First grow...advice please!

I read a lot of complaints about it so I got it without. I honestly tho have a real time temp humidity reading set up that has helped me tweak fan speed/temps. Just seems like once it’s set I do t need the fan speeding up or down.

We’re going into winter here, so I have an oil filled heater that kicks in when the lights go out. I think I’ll set up a night speed to help circulate the heat better…still experimenting…

Tbh, I’m in the same room as the plants most of the time, so I don’t really need any automation…but I like the dc motor and the 45watt draw!

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UK or australia?

Yeah no doubt it’s super efficient.

Excuse me for repeating myself here…

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Bluelab is good, Apera is pretty popular around here. I have the PH-20 which is not much more than the cheap amazon ones, but much better quality. A little above it is one with a replaceable probe. Up from there is one that has a replaceable probe that does pH and TDS. Don’t get the cheapest one, but I wouldn’t splurge for much more than $40-50 apiece, either. Whatever you get, make sure it has digital calibration, and make sure to get reference and storage solutions as well.

TDS meters are essentially ohmmeters, so they all work about the same way. I have a $15 Amazon TDS meter that works just fine.

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Week 4 and a bit…
Thought I’d just post some pics today.


3 days ago I suffered a moment of weakness and decided, without research, to trim off a few Fan leaves as I thought they were in the way and covering the new ‘branch’ growth.
I panicked immediately after i did it and frantically looked up pruning fan leaves.
I found arguments for and against…as usual!
Anyway, I gave them a good feed the next day and they are jumping for Joy now! PHEW!
one of my Red Dragons:
I counted over 17 potential buds for this one, so far…I may top some of the healthy new branches that are emerging from under the big fan leaves.
I am now just tucking away the big leaves, but there are still some huge ones…I may take a few next week, once this weeks prune and topping has recovered.
These plants didn’t stop growing for a second after the prune! They sure seem have the will to live…and healthy!
I didn’t waste the leaves I pruned!

This grow is all about making tinctures (any sub-lingual drops or sprays recipes please!) oils and edibles…I’m not so well you see… so I’m trying to be as organic as possible as this is in reality, my medicine…so far only using liquid blood and bone. I may try some seaweed fert I saw in the shop, and guana is good I hear.
They are still at 18/6
I thought I’d move them to 16/8 in week, then 12/12 two weeks after (that’ll be about 8 weeks in veg). Does that make sense?
What’s a good organic fertiliser/nute to feed them when they switch to flowering?
Cheers!

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I ended up getting this…


hope it arrives tomorrow so I can do an accurate PH test.
I’m planning to give them a good watering until some decent runoff happens, then I can finally see what’s going in vs what’s coming out. My water supply seems to be stable at 6.5.

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Trimming is ok to do. I have to trim mine up about every 3 days.

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Bluelab ive heard is the best. I have a $40 Apera i love tho. N as stated a cheapo $10 ppm does the trick. But great buy.

Looks like u got both in style. EXCELLENT buy

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Been a couple of weeks since last post. I guess I’m not having any issues!
I realized the veg period was bang on six weeks, so I switched the light to 12/12 yesterday.
I believe two of the plants were turning on their own, so that’s cool…BUT
I do have a couple of questions…
-two plants are definitely in flower stage, but the other two aren’t yet.
-the fact I am now on 12/12, will the two ‘slower’ ones catch up and just turn to flower stage because of light trigger?


front left and rear right are smaller.
If the light green growth tips represent a bud in waiting, I’ve counted about 20+ per plant…

I am trying to be as organic as possible as most of this is destined for tinctures and oils.
I actually doing all this because I have a spot of the big C (metastatic urothelial Bladder Cancer, actually) I’m trying to tame here…and it has appeared on a lung now…4.5mm at the moment…It’s gotta go! Stopped vaping or any lung related dosing now…

What would a good natural, organic, nutrient to boost flowering and yield size?
I’ve been feeding them Nitrosol mainly (blood and bone…organic I believe) It has a NPK of 8.3.6.
I add 1ml/litre of GH Flora Nova Grow (7.4.10) every second feed…I was told it was organic, but I’m not sure, so I use it sparingly. I’m now doing same with GH Flora Nova Bloom (4.8.7)

I got my PH meter finally…seems my water is at between PH6.3 & PH6.6
Runoff tested at around 7, so there’s some alkalinity added from the soil and nute buildup…seems OK tho…and the plants are looking happy!

Should I be trimming more Fan leaves or just leave them for now?

Who is the tincture/oil pro around here?? Please connect me…I got lots to learn!

Cheers

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Yes, within a couple weeks, the others should begin to flower, too. Some strains (even phenotypes within strains) will begin to preflower, regardless of light schedule, sooner than others. Just like kids, they all do things at different rates. Lots of patience, and they turn out alright, regardless.

I’m very sorry to hear about your cancer diagnosis. What a pisser. rimshot Sorry, my dark humor helped lighten the impact of my cancer, and the day of those treating me lol. I hope it gave you a smile at least. It sounds like you’re on top of it, and I know you’re gonna kick its ass! This plant’s medicinal properties never cease to amaze. Keep updating us here, and we’ll make sure you harvest some good meds. Talk to @blackthumbbetty or @Midwestnewbie (and others that slip my mind right now) about a tincture and edibles in general, but there are tons of edible recipes, step by step from bud to belly, on this forum, as well as others online. Just start googling or youtubing, and you’ll be a master chef in no time! If you can grow it, the rest is easy.

To be as organic as possible, you could either source all the components you want to feed separately and create your own super soil to grow in, or purchase one similar already mixed, or add those things in as you feed/water even. I’m not sure about Flora Nova, I think it’s a synthetic line, but I don’t know. There are lots on Amazon that are OMRI listed, but I can’t recommend one from personal use other than General Organics’ (same company as GH) Go Box. I grew really flavorful, potent buds with it in Fox Farm Happy Frog.

I’m currently using Dr. Earth stuff for my veggies, and I’m pretty happy with it. Theirs is made from food waste products, urban compost, basically. That’s another option…you could compost and add it to your mix. The tricky part with organic growing is that you’re feeding your micro ‘herd’ and they’re feeding the plants. Typically, the stuff you’re pouring in isn’t ‘available’ to the plants right away like synthetic nutrients. So the bacteria and whatnot in the soil go to work breaking it down into things the plants can absorb.

On that note, make sure you work on getting your pH down a little bit. You want your runoff between 6.3 and 6.8 in soil. You’re dead on with the comment about alkalinity. At some point, you may need to flush the soil of buildup to get the pH in check. But for now, just keep doing what you’re doing, and feed on the lower end, closer to 6.3 or so, and you should see the runoff come down some. I agree, they look really happy! I hope you have lots of room vertically, because you’re about out laterally! :joy:

You could certainly remove some fan leaves from the lower parts that aren’t getting any light, and it’ll help with airflow as well. If your humidity and temperature are where they should be, and your plants are drinking well, I wouldn’t mess with them much. If you do some trimming, don’t take too much at once. Give them time in between to recover so as not to stress them.

Cannabis is a very resilient plant, and will do very well in a variety of conditions, fed a variety of ways. The trick is to find what works best for your setup, environment, budget, time/energy level, etc. What is super easy and works well for me might be a nightmare for you, or vice versa. But the most important thing is to enjoy it! You have the ability to provide yourself incredible medicine, right in your own home. It’s a very rewarding thing, in many ways. I feel like I’m rambling lol…must be the good meds! :v:

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Thanks for the great reply! Yes, If ya can’t laugh at cancer, you increase its destructive power! I try to be understanding of it…I have it because I was an idiot. f%#$ing cigarettes!
Everything I do now is cure-related, although I was told there is no cure! Standard Western Medicine really has nothing to offer…other than chemo, radiation and removal. I had chemo in December…tumours have been shrinking ever since…and still shrinking! Oncologist says ‘whatever you’re doing, keep doing it’, but he had nothing to suggest for ‘between chemos’…that’s up to me it seems, which is turning out well!
I’m doing 4 different mushroom supplements, making herbal tinctures, even seeing a crystal healer! At least my oncologist is supportive…he’s actually quite interested in what I’m doing…which I find very comforting. I hope I’m able to put off further chemo for a long time!!

My water source is a 50 litre tank with a hose, so I can adjust the water down a bit…6.2-6.3.
Since I fed them yesterday, and they are still heavy in the pots today, I’ll give them a watering of plain 6.2-ish water tomorrow…maybe with Cal/Mag as I’ve turned up the light almost to full (80%).

BTW, the light isn’t at full because it gets just too hot in the tent…fortunately it’s winter here so I can get free aircon/cooling by lowering the room temp that the tent’s in. When I turn up the fan, it can cool the tent quickly…but 80% from the light seems to be doing a good job…maybe I’ll pump it up to 100% in the last couple of weeks of flowering? Would that help make buds a bit juicier?

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That’s great news! And I can’t believe I didn’t think to tag @Mrcrabs and @Budbrother on the organic front. I’m positive they’ll both have some input on the subject. And that’s exactly how I control my tent. It stays about 10 or so degrees (F) above ambient inside the tent with the lights on, identical with them off. Yes, I’d gradually give them more and more light once they begin flowering, until they complain. The more intense the light, the denser the buds.

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Thanks @elheffe702, I so sorry for your diagnosis @Buck99, my stepfather had stage 4 brain cancer and was given 6 months to live, doctors where amazed at how he survived for 2 years after his death sentence, i made all of my harvest of trainwreck that’s what i had atm , into RSO , he took a grain size of rice and his brain cancer went into remission and was cancer free, doctor said it was a miracle, unfortunately he never quit smoking cigarette till his last days and that’s what took him under, the brain cancer wss no longer there but after two years he got cancers spots his lungs and it spread from there decided not to take chemo and enjoyed his final days , ps he smoked fir for 40yrs 2 boxes a day of Winston, i cant stand cigarettes!!! also drinking alkaline water helps cancer patients fight cancer cells, will get more info on western herbs he used to fight cancer, healing vibes going your way brother :pray: @Buck99 will keep you in our prayers

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Hiya…again, been a while.
I guess that’s good because things seem to be going well…beginners luck and a bit of research I guess…and help here too!
My 90cm x 120cm tent is burstin!
All 4 plants are healthy and flowering like stink…literally!
Fan/filter are working great…no idea what’s goin on anywhere in the house!
They are now about 18" from the light, close to 3’6" high…I have about a foot of clearance to move the light up, but that’s it.


I might need some advice prior to harvest.
-Any idea from picture how long to wait?
-Should I add Cal/Mag to water now light is closer and full bright?
-I’ve been very stingy on the nutrients…should I beef them up for the final burst, or just keep as usual? Using a Guana based Nature’s Own ‘bloom’ organic and blood & bone.

  • How should I prepare for harvest? Do I flush out the nutes…when is good?
    -Who has the best curing recipes?

Again I ask: who’s the tincture/oil/edibles guru around here?

Cheers!

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The tincture/oil/edible recipes are usually @blackthumbbetty @DoobieNoobie n @GreenJewels quite a few others around heee as well. Depends on ur tastes.

As to the flushing question… what nute line are u using? This far along id be supplementing a bit of calmag when pure watering. Nothing too heavy tho and especially nothing drastic enough to upset ur flow now. Have u seen any deficiencies? What type of dirt?

I usually semi flush during transition to flower (get that high N out) then semi flush the last week or so of her life (before harvest)

How many weeks in flower are u? Most lineups have heavy PK startingg week 5-6 of flower to push big buds

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Here’s a good thread.

@blackthumbbetty has a lot of good edible recipes.

Here’s a link to a good CCO thread

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And another great link :+1:

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