Growing again, or at least I am trying to!

I agree with your methodology here Mr. Raiser, but I am also dealing with a soil that is holding way too much water. I have got some perlite mixed into her new place, but I have not watered her since the transplant and she is still moist from 1/3 of the way down to the bottom of the pot. I did mist some blood meal in to give her a boost of nitrogen. Other than that nothing. Do I leave her in this soil where she seems ok, or transplant her to some better soil with better drainage. What say you, raiser of Hell?

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While I am waiting for Mr. Raiser to get back to me, I think I have come to a decision on the very lowest cluster on Betty. I am thinking it needs to go. This cluster I am referring to is at the very bottom, and included the cotyledons until a few days ago. They finally fell after a month! @Hellraiser, I took two pictures. One of the clusters that are gonna go, and the other looks like she might be going into preflower. How does that impact the transplant if at all? Do I do it today or is it still ok to wait a little. I will wait to hear from you or anyone else that has an opinion. Thanks, and peace…


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Good day growers! We are a few days away from 5 weeks above ground. Betty seemed to like the dusting of blood meal I gave her. I think I am going to go ahead and transplant into the 3 gallon pot. The reason? See for yourself-



With budding just around the corner I am going to go ahead and transplant tonight before lights out. I turned the light up all the way and it passed the “back of my hand” test. It was just barely warm at all. The bigger tent doesn’t heat up like my old smaller one did. I was hoping that would be the case. Tomorrow I will have the light backed off a little, not quite full power. I want to give her a day or two to recover. What does everyone think of little Betty? I am gonna have to get her a training bra soon!!! lol. Have a great grow out there. Peace…

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Yeah, might as well transplant before going into full flowering and I’d snip off that lower growth, too small and too low.

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Exactly what I was thinking Mr. Raiser. Thank you for your guidance. You should win the award for teacher of the year. Seriously. Peace…

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@Budbrother-
I just stumbled across your thread! You are the ONLY other one that has used/liked build a soil. I am currently as green as they come, on my second grow, first with organic (hate that word), and am looking forward to growing naturally as I can. I use a 2x2.5x6ft tent, one hlg 135 light, and grow one plant at a time. Before you refer me to build a soil, I have been on their site. I based my living soil recipe on the one they show in the video. I think it was #8. It was where they started playing with the amount of sphagnum moss in the mix. They had them analyzed at a lab. I chose the same one he went with, but I used a couple of different amendments. The reason I tagged you was that I am growing a blueberry auto, and the plant has been healthy in its 5 weeks above ground. My last grow I grew the same strain, same shipment, but used “a pot for pot’s” setup. The setup was dirt cheap, including inadequate lights (wal mart type). The thing is that the plants are very different. I dont mean phenotype or anything like that. I think it will become clear when I show you pictures of each one at the same time. Sorry, I am wordy, dont get out much. Ok, the first picture will be of the first one I grew.


Note that by then I added that blurple light. It wasn’t great, but for my first grow that was ok. Now here’s my current girl who is a week ahead of that first plant.

I had all kinds of problems on grow #1, and none really on this one, with the exception that the soil is retaining too much water. I am transplanting to a 3 gallon fabric pot tomorrow, and I have mixed in some perlite to help. I got some worms but can’t seem to keep them alive. Anyway, thats why I tagged you. I think that the soil is the problem. Dbrn32 has been guiding me on lighting. I am gonna stop for now, cause I am sure you have better things to do than reading me jabber on like I tend to do. Thanks.

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My first observation is you’re overwatering. The key is to water less but more frequently. A general rule of thumb is to water at 5% soil volume. A 5 gal pot only needs .25 gal to be watered in slowly, over a few sprays, with a 10 min break between them, to allow for absorption. Then a daily misting of the rhizosphere, think morning dew. Keep top moist daily, but wait for bottom to dry out mostly before doing a full watering and repeating the cycle. This will keep your worms and plants happy, by providing moist, but not saturated, conditions. Hope this helps.

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Budbrother-
Any advice you give me I will gladly take. I really haven’t watered her that much. When I transplanted her from the solo cup into the 1 gallon pot I gave her a good soak, but no runoff water. It was almost 2 weeks before I watered again. I feel the weight of my pot, but also have a moisture meter. The top third drains in a week or so, but the bottom 2/3 takes a long time to dry out. I am going to transfer her to a three gallon fabric pot tonight, and I added some perlite to it as well. I am going to put some more worms in when I transplant. So far most all the worms have died. I planned to have night crawlers at the bottom and the red wigglers in the mid region. About 10 of each. Anyway, I am still trying to figure out the size difference. I will try to figure it out. Is there a website for the Korean farming style you grow in? I would like to read about it. Thank you for your guidance sir. And by the way, Goofy is my favorite cartoon character. I had 4 goofy shirts and a goofy watch that ran backwards! I had to sell it cause it confused me, lol. We’ll see how the transplant goes tonight. Peace…

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Your roots probably haven’t made it to the bottom to drink it up; or lack of air (stagnant) down there, making it inhospitable environment. Just a few squirts from a plant mister on the top daily, and then wait for roots to develop and drink it damn near dry. Also, I use lava rock for my aeration.

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Budbrother-
I have seen quite a few use lava rock for aeration. It also provides some yummy minerals for the plants too. When I transferred the plant from the solo cup the roots were spread all the way to the bottom of the cup. I used Myco on the roots for the transplant. I dont know how far you read back, but I asked Hell Raiser about what I should do about the upcoming transplant. With the soil retaining so much water and me not able to do any top dressings because the soil is too wet for it. Its my fault- I used vermiculite. I read somewhere that some organic growers don’t like perlite, so that’s why I didn’t use any. The plant has always been green and healthy. No yellowing of the leaves or other signs of overwatering. I have not been terribly concerned because she’s always looked healthy. I will see if I can track down any
Lava rock. I think its going to be slim Pickens in my area of the country. May have to go with the perlite this time and secure lava rock next time. Thank you for your input sir! I will transplant tonight before lights out. I will leave another progress report soon. Peace…

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Check lawn and garden for you local grill accessories. You can buy it to help even out the heat on gas grills. @patchman

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Yes, that’s where I got my lava rocks and then I crushed it so it was in smaller pieces 1/4-1/2". last time though I said to heck with crushing and got some bonsai jack lava rock. Anywhere that sells bonsai stuff should have it.
Just curious if you add biochar to your mix?

Edit, oh and @Budbrother usually needs a tag when ya need him.

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I pretty much just follow tags and answer direct questions.

That would be a great thing if you were growing outside. Transplanting into a larger pot would help. This would place the vermiculite section into the middle and then wicking would occur.

Thanks @GreenJewels & @Covertgrower

Landscaping places are another resource to look into. They usually have different grades of natural lava rocks.

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@GreenJewels, @Budbrother, @kaptain3d
I did not add biochar to my soil mix this time.
The recipe was kind of what I could get here where I live. The recipe was/is: 6 parts sphagnum moss, 2 parts vermiculite, 1 part worm castings, 1 part top soil, 1/ 2 part mushroom compost, 1/2 part cow manure compost. I added a little bone meal, and some broken up oyster shells as well. I also picked up fish fertilizer, calcium nitrate, Epsom salts, and blood meal, to have on deck for top dressings and such. It boils my noodle why my first plant (same seed, same shipment) that had a lot of problems is 2 feet taller than the current seed with a much better light, tent, and fan. The only thing I can guess is that I must have made a mistake with .y soil. But my new plant hasn’t had any problems. Or not any that I have seen. Budbrother said I watered too much, but I have never seen any signs of this. I dont think that would explain the size difference. So the first picture is Betty in her penthouse forever home (3 gallon fabric pot),


The second picture is of my first plant at the same age.

So I just did her final transplant. I put some myco in the hole where she went, and since I was watering her in I added a sprinkling of bone meal on top to give her a boost. The worms will go in tomorrow. She is in preflower with bud sites forming. The 135 r spec light is 16" and I will turn the intensity up to full power in a day or so after she’s recovered. Hopefully the perlite I added will help with the soil holding onto water too long. Any comments or suggestions are welcome. I thought I’d be going into the second grow with better expectations. But so far it has not turned out that way. This will be how I learn. I have noticed that a few of the newer leaves were curled downward, but I attributed that to needing water. I will keep moving forward and learning. Thanks everybody for your support and comments!! Peace…

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Well, in my very novice opinion, Patchy, she looks great! Hopefully the curling leaves are only a watering issue so it can be easily rectified. Looks good to me! :+1::grin:

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I think she will love her new cloth pot and surprise you.

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Jewels,
I have always grown in fabric pots. I just used that plastic pot because I thought it would be easier to transplant out of. Just looking at a fabric pot, seems like there’s potential for a bomb to go off. Better make sure those roots have spread far and wide for sure! Ok, checking on Betty this morning, she looks good. Notice in the 1st picture her upper leaves are pointing (“reaching for”) towards the light. So I increased the wattage a little. Still not up to full power. We’ll see how she looks tomorrow. A reminder to newer growers. Be sure to do the “hand test” any time you lower or raise the power in your lights. It may seem like a small adjustment at the time, but do you really want to burn your plant because you didn’t check.


Also, I added some worms this morning. I hope they stay alive. Here’s a candid photo of them getting settled.

And I also put in some crushed oyster shells and coral.
We will see how she is in the morning. Since I did increase the light this morning I will check on her a couple of times to make sure everything’s good. Gotta take care of her. As I always try to say, comments and advice are always welcome.
@Budbrother- everything look ok? Peace everybody…
One last shot…

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Looking good Patchman!!

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Looking good! I do love the cloth. I’ve been slowly moving my house plants into cloth pots

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@kaptain3d-
How you been? Haven’t heard from you in awhile. I have seen you post on other threads. I wanted to see if you had any ideas on why my plant wasn’t as big as my last one. Any input would be great. Could be it is what it is. She’s in the penthouse now til harvest. Got a ways to go before she’ll be ready. I am hoping by New Years she’ll be ready. Be safe and take care. You must be trimming all those trees you grew in the greenhouse!! Peace…

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