For all new growers with questions... Tons of information and answers..

mikerollup said:

Hey all i changed my set up. I got a 400w MH to use with my 1st grow hydro.. i had it in a small 2by2 8 foot closet. now the heat is hot like 90 so i decide to move it to a 2x5 7 feet tall. it is a bedroom closet the room has one A/C and one window. My questions are for ventilation, smell and steath any help. im making the move later once i get some help....PS how do u start a thread? Please help a newbeekiss-ass

Click to expand...

My ballast can take hps so i will do that as soon as i can get to home depot..
I will move to a larger closet in a bedroom, this closet does not have real doors. can this be a issue? In the bedroom thr are two closets side by side. the one i plan on using is the one near the ac so i can pump cool are in the grow closet. Now From my reflector(hydrofarm) its large. can i attach a fan then duct to filter and the pass that air to the next closet...And will that make the stuff in that closet smell.

i was also a it concerned about heat signiture since other thread got me worried have u ever tryed a reflector shield.

now what do you mean by it doesnt have real doors?? well.. to make it easy... as long as you can close the plants off in complete darkness for flowering it will be fine... so use that as a guide line...

having it near the ac will be nice since it will keep things cooler... if the reflector you have is an air cooled reflector it will easily be able to be ducted to for exhaust purposes...

now unless you have a duct filter or some sort of odor eliminator the smell will go wherever you run your duct too... as well as the heat from the room... if you can exhaust both into a closed off area it would be best... this way both heat and smell are contained in one closed off space.. if you exhaust into the other side of the closet, which would be fine also, try to seal it off well.. otherwise the odor will drift into your bedroom and the heat from the closet will be pulled out into the bedroom as well.. this makes the a/c work harder to try to cool that air.. plus it will just get sucked into your grow side again and although temps will over all be lower, it will still be slightly counterproductive...

either way, unless you have a good odor fighter anything the exhaust air blows on will end up smelling like ganja.... the strong the smell of the strain, the stronger things will smell...

and dont worry about heat sigs... seriously... if you want the piece of mind i will explain why not to worry.. but to keep a long explantion short, unless you are growing in an attic without any insulation, or exhausting hot air outside of your house, there is no reason to worry about heat sigs at all..

mikerollup said:

https://www.rollitup.org/members/mikerollup-albums.html

pictures from a week ago,,,comments suggestions

MIKEROLUP

Click to expand...

looks like a nice little DIY system...

not many suggestions to make right now... just little things to keep in mind...

1) make sure to watch your ppm and keep it low until solid roots are formed... once you have a good root base you can start to increase the nute amount..

2) watch the ph closely... ph means everything in a hydro environment... to high or too low and your plants wont get what they need... 5.5 to 6.5 is range... 5.8 to 6.2 is ideal...

3) watch water temps... temps over 80F can cook the roots and kill them off...

4) try to keep the water well aerated with an air stone... the more bubbles the better off it will be!

5) watch for signs or overwatering or underwatering and adjust your ebb and flood cycles accordingly...

6) keep your light as close as you possibly can until you can add some more light... what you have isnt very much light.. so make sure you are maximizing it...


keep it up bro... things are looking good...

simpsonsampson420 said:

well to answer your last question first, you cant start them in their permanent pot until you know if you are going to use soil or hydro...

and even then, it is more wise to start only the soil grow in the final pot.. hydro works better if you germinate and root the seed first, then transplant..

but either way you go, you can start the seed in any one of the following...

1) soil - you will have to transplant into a larger pot (if you dont start out in the final pot).. or if you are transfering to hydro you will have to wash out the roots.. thats another lesson for another day.. you'll want to plant the seed about 1/4 to 1/2 inch down... and water the soil.. so its well watered... and then keep the top moist until sprout.. misting with a spray bottle works best for this... you may choose to use thrive alive/super thrive when you water... this is fine..

2) rockwool, jiffy pucks, root riot cubes, ect... these are ideal since they can be put in either hydro or soil... the key to these is to keep them moist, but not wet... out of the three, rockwool seems to give people the most problems until they have used them a few times... you'll want to soak whichever of these you use for at least a half hour in ph'd water.. you may also choose to include thrive alive/super thrive in the soaking liquid.. that is fine..

3) you can germinate in between 2 wet paper towels placed in a zip lock bag (to retain moisture).. i dont personally like this method.. but there are tons of information on it floating all around if you want..

no matter which way you go i do recommend soaking the seeds in water for 12 to 24 hours.. this will help start the germination process by letting water wick in through the shell...




what was the ppm and ph of the hydro water??

its not uncommon to have transplant shock.. sometimes the leaves will suffer a little.. as long as the plant doesnt look like its dieing or the browning spreading, which it doesnt, its nothing to worry about..

Click to expand...

yo sammy we cool peeps , but its not good to start a seed in its final pot from see so say you got a 2 gal pot and thats where you want to go you would have to start smaller because it just grows straight out and that where the so called root bout b.s happen but you always start smaller so say you want yoour final pot to be 2 gallons you start out in a half gallon pot and when it gets good roots you transplant to the 2 gallon and it should be final and take its time just as i always do and i started crys in a 2 gallon pot and shes out grew it in a week because itsunlimited to growth space bro. and you should know better then that lol

nellyatcha said:

yo sammy we cool peeps , but its not good to start a seed in its final pot from see so say you got a 2 gal pot and thats where you want to go you would have to start smaller because it just grows straight out and that where the so called root bout b.s happen but you always start smaller so say you want yoour final pot to be 2 gallons you start out in a half gallon pot and when it gets good roots you transplant to the 2 gallon and it should be final and take its time just as i always do and i started crys in a 2 gallon pot and shes out grew it in a week because itsunlimited to growth space bro. and you should know better then that lol

Click to expand...

everytime you transplant it causes shock... how much shock depends on how gentle you are... but there is always some amount of shock... starting in a larger pot so you dont have to transplant keeps you from having to transplant... it doesnt cause root binding...

regardless of what size pot you grow in the roots will always fill out the given space... having more room for the roots to grow from the beginning allows them to spread out more quickly to start filling the space.. this means they are able to absorb more water and nuterients because the total root mass will be greater..

bobbychuck67 said:

Thanks Simpson, I value you're opinion. I'll order thr PH down for soil product that you originally provided a link to. Not the ph down really intended for hydro.

Click to expand...

just take caution when adjusting.. adjust slowly.. dont over shoot it.. its a pain to have to readjust up if you drop it down too far...

bobbychuck67 said:

Thanks Simpson, I value you're opinion. I'll order thr PH down for soil product that you originally provided a link to. Not the ph down really intended for hydro.

Click to expand...

What do you recommend for adjusting pH for water and feed solutions on a soil grow? I use GH pH up and down.

ph up and down for the nute solution or water...

but the ph up and down wont affect soil ph at all...

i recommend using hydrated lime to raise it... HL has a stable ph of 7.0.. so using it will eventually level your ph at or very close to 7.0... you may also use gypsum to raise the soil ph...

sulfur is the first choice to use for lowering soil.. at least in my opinion.. it works over time and works for a long time... this helps to stabilize the ph over a period of time, instead of a possible "quick fix"

typically nutes/ferts will lower the ph naturally... the build up and salts in the soil will lower it gradually over time... a little salt/build up in the soil is natural.. but to much can cause huge ph problems so dont let build up be an answer... you can also try using a fert/nute with ammonium.. these are usually contained in nutes for acid loving plants... so it may not be economical to buy just in case of ph issues..

this http://www.planetnatural.com/site/chelated-iron.html is works well and quickly.. it will work for a while too.. you just have to be careful because a drastic drop in ph can cause osmotic shock to the root systems.. which will interfer with water and nute uptake..


anytime you adjust soil ph or hydroponic reservoir solutions dont make the jump more than .5 at a time... gradual over time is better than all at once to allow the roots to adjust to the new environment...

simpsonsampson420 said:

ph up and down for the nute solution or water...

but the ph up and down wont affect soil ph at all...

i recommend using hydrated lime to raise it... HL has a stable ph of 7.0.. so using it will eventually level your ph at or very close to 7.0... you may also use gypsum to raise the soil ph...

sulfur is the first choice to use for lowering soil.. at least in my opinion.. it works over time and works for a long time... this helps to stabilize the ph over a period of time, instead of a possible "quick fix"

typically nutes/ferts will lower the ph naturally... the build up and salts in the soil will lower it gradually over time... a little salt/build up in the soil is natural.. but to much can cause huge ph problems so dont let build up be an answer... you can also try using a fert/nute with ammonium.. these are usually contained in nutes for acid loving plants... so it may not be economical to buy just in case of ph issues..

this http://www.planetnatural.com/site/chelated-iron.html is works well and quickly.. it will work for a while too.. you just have to be careful because a drastic drop in ph can cause osmotic shock to the root systems.. which will interfer with water and nute uptake..


anytime you adjust soil ph or hydroponic reservoir solutions dont make the jump more than .5 at a time... gradual over time is better than all at once to allow the roots to adjust to the new environment...

Click to expand...

Right. I was just curious what your thoughts on using pH up and pH down for adjusting water and nute solution for soil grows. Some people say not to pH your water if growing in soil. Does pHing your water and nute solutions help keep your soil pH stable in your opinion?

i always recommend ph'ing your nute solution... you dont always have to adjust just water if you are just using water, but if you have the time and can, i suggest that too..

here is my logic behind it...

now while the ph of the water or nute solution wont directly affect the soils ph, it can contribute to maintaining a good ph.. this is because excess salts in the soil can lower the ph as i said.. since ph can mean the difference between nutes being available and not being available, if the ph is off and causes lock out this can increase the amount of salts that get left behind from unused nutes... this can lower soil ph even more.. causing more lockout.. and so on..

adjusting the ph of the water and nute solution can help ensure the nutes that are being fed are used up before more nutes are used... and since water is the vessel in which nutes are absorbed, even using ph'd plain water can help use up the last little bit of nutes in the soil when not using nutes.. make sense??

some growers will say you dont need to.. and indeed it may be over kill... but my theory is the more things you can do with accuracy, the less you have to figure out should something go wrong.. in this case, assuming you keep your ph's in range, you can know if you have a deficiency and not have to figure out if its a lock out issue thats a contributing factor...

i hope this makes sense.... been a long day

whats the deal with ''root trim'' does it help the plant keep longer and how do you trim the roots with out hurting the tap root?

one more question, i've started my babies in 16 ounce cups about 4 days now and i was wondering about how long do i have till i repot them?

megaplant said:

Thankx very helpful buddy!

Click to expand...

your welcome

xXkillerklownXx said:

whats the deal with ''root trim'' does it help the plant keep longer and how do you trim the roots with out hurting the tap root?

Click to expand...

hey bro... i will try to keep root trimming as simple as i can and why to do it.. usually its not needed... but can be utilized in some cases... if you want more info than i provide please let me know and ill go into more detail...

with root trimming you cut of the outter 1/3 of the main root mass... from the outside towards the middle.. it helps to stimulate new root growth... it works well in an environment that roots can grow together from multiple plants... such as an aero garden or food to waste table... it just keeps them from getting tangled and fighting over space... if you do it on a regular basis it will, as i said, promote new root growth and keep them healthy... just take caution not to over trim.. and if you are in soil, its not much of an issue since all your plants should have their own pots..

xXkillerklownXx said:

one more question, i've started my babies in 16 ounce cups about 4 days now and i was wondering about how long do i have till i repot them?

Click to expand...

i'd say within 2 weeks... or once you see growth begin to slow... but it should pretty much all be within 14 to 20 days more than likely...

Thanks again Simpson. I'm making the Ph adjustment slowly now. I'll let you know how it goes. Next question if you are up for it. I was intruiged by your orinal post where you discussed pruning / training. Specifically the "pinching technique". Could you elaborate some time? Maybe with pictures? I've been topping my plants (once each) because they are getting to close to the lamps and I don't have more height to work with. Can't be taller than about two feet. I selected indica for this reason. Specifically Aurora Indica and Blackjack from Nirvana. BTW Nirvana rocks!

Hey simpson have another question for you. My babies are just over 3 weeks old and are roughly 4 inches tall. They are are in 8 inch pots and was wondering how long should i let them grow before transplanting.

simpson i have a ? i have the infamous spidermites i was going to try to no pest strips but i dont know. the plants were outside till it got to cold for them. now there in a home made chamber but these mites r killing me. i've grown before but never got them. I'm useing 6 24w cfls in the chamber i just took off the alumi foil thanks by the why im getting some paint. i have a fan going 24hrs day and they have already started show very long hairs can the damage from the mites be reverse or am i screwed. would really like some advice. nature already claimed one hopeing for some kind of harvest . plant that nature claimed had formed very nice bud. The strain of the plants is MK ultra cost me a penny or to. So if u have any advice please help..

Howzit SS420! I have a few more questions regarding ph in soil grow.

1) Is measuring water run off from potted soil with a digital ph meter a good/accurate method of measuring ph?

2) Is measuring soil ph by mixing a 1:1 soil/distilled water mix (and perhaps letting it soak for a minute?) and using a digital ph meter on the mix a good/accurate method of measuring ph?

I've read gardeners use both methods and wanted to know if it can be applied to mj. Also, will a soil's ph be different when it is wet, moist and dry? I find the ph tests and ph soil probes found locally in local hardware/gardening stores are garbage....they give me too broad of a range of readings. I have a Eutech ph meter that I use to ph my water/nute mix but unfortunately do not have funds to acquire good soil ph meter (EC/PPM meter is taking that funds up). Tanks again in advance braddah! I love this thread!!!!

I just read your entire thread, and would like to add a few points:

1. Never Ever over-water, over-watering will contribute to nute lock-up. The roots need air to complete the osmosis process, and over-watering stops the roots from getting air. I cannot stress enough the importance of this fact. Most new growers spend too much time with their plants because they are so excited about their first grow. You will do best if you set your timers and use a moisture meter to check for moisture and just leave them alone. The plant will do well enough on it's own. Remember MJ is a weed and does not need a whole lot of help to grow.

2. Soil is a PH buffer so it will not change quickly on it's own, a higher PH in soil 7+ will slow growth and contibute to nute lock-up. I completely agree with SS, you must slowly adjust your PH.

3. While lighting is heavily discussed in this and other forums, indoor grows need good ventilation just as much as good lighting, although a few strains can handle high heat, very few do well in high humidity.

Remember, MJ is just a weed (therefore the nickname) and it does not need a whole lot of attention, just give em enough light and air circulation and they will be fine!

+rep to you for this excellent thread SS!!

Bump bump!

bobbychuck67 said:

Thanks again Simpson. I'm making the Ph adjustment slowly now. I'll let you know how it goes. Next question if you are up for it. I was intruiged by your orinal post where you discussed pruning / training. Specifically the "pinching technique". Could you elaborate some time? Maybe with pictures? I've been topping my plants (once each) because they are getting to close to the lamps and I don't have more height to work with. Can't be taller than about two feet. I selected indica for this reason. Specifically Aurora Indica and Blackjack from Nirvana. BTW Nirvana rocks!

Click to expand...

i will be glad to elaborate a little more on this.. i cant do pictures right now... my grow is currently in flowering.. but as soon as i can on my next grow i will start including more pictures... i also plan on going through and taking note of pages with "tutorials" and posting on the front page the number and "lesson".. to make things easier to find things... anyways..


when i refer to pinching i basically am talking about FIM'ing by using your fingers instead of scissors..

FIM'ing, which stands for (as the story goes) fuck i missed... it works like topping, but without cutting any nodes off or through the main stem..

now at the very end of all branches, during veg growth, is a "bud" of new growth... it is basically a little nub that opens up and is what the leaves and stem grow from.. you may have to pull back some leaves that are just starting to open to locate it.. but it should be fairly accessable...

in order to FIM it you simply pinch or cut about 80% of that little bud/nub off... this will cause the nub to grow into (at least) 2 tops, like topping does, without the amount of stress that topping causes... the less stress you cause the better..

the reason it happens is that you are removing an amount of new growth that contains part of the stem... the bud/nub growth grows around part of the stem... getting below the part of the growth that contains that little amount of stem splits the growth into 2... think topping on a very very small scale...

cutting with scissors causes a very clean uniform cut.. this will cause 2 tops.. sometimes 3... i like pinching because the break is more jagged... this can cause it to grow back oddly or heal oddly, which can cause 2, 3, and ever more tops sometimes.. as long as you pinch low enough you will always be garunteed at least 2 tops...

as i said i cant take a picture tutorial of how to pinch, but i will post some pics tommorrow of one of my girls i did this to and the results.. i think she has about 5 tops on 1 branch... it works well to get multiple tops, causes less stress than topping, works exactly like topping (will cause slower vertical growth for 3 to 7 days) as far as slowing growth, and is a lot quicker... just pinch and go!!

and please keep me informed about your grow...

I Forgot said:

Hey simpson have another question for you. My babies are just over 3 weeks old and are roughly 4 inches tall. They are are in 8 inch pots and was wondering how long should i let them grow before transplanting.

Click to expand...

the best way to know when to transplant is when you start to see solid growth slow or stop... i would guess that if root growth is good that your almost there now... if you count from when the seed sprouted it would take about 2 to 3 weeks to grow a root mass about that size... imho i would probably transplant in about 1 week... you can be pretty sure the roots will have filled out or almost filled the pot by then...

tattooedgod said:

simpson i have a ? i have the infamous spidermites i was going to try to no pest strips but i dont know. the plants were outside till it got to cold for them. now there in a home made chamber but these mites r killing me. i've grown before but never got them. I'm useing 6 24w cfls in the chamber i just took off the alumi foil thanks by the why im getting some paint. i have a fan going 24hrs day and they have already started show very long hairs can the damage from the mites be reverse or am i screwed. would really like some advice. nature already claimed one hopeing for some kind of harvest . plant that nature claimed had formed very nice bud. The strain of the plants is MK ultra cost me a penny or to. So if u have any advice please help..

Click to expand...

i wrote this a while ago... should contain most answers you need.. let me know if you have any more.. and good luck battling those fuckers...

so here are a couple things about neem oil... i use it and swear by it so ill give you my personal experiences with it...

first i've used neem oil under HO satellite IV floros on a 24/0 crop with NO problems.. i didnt have any burn from the water or the oil magnifying light... no ill side affects at all.. so if you are using floros i would venture to say you'll be fine spraying during a 24/0 light schedule... just move the lights when you spray so you dont spray the lights themselves... make sure you get under the leaves and the "inside" of the plant just as well as the topside of the leafs and "outside" of the plant... like was said those little bastards live under the leaves so take time to spray well...

secondly neem oil can be root fed to your plants as well.. during the entire time i have an infestation i feed neem to my plants... ill explain what neem oil does and why root feeding is good in the next paragraph.. but i feed each plant about 6 ml per gallon of water every other feed.. you can just incorporate the neem into your regular feeding schedule... only do this if its soil though... i wouldnt recommend it for hydro...

here is how neem oil works.. neem oil is NOT a spot killer.. you wont spray your plants today and be gone of mite tomorrow... expect about a 2 week battle... neem oil works a couple ways.. first if you can spray the eggs well it covers them and suffocates them... no more eggs.. when the adults eat the neem oil it messes with their hormones... it makes it so they cant reproduce and lay eggs.. immature pests that eat the neem oil dont reach adult hood and are never able to reproduce... thats why spraying the plant well is so important.. you want to make sure the mites have no choice BUT to eat the neem oil... root feeding work very similar in that the pests hormones get fucked up when they suck the juices from your plant, but it also deters them from sucking on your plant because the neem oil tastes horrible... it also contains some trace minerals so its actually good to feed your plants,, i personally will root feed my plants every other time during and infestation, and spray them every 2-3 days.. the spray i use is 3ml neem oil per 1L of water with a few drops of biodegradable liquid dish soap... usually following this over a 2 week period.. then just go down to spraying once a week as a precaution... ill do this up to the 4th weeks of flowering.. havent ran into mold problems yet, or had neem flavored buds, or any other side affects due to the neem oil... its always worked for me.. like i said.. it just takes about a week before you see progress, 2 weeks before the infestation is gone... but its a natural way to get rid of them... if you want an immediate solution get some NO PEST STRIPS from walmart, lowes, home depot, ect.. they will work in a few hours and kill both mites and eggs... but it is a chemical strip (not a spray)... personally i dont want to think that what im inhaling was treated with a chemical... NO PEST strips work tho.. just make sure you arent in the area because they arent anything you want to breath in... also AVID and FLORAMITE are instant working sprays, but again they are chemical... chemical = instant, but it is a chemical you are using on your plant... natural = longer time fighting the pests, but its not chemical.. just depends on you...

also.. a couple smaller ways of helping slow down their life cycle and battle them is;
1) keep humidity up... they hate humidity... spraying with cold water will help by raising the humidity, spraying them off the leaf surface, and they dont like cold.. which brings me to number two..
2) drop the temps to between 65 and 70 if you can... it can take 10 days for mites to reach maturity in cooler humid temps, but as little at 2 days in warmer less humid places... each female can lay 100 eggs a day... they are 75% females anyways... in the right climate they can very very very quickly run your garden over... so until you decide how you are gonna deal with them and they are dealt with making the enviroment as unhospitible to them as you can will help slow their growth...
3) also you can use a tobacco, tobasco, garlic, cinnamon oil, peppermint oil, ect spray.. they arent pesticides, but will help deter them from your plants...

whatever way you chose is up to you... some say neem oil doesnt work and you should go with avid, floramite, or no pest strips... i swear by neem oil and wont use anything else... just make sure you get 100% neem oil from the first press... and not 100% neem oil from the second press or something that just has neem oil in it...

good luck with those bastards.. hope this helped

::edit::

i also want to stress cleanliness when going into your garden.. if you have been outside at all or have pets you need to change before entering your garden...

your clothes can carry eggs into your garden.. eggs hatch and waa-laa.. outbreak...

pets can carry eggs on them and spread them to you.. or if you let them into garden will carry them in themselves...

if your grow is in your bedroom or somewhere with carpet vacuum very very very very very very very very very well...

if you are less than 5 weeks into flowering, spray with a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and water...

bet prepared for the pistils tp brown/red from this.. its ok.. they will grow back in a few days...

Hey man Thanks for the info! I have added it to my notebook! Would you be so kind as to check out my recent thread and give me any advice or comments? Its my first grow, and its set up pretty much just like you said. But anyway take a look... Advice/Comments are always wanted!

R1Farmer said:

Howzit SS420! I have a few more questions regarding ph in soil grow.

1) Is measuring water run off from potted soil with a digital ph meter a good/accurate method of measuring ph?

2) Is measuring soil ph by mixing a 1:1 soil/distilled water mix (and perhaps letting it soak for a minute?) and using a digital ph meter on the mix a good/accurate method of measuring ph?

I've read gardeners use both methods and wanted to know if it can be applied to mj. Also, will a soil's ph be different when it is wet, moist and dry? I find the ph tests and ph soil probes found locally in local hardware/gardening stores are garbage....they give me too broad of a range of readings. I have a Eutech ph meter that I use to ph my water/nute mix but unfortunately do not have funds to acquire good soil ph meter (EC/PPM meter is taking that funds up). Tanks again in advance braddah! I love this thread!!!!

Click to expand...

Howzit SS420! Please disregard....I read the entire thread again and was able to find the information I needed (I think).

I do have a question that I could not find an answer in the previous posts:

I'm using Sunshine Mix #4 soil and did not add any perlite to it. I read that it was good to go out of the bag (premix with perlite already). So far my girls have not complained and when I do water it drains pretty good. If I'm using 3 gallon pots how long should it take for the soil to be completely dry. I recently purchased a cheap moisture probe and after not watering for a few days the soil is still reading wet yet the top ~2" layer is completely dry. Is this a sign of not enough perlite? The temperature around here has been around 75~85 degrees, slightly humid and it did rain a couple of nights ago. So my questions are:

- should I water only when moisture probe displays dry??
- if top 2"~3" of potted soil is completely dry but bottom of pot is wet after 4~5 days of not water is that an indication of improper soil mix?
- before being schooled by you in regards to watering I think perhaps I have been drowning my girls and it may take a long time for the core soil in my containers to dry out...what do you think?



Tanks again braddah!!