so I'm hesitant to raise the light especially since they are flowering now and I want to beat these things into submission with lumens haha. Is a tiny little bit of canoeing going to affect anything later?

Where should I be measuring tent temp from anyway? I've got one probe at the floor of the tent with the pots and one on the back wall about 2 feet up

 

[BamaGrow]

I was thinking the same thing when I looked at your pictures. That light is real close. I measure my tent temp at the canopy themselves. If you are at 73 - 79, you are in good shape. One thing to consider is radiant heat. I put my palm down(even with the canopy). If the back of your hand gets too hot that you have to move it you know you are in trouble with heat. If it is comfortable then the plants should be comfortable as well.

 

[namvet]

Your thermometer should be as close to the tops of the girls as possible,thats really the only place that counts.

 

[Muddy]

Plants are looking good but IMO you're switched your lighting and nutes too soon. More info on that here: https://www.autoflower.org/f44/life-cycle-auto-flowering-cannabis-5113.html

I also think you're got your lights too low. At this point you still want to encourage vertical growth and should shoot for node spacing of around 1". I doubt you'll achieve that with the lights that low.