Looking for a mentor? A bit of advice..

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by GodRubin, Mar 14, 2011.

  1. Well, i just recently tried my first grow and for a while i was really happy.
    I was told that 1 in 3 seeds germinate, and all 5 of my seeds germinated, I had all 5 plants going, one slower than the others and one a lot faster than the others.

    After a few days i started seeing tiny little flies, white in color, flying around my grow box. I wasnt very sure what they were so i sprayed my plants with organic pesticide.

    My plants were still fine but the flies didnt go away.

    Two weeks later, I noticed that the leaves went yellow, and they started curling, this happened one plant at a time.

    Once the 5 plants had died, I decided to check the soil, in the soil i saw metallic and white looking substances which im guessing were mould. The soil was also quite soggy and the roots were everywhere, but detatched from the main roots.

    I was using 8x24w CFLs and just regular compost, two extraction fans and two intakes. Also planted barneys farm blue cheese seeds.

    Any tips? am willing to change to a hydroponic system even if you can link me to a comprehensive guide.

    I am just very disappointed that my first grow was going so well and that it just flopped as they started growing their third set of leaves.

    Thanks for reading.
     
  2. where did you get the soil from?
     
  3. homebase, it was in a sealed bag.
     
  4. water only when the soil dries out

    it sounds like you were watering daily or at least way too often

    ultimately you need experience... either keep at it and get it manually or read the shit out of this forum and absorb it from everyone else... i assure you this site is saturated with it..... when i first came here i read everything and anything that caught my attention and that was enough for me

    [​IMG]

    best of luck
     
  5. Yeah i've been checking this website all along the way and adapting it to best suit me, though it seems it wasnt good enough :( You get attatched to the little buggers, kinda sad when you see them dying.
     
  6. i know man its natural

    but like i said i think overwatering was your problem. when the soil is constantly soggy it doesnt let air get in and root also needs air to survive..without it they basically drown and get root rot

    the roots could have stopped being able to function properly leading to nutrient deficiency (the yellowing leaves) and then finally death

    wait for the soil to dry out a little and then water... by doing this the roots get water and air and furthermore the process of water running through your soil and water evaporating from the soil draws in fresh air
     
  7. would you say its worth looking into a hydroponics system? btw, i have the exact same pull-up thing, haha.

    and any idea what those little flies were? tiny little white flies.
     
  8. gnats ate your roots cuz
     
  9. Really? how can you avoid them cause i sprayed my plants with organic pesticide and mixed it with my water too and watered the plants with it.. Not sure how else to kill the bastards
     
  10. the gnats are a symptom of the problem not the problem itself

    if you start out with clean soil and proper technique you will not get gnats
     
  11. So my soils bad? god damn homebase >.> to clean the soil what should i do? rinse it and dry it out or something?
     
  12. throw that shit away and start a new grow. This time dont over water. You get gnats from over watering. good luck. you can always try to get fly strips around the pot, go gnats, sand, but with seedling there pretty much gone.
     
  13. master soil and its "problems" first.patience is key grasshopper.dont overthink/react to every lil thing.its a weed,all you need is soil an water evrything else is just EXTRA!:wave:
     
  14. No reason to deal with soil's problems. Get rid of it and don't ever use it indoors again. Use coco coir. 100% straight up coco with no cuts of perlite or anything else (Botanicare and Canna are the most common brands). You can treat it like soil if you want to, e.g. pack coco into pots and hand water, so it retains the ease of use of soil, but without the problems.

    Coco's advantages over soil.

    - Clean medium! Pests and diseases find it harder to thrive in coco coir
    - Drains easier
    - No need to cut with perlite or anything else
    - Higher porosity for greater aeration which gives an ideal water/air ratio for root growth
    - Doesn't compact
    - Naturally PH neutral
    - Much easier to flush
    - Faster growth than soil
    - Ability to use any nutrients you want, nutes made for soil or hydro will work fine
    - Ability to water and feed more frequently (hard to overwater)
     


  15. So is this really all valid? Why wouldn't people just choose Coco Coir to begin with? What are the DISADVANTAGES to using this instead of soil?
     

  16. Yes it's all valid. Imo people are just ignorant of coco as a medium. Most new growers assume that soil is the easiest thing to start with because they just don't know any better.

    Coco does not have disadvantages compared to soil imo. The only thing that could possibly be seen as disadvantages are the lack of built in nutrients (which is another advantage imo anyways because you have complete control of what nutrients your plants uptake) and the fact that it leaches Calcium and Magnesium, but that also is not much of a disadvantage because supplementing with any cal/mag product will fix that issue.

    Now the only benefit that soil brings is that is can more fully take advantage of organic nutrients and it supports microbial life better (which is both an advantage and a disadvantage because there are both beneficial and harmful microbes). Coco can also support beneficial microbes very well, but soil is a little better at it.

    The pros of coco far outweigh those of soil imo. The only reason I could see ever using soil indoors is for the die hard organic type of people, but most aren't like that. Most people I see who use soil run stuff like Fox Farms, which is only partially derived from organic sources, and most I see don't even use beneficials so they aren't even getting soil's only real benefit, only it's cons.
     

  17. Haha well you've definitely persuaded me to give this Coco a try instead of soil that's for sure on my grow starting in the next month. Thanks for being helpful
     
  18. You have convinced me as-well :)
     



  19. Great! You will both be very happy with your decisions!

    There is a sub forum on this site just for coco coir if anyone has future questions.
     
  20. i have ofter asked why more people dont run coco..its like dirt that thinks its hydro...inert...no nutes in it...use canna...too many others you have to flush salts from before ya even start:confused_2:and canna a plus b nutes..cal/mag...rizo for roots..explosive growth...no flushing till final flush...no ph swings..killa shit...coco rocks:smoke:check out ask ed's coco guide....he's the coco guru..and his wife grows off the chain too
     

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