How am I gettin on? Expert advice would come in handy ;)

I've been on a learning curve with my 1st grow but hopefully, with the help of forums like this, and youtube lol, I'll get to grips with it and have the knowledge next time round.

Yes, I have made a few cock ups this time at the beginning. PH levels, to start with, where far too high and I think they got a bit overfed. The girls where not the size or colour I was hoping for after 5 weeks of veg! Quickly rectified this and they started coming on slowly. My light also I don't think done any favours to be honest!

I've got a pretty decent grow area. 9'x9'x7'. 600HPS, reflective foil in whole area, 6" ex fan. I think I need more light in an area like this, would that be correct?

I started of with 11 plants, 5 Pineapple exp and 6 Chronic. Sorry to say I lost 3 of them within the 1st 3 weeks. I'm growing in 5gal pots, soil and with iguana grow and flower nutes.

Another mistake I made was not giving the soil any perlite....i think the roots havent been able to breath and grow as quickly (please correct me if I'm wrong in any of this folks, much appreciated for next time around). Also during veg i was using the 600wHPS. I bought myself a 125w eco-light and used that for the last 4 weeks. I am now 2 weeks into flower after 9 weeks of veg, and will post the pics soon. They are looking alot better now and have attempted super cropping and bending with most of the plants.

Any pointers from anyone would be great. I hope I'm back on track. Still unsure as to the color of some plants, any ideas? Would do you think all the ladies will be fine and still pull a good yield?

TY all, GHA

Mistakes are part of the learning curve...your grow looks good to me.

Thanks Rab. I know the plants actually look better in the photos than what they really are. I think the darkness with the flash on my cam shows up more green than what they are. Just a bit worried regarding the colour of most of them. I do agree with you, I'm learning alot very quickly.

Greenhouseaffect said:

I think I need more light in an area like this, would that be correct?

Click to expand...

Yes, you could easily have a 1k watter in there. How far away is your bulb from the canopy? I try to keep my 400w HPS about 8-9 inches away from the canopy. With a 600 it should be about 14-15 inches away.

Greenhouseaffect said:

Another mistake I made was not giving the soil any perlite....i think the roots havent been able to breath and grow as quickly (please correct me if I'm wrong in any of this folks, much appreciated for next time around).

Click to expand...

Yes, perlite is a necessary addition for any soil recipe. Perlite makes up 20-25% of my soil.

Greenhouseaffect said:

Still unsure as to the color of some plants, any ideas? Would do you think all the ladies will be fine and still pull a good yield?

Click to expand...

They look like they are lacking Nitrogen; I would try adding some for the next two weeks, then start a Phosphate booster until the end. Regardless, you will still have smokeable bud at the end. Nice work so far!

purplehazin said:

Yes, you could easily have a 1k watter in there. How far away is your bulb from the canopy? I try to keep my 400w HPS about 8-9 inches away from the canopy. With a 600 it should be about 14-15 inches away.



Yes, perlite is a necessary addition for any soil recipe. Perlite makes up 20-25% of my soil.



They look like they are lacking Nitrogen; I would try adding some for the next two weeks, then start a Phosphate booster until the end. Regardless, you will still have smokeable bud at the end. Nice work so far!

Click to expand...

Hey Purple. Thanks for your reply. Well I have the 600W hps about 60-70cm from the top of the plants...not sure but I wouldve thought any closer may burn them? And regarding the perlite, yes I was a silly boy not adding it at the start, I has caused alot of minor problems.

I was thinking of flushing them out very soon then Using some bio-grow with 8% N content. What you think?

The closer you can get the bulb, the better. This is why I built a cooltube so I could have my bulb within just a few inches without burning. Ventilation is also key; having a fan blowing the hot air off the canopy will really help you.

Why would you flush your plants? Looks like to me they are needing nutrients, not having too many.