My second grow, please give advice

[Growdude]

hmmm i adjusted the pH to 6.3 last nite and i check it again this morning 8 hours later and it went back up to 81. the temp raise from 85 to 92 in room and water went from 80 to 71. i moved the light up somemore. my plants hasnt recover from the transplant yet, well i dont see any new growth. i only have 2 ok looking ones, im going on vacation for 6 days. so i have a feeling i gotta start over again. my water is so cloudy it look so ugly from some lime and vinegar (yuck). i'm waiting for the dry powder pH adjust to get here then im gonna change the water.

My hydro grows like a Ph of 5.9 6.3 is a little high for hydro.

 

[newgreenthumb]

Hey Tru I would suggest you try soil with your next grow until you get the hang of it in my opinion. Hydro can be tricky even for those with experience.

 

[TruTHC]

woohoo im not going on vocation. no more california and vegas. i can stay home and take care of my babies now. i have a question. is it ok since its 70s this week can i set the timer on 18/6 and if it gets cold can i change it back to 24? will that effect the babies or confuse them? i think i read somewhere that a guy turn off the light to let the plant recover from stress. is that true? cuz im thinking if thats true and its warmer out i should leave the light off for a day or two. if its true can someone tell me how long should i leave the lights off for. thanks.

 

[Stoney Bud]

You should either flower your plants or leave them in the vegetative state. Rocking them back and forth from one to another isn't good for them. It will cause you problems. Perhaps turn them to Hermies.

I'm curious; why would you want to change from 24/7 to 18/6 and back again?

 

[TruTHC]

o cuz it was like 50 degree outside so i left the lights on 24 so they can be warm enuff, but this whole week is its like 70dgree and it mite get back to 50. thats when i wanna put it back to 24 to keep them warm

 

[Stoney Bud]

o cuz it was like 50 degree outside so i left the lights on 24 so they can be warm enuff, but this whole week is its like 70dgree and it mite get back to 50. thats when i wanna put it back to 24 to keep them warm

I understand now what you're doing, but it's not a good idea to use the lights as a heater unless the lights stay on 24/7 anyway, for vegging.

When you switch the lights to a shorted day period, the plants start producing a hormone that causes the plant to flower. Switching them back and forth between the two cycles will cause stress to the plant and most likely cause you a hermie.

Pulling warm air into the grow room is the best way to heat it. If you pull air from your house, it should heat the plant enough. Is this possible for you?

 

[TruTHC]

thanks for the idea SB. nice u see u back. i cant think of a way to pull warm air in the box. im very newbie. worse come ill just wait till it gets warmer. but i think its gonna stay warm here. my rh is at 20. it should be alot more humid in there right? do u think puttin a bucket of water in front of my intake will raise the Rh?

 

[Stoney Bud]

do u think puttin a bucket of water in front of my intake will raise the Rh?

It would prolly up it a couple of points. Hanging a wet towel in the area will also do it.

 

[TruTHC]

thanks SB i will do the towels see how that work

 

[TruTHC]

can someone tell me what kind of bug this is and what can i use to fight them please. thanks

 

[AlienBait]

Sorry, I cannot help you with the bug.

Was wondering, though, have you used that fishtank ph down yet? Did it work out? I know a couple other people that are waiting to hear the results.

 

[TruTHC]

Was wondering, though, have you used that fishtank ph down yet? Did it work out? I know a couple other people that are waiting to hear the results.

well, i did use the ph down for the fishy but i dont like it for one reason i have to use alot (guess cuz vinegar down way down) but i down it from 8.6 to 6.3 at 80degree then i checked 24hr later and it was 7.5 at 76degree. i know the temp have alot to do with it. i took the measurment 30min to an hour after adding the ups or downs. as for plant health. i cant give any info for that cuz i have 6 plants in tote but 4 is dead, and 2 is good. i noticed growth tho. but again, i have, let see first my tap was 9.8 then i use lemon down it to 6.7 then i ran out of lemon so i used vinegar 5.5. so i have 3 pH downer and i also had to up the pH with the fishy up too, so i have a bucket with lots of mix in it. i know its bad but im changing the water and cleaning the bucket when i get my dry ph powder. right now im either uping or downing the ph everyday. hoping the dry ph will stay stable for a good time or until i change the water. hope this helps

 

[Mr.Wakenbake]

why would you use fishtank pH up and down when vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda r easily available....and cheaper?

Anyways, continually messing with the pH isn't what you want to do. However I am no hydro grower either.

 

[TruTHC]

ok, i'm having another prob. its 70degree here, but with sun shining in the attic its 102 in my box.wow. i have 8in intake aiming directly at the plants. and i just put in another cheapo fan that bearly feel blow air. anyone know of a good cheap water cooling fan or something i can use to keep the room cool? thank you so much for IYO

 

[Stoney Bud]

This is a grow you can't have open in a room? The only other choice I can see is using a small window a/c unit to supply cool air to it.

 

[AlienBait]

why would you use fishtank pH up and down when vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda r easily available....and cheaper?

Anyways, continually messing with the pH isn't what you want to do. However I am no hydro grower either.

Mr. WnB, He is using a Hydro system. Using Vinegar and/or Lemon Juice in hydro is not stable. It only will lower the PH for about 12-24 hours and then it will shoot back up. Also, after a couple of days, the reservoir will start getting this white/grey slime building up. So, with hydro, it is best to go with PH up/down made for hydro. Trust me on this one: I learned it the hard way!


TruTHC, Next time you do that, you should first clean out the reservoir and mix up a fresh batch of nutrient solution to make sure the vinegar and lemon juice is out of your system.

As to the heat problem. The only thing I can recommend is get your grow out of the attic. The weather is getting warmer and those attics get hot. My attic get to around 150 degrees in the summer. Short of that, the only solution I can think of is what Stony Bud said: use an AC mounted in your grow area.

 

[TruTHC]

thanks AB, i appreciate that. my pH up/down for hydro is on the way. i dont have any other place for my grow but the attic. i gotta convince my wife to let me grow in our guest room's closet. its perfect for mj. and ill put a lock on it. do i have a small chance of gettin female plants wit the heat being so high? well its about 70 here and when the sun hits the attic it get up to 105. cant imagine when it 100 degree here. i'll be ok with small yield. im aiming to get least one female then start cloning.

 

[Stoney Bud]

its about 70 here and when the sun hits the attic it get up to 105. cant imagine when it 100 degree here.

I'm told by a friend, about an experiment that used 8 plants.

1. Plant grown in 70 degree room.
2. Plant grown in 80 degree room.
3. Plant grown in 90 degree room.
4. Plant grown in 100 degree room.

5. Plant grown in 70 degree room with roots in 75 degree hydro water.
6. Plant grown in 80 degree room with roots in 75 degree hydro water.
7. Plant grown in 90 degree room with roots in 75 degree hydro water.
8. Plant grown in 100 degree room with roots in 75 degree hydro water.

All were clones grown from the same female MJ plant.

All of the plants were grown the exact same amount of time.

Plants 1 and 2 were almost identical with #2 being a tad shorter, but bushier.

Plant 3 was noticeably shorter and not as bushy as the 2nd plant.

Plant 4 was 2/3 the size of plant 1 and sparse in it's growth.

Plants 5, 6, 7 and 8 were identical to plant 1.

If you can find a chiller to cool your reservoir water, you should be able to grow in your attic even in summer temps. The reservoir water being cooled to a constant 75 degrees is the secret, as well as fans to keep the air moving between the plants.

Water chillers are used in industry all the time.

Good luck man. Let us all know how you do.

 

[AlienBait]

If you can find a chiller to cool your reservoir water, you should be able to grow in your attic even in summer temps. The reservoir water being cooled to a constant 75 degrees is the secret, as well as fans to keep the air moving between the plants.

Water chillers are used in industry all the time.

They use that kind of thing for Home-brew beer making. They are called "Wort-Chillers."

Here is a link to some you can buy:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/wort-chillers.html

But, if you want to make your own, here are a couple of links for that:

http://www.allaboutbeer.com/homebrew/equip/chiller.html
http://home.swbell.net/bufkin/wort-chiller.htm

 

[parkingjoe]

bug looks ant like female egg layer by long body type anyways no probs to your plants with this type of bug dude..

relaxxxxxxxxx