Alright so this is my first grow and I have a few questions and a few (1?) problems. Really I just want someone to have a back and forth with so I can get a better understanding of growing, so if anyone can do that that'd be fantastic! Well, let's get right into is shall we? Since this is my very first grow is pH really that big of a deal or should I just focus on getting my plants nice and not-dead due to over watering/other by month 4? Another, probably more pressing issue I have is yellowing leaves. I just fed my plants nutrients for the first time (2 weeks in) since one of my plants was looking down. Is that the most likely cause (since the leaves started yellowing right after), or is it the light being close, or what? Potential causes would be fabulous, I can figure out how to fix it if I know what went wrong. Right now though I don't think it's much of an issue, just curiosity. When will I be able to tell if my plants are male/female? (Or, when will pistils/egg sacs start to form?) And what is preflowering? Do I need to change my light schedule or something because I've never even heard of it until today, and I've looked into this stuff for years before I started growing. INFO ABOUT MY GROW (in case you need to know!): I have 2 plants in potting soil in small (probably too small, c'est la vie) pots in a box about 3 or 4 feet tall. They sprouted on the 30th of May, 2013 (so they're about about 2 and a half weeks into their growth). I water them once a day with distilled water from a spray bottle, and when I fertilized them I used a spray bottle and fertilized them after saturating the soil with water. The lights are on 24/7.
I use aqauponics so i dont know much about soil medium. without pictures its hard to tell whats going on with your grow, also you dont mention your setup (lights, temps, etc) i do know that your supposed to water when the soil gets dry.. not just everyday. from the sound of it though, your plants drooped cause you were over watering them and then you hit them with nutes.. the yellowing could be nute burn.. like i said though, i have little knowledge in soil mediums so take what i say with a grain of salt.. as for the sexing of your plants (finding out if its a male or female) this usually happens when the plant becomes sexually mature.. usually at the end of your veg or early flowering within the first week or two.. depending on the strain some can take up to 15 days (atleast thats what i have found through researching cannabis sexing and growing my own). all the info you need is at your finger tips.. use google, do some homework, research the things you need to know.. thats how you learn to grow.. atleast without killing a few crops along the way that is. hope i could be of some help, good luck with your grow
Here's my opinion: Don't water every day, and don't judge the moisture of the soil by the appearance of the top soil. Lift the pots up, if they're heavy they have enough water, if they're light then it's time to give them a drink. If you can, water them from the bottom (place them in a saucer or something that holds water, and put the water in there) they will then drink as needed and should supply more water directly to the roots. The yellowing of your plants is most likely nutrient burn, as the plants come with enough nutrients to support themselves for the first 3-4 weeks. What type of lights are you using? Flouro/CFLs can practically touch the plant without burning them, just make sure to have a fan blowing through the plants. I would also reccommend giving them some dark time. Either 20/4 or 18/6 as MJ plants like some beauty rest just like us. Preflowering is the time during which you should be able to determine the sex of your plants. Be sure to remove all males or they WILL pollenate all your females. Let your plants preflower for about 2 weeks, and then switch to a 12/12 light cycle. These are tips I've gotten from professional growers that all work great for me, I hope this helps. Sent from my Droid using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Jerry is correct, tho I gotta disagree with the old mom's tale of feeding and watering from the bottom, Mj don't like wet feet, I can remember that from my tutor from the 1970's as is a very easy way to kill ya plant via Pythium or fungi rot see the Ph of a plant as the oil pressure gauge of an engine, keep you Ph in the safe zone 5.8-6.8 and you are fine, step out (like you have) and all shit just breaks out, ie yellow leaves
since your directly feeding with nutrients and not compost, or organic, or any of that stuff, yes, you need to pay attention to your Ph. The only reason organic folk don't usually depend on their Ph is because of two major ingredients, Dolomite ("Sweet" lime), and Humic acid. if your interested in that go check out subcools super soil recipe or something. Pre-flower is referring to the time period toward the middle or end of the flowers veg cycle, it will show sex (IE male or female pre-flowers.) It sounds like your yellowing is because you fed too soon but then again this can fool you sometimes. Depending on your soil and whether or not your keeping an eye on Ph, your plant could actually be locking out nutrients but it sounds like it's most likely the other way around. just give them water when they dry out for the first few weeks like ^^^^ that guy said. Do your plants even have their first true leaves? are you talking about the first two leaves that they sprout with are yellowing and dieting? if so, that is suppose to happen. the two leaves are the seeds food for the first few weeks and are the reason that you don't need to feed. One more thing. You say they are in potting soil? what kind. do mean miracle grow potting soil type? this could also be why your plants are yellowing.