Newbie Questions

[Hick]

I'm sure "Insidesun.com" has 400 hps for under a C-note($100)

 

[Mutt]

I have a couple of 500W spot lights, but they are halogen (not suitable I think).

Don't put those in your grow. not good. WAY too much heat and not the right spectrum. Florous, Metal Halide (MH), or High Pressure Sodium (HPS). only.

Like Hick said check out www.InsideSun.com or for cheapy 150W or less gotta put a plug on it yourself try www.e-conolite.com

 

[halftoke]

For the present, I think I'm going to go with [thread=2238]The Brother's Grunt's[/thread] suggestion. Funds are rather tight. Do you thing several of these combined with LST should give me a fairly decent yield? I'm growing for my own use, not for profit.

I have started LST on several of my plants with (I think) good results. I would like to try screen of green as well, but have I waited too long with these plants? Are there any posts about sea of green?

I will post some current pics tonite...

 

[JandZ]

Miracle Gro Potting soil


I was debating between Miracle Gro potting soil and SHultz potting soil. From what I have read you get what you pay for and the miracle gro was a dollar more so I got that haha,,, but the shultz claims to feed a plant for 9 months and the miracle gro only 3 =(

I am also using Miracid to feed my plant cause these guys are acid loving plants and the pH is 6.0 I think which is probably way too low for marijuana. I am excited my plant arrives today this is going to be alot of fun I think.

 

[GanjaGuru]

JandZ if you would have looked around a bit you would have found out that miracle grow products are crap. In fact, ALL potting soil that has chemicals is NOT what you want to use.

 

[halftoke]

JandZ;

I'm not sure the brand of potting soil I'm using (forgot the name) but I did make sure it was peat and perlite (no ferts). I'm using Miracle Gro plant food, but thinking of switching to the Patio flavor...

I have 4 plants under 4' flouros (2 tubes, cool white), 1 under a CFL and 2 under an old Wally World "Gro and Sho". One plant at the end of the row under the flouro's is beginning to look kinda pale (gonna do a flush on it tonite), the other 3 are nice and green with big fan leaves.

This is bag seed, so they may not all be the same breed.

 

[JandZ]

JandZ if you would have looked around a bit you would have found out that miracle grow products are crap. In fact, ALL potting soil that has chemicals is NOT what you want to use.

Damnit Ganja I didnt know! maybe its different for salvia though? well this just sucks


I am going to grow Northern lights soon I think... ganja you have any suggestions on a great soil I could buy?

 

[GanjaGuru]

Damnit Ganja I didnt know! maybe its different for salvia though? well this just sucks


I am going to grow Northern lights soon I think... ganja you have any suggestions on a great soil I could buy?

-Fox Farms Ocean and Forest
-Black Gold Potting Soil

These are premium soils and are expensive. Expect to pay at least $10.00/bag. You can save money by looking for a potting soil that has ONLY organic additives such as bat/seabird guano, seaweed/kelp and worm castings.

The reason you do not want potting soil that has been pre-ferted with chem:
Marijuana needs different ratios of nutrients at different times. Soil than has chem's already in it do not allow the grower to give the plants what it needs when it needs it.
And there's no way to tell how much to add.

halftoke: marijuana grown under gro & sho bulbs do not produce buds. Those bulbs are to maintain house plants, not grow and flower pot.

 

[JandZ]

Ok great thanks alot Ganja,

Now should I do 50% fox farms + 50% black gold?

 

[beginning grower]

your plant's stems look extremely thin. my plants are 1-2 inches and the stems are as thick or thicker. you need to put a fan on your plants. sorry if someone already posted this i didnt read the whole thread.

 

[GanjaGuru]

Ok great thanks alot Ganja,

Now should I do 50% fox farms + 50% black gold?

Just one or the other.
I like Fox Farms but they're both excellent.

 

[JandZ]

well do I not need to mix in any perlite, vermiculate, peat moss... nothing??

 

[halftoke]

halftoke: marijuana grown under gro & sho bulbs do not produce buds. Those bulbs are to maintain house plants, not grow and flower pot.

Yup. Found that out the hard way. Just in case anybody wants to see the crappy results you get with gro & sho bulbs, here are some pics...

...pic 1 is a top view of pic 2, etc, etc..

 

[Mutt]

you also need to get a breeze on it.

 

[halftoke]

your plant's stems look extremely thin. my plants are 1-2 inches and the stems are as thick or thicker. you need to put a fan on your plants. sorry if someone already posted this i didnt read the whole thread.

Correct. Thiner than I like...I have since put a fan on them and I like the results. This plant is under a CFL and has been topped once...

Pic 1 is a closeup of pic 2. Still kind of puny, I figured I wasn't feeding it enough & it has improved since I put it under the CFL.

 

[halftoke]

you also need to get a breeze on it.

I'm thinking very seriously of moving these outside in the woods. I plan on digging a 3'x3'x3' hole, filling with potting soil/perlite and erecting some poultry cloth (the plastic kind) around each plant. The water table around here is pretty high some I'm not really worried about them dehydrating. This time of year the woods around here are just infested with snakes and other nasties so I'm not really concerned about somebody stubbling across the plants.

 

[massproducer]

good Job halftoke, It looks like things are starting to come together now.

I just wondered if it were possible for you to place some more soil around that stem. It would give the plant more stability. i find that if I can keep the medium level around at the level of the first set of leaves that growth is a lot better, and the stem gets stronger.

This is just a suggestion that may help you in the long run. Looking good though!!!

Keep up the good work.

massproducer

 

[halftoke]

OK, now these honeys are alot healthier. They have been under cool white tubes in 5 gal buckets from the get go. I tried some LST on them earler but got 'noid about damage so I removed the tie downs (didn't think they were big enough). I have been feeding them with Miracle Gro general (1 teaspoon/gal H2O) twice a week, and misting with pure H2O every day. Since we get our water from a well it's pretty clean and tasty.

Last night I gave each of them 2 measured cups of goodies and a good H2O mist. I had to take these pics because I was so impressed with the results after just 1 night.

 

[Mutt]

lookin good there. nice tight node spacing. gonna get nice and bushy.

 

[halftoke]

As a side note, the soil used was ferti-loam. I realize now that was an error on my part. Ferti-loam has time release ferts in it, so don't use it!. Next gro (and when I start cloning to find out which are male and which are female) I'm going to hunt down some Black Gold or something like that to use.

Speaking of cloneing, do the ones in the 5 gal buckets look healthy enouh to take clones from? Or should I wait until they get more growth? (BTW, saving my chunk change to order an HPS bulb for the flowering box I plan o building )