A question of a fellow grower:
I am growing two Grease Monkey Plants and one Do-Si-Do plant. The first few weeks, I had to use a small 2x2’ x 3’ tall box I called the incubator. It worked great but the plants outgrew it very quickly. I am now using a metal frame with 6mm Panda white/black in a 3’x2’ x 5’ height DIY grow tent. I am having to do all this on a tight budget because I am still paying all of my medical bills and have to see a doctor every other month for my back along with all the physical therapy. I’m sure you can imagine how quickly those bills pile up.
My plants are now in their 6th week of veg and they are getting pretty tall. Once I moved them into the makeshift tent, they started growing rapidly, to the point that I think they have too much spacing in between nodes. Just last week, both plants started showing their white hairs at the node sites, but today I noticed black spots on the edges of one or two leaves. They are older fan leaves which is confusing to me. I have a very hard time diagnosing the various plant diseases and deficiencies. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am about to transplant the bushier one into a 5 gal fabric pot, the ones that provide better drainage and air to the roots. Just today, I noticed black spots on the edges of some smaller leaves along with yellowing and some leaves coming off the plant without having to pull on them. All I have to do is touch one of the stems of the affected leaves and it will fall off where it branches from the stem. I did some LST early on but I’m starting to think I should do it again?? I do not have good lights. I’m having to use CFL’s and 5000k 12w LED Omni-directional bulbs. I added a 23w 6500k CFL bulb the other day and it seems like the top of each plant and the off-shoots all want to grow directly towards that light. So I have two 5-way light splitters, for a total of thirteen lights. Since I don’t have a traditional grow tent, I’ve really had to get creative but I am trying to find a decent grow-tent.
So I guess my MAIN question is, how would you prioritize your spending on your first grow? Meaning, what should be my biggest financial investment? A grow light, the nutrients or the air ventilation/filters/ humidifier/de-humidifier? Also, what brand would you recommend for all three. Right now I’m using FF Grow Big, FF Tiger Bloom, Liquid Karma, Hydrogizine, and Grow Pro (the last two are some type of enzyme to help keep the roots happy and break down old decaying roots. The owner of a local growing supply store set me up with all the nutrients and the plants responded immediately to them. But I now have to get the right light and air circulation or purifier…. I just want to know that my money is being spent on the right things and what I can get away with. I apologize for my question and the lack of info as this is my first time growing. Here are the most recent photos of my plants. Any tips on trimming/pruning would be very helpful as well.
Can you see the black spots that are forming on the leaves? I have looked very closely and I cannot find any bugs and the plant with the spotted leaves was just transplanted into a fabric 5gal pot today. It is the younger of the two, it sprouted on July 28th and the other one is about two weeks older. It has completely different growth characteristics but I asked my local grow store owner about that and he told me its just like comparing two siblings. I really have no idea what I’m doing anymore because it started out just to see if I could grow them… I did but they are showing the white hairs and Im clueless on what I should do going forward. Thanks again!!!
