First attempt that didn't start out too seriously - Advice Appreciated

Discussion in 'Growing Marijuana Indoors' started by Freckish, May 11, 2011.

  1. The title says it all. Threw some bag seed in a pot, 3 plants died and 1 is still with us. She (positive thoughts) appears to be doing well and I think I just picked up a new hobby. Right now she's in a 2.5qt pot w/ some old MG potting soil and I added a fert. stick about 3 days ago. Started outside and I moved her in about a week ago. I'm going to use a small linen closet as my grow room which measures 27"Wx10'Hx17"D. I plan on using CFLs and building the cheap lighting fixture from the youtube video. Currently I'm using a 100W 5500K CFL. I'll add another one once I get the fixture put together. Then I plan on using 150W CFLs (2700k) for flowering. Since it's a small space I'm hoping the CFLs will keep the temps down especially when I need to keep the door shut. Here's a pic of my lady and the grow space.

    The main stem is really bent over as you can see in one of the pics. Any idea if this will straighten out or do I need to fix it some how? Will I need to transplant into a bigger pot and when should I do it? Any suggestions about the grow space? My significant other is on board with my new hobby but I have a feeling odor issues would quickly change her mind. Any suggestions on how to deal with odors? I did see the ONA bucket post but wonder if there are any other effective and cheap solutions.

    Thanks for any and all advice!!!
     

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  2. #2 ncbudlover, May 11, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: May 11, 2011
    Ok, to start take the fert. stick out ASAP. The MG soil has fertilizer in it already and every time you water you will be adding the time release nutes in the soil. MG gets bashed on here quite a bit because of the issues so many people have had. As for lighting and space you are ok for now, thats plenty of wattage for one plant. Make sure the light is as close as possible to the top of the plant (without burning, usually a couple inches with cfl) to prevent stretching and possibly help fix your leaning issue. If it persists, you can loosely tie a string to the stem and to the opposite side of the pot to help add stability but it should correct itself. Also adding a ocilating fan blowing over the top but not directly on the plant will help beef up the stem. As for when and if you will need to transplant, that really depends on how big you want your plant to get. The rule of thumb is approx. 1 gal of soil per foot of plant, so if you want a 2 footer you need a 2 gallon pot and so on. The point of starting in a smaller pot and working up is to allow the root system to fill up the space before you move to a larger pot encouraging healthier roots and thus a healthier plant. Lastly in a closet with no active ventilation ONA is probably your best bet for odor control. There are cheap ways to make carbon filters for as little as 10 or 15 bucks but with no fan pushing the air through the filter it will simply be decoration. I hope all of this is of help to you and good luck. Oh, and so far she (hopefully) looks pretty good.

    Edit: Also I would suggest going to the absolute beginners section and reading the sticky posts at the top of the forum. At this point you're really behind the 8 ball as far as learning all you'll need to know in order to get the most out of your efforts. There is ALOT more to growing MJ than just adding light, water and nutes. To do it well you need to control environmental factors such as temp and humidity, control the ph of the water and soil, and make sure the air is properly exchanged inside the growspace. My advice is read read read, then read some more. It's hard to get alot of help on here when you haven't done your homework.
     
  3. #3 Freckish, May 12, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: May 12, 2011
    Thanks Ncbudlover! I appreciate you taking the time to lend a hand.

    I've been reading a lot and trying to learn as much as possible. I really wasn't thinking about doing this seriously until I realized how I could actually save money by growing my own. Things didn't start out under ideal conditions but I'm determined to be self sufficient and never without before the end of the year or sooner.

    I went ahead and took out the fertilizer stick. I have read about the lack of enthusiasm for MG and that you shouldn't use the sticks. My thought process was because the soil was old (1+ years) and baking/freezing in the garage the nutes had degraded so the stick would supplement. A day after I put the stick in she seemed healthier and greener. When I checked her out this evening I noticed some redness on the some of the larger leaf stems. This was originally bag seed so I'm not sure if these are automatics (I heard they can develop red pigment around 2-3 weeks) but I got rid of the stick just to be safe. I also added a fan. I had bought one but it was too large for the space.

    I'd really like to get her out of that soil and into something I have more control over. Is there anyway to do that when I transplant to a bigger pot?
     
  4. Yes you can just change the soil in the larger pot. You will have that mg bound up in the root ball but the larger amount of soil surrounding it will allow any leftover nutes to dilute into a larger space. It's entirely possible that the nutes have degraded in that soil, and the purple stems can be a sign of deficiancy, but with MG you have to be careful. Also with a stick you are essentially doing the same thing as the MG soil since you have no control of the amount of nutes your babies are getting. Most of us are control freaks about stuff like that and for good reason. I think everyone who has ever successfully grown from start to finish has had atleast one failure so personally I would rather know exactly what and how much my girls get. Thats the only way you can track what you did to know what not to do when or if you screw up. Also you need to be careful what type of nutes the plant gets. Durring veg they like more N rich fertilizers. Something like a 20-10-10 would be fine. I use fox farms like alot of people on here but have seen people get good results with other brands. I just dont like the idea of using something I would fertilize my lawn, which I'm not planning on smoking on something I am. Ya know?
     

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