Miracle Grow; 2 plants; CLF/Fluoro - Flowering started 11/5/07

[HappySmoker420]

Hi Everyone, welcome to my cheap-ass grow using all Miracle Grow and cheap fluorescent and CFL lighting. I have another grow journal of these 2 females from seed...however it got too long. I've now started a fresh journal for flowering stage. Please feel free to comment and give advice!

2 Plants, Monster & BigGuy. Veged under 24/7 for 3.5 weeks and then 18/6 for 1.5 weeks. Flowering schedule (12/12) started right around 11/5/07. I use Miracle Grow all Organic for Tomatoes as the soil. Very very low NPK ratio. I was warned not to use MG but have found it hard to believe any other soil could possibly give me better results.

Both plants showed female pistils about 3 days into flowering. I use Miracle Grow "bloom booster" for the nutrients. Alright, so I know these plants aren't very large (probably 12" tall) ...this was intentional due to my grow space requirements.



Pictures - In order from top to bottom -

Both plants; side angle
Both plants; top angle

Monster - top angle bud shot
Monster - inner growth shot
Monster - side angle shot

BigGuy -top angle bud shot
BigGuy -side angle

My ferrets - pete & sammy sable

My setup - actually i have (2) 2' fluoro tubes with 5100k sunshine and 3100k grow bulbs. (4) 23w 2700k, (2) 13w 3100k (1) 26w 6500k. This picture is actually a month old but just wanted to give you an idea of how my setup looks.

[HappySmoker420]

Lots of bud formation going on. The top of Monster is looking really nice...great bud growing!

I had to move the grow setup from one closet to another closet in another room. No worries though! I staggered the placement of the fluoro tubes so they are hitting maximum plant area! The 2 fixtures on either side have 5100k bulbs while the (6) middle CFL's are 2700 + 3100k's. I have 2 in front of each plant and 2 right between the plants for a total of (6) plus the (2) fixtures plus the (2) fluoros. 10 lights for 2 plants...overkill? It's pretty warm in there...i do have a powerful fan to the left in the picture...


Pictures in order:

1.)My Setup - (4) 23w 2700k, (2) 13w 3100k (2) 26w 5100k (2) 2' fluoro tubes on top

2.)Monster top
3.)Monster Inner growth

4.)BigGuy

[Blaze all day]

Interesting. I wanted to try MG but was told not to waste my time with it. They look healthy enough.

P.S. Ferrets are the shit...

[Maccgyver]

MG can work but it is not recommended nor are any chemicals IMO. ORganics only!!!!!! Who knows best???? Us or Mother Nature. I stick with Mother Nature she has been around lot longer and growing weed for alot longer than we could ever hope to do. To be honest as well those plants don't look that great, they definitely have some nute problems and there should be more growth in the time those things have been alive. Should have topped at the 5th node and then lsted the branches/supercropped. Making an even canopy and keeping the plant as short as possible is essential for flouro grows.

[HappySmoker420]

Yea I was told also "DONT USE MiracleGrow" yada yada but it's the only soil thats available in my area at lowes. The MG soil I am using is "organic"...it's all organic..pieces of bark and stuff in there. It has low levels of NPK and no time release. It has a pic of a tomatoe on the front of the bag...and I've read that any soil thats suited for tomatoes will work for marijuana as the characteristics are nearly identical.

Yea so I dunno...Macgyver, thanks for the info but take your MG hating elsewhere please If I do a grow in the future, yes, I will attempt LST and trimming and topping to maximize the area.

Also, what you're seeing i doubt is nutrient burn but rather a combo of heat stress, burn marks from lights being too close and a watering issue. If there is a nut problem it is extremely slight...especially since I just added nutes for the very first time at 25% strength 3 days ago....

I'm very happy with the plants considering it's my first grow and everything they've been through.

[Help_Needed]

The whole Miracle Grow debate often leaves out the fact that the problems with MG are usually strain specific. Some strains do great, and some, like my last grow, will burn if you even think about using fertilized soil. That said, it does look like you have a touch of nute burn on the tips, nothing major though. Go really easy on your ferts if you're soil already has them in it. Remember that your soil will release ferts every time you water and the plants will need a lot of water while they're growing so fast, so that makes it even easier to burn them with pre-nuted soil.

As for the stretching, mine did that last time during the first couple of weeks I had them on 12/12. They filled back in pretty fast though.

Overall your plants look pretty good. And your ferrets are cute as hell. Makes me miss my little guys.