Starting my first grow with Blue Kush

[The Hemp Goddess]

I am seriously concerned about the legginess of your seedlings. I would really suggest a CFL or T5 fluoro that you can get nice and close to them. I would also be for kind of supporting them with a toothpick or chop stick or kabob skewer or something similar. You might want to try and put some more soil into the pots to bury the stems somewhat and help support them.

I wouldn't stress over the RH. I live in a very arid climate and my RH seldom if ever gets over 50%. RH in the single digits and teens is not unusual. IMHO, high RH is more of a concern than low RH. You should probably be a little thankful. It is far easier to add humidity than it is to take it away.

I am also a lot less concerned about heat after I have grown a few crops outside where temps can hit 100 day after day after day. Two years ago, we had 2 solid weeks where the temps reached 100 or over. The whole summer was really hot--seldom had daytime temps below 90. Not that I'm advocating temps that high, but a little heat is not going to kill them. Do your best to manage temps, but if it gets into the mid 80s, that is probably not going to cause any harm. Also, consider running your lights so they are off during the hottest part of the day. Inside, I often run my flowering lights at night--in the summer it is cooler and in the winter it is warmer.

I'd remove the carbon filter from inside your tent. There is no reason for it at this time and it does impede the fan a little. Don't connect it until you need it. Do you have vents open at the bottom of your tent to allow fresh cool air to enter? The coldest air is at floor level, so this is where you should be pulling air in.

 

[Keef]

Get that light down to about 18 inches -- Next time start seed in a partially filled cup - add dirt as it starts to stretch -
- They'll be fine !-- It's a weed !-- Sometimes it grows without anyone there to care for it !

 

[Mr.Do]

Good morning guys. Thanks Keef and THG for your thoughts. I have done a few things that I hope will make improvements. All this is a learning process. Every day that goes by I get a little better.

First, the Wal-Mart humidifier I bought was junk. I ended up ordering a better one off Amazon. Right away it is making a difference. I am able to get the humidity into the low 50s now. This has had the effect of bringing the temps down from a high of 91 to around 82-84. I am hoping this will be good enough until we get into winter some more and the outside temps come down some more.

Second, I added some soil to the pots to help support the seedlings and see if I can help with the stretching. I also lowered the light to 30 inches. That is the height recommended by Mars.

FWIW, I think they look pretty good. Getting bigger all the time. I am looking forward to checking them out when I get home from work tonight.

 

[Mr.Do]

Hey everyone. Time for a weekly check-in. Today is the end of week 2, day 13.

Welp, I paid the price for the stretching. All the plant fell over at the beginning of last week. I decided to try and just bury the extra stems in hopes the plant would just make extra root out of them. It seems to work...sort of... I can say all 4 plants have begun to grow pretty nicely. Plants 3 and 4 especially. I took a photo of each. Let me know what you think. Anything I should be doing?

Blue Kush 1

Blue Kush 2

Blue Kush 3

Blue Kush 4

 

[Mr.Do]

On a side note. I invested in a cheap tripod for taking photos. I'll tell you it makes taking close up shots a snap. These shots aren't great, but this phone camera I am using is just a cheap one.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Oh, they are looking much better! Glad to see that you added more medium to give those stems some support. That is a common way to deal with stretch.

Do you have a fan gently blowing on them?

 

[Mr.Do]

Hey HG, Yes I have 2 fans in the tent right now. One is a 10 inch fan on the floor that is blowing across the plants. The other is a 6 inch clip on fan that is blowing from the top. That one is probably just blowing on the light I admit though. Once the plants get a little bigger I might invest in a larger cycling fan.

Also, A cold front came through late last week. It has really helped getting the temps down.

 

[Mr.Do]

Good morning all. I am getting ready for my first time feeding the plants. I had one question.

Say I make up a certain amount of water with nutes in it and I do not use all of it. Can I save the nute mix for the next feeding or should I throw out any leftovers?

 

[fellowsped]

I save mine maybe just check the ph before using again.

 

[oldfogey8]

I use any extra I have on my houseplants. The nutes I use will smell and ‘turn’ after a day or so. First feeding rule of thumb-less is more. Start with about a quarter of the recommended strength. Especially with seedlings.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Generally, if you bubble the nute solution it will stay good for a while.

It is critical to not make the nute solution too strong. Like oldfogey mentioned, 1/4 strength (or less) of the recommended strength should be used for first feedings of seedlings.

 

[Mr.Do]

Thanks all. I will make sure not to make too much then. And I agree, very little feeding for the first week or so.

Also, The plants are starting to really fill out the small pots they are in. I am making a preliminary plan of transplanting to 2 gallon pots on Sunday.

I am finding out that I should have bought taller tent. This 60" one will only allow me to have a finished height of about 3 feet once I take into account the space needed for the light and wanting to keep a minimum distance of 12-18" between the light and canopy.

 

[oldfogey8]

That is where low stress training comes in. You might need to tie the plants down gently. 5 feet is short but there are people who grow in old desktop computer cases. It can be done. I grew for a few years in a 4 ft tall tent.

 

[Mr.Do]

Yup, OF8. I have been watching a lot of videos on LST and topping. I plan on experimenting with some of that too.

 

[Keef]

Do growing some weed !-- How ya been Cuz ?-- U gonna need a bigger grow area !-- I got a mess of Umbra's work up U might be interested in ?--
Sunset Sherbert -x- Bunch of Grapes -- Sundae Driver -x- "
Candy Cane -x- "
A lemon - Lemon Kush - x- Lemon Thai -x- Oregon Lemon (?)
- and some other stuff like
Black Star -x- Apricot Head
Blue Berry Chocolate
Stack Blue Berries

Things got a little out of hand ?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I don't think those could be near ready to be transplanted. You really want the plant almost root bound before you transplant. I anticipate that it will be 2 weeks or more before those are ready to transplant. Transplanting before they are ready is counterproductive.

 

[Mr.Do]

Hey Keef, how yeah doin buddy? Sounds like you've got quite the farm going. Grats. LOL I wouldn't know where to start having that much going at one time. The 4 I have I am finding is gonna be more than I need, for a while at least. The 2'x4' tent I have would be perfect. I just wish it was taller since the light needs space and I need 24" between the light and canopy plus the pots take up space. Doesn't seem like it leaves much t grow. But I guess I am finding out. LOL

Heu THG, thanks for your input. I guess I am wanting to get the plants into regular pots so I can start on the LST. By Sunday they will have been growing for 21 days. I what I will do is take photo Saturday and post them. Maybe some folks can help me make the call.

 

[oldfogey8]

The ‘distance to canopy’ spec on lights(led in particular) has so wiggle room. I thought no I saw stinkyattic recommendation somewhere that you put the back of your hand under the light and where it feels comfortable is a good ‘fly’ height. Keep in mind that the best light footprint shrinks as you get closer to the light. 4 plants in a 2x4 tent is tight but it can work. I have 7 going right now in my 2x4 but will be running 4 in flower in a slightly larger footprint tent(3x3). Supercropping may be your friend as you get to the stretch portion of your grow.

 

[Lesso]

A net can control your canopy height very effectively.

 

[St_Nick]

Dude, you are trying to run before you can walk. Those plants won't be ready for lst-ing until they have been transplanted for at least a week and they won't be ready for transplanting for another couple of weeks. During their time in the small pot I personally do not feed nutes at all (I'm organic) but I do foliar feed with a spray of water and kelp.