What's up guys. Well it's the time I think a lot of people have been waiting for and I need to prepare myself. With that being said this is my first time so I'd like to make sure everything goes atleast ok. Here's a basic outline of what I plan on doing and it would be great for any comments on what I may be doing wrong or if there are some better options maybe. I've gotten alot of the information I'm going with from threads from several sites including HomeGrown420 and Icemag. Big thanks to them... Seeds - I've got good quality seeds that I purchased because I didn't want the seeds themselves to be a problem. Some Hashberry, Blueberry, Early Misty, Low Ryder #2, AK48, Hindu Kush. Germination - Just the normal paper towel method. Seedlings - After the seed has sprouted I'm going to place each into a pot of nutrient free soil that has mixed in equal parts of worm castings, perlite, and 1 tsp dolomite lime. Everyday for the first week I'll water them with around 1 oz. Every third watering they'll get supethrive mixed at 3 drops/gal water. During the second week the amount of water will be 2 oz every other day. Towards the end of the second week I'll add 1/4 tsp of liquid kelp to the mix. Third week they'll be watered 3 oz's every three days with the same mix of superthrive and liquid kelp. Vegative - Fourth week I plan on transplanting them into their permanent homes in the ground. The soil will consist of two parts peat based soil, one part wormcastings, one part perlite, one part vermiculite, and around a cup and a half of dolomite lime per plant. Watering them about every 4 days (Give or take depending on what's going on). Every other watering or so (Also depending on plant situation) I plan on giving them a tea containing; 1 Gal. water 2 Tbls. Bat Guano 8-4-1 1 Tbls. Earth Juice Catalyst 1 Tbls. liquid kelp Flowering - If the watering and nutrients are going well I plan on keeping the same schedule of around every four days. For the first two feedings or so - the same tea as above but with a 0-7-0 guano added to it. Then after those feedings I plan on switching to just having the 0-7-0 guano without the 8-4-1. Also maybe add a teaspoon of black strap molasses as I've heard it does well for the plants. Around the last week or so I'll just give it plain water with nothing extra. And then it's time to harvest/dry/cure the fruits of my labor. Most of my concern is with my nutrients and whether they'll be sufficient and what not. I think that's everything I've got to go do some bullshit and want to get this posted up ASAP so I don't have time to go over it much. Any advice is very appreciated. Even if everything looks decent I'd appreciate some posts so I can feel confident about it all. Take it easy guys and stay safe...
Thats an extremely idealistic schedule, and it wont work out how you planned it, I gauruntee that. First, you dont just throw in dolomite lime, you need to check the pH of your soil, if its too high, you add some. Second, watering is not something that can have a schedule set by you, its up to the plants when they want to be watered. For your seedlings, wet the soil through all the way, and place the germinated seeds in. You shouldnt need to water again for almost a week. There are two ways of telling if your plants need water, first, you can stick your finger down in the soil, and if its dry to your second knuckle, it needs water. Second, just wait for the plant to tell you, this is kind of tricky because every plants different, youll get better at that with more experiance though. The problem with your watering schedule is, ff you only give them 1 oz of water the soil will only be wet on the top 1 or 2 inches, and the plant will never establish any sort of solid root structure. Also, dont give your plants any superthrive until they are at least 2 weeks old. When you put them outside, you deffinately wont need to water them every 4 days. What you want to do is get some extended release fertilizer (my favorite is American Pride by Fox Farm) til the ferts into the soil, water it good once, and come back every couple of weeks or so just to check on it. Weed is an extermely resiliant plant, and does not need any babying, in fact babying can kill them. On another note, if you walk back to your plants every 4 days, think of the trail that will be there by the end of the summer.
Wow, seems like you have a really good plan. I would just be careful you dont overcare for your plants. I did that and killed one of my best seedlings (dropped a wad of paper towel on it). Anyway dude, good luck! And from what I've been reading at the Greenman Library, I wouldn't use the dolomite lime unless you test your pH first, it's only for balancing pH, dont think it does much else for the plants.
I'm also a beginner, and the whole watering thing has been troubling me too. Thanks for saying about the finger test thing, but can you also respond with an estimate/ballpark of how much water to water the plants when you do water them? BTW- to the threadstarter, deadeye: Did you use to post on the MDT thread in PBN?
It really depends on the soil. If you have light, airy soil, if you wet it down good once before you plant the seeds you wont need to water again for maybe 4-7 days. If you have dense soil though it might take a couple of weeks for the soil to be dry enough again to water.
That would be me. Haha. Alright, thanks for the posts thus far guys. Yeah the watering is tough to 'schedule'. I understand it's dependent on the plant. I wasn't planning on watering if I saw that it was curling up because I was over-watering it - I was just trying to structure my plans. Thanks for the tip with the finger test for the soil moisture. From what I've read, dolomite lime is fine to put in, even if my soils pH is fine at the start. It will keep the pH balanced the entire grow and it's not like it's going to raise the pH too high, it will just top off at 7... Having a path that people may see is not a concern with my situation. But anyway, I've had a change of heart. On another forum someone posted and it got me thinking. Since this is my first time I think it would be best to keep it simple. Which means I'm thinking of just going with some Fox Farms soil and using Big Bloom, Tiger Bloom and Grow Big from Fox also. It will keep it easy and simple for me which would be good. So my question is, is it ok to start off my seeds in the Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil. And perhaps the American Pride as you mentioned (I might use both for different areas.)??? Thanks a lot guys!
My current soil grow gets water every 8 - 10 days....and each plant gets deluged with 2L.....kinda monsoon styley I watch for the leaves to start drooping and the whole plant to 'look' like it's in a bit of a drought and it's thirsty. The monsoon comes and 2 hours later the leaves are up and lush again. Fantastic hobby
You can start them off in the Ocean Forest. Some people say you shouldnt because it has a little bit of pre ferts like bat guano and worm castings, but Ive never had a problem with it. I personally like Black Gold soil better than Ocean Forest. Its cheaper, comes in bigger bags, and they just came out with this new water retention soil that has coco fiber in it. With Ocean Forest most of the $23 you spend is for the name and the pretty packaging.
Oh sorry, I may have been unclear when I asked my question. I was meaning when you do water the plants, how much water do you use? As in the volume (gallon, quart, pint...) because I noticed you said that 1 fluid ounce was not enough. To Deadeye: Sorry if I'm sort of hijacking your thread. And yeah I remember you from when I first started smoking and would always lurk in there . I think I may have spoke to you about a RooR at some point? Whatever nice to hear about you again man.
Some people use a pint of water, some use gallons, it's really up to the type of soil you have. The best way is just to water your plants a decent amount then just wait till the top soil dries (use the finger test). If it seems like your soil is drying too fast, you should use more water each time. If it takes longer than 8-10 days for your soil to dry, you're using too much water or your pot/soil isn't draining well. A good watering schedule to go for is about every 3 days, but anywere from 2 days to weekly should be fine, it's really your choice.
While they are still in pots, water them until run off just begins to come out of the bottom. When theyre in the ground though, give them maybe 1/2-1 gallon . Only water them when they look a little droopy (thirsty) because the water table is always at different levels so you never know how much water your plant is actually getting, you may not even need to water your plants at all. Just keep track of how much it rains and that should help you predict when theyll need watering.