This is my first ever indoor grow, I have been getting a ton of love on here so far and I am very excited. I have alot to learn and thats why I came here in the first place. I look forward to sharing my trials and tribulations with everyone My current setup; 4x8x7 Mylar Grow tent 2400w Full spectrum LED grow light 1200w Full spectrum LED to be used as needed Light mover 6" 440cfm carbon filter exhaust fan Humidifier (keeping tent around 50% RH) Loosely PH'd/filtered water Jobes Organic soil (no perlite added) 3 gallon pots (debating on 5-7 gallon smart pots) NUTES; BIOBUZZ fish extract Seaweed Extract Advanced Nutrients organics Sensi Cal-Mag Seeds; 4x Wedding Cake 4x Cement shoes have some Skywalker OG Fems, AK-48 Autofems, and Northern Lights Autofems coming. Will add some autos as soon as I get them
I used the old fashioned method to germinate the seeds. Directly into the soil, had all of them sprout successfully
Here we are at day 18, was given there first feeding of AN iguana grow (1ML per 1L) Hopefully they start to grow into their containers, have been off to a slow start they are on 20/4 light schedule. temp stays around 78F and RH stays around 50% with the humidifier running
I'm using both 5 and 7. Man one guy saved me the other day. I am growing blue dreams and brooklyns from the vault comp grow. Luckily one of my buddies on here sent me a pic of his blue dream in a small bucket that produced 11 zips. So I plant like red dragon or 3 bears in the 5s. Plenty big enough Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
Yes I used to think get as many pots in my 4x4. Than oops they get wider at flower lol Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
Jobes organic soil, from what I have found online it is decent and not hot. I believe where I screwed up was with my lighting. Was told to keep my LED as close as possible. It was actually starting to burn most of the leaves. Now I have the same light around 36" away and they seem to be loving it. I really believe that cause my issues. The light is 2400w LED, I had it full power and as close as I could get it without getting the temps over 84-85. I had the light like this for probably 10+ days
I gave them their first feeding (AN iguana grow) early yesterday 9-1 and just checked them out. They must've loved the feeding, they have all perked right up in the past 24 hrs.
A little tip. Add perlite to that soil. At least 40% its looks really mulchy which isnt a problem but no perlite Is asking for a overwatering problem
Isnt it too late, Id have to transplant to modify the soil at this point? Alot of guys on here have been saying I should've added Perlite, but live and learn I guess, but next time I will definitely add it. I was thinking about going up to a 5-7 gallon smart pot and if I do that I will be sure to mix in Perlite This is the ingredients of the organic soil I used. Has perlite but probably very little % compared to what most people are using; Blend of natural ingredients like sphagnum peat moss aged softwood bark perlite dolomitic limestone and other materials
Either smart pot or air pot is perfect. I've actually had some of my best growing plants using air pots I didnt see what size they were in, but if you do up pot definitely add perlite.
I have been Phing my water loosely, trying to stay around 6.2 - 6.3 ball park, finally got around to PHing the runoff. What I measured was 5.81, is this a major issue? and if so how can I correct? @vostok @dubs_okaygo @Tbone Shuffle @Papa Puff @bignugs420
Well I'm just now getting a ppm meter. I have been using fox and I have never checked runoff. I do have a soil meter and seams to agree with my liquid meter. I would just give it like 7.0 feed or water and check it. I am going to nectar. So my buddy Paulie73 has been using it for a while. He woke me up to ph my soil before planting. I am doing exactly what u are now doing. Trying to get ph to match. Wait for more answers. Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
Thanks for the input, that was kinda my thoughts. To water with a higher PH and test the runoff. Everything I am seeing you want the soil 6.0-6.5 but I'm not sure if 5.8 runoff is terrible or if its acceptable?
If you look around you'll find that most experienced growers mix 20-50% perlite with many mediums including coco which has similar properties anyway. There's a reason for this. Leaves breathe CO2 but roots breathe oxygen. You won't get rapid growth rate without both things in abundance. Perlite, especially the more course products out there, is a very large light molecule. It's PH neutral and lasts a long time before biodegrading. It acts like a sponge. It soaks up your feed water and stores it for slow release into the soil as the moisture level drops. This also dramatically increases aeration in the soil. Many store bought mediums straight from the bag are just not built for promoting the most root aeration for rapid growth. Blending plenty of perlite can correct most any medium structure to promote the drainage and aeration you need. The addition of fabric pots spaced up off of the drain trays or airpots can also increase aeration dramatically over traditional plastic pots. I often use promix for growing. One of the major ingredients is perlite already but I mix an additional 20% course perlite with it along with extra dolomite lime. The addition of a significant amount of perlite will water down the strength of your mix so it can require more bottle nutrients or more amendments to balance out if you use organic methods. This can be a plus with many good organic bag soils being a little "hot" for young plants. My brand of choice is precision perlite course. It's highly available for good prices in bulk locally for me.
Water logging the roots because of not enough drainage/aeration to the roots is a top rookie problem when starting growing. It can be partially caused by putting a small plant in a larger pot as well. Air can have a hard time getting to the roots if it's kept too wet.