[HempKat]

Originally Posted by larry badiner

i got a few questions:
1. im growing in these small, maybe 2 quart? they're pretty regular sized pots, but when the plants become rootbound, will they stop growing? i want to get em to show sex and weed out the males before i move em to a 5 gallon pot
2. im growing outdoors on a farm plot, my question is if i leave them unattended until aug or sept, will i come back to find good bud? i figure the rain will water em, but what do i do about nutes?
3. i dont have a ph control kit, so im using tap water for now. my waters tds is around 700, my question is if i keep watering them and they get sick, will i end up with less potent buds? or even worse, will they die?

1) They'll stop growing to an extent, they'll stay relatively healthy and even harvest but as they become more root bound they'll just need to be watered more often to stay healthy. I know a guy who routinely flowers extra clones in 12 to 16 oz cups. He mainly ends up with a 12" or so plant that is all bud, kind of like a SOG plant. Thing is, by the end of flower he says he has to water daily. So as long as they stay properly watered and fed they'll stay health but they will hit a height that they'll not go beyong until you transplant.

2) Depends on lots of variables, how secure they are from people, animals, insects and birds. Also on how rich the soil is and how the weather patterns are. Planted directly into the ground with rich soil and sufficient and regular rainfall the plants in theory should be fine. If you are worried they won't have enough food you could try mixing some osmocote or time released fert into the soil although I don't know if there are any that are suited for cannabis, it would be better if you could check on the every couple of weeks.

3) Regular tap water is fine as long as it's ph balanced and doesn't have too many minerals of deposits in it. You can get water pH test kits at a pet store for fish aquariums, for a couple of dollars. If it harms them or kills them then yes that could effect how well they do which would effect potency and yield ultimately. Now if they are from seed in typical enriched soil, you shouldn't need and fertalizer fore the first 3 weeks. After that you'll need some sort of veg fert. If you are keeping under these conditions until they sex then that could take up to 8 weeks, so you'll need something eventually. One fairly low cost solution is a small bag of chemical ferts, for this I like Peter's 20-20-20 or you could go organic with fish emulsion which is 5-1-1. If you are really cheap and you don't mind something many find disgustin you can also use your own urine but you have to dilute it to 10 parts water for every one part of urine. So for one cup of urine you would add ten cups of water. Also this mixture must be used and any excess discarded right away. urine allowed to stand for too long decomposes to a form unhealthy for plants. Personally I don't recomment urine though, not when you can by more properly balance ferts for just a couple of dollars.

[Makavellian]

hey hempkat. i understand now man THANKSss alot for the info. i guess now ill just have to water with plain water and let the plant do its thang. thank you for takin your time to help me out man.. much appreciated and all love man

[HempKat]

Originally Posted by Makavellian

hey hempkat. i understand now man THANKSss alot for the info. i guess now ill just have to water with plain water and let the plant do its thang. thank you for takin your time to help me out man.. much appreciated and all love man

No problem, glad to be of assistance

[bostrom155]

Originally Posted by HempKat

Ah the good old hurricane lamp cool tube, how's that working out for you?

Hey Hemp, so far so good, I think i'm going to take the ones in my veg cab off though. too much dust and thier only 150. we'll try it atleast

[ogrefugee]

/wishes he was an old fart...
//is 20
///raised on a farm, been growing his own plants (but not weed) since he could walk
////is done thread-jacking

[HempKat]

Originally Posted by bostrom155

Hey Hemp, so far so good, I think i'm going to take the ones in my veg cab off though. too much dust and thier only 150. we'll try it atleast

Yeah, a cool tube on a 150 is about like putting a spoiler on a bicycle, might look cool but doesn't do much for ya :smile:

[HempKat]

Originally Posted by ogrefugee

/wishes he was an old fart...
//is 20
///raised on a farm, been growing his own plants (but not weed) since he could walk
////is done thread-jacking

How long have you been growing weed?

Now tell me, how can you thread-jack a thread that is meant for everyone? :smile:

[ogrefugee]

q1: only 2 years...
q2: very carefully

[GanjaGoon]

Hey HempKat - thanks for organizing this informative and helpful thread. I'm on my first grow, day 36 flower. Made lots of mistakes along the way, but learned a lot as well. My lighting is a 150w hps with 2 80w shoplites. I grew my plants way too tall for a 150, so my buds are quite small. Next time I'll adjust that (or buy a higher wattage system). I've had a lot of trouble so far when I see yellowing or spotting of the leaves to figure out whether it is nute burn, a nute deficiency, or pH problems. Early on, I had some yellowing and I overreacted by ferting too much, and three of my babies died (I started with 5). Two lived on, and both ended up female. I later had some pH problems (which I discovered after purchasing a pH pen - great investment!). A few waterings later (with pH adjusted water), I was able to get the pH to a normal range. Here's how my flowering schedule has been so far:

Feb. 25 - transplanted into final pots (3.9 gallons - Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil with 2 cups lime/5 gallons soil)
Feb. 27 - Initiated flowering
Mar. 2 - Plain watering, pH of runoff is 8.4-8.5, too high.
Mar. 5 - Watered with plain, pH adjusted water, got the runoff down to 7.3-7.5
March 9 - watered with tiger bloom and big bloom both at 1/4 strength, runoff is 7.6
March 14 - plain watering, got the runoff down to 6.9-7.1
March 22 - Watered with Tiger bloom and big bloom at 1/2 strength
March 30 - watered with plain water

I've been pretty easy with the nutes and water. My current problem is more yellowing of the leaves - especially on the bigger of my two plants. Pics are below. I haven't tested pH since the 14th - so that could be a problem again. Also, the big plant might be rootbound (roots are poking out the holes at the bottom of the pot). Is it normal for plants this age to start yellowing? Should I even be worried? Could it be a deficiency, and the plant is stealing from the leaves in order to help the buds grow? I'm confused about how to tell whether I've ferted too much or too little. My temps range from 70-80, so I don't think that's causing a problem.

[larry badiner]

thanks hempkat! im gonna try to locate a hydro store and see if i can score some dr hornby's iguana grow and bloom juice, and ph up/down and a tester! thanks again!