260W CFL First Time Cab - Journal From seed germ - critique please!

[CannabisSativa]

All my girls have been transplanted into their final homes, I had to actually take my biggest from a larger container to a smaller and lost a good amount of root growth. I'm hoping she'll pull through, it was just a matter of bad planning on my part.

How big are those pots? The bigger the pots the bigger the yield. The large one seems like its lacking some nitrogen. Those brown spots look like it may be heat burn (previous pics). Looking good though!

 

[nnep]

I definitely think you're right about the nitrogen. I've given them a good nute dose this morning. However i have plenty of air flow and i've kept the plant a decent distance from the lights, which are CFLs to boot, so i'm pretty certain it's not heat burn.

Hopefully my soil test will be here soon so i can tell what's going on for sure.

As for the pots, they're 5.5x4", i went with these because the 4 of them together fit snug inside my cabinet.

 

[CannabisSativa]

I definitely think you're right about the nitrogen. I've given them a good nute dose this morning. However i have plenty of air flow and i've kept the plant a decent distance from the lights, which are CFLs to boot, so i'm pretty certain it's not heat burn.

Hopefully my soil test will be here soon so i can tell what's going on for sure.

As for the pots, they're 5.5x4", i went with these because the 4 of them together fit snug inside my cabinet.

Here is a useful chart to see how big your pots are (approx):

Here is a thread with a list of links which you may find useful:
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=97792

Overall, I think you are doing good!

 

[nnep]

hmm.
looks to me like it might be over watered??
also looks like it could use some nitrogen..
how often do you water?
what are your temps?
and how much are you feedin her right now??

sorry she's not feelin so well but i really do hope you work it out!
good luck

Over-watering is most likely ruled out. I plan to go a little more easy on the watering however.

I think you and Cannabis definitely hit the nail on the head when it comes to Nitrogen though.

I give a good soaking about once a week, with nutes also once a week. Temps are good, usually hang around 78-82 F.

As far as nutes go, the dosage just went to full strength at 3 1/2 weeks since germ. I use General Hydroponics 3-2-1 dosage guidelines at the moment.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[nnep]

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! Science!!! I feel like i'm back in High School!

Guess what was waiting for me when i returned home!

Rejoice! Time to figure out what's bothering my girl. Remember folks safety first.

First and foremost I want to find out my soil PH, rather then invest in a fancy meter (i bought a cheapo one at lowes and it doesn't like to work) i can get super acurate results anddddd drum roll please.

Exactly 7.0 on the dot, neutral and feeling good, that's a relief.

Well maybe my nitrogen is a bit of...

Dammit! What's wrong with my plants? Could it be potassium or phosphorous?

Negative, looking perfect.

My read on my phosphorous however was a bit deceptive, the directions say to read immediately, despite waiting 5 minutes like all the others. On first look it looked perfect, but as i let it sit it went dark blue on me which is very high. Hopefully the test didn't misword the results because i have way too much flower-power if so. However i believe everything is looking good so i'm back to square one on this one sadly. Anyone?

 

[CannabisSativa]

Lower your pH between 6.3 - 6.8, preferably to 6.4/5. Too high of a pH can cause nutrient lockout, too low can also. That may be the root of all your problems.

 

[JamieShoes]

looks a little overwatered to me too mate... its a hard thing to get your head around that a plant can be hungry and yet over watered...

I'd give her a mild dose of kelp (seaweed extract) and make sure to let the pots dry out between waterings...(I would leave a pot that size until day 3 before rewatering)

besides that, nice job on the box mate, filling up nicely in no time no doubt


be lucky
j

 

[Ajlander]

looks like she got too many nutrients, so she burn.. I had that problem too when i was starting with growing. U'r using ghe, its not bio nutrients so its easy to burn your plants. try to flash with only water for few days, maby it will help, as it helped me.
Sry for my eanglish, i have to learn it a bit more
yo

 

[nnep]

looks a little overwatered to me too mate... its a hard thing to get your head around that a plant can be hungry and yet over watered...

I'd give her a mild dose of kelp (seaweed extract) and make sure to let the pots dry out between waterings...(I would leave a pot that size until day 3 before rewatering)

besides that, nice job on the box mate, filling up nicely in no time no doubt


be lucky
j

Thanks for the input, you may be right as this is my first grow and i hear that's the most noobie mistake made. As for the nutes, the plant looks to be recovering so i will maintain a more normal schedule for hear on out.

looks like she got too many nutrients, so she burn.. I had that problem too when i was starting with growing. U'r using ghe, its not bio nutrients so its easy to burn your plants. try to flash with only water for few days, maby it will help, as it helped me.
Sry for my eanglish, i have to learn it a bit more
yo

Your english is fine, thanks for the input!

 

[nnep]

Girls are looking good, bertha is slowly recovering or at least not getting worse. I believe the issue before was a PH issue which has since been corrected.

An updated shot of the girls

 

[nnep]

SCROG TIME!

Easyryders also looking good and healthy, i'll keep you guys updated!

 

[CannabisSativa]

It looks like Bertha might get root bound very quick...especially in those small .5 - 1 gallon containers. If that's the only size you can fit in your cab well go at it!

I think you may be confused on how to use SCRoG...here is the definition:

The screen of green (SCROG) method is also used when height and wattage are a consideration. A screen, usually of netting, screenwire or chickenwire, is attached at a desired height above the plants. This allows the growing marijuana plants to begin to grow horizontally after reaching the height limit, thus keeping the canopy, or height, at an even level, which allows consistent light penetration into the growing plants. Many growers have a consistent high yield using this method.

What you did was place plant through the screen, which is not what you want to do. You set the screen to the height that you want and adjust the plant to grow horizontally and make sure each new "top" gets exposed so that it grows through the screen, thus looking like this:

Otherwise, the top of you plant is going to keep on growing, then you will not have an even canopy which is one of the purposes of SCRoG

 

[nnep]

That was actually just an early picture in the series, i gave her a trim and she's all evened out now. thanks for the advice!

As for the pots, that's sadly all i've got to work with

 

[nnep]

Quick update:

My Easyryders are growing at a decent pace, i don't have a runt per se, but she's a little behind the others. Also i've noticed her leaves are a bit curled more than the others. They each have identical watering schedules, mediums, ect ect so i'm not worrying yet.

Meanwhile i decided to give bertha a good trim of a lot of her burned/ugly leaves to give my other girls a chance to catch up. I'm still not sure what i'm going to do with her, i may continue to let her grow and use her as a mother since she's sort of a special flower, no pun intended. Since she was a freebie anyway, i'm over my overprotective habit already, i just hope she serves some purpose, my focus is definitely on my easyryders.

Some updated pictures.

This is Carol(ER), she started out slow and is now the biggest, isn't science interesting? She looks just about perfect at the moment, good leave/branch structure, good posture.

This is Alex (ER), she's been the middle of the road plant since she popped out of the soil. A little more curly than her big sister but moving right along.

And this is the runt of the bunch, melissa (ER), which ironically started out the biggest and most healthy. Her growth has slowed and her leaves began to curl around mid-week 1. Her growth rate has been consistent as of late and she's beginning to catch up.

All 3 easyryders were given a nice big drink today, and bertha was given full strength nutes. I'll keep ya posted, i'd love to hear people's comments.

Oh, and bertha (NL Bagseed) recently trimmed:

 

[nnep]

Problem with the girls, any comments are welcomed:

Growlog:

10/7 All 4 transplanted to final homes
10/8 Bertha given full strength 3-2-1 nute solution
10/9 Identified potential PH problem, watching to see how Bertha will recover. Trimmed Some sick fan leaves. Mixed fresh batch of 1/3 strength 1-1-1 GH Flora nutes for the babies for when they perk up a bit.
10/11 Gave Bertha, Carol and Alex a good soaking. Spritzed melissa's leaves, she was still too wet from transplant. Next watering for the little girls will be their first batch of 1-1-1 1/3 strength nutes.
10/15 Gave bertha full veg nutes (3-2-1) and gave the little girls their final watering before i begin them on 1/3 nutes. Bertha showing signs of improving, i've clipped all leaves that had shown signs of browning in effort to stunt her to grow with my others evenly.
10/20 Gave bertha + girls good soaking. Decided to go against the nute dosage, noticed drooping and yellowing on younger plants.


Conditions:

Temp: 75F Lights on/65F lights off
Watering Sched: See above
Lights: 10x 26w 6400k CFLs
Humid: ~40%
Soil: Fox farm ocean forest
Nutes: Flora series by Gen. Hydro

The samples of the soil are all looking ok once again, ph is fine. the only thing i can think of is overwatering, but i'm waiting until the botom soil shows completely dry before watering

 

[CannabisSativa]

Looks over watered to me as well. The bottom might be dry, but the center may still be moist. Stick your finger around 1 inch into the soil to see if its dry...

 

[Stevius]

I've noticed that the best technique for me to decide when to water is the one and the only "lift the pot" technique.

Simply lift your pot when it is dry and then try to lift after you water it. Soon you get feeling on how much weight should pot be to water it. Of course the weight will increase a bit as the plant grows and gets bigger.

In my opinion, one of the best and most simple techniques.


Keep it green!