[freshkix420]

So I was bored one day and stumbled upon growing pot...didn't know much about anything and didn't wanna wait to I threw them in some pots with miracle grow after germinating them...I have learned a lot more and am pretty fasinated with this new hobbie... however like a 'new guy' I am using a 23watt CFL bulb and so far I have a 4inch, 10inch, and 11inch tall plants. They weren't reaching too high but i noticed the tallest one close got a leaf burn :/ not bad though at all...minor wounds. When I started them for 2 weeks they were just using sunlight....so I think they stretched too far to begin with.

some help... did I create failure on day one with miracle grow or can I end up with some mehhh ok plants? anyway to flush out those nutes and chems and start fresh? Transplanting now would lead to death cause of a new soil medium correct?

I am getting either a 150wattHPS... or just 2 23 watt CFLS...(I'm on a budget) I know which is best but I don't know which would be best now at the state I'm in plant growth wise...recommendations?



I will be starting again soon with better lighting, room, soil, nutes, everything.... but as of now I am here...so please help if you can.

Thanks

[jimbo99]

i used miracle grow my first time too and the plants turned out great. Get the hps if u can. if not get a lot of cfls. its only like 8 bucks for a 3 pack so put as many in there as you can.

[Dr. Dank]

lol...It wasnt the sunlight dude, get some more light on those. While I would not recommend MG, it will work to grow some bud.

[basspirate]

Hey man, I know that soil you're using. Isn't it the stuff that comes in the brown bag?

With MG soil, you want to be careful not to over water as it's going to release more nutrients than needed and possibly singe your plants a little.

Those little plants look like they are puttin' the stretch on pretty good. If I were you, right before you water them, take a piece of string or a twistie tie, whatever and tie your plant down and then raise it up to within 10-6 inches of the light. To get a better idea, look up LST; you'll only need to tie down once for now though as your plants are pretty small/young. Also, if you can, go buy a small fan and put it in with them. A PC fan or something a little bigger will make those plants stronger by putting a breeze on them-resistance training for pot plants!

For flowering, my suggestion would be to go and buy a couple of warm white 42w cfls. They should be 7-8 bucks a piece at the Home De-pot. If you can, get a splitter so you can run either a combination of the two spectrums (cool blue and the more red warm whites) or for flowering you'd be ok with two warm whites. In my cab I have one 23w cool blue CFL and 2 42w warm whites. Once you are running these lights though, you are gonna want a fan to keep things cool in your box, too.

Ok, I am forgetting some stuff...but I need coffee. Welcome to IC and good luck with the grow. You're in good hands around here when it comes to getting an education on growin good pot.

[Moondog]

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[BLUNToPOTomuss]

MORE LIGHT!! and CLOSER TO YOUR PLANTS!

You need atleast 50w per plant.

[freshkix420]

thanks for the responses guys...and the welcoming basspirate. everyday i notice the plants lookin better...hope they keep it up..I did notice i have a few gnats flying around the plants though...

Okay, so here's what you do with the miracle grow. Allow the soil to go basically bone dry, like, when you lift the planter it is surprisingly light. Don't let it stay dry for long though, you need to time it right, so that the soil just goes dry but the plants don't also dry out.

Now water with a vast amount of reverse osmosis filtered water (you can get it by the gallon for .25 at the machine in front of your local grocery). Looking at those planters you need at least 2 liters and probably nearly a gallon for each, and make sure you drop the pH a touch with a few drops of lemon juice. Allow the soil to get evenly and completely saturated with a whole bunch of run off. Do this very slow. About 1/4 of the water over the course of 1 minute every other minute.

Repeat this process two more times. Basically what you're doing is allowing the roots to fill out when the soil is dry because there is a higher oxygen content. Then you saturate which releases some chems, and then you rinse it three more times to cleanse as best you can. Once you get the root ball to fill those planters you can transplant them to a better potting soil.

Over-watering and miracle grow with moisture control are synonymous, so let it dry

[candypurp]

]Miracle grow is an incomplete fertilizer. It doesn't have all of the essential nutrients needed by cannabis. You CAN grow weed with it but it won't be the best quality. Miracle grow, peters, scotts, etc... only have 8 or 9 of the 16 essential nutrients.

And yes, you definitely need more light you have some crazy stretch going on. A good rule of thumb in decisions for lighting is to think 1 gram per watt maximum. So, for example, you could get up to 150 grams off a 150 watt hps or 46 grams off two 23 watt cfls. It is difficult to get a gram per watt, especially on your first grow with miracle grow as fertilizer. Just always keep that rule in the back of your head. The MOST you will get is 1 g per watt from any light source. More likely you will get 1/2 gram per watt or less.

[basspirate]

Are a lot of people pulling even a half gram per watt? It seems like you need to be rockin a bunch of plants or a couple big ones on a screen to get quantity. I guess genetics play a big role in that?

I have had *ok* results with some MG organic liquid fertilizer supplemented with superthrive. I've been growing on and off for the past three years but am still an uber noob. It seemed the MG did better in my outdoor last year when I had big seven gallon containers; it grew me some amazonian beauties.