Newbie First Grow Questions

[kingkola1]

This is my first grow and hope I can get some help from the community experts... 100% of the seeds germinated fine and then they were planted in Light Warrior Seed Starter. They sprouted just fine. I had a 1000 W Metal Halide light about 16” from the plants dimmed to 75% to produce between 30K to 40K Lux at the top leaves (that is what I read as optimum for veg). I feed them once per week with Emerald Harvest nutes at 50% the recommended dose, plus full dosage of Cal-Mag with a pH of 6.0 to 6.2. I watered during the week as required to keep the soil about 50% moist using RO water and full strength Cal-Mag. The once per week feedings and any waterings during the week are all done drain-to-waste. I had a vertical standing oscillating fan blowing on them so the plants were dancing pretty strong. I also have a steam humidifier and an exhaust fan that pulls in fresh air from in the house and exhausts to outside the house through the light. Temps are around 75F and Humidity around 50% rh at the leaves. Once I move them into 5 gallon pots (in about a week), I plan to use 1/3 pearlite, 1/3 Ocean Potting Soil, and 1/3 coco as the grow medium, sort of a "Hydrosoil" inbetween hydroponic and soil. As of now, 16 days from seed, the plants are 2.5” to 5.5” tall with a tip to tip leaf spread of up to 12”. Lighting is 18/6 during veg and moving to 12/12 at bloom.

My first problems a week ago were thought to be combination of wind burn, too much light, and over-watering (some small amounts of algae formed on surface of the grow medium). So, I moved the light up from 16” to 24” to the tops of the leaves, replaced the fan with a little 6” fan on low (plants are barely flickering in movement), and reduced my watering to let the soil get closer to 25% moist (by weight) and looked for new leaf growth.

After looking at the new growth, it seems I still have a few problems I am hoping to get resolved here.

1. Wavy leaves
2. Splotchy light-green to yellowish streaks in the leaves of Purple Kush
3. Curled up leaf edges in random areas of some leaves.
4. Since their last feeding, one of the plants has leaves that are turning a lighter green gradually from the mid-section of the leaf and becoming lighter as you look toward the stem (difficult to photgraph).

The Splotchy light-green patches are on two Purple Kush Auto’s. The pictured Purple Kush actually fell over in the grow medium (layed over 30 degrees from the dirt and not sure how it happened) and have it splinted up straight and seems to be still growing.

After studying the well-known color pH/Nutrient chart found at 420magazine.com that shows pH for hydroponics and soil side-by-side, makes me think my seedling pH should have been closer to 6.5 than my actual 6.0 to 6.2 since the seed starter grow medium used seems to be closer to soil, true? Could my low pH have locked out my nutrients? I think that 6.0 to 6.2 pH is still correct for my 5 gallon pot grow medium, true? When should I adjust my light to get 40,000 lux on the veg plants (right now it is at about 20,000 to 25,000 lux 15 days from planting)? By the way, not sure how to read the 420magazine pH/Nutrient chart, for example, do the numbered values represent the upper, lower graph line or the middle between the upper and lower horizontal graph lines - anybody know?.

Another one of my newbie mistakes was that I have my Purple Kush Auto’s growing along-side my photoperiod plants (didn't know the difference 15 days ago. My thought at this point is just to let the Autos go with the photoperiod lighting schedule and see what I get (probably a lower yield).

Any help or suggestions on how to correct these problems are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your time helping me out; I am trying to learn as fast as I can from all of the good sites.

[furrysparkle]

The amazing thing with autos are they WILL flower even under 24/0 so it's great to run it that way( more steady harvesting) Harvest the autos then switch the light over to 12/12 for the photos then harvest some more when those are already!

[furrysparkle]

Also I do like the idea of hydrosoil

[kingkola1]

In your hydrosoil grow medium, do you run the pH of your watering and nutrients at 6.0 to 6.2?

[Green75]

6.5 ph should work for you although I am a firm believer in 6 for all mediums...your ladies look great....leaves look ok....minor issue....don't keep your medium moist .....water them...let it dry out to about knuckle and a half deep then water again.....lets air into your medium....roots will wiggle around and grow looking for wetness better...more roots better plant integrity......are you in a hard pot..if so drill some hole in the sides of them to aid in extra air.....

hope this helped...

[kingkola1]

Thanks Green! That did help. Looks like I am not moving my pH up then. I will also let them dry out. They are in 1/2 gallon seedling bags with 3/8" holes all around the bag for air and drainage. My 5 gallon pots are fabric "Smart" pots.

[Sonnyhad]

Green, according to the soil chart cal mag doesn't get used until ph 6.5! I usually ph 6.5 or so and have had deficiency I grow in pro mix, should I be down around ph6 instead of ph 6.5?

[Green75]

that's why I suggest 6. ..always....cause it rises on its owe slowly...when runoff is above 6.5 then I will rinse with bottled water to keep in check....that help?