Just got a 250w HPS. Plants are 15'' away. Two fans directly above the light are blowing down around the light. (It makes the plants move around a little.) Temp in the 82 F range. 2 days ago I give them their first full dose of organic ferts (the same day I introduse the light). Today the leave tips are bending down and feel very brittle. Some brown around the edges of some. 1 leaf of 1 plant actually has brown spots. Am I over ferting or light to close? Ive read around the FAQ even checked out pics. Its not just the top set of leaves that are messed up so Im leaning toward over ferting but not sure. The light doesnt feel hot on the back of my hand. Im not sure how to send pics or Id do that. this isnt one of those life or death situations but any help is appreciated.
if your using the fish water & then adding nutes to that . you could be over doing it on the Nitrogen . check your ppm to see what your putting out at . my tank water is around 900 ppm . the only extra's i add to my tank water is a teaspoon of Earth Juice Micro Blast once a week . because the tank water doesn't have every element that plants truely need or want ! as to the light being too close . use the old back of your hand method to test it . place your hand over your plants . palm down . if its too hot for the back of your hand then its too hot for your plants ..
I dont have a ph or ppm meter. I hope thats not too crucial for growing. The light isn't burning my hand. In fact I could get it even closer. Im gona try a foot away from the bulb. The temp has reached a new high of 84 F. Isnt anthing under 90 F acceptable though?
No not really Herbal. I think 85 is pushing the limits myself. I like to have temps below 80 if at all possible. Sounds like you have no exhaust and you will need it. There's no way around it if your temps are that high....this is winter too. Think about temps in the summer and what they will be like.
Yeah, I had problems with maleness when my temps were in the 80's... When I reduced them to 70 with a cooltube, it has been all good ever since! -------Dom
Sounds like nute burn to me. Back off to half strength, maybe. I've found it not uncommon for my plants to react like that on their initial feeding. How old are they? I would only give them nutes (once a week, high N rating) if they were over 2 wks old. I've always kept my temps around 75 by pointing the fan to blow sideways between the light and plants, thus removing heat while also helping to build strong stems. They say ideal temps are between 70-85, but I don't like to be near 80 unless I'm flowering. What's the dimensions on your grow area?
The girls are 2 months old and are 23'' tall. The closet is 6ft tall 2ft wide and 1.5 ft deep. Pretty cramped for space with only 2 plants. The closet door is vented so I thought I would be good with 1 fan blowing from the top.
You want to exhaust air out the top and bring cool fresh air in from the bottom. What you are doing is pushing hot air around and back down on your plants.
imo 82-85 they will survive. highr chance of males though. fert burn i think. culd b yo unknown organic fert or a soil problem. b sure 2 add lime and get a ph tester. u said u didnt have 1, well any organic grower gotta have it. i had similair problemz in my 1st growz it led 2 nute problemz. wut r u usuin exactly? a lil 250 shuldnt burn yo plantz i think. u said yo hand didnt get warm, so it aint heat. i trust yo judgement. get a tester & post da resultz. good luk.
Ive been using fish tank water, botanicare power plant (3-1-4), blast off, and alaska fish emulsion (5-1-1). I have an old air filter thats about 3 ft high. I opened the closet door and have that blowing in now. The temp dropped down to 80 F when it was like 90 somthing right below the light. Should I leave the closet door opened so it stays cooler? Or is that a waist of light? Maybe just cracked? Im not sure
icetea...looking at your ferts... fish tank water-"unknown N-P-K, but my 'guesse' would be some N Blast off- Botanicare-"3"-1-4 AK fish emulsion-("more" N)'5'-1-1 IMO, you're pushing a lot of N their way, and I had the AK emulsion cause some ph swings when I used it. You need a ph meter #1...
