First Time Grower Mistakes, White Widow Auto, Indoor, Soil, 400W HPS+400WMH

@Sixpackdad that was a lot to take in, welcome to grow community. Please edit your post to remove the website link. Happy growing!

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Thanks @Bob31. I have removed the link from the post. I appreciate the heads up and will be more cautious going forward.

The plant is under the same lamps as the other plants. They were under a single 400 mh for about one month. When they began flowering I added the 400w Hps.

Last week I overhauled the set up and increased exhaust. I have been able to stabilize the temps at about 85 day and 70 at night. Prior to this my temps were all over the place. The worst has been a high of 108 and low of 52.

This plant was taller than the others. It was about a 5 inches when it was under the MH lamp only. When I added the HPS I dropped it to about 6 inches below the hood. There is no glass in the hood. It’s open right to the lamps. Here’s a pic of the new setup. The plant tops are still about 10 inches from the bottom of the hood.

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this is about the closest a plant can get without excess heat stress and light burn is the hood vented if so adding glass would help with temps?

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@Donaldj The MH side was always vented with a 120CFM 4" fan and duct. Last Thursday I added a vent fan to the HPS side. It has definitely helped, but so has the recent outside temp drop as the winter cold comes in. My intake comes directly from the outside. Temps for the past few days in the grow room have stabilized at 85day,70 night.

I grow in a shed so recycle heat it’s currently -5c outside and my ladies with no heat except lighting are a nice happy 75f vented hoods are designed to have glass the vent on one side is for intake the other side is for exhaust if you put glass on shade it can pull or push cool air through hood pulling heat away as it goes. In a closed loop fashion straight in straight out I have run 1000w HPS with vent hoods in this fashion at nearly 1’ from my plants with temps in the high 70’s in a 4x4 tent :wink: radiant heat from the light itself only accounts for small amount of heat compared to open bulbs even with fans pulling some heat away constricted air moves faster and also cools more efficiently. image
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those are 2 proper applications of vented shades the only reason to remove glass is to change bulbs done properly the only extra heat will be from shade and ballast

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I can’t even get my seeds to sprout

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@Leyank86

You cross posted this about 5 times. I have responded to you on your topic.

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Thanks @Donaldj for your posts. I am going to get some glass. I can reconfigure easily to the above.

Aside from dimensions themselves, does the glass need to have any special qualities, like being tempered?

I saw a pic of your shed on different post. WOW!

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tempered isn’t really needed so long as fan is running heat shock shouldn’t be too bad but probly a decent idea if you consider you may bump and remove it from time to time :slight_smile:

I replaced my reflector with exactly what donaldj showed. It truly helps keep temps down!

Weekend update - More leaves have turned yellow on all my plants. I hit them all with 2 liters of bloom flower power and a half liter of boost today. Below are two questions, pics of each plant and their trichrome, and the support ticket info.

Q1- I have been feeding per the flower power schedule but leaves are turning yellow. Should I be concerned, or should I stay the course?

Q2- I am at day 59. I have seen blogs and posts on ILGM where the WWAs were harvested anywhere between 70 and 110 days. From looking at the trichrome, they look somewhere between clear and milky with defined globes. Any thoughts on when I should switch to flushing the medium? I am concerned that the plants are yellowing and switching over to flush may damage the end product.

Curly - biggest buds, most defined trichrome

Yellow guy - suffering from yellowing leaves, but has big buds



Thin guy - thinnest buds, but started filling out later than curley and yellowguy; trichrome seem less developed

Best guy - my healthiest plant, has experience least amount of stress - no broken braches, heat or wind burn. Seemed to stay in veg a bit longer than the other three and budded later, but the buds are really filling in and the trichrome are developed

Strain; Type, Bag seed, ILGM… name of strain: White Widow Auto ILGM seeds
How many plants: 4
Age from Sprout and Flower: 59 day from sprout, ~31 days from autoflowering
Soil in pots, Hydroponic, or Coco / Brand and type of Medium & Size of Pots: Roots organics original potting soil in 5 gallon fabric pots
How often do you water and how do you determine when to do so? I water 3-5 times per week, 1 liter at a time, determined by weight and dryness of top layer of soil
PH of water and runoff or solution in reservoir: 6.0 to 6.5ph; not enough runoff to measure
What is strength of nutrient mix? EC, or TDS: currently using flower power bloom (twice a week) and boost (once a week); and increase solution by about 2000EC and 200EC respectively.
What brand and products of Nutrients are you using? Strength and how often? Flower power nutrients per recommended schedule and dosage. Started using “start” when they first sprouted
Indoor or Outdoor: Indoor
Indoor type and size of grow area or tent? 33 inch by 46 inch footprint, grow room is 7 feet tall; converted shower
Light system, size and height from plants: Sun system 400W HPS and 400W MH combo, 10 inches from hood base; used MH only first 28 days, both lamps have been on since
Temps; Day, Night: ~85F; 70F
Humidity; Day, Night: ~20-40%
Ventilation system; Yes, No, Size: Yes, 2 120CFM exhaust; 1 120CFM intake
AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier: Humidifier
Co2; Yes, No: No

@bob31 @dbrn32 @Laurap @AnneBonny @Donaldj @Covertgrower @Nug-bug @kushpa @JerseyRed @1BigFella

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One thing I would suggest, is watering until you get a decent amount of runoff. Slightly concerned that when you’re watering it’s not enough, and to compensate you’re watering too frequently. Unless that’s a soilless type of media, then you’re probably not watering frequently enough. But I would water to decent amount of runoff either way.

I have zero knowledge of the flower power nutes, so hopefully someone can help you out there. I would say the dying of leaves is normal at end of grow, but you shouldn’t be that far along yet.

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Gotta agree with @dbrn32. Check runoff, at end of cycle the fan leaves turn yellow & die.

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@Sixpackdad Thank you for posting the Support Ticket!

Autoflowers generally flower after about 4 weeks and then need 8 weeks or more for Flowering. You still have 4 + weeks to go.

Actually not a soil and needs 5.8 pH water unless their bad indicates otherwise?

Roots organic Pottingg Soil Ingredients: Coco fiber, peat moss, perlite, pumice, premium worm castings, bat guano, kelp, fish bone meal, soybean meal, feather meal, greensand, leonardite and alfalfa meal.

What is your water pH in? 6 or 6.5 that is a huge difference in the world of pH.

You are giving 1 tsp of Bloom every feeding?

The reason they are yellowing off like they are is most likely the mismatch between the NOT Soil and the water you are using.

Mix nutrients and pH to 5.8 and they will straighten right out. The damage however is done and that will not heal. It may even get a little worse, but it shouldn’t spread to many more leaves.

At day 30 of flowering you are a little early for Boost.

Hope this helps. Any questions please ask!

The Nute Chart you follow the last week of veg nutes until the first sign of pistils then go with week one of the Flower part of the schedule.

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@bob31 re: the pH - I have tried to get to 6.5 pH, however, if the nutes +/or the pH down shot below that to as low as 6.0, I didn’t bother to use pH up to get back to 6.5. If I did get below 6.0, I would just use a little pH up to get back towards 6.5.

Having said all that, it’s not something I have been very exact about. The roots organics website recommends the pH in a range of 5.5 to 6.5. Next water cycle, I will bring it down to 5.8 and try to be more exact.

Man, four weeks to go! The RB When to Harvest guide said autos were done in 10 weeks from sprout, so I thought I was a little closer to the finish line. I will reset my expectations and ratchet up my patience.

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@Sixpackdad

On the pH You need to be exact. Cannabis does not like fluctuating pH when it is potted.

If you dip into your pot and get out a couple of tsp of you soil and add 2 tsp of ph 6.0 water and stir it up good leave it set 15 minutes. Give in another stir or two and test the pH and let me know what reading you get. My guess is it will be somewhere between 5.6 and 6.0

Do that test and let me know what you get.

This is right from the ILGM Seedshop website

Growing White Widow

It’s important to remember that this is an autoflower strain, rather than a “normal” strain of marijuana. The term “autoflowering” refers to the fact that this particular strain of marijuana is not photosensitive. While other, “normal” strains of marijuana start transitioning into their flowering phase with changes in the amount of sunlight and the amount of uninterrupted darkness, autoflowering strains instead follow their own “internal clock.” They simply reach the flowering phase at a certain point, regardless of what the sun is doing.

This can be highly beneficial for many growers, especially outdoor growers that are interested in harvesting twice during a single grow season. Because they don’t need to wait for the hours of sunlight to drop below a certain threshold, they can harvest their first set of plants in the middle of summer, when the sun is at its peak.

The White Widow Autoflowering strain of marijuana can be grown in just about any setup, but an indoor one with more control is often recommended. It does well against diseases, and it thrives in heat and sunny conditions, but it can also do quite well in cooler climates.

White Widow consistently makes the list of best strains for beginners to try growing. This is due in large part to how easy these plants are to grow, but the fact that the high is an overall popular feeling also does not hurt. The plant can withstand a variety of different environments, as well as environmental changes. The hardiness of the plant also helps lead to consistently high yields, making it ideal for beginners (as well as for just about anyone).

If you are growing White Widow Autoflower, you can expect approximately 4 ounces of bud per 3 square feet of plants. The flowering time lasts between 8 and 9 weeks. You can expect the plants to reach heights of between 20 and 24 inches.

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@bob31 @dbrn32

For my worst looking plant (yellow guy) I added 2t soil to 2t of 6.0pH water. I got 5.86pH. I have not done this for the other three plants yet, but will.

To be clear on the amount of nutrients being added, I add 1/4t of bloom to 1liter of water and pH balance to 6.5 (sometimes lower as described earlier). Each plant is getting 2-3 liters per week of it, in two different waterings. In between they may get 1-2liters of 6.5pH water. They are not getting a full teaspoon per plant per week.

Yellow guy looks really bad today, its spreading to the top leaves. It’s the worst of the bunch but one plant (curley) isn’t far behind.

If the soil all comes from the same bag of Roots organic Potting soil you need to pH your water and nutrients to 5.8

The old damage will not heal.

@Sixpackdad

Have you checked TDS? That will tell you if you are giving not enough or too much nutrients. I haven’t any experience with that growing medium so I’m not sure how long it stays enriched? Measuring the TDS takes the guess work out of the equation!

If you can afford it, I would recommend you consider one of these!

TDS Meter

https://www.amazon.com/TDS-Meter-Electrical-Current-Temperature/dp/B01EUD46ZC/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?tag=greenrel-20

1500 ppm TDS Test Solution

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TNAA5W/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?tag=greenrel-20

I’d go ahead and remove any totally dead leaves. @Sixpackdad

@bob31 My TDS meter died last week and I have one on order. I had only been using it to measure the TDS increase of the nutrient solution. You want me to test the runoff, right? I typically would water just enough to not get run off, which @dbrn32 indicated was an issue. I guess I have been oversensitive to the overwatering warnings. I am going to hit all plants with 5.8ph tonight and get runoff. I wont be able to TDS, but I will pH.

My yellowing plants have a lot of red pistils. From what I have read, this is an indication of maturity, but could this be caused by the issues my plants are having too? Two yellowing plants seem more “mature” than the other two. Bigger buds, higher percentage or red pistil, more developed cloudy trichomes.

What was the purpose of the test you had me do? Was 5.86ph of the soil mix good or bad, just trying to understand what that indicated.

I appreciate the time you have put towards my questions

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