Nutes to Use

GrnMan said:

Thanks Vi, I'm going to give your mix a shot. What do you think about starting my seeds out in a fiber pot? Ever tried that? Or should I roll with a little planter with your suggested pre-mix, then transplant later to a much bigger pot with the same pre-mix? Any problem with using the same pot from start to finish - a real big one?Thanks a million guys

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1. Jiffy Pots are good for seed starting.

2. Don't start them out in the mix I gave you. Wait until you have several sets of leaves on your seedlings. Then, depending upon what size plant you want to grow, transplant into the larger pot. I've found that for a small cabinet grow, with at least three feet of headroom, two gallon square pots work great. If you're growing large ... use five gallon pots.

3. Another good way to grow seedlings is in styrofoam coffee cups with a 50/50 mix of Perlite and Vermiculite. Punch several holes in the sides of the cups near the bottom for drainage. A pencil is great for punching the holes. Don't worry about nutes. After you have several sets of leaves, rinse all the perlite and vermiculite off of the roots, then transplant into the bigger pots with the soil mix I gave you. Then stand back and watch them grow.

4. Buy a moisture meter at your local nursery ... about 7-8 bucks. Only water when indicated by the moisture meter. The biggest mistakes made are over watering, using a screwed up soil mix, and using too much, or the wrong nutrients.

Remember, this plant we are growing is nothing more than a weed. Its a survivor ... but we manage to kill it anyway.

Vi
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Don't start them out in the mix I gave you. Wait until you have several sets of leaves on your seedlings.

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Ok, I always thought it was good to start them out in a soil full of nutes or 20-5-5. So those numbers on MG and Scott's potting soil, are those the percentages like 20-5-5, but rather smaller dosages of the nutes? I think they have something like .07 for nitrogen and .05 for phosphorus, not sure what the potassium levels are. So that's enough food for the seedlings first two weeks of life?

Then, depending upon what size plant you want to grow, transplant into the larger pot.

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Ok, I'll give that a try. I think a 2 gal pot will work fine for this small grow. What's the deal with the square pots? I see everyone using them. Is there something about them that makes them a better choice for a grow?

Remember, this plant we are growing is nothing more than a weed. Its a survivor ... but we manage to kill it anyway.

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LOL - Ain't that right!

Thanks for all the help man. I'm sure I will have more questions down the road, but reading everyone else's grow journals and learning about problems they encounter really helps. This forum and the people here really rock!



/ROLLITUP.ORG FTW!!

Vi's Killer soil mix:

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2 parts of Schultz's Potting Soil Plus.

1 part Perlite.

1 part Vermiculite.

1 part Worm Castings.

Add one SMALL handful of Granulated Dolimite Lime per 2 gallons of mix.

You won't need any nutes with this mix for at least 30 days.

The lime keeps the PH stable throughout the grow.

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Where can I find some Vermiculite? Home Depot and Lowe's doesn't carry this stuff - according to their website.

Can I find it at my local Hydro store, or will I need to order online?



Update: Does humidity and temp play a key role in the development of a seedling. Should the humidity and temp be adjusted as soon as it goes in the soil? I just inserted a few seeds that had germinated into my soil mix and have them in the dark.

I also found a cheap temp/humidity gauge at Wal-Mart, as well as a t8 2ft flouro reflector and the Y splitters I was looking for! Wal-Mart rox! Home Depot and Lowe's didn't carry any of those things I found at Wal-Mart. I'm still waiting to get those 400 watt HPS bulbs and ballast. I will be working on my setup today on the next test grow.

I got my cfl setup ready for when my seeds sprout. Fans are in place as well as lights and temp/humidity gauge. I'll post pics when I can.

I'm running at about 78 degrees and have a humidity of 54 percent. Those stats sound about right? Or do I need to change the environment?

Thanks

Ok, so I bought a ph test kit. It was the only one I could find and I don't know if it's going to be good for testing the soil.

I tested some water I have and it's ph reads around 7.6. I know marijuana likes the soil to be at or around 6-6.5. What would this do to my soil if I added this in? Am I going to need to bring the ph down to 6-7? If I need to bring it down, will aluminum sulfate or sulfur do the job?

How do I test the ph of the soil? From what I've been reading, it looks as if it's going to be tough to test with the type of kit I have. The kit I have looks like the one below:




Thanks for any help!

your using stuff I can't even find here in the USA. I use 'schultz liquid plant food plus (10-15-10) for vegging and I'm using Miracl Gro powdered plant food booster (24-8-16) for flowering. currentl;y I'm in day 22 of flowering also using a c02 setuo and every third watering I use the MG with 1 tblspn 'Grandmas Molasses' per gallon for my 4 ladies. the molasses (so I've read) adds to the 'dankness' of the buds and makes for an all-around sweeter tasting hit so what the heck can't hurt...

Ok, got my humidity level to 52 percent and temp at 82 with all lights off except one 27 watt CFL. I wanted to test this out to see how low the temps would get with just one light going. Everything looks good so far. The 27 watt CFL will be going off in about 30 mins. Let's see how things get then!


Pics hopefully coming tomorrow if I find that charger.

Square pots: You can fit more plants into your cabinet if you use square pots.

Seedlings: The seed itself has enough nutrients in it for the baby to use until it has several sets of leaves ... and is ready to transplant. Remember, these plants are weeds ... and survivors. Mother Nature has supplied enough food into the plant until a root system is developed.

Vermiculite: Any nursery will have it. Order your worm castings there too.

faralos sez ...

"your using stuff I can't even find here in the USA."

Nope. Read the posts. I gave you the website from where you can order Peter's products. Here it is again: http://www.jacksclassic.com/

Vi