Okay, I had an old grow journal, and things weren't going too well. I got some Hawaiian Punch from a government shop on Sept 20th. They're 100% female clones, and were taken care of for their first week or so of growth (I am estimating based on the size they were when I got them). Setup: -6 (moving up to 10 in 2 days) CFL lights @ 6500k - Each 20watts -Organic Soil - containing only Humus and Perlite with 2 cups added perlite to each pot -8'' Pots - moved from their original 4'' pots -21''length x 15'' width x 16 '' height blue tote, lined on the inside with silver reflective mylar (from the back of wrapping paper) - Shultz Perlite approx 2 cups aded to the organic soil mixture -Two kinds of plant food (deciding which to use): a) Miracle Gro All-Purpose Plant Food @ 24-8-16 b) Shultz All-Purpose Plant Food @ 20-30-20 -Large oscillating fan, blowing 24/7 on plants - Bionaire Humidifier/Air Purifier running 24/7 (just added today Oct 2nd) right beside the box containing the plants set to keep humidity around 60+ (I am not sure which is the best) --------------------------------------------------- The Grow I have the lights running on 24/0 cycle, with watering pH set to exactly 6.5, perhaps a tad lower but definately between 6.0 - 6.5. Not absolutely sure of the soil pH as of yet, but I had a good feeling it seems to be doing ok so far. The Ladies 9/20/2008 These were the plants on the 1st day I got them, hours after taking them home. They are still inside their original soil and pots that they were given to me in. http://img87.imageshack.us/my.php?image=023ke6.jpg 9/21/2008 A day later, after I put them under their temporary lights (I was unable to make it to the hardware store and get the extra lights at that current time). The plants also began to display some yellowing as seen in the pictures on the lower leaves, and one of the leaves was curling upwards. http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?image=029gt1.jpg http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?image=030iy2.jpg http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?image=032rl1.jpg 9/22/2008 After frantic posts around here asking for help with the yellowing, I was told there could be several possible conclusions. I began to foliar feed my plants @ exactly 1/4 strength with just a few sprays. The yellowing appeared to stop after a couple days, and I stopped foliar feeding them after finding it wasn't recommended a couple days later. The plants, after being foliar fed for a couple sprayings. http://img142.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01493by5.jpg http://img142.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01492bj8.jpg After coming here again and posting more panicky posts about my plants not growing, etc, I was told they weren't fed from the start, by the government office. 9/23/2008 It was the plants watering day (they needed it anyways too) and I decided it was time to feed them a slight bit. I mixed some of the miracle gro (24-8-16) @ exactly 1/4 strength and put it in with the plants watering, making sure to let just a bit of drainage come through the bottom. 9/25/2008 After a couple days of monitoring, the plants looked to be a bit more healthy, but were still not growing that much, at least to me. I decided to repot the plants at this point in time, and did so into their new 8'' pots. While repotting, the roots were relatively small and thin, but I figured it was because the plants were also still very tiny themselves (hopefully). 9/27/2008 Still monitoring the plants, keeping a close eye on them. The plants looked to be responding well (in my eyes) to the new repotting, however they weren't growing too much (at least not the 2 inches a day I heard they should be). 9/30/2008 Watered the plants yesterday, this time without any food mixed into it at all. pH was exactly 6.5, made sure there was drainage coming out of the bottom of the plants as usual, and placed them carefully back under the lights. Pictures of them are below: The plants, in their new pots, held approximately 1.5 inches off the bottom of their container, with extra drainage holes drilled into the bottom and bottom-side's of each pot. http://img385.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01496bj6.jpg http://img184.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01497qf7.jpg 10/2/2008 The plants look to have grown a bit to me, they aren't growing upwards too much (in my opinion) but they seem to be getting a lot fatter (growing outwards?) and sprouting more leaves. Here are the plants literally 2 minutes ago: http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01498bd4.jpg http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01499ri9.jpg http://img171.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01500ox4.jpg http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01501sn5.jpg http://img171.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01502gv1.jpg http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01503by4.jpg ------- My plan for the next watering (someone on here said it didnt matter which food I gave the plants) is to introduce the plants to the Shults (20-30-20) plant food @ exactly 1/4 strength. I've got the mixture sitting in water now, has been for the last 2 days, waiting for the plants to need watering. pH is balanced to exactly 6.5 again and the water is ready to go. Let me know what you think. I am still kind of worried about the growth rate of my plants, but I don't really know since this is a 1st time grow for me. Any and all opinions/help/comments are appreciated. Thanks a lot GC EDIT: A side note also, you may notice some of the leaves have white spots on them. I have a strong suspicion (even though I am a nub at growing) that it was the foliar feeding. The only leaves that have the white stuff on them are the ones that were hit by the foliar feeding spray, which I have stopped immediately a few weeks ago, the spots remained on the plants. I checked and triple checked for bugs, there are absolutely none.
I am glad that the plants look healthy, great sign for me to be hearing that. Thanks for the reply I have noticed that although their growth was slow at the beginning, in the last few days they have really grown significantly, not so much in height (just an inch or two maybe at most) but as pictured in the last two, they are really starting to sprout new branches all over the bottom and sides, the plants are really getting fat. Is this kinda normal? (growth spurts like that) And I don't think you need a pic of me. There is no way I could look better than Mary Jane
Yes, it's completely normal. Once the plants begin to establish themselves not just above ground but below ground they can really do some growing. Think about it like this, an average male is something like 5'10". This takes the human about 17-20 years to accomplish. A cannabis plant can grow over 6' in 3-4 months if everything is done right. This could be something like 2 feet a month. Compare that to a redwood tree, a redwood could grow over 350' tall but that takes the tree about 3,000 years. That is only .001 feet per month. Keep everything perfect for the plant and it will give you a never ending growth spurt.
So if I get what you're saying.. If I am experiencing or seeing this type of growth spurt, I am definitely doing something right.