New Grower My first grow journal. Heavyweight Strawberry Cheese Cake

[pigman]

CFL are ok you just have to know there limitations, they have little light intensity so you have to keep them real close say 8 to 6 inches, unless you have the really large ones as even they can get too hot, its best to use the (6500k) bulbs for veg and the(2700k) which you have for flowering, even better a mix, though the 6500 will work all the way through, those pots need to go right under the lights pal, a simple rearrangement of the pots will help.Check out the cfl grow threads, and yes a LED would be great in the middle of that, then you could use that as side lighting but if its all ya got and can/want to spend it will produce, also you could do with some thing above them to reflect the light down good luck

thanks for the input Hairy, what specs should I look for in an LED? are they the same as CFL's? and about something over the top to reflect the light, I was worried about using a metal flashing because (in my mind I was thinking) that it would act like a magnifying glass and possibly burn the little fellas... what would you suggest? again, I appreciate yours and everyone else's thoughts and input.

 

[hairyman]

thanks for the input Hairy, what specs should I look for in an LED? are they the same as CFL's? and about something over the top to reflect the light, I was worried about using a metal flashing because (in my mind I was thinking) that it would act like a magnifying glass and possibly burn the little fellas... what would you suggest? again, I appreciate yours and everyone else's thoughts and input.

Hi pal, i am a new grower like yourself, so asking me about led specs is like the blind leading the blind, i guess its down to how much you want to spend, what your floor space is etc,etc, i read the the threads like crazy and take it from there, i am sure more experienced growers will chip in, i just bought a mars hydro 300 old model just from the price, will fit my space and seen others have good results angle.
I have seen some people use cut down cans to make mini reflectors for the smaller cfl lights though seems to much hassle to me, as to the magnifying effect i personally wouldn't be too worried about it with cfl but hey i in same boat as you bit lost at times, i used a reflector for a normal light and adjusted it to fit but the aim is to lose as little light as possible.Have you checked out the CFL and lighting threads? sometimes you will come across one that will just meet the question your looking answered for, sorry for not being more definitive with my reply.

Edit, the measurments i gave for light to plant are very lose you will want to get them down as close as possible as soon as possible, again its a judgement as to how hot your room is etc, i currently have a 300 thats 9 inches away from 3 girls but if it was lets say a 125 light i would have it closer.

 

[pigman]

ok guys, today is day 8! im so excited the little ladies look good to me, but im not totally sure so im asking for yalls opinion, so please feel free to give it.

ok, so here is how they are measuring up.

#1 (FireBall) is no taller than she was yesterday, but leaves seem to be a bit larger.
#2 (Pistol Annie) is now 3" tall and the leaves seem to be about the same size as they were yesterday.
#3 (Havoc) is now about 2" tall and the leaves have doubled in size!
#4 (NyQuil) is no taller, but the leaves have tripled in size!!!
#5 (Lickem & Stickem) is now 1-1/4" tall and the leaves have tripled in size as well!!!

tomorrow I will be going to town to get some 26w 6500k CFLs and will change out every other light on my fixture. giving me 4ea of the 2700k and 4ea of the 6500k lights.

some concerns that I now am having, as seen in the pic with the humidity/temp, im running at 71% humidity now, from what I have read, you want to stay between 40%-60%... is this something I need to worry about? what could I do to lower this? a dehumidifier?

also with #2 being taller than the rest, I have the lights 6" above her. will this cause the shorter ones to start stretching and be bad for them?


and I have also read and have a watering / feeding schedule that I found on one of the other threads as below:


Week 1 (Three true leaves) - 1TSP Fish Emulsion per gallon of water.
Week 2 - 1.5 TSP Fish Emulsion per gallon of water.
Week 3 - 2 TSP Fish Emulsion per gallon of water
Week 4 - 2 TSP Fish Emulsion per gallon of water
Week 5 - 2 TSP Miracle Gro Quick Start per gallon of water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses
Week 6 - 3 TSP Miracle Gro Quick Start per gallon of water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses
Week 7 - 3 TSP Miracle Gro Quick Start per gallon of water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses
Week 8 - Plain water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses
Week 9 - Plain water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses

is this a good plan to go by? for now, until they get their 3rd set of true leaves I am only supposed to be giving them water ph'ed to 6.5, is that correct?

as always guys, I genuinely appreciate yalls comments and advise, so please keep it coming!

 

[pigman]

anyone have any thoughts, suggestions, or comments? I really appreciate everyone's feed back.

 

[oldster]

Oldster,
im using a local organic light mix (32 quarts) then added 8 qts of pertile, and 3 qts sand and mixed really well.

as far as nutes im going to be using Fox Farm Big Bloom, Tiger Bloom, and Grow Big.

yes I have a digital soil ph tester. I use it to test my water to 6.5 before watering and once the ladies get big enough that I start getting run off, I will test that as well.

now I have a couple questions for you.

I looked at the box for the lights I have currently, it says that the 6ea bulbs produce 1300 lumens. so basically I need to add another 8ea lights but they need to be 6500k? also you say I need to have about 4000-5000 lumens per sq ft. what im using is aprox. a 3x3. so I need to have about 15000 lumens total light?

You could leave out the sand next time it can accumulate towards the bottom and interfere with drainage. 9 square feet would need a total of about 27,000 (9 x 3000)lumens for early veg and I would go with 2/3 6500k and 1/3 2700k. When you get to full bloom stage you will want 36,000 - 45,000 lumens of CFL, 1/3 6500k and 2/3 2700k aprox.

tomorrow I will be going to town to get some 26w 6500k CFLs and will change out every other light on my fixture. giving me 4ea of the 2700k and 4ea of the 6500k lights.

some concerns that I now am having, as seen in the pic with the humidity/temp, im running at 71% humidity now, from what I have read, you want to stay between 40%-60%... is this something I need to worry about? what could I do to lower this? a dehumidifier?

also with #2 being taller than the rest, I have the lights 6" above her. will this cause the shorter ones to start stretching and be bad for them?


and I have also read and have a watering / feeding schedule that I found on one of the other threads as below:


Week 1 (Three true leaves) - 1TSP Fish Emulsion per gallon of water.
Week 2 - 1.5 TSP Fish Emulsion per gallon of water.
Week 3 - 2 TSP Fish Emulsion per gallon of water
Week 4 - 2 TSP Fish Emulsion per gallon of water
Week 5 - 2 TSP Miracle Gro Quick Start per gallon of water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses
Week 6 - 3 TSP Miracle Gro Quick Start per gallon of water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses
Week 7 - 3 TSP Miracle Gro Quick Start per gallon of water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses
Week 8 - Plain water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses
Week 9 - Plain water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses

I would not give them anything besides water for the first 3 weeks. If the feeding schedule was not specifically for auto's I would start out at 25% and slowly increase. If the tips of the leaves start turning yellow reduce the amount some. How much they can take will be plant specific so you should try to cater to what each can take.

You may want to look at higher wattage CFLs more like 55 watt each to get the light levels you need. Also adding an LED would work also but I don't use them so can't advise. Grow Northern and Marshydro both have reps on site that could help you choose.

71% RH is a little high but ok for early veg. You definitely will need to get it a lot lower for bloom.

With 23 watt CFLs you should be able to get them within 2 or 3 inches of the plant tops. Put the back of your hand at the top of the plants if it just feels comfortably warm they should be fine. You don't want so much stretch that they can not support themselves.

 

[paddler54]

Pigman I am sure someone will get to you. In the meantime tell me a little about your grow area. Do you have any fans running? Is the grow in a cabinet, a tent, closet? The humidity is high what is the temp in the grow area too? I'm pretty sure you want 6500k -6700k bulbs at this point the 2700k are more for flowering. Makes sense really, the tilt of the earth introduces more red spectrum during the natural time cannabis flowers. Those strawberry cheesecakes are feminized photos so you are going to have to change your lighting regiem when the ladies are ready to flower. Take my advice with a huge grain of salt as I have yet to start my first grow. I am very interested in your grow and I really wish you the very best of luck. Can somebody give the pigman a hand please?

 

[paddler54]

Never mind oldsters got it covered.

 

[Duckster]

Hey Pigman welcome to AFN. A small tidbit to add to oldster's comments. The pH target of 6.5 is a good number, but it's really relative to the pH of your soil. For example, if your soil pH is low around 5.8-6.0, you would want to have your water/feed solution pH to be up around 7.0-7.2 to help the balance. Good grow karma to you.

 

[pigman]

9 square feet would need a total of about 27,000 (9 x 3000)lumens for early veg and I would go with 2/3 6500k and 1/3 2700k. When you get to full bloom stage you will want 36,000 - 45,000 lumens of CFL, 1/3 6500k and 2/3 2700k aprox.

im such an idiot...I wasn't thinking... thanks for setting me straight. im back with you now.:thank:

ok so I think I have a way to fix my lighting fixture for the veg stage. I did some research on CFLs on the Home Depot website and if I get 8ea 40w,(equivalent to 150w) 6500k CFLs (they give 2800 lumens each) 8 X 2800 = 22,400 Lumens.

then I can add 3ea clamp-on lights with 40w, (equivalent to 150w) 2700k CFLs (they give off 2800 lumens each as well) 3 X 2800 = 8400 Lumens.

for a total of 30,800 lumens for my veg stage. this will give me aprox 2/3 6500k and 1/3 2700k.

 

[pigman]

I would not give them anything besides water for the first 3 weeks. If the feeding schedule was not specifically for auto's I would start out at 25% and slowly increase. If the tips of the leaves start turning yellow reduce the amount some. How much they can take will be plant specific so you should try to cater to what each can take.

I got this water/feeding schedule from a thread in the newbie section as well. so I assumed it was for autos.

it says "With all of that said, here's your nutrient schedule, follow it and adjust it as needed but this schedule will NOT burn your plants with the soil mixture."

New Grower's Guide: Grow @ Lowe's [Easy Dirt Guide!]

Week 1 (Three true leaves) - 1TSP Fish Emulsion per gallon of water.
Week 2 - 1.5 TSP Fish Emulsion per gallon of water.
Week 3 - 2 TSP Fish Emulsion per gallon of water
Week 4 - 2 TSP Fish Emulsion per gallon of water
Week 5 - 2 TSP Miracle Gro Quick Start per gallon of water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses
Week 6 - 3 TSP Miracle Gro Quick Start per gallon of water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses
Week 7 - 3 TSP Miracle Gro Quick Start per gallon of water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses
Week 8 - Plain water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses
Week 9 - Plain water + 1TSP Blackstrap Molasses

So from all the info you have given me, I don't give them nothing but water for the first 3 weeks. by this time I should have 3 sets of true leaves, then I can start adding my nutes.