# of pots: 2 # of plants: 3 Soil: Schultz Tropical Mix in left pot Miracle Grow in the right one Light: 400W HPS Nutrients: Sweet by botanicare Temperature: 90 +-8F during light on ~75F light off Seeds: HGS super mix RH: fairly low, this is a dry cold climate The attached picture is my grow box, which is made out of wood. It is a 2 x 4 foot closet cabinet. The pot on the left is raised on a box. The HPS light is about 2 feet from the top of the plants. The cabinet has a door on it that lets out quite a few light leaks. Day 1: two seeds are put into paper tower germination. One seed is planted directly into soil Day 5: germinated seeds are put into soil. Day 7: 2 sprouts form (from germinated seeds) Day 9: directly planted seed sprouts up (two sprouts in the right pot) Pictures of what they look like coming in just a second...
Day 23 This is the left plant. Its leaves are much broader and better developed than the other two plants. It is also a much lighter green which means that this one is probably a different strain.
Day 23 also, these are the two on the right hand side. Water: Tap, let sit for one day I have been adding around 1/2 tsp Sweet to the water and spraying the plants to cool them off and let them foliar feed, they seem to be absorbing everything that gets on those leaves. I water them around 500mL each per day. I also have a moisture meter that tells me dry/moist/wet and i usually water them when they reach dry. OH, yes, i also have two auto watering orbs for the big pot because i don't have a big enough container to water the whole giant thing. Light: I have had them on 24/0 but since it has been around 2 weeks im going to switch them to 20/4 today in the hopes of getting early signs of sexing, im counting on one of these being male so i can let them be on their own. I am using an analog timer from your everyday electronics store. I am also trying to seperate these two by bending the stems away. Any feedback would be appreciated!!
hey man, just checking in. overall things look like they are going smooth. just a few comments/questions to help you along: 1. are you using HPS for veg? the 400w HID setup is fantastic, but it would really help if you're using a MH bulb rather than an HPS for veg. it doesn't look like they're streching much so i'm guessing you're working the MH at the moment. 2. only 1 plant per pot. before they get too big, try to seperate the two that are together. if you wait too long, their roots will become entagled and it'll be impossible to get them apart. a pot that small won't support two plants through harvest. 3. careful with too much watering. 500 mL each day is probably overboard given their size. i like to water only when the soil is totally dry an inch deep. cannabis needs water obviously, but they also don't like to live in a swamp. 4. i would hold off on the nutes for another week or two. when they're young, they are very sensitive to nute overdose...just be careful is all. 5. temps are a little on the high side. if you can, try to keep a steady flow of fresh cool air through your grow room to keep the temps under 80F. keep up the good work. hopefully these little suggestions will turn a good grow into an awesome grow.
Hey chiefton, thanks for the reply. 1. Yea unfortunately i would need a MH conversion bulb to work with the ballast or a CMH bulb since that works in the hps ballast too and both of those are ~60$ up north here so i think im stuck with the HPS for veg which is probably the best option for a budget grower right? 2. I know i made a mistake with the two plants but i had given up on the seed i had planted directly into the soil but then lo and behold it pops up out of nowhere. Is it possible to just kill one plant off at a later time when i determine the sexes? (I really only have enough materials for two plants, pot, soil, space etc....) And would it be so bad if i had these two growing together? I have a feeling these two could grow in harmony together they seem to be the same strain haha. 3. The high temp keeps evaporating all my waterings pretty quickly so that's why i soak it up with so much water. My meter shows it gets pretty dry after 24h from watering. 4. I am being verrrry careful with the nutes adding only a little bit to start with and checking the plant to see if any damage is happening. I figured that Sweet is just carbohydrates so it wont be too intense for the plants. I plan on grabbing a bottle of liquid karma to help them out around next week or so. 5. This whole setup is in my closet so i just need a fan blowing some cold air from the window into it, but i have been putting this off because it seems like the higher temps aren't really effecting the plants negatively at all. I will definitely test out lowering the temps though to compare. I also spray some water on the plants throughout the day which lowers the temp of the soil ~10F so maybe this is what is offsetting the heat.
Day 28 Hey guys just checking in, First plant doesnt look 100% im not sure what im doing wrong but i have a feeling its overwatering, any suggestions? These other two are building a crazy canopy!! the leaf sets are really close together, i have a good feeling about them. Switching lights to 18/6 light in a few days, and i also took the left plant off the box to lower temp slightly (it gets pretty hot in there ) I think the growth rate has been pretty good so far what do you guys say???
DAY 36 Light: 12/12 day 6 Hey guys heres an update on my growing babies. The middle one is confirmed female the other two still no sign. I have to say miracle grow is sure beating the hell outta schultz tropical mix. I noticed the small plant had nutrient deficiency so i put some food spikes in and it looks wayyy better already. I just cant believe how bushy and huge the leaves are on the middle plant....im so pumped its female. My plan is to flower for a month max but we will see how that goes.
DAY 39 - 12/12 light day 9 Hey people just updating you all on my humble grow. Funny thing, i started with temps around 90F when i started this project, but with the plants becoming huge, temperatures have actually dropped to more around 70F, without me changing a thing!! They must be absorbing everything which is good news!! The poor little one in the corner has been going a darker green ever since i put food spikes in so it definitely had a deficiency before. The stems are also pure green no more red stripes. Growth has really accelerated so i hope it will catch up to the other two. I do have a question for you all for my main plant that is taking over all the space. Should i tie some of the stems down to lower everything? I have also been considering topping to slow vertical growth but i am hesitant to do anything to it because well if it aint broke don't fix it right? So far for nutes i have been upping carbohydrates since flowering started. I might drop some flowering plant food in a few weeks to the water and see how they react to it. Still no sign of sex for the two smaller ones. The dankness smell is almost overwhelming . Any thought on any small changes i could make to boost my yield? Here are some stats for extra info: Distance from light to top canopy - ~30cm Tallest plant height (from soil) ~50cm The giant leaf fans are bigger than my hand.
Looking good man. I am on week 2 (and day 5 of 1 plant) myself. Those water orbs actually working for you?
Yea man i love them!! I am in a really interesting situation as you can see but here why (my best guess) everything is working out. -2 plants in 1 pot and they are both thriving -I dont have access to real gardening tools (watering can = nope) so i use a spray bottle to foliar feed, i just mist the whole box ~150ml gets everything nice and damp. I think this may be why my leaves are getting broad. -The watering orbs give water to the deep roots that my spray bottle wont reach. -They are great for when i go away too. I don't really follow the "water when 1 inch soil is dry" schedule, and it really seems to be working. I mean, why not give the plant a constant supply of water similar to what hydro does? The big plant's pot is pretty much solid root mass in the soil, i lifted it up the other day and the roots actually reach through the whole pot down into my drainage. Thanks for the visit man ill check out your grow too!
I think its too late the roots have completely taken over the pot. Some good news : the small one in the corner is female!!!! just waiting for the other twin to show me something, but 2/3 is what i hoped for!
DAY 43 12/12 light: Day 13 all females!! Hey guys here an update. I have finally figured out the strains; the two big plants are Purple Cindy and the smaller one is likely monster bud. the PC's stems are starting to turn purple thats what gave it away. The plants are almost getting too tall but i think ill just let it grow past the light, i just have to figure out how without burning them.
DAY 55 12/12 DAY 25 Well guys, the babies have turned into a wall of green monsters. There is literally not space left, and the leaves are starting to burn near the light, but i dont think it really matters as long as the buds are safe i WILL get better pics, this camera does not do them any justice... Pretty much everything above 1' has buds on it and one of the plants has actually started growing sideways because it hit the roof. I'll also note that the two plants one pot deal has made no difference so far, those two actually being the bigger ones.