Come on now, the guys all pitch in to help!

Your response to a thread will vary on where you post it, and normally we all post in our growing medium specific forums. Mine got buried in the design and equipment forums, because I started with a ghetto DIY thread for those of us that are on tight budgets, and just grew from that idea.

It should be in the Indoors - Soil forum.

Great pointers and help from Indigo! You go girls! If you get a chance to pop into chat some time give Jenna or nattynattygirl a shout - there are some female growers around doing a better job than some guys, IMO!

If I could be so bold as to offer a personal observation on the pot sizes we choose. I did a side by side comparison with "beer cups" and a large flower bed tub (25 gal), and sadly the beer cup sprouts suffered greatly. The strain that you grow will usually dictate the sizes for you, and I've observed that every time you transplant the poor plant has to take time off to recover from the ordeal. For my sativas this can be a considerable amount of added time waiting for those babies to finish, sometimes a month longer (I figure it takes a plant about a week or two to recover and return to the task of producing bud) after each transplant. For more views on this subject check out some of BOGs' threads and his observations and reasoning to use flower beds instead of pots. I consider my pots to be beds, they are 25 gal tubs. Once we have a healthy plant or two going in a big tub we never have to stress them with constant repotting. But, IMHO, the strain will or won't need the bigger pots depending on how the rootballs form - some strains need to get a little root bound, then transplanted to get that growth shoot that Indiga referred to.

This is just FYI - the more knowledge you have the easier it is to decide on a technique. Everyone has their own preferences and we use what works best for us.

Ok - that takes care of the pot thoughts, the other item I noticed is references to the NPK of a nute package. Those are manufacturers' claims and are merely percentages that they gaurantee of total package analysis. Most time we don't have to worry about them, the plants will tell us if somethings too strong (painful way to learn, but we all do it). To get the true ppm of those misleading labels if you need to know, check out https://www.overgrow.com/growfaq/59 but suffice it to say that we need to know the ppm and not the gauranteed molecular analysis. To do this, for N (Nitrogen) the molecular content converts to basically 1-1. For instance, I use a bloom nute of 10-52-10, or 10 ppm of N. The next element P (Phosphorus) converts at .4 - 1, or 20.8! (Far cry from 52!). And on to the last element K (Potassium) which converts at .8 - 1 or 8. So for a nute that says it has 10-52-10 it actually has 10-20.8-8 ppm of molecular content. Hopefully this will avert a catostrophy down the road, know what you are feeding your babies!

Jeez, I'm turning into a regular motor-mouth!

You're doing great and your babies love you for it. Looking forward to the smoke reports!

(Remember - when God created Man, She was only kidding!)

Great thread and great information Indigo! Where were you when I was a nOOb!

Oh - and all of this really isn't necessary to know (just adds to newbie confusion) until you get comfortable with your talents and tackle some of those boutique strains Indigo mentioned! Now THOSE growers get technical!

See ya in chat!
Here's some Neville's to try when yer ready! (5 weeks into flower-11 weeks old)

Hey 1toke, thanks for dropping by and for your input...as well as the pics :smile:

Where were you when I was a nOOb!

From the knowledge showing through in your post, when you were a noob, I probably didn't even know a plant could be grown indoors in a closet, :wink:

The grow-bed thing is interesting, but if you're limited to growing in a closet its not an option, unless you have no problems with having only one or two plants, one or two strains, and using female seeds to guarantee females. You can't get more than one 25 gallon tub into a closet :wink: I also am a bit too narrow minded to endorse growing more than one plant per pot...goes against everything I was ever taught, and though I've seen it done with success, they're usually grows of micro plants which are put into flower early and are never allowed to reach the size they would normally reach allowed to veg until sexually mature. Must be an excellent system for a perpetual harvest...but I don't like it My own plants never take more than a couple of days to recover from repotting But then again they're always repotted in veg...repotting in flower as you stated can and will prolong your flower period.

As far as your nute explanation goes, I made a mental note to consult with you on nutes for my next grow

Major props to you 1toke, sativas are not the easiest plants to grow indoors in soil...they take such a long time it takes a skilled gardener to keep them healthy. I've grown out more than one landrace myself and know what a challenge it can be!

This is just FYI - the more knowledge you have the easier it is to decide on a technique. Everyone has their own preferences and we use what works best for us.

And those are sainted words! Budhownd, you're going to see that many people have many ways of doing the same thing... especially those who grow in soil. Soil allows more room for developing a personal style. People read up and gather info on the boards and then elaborate it to fit their own gardens, situations and necessities. In soil growing there are a few things carved in stone, the rest is free for improvisation :smile: Hydro growing is alot different, much more technical, you have little leeway for mistakes and things have set values. I much prefer soil growing and soil grown weed

Have a nice day!

Hey Budhownd! Looks like you have got yourself some A+ help 'round here...

Just for comparison, thought I'd show a pic of what ya don't want... a MALE!... this is probably a little futher along than when you want to catch them.. This one is being flowered on purpose...
MALE MALE

MALE

Good Luck and I can't wait to see your results!!

Ms.G

oh and... we always transplant right before they go into flower.... Never really asked why, just though that is the way it was suppose to be..

That's quite a stud ya got there Ms G...has more balls than most men I know, that's fer damn sure LMAO!

we always transplant right before they go into flower.... Never really asked why, just though that is the way it was suppose to be..

exactly Ms. G, that's the way its supposed to be :smile: and here's your why 1. you don't want to stress your plants in flower so as not to encourage hermies and 2. If you repot them more than a week or so into flower you'll be adding some time to the expected finish date.

Some people with very little space sometimes need to sex plants not yet showing developed preflowers before repotting ( for the same reasons as above, to have them in their final pots all the way through flower). So they flip 'em 12/12 and sex them, then repot. Can be done with little to no necessary recovery period for the plant, if you have a delicate hand at repotting ...fortunately I seem to.

I know what cha mean there Indigo...

Thanks for letting me know that... :smile: Excellant reasons...

? and upon thinking about it I guess cause our soil has our most of our food/nutes in it, they get hungry, or root bound and we transplant during veg sometimes too... ? if needed....

and upon thinking about it I guess cause our soil has our most of our food/nutes in it, they get hungry, or root bound and we transplant during veg sometimes too... ? if needed....

Yes we do Ms. G, very right about that...and the problems Budhownd has had until now are all due to the fact that she didn't know how to tell her plants needed repotting. All of the deficiencies and stuff she experienced at such an early stage are usually what is seen only in late veg (before repotting) and in mid to late flower, when the plant has consumed all the available nutrients in the soil and starts feeding on what it has stocked in the leaves. She was having to deal with issues that took me more than a few grows to learn how to deal with well, and IMO all things considered the lady has a shitload of potential in marijuana gardening. . I think she's going to have pretty smooth sailing from here on in!

I personally use three sizes of pots. I germ in peat pellets, then transfer those to 1 quart pots for the first 10 days - 2 weeks (depending on the strain), then repot to 2.5 gallon pots until they show preflowers around 30 - 36 days, and repot one last time to 4 gallons before putting them into flower...if necessary, further in flower I double pot them if I see roots poking out the bottom :smile:

Do you recomend that when they have become extremely root bound loosing some of the roots before putting it into the new pot? Of course carefully, as not to damage too much... reason I ask is, that is what we do if one has been waiting an extra long time to be transplanted and moved into flower.

Yes ma'am . Sometimes they form such an incredibly ingrown root mass that it helps 'em along to loosen it up some. Kind of shocks the plant into discovering she has more leg room. Will add a week to 10 days on your estimated flower period, but then again when they're that compacted it'd take 'em a week anyway to start rooting to the new soil. Like you, I wouldn't do it myself until the last repotting , as I do the intermediate repot when the plants are only two weeks old, and its not good for them to get too rootbound that early, plus your roots are still too new and fragile. Also wouldn't recommend it to somebody with less than a couple of grows under their belt...I think with experience you acquire a feel for your plants' capacities and limitations that allows you to be able to judge how much is just right, and how much is abuse. You and H3ad for sure have that feel...it shows

[dubmantx]

Wow you girls like to write a hell of a lot more than i like to read! But I did browse over it all and it sounds like your on a good start. Sounds pretty simmilar to my setup actually. Im in a closet (for flowering) using pretty much organic stuff. Sounds like you picked up more than enough nutrients to get you through a few grows!
I didnt see what kind of light you were using but I read you had a concern about light leaks. Well i have HPS lights so I just keep the closet door cracked while they are on and shut the door when they are off. I also keep a fan in there to keep the air moving. Not enough light gets in through the door to bother them when they are sleeping. I try to keep the lights in my room off during lights out time just in case.
All I can say about the organics is that a little goes a long way and the nutrients tend to stay arround quite a while. Ive never had overfertilizing issues with organics so hopefully you wont either!
Best of luck!

[budhownd]

Hi, Indigo, 1 toke, Ms.Grat3ful, and dubmantx.

Wow, I have all sorts of cool folks here in my lil Amazon garden. Even Ms.Grat3ful popped in to say 'Hi' and impart knowledge. I wanna tell you all how much I appreciate it. The help I'm getting is invaluble.

Thanks for the cool pics of the male plants. I totally needed to see 'em. I'm much more confident now than I was before that I'll be able to spot a lil guy if one pops up.

I'm SO glad to hear I can open the door to the closet once the lights have come on, while the lil ones are in flower. I read heat stress can cause hermies too. I can seal the closet very well to keep light out so that shouldn't be too big a thing.

Um, 1 toke, you were absolutely correct when you said that all tha stuff you explained in your post would "just add to newbie confusion". LoL. Actually, I got a lil of it. The one tub to grow in sounds interesting, but like Indigo said, the space in my closet just can't accommodate something like that. At least not with my skill level. I've already made the mistake of planting more than one to a pot and the results were almost disasterous. :(

I haven't seen any preflowers on any of them yet, but they are sprouting lots of new leaves. The fan leaves are now bigger than my hand and smaller leaves that look like they may be potential bud sites ( but what do I know? LoL) are popping up all over.

I'm gonna try to get pics of them as soon as I can. All decked out in their new pots and erything. Still no ferts or nutes given to them. I stuck a finger down in all the pots and the soil feels dry already in two of them, but I'm gonna give it another day or so cuz the pots aren't quite light enuff when I lift them. Geez, they are gulping down the water.

They are still smelly welly, even the lilest one has gotten into the act. I was down on all fours trying to spot any kinda pre flowering and happened to have my face stuck right in the lilest one's personal space and got a snootful of that wonderful musky aroma. I was surprised cuz she's tha smallest one but shez kickin out major odor.

Fortunately, I have the lower half of the house to myself, while my housemate and her daughter occupy the upper half, so odor control isn't really THAT big of an issue. Otherwise, I'd be answering all sorts of questions by now. Especially, since, I have the closet door opened when I'm home and about halfway down the hall to the closet I can smell them.


dubmantx- I'm using a 400w HPS light in 12 sq. ft. of growing space.

I never thot about getting rid of some of the root mass during repotting. The roots were all over the place when I repotted this last time. One plant even had roots growing thru the holes in the bottom of the pot. I just figured .. it's a plant. It isn't gonna grow THAT fast. Boy, was I wrong.



"She was having to deal with issues that took me more than a few grows to learn how to deal with well, and IMO all things considered the lady has a shitload of potential in marijuana gardening."

Aw, shucks. Thanks for the compliment, Indigo, it means alot coming from someone who has as much knowledge and experience as you. And don't count yerself out here. If it wasn't for you letting me know how bad I was screwing up, my lil warriors probably wouldn't even be here any more.

Hmmm.. lady?? LoL. It's been awhile since I've been called that.

Geez, I feel like I'm forgetting to say something but I can't figure out what. So, I'm gonna leave you fine folks with heartfelt good wishes for you and all yer present and future grows. I'm bout ta go hit tha sack ... not the weed sack. Ok Ok, tha weed sack too. LMAO. Got a lab class tomorrow nite then I'm off for the rest of the weekend for a bit of R&R wit a gang of crazy wimmin folks.

Um, I'm gonna be gone overnight, but just 1 nite. I don't think the daughter is staying here in the house ( but I'm not positive. She'z able to be home alone of she wants to be) and my housemate is gonna be gone this weekend too.
Ya'll think it would be ok to leave the lil ones in the closet closed up from Saturday mornin ( bout 10 am) til Sunday afternoon ( bout 3 or 4 at tha latest)? The fans will be going, but if I leave tha door cracked and tha yung'un comes downstairs (using the laundry room would be the only reason) she'll be able to see the light and hear the fans going. I'd rather keep the door closed, just in case she comes down. It won't do any harm for them to be enclosed for ruffly a day will it?

Thanks in advance for any and all opinions.

Ya'll have a GREAT evening and a wonderful Thursday. Thanks for all the help.

peace

Bud Tha Hownd
__________________

"Whether it's growing or burning, I'll sniff it out."