Hey GC just a couple questions for my first grow. Also I have read many of the stickies so please don't just tell me to use the search function, as I already have. Is supersoil a fairly good soil for cannabis? Is is fine to mix soft white and daylight cfls during all stages, I mean I know soft white is better for flowering and daylight for veg. But can I just run a bit of both at all times? Or would this be detrimental to the plants growth? What are some fertilizers you would recommend, preferably ones you have used. What are good NPK Ratios for fertilizers for both the meditative as well as flowering states? Ah also, it seems that several of my germinating seeds were overzealous and have already dropped off the seed shell and seem to be the beginnings of sprouts. I'm confused as what I should do with them. Just plant and give light, or put them under a little soil and wait for them to surface to give them light. Thats all I can really think of for now. I'll probably come up with plenty more questions I'm sure.
Supersoil is going to give you some troubles I predict. Time release ferts are the bane of every soil grower's existance. Transplant into different soil if you can. Time release ferts are bad because if your plants start to have nute lockout problems, flushing will only make the problem worse, probably killing your plant. You can mix spectrums, but I would do it at a 3:1 ratio. 3 6500k to 1 2700k for veg and the opposite for flowering. If you don't mind buying off eBay, I would give these a try: Organic Fertilizer Deal by BMO, Super Plant Tonic plus - eBay (item 250607659652 end time May-30-10 20:44:01 PDT) If you have a hydro store nearby, you could try the Fox Farm's line but it's about twice as expensive as the stuff I just linked. Can you post pics? Do you mean the taproot has just came out of the seed? If so, put it about 1/4 to half an inch under the ground. You don't need your lights on until the green sprout pops the soil, but I leave them on to warm the soil as well as have light for the plant from the very beginning.
Ah I had heard that time released ferts were bad but I didn't notice that supersoil was, argh! What exactly are nute lockout problems? When the plant doesn't need anymore nutes and is damaged by them? Not really sure... I suppose I'll have to try an organic mix. I will try that! I looked at the ebay post, interesting fertilizers, I'll probably try something like that out for my second grow. And there is a hydro store very close I'll take a look there tomarrow and report what I find. Alas I already planted them so I cant get pics of them, but that was the situation and that pretty much how I handled it except I haven't turned my lights on yet, I'll probably do that later this week or next after I transplant them into some good soil and they sprout. Thanks for your help akhans, I'm starting a grow journal in the indoor section I'm editing it right now so it'll be up eventually.
I'm no botanist or chemistry major so I'll give it to you in layman's terms. Nute lock usually starts as a Ph problem. Without fluctuating between the 6.3-6.8 Ph range, your plant won't be able to absorb the nutrients it needs. If you don't correct your Ph, they start to build up and turn into salts that are poisonous to your plant. At the same time, your plant isn't getting the nutes it needs so it starts canabalizing itself to sustain new growth. So you first start to see symptoms on the older leaves of your plant starting to yellow/die off. So the obvious question is, if your Ph isn't right, how do you fix it? Usually that means "flushing" or watering your plant a lot to get rid of the salts in your soil. You do this with water that has the correct Ph so your soil becomes the correct Ph. BUT... you have time release ferts. They are little balls of nutes that are supposed to break open as you water releasing nutes to your plants. So, as you flush, you will eventually burst all those little balls flooding your plant with nutes making the problem worse. So... the moral of the story is don't use soil with time release ferts, check your Ph, and always err on the side of not giving enough nutes rather than too much. Since you have a hydro store so close, I would suggest getting Fox Farms Ocean Forrest which comes Ph balanced right out of the bag. Get some cheap top soil to start your plants in and then transplant into the FFOF.
If you're looking for good fertilizers, Roots Organic definetely has some good stuff. On the cheaper end too compared to alot of companies. And if you're looking for a good soil, just make sure its light and fluffy, and has perlite and/or vermiculite, bat guano, composted forest humus, bone meal, blood meal, etc. Most organic potting soils with no added fertilizers are usually really good, i use kellogs organic potting soil.
Roots Organic, I will remember that name for when I go out to buy some fert. Are they a big company, I don't recall seeing that brand at home depot today but I might have just missed it. I also got some earthgrow garden soil which doesn't have any time release ferts in it(hurray!) Hopefully it should do well. I almost bought the kellogs soil but home depot only had like 3Cft bags and I really didn't feel like getting all of that. Also around when is a good time to start fertilizing? I've heard between 3-4 weeks in, of course this differs for each plant but is that a good general time frame? What until then? Just water and love, and light of course right? Wow I have lots of questions... What is a good NPK rating for when I do start to fertilize, I've heard generally I want a fert that is high in nitrogen and low in the rest. What would be an ideal NPK? Something like 24-8-10? This is where I need the most help. I need to know what are the best NPK ratios for veg and for flowering. Thanks for you help again!
You should start nutes when your plants are ready for them. I wait until my fourth set of true leaves before starting nutes (around the same time I start LST) Until then, just water and light. NPK is the concentration rating. 24-8-10 has 24% Nitrogen, 8% Potassium and 10% Phosphorous. I would say no NPK rating is better than others, it's just a guide to how concentrated the nutes are. That being said, you should use a fert with higher N and K than P for veg, and nutes with little N and lots of P for veg.
That sounds like a good time to start, thanks for that tip. Thats what I thought regarding the NPK ratings. This being my first grow I should go with something with a lower concentration correct? That way I don't burn my plants right? did you mean a little n and lots of p for flowering correct?
It doesn't matter, just dilute the more concentrated stuff. You should start out at about 1/4 strength anyway and work your way up so you don't burn your plants. And yes, low Nitrogen and high Phosphorus for flowering.