New Grower First grow ever! Northern lights AF

[fatcalvin]

Hey guys.I've been poking around here for a few now and decided to join after reading ALL the help you gave to some other new growers. It awesome that everyone can come together for a common good . Well here is what im working with for my beginning grow:
5 NL seeds. Only 3/5 germ rate
3gal pots
sunshine #4 medium
400w HPS/MH lighting
2'x4'x6' home made tent
100cfm 4" inline fan for induction
400cfm 6" fan for exhaust
scrubber (when needed)
6" cool hood for the light
Growing outside in a shed in the tent.

I've had them in soil for about 9 days they seem to be a little small from what i can tell. 2/3 have a noticeable 2nd set of leaves coming in while the other you can tell they are coming just not as big. I do have a few questions.

I got a MH light but its only 4000k. Will this be ok for about a week until my 6500k come in?
Also I have a 2100k HPS bulb for flower, will this be ok?
Lastly, I have an average temperature between 82-86 in my tent with a spike that I noticed today at 90*. Will the high temp hurt the plants any?
Thanks for any help and PLEASE feel free to leave any helpful advice!!!!

 

[Eflow420]

Sounds like the start of a good grow. I had temps in the high eighty's and I could tell it was slowing down my growth. Mine like between 79 and 82 . 79 is best. I'm sure someone with more ex. Than me will chim in . Try to get them as close to 79 as you can. Hope this helps . Good luck!!!

 

[The Squid]

Hey man welcome to the New Growers Forum. Glad to have you start up a grow. :smokebuds:.....

SO...not sure where you are and if it's about to get even warmer or what, but if so and you're already having heat issues, then I think you're gonna run into major issues.
Anything over 85 for extended periods of time is no good. Shoot for 79-81 with lights on. Anything above 65 or so is fine for lights off. Are you venting your exhaust outside of the shed? If not, definitely do this. Otherwise all that hot air is just getting pulled back into the tent. And the passive fan should be pulling from outside of the shed as well if the air is cooler, assuming it is cooler outside than inside the shed.

Your bulbs sound fine IME.
Do you have a Ph meter? If so, what are you Ph'ing your feed water to and what/when have you been feeding?
What is your humidity?
How far is your light from the seedlings?

Take care and I'll be back.

 

[fatcalvin]

Well lets just say my winter lasts about a week :/ I was thinking about moving them inside but I'm worried about the smell. I do have my hot air venting into the shed but I'm also pulling cooler air from out side. My humidity is high. Usually over 60. I do have a ph and ppm meter. Usually ph my water to 6.6-6.8. I was thinking a out getting an ac unit for it but I'm worried about electric because of smart meters. Currently I'm running my day cycle and night and vise versa. I really hope that the heat won't hurt them too bad. We got a cold front coming this weekend. Maybe I'll move them inside. Thanks for the help so far guys. And squid you are one o he main reasons I joined

 

[The Squid]

How am I one of the reasons? Very flattered, thank you. High heat will be bad. If you could get your exhaust going out of the she I bet that would help dude.
Yeah we barely had a winter this/last year.
And I would feed at 6.4-6.5 with the soil. :thumbs:

And if you can get a window ac unit that would be great. And who the hells to say you cant have an ac in your shed? Haha
High humidity is good for veg, lower for flowering to prevent mold on buds.

 

[fatcalvin]

Well I got home last night and the duct from my light to my exhaust fan came off and was dumping hot air into my tent!! Made a run to Home Depot and picked up some insulated duct and re ran the line. I also vented the air to the outside. I also made a 6" passive intake but the sides are still sucking in quiet a bit. Also I checked this working and temps were down to 81. Move my lights up from 16" to 18" or so. It seems like one plant loves the heat. The other two like it too, just not as much. Thanks for the help so far guys!!

 

[fatcalvin]

Had a cold front come through so temps should be very cool through the weekend which gives me plenty of time to get the AC unit in top continue with the cool climate. Just looked and temps are @ 75 with 60% RH. I gave each one about .5gal of water with a TINY bit of Maxigrow that I was talked into getting by a hydroshop guy. It raised my PPm from 340s to about 450s. Also PH'd the water to 6.5

 

[fatcalvin]

Going to put the AC in today. Even though its like 50* outside it is supposed to be back in the 80's in a day of two.

I cut my exhaust fan off to keep the warmth from the light in the temt and when i checked on them about an hour later I noticed that it was a little skunky in the tent Dont know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

 

[The Squid]

Hey Calvin. I recommend you keep your exhaust on 24/7 and do you have a carbon filter? Can't remember. They need constant fresh air exchange. Do you have a speed controller for your fan? They are super useful and like 19 bucks. Then you can just turn it down instead of off.

 

[fatcalvin]

Yea i have a scrubber but didnt think i needed it yet They didnt get too cold. only down to the lower 60's. I need to get a fan controller. With the AC do i need to make a duct that goed into the tent or will the ambient temp of the room keep my tent temps in check? thanks for looking out
BTW i think 1 of my plants started to grow its 3rd set of leaves