New Grower First AF grow. Northern Lights, Coco, 3x3 DR90T, T5 and CLF's

[Pops Dontrun]

Hello everyone, This is my first AF grow. I have 4 Northern Lights autofems from OO Seeds planted in coco in 3 gallon Poly grow bags. (I chose them because they are 17.3" tall) I have the full line of Canna Coco nutes. At this point I have only used Rhizotonic to help with germination and rooting. I hear autos only need .25 strength nutes every other feeding....not sure would love to know. The lighting is 1- 2' 2 bar T5 and 2- 252W CFL hoods I made myself. There is a 4" HO can fan and a Can filter 9000. It is all housed in a 3x3 DR90T. RH hangs between 38% - 50%. Temps 75 - 80. I have a timer set to 18/6. I have read 20/4 is the "best" however, I am running 2 tents this way and also have a 4000w HPS photo room. I am thinking of my power bill...hence the CFL's. I plan on starting the second tent a month later so, I can get an every month harvest cycle between the two tents. The other seeds I have are Dutch Passion's Think Different...they will start in a month. I will still have a mix of NL, TD, Ultraviolet and Critical Jack autofem seeds. Any and all advice is very welcomed. :smoke::smoke::smoke: I would love to know if i'm doing things right or wrong....again, any help. Puff puff to all

 

[sofa]

welcome to afn pops:smoke:! nice setup! i like your diy light hoods :smokebuds:

 

[toke]

hey Pops your off to a great start by starting a grow in the New Grower section you get lots of help there. when you get a chance swing by the INTRO section and say high to the folks so we may greet you.

toke:smokebuds:

 

[Pops Dontrun]

welcome to afn pops:smoke:! nice setup! i like your diy light hoods :smokebuds:

Thx! I was able to build them for under $100 a hood. Once, I get the hang of how to fully use this forum...and see the true quality and success of the hoods...I will post how I did it. Folks can always search YT and the google, as I did. Just BE CAREFUL and WEAR EYE PROTECTION!!! I just took a metal sliver to the eye while drilling the bake pans. Lots of pain and an ER visit. My friend had just said "Shouldn't you be wearing safety glasses?" .....before I could answer, it got me. Stay safe.

 

[Eflow420]

Welcome and goodluck

 

[The Squid]

Damn! Sucks about the metal in the eye. Welcome to the site though and nice setup and DIY lights. Definitely please post those in the DIY section if you are pleased with their results. Good luck! :smokebuds:

 

[CGR]

nice gear pops:smokebuds:and welcome

 

[Pops Dontrun]

A puff of the meds and 'what up' to you all. Well, I planted the seeds in the coco on the 15th...it is now the 18th and 1 has come forth. I would assume they will all be topside in the next day or two. Will this be the same as photo plants just faster and on their own time? ....and what should I do with nutes? I have heard and plan on .25 canna nutes 2x's then PH water. What are you guys doing?

 

[Pops Dontrun]

Well, they are all topside! I have been shocked to see the first one grow at least 2" in 24 hours. At this point everything seems great. RH and temps are steady at 30%-45% and 75-85 degrees. I will feed them Canna Coco Rhizotonic until I see the first vegetative leafs. I will then switch to .25 veg nutes every other feeding.

 

[Pops Dontrun]

DAY #9

Plants are looking good. 2 are very nice sized. The other 2 are nice but, half the size. I have been giving them daily feedings of Rhizotonic. Yesterday, I fully flushed them with PH water. They all, even the smaller ones, are starting their 3rd leaf set. When the coco is ready for another feeding...I will run a .25? or .5? strength veg nutes. Not so sure on nute strength. I read everything from full nutes to just PH water. Would love to hear what you guys think.

Tomorrow, I am going to get a 6" clip on fan to help move air. Also, the DIY CFL hoods are getting so hot ( about 165 degrees) that some of the bulbs are blowing. It is the heat that is popping the ballast. So, I will be adding 2 12v computer fans to each hood. I will post how to build these once I work out these damn bugs.

So far, I am happy with my choice to give autos a try:thumbs: Any ideas....or do things seem kool and I should just sit back and watch em' grow...hahahaha