Backwoodsman's Medical Garden

Backwoodsman · Mar 21, 2016

Howdy folks!

Been a busy day today. Finished framing up the 8'x5' flower room and framed up the 5'x3' mother, clone, veg room. Flower room will be running 2x1000W HPS in cooltubes. Im planning on using LED tubes in the veg/mom room.

Next step is sheetrocking the rooms and getting the lights all mounted and ventilation up and running. Hoping to have the flower room operational later this week. No real pics to show at this time. Just a framed in room and messy basement. Ill update this post with pics of the two rooms once they are completed! :biggrin:

I am a legal MMJ patient in the state of maine and a caregiver. Im allowed a total of 12 plants in flower. Im new to growing and have had a pretty rough start thus far but Im reading daily and constantly learning.

Currently have some plants vegging in soil (Fox Farms Ocean Forest) but plan to move to hydro once I have everything operational and dialed in. So pull up a chair, sit back and enjoy the show. Pics coming soon!

-BWM

Backwoodsman · Mar 21, 2016

Its not much but a pic is a pic! I cant wait to blow this thread up with a room full of plants full bloom! These are 3) AK48(Nirvana), and 2) White Widow(Nirvana). Ive had a pretty rough start to growing being new. Used some cheap soil that was causing me issues right off the bat. Now Im using Fox Farms Ocean Forest and things have really taken off in the week since transplanting. First pic is from the 14th, pathetic little seedling. Second pic is from 10 minutes ago, 7 days after transplant. Very pleased with the change. Slight tip burn on one of the AK's. Hopefully it doesnt get any worse and the plant adjusts to the stronger soil.

KONY · Mar 21, 2016

Welcome. You are in the perfect place to learn everything you need to know. Fedco just outside of Waterville has many dry organic amendments if you decide to build your own soil.

rockymountainJ · Mar 21, 2016

Welcome to IC!! I'm in colorado doing my legal limit for my wife and I. She has scoliosis, so requires lots of meds!! Figured I'd come welcome you!

Backwoodsman · Mar 22, 2016

Thanks for the tip KONY, still not decided if I will stick with soil in the long run or make the switch to hydro.

Thanks for the welcome RMJ!

I put the plants into what I had planned to use for a veg box before building the larger veg room. They are now under 400W MH, hopefully they respond to the increased lighting well. Ive got the 5 plants from the pic in there plus 3 pathetic bag seeds Ive tortured since germination. :biggrin:

The bagseed plants started flowering on their own under 24/0. I have no info on the strain. They have been through hell so I dont know if they started flowering due to stress or if they are indeed ruderalis. Oh well, I will keep them going and see what they do! In case they decide to hermie they will be kept seperate from the other plants when that time comes.

Backwoodsman · Mar 25, 2016

Annnnnnnnd my problems continue. Transplanted to FFOF and the plants greened right up and bounced back. Now this is what the new growth looks like,

FFOF, plan tap water pH'd to 6.5, 35PPM tap. 400W MH. Temps 73-77.

Im thinking its a calmag issue. I assumed this wouldnt be an issue in FFOF.

Thoughts?

Backwoodsman · Mar 25, 2016

If someone confirms cal mag deficiency how should I fix it? Epsom salt in tap water and foliar feed? If so how much epsom per gallon of water, do I pH the water for foliar spray, and will they be alright under the 400W MH bulb with water on their leaves?

Thanks in advance. I will also tell on myself that my RH is still running low. 20-30%. Will be getting a humidifier this weekend I hope.

EDIT: I have gh 3 part nutrients as well so could use the micro if needed etc

GastroGrower · Mar 25, 2016

Hey Backwoodsman! Welcome and good luck. I'm learning the ins and outs of providing my own medical supply and I'm sure I've made a lot of the same mistakes

For most deficiencies, cal/mag included, I've found the most effective route is simply to do a full flush (3 x the volume of the root zone if in soil) and water with a 1/2 strength to full strength feeding the day after. As long as your water's pH is correct you should wash out any buildup of salts around the root zone. That way, when you feed them next, there won't be anything preventing the uptake of CalMag.

Backwoodsman · Mar 25, 2016

GastroGrower said:
Hey Backwoodsman! Welcome and good luck. I'm learning the ins and outs of providing my own medical supply and I'm sure I've made a lot of the same mistakes

For most deficiencies, cal/mag included, I've found the most effective route is simply to do a full flush (3 x the volume of the root zone if in soil) and water with a 1/2 strength to full strength feeding the day after. As long as your water's pH is correct you should wash out any buildup of salts around the root zone. That way, when you feed them next, there won't be anything preventing the uptake of CalMag.

Appreciate the advice. They have not received any nutrients whatsoever, with exception of what's in the soil. And have only been lightly watered once since transplant. If I flush they without a doubt drown (containers are a bigger than the should be for their size). I'm still thinking a cal mag deficiency due to super low tap starting ppm. So I believe a foliar feed is my best solution right now. I'll wait for others time chime in here

GastroGrower · Mar 25, 2016

Makes sense. Reading your post again I would agree.

Backwoodsman · Mar 26, 2016

Alright so I guess if you want real success in growing your own medicine the you can't cut corners and be lazy. So with that said I'm going to go full organic. I'm going with LC's soiless mix 2, recipe 1 (blood, bone, kelp). I'm pretty excited about getting my hands dirty and mixing my own soil! I love the thought of consistency and knowing what's in your mix! I've heard to many bad things about FFOF being inconsistent (too hot a batch, pH off, etc).

Hopefully the plants do OK for the next few weeks before I can pull off mixing my own soil. I've got to keep working on the rooms before I can even consider making my own organic mix. Veg and flower rooms are partially sheetrocked. I think I need at least 8 more sheets of rock to finish everything off. I hope to have that done by Monday night. If not things will definitely be finished up by next weekend and I'll have pics of the flower room for everyone!

I changed light schedule to 20/4 last night. Mainly because it looked like foliar feeds are best just after lights off. I sprayed the ladies with plan tap water with 1/4 teaspoon Epsom salts last night. No real change thus far.

Backwoodsman · Mar 26, 2016

Bump.

Bump.

Still looking for opinions on whether this is a calmag deficiency

Skinny Leaf · Mar 26, 2016

When plants yellow from the top down then the ph has risen above acceptable levels. Usually ph above 7.0. In the 5 days since you transplanted(according to your posts) these plants should not need anything more than water. Not even ph'd. Most likely it is from the old soil wreaking havoc with your new soil.

I would top dress all the way to the top of the pot with either more FFOF, EWC Castings, or a leaf mold compost. Water only with tap (set out for 24hours) and horticultural molasses. That will ph your water. Use the molasses at 1/2 strength. Do not let the pots sit in the runoff when you do this. If you measure the ph of your runoff you will find it is high. Your plant is exhibiting iron deficiencies. You may also want to look for a chelated iron supplement. These usually contain magnesium and other trace elements that will help balance the soil.

good luck.

Backwoodsman · Mar 26, 2016

Skinny Leaf said:
When plants yellow from the top down then the ph has risen above acceptable levels. Usually ph above 7.0. In the 5 days since you transplanted(according to your posts) these plants should not need anything more than water. Not even ph'd. Most likely it is from the old soil wreaking havoc with your new soil.

I would top dress all the way to the top of the pot with either more FFOF, EWC Castings, or a leaf mold compost. Water only with tap (set out for 24hours) and horticultural molasses. That will ph your water. Use the molasses at 1/2 strength. Do not let the pots sit in the runoff when you do this. If you measure the ph of your runoff you will find it is high. Your plant is exhibiting iron deficiencies. You may also want to look for a chelated iron supplement. These usually contain magnesium and other trace elements that will help balance the soil.

good luck.

Thanks for the help. I top dressed the containers with FFOF and watered with unadjusted tap water. I dont have access to molasses right this minute.

And this is exactly why I need to make my own organic soil. Ive been watering with tap water adjusted down to 6.5 previously which should not cause me any issues. And I would like to think the FFOF would be of the right pH/have buffers to handle any small variance to 6.5~.

And they have NOT been fed ANYTHING, so no salt buildups. They are in 6x6 hydrofarm containers. Before that solo cups, so not alot of old soil in question.

Anyways, thanks as always for the advice. Im just going to continue to monitor them and see what happens. WTF this isnt supposed to be this difficult....

BTW, I have a humidifier running finally to bring up the RH to an acceptable number. Currently 25 and climbing.

Skinny Leaf · Mar 27, 2016

Fox Farm used to put on the bag their soil was ph'd to 6.3. I don't know if they do it now or not.

You can get the molasses at one of those big box stores.

Its not that hard to grow good herb. You just got started off on the wrong side of the ph line. I had it happen to me once also. It will stunt their growth. But, these plants are really resilient. Once the plants get more roots and the soil stabilizes you can transplant again into fresh FFOF. The problems should clear up dramatically by then.

I know the solo cup full of soil doesn't seem like much but it is/was. The chelated Iron should be available at the big box store also. I believe it also lowers ph. I would use it at 1/2 strength. Bringing down the ph in soil is not one of the easier tasks in horticulture.

Backwoodsman · Mar 31, 2016

Garden Update

Garden Update

Things are still chugging along. The AK48's are clearly lighter feeders than the White Widow. Still experiencing some tip burn on the AK's. The AKs are a little taller, while the White Widows are shorter and more dense in growth structure. The bagseeds are still flowering away. Ive got them all under 20/4 lighting under the MH. I received the clones yesterday. No idea what the strain might be. And I dont love the looks of them to be honest. They are healthy, but stretchy. WAY to much spacing between internodes.

Im planning to top the AK48's very soon, maybe the WW as well, but might give them a little more time before doing so. Ive kind of been keeping an eye on the AK's regarding the tip burn before topping them.

The clones are in the CFL box adjusting.

Almost didnt want to post a picture with the flowering bagseeds, but I figured others would like seeing some unhappy looking plants, unlike what most of you all post! The bagseed plants have got two feedings of full strength veg nutes to boost the nitrogen. Im sure damage is done already on the yellow leaves. Next time will be straight water and then bloom nutes for those guys. AKs and WW are still only getting water.

So on with the pics!

Flower room and veg rooms will FINALLY be completed this weekend! Well closed in and lighted anyway. Need some more lampholders for veg room still and some fans for the flower room. Plants will be in the flower room by the end of the weekend though under 20/4 lighting until Im ready to switch to flower.

:biggrin:

Backwoodsman · Mar 31, 2016

Btw, if anything im probably being too cautious once again with the AK's and WW regarding underwatering. Been giving very light waterings since the containers I transplanted to were too big to begin with. Which leads me to believe only the top maybe few inches of soil are getting watered down. Which I know inhibits the roots from digging deeper to find water. I watered lightly yesterday, once they are dry once again I am going to water from the bottom.....submerge containers in two inches of water to force the roots to go down in order to get a drink. Im learning slowly but surely :biggrin:

Backwoodsman · Mar 31, 2016

Sorry one more pic for the pros to laugh at!

Its too bad I tortured these things. They smell nice! Oh well, it will still be a little bit of medicine and I learned alot on these plants!

EDIT: Should I just chop off those yellow fan leaves that block the light or just leave em be?

Roasty McToasty · Mar 31, 2016

There is no shame in learning. That looks better than my first grow. Every grow will improve with experience. Enjoying your show.

Peace, Roast.

Backwoodsman · Mar 31, 2016

Thanks Roasty. I'm still learning, I'm sure I will have plenty more problems! But getting better all the time. Just started some more seeds. Let's see if I can keep them healthy start to finish!

Backwoodsman's Medical Garden

Member

Member

Active member

Active member

Member

Member

Member

Active member

Member

Active member

Member

Member

Well-known member

Member

Well-known member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member