My name is Ash and I’m new to the cultivation culture and would love to learn everything about it. I’m a new grower and just recently started my first plant so i apologize in advance for this long post. I need guidance on how to maintain my plant and take good care of it to have good quality bud so I can start growing multiple plants at once. I had questions regarding a few different things and would love some advice as I’m a newbie to this so it would be great if you can help me out and explain things to me as if I’m a 5 year old. Heres a list of everything I have at the moment:
Vivosun 36x36x72 tent
Phlizon 600w led lights ( turned on during veg & flowering only)
Oneo 100w led lights (turned on during all stages)
2 vivosun 4 inch 203 cfm fans with speed controllers & carbon filter (for intake & outtake fans. The intake is at the bottom and the the other fan releasing air outside is located at the top)
Promix hp soil
Taotronics cool mist humidifier
6 inch clip fans
3 pack with calmag general hydroponics nutrients
Ph up & down kit
Ph testing kit
Tds meter pen
Preciva digital ph meter
I also have a dwc hydroponic system that I’m not using but if its easier to use let me know and i’ll set it up. Alfred horticulture 5 gallon
3 inch pots to use incase I need something smaller than what came with the dwc system
Rockwool cubes
I started my plant in the soil on march 25 in a red solo cup and heres how I’m maintaining it so far. Not a lot of watering because I know seedlings don’t need a large amount. My water ph was above 7 before and that was my fault but i just started watering with ph 6-6.5. I water maybe once every 2-3 days until soil is dry an inch deep and light in weight. No nutrients being fed either. Heres a list of details of what my setup is like
-Humidity is set between 55-70 when lights are on & off
-Temperature is set between 23-30 Celcius
-Light schedule: 18-6. Lights come on at 9 pm and switch off at 3 pm using a timer. Lights are located 12-16 inches away from the plant and adjust as it grows
-The small 6 inch fans are on at all times. One is located on the ground the other is at the top.
-Intake & outtake fans are being used while lights are one as temp goes over 30 celcius if theyre off and they turn off when lights turn off. Theyre connected to the same timer as the lights
So right now it seems like I’m having issues with my plant and would like to know what exactly I’m doing wrong. 1st issue I noticed is that the perlite in the soil is turning orange. 2nd issue is that the leaves are curling down from the tips as well as the sides instead of being flat. 3rd issue is that the tips look as if theyre burned and turning yellow.
I did some research and learned that it could be nitrogen toxicity, underwatering/overwatering. I’m not really sure tho how it could be nitrogen toxicity if I haven’t given it any nutrients yet. This will be the fourth week.
The help that I’m looking for would be guidance on how to fix these issues and help with the nutrients. I have no idea how often to feed them and then water them like I’m so clueless. If someone who has experience with the same nutrients I have please let me know how often you feed and how often you water without feeding and how much I should use. I’ve been reading that its recommended to start with half the amount that’s recommended on the package. Still need help with schedule. I will be transplanting to a 14 inch pot which I believe is 7 gallons.
Please also let me know if theres anything that I should change about what I’m doing or my setup. Here are some pics as well to help you visualize what I’m working with. Thank you all in advance and I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
Welcome to the community. It is time to Put in a bigger pot. I suggest the cloth pots. With the drooping Leafs it does look to be overwatered. Lots of growers here to help you through your new venture.
Thank you so much for your reply. I just watered the plant today and the lights are currently off. is it safe to transplant to the 7 gallon pot yet? ive never transplanted before, so should i water the medium in the new pot first or what would you recommend?
Put soil in your new pot. Take a similar Solo cup and push it into the soil of the new pot and twist a bit to make a good Solo shaped hole. Take out the cup you used to make the hole. Then put the plant between your fingers and turn it upside down over the new pot. Gently slide out the plant and soil from the Solo. A gentle flip and place the plant upright in the hole you made. And there ya go.
Then a little water to water it in place.
Plant is saying to transplant me. The leaf posture is due to being rootbound.
If not feeding it’s time to start. Use a GH ‘Drain to Waste’ schedule for your nutrients. Cal mag only on water days. An R/O unit would be a good addition unless water quality in your area is below 100 ppm from the tap.
Promix HP is my personal favorite medium and you can see growth approaching hydro. You should be on some kind of feed/water cycle and may change as plant grows. Currently best to be on a feed/water/feed/water cycle.
Thank you as well for your reply! Im a newbie so im not familiar with some of the terms.
so a GH schedule basically means water, feed, water, feed, etc until the growing stage changes? so for example i water today, feed tomorrow, water the day after etc.?
do you know how much to mix and which nutrient? like the floragro has a ratio of 2-1-6. the floramicro is 5-0-1. flora bloom is 0-5-4. calmag is 1-0-0. Im going to be transplanting to a 7 gallon pot today.
How do i get the nutrient solution ready? how much water should i mix with the nutrients?
What is R/O? my water ppm is currently 48 right now.
im sorry if my questions seem silly but im really a noob when it comes to marijuana cultivation
Personally, I would transplant to the 7 gallon pot. Looks like your soil is wet enough. I would not wet the new soil at this point. Give it a few days. Then water around the plant in a 6 inch circular pattern. That will encourage the root system to reach out Searching for moisture But they don’t need a lot of water at this stage. Go for it you’re plant will thank you. Good luck.
You should follow this advice until the plant canopy matches the pot. Once plant is large enough you will be watering daily.
The chart will give you the ratios of the three different base nutes you have.
This will get a bit more complicated. Your small plant needs nutrients but you should ramp up to full strength over time to avoid burning plant. For example if you look at ‘Week 2’ it lists the 3 base nutes 4 ml/g Micro, 5 of Gro and 1 of Bloom. 5 ml equals 1 teaspoon. If you were to mix this in a gallon of water it would be at around 1,000 ppm which is too strong. You can simply add another amount of water while monitoring the concentration with your TDS pen. When you have diluted it to the proper amount for your plant (about 500 ppm), then PH it and feed. This is a wasteful technique and you can refine the process the way I do by using a pipette and maintaining the ratio of base nutes to each other. Always add Micro first unless you have cal mag or silica. You can’t really keep mixed nutes so feed a houseplant or something with the remainder.
Once you have your solution concentration you can PH to your soil/media. In your case that should be around 6.0 for Promix.
I transplanted my plant to a 7 gallon pot finally and turned on the second led lights I have which are 600w with veg and flower switches.
I fed my plant as well. 2.5 ml of micro and gro and 1.25 ml of bloom no cal mag was added
I have a few questions regarding ppm, ph, and nutrients.
Do I always add the cal mag before all the nutrients or just use it when I’m watering?
The water ph before watering was 6.0 and run off was 5.7. How do I adjust my run off water to be 6 or 6.5 or what exactly should the run off water be?
The dtw schedule that I’m following says 500 ppm. I’m using half doses should I match it to be 250 or 500? It was 311 when I mixed my nutrients and added it to my soil.
All excellent questions. In coco, nominal value is 5.3 to 5.8 although I find I do almost everything at 6.0 and they’re fine. Also in coco it needs supplemental calcium and magnesium combined with regular flushes. This is because coco tends to sequester both elements until saturated then releases a lot all at once. Not too good for the plant so this is why you monitor the runoff TDS.
This is perfect. I’d be happy with that.
When running soilless media you alternate between watering and feeding days. I normally add cal mag on water days. In coco you need to keep substrate wet as it dries and becomes hydroscopic (repels water). Lots of growers change the interval throughout the grow. For me I am feed/water/feed/water. Earlier in veg it might be feed/feed/feed/water or some other variant. You’ll just watch input and output PH and TDS to see. When runoff numbers start to exceed input numbers, it’s getting to be time to flush.
Quick update since my last post. I transplanted the plant to a 7 gallon pot and fed it the nutrients 6 days ago so that would be Sunday the 19th
-humidity: 50%-70%
-temperature: 22-26 degrees C
-both lights were on but noticed that it increased the temperature by a bit and reduced the humidity so now i only have the 600w led with veg switch on
-nutrients were mixed in a gallon of water. 2.5 ml of micro, 2.5 ml of gro, and 1.25 ml of bloom (half the recommended dosage) and im following a drain to waste schedule system. I fed the plant the full gallon but it seems like that was too much as the medium is still moist and will probably have to water it tomorrow
-im following a feed/water/feed schedule
-ph before water was 6.0 and 5.7 for the runoff water
my questions so far are:
1.The dtw schedule that I’m following says 500 ppm. I’m using half doses should I match it to be 250 or 500? It was 311 when I mixed my nutrients and added it to my soil.
my exhaust and intake fans are on while the lights are on to maintain the right temperature otherwise, it will rise to almost 30C. should i change the timer for the fans to come on just for an hour a day or once every 3 hours kind of thing or is it fine to just leave it on while the lights are on? Ive been hearing different answers thats why i want to check. They’re both 204 cfm with speed controller
3.i didnt use calmag with my first feeding. Should i add it next time i feed or just with watering? just hearing different things
i feel like a gallon was too much for the plant, should i just give it half a gallon next time or just feed/water until theres 20% runoff?
i only have my 600w LED lights with veg & flower switches on. should i turn the other full spectrum 1000w LED lights i have or leave the 600w on only?
i havent watered/fed the plant for 5 days now but i will water it tomorrow. is 6 days without feeding or watering too long or is it because it might have been over watered?
Based on the pictures, can you please also let me know if theres anything that im missing and what should i fix. Appreciate you all and thanks in advance
I decided to water my plant using half gallon as a gallon was too much. Last time I watered her was April 26 and its still a tiny bit moist so I’ll have to feed tomorrow once its dry and use less water next time. This was the result, curling/claw looking leaves and the tips of the leaves are also soft and wrinkley. Is this issue still due to overwatering or nitrogen toxicity? The last time I fed her nutrients was on April 19th and it was half the recommended dosage. My humidity ranges between 45-70% temp 24-27C. pH is at 6.0. run off was 5.7 when i was feeding and ppm was 300. Can someone help me fix this issue please
I would suggest mixing to a target TDS: in veg most plants seem happiest around 750 ppm in peak veg. I’d try to run with less light in veg as the plants need less now. Later you will need more light to flower well.
500 ppm looks like it would be a good spot to hit and hold for a week or so.
Coco becomes hydrophobic when dry so needs to remain damp. It’s designed to provide oxygen even when soaked. Always water to runoff once large enough. As it stands now I would not be doing that. In fact I might consider feeding daily with 1 quart or so until canopy matches footprint of pot. Then resume watering to runoff.
So I’m following a dtw schedule. The week the plant was it suggested ppm to be 500. I used half the recommended dosage but my ppm was 300. Should I match it to be half the amount which is 250 or leave it as 300? Also if you dont mind can you help me understand how to follow the schedule based on what the plant looks like. I’m using promix HP with mycorrhizae. I don’t know what the difference is between that and coco or any medium. Would greatly appreciate the help. Thanks
This is actually my favorite medium. It’s lighter and holds less moisture than coco although is a non-renewable resource; unlike coco.
PH to 6.0 and when mixing nutes your plants should be at around 500 ppm. Something I do that might help you is this:
My GH grow schedule calls out for instance: 5.0 ml/g of Micro and 15 ml/g of Bloom. If I used that it would be around 1,200 ppm which is double where I want to be, nominally. So I use 2.5 as my base; divide everything by that and you get a ratio: the 5 ml turns into ‘2’. The 15 becomes ‘6’. Then I use a pipette or a syringe that has a smaller scale and maintain the ratio between them and target a specific TDS. If I go over I add enough R/O water to bring it close to where I want. By end of next week I would like to see you at 750 ppm which you should try to keep until flower.
