By continuing to use the website or clicking Accept you consent to our cookies and personal data policy and confirm that you are at least 18 year old. For details please see Privacy Policy and Terms
So, its been 30 years since I grew, a lot has changed. I ask my fellow growers to please lead me to success. I originally ordered 3 northern lights feminized auto from seedsman. all 3 sprouted but 1 died after germination. The other 2 only made it to 2 weeks with the leaves under developed and twisted. They had root problems and died. Seedsman was kind enough to send me 5 zkittlez auto feminized. So here am at week 1 the pics are my babies at 4 days old. All 5 have sprouted. I have 1 in soil, and 4 in rockwool cubes. I am using a 1000 watt LED full spectrum light. I have zero experience with this light. I used fluorescents and regular light bulbs back in the day. I also had a metal halide, but most of my success back then was with the fluorescents. I'm experimenting with hydro this time. Here are pics of my setup. I have an air pump 4 watts with 2 air stones, some tubing and nozzles, and a water pump to circulate. I am trying a setup that has drip, and deep well. I plan to put my rockwool babies in there when they have 3 sets of leaves. I need advice on the lights distance. It seems like I can put them as close as 3 inches, but I opted for 6 inches cause they seem to like it. I worry cause I have no experience with this type of light. Anyway I look forward to any advice from the pros
I don't dare give fertilizer nutrients to the rockwool ones cause they are so vulnerable. My question is how moist should I keep the rockwool? The leaves are curling slightly is it from the rockwool being to wet? Advice on rockwool??
I would suggest backing your lights off to 24-30". You should go by the manufacturers recommendations. Are they drawing a true 1000 watts for both of them or is the true wattage draw more like 300 watts each. If the light is too strong/intense you can actually stunt the seedling/plants. Using a PPF/PAR meter is the best way to know how intense your lights are at different distances if not your just guessing.https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/blogs/news/horticulture-metrics-par-ppf-ppfd-dli I would start high then lower them a few inch's every 4-5 days especially if you see them stretching for the light. I'm not going to B.S. you I have no experience growing in rock wool so I have included a link. https://www.alchimiaweb.com/blogen/grow-cannabis-rockwool/
I will recommend two things for you 1st is to add a cool mist humidifier to the grow space your humidity needs to be in the 65-70% range to avoid an issue with LVPD ( leaf vapor pressure deficit ) until your plants have grown a good sized root system this has to do with plant transpiration which allows nutrients to properly absorbed through the root system. The reason your seedlings leaves are curled is either light stress or their trying to conserve moisture do to the lack of humidity. http://www.just4growers.com/stream/temperature-humidity-and-c02/vapor-pressure-deficit-the-hidden-force-on-your-plants.aspx 2nd try to keep the ph of your water/feed solutions 5.6-6.2 ph for hydro. There are way too many opinions on ph for hydro but it's shown that the best nutrient absorbtion is in that ph range. You can also check out my current grows there is some information in week 2 about PAR and LVPD👍
Worked out the light issue. I am down to 4 plants now 3 in soil 1 in DWC ( no photo yet ) thank you @Philindicus who set me straight on the lighting distance
No some growers think 24 hrs are going to make the plant grow the fastest. But most growers will tell you your plant needs a dark period just to rest and recover from working all day in the sunlight. I agree best and recommended light cycle for autos is 18/6 or 20/4. I prefer 18/6. You can save on electricity with 18/6 too.
almost 2 times as big as last week, flowers are showing so next week will be 1st week of flowering. heavy branching this week. I cant figure out how to add the nutrients I am using. they are all organic and added to the soil during preparation. dr earth organic and jobes tomato and vegetable. also adding super thrive to all water at all times. I also brew in a 5 gal bucket all the mentioned fertilizers with a air pump and water 2 to 3 times a week
Almost finished!! I had to harvest the tops of 1 of the plants, it boke when moving the plant around. I got about a half ounce dried that is now curing. I think next week will bring the final harvest!!😝
Ok these are Seedsman Zkittlez Auto I got as a replacement. The strain is awesome. This is happy weed that tastes great. I highly recommend. 3 plants have given me 9 ounces WET, so I figure it will be around 4 or 5 when dried. I will update when the product is finished being dried and cured
thank you for all the advice. Perhaps it is true that the light is too close..I'm going o back them of and see what happens. I'm an old school grower. back in the 80,s you couldn't get lights strong enough so I always look to get the brightest possible. I decided to only go with 2 for the hydro cause I fear a disaster I imminent. So I planted 2 more in soil...What do you guys think about peat moss?? I have alkaline tap water so I have to adjust the ph.
@oldtimer6455, I grew up in the 80's myself so your an old man like me😂 First professional grow I saw back then was a buddys brother in law was in the HA Motorcycle Club. He had a hydro set up with co2 injection, metal halide lights in a secret room hidden in his basement it was truly amazing he was growing some skunk weed never forget that smell. The grower B4RNS is growing some old school strains right now he's doing a nice job.
@oldtimer6455, There are a lot of grower using soil and or coco coir. I use a mixture of a few different premixed soils etc. If the peat moss product is for cannabis it usually has some perlite and added lime etc. to keep the ph of the peat in check because peat is acidic. If you don't want to go full hydro the closest thing would be coco coir. But you go through a lot of nutrients when things get into full swing. Check out the grower Hawkbo he does a lot of coco coir grows. I wouldn't give up on your hydro endeavor it just needs some tweaking and my knowledge of it is limited. Try looking at the grower Hexus I think it's a chick growing but whatever it doesn't matter. Hexus has been doing a bit of hydro growing and is good about answering questions I think at least one of the grows was using/starting off in rock wool cubes.One thing I can say is some hydro guys love rock wool others say it holds too much moisture and causes rot issue in seedlings/young plants. Its like anything else trying to keep the right moisture levels when they are young is key.
@oldtimer6455, I haven't dealt with Pacific seed bank but they sound like they are just distributors. There are a lot of scammers out there. If they don't have what you want they will just substitute some cheap garbage seed who knows. I try to buy directly from the breeders if possible I'm primarily interested in growing Fast Buds at the moment and Mephisto in the near future. Only issue I've run into is they process payments in Spain which causes my CC company to flag the purchase and I have to call my CC company and tell them to unblock the purchase. Most companies seem to sell cannabis seeds as "Souvenirs" to avoid legal issues and don't give any info or guarantees about sprouting/growing. If the seeds are from a good breeder they test each batch of seeds to ensure a reasonable sprouting rate. If you are in the USA I have used Oregon Elite Seeds with no issues except waiting too long for payment approval before they shipped they recommend CC over the phone for faster service. I have used Hella Dank Seed Bank I have bought from them 3 times no issues very fast shipping in my case 3 days after I ordered. I will say they have a weird system where you place your order then in a special instructions box put your using a CC card for payment. They will send you an email with a payment link which is legit. It will read I believe High Country Outdoor Sports on your CC statement. They do this because CC companies are refusing to do business with Marijuana companies so they will not process payment for illegal purposes. Hella Dank is also starting to carry some European breeders seeds like Barneys farm and Dutch Passion. They also carry Fastbuds and Mephisto seeds,Sweet Seeds,Delicious seeds and a number of interesting other breeders. I would consider them to be a trusted site in my opinion. You can try to use your grow question or message some growers in your country that are on GD and see if they have some recommendations for trust worthy seed companies.
Also try to check out some hydro growers on GD I'm sure there are a few using rock wool and don't be afraid to shoot them a few questions and have then take a look at your grow they will more than likely reply. You'll find theirs no shortage of opinions on GD.
oldtimer6455
