Hi all. I am a new to the forum and totally wish I had found it before I started my seeds 6 weeks ago. I posted this in another section and someone suggested I do my own grow journal, so here I am posting it again and would love advise, suggestions, comments.
The past few days I have been browsing different topics and realize I have much to learn. This is technically my second grow but last year I just flew by the seat of my pants with my gardening knowledge and l had some success but know I can do better. Since the whole point of my doing my own grow was to save money and not have to go to the dispensary I want to make the most of this grow. I have 3 each of White Widow, Northern Lights, Amnesia Haze and Blueberry. These were all germinated with a 24 hour soak and then put into organic soil on 3/26/17. All 12 sprouted and were looking good. Last year I didn’t use any lights but this year I bought a small LED and they were under that until the day light savings time switch and then I didn’t think i really needed them especially since they will be going outside. But the lower leaves have started to yellow and dry out, and some are growing tall and lanky while others are not. I will post a few pics so you can see. One of the Amnesia Haze I think I might lose all together as the yellow is climbing and then the top of it broke this morning - although I just noticed there are a couple of new shoots right where it broke so maybe there is hope. I will leave it’s fate to the MMJ gods and do my best to help it along. Anyway, at first I thought I was overwatering and it has been raining here in the north east for weeks with day after day of gray cool gloominess. I put them back under the lights today because I think lack of sun is part of the issue. I also am trying to fix the ph as my soil is about 7.5 which is too high from what I have read. I also didn’t realize I should test the ph of my water so I will start doing that as well. It was also suggested I may be root bound so to repot.
My main question originally was how can I get my plants to be bushier with more yield? I am nervous about topping and think I may be too late for that. But I guess no guts, no glory right. Any insight would be appreciated.
My second question now that the suggestion of repotting has been made is what are people thoughts on putting the plants right in the ground vs in 5 gallon pots. Last year I planted them right in my veggie garden intermingled with my tomato plants. They did pretty well, but now that I am reading so much about monitoring the ph and nutrients etc if it’s easier to control that in pots vs mother earth. Thoughts?
I suspect there wasn’t/isn’t enough light. Also, I’m curious what the soil is and also any nutrients you’ve been feeding.
As for bushier, you want to top or FIM as well as some time of LST (at least while indoors). Not sure you can do that now as I’m seeing flowering starting. But, for next time this info may help. Especially enough lighting. It will help them bush out instead of just up.
Not sure about the pots outside as I’m an indoor grower.
Good luck. This is a great place to learn and get help.
Thanks @Matthew420 I used organic soil from the local big box store and use Fox Farm liquid nutrients (3 pack from Amazon). I was thinking I should hold off on the nutrients until I get the high ph under control but maybe that won’t make a difference. As I type this I"m thinking I shouldn’t starve them, right?
edited the first part here. I would follow below or something similar…
Or add nutrients to a lower PH water to even it out. For example, add nutes and PH the water to 6 or something like that. Maybe even lower. That will bring the soil PH down.
Maybe this came up and I don’t recall but those are going to need to get into bigger pots or the ground pretty quickly.
Also, there are holes in the bottom of those cups, right?
At the end of my post i’m going to leave you with a few links to read. They are full of info you should know.
myself i would grow them in 5 gal containers.
ane snip thoughs bad leafs off there dead so just remove them.
Thanks @Matthew420. There are holes in the cups but I am transplanting today to bigger pots as I think that is much of the issue. I will work on my ph issue too. It seems that ph up and down is a popular product I see mentioned here so I will look into that and a new ph reader as I brought a probe and I read somewhere else on here that they aren’t very accurate. Learning, learning, learning.
@garrigan62 Thank you so much for the links. I will definitely get reading.
Are they auto flower or are they photo period plants?.. if they are photos you need to start giving them 18 hours of light to keep them from flowering. … all of your ladies look like there already flowering… unless you start giving them more hours of light they will never get a chance to grow into bushes…
I repotted the girls today and they weren’t as root bound as I expected. They were very wet though so I was not getting the drainage I thought. I swear I heard them sigh when I put them in the new pots. I’m not quite ready to leave them out at night yet though. Temps are getting warmer but I was outside at a pig roast most of the afternoon/evening and it was still chilly so I’m not going to risk it. I’m tagging a couple of people who offered to take a look at my pictures on other threads and here are some pics @Willd@Countryboyjvd1971 thanks in advance.
They will be fine, for next grow if you want to grow autoflowers I recoment to plant the sprouted seed straight in 5 gal pot with top one third seedling soil and bottom 2 thirds regular soil…
Also if you grow fully organic, you can introduce nutricious compost teas quite early on, as early as the second set of true leafs are fully developed…
I had experienced quite alot past 3 months and this is what works best for me…
They look healthy to me and I think you’ll be fine
I have a few plants in my green house for a couple weeks now they where four feet when I moved them out
Keep up the good work and keep the updates coming I’m watching this thread now lol
Nice rain bow
Have a great day @AnneBonny
Happy growing
Yes I have to agree with @matthew420’s diagnosis as well. This looks like a classic combination of insufficient light and excessive nutes & water.
Since you’re going to be putting these in the ground, the money you’re laying out in nutes will be better spent on sufficient lighting for seedlings for future grows. If you’re going to keep them in pots then you’ll need to keep spending money on chemical fertilizers and budget accordingly.
Over the past 3 or so years, I’ve probably invested between $750-$1k in seeds, pots, lights, promix, trimmers, fans, heat mats, plant racks, greenhouse, SCROG nets & clips, etc. Pretty much all of it except the ProMix gets reused every season. And really, even that gets worked back into the plot for next time.
Oops just now noticed they’re autoflowers. You can discount any advice I just posted since my experience is strictly with reg or fem seeds only. I still don’t see the benefit of auto’s for outdoor growers unless they just don’t have a space to start seedlings indoors or have the room outdoors to grow several dozen autoflowers which is what it would take to equal the yield of a dozen photo sensitive plants.
@AnneBonny are you in MA? I don’t want to sound alarmist but I had problems with that soil - had my young WW in it and they were suffering quite a bit (stunted and nute burn) until I transplanted the to Fox Farm. Maybe I got a bad batch. Hopefully you will have better luck but just something to note and keep an eye on…happy
Growing
@Sl1 No, I’m in RI. No worries on sounding like an alarmist I appreciate the warning on the soil. I will definitely keep an eye on them. So far they are much better since I transplanted but we will see. At least with your warning if things start to go south I can catch it early.
Thanks @Willd. I did auto flower as they were recommended for beginners. Was hoping I couldn’t screw them up too bad. My plan of planting them outside to save money I realize now wasn’t very well thought out without preparing them to be strong with lights while they were inside. I know now I do need to invest in lights for the next grow but I’m kind of intimidated by choosing one. I see people using two and 3 different ones at different times during the grow cycle. Is there one that is better than another that will get me through all phases of growth? I’m going to go back to the Grow Bible and read up on it.
Also, after reading numerous grow journals I am also wondering if my idea on growing the max I can (12 plants) during a normal growing season to get me through most of the year also was not the best plan. It seems I may have more success with a tent, grow lights etc. and a plant or two a couple of times through the year. I know my husband is concerned with the cost of electricity with using the lights. Do people see a significant increase in the electric bill if it is just using the lights for one or two plants at a time? I am looking for some ammo to plead my case AB
So for cost effective and frugal growing, outdoors is the only way to go in my opinion (if you have the room).
That being said, we also live in New England so starting seedlings indoors is a must. For most veggies a month or 2 head start on a stand or a window sill is sufficient. For starting cannabis you will need some indoor floor space, lights and a small oscillating fan for airflow 3 hours on/3 hours off
I used 3 of these to start 12 plants covering 20sq ft of floor space in my cellar. Shop around. HD carries them for almost $15 less AND the bulbs are installed already! https://www.amazon.com/Lithonia-Lighting-GRW-CSW-Fluorescent/dp/B00L4NCYT2/ref=sr_1_6?tag=greenrel-20
It looks to me as though you have a nice big yard to grow outdoors.
MrsWillD and I are some of the most frugal people on the planet so running three 28W T5 fixtures for 18 hours a day for a couple of months isn’t going to break the bank.
I don’t have the faintest idea how much you consume but 12 autos may be enough. I’m cultivating to produce a multitude of products to trial for multiple business ventures so autos are not a good choice for me.
Our electric bill averages $39/mo and actually went down $4/mo from last year’s average
Thanks. That doesn’t seem unreasonable considering how much it will save me from having to buy at the dispensary. I will look into them. We do have a big yard and good neighbors so it seemed like a no brainer to put them in between my tomatoes and cukes. Plus it’s just for me and I use more for sleep than anything else so I don’t need a ton. I still have 5 1/2 sticks of budder and infused coconut oil from last years harvest in the freezer. Thanks again I appreciate all the info.
AB