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First Time Grower - Looking For Direction


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Hello everyone!

 

1st time post of real substance on this wonderful site. I am hoping for some great feedback from you growing gurus!

I hope that I provide everyone with enough information to give me good advice - if not I will be proactive with responding to the best of my ability.

 

This is an indoor, tent grow.

 

I have am growing:

Larry OG

Pineapple Express

 

I believe the flowering cycle is:

Larry OG - 9/10 weeks

Pine Exp - 8 weeks

** Please correct me if I'm wrong **

 

I vegged for 8 weeks.

 

I am now in the 16th day of flowering.

 

I am using Soul Synthetics - I guess it's a Organic/Synthetic mix. A newer line of nutes.

I am using Fox Farm Happy Frog soil.

 

Temperatures:

79 deg when lights are on

69 deg when lights are off

40-45% humidity at all times.

 

12/12 light schedule.

Plants are in 5gal bags.

 

I am working with a 5gal bucket for watering. I am watering about every 2-3 days. I give them calcium every other watering.

I generally feed once a week. I am fearful of over feeding. Currently feeding them on the 3/4week flower schedule. (lighter does than suggested but higher than the 1/2week because my plants are so vigorous)

 

This is my very first grow and I couldn't be happier with the results so far. My plants seem very healthy and I can't believe how vigorous they are! I do my very best to keep the bottoms trimmed to promote growth in the upper areas. I also am using a "netting" to spread the plants to promote the growth underneath. (I know "netting" isn't the correct wordage but I can't remember the real name, something like Traulus or whatever) I was told this should increase the yield because it creates more "tops".

** Please correct me if I'm wrong in the last statement **

 

Question 1: Is my feeding cycle of once a week good?

Question 2: How do I harvest? What the heck do I clip and save and not save etc. This scares me. Please dont be an donkey and say "save the buds" - Ya I know. :)

Question 3: Flushing? How? Necessary? When? Will I need a larger bucket of water than 5gal?

Question 4: Flushing - don't you have to remove the plants from it's container and douse with water? Well what do I put the plant back into once I cut the bag? A 7gal container with more soil?

Question 5: What should I do about my plants maturing at seperate times and being netted together? I know this is a difficult process but I have plenty of time to mess around with them.

Question 6: How do I know when it's the PERFECT time to harvest? Any tell tale signs? I don't want premature meds.

 

Gosh, thanks so much for those of you that read my "novel" and input your advice. You should be able to click the thumbnails for enlarged pics.

Take care!

 

th_2012-02-14_23-03-12_27.jpg th_2012-02-14_23-03-00_335.jpg th_2012-02-14_23-04-41_899.jpg th_2012-02-14_23-04-32_438.jpg th_2012-02-14_23-04-11_593.jpg th_2012-02-14_23-03-29_907.jpg th_2012-02-14_21-39-19_993.jpg th_2012-02-14_23-04-49_366.jpg th_2012-02-14_23-03-48_571.jpg

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Do you have a PPM Meter or a TDS Meter (Parts Per Million/Totally Dissolved Solids)?

not familiar with the nute line, so no idea unless you can offer the amount of nutes your giving in one of the 2 above measurements (basically they are the same number, a total of ppm in the water...)

 

i just went thru my 2nd step forward finially, which was to nail down the feeding schedule and PPMs and PH.

 

easy to do really, just needed the meters to get my readings ,make according adjustments and go for it...

 

schedule and amounts make a big difference. Once i checked out where i was at, i realized i was starving the girls quite a bit. i have adjusted and they all look very good. so if you have a meter for PPM/TDS and one for PH, you can really dial in the proper feed and schedule.

 

get a good 60x or better microscope to view the trichs on the plants as they mature and near harvest time. the look of the trich will key you in on when you want to harvest. the effect your looking to get, as well as the strain ect, will also depend a bit on what your looking for as far as end result effect.... alot of variable inbetween.

 

cloudyness and turning amber in color are the 2 big indicators. Cloudy but not amber will give you a more heady effect. the more amber it has the more body effect you get. if you let them get dark amber, you ll get a more couchlock/sleep effect. again, strain, tch/cbd ect production dependant...

 

i ll let others take it from there. there is alot of info to get to in your post.

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Do you have a PPM Meter or a TDS Meter (Parts Per Million/Totally Dissolved Solids)?

not familiar with the nute line, so no idea unless you can offer the amount of nutes your giving in one of the 2 above measurements (basically they are the same number, a total of ppm in the water...)

 

No I don't have a meter...

 

This is a newer line. I'm not quite sure that it's available in stores yet. I was able to secure it from a store worker that received it as a sample from a sales rep.

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Welcome.

 

Good luck and.good.growing

 

 

There is alot of info so I will let the eexperts chime in but the first thing iI would say is that I would def be growing in something larger than 5 gallon buckets. Roots need alot of space.

 

Measure your run.off and adjust accorsingly ffor.your feeding schedule. Its hard.to.advise you if no one knows how much food.you are feeding them.

 

I would def water more than once a week.

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Welcome.

 

Good luck and.good.growing

 

 

There is alot of info so I will let the eexperts chime in but the first thing iI would say is that I would def be growing in something larger than 5 gallon buckets. Roots need alot of space.

 

Measure your run.off and adjust accorsingly ffor.your feeding schedule. Its hard.to.advise you if no one knows how much food.you are feeding them.

 

I would def water more than once a week.

 

Thanks for the welcome.

 

In hindsight I definitely could have used the 7gal bags - however that's a rookie growers mistake.

 

My grow schedule right now calls for the following:

Soul Bloom (1.5-4.5-3) 15ML

Amino-Aide (5-0-0) 2ML

Grow-N (3-1.25-1.25) 1ML

Infinity (0.5-2.5-1.5) 10ML

Big Swell (2-5-3) 15ML

 

This is per 1 Gallon. So naturally I multiply this by 5 for 5 gallon bucket of water.

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Im not familiar with that particular line but at first glance it seems like you arr using alot of.nutes. however, that is just a guess. Your runoff will tell the story more accurately.

 

If you have been feeding this to your plants for a few weeks and they look healthy then I don't imagine you are doing to bad. Your plants will.often tell you if something is wrong.

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Question 1: Is my feeding cycle of once a week good?when in heavy growth I feed twice, water once. when closer to finish I feed once and water twice till flush (just water)

 

 

 

Question 2: How do I harvest? What the heck do I clip and save and not save etc. This scares me. Please dont be an donkey and say "save the buds" - Ya I know.I pull off all the large fan leaf then hang entire plant upside down from a hanger. after a few days, when buds are crispy but stem still pliable, I trim the "sugar trim" off buds (which is saved for hash/medibles) and start the cure

 

 

Question 3: Flushing? How? Necessary? When? Will I need a larger bucket of water than 5gal? "flushing" means starving the nutes out of your plants to remove any flavor or salts from your meds. your in soil, it's a MUST. start flush 1.5 to 2 weeks before harvest MIN! to flush just water normally with plain water or a flushing agent. no nutes

 

 

Question 4: Flushing - don't you have to remove the plants from it's container and douse with water? Well what do I put the plant back into once I cut the bag? A 7gal container with more soil?answered above. water as usual with no nutes for 1.5 weeks min

 

 

Question 5: What should I do about my plants maturing at seperate times and being netted together? I know this is a difficult process but I have plenty of time to mess around with them.welcome to the big leagues! thats just something you'll have to overcome. next time keep strains together

 

 

Question 6: How do I know when it's the PERFECT time to harvest? Any tell tale signs? I don't want premature meds.a microscope is handy for this. when you know your plants better it's easy. depending on the strain, I like either 100% milky or 10% amber on trichs. alot of strains you can get a close quess by watching the hairs. they'll turn from white to orange or red, then darken. thats a good time to start checking

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Question 1: Is my feeding cycle of once a week good?

certainly-best to watch your girls and look for signs of over/under-feeding in the leaves and stems daily. If you pay attention and show them love, you will be able to identify any issues before they become fatal. Get a good book to identify plant stress conditions/symptoms for this.

 

Question 2: How do I harvest? You have options here: a)cut away portion of TRELLIS netting (thats what its called) that holds you plant, and remove plant entirely to your drying/harvesting room. b)cut off tops of plants that appear "finished", and let lower branches grow another 5-7days feeding on straight water, then pull all the bags into harvesting room and go Ginsu on that azz;)

 

What the heck do I clip and save and not save etc. This scares me. Please dont be an donkey and say "save the buds" - Ya I know. :)cut/remove all large leaves first-leave any leaves CLOSE to those w/trichs on them alone until you have a heap of branches ready to trim up w/fine-tip pruning snips...helps to have a friend for this process-usually takes 2-3hours per 4-5oz. for me to trim solo, cut that time in half w/help. save any trimmed leaves w/trichs for use in making edibles/butter/etc.

 

Question 3: Flushing? How? Necessary? When? Will I need a larger bucket of water than 5gal? whoa, Horsey! one @ a time-last 7-10 days in flower is when you will do this. Make sure you're using R.O. or at the min. distilled water for flushing-dont want to give your girls dirty water. Pour in water til bags show drainage n stop (unless this will make huge mess 4u)-or do the 'add a lil' method until you feel comfy w/plants hydration lvls.

 

Question 4: Flushing - don't you have to remove the plants from it's container and douse with water?no

Well what do I put the plant back into once I cut the bag? A 7gal container with more soil? you could use trash bags to move harvested root masses-i recommend the Hvy Duty bags, and lots of chopping stalks/stems into small pieces. composts faster/better. zero need to move plants once they are in flower, to another bag just for harvesting/flushing.

 

Question 5: What should I do about my plants maturing at seperate times and being netted together? I know this is a difficult process but I have plenty of time to mess around with them. see ans. to Ques. 2

 

Question 6: How do I know when it's the PERFECT time to harvest? Any tell tale signs? I don't want premature meds. [i][/i]it helps here to know your plants' genes and how it should appear when "ripe"-if you want more UP and energizing type effects, grab a good 60x or better 'Scope w/a light and watch for the trichs to just start chaging from clear to 'milky'. OR-if you want more DEEP stone, w/couch-lock type sit-there-n-just-say-ahh effects;) wait another week or two for trichs to get real milky, almost turning amber. hairs should be mostly red, no more white pistils poking up-dont wait TOO long tho, or they'll be past their prime.

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I just discovered today a few gnats - 2 or 3 of them.

 

What do they do? Are they harmful for a plant 17 days into flowering?

 

How can I combat this?

 

I thought I read that gnats are more of a concern for smaller plants and won't do any harm to larger ones.

Also, read that they generally occur from over watering.... I don't do that...

 

Advice?

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really??Niether one of you told this guy how to flush his plants right at the end of flower?You have to run AT least twice the amount of water to pot container to flush the soil of build up salts and nutes at the end...I do 3x pot containter to water..ie.5 gal pot, 15 gallons of water...Flushing agents are not the greatest to use in soil mixes and most of the time are not recommended to use unless in hydroponics..."gnats"...gnatrol.,sand,..gnats arent much of a problem unless you have small plants...im not really dign the npk ratios...what ph?

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really??Niether one of you told this guy how to flush his plants right at the end of flower?You have to run AT least twice the amount of water to pot container to flush the soil of build up salts and nutes at the end...I do 3x pot containter to water..ie.5 gal pot, 15 gallons of water...Flushing agents are not the greatest to use in soil mixes and most of the time are not recommended to use unless in hydroponics..."gnats"...gnatrol.,sand,..gnats arent much of a problem unless you have small plants...im not really dign the npk ratios...what ph?

 

What you are describing is leaching, not flushing.

 

This gets confused a lot.

 

Leaching can be used to to speed up the ripening process, or to correct a nutrient/salt build up.

 

IMO a good leach is the start of a good flush, but I disagree with amounts. It depends on the porosity of the soil. Heavy soils like Happy Frog or Ocean Forest, may require 3x (example: 1 gallon container, 3 gallons of water) the container size in water. Pro-mix BX/Sunshine #4/Light Warrior/Roots 707 are more like 1x the container size (example 1 gallon container, 1 gallon of water).

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he is in a heavy mix..i use sunshine mix4 and still do the same ratio, it does not hurt anything, and in my exp results in a better crop, expecially if u know when to cut the plants food off and remove any from the soil so it uses up the crap stored in the leaves..and i say crap because thats what it tastes like...I didnt get the chance to do this like i normally do on the last crop and i did not like the meds, patients could tell a noticable dif in meds as well..leeching, flushing..doesnt matter what you call it..the results speak for themselves.

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he is in a heavy mix..i use sunshine mix4 and still do the same ratio, it does not hurt anything, and in my exp results in a better crop, expecially if u know when to cut the plants food off and remove any from the soil so it uses up the crap stored in the leaves..and i say crap because thats what it tastes like...I didnt get the chance to do this like i normally do on the last crop and i did not like the meds, patients could tell a noticable dif in meds as well..leeching, flushing..doesnt matter what you call it..the results speak for themselves.

 

When you've taught 3000 people how to grow you will learn it DOES make a difference what you call it. You tell someone to flush with 3x the container volume in water, and another says to flush for 2 weeks, you wind up with a poor noob drowning his plants at the most critical time.

 

Not something I want on my conscious.

 

As for it not hurting anything to use more, true, but the mess it can make can be quite a pain. You could move plants to a bath tub, or some other drain, but moving plants is never a good idea imo (does a plant outdoors ever move 10 feet?). 1:1 is much more manageable in this regard than a 3:1.

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Hey gang I appreciate all the feedback - a lot of the questions that I asked are for further down the line (closer to harvest) So this will be a great reference tool.

 

Just as of late my room as been seriously heating up! With the lights on it's getting up to 84-87 degrees (as opposed to when I started this thread 79-81). No changes have been made to the room. The plants seem to be healthy but theres about 7 leafs... out of a 1000! that are definitely yellowing and curling. I know theyre too hot! Any suggestions as to what I can do to cool it down????

 

Also, I am curious to hear people's opinions on removing the occasional fan leaf. As I stated earlier I am using a trullis and it's really generating some great tops but along wtih those tops I am getting HUGE fan leaves and I am curious about removing the only a few so that it's not blocking the light on the bottom parts of my canopy. I realize these are like solar panals for the plants but darn there are so many leaves doesn't seem like it would do much harm if I removed 10 of them.

 

Furthermore, can I clone from fan leaves? It seems like the ones that would make ideal clones are already growing flowers... and I don't know if I can clone anything with a tiny flower on it.

 

Thanks!

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I would not recommend feeding your plants after week six of flower, just give them fresh water. When I grow in soil I feed every other watering. It's been my experience that less is more when it comes to growing. It's hard to under feed your plants but easy to over feed them. I would start at around 25% of the recommend dosage according to the manufacturer and work your way up from there depending on how your plants respond (I've never used that nutrient line). It usually takes several grows to really figure out your strains and what they like. Also I would assume your going to run into space issues with an 8 week veg cycle and 5 gallon pots in a grow tent. I would use 3 gallon pots and a 4-6 week veg cycle to keep the plants a more manageable size. Don't worry so much about yellowing leaves here and there as long as your plants look healthy overall. You'll be able to tell if something is wrong. For fungus gnats I use neem oil and sticky traps. I spray my pots and the top layer of soil 1 or 2 times per week with neem oil and hang sticky traps on the bottoms of every plant. Eventually this should eradicate them, it could take a couple weeks though. They don't do much damage unless you have a major infestation. The real problem they create is that when your buds get big and sticky towards the end of flowering they act as sticky traps and the little gentlemen end up stuck in your buds. As far as when to harvest, I think Soma said this, "When you think they're done, wait another week", the last couple weeks of ripening is crucial. For heat issues, vent your lights and get an AC. Fan leaves cannot be cloned and I don't take clones from plants in the flowering stage. Removing a few fan leaves here and there will not hurt, you can also bend them out of the way. Based on your pictures I would say you're off to a good start.

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When you've taught 3000 people how to grow you will learn it DOES make a difference what you call it. You tell someone to flush with 3x the container volume in water, and another says to flush for 2 weeks, you wind up with a poor noob drowning his plants at the most critical time.

 

Not something I want on my conscious.

 

As for it not hurting anything to use more, true, but the mess it can make can be quite a pain. You could move plants to a bath tub, or some other drain, but moving plants is never a good idea imo (does a plant outdoors ever move 10 feet?). 1:1 is much more manageable in this regard than a 3:1.

SO your the reason why I cant find meds that dont burn my throat. :lol: j/k

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I want to upload a picture of a leaf I cut off from my plant - I am concerned.

 

I am getting a lot of yellowing around the light areas and I suspect it's because it was getting pretty hot in the room (upwards of 84-86 degrees) since all this cold weather is coming back the temps have dropped back down to 79 which is nice. So my concern is I am getting this burning look - is this just a result of the warm lights from a week or so ago or is there something else going on with my plant.

 

th_2012-02-29_20-54-58_327.jpg

 

 

Secondly, there is purpling starting to go along the leaves and I don't know if that's just the plant maturing and changing colors or if theyre lacking some in their foods.

 

th_2012-02-29_20-54-37_971.jpg

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I would not recommend feeding your plants after week six of flower, just give them fresh water.

 

 

What about plants that are a 10 week cycle? I can understand stopping the feeding at week 6 for 8 week cycle plants.... but what about 10 weeks?

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What about plants that are a 10 week cycle? I can understand stopping the feeding at week 6 for 8 week cycle plants.... but what about 10 weeks?

I feed all my plants up to 2 weeks before harvest, I have tried stopping earlier but the results seem better when they get proper nutes for as lon as possible. I've never had a problem doing this.

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yellowing leaves are a sign that the plant is maturing in the flower stage. They have used up all the nutrients in the older leaves.

 

My flushing is a gradual reduction of feeding, the water, water, feed, stage just becomes water all the time when dry. Everyone is different, I still run Sugar Daddy until harvest.

 

You should harvest at different times of calendar and trichrome development - the sativa Wonder Haze likes an earlier harvest - about 8.5 weeks into its 9 week flower, when trichromes are clear, into cloudy. If I wait 2 weeks later, with cloudy into amber, it can be sedating.

 

Your temps are likely from your intake air not being cool. Since its winter, you are running a heater in the house. During the summer, with A/C in the house, the grow room is only .5 to 1 degree warmer than ambient temp, during the winter, it can run 3 - 4 degrees above ambient temp, but it should be consistent. Plants do not like strange, irratic temp swings and changes.

 

DN

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yellowing leaves are a sign that the plant is maturing in the flower stage. They have used up all the nutrients in the older leaves.

 

 

 

 

The yellowing of the leaves is concentrated directly above the lights and only in that area. The rest of the plant/plants are very green. Also, the purpling that beginning on the outlines of the leaves - is that maturation or a deficiancy?

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have you tried raising the lights? if its just under the light and its hot. then move the lights, hold your hand under the lights at the leaf height, wait for 10mins.. make your decision. it should be obvious.. :)

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have you tried raising the lights? if its just under the light and its hot. then move the lights, hold your hand under the lights at the leaf height, wait for 10mins.. make your decision. it should be obvious.. :)

 

 

I raised the lights twice now - I haven't noticed any new yellowing. Must be the trick!

 

But still.... I am curious about the purpling on the leaves - I noticed it's specific to one strain - the Larry OG. Is this common or a deficiancy?

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