Issues with first time grow.

Hi there guys and gals my name is Drew and this is my first post here. I have been medicating for awhile now due to back issues and kinda jumped into growing went tempted at my local dispensery. I grabbed a clone and off i went. I have no idea how old it is or anything so kinda winging it here. Enough about me lets jump into the issues.

I started the clone in a 2.5 gallon pot with good organic soil with 0.09-0.06-0.09, and .055% nitrogen slow release tablets in it, drilled holes all over the pot and lined it with an organic mesh material in hopes to promote air flow through the soil and also drain better. When is a good time to transplant into my final 5 gallon pot? Should i do the airholes and mesh lining again or is that a waste of time? I am alternating the plant from a makeshift grow room to outdoor for financial reason until i get my solar panels, plus im still designing the final grow room i am building in my garage. The humidity in the grow corner, with wet towels i can keep at around 60%-75% and 70-83 degrees all the time, but outside humidity is about 40-45% and temps 80-91 degrees, are these levels ok for what im doing? originally when the plant was inside under a light it was under 2 t8 bulbs, but now is under 4 42w CFL bulbs, they are big got em for 50 cents each so whynot, but this might be overkill for the one plant??? So my issues came from me not checking or changing the PH of the water, no nutrients, watering to little and to often. This is why i have the claw and burns on my plant but it did have some of this when i bought it on the tips but they said its not an issue, is it???? Yet my plant seems to have the claw and some tips going up why might this be? Maybe from nitrogen levels to low and over watering?? Im waiting for the soil to dry up and then ill be introducing Fox Farms Grow Big, and Big Bloom, i fill a 1 gallon jug i use to mix and store with tap water, then add those 2 foxfarms products at 3 tsp each and then check and or change the PH which is right at 6.2 after lowering it. This should hopefully get my plant out of this rut??



I also went overboard again and did a little super cropping and LST. When i did the LST i used a shielded small copper wire but when i did it i was pinching the stem really hard but i didnt notice until today. So i loosened it and it should heal fine. My question here is should i stop doing LST on the plant until it recovers?

I am still reading everything i can find but i would appreciate a little help from anyone that has experience and doesnt mind helping. Ive posted all the pictures of everything i can think of, if more are needed ill upload them. Thanks and happy growing.

Hey Drew,
Nice to see you are not scared to ask questions and go for it!

I'll offer some advice here, and hope you will not get discouraged because the learning process can be very frustrating, but so worth it.

First off you need to not expect anything or count on having any decent flowers at all. Not say you won't get any, but having false expectations will only make it more stress full.

Second thing is you obviously need to read basic gardening books not just cannabis grow books.
If you can try growing some regular plants outside, like basil to practice on.

When you pot plants you want to do it in stages to encourage a centralized root mass that utilizes the complete medium available.
This promotes vigor and prevent issue with over watering.
Work your way up to the largest pot in 3-4 transplants. And when you transplant dust the root mass with mycorrhizal fungi, even if it is already in the soil mix.

LST is fun and I do encourage experimentation, but I would get vigorous vegetative growth going before starting LST.

So don't give up on this one, but I'd think of your first grow as "test grows" and just keep learning from your mistakes, experience seems to be very crucial for people to really begin understanding how to nurture plants. Best of luck!

You need to start by getting some good soil that does not contain any nutrients. It is to hard for the novice grower to calculate the soil properties. Try to find some promix or the like. Then transplant and use the fox farms every other watering according to the bottle for your size plant.

Second you have to get ahold of the pH issue. By doing that you will need to acquire a tester, be it a meter or a 6$ pH drops kit. Then you mix your nutrient and then adjust the pH.

Your problem is the slow release N in that soil. And the other nutrients in it. As soon as you get these two issues sorted out you will see some excellent growth as you have good lighting.

Best of luck!

Edit. I see you have the pH kit!! Adjust nutrient solution to 6.5-6.8 for best results. Now go get that new soil!

I would never use tablets, spikes, etc. in the soil. You have no control over your nutes. You don't have nutes when you need them, or have what you don't want. Right now your plants look N deficient. Those tablets may start releasing N during bloom when you don't want it. Good luck. -granger

If and when you get the above fixed when they do go into flower pinch of the lower bud sites. Also don't top or fim too much.

Once upon a time I was a LST man, under t5's, what I found that worked the best for me -take a peace of cat 5 cable, open it up and pow, you will find cable that does not pince off your plants, cat 5 cable is cheap and provides a stable method.

Don't start to tie down to early, you will piss them off.

Botanic are nutrients are much more beginner friendly and of better quality imo. Best of luck!

I am also a novice what are the holes near the rim of your container used for just curious?

gardener60 said:

I am also a novice what are the holes near the rim of your container used for just curious?

Click to expand...

Might have just gone over board with the air cropping holes.
For OP: How big are you planning on growing her? 5 gallons is a big pot in my opinion.

I haven't figured how to edit my post. Sorry Drew I'm not sure where I read the five gallons. Remember the first few grows are all about learning.