So my last grow was my first grow and a learning experience in plant nutrition and techniques in LST for larger yields in limited space. Unfortunately, 4 days into flowering, I was checking my plant for sex and much like that surprise at a Thai bar, "she" was indeed a "he". So, I have started over with a female clone, and some seeds from different bags along the way. Any feedback you veterans, or even newbies who might know some tricks, is welcomed, encouraged and appreciated. I hope y'all enjoy the pics. -IceBirge-
Mix some perilite into your soil when you transplant. What kind of soil is that? Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
All of my advise is going to involve spending money.... hehe. What medium are you using? What nutrients are you using/plan on using? What lighting are you running? What is the size of your veg and flower area? Fabric pots are best and cheap compared to plastic. Never grow a plant in a clear container exposing the roots to light. Roots are usually in the earth and soil microbes/roots hate light. It's unnatural.
My recipe for success with little effort: Get a cube of Sunshine promix 4 and a bag of course perlite from a quality grow store that sells hydoponic supplies. Get 2 3gallon, 2 5 gallon smart pots, and several small black plastic starter pots with a good size drain tray for the starter pots along with drain trays for the smart pots. Get a bottle of General Hydroponics Floranova bloom and a ph test kit along with small bottles of ph down and up. You'll need a small syringe like you would give a kid nyquil with. Test your tap water. Figure out now much ph down you have to add to get 1/2 gallon garden pour spout to 6.0-6.3. Mix about 10-15% extra perlite in with your promix and plant away. Seedlings are fed at 1ml per 1/2 gallon garden pour spout. Once they get a little size bump it up to 2ml's per 1/2 gallon pitcher. Watch for too dark of green and if you see that back off to 1.5ml's per 1/2 gallon pitcher. I add 3 drops of ph down to hit about 6.2 and that's close enough for promix. 6.0 is target. Once they get to larger size you can graduate to 3ml's per 1/2 gallon pitcher if they can tolerate it. Your leaf color and posture will be the indicator if they want a stronger solution or not. You want a nice green color but if it gets too dark back off a little on concentration. My large flowering plants all like near about 3ml/1/2 gallon. My larger plants will feed at least 1/2 gallon a day. I have one in a 7 gallon smart pot right now that eats 1 gallon a day. GH floranova bloom is one of the only bottles that can go start to finish. It's got cal/mag, ect. already in it. The NPK ratio is about the lucas formula which is proven in the hydroponic grow world to grow cannabis just fine.
Soil is Foxfarm Ocean soil. Additionally, perlite has been mixed as well as a few larger pieces of bark and mulch. When I water, I'm draining ~20% of water as run-off. And finger checking to about a knuckle and half for soil dryness between and to signal waterings. Thanks for the feedback! -IceBirge-
Lots of questions and I love it! Additionally, your following post about your recipe for success will be stored and referenced frequently so, thank you. I run a very custom setup, based on resources, space and engineering curiosity. I guess you could say I'm 'experimenting'. Setup: A re-purposed timber side table that I deconstructed and put back together maintaining the same dimensions but in a more space efficient way. Essentially I converted a shelf system to a cabinet system by using the shelf system as a shell and measuring and having 3/4 inch plywood cut to specifications. Dimensions are 24"x30"x18" so my grow space is limited. After reconstruction, I used a silicone caulk to caulk EVERY corner so that air and/or light do not make it into the box via contact points. I attached a padlock latch on the cabinet entry doors and lined the walls with a Mylar sheeting. I cut a 4" hole on the upper left hand (facing front) side of my box for air intake. I put it in the upper left to pull warmth into my box from the light because my indoor environment is a little chilly to need to pull in cold air. I deconstructed a 4" mini fan and affixed a hepa filter, cut to size, to a custom intake fixture. On the lower right hand side (facing front) I cut a 4" exhaust hole and again using engineering and the good 'ol Word Wide Web found a "recipe" for a homemade carbon filter. I purchased a 4" inline fan, and will attach my filter as 'Sheila' (my girls name) begins to smell during flowering. Currently the fan just pulls air out until the filter is added. Here is the filter I used and I take no credit whatsoever for its design. Easy to Build DIY Carbon Filter I also made the door cabinets air-tight by using the 1/2" weather-proofing foam strip around all of the edges so the only air in is through intake and only air out is through the exhaust fan. Lighting: Two Mars Hydro 96w lamps attached to the ceiling of my "cabinet". Holes were drilled through the back and filled with silicone after the cords were passed through. All of this, lighting (both lights), intake fan and exhaust fan are all run to a heavy duty extension cord (to handle wattage load) that is then run to a wall timer. Veg time is usually set from 20/4-18/6 on/off and for flowering I go with a one day period of 24hr dark, then 12/12. There is also a Temp/Humidity sensor inside the box near the canopy of my plant in the center (adjustable height) Nutrients: Foxfarm Bigbloom Foxfarm Growbig Super thrive And due to the fact that our home uses a water softening system, I purchase gallons of infant water, pH'd at 7 and tested down to 6.4-6.6 (just my preference I guess). Again, all of this is an experiment to see what I can do with the knowledge I've acquired individually and the help of fellow bloggers like yourself! Thanks so much for the feedback!
Do not let light anywhere near your roots. And mix some nutrients if possible. I have always used General organics Go Box, it's my favorite. And also check for the pH levels in your growing medium. I use hydroponics, yielded me the best results. You can find a guide here.
you don't really need to mix anything in with that fox farms stuff. i've used it several times straight out of the bag and got great results from it. Thats why it looks like it doesn't have any perlite. There are many who mix in additional perlite to it, but I never did and had great drainage. Also, didn't add any nutrients until you flip to flower.
Help me out guys, very early flowering from a clone. Just making sure she stayed a little lady. Tell me what you all think! Sent from my iPad using Grasscity Forum
Fermented plant extracts, aloe Vera juice and coconut water. Allow and coconut in beg and jail coconut in flower. Use comfrey and moringa powder ferments in veg and horsetail and sting nettle ferments in the first three weeks of flower (foliar only). Feed the soil fish Hydrolysate, shilajit, and coconut water just to feed the soil once in veg and once in the begining of flower and the just stick to bi weekly compost teas and investing in biological controls for IPM. During veg use Neem oil and yucca extract along with essential oils to keep plants clean and healthy. Use a little yucca in all your foliars as it is a Greta emulsifier that doesn't kill the biology on your leaves. And use the cleanest water you can for the smoothest smoke as buds bioaccumulate heavy metals from the water and synthetic phosphorus nutes and smoking cadmium is one of the reasons cof farmers are so bad for you. Look up Dr.Elaine Ingham for information on growing not the hydro store guy. That's my advice. Oh and look Into these lights they are kick ass! Dense buds and he at resin production. Easy in the eyes too as its a lot like sunlight. Full Spectrum LED Grow Lights | Spectrum King LED