My CFL Grow.

Yup, that PH is where nitrogen absorption beings dropping off fast. The way to change a mediums PH is to change the PH of the water. Add vinegar to the water until it drops to about 5.5, but no lower than 5, and continue to water with that lowered PH until the medium PH drops. As it does, you dont need to use quite as acidic water, and eventually it will even itself out. Probably in a couple weeks. Fertilizers can change the PH of the water considerably, so be sure to add the fertilizers BEFORE testing and changing the PH levels. The water will be absorbed by the medium, and they will more or less neutralize each other (well actually ideally change to the low 6's). You're gunna have a lot of PH testing to do in the next couple weeks =( If some of the plants reacted well to more food, I would presume that they all suffer from the same problem since they were probably treated the same by the past grower and the strains just magnified or resisted the issue. Begin treating for starvation!

Both light ideas sound good. I suppose I would lean towards the first option. The reason being even with a little more flexibility, the lights will still have to illuminate plants of different heights. As such, you will need to adjust the plants to the lights regardless due to the height difference. But, knowing me, I would just do the easiest one =D

No need to thank me bro. The way i see it, the more people growing their own, the better. If 1 in 3 smokers grow, then everyone will have a friend that grows, and there will be no more Mexican drug cartel, a drastically reduced black market, better quality weed, no cities going dry, etc. I just want to make sure you're first growing op is a positive experience and you continue to help you and the rest of us by simply watering a plant every few days. Cheers!

Right on, man. Probably a normal newbie thing but, I am starting to stress a bit.

I went ahead and did a foliar feed tonight, about an hour before lights out, anyway.

I'm thinking I may get this for lighting and add a few cfls on the sides.

Yep, my girlies are hungry. The foliar feeding I gave them last night made them a little more perky. So I'll give them nutes with a lowered pH probably tomorrow. I don't want to give them more water today since I just gave them some yesterday, even though the top of this darned medium is dry again. I'm giving serious thought to a diy dwc and trading what I have to a friend for his spring outdoor crop. I think that would take care of all of my issues in one fell swoop, though it would mean another transplant.

I did some fanagling with my lights to try to get something at least decent for right now. Oh, and for reference sake, my fan.

Over watering is a common mistake, so it is good you are exercising caution. The easiest way to figure whether you should water or not is to stick a finger or two into the soil. If the top two inches are dry, its time to water. When you do water, make sure to get the whole surface of the medium wet, then pour water in at a constant rate until water is coming out of the bottom. Wait 1/2 hour to 1 hour and repeat. Over watering usually is an issue when people water too frequently rather than too much at one time. You don't want to flood your plants tho. Frequency of watering is dependent on many things, so you'll just need to figure it out based on medium dryness. Usually its around every 2-3 days.
Lights are looking good, be sure to rotate the plants to ensure even distribution. And, as always, the closer the better (without burning, of course).
You could do the trade and set up that system, but I think you're right for showing concern about another transplant--the plants are stressed already. I personally prefer to keep it simple. The water meter is nice, but I think unnecessary. (no offense to any who do have it tho!)

Thank you, very much.

Yeah, I'm thinking they are too stressed out and by the time they re-establish their root systems will likely be a pain to deal with. Maybe I'll start with their clones.

Miss. Dream and Miss. Widow are looking and smelling lovely this morning, though. I watered them this morning, with nutes mixed per directions, so hopefully that perks Santa Berry up.

I'm rotating them 1/4 turn a day and adjusting things as necessary to keep the lights close.

With any luck, I should have some nice smoke around New Years from the two Berries and be close to harvesting the Widow.

Sounds delicious. Keep posting pictures weekly if all is good--I love watching plants grow up happy

man i'm sorry but i don't have any experience with cfl's but i started with a 150 hps and it worked so good. i ran and got me a 400 w hps and a 400 mh and ran them together with such good results now i run a 1000 w hps with a 400w mh and i have got to say i never seen plants grow so fast an so stout.i think i might get me another 1000 watt system and grow me some monster ganjas.gl luck with lots of little lights.me,i can't weight till they make a 2000 watt system.grow on

Yeah, I don't plan on staying with the cfls forever.

On the bright side, both the Widow and Dream have grown an inch since I measured them two days ago and have all kinds of new growth.

I havn;t read the whole thread, but, it's safe to say that you cannot achive 1g per 1w with CFL's



peace

Ultimate goal, people. I never intended on keeping the cfls for more than a few months.

Alright, one week from transplant update.

In order, White Widow, Blue Dream and Santa Berry. The SB is still haggard and the burn spot is from lights. Other than that one, it looks like my ladies are taking off. Hopefully the SB picks up soon because I need to start flowering the other two soon before they get too big.

Nice work Blanco! Continue to increase nutes. as the plant grows to too does its need for food. Also they might want more and you'll never know what that exact strain can handle until it shows a wee little bit of burn. when that happens, all you gatta do is flush and go back on notch and you will have maximized the plants' fertilizer potential. the SB is a great color but the leaves are drooping. How often are you watering it? some plants require more water than others.

Yes, it would be best if you could flower them now or you will have out of control plants. I'd say go to 12/12 cuz the two definitely have roots established, and if the SB doesn't make it it probably never would have. Some plants just suck at living. =)

Thanks man. Been trying to get some advice about it for a few days now. It seems like forum newbies are far more helpful here than the old members.

I'm watering it with the others. I was thinking that it might need to be watered more often because its medium always dries out before the other two. I was also thinking it might just be a dud, like you said. That would totally suck because it's a hard strain to find. I literally stumbled across it.

I'll give it a few more days and then flower. I'm going to "tame" the other two by taking my first clones.

haha that'll teach em! cut off an arm and use it to make babies!
Honestly I think that SB just needs more love (aka water) and she'll perk right up

Hahaha. That widow has more arms than a Hindu deity. I was actually thinking about doing a mini-scrog with it just for the hell of it.

More water. Hmm. The other newbie mistake, underwatering. I'll give her some B1 water and 1/2 strength nutes. She does always perk up and get a little new growth from a foliar feeding. Maybe she's just a thirsty girl.

Oh, and the horror! I found spider mites on the BD. They're all going to the tub to get sprayed off with cold water.

Go into the pest/disease section of this site and look up the pleasures that lie in store for you. If you aren't clear on what exactly to do, let me know. there are plenty of ways to kill them, but they are very small and could be anywhere--not jsut plants.

Yeah, I've been doing an assload of research today.

I was thinking about spraying the plants off with a professional high pressure spray bottle filled with cold ph'd water and then spraying them down with neem.

edit:

Got some leaf issues.

The first pic is the widow. Nute burn? It doesn't look that white in person, it's more copper colored. I thought it was from touching a light for a while, but a few other leaves are starting to get it. You can see one just below the leaf I'm holding.

Next is the dream. What is this? It started as black spots this morning and there's nothing on the underside of the leaf. Is this a fungus of some kind or a deficiency?

Burnt leaf tips generally indicate a buildup of some nutrient. Leach the soil and slightly cut back on the fertilizer. If the leaves stop continuing to burn, you are at the max fertilizer point and are right where you want to be. continue to leech once a week though.

is that the only leaf on the dream that is doing that? keep an eye on it to see if it spreads. it could very well just be a abnormality in the leaf itself. dont change anything unless it spreads. the fastest way to screw a plant over is to freak out when something happens that doesn't need to be fixed.

Right on. Thanks man. I was doing fine when it was just a few black spots, then that. Hahaha.

I got some neem tonight and will use it tomorrow along with leaching the medium for the widow. I know exactly how much I put in with the last watering so I know where to cut back.

Alrighty. A busy morning for all. The WW was leached, the BD was neem'd, and the SB was watered with 1/2 strength nutes and some B1 for her roots.

Hopefully the morrow holds glad tidings. Or something to that effect.