2nd indoor grow..new setup

[newbutoldgrower75]

Hi everyone.

For the people who didn't see my earlier post, I was hospitalised last October( I think) and have just have gotten out 3 to 4 weeks ago. My brother and roommate had to finish my last grow off for me, and they have setup a new tent and started growing for me before I was released from hospital. I have had to deal with a couple of things like ph fluctuation, a bit of nitrogen toxicity, placing/height of lights etc. Otherwise they have done a great job which I appreciate. As I am on 10 tablets a day at the moment I am struggling to work out a couple of things, so Im hoping the good people on here might be able to help me out.

My plants are at the size to flip to 12/12, I think. But unfortunately I cant afford the lights I wanted to add in for flowering due to medical bills. The 2 lights etc I have were ordered before I went into hospital and was planning to have another two ES 300's before flower. I have had a look at a few articles on hybrid lighting etc, but nothing to really help introduce HID lights into the grow. I have 3 x 600w digital dimmable ballasts with 400 and 600 watt globes that I used for the first grow. I am hoping someone might be able to help me work out how to set the lights up without using a par meter, cant afford one at the moment.

My second dilemma is the amount of medium in my pots, its a few inches less than what they should be. Is there anyway to rectify it without disturbing the plants to much? I have included a couple of pics of the plants and setup, constructive criticism always welcome. The first pic was taken by my brother is from the 11th of February which shows how much medium is in the pots. The others were taken today. Thank you for your time. cheers

[Rougge]

WOW!!!! I'm new to GWE. first I would like to say welcome back. Second very nice setup you have there.

[newbutoldgrower75]

Cheers mate, and I'm glad to be back. Still a newbie on here myself, joined up last year, best bunch of people I have ever met on forum or group. Thanks for the compliment on the setup as well, not sure if it was well thought out yet, time will tell. And if it doesnt work out, I can always blame it on all the medication I was on at the time haha.

[SoOrbudgal]

Helllooooo and welcome back. Plants look great they don't seem to be unhappy with the amount of soil? I suppose you could hand place scoops into the pots if you really think they needed it?

[newbutoldgrower75]

Hello and thank you, very happy to be back. I guess I'm more worried if it will cause me any problems at all, now or later on. Today is the start of week 8 of veg, and the root system is already pretty crazy. Will the roots continue to grow much during flowering?

[DeadlyFruit]

Welcome back - I hope you are on the mend.

With regards to lighting I wouldn’t worry too much about a PAR meter - I have one but I don’t think I used it after the first day. Just check out the estimated suggested plant distance from the light (there is a table on GWE somewhere if you search) and adjust based on how the plants respond. Different bulbs, ballast and gear etc make it so it isn’t one solution fits all but a good starting point. Unless you are growing for more than just personal use squeaking out every last gram of growth is commendable but hardly necessary. I always end up with more than I need without being on the bleeding edge of technology. The toys can be fun to try and can be labor saving but some are more useful than others. There is very little you can’t do yourself with some ingenuity. In short, I am from the camp of throwing the new lights up where I think they should go and then keep a close eye on the outcome.

with regards to medium, in a 10 gallon pot you are probably fine with what you have but if you do decide to add more make sure you leave room so there is air flow under the foliage and the leaves are not sitting on the soil, which can encourage molds. I’ve added some in the past without problem after the medium settled more than expected, although I don’t know that it helped a ton. I am still convinced it is genetics making the biggest contribution to most situations. You would probably tidy the leaves at the bottom anyways, especially if you manifold, so probably not an issue.

in any case your tent looks great and your plants look happy so i wouldn’t stress too much about it.

good luck!

[newbutoldgrower75]

Thank you..feeling a lot better thanks.

I am growing for personal, plus my roommate, brother who has epilepsy, my auntie, cousin and a friend who are dealing with different cancers, and two more friends who just smoke a hell of a lot haha. I want to to try making some RSO/Cannabis oil for my family and friend dealing with cancer, also believe it might help my brother with his epilepsy. I enjoy growing and helping people, it helps takes my mind off my own health problems, even just for a little while.

As for the lights, I think your advice about throwing lights up where I think they should go and adjusting to the plants reaction, best I think I can do without a meter. As I am already starting to get some shadows due to the size of the plants, thought it was going to happen without the two extra lights I wanted by now, I'm thinking that im going to need the extra light to cover the plants.

So was thinking I can go two ways about the lights..
1 I can hang two HID lights from the centre roof pole between the two LED,s, not sure if the light distribution will be good enough for the plants though
2 I can hang a HID light between each pot each side and have the LED's each end, maybe slightly tilted towards the plants
I guess the only way to find out is to give it a go.

I'm not too worried about the amount of soil in the pots, more wondering if it can cause any problems now or later on. Fresh air not really hitting the coco is a little worrying. I have medical grade plastic pots, which 'supposedly' mold cant grow inside of, but haven't had the time to fully look into that yet.

Thank you for your advice/help and the compliment on the tent/plants, greatly appreciated.

[dilvish]

You are golden. I too suggest leaving the lights. The plants look healthy. Just make sure you water and add nutrients regularly and properly and you'll do fine.

[newbutoldgrower75]

I'm just starting to get a little worried about the shadow/dark spots I am starting to get on the plants. That's why I'm thinking extra lights would help me cover these spots, plus whatever spots show up once they stretch when I turn them. Will have the other two lights I want by the next time, finger crossed, then I wont have this problem hopefully.
Thank you for the compliment on the plants, its taken a couple of weeks from when I took over the grow to get them to this stage, not 100% but I'm happy with them.

[newbutoldgrower75]

After getting advice from you great folks and having a think about things, not an easy thing to do thinking when your on medication haha, I'm going to leave the medium at that height for this grow. And I'm also just going t6o leave the lighting alone, at least just for now. Thank you everyone for your help and advice, greatly appreciated.