Hello and good morning to all I’m Tim. I finally became a memeber lurking through the blog for about a year or so and finally started my first grow , I have made a lot of mistakes and have learned a lot from just searching through and reading and have been able to fix a lot of my mistakes . NOW to the grow I’m using Home Depots Black Magic line I was original going to start with Kind soil but I was in Home Depot with the wife and she saw it we had a quick discussion and decided why not the soil says it has some goodies I did a slurry test and came out Ph of 6 (cheap tester) .
BLACK MAGIC POTTING SOIL
Full Black Magic nutes line : A,B,Cal-meg,all purpose supplement, Bloom and ph up and down
. I don’t use the cal- mag or should I? I’m open to all Suggestions .
7 BLACK MAGIC 5GAL FABRIC POTS
13GAL FABRIC Geopot
GROWERS CHOICE 315 CMH GC-315A
GROWERS CHOICE 313 W 3K-R LAMP
LA GARDENS 2-1 4X3 TENT
6" 160 free air corded in-line duct fan
PLANTS All CLONES OF UNKNOWN AGE.
2 HEADBAND STARTED WITH 7 (MADE TO MANY MISTAKES and where sick with unknown illness when they where given to me.
4 G18
1 APPLE KUSH
The 2 head band on the left I have had for 4 wks I started with 7 and am convinced I killed them from over watering, incorrect Ph, water to cold (shock),fluctuating temps night temps to
7 original
here are the remain 2
.The G18s and apple of I was given buy a friend who had extras. I decided to try and lst 1 headband and the apple kush
Topped 2 g18 1 Headband and the rest left to grow Naturally to see results. THE GC HOOD and ballast has a dimmer but is now on 315 , I also used to run the lights 18-6 now 24hrs keeps the temps up now temps are steady 70 to 83 . I Feed every 2 days Ph 6.0 to 6.3 water with 24oz in a split, morning and evening .Last watering I gave them superthrive and won’t for the rest of this run since i will switch 12-12 soon and read to give it to them during flower , I was also using the foliage spray not anymore. I just raised the light back to 18" since they have grown and did a lot of trimming which i hope I did correctly I trimmed majority of the bottom leaves the i couldn’t see from the top when looking down directly over the top so now they are all trimmed. I’m going to try and keep updates for those curious about the line and appreciate all feed back .
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Welcome to the forum! Your plants appear to be doing nicely.
I used Black Magic for my first two grows: good stuff. I believe I read that it’s a rebranded Scott’s product so you might be able to find the same thing a bit cheaper. You made a good solid choice.
Overwatering will kill plants for sure. What is the wattage of your lighting?
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I’M NOT SURE WHAT YOU MEAN SORRY . DO YOU MEAN FROM THE WALL OR THE SETTING I HAVE IT AT THE GC light itself ?
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No worries LEC 315w are fairly new to plenty of our members which favor LED or traditional MH/HPS so @Myfriendis410 may have missed it in description 
There are however several members using them myself and 2 other mods included
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@Timbo1984 LEC’s are new to me so I wanted the output wattage. If they’re 300 watt each you’re good. Excellent choice on lights! @Countryboyjvd1971 has a set IIRC.
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GC stands for growers choice (brand) and actual draw is around 345w at start Hogmaster me and Countryboy are all using them though I have been using them for year now and love them John and Hog are still in testing phase with them so jury is still out what they figure, I need the extra heat they provide my space
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What is the temperature today?
@Myfriendis410 Temps at 81 since this morning it was warmer then expected out today lucky , I haven’t tested my actual draw but from other people testing it has been around 340 345 i would like to know myslef @Donaldj question if would you happen to know if there is a major difference in light with the superlumen setting as far as foot print goes, and what bulbs have you tried from them I want to get another bulb in anticipation .
I use the Philips Green power bulbs at 3100k find they work quite well for both veg and bloom you have to keep in mind that CMH bulbs last twice as long as conventional HID bulbs like MH/HPS and are just broken in after a year of use
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Ok thank will have to remember that
I also use the phillips bulbs same as @Donaldj uses
i run a 630 watt lec fixture is the only difference
I agree with @Myfriendis410 thatvthe girls look healthy and happy
Ive never use the line of product tho soil or nutrients
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Thank you there has been a lot of learn from trial and error the past 3-4 wks and finally think I have things dialed in for the most part . I was thinking of going with a Phillips to see if there was a difference from gc’s bulbs I just don’t know yet. Checked and feed this morning 20ozs
Also checked height of tallest
So average is 14" and my goal was was around 20" before I go 12-12 my tent is only 5’8 including the light would be about 5’6 would be my max height so 4 more inches and I think I’ll be ready to start flower.
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I would suggest you just go with what you have until the bulbs need to be replaced 70-80$ ea
Just my humble opinion @Timbo1984
Trial and error is all part of learning most of us try new things out and make mistakes when doing so it happens but you cant learn if you sont push your self a bit right
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@Countryboyjvd1971 so very true it’s all apart of the learning process. I appreciate all the words of encouragement. I was only going to get the extra light in anticipation of the current going out is all but now that I know my local shop down the road sells them which puts me at ease .
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Yes work out all the bugs the difference in bulbs is only truly noticed when you have already maxed potential and are looking for another 5-10% When just starting out you wouldn’t know what to attribute to bulb vs feed ph and climate adjustments and when you replace bulb you will have better understanding of the differences just by all the posts on forum. Who knows in another year there may be a bulb that trumps philips ?
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Decided to go ahead and see if I can train the other headband last night checked this morning and they seem to turn up I’ll take some more photos after work
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Time to feed no nutes straight water Ph 6.1 16 oz now and 18oz later this evening. I think they are filling out well and the 24 hrs of light has been a big difference a lot of growth .
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Last night I had to put the trellis in to keep the plants from the heater and burning themselves . I did make it movable so I can slide it up and down which is good since its really early to put it in I think .
And I think I’m going to flip them while the weather is warm it’ll make it a lot easier for me. Plus the 1 in the back is 22" so it’s past my height limit.
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So I decided before I went to bed to just turn down the tallest I had which was about 22"
And I think it turned out well
now they are all even
and gives the headband I lstd late some time to catch up which it’s starting to fill out better
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moved the light to do some work maybe it’ll give them a little bump
.
clear out some unneeded under foliage free up some energy for the tops .
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