New Horticulturist Has Many Questions.

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by drchristian, May 22, 2013.

  1. So I've been growing veggies for years, being a fan of horticulture and all. But this has turned out to be a whole new beast. Here are my questions.

    My seedlings are TALL they are beautiful but, I don't thing their weight can hold them forever. Should the stem be thickening? What is the average? Can I plant them deeper? Will this affect the root ball or the stem in any way?

    Watering. I've read many different things from soaking the soil completely, and waiting until its dry on top to water again, to keeping the soil moist at all times. What is correct?

    There is SO Much differing information on Cannibas cultivation that I have no clue what to go with.

    Lighting... How many hours? Ive read 12/12 18/6 and a few others but wtf is correct?

    Also for my other indoor veggies I have used fertilizer spikes, they slowly release nutrients to prevent over fertilization in the soil. Any body use these before? Do you advise in favor or against?

    This digging and digging for info is so frustrating! Thanks guys for your help. There are photos attached.
     

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  2. #2 4PoCoLoKo, May 22, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: May 22, 2013
    It looks like you are growing them straight up, I also find a lot of the information on here very contradicting also.

    If its indoor add some lights next to the plants to promote side growth, might want to read into topping and low stress training and such.

    As for light schedules, I do 24/0, but 16/8 is ok, if it's not an autoflower strain putting the lights at 12/12 induces flowering.

    Are you really using christmas lights?
     
  3. #3 drchristian, May 22, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: May 22, 2013
    Haha, yes they are Christmas lights, but they are red LEDs I read that different color lighting was good for them. He'll I don't know, it's sounded convincing. I came home and my boyfriend had put them there. I really need a better space to grow. S lemme work that one out too. Thanks!

    Edit:I said LEDs.... Wrong... Just plain Christmas lights..., its festive.
     
  4. Ditch the Christmass lights. what is your main source of light and how many watts of it and how close, also what are the temps? You can carefully transplant them down farther into the soil with in an inch or so of the first set of small round leaves. The part of them stem that gets planted into the soil will start growing roots out of it. Your plants are tall and skinning because their stretching for light, your light is to far away. For seedlings I keep the soil somewhat moist for the the first week after that I let it dry out between waterings. Stick your finger down in the soil about an inch and if it feels cool or kinda dry its time to water if it feels damp or moist then it doesn't need watered. I would not recommend fertilizer spikes. Not a fan of slow release nutes of any kind it can mess with the soils PH and cause all sorts of problems. Once they start growing past their set of 3 bladed leaves they can be given weak doses of nutrients. Most nutrients found at like Lowes and Home Depot don't really have the right NPK numbers for growing pot. Ph is really important for a plants over all health. If you were going with an all organic soil and nutrient line then PH wouldn't be as important. Do you have a digital PH meter for testing liquids?
     
  5. Thanks so much, I went out and got a new cfl bulb for my plants, now having two lamps. I moved my grow spot to an empty closet, and have them on a large open shelf and inverted my lights. To where they were six inches from the plant. Three of the plants are indoors, I actually moved two outdoors on the porch. While I would like to produce some good stuff, ( for bag seed) my main goal is to gain a better understanding of other kinds of plants. I put a fan in my closet to circulate the air better and leave the door cracked a good two inches to help with ventilation.

    I am using organic soil, so I'm glad that should be right. As for water, I am using purified water, is that okay? Usually bottled water, but lately I've been using brita filterd water pitcher. The bottled water is Nestlé pure live which has a ph of 4-5.5... Is that okay?

    Thanks for the help. I plan to only use this thread as I continue my journey, don't want to spam up other places with my question. (Which I may have to do if I get no replies!)
     
  6.  
    I just use tap water that sat out for 24 hours or so to evaporate the chlorine, if your water also has chloramine in it then I would go with bottled water or an RO water filtration system. PH of 4-5.5 is to low for soil grows you want your PH going in around 6.5. What are the temps in your closet? If you can keep it below 85 during the lights on period you should be fine just remember to open the closet door evey now and then for a few minutes to let some fresh air in.
     
  7. The water had fluoride in it, I'm not really sure if I should use it. I'll post a pic of the new set up shortly, after I figure out how...
     
  8. Here are the new photos. The have perked up quite a bit. And ideas for better light reflectivity with minimal resources? I know the foil is pretty useless.
     

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  9. If you want to gain a better understanding of growing all plants instead of just mj (like you said earlier) then I'd suggest learning about the organic method. With this method, the plant controls it's nutrient intake by attracting and regulating microbes in the soil. With synthetic nutes you take that control away from the plant and put it in your hands, the plant depends entirely on you knowing what she needs and when she needs it.
     
    "Teeming With Microbes" is a good book for learning about the organic process. Here's a thread where you can find most of the text... http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/801593-soil-food-web-gardeningwith-compost-teas.html
     
  10. #10 drchristian, May 24, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: May 24, 2013
    I actually started a compost bin in my back yard for that exact purpose. I don't trust big companies that say "organic". Or the FDA for that matter. I have a few books on organic gardening and grow all my edible plants organically and buy untreated organic seed. So I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track.

    My next question is one I am having trouble finding an answer to. I read something about super cropping (?) but do not understand it whatsoever even after 4 different YouTube videos. What's gathered was that I could bend my plants to produce a bushier and shorter plant in the end. At what point can I do this? What is the best way of doing this? And can you point me to a good explanation diagram or video that shows me how? Thanks so much!

    I posted another photo of my new set up here as well. They are doing great, just a little to much water last time. But I'm gonna keep a watchful eye. Still annoyed that i didn't come here first for plant help. i thought it was just another plant. Ha! i though wrong. These bitches (hopefully) are skinny (hopefully not for long)! Thanks again for all the help.
     

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  11. Should only have 1 plant per pot. More then one and they will compete for whatever food is in the soil. Also I would transplant them, they are really stretchy from the light being to far away at first. You can transplant each one farther down in the soil to with in an inch of the first set of round leaves. The part of the stem that is transplanted under the soil will grow roots out of it.
     
  12. Nice, that's good to hear. What I like best about organics is the lack of schedules, you can do your chores whenever. Works well with short-term memory loss :smoke:  Second best thing is that it will grow any plant, and grow it well. Here are some organic peppers i grew last year
     
    Funny you should ask about supercropping, I just tried it with my last crop. I'm not sure what the "official" instructions are but here's what worked for me... pinch the stem and bend the branch over so that it's laying flat under the light. When it's vertical the lower buds get less light than the top bud, but when it's laying horizontal all the buds above the bend are equally distant from the bulb, resulting in better coverage.
     
    I actually tried it because my plants were getting too tall for my growroom, but only on one. I ended up jacking my light right into the roof of my tent after that, but i should've just supercropped them all. I'm sure somebody will come along with a better explanation but as far as I can tell, you just pinch and bend. I didn't notice any negative effects from it.
     
    Cheers!! :bongin:
     

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