So, a friend of mine who has grown couple of time told me that he mixes his soil with dusted coal(like literally crushed coal) to avoid fungi. And if I don't do the same, I will have to deal with fungi eventually! I have asked this from a garden store owner and he told me to use CAPTAN fungicide (a general well known formula apparently) which I already have bought a while ago, on the soil to prevent fungi. Is this fungi thing generally a big problem? does this happen often? I am growing indoors but it's humid here. Do you suggest preemptively using fungicide on medium? my medium is a mix of peatmoss+ perlite+ vermicompost+ potting mix(all of them looked super clean when I bought them and on their pack it says sterilized). plus I have put LECA (expanded clay aggregate) in the bottom of the pot for better drainage.
TNX for the vid. can I use may Captan fungicide that I already have for this porpuse? should I only spray it on the leaves and not the soil? should I preemptively do it? Can there be any damage to my plants if i use this chemical solution that I already have?
your friend is an idiot and the store owner likes easy money ...from you Fungi is a vital element to up taking nutes for all plants you need fungi in soil to make food your concern in fungi actually Pythium on your plant leading to bud rot or leaf /stem mold is fixed by liberal application of Neem oil sold near you as leaf shiner ...lol is organic and systemic leave the mold and fungi in the soil don't over water keep venting and you will be fine good luck
tnx . So if I understood correctly, the thing I have to be worried about in this regard is Pythium and powdery mildew and the prevention is done with material like in the video above or with Neem oil right? also, do you recommend using organic pesticide/fungicide solutions in general? cuz sometimes i see little spiders in my grow room. I don't know where the heck they come from, the room is almost completely sealed. also, is there any general benefit in using this Captan fungicide that I have? like on other plants as well?
I can only recommend the use of Neem oil as its the only tool I've used in over 42 years of growing weed I also use neem oil on my pets for killing bugs and even my pubic lice ..lol true and I now add it to my curries google for more but in truth the UV kills the neem long before you ever toke the bud that has had it sprayed on it keep on mind Powdery Mildew is no biggy just an annoyance bud rot isn't also most these bug and mold killers are for veges and flowers very few were made with inhalation in mind thats important that most members like to disregard.. yeah.. neem oil does bugs and molds good luck
I doubt if i can find it easily here. no result when u google 'Neem oil' in my mother tongue, which means its not a popular thing in my country at all. My mom is like super into all these herbal oils and shit, I texted her and she told me she never heard of it. If i get a hold of it, should I mix it with water and then spray it over? Also, can something like olive oil (any kind o oil that's available really) be a proper alternative?
Plants benefit from fungus in the soil and the only fungus I have ever had any issue with is bud rot. Certain plants/strains are more susceptible to this than others. Fungus spores are constantly floating around in the air and can settle in to somewhere where the air flow is stagnant and moisture levels are high enough So applying a fungicide to your soil just seems completely pointless to me
Neem Oil is from the Neem Tree in India whats your country? if you get it put a teaspoon in a pint spray bottle add warm water shake and spray 2x times per day UV knocks neem oil quick hence 2x per day
Middle East (my country is a poor one and also due to political sanctions and stuff they barely import stuff here). I found nothing online other than couple articles on how good it is for hair and skin n stuff ( in my language). I went to a herbal shop today and the guy hadn't heard of it. I will look for it in other herbal shops in the future but I doubt if they have it here.
Not if you don't have a fungus problem. Whatever you spray on the buds will be smoked so that rules out most things. Why are you so concerned about moulds and fungus? It's a very uncommon pest in this hobby
I am a first timer, trying to prevent all the shit that could go wrong, still figuring my way out in regards to prioritizing which possible problem would be worse and which ones should I worry about now.
ok fair point. Fungus is not something you should worry about because it's just such a rare problem. Get a decent exhaust fan and circulation fan and you're very unlikely to get any bud rot. You certainly won't have any fungus problems in the soil These are the most common problems.... Incorrect nutrient concentration Incorrect soil moisture level Lack of nutrient solution aeration (hydro only) Low light intensity Get these 3 correct and you won't go far wrong Moving to hydro makes the first 2 far easier to get right, but it's still simple enough with soil too. Getting the nutrient content correct with soil is a case of starting with just water, moving up to a quarter strength solution and ending up with half strength solution. Use this on every watering. This is a ball park plan that will work perfectly fine most of the time but you may need to read the plant and adjust accordingly. With hydro you use digital meters so it's very easy to measure and adjust to get it spot on Soil moisture is a little harder to explain because one person's "slightly damp", is another person's "pretty dry". Generally speaking marijuana plants prefer soil to be pretty dam dry. Usually far dryer than most beginners realise. This is exactly why it's such a common problem with beginners.. It's rare to have a plant showing ill health from a lack of water. A wilting plant with dust dry soil is pretty obviously suffering from a lack of water, so this is easily fixed. However, sopping wet soil with a plant wilting because its drowning is harder for a beginner to diagnose and fix. Feeling the weight of the pot is a good way to tell if the soil needs watering, or pushing a finger a few inches down in to it feeling for any moisture is another way. You'll get a feel for it eventually. In the first week you'll likely not even need to water at all because the plant won't be drawing any measurable amount of water up. Flood the soil well and allow to fully dry out between waterings. There are other ways but I believe its the best way for beginners to judge the soil moisture content. This is another reason why hydro is easier. If you push enough air through the nutrient solution then you can have the roots submerged all the time. You can then top up with water as often as you want without fear of causing problems Unfortunately the next common problem is out of control for many beginners. More light costs more money, and creates more heat, so you'll need more ventilation which costs even more money. That's just how it is. You can grow with a couple of 20w CFLs but waiting 3 months for a few grams is just not worth it in my opinion when you could have ounces in the same amount of time. The cheapest light I'd go for is probably one of those 100w purple LEDs which are often called 300w. These can give you a couple of ounces pretty easily and only cost about £40. But get some advice before buying one as there are a lot of scsmmers out there. MarsHydro is a brand I would be my recommend for budget LEDs
TNX very very much for this comprehensive explanation brother. As for the watering, I am usually so scared of over-watering them(due to all the warnings from the growers) that up to this point, I just let them get wilty and then I'll be sure its time to water them. would this practice cause any long term damage btw? I stuck my finger in the soil today(I watered them fully 6 days ago after being transplanted into their current pots), and it felt like exactly when I bought the potting soil. you know? when it's a little moist and not completely dry, and I donno if it's dry enough or not. ( I mixed around 30% peatmoss with my mix to retain water, but at this point I donno if it's confusing me more as to how to determine when is the soil completely dry!)
Best way to know if it’s ready for water is to lift the pot and judge by the weight. If you get a baseline weight for when they’re really dry and when they’re wet you can easily know when they need water. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I understand your frustration, its hard to get the information across. If we were talking about the length of something I could measure it, tell you the measurement, and then you can use a tape measure to get yours the same. Unfortunately measuring moisture content is a little more subjective , and moisture meters are useless. If the plant wilts one time and as long as it's not severe,, it won't cause any significant problems,, however, I wouldn't want it happening every time, especially when flowering when you don't have time for the fine root hairs to grow back. It sounds like you already understand the importance of soil moisture content so I suspect you won't run in to over watering problems . It's more common with beginners who haven't done as much research. I'd aim to have your final soil mix consisting of about 30% perlite. That way there is less of a worry of over watering it, and once the plant is well established in its pot there will be even less of a worry
Is it better to apply the oil while plants are having their dark time so the UV wont be much of a problem? I saw someone on youtube ended up burning his leaves due to the usage of Neem oil under LEDs