First Grow Attempt ... Will Need Advice Please

Hello!

This is my first attempt to grow some MJ. My goal was to grow 10 plants. Before I ventured into this I tried to do research and make this successful. I got alot of useful information from this site and others, but I find that I get alot of conflicting answers about certain things, as everyone seems to do things a little different. After I gathered some info, and decided to take the plunge and do the best I could with it. I will try to provide as much info as I can, but please remember that this is new to me and I'm sure I have made some mistakes throughout this thus far.

Grow Room :

The grow area is a closet that is approx. 12 Ft. long by 10 Ft. wide by 8 Ft. tall.

Seeds :

I purchased my seeds online at one of the many sites that sell them. I wasn't sure which seeds to purchase so I basicly just bought a few of what I though would do well, and ones that were not that expensive. I ended up purchasing these:

3x Homegrown Fantaseeds - Afghani - Regular
1x Free - 2 Free Feminized Seeds
5x White Label - Afghan Kush - Regular


Soil :

I really had trouble deciding which mixture I should go with. Seems there are lots of different routes to go with this one. I decided to use an organic soil that I would mix up myself. Unfortunately, I was unable to find exactly what I wanted and was forced to get what was available in my area at the local shops.

For the initial planting (seedling) I decided to just plant the seeds in MG organic potting soil in small containers. After a few days all but 1 seed had sprouted. After about 3 weeks I transplanted all of the seedlings into 3 Gal. pots with a soil mixture I mixed myself that consisted of:

60% Baccto Lite Premium Potting Soil (Nitrogen) .85 (Phosphate) .15 (Potash) .10
20% Worm Castings
10% Perilite
10% MG Potting Soil (That was left over)

Lighting :

For the seedling stage I kept them under a 20 inch fluorescent 24 hours a day. Once I transpanted them into the 3 Gal. pots I placed them under a 400 watt MH running 18/24 (Approx. 2 Ft. above) which I plan to use for the entire veg stage then switch to a 400 watt HPS for the flowering stage (if I make it that far..lol).

Nutrients :

I have not added any soluable fertilizer yet, as I am unsure how much or how often I should add it. This is an area I really need advice.

PH Levels :

This is the main area that I seem to be really struggling with. Money is tight for me at the moment so I purchased one of the cheaper PH soil meters that (supposedly measures it from a range of 3 to 9. I know it's not the best, but I purchased it in an effort to give me a general idea of where I was at.

After mixing my soil I tested it with the meter and it seemed to be registering right under 7. Around 6.7 maybe which is where I think it should be.

The water I give the plants is filtered tap water. The PH level in this water seems to hold around 7 (as I tested it with a PH test kit I use for my fishtank). I have been using a small amount of a PH down solution that seems to drop it to around the 6 range.

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At this point the plants are about 1 month old. I have looked around at pictures of other plants here and mine seem to be a little small for their age, and I have noticed a slight yellowing in some of the leaves, but overall I think they look like they are doing ok. I really need advice on where to go from here as far as nutes and any other issues that may need to be addressed. I will post some pictures of them so far.

Feel free to post any comments or advice... thanks in advance!

Lookin good man, As far as nutes thats up to you. My advise is with this being your first grow use what is easiest for you. FF 3 part liquid nutes has been my go to. They are inexpensive, easy to use and easy to find. Good Luck

If those leafs are normally curled like that they look a lil over watered. Not a whole lot but still. The soil looks a lil wet but also not terrible but to much water is just to much & can stunt growth.

What fert are you gonna use? The colors dont look bad so I dont think you need to add any yet, especially with that good soil. Is one leaf 1/2 green and the other yellowish (bottom right of pic #5)?

I agree over all things look fine. Looks like you have some India traits there so they should be short and stubby.

Keep up the research and the paitence..good go'n!!

Allglad said:

What fert are you gonna use? The colors dont look bad so I dont think you need to add any yet, especially with that good soil. Is one leaf 1/2 green and the other yellowish (bottom right of pic #5)?

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Thanks for the replies guys.....

I'm not exactly sure what fertilizer I should go with. Alot of ppl here say to stay away from Miracle grow, so I will probably end up buying something else online and getting it shipped in (maybe some FF as Rocky10 suggested).

Yea, Allglad that one plant has some abnormalities LOL... half of one leaf is a yellowish color and one of the leafs looks kinda deformed. Not sure what the issue is there, but I plan to keep a close eye on it.

Allglad said:

If those leafs are normally curled like that they look a lil over watered. Not a whole lot but still. The soil looks a lil wet but also not terrible but to much water is just to much & can stunt growth.

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I try not to water them too much. I have been waiting like 3 or 4 days between waterings until the soil seems to be really dry and the pots feel somewhat light when I pick them up.

At this stage is it better to give them alot of water and completely saturate the soil until it drains out the bottom or water a little at a time?

yes water till it comes out the bottom. A little at a time is a good way to over water.

yea lift'n the pots works.....note if you got soil from a bag it probably had moisture and would weigh a little more than when its dry.

3 or 4 days should be good unless on the day of water'n you do a little though out the day....again that could lead to over water'n.

The leaf droop is normal for lights off, but should usually perk up at least 1/2 way though a light cycle.

Added small space heater and humidifier in grow room:

It has only been a few days since my last update, but I wanted to post some pics of some issues I may be having.

I have noticed on a few of the plants that some of the stems are starting to get purple in them. I have looked around here, and alot say that it could be due to temp fluctuations. I have added a small space heater and I have also added a humidifier inside the grow room. I try to keep my temps steady at around 78-80f during the day, and around 65-70 at night. I also try to keep the humidity level around 50% at all times. I have also noticed that a few of the leaves are starting to curl upward at the ends and some curling downwards and some are also starting to droop a little.

I'm still very unclear if I should go ahead and start adding some nutes in with the water at this point. My soil mixture seems like it would have plenty of nutes in it for atleast a few more weeks ?

I'm also trying hard to NOT overwater them, as this seems to be a mistake alot of others make. Honestly, I have only really saturated the soil 1 time since I have transplanted them. The soil seems to stay really moist so I'm assuming they don't need to be watered?

I don't have any other nutes at this point except MG all purpose plant food. If nutes are needed at this point would that be ok to use now, and switch to FF nutes later on ?

IMO these plants are looking ok for a first time grower, but I would appreciate any advice from others. Thanks!

Well, apparently the plants really liked the space heater I added to the grow room or the humidifier or a combination of both as they have almost doubled in size in 3 days.





I know eventually I will need to add some additional nutes, but when?

I have already purchased some FF big bloom, and I'm thinking of getting some jacks classic all purpose.

My soil seems to be retaining moisture quite well, as I watered them about a week ago and the soil is still moist. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not.

Comments are welcome!!

the heater will keep the roots nice and warm when lights are off which is great,and when it comes to adding nutes,it depends on what soil you are using.a light mix soil for example will have enough nutes to last 2 weeks.other soils will have enough to last a month.
your plants look very healthy,but if you wanna start feeding just use a quarter or half strength.
and when it comes to watering,dont be scared to let the soil get dry upto a inch and a half or so down before you water again.

resinousflowers said:

when it comes to watering,dont be scared to let the soil get dry upto a inch and a half or so down before you water again.

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Yea, I'm trying to not water them until the soil is really dried out, but my soil is still moist after a week. They seem to be retaining moisture a little more than I want them to.

Ordered some jacks classic all purpose and some FF Big Bloom. Will start adding them next week and I will switch over to 12/12 for the flower cycle.

A couple of the plants are a little droopy and have some leaves curling under. I havent watered them hardly at all so I'm not sure what the problem is with them. My soil still seems to stay really moist so maybe moisture stress is the problem. I lowered a fan to blow directly on the pots themself and raised the room temp to maintain a steady 80f. Seems to be helping dry out the soil a little. I decided to top one of the plants and it seems to be doing really well. I should start to see signs of which sex these are soon. I hope.

Here are some updated pic. Comments or advise are welcome as always!

Going to switch to the flower cycle in the next day or two. I'm ready to see some buddage on these things!

Wouldn't worry about nutes yet until flowering.
And your question about the nutes.
Since you have so many plants,
I would do your OWN experiment,
and give each a little different dose,
and write it down,
and see which works best.
If you master knowing your plants,
you master a great harvest.

So I was told by a great man.
Lol

Nice Ol Bud said:

Wouldn't worry about nutes yet until flowering.
And your question about the nutes.
Since you have so many plants,
I would do your OWN experiment,
and give each a little different dose,
and write it down,
and see which works best.
If you master knowing your plants,
you master a great harvest.

So I was told by a great man.
Lol

Click to expand...

Yea, I'm going to start off with a really low dose of the Jacks Classic and work my way up. These have been in veg for just over 6 weeks so I guess I'm looking at around the end of March till they will be (Hopefully) ready to harvest.

Meh...... it's gonna be a long wait!!

Watered with Jacks Classic all-purpose and Jacks Blossom Booster today (half-strength of each mixed). Only gave them about a half gallon of water each. A very small amout ran out of the bottom, so I don't think I over-watered. I also switched the lighting to 12/12 today also. The light schedule is set for on at 6am and off at 6pm.

Hoping to see some good results soon!

Had a power outage for 4 hours in the middle of the light cycle yesterday. All I could do was let them sit in the dark for that time. Hope this doesn't cause problems.

DaBong said:

Had a power outage for 4 hours in the middle of the light cycle yesterday. All I could do was let them sit in the dark for that time. Hope this doesn't cause problems.

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They will be fine 4 hours don't do fuck all.
and as for your watering insecurity just water when the top 1-2 inches of the soil is dry or every 4-5 days wich is how it works out for me.
and yes you want runoff you cant over water in a single watering they mean like watering everyday is over watering if you wait till there dry then soak them bitches till some runs out you'll be good to go!

drugzarebadkids said:

They will be fine 4 hours don't do fuck all.
and as for your watering insecurity just water when the top 1-2 inches of the soil is dry or every 4-5 days wich is how it works out for me.
and yes you want runoff you cant over water in a single watering they mean like watering everyday is over watering if you wait till there dry then soak them bitches till some runs out you'll be good to go!

Click to expand...

Yea, I think the problem I was having was that my grow room was too humid causing hardly any water to be used or evaporate from the pots. I would go like almost 2 weeks and the soil would still be moist/wet. I removed the humidifier I was using and I "think" I'm back on track.

Thanks for the reply!

DaBong said:

Yea, I think the problem I was having was that my grow room was too humid causing hardly any water to be used or evaporate from the pots. I would go like almost 2 weeks and the soil would still be moist/wet. I removed the humidifier I was using and I "think" I'm back on track.

Thanks for the reply!

Click to expand...

Sometimes it takes a younger plant longer to drink up all that water too, like if you just transplanted into bigger pots or something it can take awhile just keep your eye on it you'll be fine

Week 7 (4 days into flowering) Pics:

Lowered all of the plants from the table they were sitting on to sitting them directly on the floor. The floor feels warm to the touch so I don't think the temp will cause a problem. I'm still having some moisture issues. Can't seem to keep the rooms humidity down. A couple of the plants look like I am overwatering them, but I'm only watering every 7-10 days when the pots feel light. Seriously thinking of purchasing a de-humidifier and running in there.



As always comments or advice is welcome!