I think I need a beginner's tutorial

[FinestKind]

Hey all,

Hard thing to admit here, but after growing indoors for 3 years, I wish this site had a newbie section, because I would sign up.

First off, I grow in Pro-Mix, and during my flowering cycle, I am constantly having what I think are pH issues, but could be nute burn, or for that matter it could be under-feeding and some other stress completely... and I'm not really sure what to look for to tell the difference. Further more, if it is pH related, I don't know if my pH is too high or too low- I shoot for 6.5 but learned tonight that many Pro-Mixers shoot for 6.0 or even lower. Confused. That's number one. The weird thing is, I have moms that are over a year old and are as healthy as can be, and they aren't in containers any bigger than my flowering girls!

Second, I don't know what "EC" means... I mean I know what it stands for, but I don't know what it does, or if I need to know the number for soil growing. Should I have a ppm/ec pen? I know I need to get me a pH meter, and stop dinking around with other methods.

Third, I don't know how much to feed, or how often, at what concentrations, etc. Mind you, all of these issues relate to flowering- I generally have no problems with moms and/or vegging (I usually only veg for 2 to 3 weeks, anyway). I use the Fox Farm nutrient armada, plus Cal/Mag and ProTekt (Si)... my last grow, which was my most successful to date, I used it at 1/4 of the strength recommended on their feeding chart, and although I wouldn't call them "healthy" per say (they were losing fans the whole way through), the final product was niiiiiiice, by all accounts. Again, I don't know if the dropped fans were a result of under feeding, over feeding, or pH- I just don't know.

Any advice folks could give me on these very basic points would be great. Thanks.

FK

 

[PoisonedDart]

First off, I grow in Pro-Mix, and during my flowering cycle, I am constantly having what I think are pH issues, but could be nute burn, or for that matter it could be under-feeding and some other stress completely...
Flush them really good with ph 6.3 and when they dry out, feed a 75% strength flowering solution ph'd at 6.2.

Second, I don't know what "EC" means... I mean I know what it stands for, but I don't know what it does, or if I need to know the number for soil growing.
It measures the dissolved salts (nutrient strength) in your feeding solution
Should I have a ppm/ec pen? I know I need to get me a pH meter, and stop dinking around with other methods.
YES.
Third, I don't know how much to feed, or how often, at what concentrations, etc. Mind you, all of these issues relate to flowering- I generally have no problems with moms and/or vegging (I usually only veg for 2 to 3 weeks, anyway). I use the Fox Farm nutrient armada, plus Cal/Mag and ProTekt (Si)... my last grow, which was my most successful to date, I used it at 1/4 of the strength recommended on their feeding chart,
For a quick stabilizing solution, get a bottle of Floronova Bloom and use at 8ml per gallon. You can adjust it from there and even look into other nutes while your ladies are healing. Although, you may like the FN and stick with it.
Any advice folks could give me on these very basic points would be great. Thanks.
Hope it helps, just my 2 cents.
FK

PD

 

[Metatron]

try the Organics for Beginners in the organic forum, some of the recipes and mixes are easy and can be watered with water only all the way to flower. I'm about to get my grow on as well, posting soon.

 

[medi-useA]

Hey all,

Hard thing to admit here, but after growing indoors for 3 years, I wish this site had a newbie section, because I would sign up.

First off, I grow in Pro-Mix, and during my flowering cycle, I am constantly having what I think are pH issues, but could be nute burn, or for that matter it could be under-feeding and some other stress completely... and I'm not really sure what to look for to tell the difference. Further more, if it is pH related, I don't know if my pH is too high or too low- I shoot for 6.5 but learned tonight that many Pro-Mixers shoot for 6.0 or even lower. Confused. That's number one. The weird thing is, I have moms that are over a year old and are as healthy as can be, and they aren't in containers any bigger than my flowering girls!

Second, I don't know what "EC" means... I mean I know what it stands for, but I don't know what it does, or if I need to know the number for soil growing. Should I have a ppm/ec pen? I know I need to get me a pH meter, and stop dinking around with other methods.

Third, I don't know how much to feed, or how often, at what concentrations, etc. Mind you, all of these issues relate to flowering- I generally have no problems with moms and/or vegging (I usually only veg for 2 to 3 weeks, anyway). I use the Fox Farm nutrient armada, plus Cal/Mag and ProTekt (Si)... my last grow, which was my most successful to date, I used it at 1/4 of the strength recommended on their feeding chart, and although I wouldn't call them "healthy" per say (they were losing fans the whole way through), the final product was niiiiiiice, by all accounts. Again, I don't know if the dropped fans were a result of under feeding, over feeding, or pH- I just don't know.

Any advice folks could give me on these very basic points would be great. Thanks.

FK

EC is Electrical Conductivity...a measurement of the resistance of an electrical charge to determine PPM...PartsPerMillion..
Simply put EC is the measurement of your nute concentration...
ph is measurement of acidity/alkalinity

The BEST piece of advice I can give you is keep a grow journal...until you get comfortable with a working routine, this will be the best way to keep track of wh@ you are doing.
Fill it out each day when you check ya plants..
Temp or temp range...
watered or not/rain?
when fertilized?
spend 10 mins observing ya girls..write down observations AND musings...they are ofttimes helpful when ya read back through ya notes...and ya will be...it's a good way to keep stuff under control and to TRACE YOUR WAY BACK TO ANY MISTAKES YOU MADE...and then to correct them!

once a week write a summary of the weeks growing observations...also once a month summary.

It helps...


Do not wet the plant when watering, just the soil surface...

If you have never grown a plant before...I suggest/reccomend growing a tomato plant in a tub on a balcony first...
Once ya got th@ down...repeat with seed of choice!

muA

 

[pease]

me2

 

[somebody041]

i can relate, i've been growing for a few years now and it still just hasn't 'clicked'!

 

[FinestKind]

Thanks everyone for the support... every once in a while I just get kinda an overwhelming sense of helplessness when it comes to my girls- like, does the pH need to go up? Down? Sideways? More nutes? Less nutes? I think for one thing I may turn away from the Fox Farm nutes- I think they are unnecessarily complicated. Does anyone have any other suggestions for soil (or as I understand Pro-Mix to be, "soil-less") nutes? Thanks!

 

[Sparky 6]

Hey Finest I only just started growing but I can already feel your pain. My plants aren't doing as well as I'd like and trying to figure out why can be frustrating. I guess admitting it and asking for help is the first step. Good luck brother!

 

[Hank Hemp]

I've been growing for years and still refer to this sticky http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=112662

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

I've been growing for 42 years, no breaks. The most common overall mistake I see beginner and intermediate growers making is 'loving the plants to death'. Curing that problem is relatively easy, it just takes understanding this one thing; Action and Reaction flow the opposite way of what we assume as beginners. What I mean is, plants do actions and we as growers react. As beginners, most of us assume that we are the one who makes actions, and that the plants react to our acts. For example, we add fertilizer and the plants grow. That's wrong. It goes like this; The plant grows and we react by adding fertilizer. The sooner we learn to watch and react to our plants rather than expecting them to jump through hoops for us, the sooner we have success with whatever method we use.

 

[GeorgeSmiley]

Hey I just burned my plants because I mixed up the jug? Seriously..... easy to fuck up..... hard to ask for help.....

You're off to a great start.

 

[ColBatGuano]

I've been growing for 42 years, no breaks. The most common overall mistake I see beginner and intermediate growers making is 'loving the plants to death'. Curing that problem is relatively easy, it just takes understanding this one thing; Action and Reaction flow the opposite way of what we assume as beginners. What I mean is, plants do actions and we as growers react. As beginners, most of us assume that we are the one who makes actions, and that the plants react to our acts. For example, we add fertilizer and the plants grow. That's wrong. It goes like this; The plant grows and we react by adding fertilizer. The sooner we learn to watch and react to our plants rather than expecting them to jump through hoops for us, the sooner we have success with whatever method we use.

This just is what I've learned since starting my indoor garden. I'm a quick learner, and once I figured out that patience is the best virtue a grower can have, my plants have been doing just fine. Cannabis is a strong and robust plant. It can handle a lot of beginner errors. The first time I transplanted, I messed up a root ball or two, but the plants survived--and thrived. I was worried, of course, but I just let the plants decide if they would live or die. I didn't try to "help" them, and risk doing more damage. So it takes an extra week or two in veg to get back to normal?

Keeping a grow log/journal/diary is an excellent suggestion, too. I've learned more from my own mistakes than from those of the people here on ICMAG.

 

[FinestKind]

I've been growing for 42 years, no breaks. The most common overall mistake I see beginner and intermediate growers making is 'loving the plants to death'. Curing that problem is relatively easy, it just takes understanding this one thing; Action and Reaction flow the opposite way of what we assume as beginners. What I mean is, plants do actions and we as growers react. As beginners, most of us assume that we are the one who makes actions, and that the plants react to our acts. For example, we add fertilizer and the plants grow. That's wrong. It goes like this; The plant grows and we react by adding fertilizer. The sooner we learn to watch and react to our plants rather than expecting them to jump through hoops for us, the sooner we have success with whatever method we use.

Good advice, as usual.... basically, patience is a virtue. Not one of my stronger points; I'll have to work on it.

Hey I just burned my plants because I mixed up the jug? Seriously..... easy to fuck up..... hard to ask for help.....

You're off to a great start.

Thanks for the encouragement!

I've been growing for years and still refer to this sticky http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=112662

Great link, much appreciated!

Thanks again everyone,

FK

 

[LUDACRIS]

We are all here to help.
(good luck).

LUDA.

 

[FinestKind]

We are all here to help.
(good luck).

LUDA.

Thanks, I feel that vibe here every day (well, mostly- some people are dicks, but what can you do?) That's why I love this site- this is the fourth one I've tried, and it's the only one I've felt that way about- ICmag Rocks!

FK

 

[LUDACRIS]

Thanks, I feel that vibe here every day (well, mostly- some people are dicks, but what can you do?) That's why I love this site- this is the fourth one I've tried, and it's the only one I've felt that way about- ICmag Rocks!

FK

Just build up a good band of friends and i am sure they will guide you all the way. I started years a go with a mentor and i am still learning but i never ask questions as you learn by reading/asking and experience and once these things come together growing is easy.

 

[FinestKind]

Just build up a good band of friends and i am sure they will guide you all the way. I started years a go with a mentor and i am still learning but i never ask questions as you learn by reading/asking and experience and once these things come together growing is easy.

I'd love a mentor, if anyone is looking for an apprentice I know, patience and all that... like I said, something I need practice in.

FK

 

[reckon]

I've been growing for 42 years, no breaks. The most common overall mistake I see beginner and intermediate growers making is 'loving the plants to death'. Curing that problem is relatively easy, it just takes understanding this one thing; Action and Reaction flow the opposite way of what we assume as beginners. What I mean is, plants do actions and we as growers react. As beginners, most of us assume that we are the one who makes actions, and that the plants react to our acts. For example, we add fertilizer and the plants grow. That's wrong. It goes like this; The plant grows and we react by adding fertilizer. The sooner we learn to watch and react to our plants rather than expecting them to jump through hoops for us, the sooner we have success with whatever method we use.

great advice, some of the best you will get.

 

[LUDACRIS]

I'd love a mentor, if anyone is looking for an apprentice I know, patience and all that... like I said, something I need practice in.

FK

Just ask and i can help where i can.

LUDA.