G00ch
New Member
first thing i would ask is if it is calibrated using ph7 and ph4 if not then i would not trust the reading, what type of meter did you get?
Complete Newbie
- Thread starter Highlander30
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #62
Highlander30
New Member
It dosnt say anything in the manual about calibration I got it off eBay it's a 4 in 1 soil survy tester
G00ch
New Member
well i would say its not reading properly because a dirt growing plant with a ph of 3.5 would be dead because all nutes would be locked out so im looking into your meter now to try to understand what its telling you says the ph scale is from 3.5-12 give me a little time i am building a website and i will poke around at this meter in between smoke breaks
G00ch
New Member
typically you would measure the liquid you are putting in and measure the run off although that meter is pretty f'in sweet it measure light and moisture and moisture i would say is the most important reading currently you only want to water when the root zone is drying, and make sure you are inserting the probe deep enough. If you are using tap water from the city it will be typically between 6-7 ph and i believe dirt ph is ideal between 6.3 and 7.2 ish sorry im hydro because dirt is to difficult for me
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
That 4 way meter is not what you needed to get... you needed a way to measure your fluid pH, before you add it to your soil. You cant expect a meter like this to properly measure soil pH anyway, sticking a probe into the soil is not how it is done professionally. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you were just ripped off by your friendly grow store person. As said above, about the only useful thing this meter does is to show you where the wet/dry line is in that container using the moisture meter setting... the light intensity and pH functions are so inaccurate that they can not be counted on.
A liquid pH pen... Hanna, BlueLab... there are bunches of them, at various price levels... that is what you need.
A liquid pH pen... Hanna, BlueLab... there are bunches of them, at various price levels... that is what you need.
- Thread starter
- #66
Highlander30
New Member
I live in Scotland and our water gets pumped from the hills and glens its pretty clean as no chlorine or chems are added the pH reader I got only seems to be able to read the temp right as it matches the thermostat I got but as its cheap I should of expected it not to work but I can say my plant does look healthy and green and got a nice smell coming off them now so I must be doing something right I will try and invest in a proper pH kit I'm thinking about flowering in about 2 weeks as then it will have been in veg for about 6 weeks but I will Wait and see if any new leaves come up as I cut the bottom 2 the other day and was surprised that new ones have started to grow in its place
Hello fellow dirt digger 
Emilya is correct about the meter you got, all that is good for is letting you know if your soil is dry, I have one and I use it for a paper weight. It is not very good at that either. If you can not afford a good PH pen meter then go to any pet store and pick up a PH test kit for a fish tank. It is supper cheap and will at least give you an idea where on the PH scale you are. Cleanliness of the water or where it comes from tells you nothing about the PH. There are a few things you can do to help your plants get bushier, for example, when your plant hits 4 or 5 nodes you can top the plant. If you do not know what that means, you pinch off the very top new growth which will eventually be the stem to the next node if you did not pinch it out. What this does is force the plant to grow 2 branches in the place of the one you pinched out.
Emilya has given you some rock solid advice, I clone my plants and start them in 3' x 3" pots When they are just on the verge of becoming root bound but before they do, I up pot them to a 1 gallon pot where they stay till they are about to root bound that pot, then I up pot them to either a 5 or 7 gallon pot depending on if it is going under the scrog or free standing. By up potting only at the last minute right before they get root bound they hardly show any stress what so ever, at the most I see the 1st day they may slow growth but then off they go.
Emilya is correct about the meter you got, all that is good for is letting you know if your soil is dry, I have one and I use it for a paper weight. It is not very good at that either. If you can not afford a good PH pen meter then go to any pet store and pick up a PH test kit for a fish tank. It is supper cheap and will at least give you an idea where on the PH scale you are. Cleanliness of the water or where it comes from tells you nothing about the PH. There are a few things you can do to help your plants get bushier, for example, when your plant hits 4 or 5 nodes you can top the plant. If you do not know what that means, you pinch off the very top new growth which will eventually be the stem to the next node if you did not pinch it out. What this does is force the plant to grow 2 branches in the place of the one you pinched out.
Emilya has given you some rock solid advice, I clone my plants and start them in 3' x 3" pots When they are just on the verge of becoming root bound but before they do, I up pot them to a 1 gallon pot where they stay till they are about to root bound that pot, then I up pot them to either a 5 or 7 gallon pot depending on if it is going under the scrog or free standing. By up potting only at the last minute right before they get root bound they hardly show any stress what so ever, at the most I see the 1st day they may slow growth but then off they go.
- Thread starter
- #68
Highlander30
New Member
So got a new ph meter today and this one is reading between 6.3 - 6.8 which I gather is good also saying soil is dry so going to give it some water that I've left out to get rid of any chlorine if any I'm also thinking about adding a very small amount of nutes as it's only had water since she born about 5 weeks ago although I will hold off on this incase any of you think this is a bad idea also put a picture showing what nuts are going in
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
I would hold off on the nutes until you have the discoloration problem fixed by watering with the correct pH for a few times. There is plenty of time to give nutes... right now, everything that your plant needs is right there in that good soil.
Hey Highlander,
I did not mention this before but one thing I did notice was the spacing of your nodes on your plant. You notice how far apart the 1st three nodes are, then the space decreases between the 3rd and the 4th and even closer between the 4th and the 5th.
Chances are you now have your lights closer to the plant then you did when you 1st started. If your light is to far away the plant will actually stretch to get into the zone, where as when they are near the zone already, their nodes will be tight and close together since they are not forced to stretch so much. Keep that in mind for your next grow, and you will have a bushier plant by the time it hits the same height.
I did not mention this before but one thing I did notice was the spacing of your nodes on your plant. You notice how far apart the 1st three nodes are, then the space decreases between the 3rd and the 4th and even closer between the 4th and the 5th.
Chances are you now have your lights closer to the plant then you did when you 1st started. If your light is to far away the plant will actually stretch to get into the zone, where as when they are near the zone already, their nodes will be tight and close together since they are not forced to stretch so much. Keep that in mind for your next grow, and you will have a bushier plant by the time it hits the same height.
- Thread starter
- #71
Highlander30
New Member
Yea I moved my lights closer the light is now about 4-5 inches from the plant
- Thread starter
- #72
Highlander30
New Member
Just thought I'd add a pic and let you all know there still alive
- Thread starter
- #74
Highlander30
New Member
Yea at the start the lights where quite far away to begin with until I was told to put them closer they are now about 5 inches away
- Thread starter
- #75
Highlander30
New Member
I've got 2 lights one is a LCD the other is a cfl 1800 lumen but I had to raise that to get the picture as it was too bright so all you saw was the glare
- Thread starter
- #76
Highlander30
New Member
So I've noticed that my auto ak47 (smaller plant on the right) seems to have stopped growing its about a week and a half younger than the other plant I don't know what's wrong is it natural for them to slow down in there growth after a point
- Thread starter
- #77
Highlander30
New Member
Jesus Christ what now?
Dr Bob
New Member
Hey Highlander! You have two plants, I thought for sure a guy named Highlander would only have one. There can only be one right? Sorry for the terrible joke!
But hey, what are you worried about in that pic? The leaf curl? How hot is it in there?
Looks like you are doing great! Just remember that growing takes vigilance but also patience. These plants do better if you give them the basics and then let them go. Especially as a new grower. Try new things slowly and one at a time.
For your first two plants things look fantastic!
Bob
But hey, what are you worried about in that pic? The leaf curl? How hot is it in there?
Looks like you are doing great! Just remember that growing takes vigilance but also patience. These plants do better if you give them the basics and then let them go. Especially as a new grower. Try new things slowly and one at a time.
For your first two plants things look fantastic!
Bob
- Thread starter
- #79
Highlander30
New Member
Hey Dr Bob great joke lol haven't seen that show in years the temperature is around 20-21 degree's there's a wee fan to keep the air circulated and they get watered when the pots feel pretty light I think I'm just paranoid they are going to die as I see little things and then crap myself thinking I've killed it. the second little plant is an auto ak47 but that seems to have stopped growing
glimmergrass
New Member
Hi, Highlander! Deep breaths. They're not dead. They're doing fine. 
You're doing fine! It's natural to be hyper vigilant with our plants, especially at the beginning, when we are watching them so closely, but the best thing we can do is give them good conditions to grow in and then leave them alone. We don't grow the plants, the plants grow themselves when we tend to their needs. It's a little more zen than we're used to
And think of the things you've already learned on this grow: keep CFL lights close (like 2" away, seriously) to keep plants from stretching. Don't use MiracleGrow if you can help it. You don't have to supplement plants that are getting their nutrients from a complete soil. Don't repot until the roots are close to filling the old container.
I think you're doing really well! One of the great things about growing photoperiod cannabis is that you can veg the plants until they are big and robust enough to put into flower. You'll get a better yield because the plants will be bigger and will have the roots and leaves to support flower production.
Give them time. They've been stressed: not the best soil, lights too far away, shocked from repotting too soon. In spite of this you have pre flowers coming on one of the plants. They just need time. You're going to be fine
Can you give us any more info on the LED light? And how many watts (true watts) is the CFL you're using? The lumens is helpful, but we really need to know the watts. Is it a 23 watt CFL? What colour temperature is it -- what is the K? In veg you want 5000 - 6500K (bright white). In flowering you want 2700K, a warm white.
I think you will need a lot more light if you've just got one 23 watt CFL on the two plants. That's easily and cheaply fixed, though.
And you're a great son in law
You're doing fine! It's natural to be hyper vigilant with our plants, especially at the beginning, when we are watching them so closely, but the best thing we can do is give them good conditions to grow in and then leave them alone. We don't grow the plants, the plants grow themselves when we tend to their needs. It's a little more zen than we're used to And think of the things you've already learned on this grow: keep CFL lights close (like 2" away, seriously) to keep plants from stretching. Don't use MiracleGrow if you can help it. You don't have to supplement plants that are getting their nutrients from a complete soil. Don't repot until the roots are close to filling the old container.
I think you're doing really well! One of the great things about growing photoperiod cannabis is that you can veg the plants until they are big and robust enough to put into flower. You'll get a better yield because the plants will be bigger and will have the roots and leaves to support flower production.
Give them time. They've been stressed: not the best soil, lights too far away, shocked from repotting too soon. In spite of this you have pre flowers coming on one of the plants. They just need time. You're going to be fine
Can you give us any more info on the LED light? And how many watts (true watts) is the CFL you're using? The lumens is helpful, but we really need to know the watts. Is it a 23 watt CFL? What colour temperature is it -- what is the K? In veg you want 5000 - 6500K (bright white). In flowering you want 2700K, a warm white.
I think you will need a lot more light if you've just got one 23 watt CFL on the two plants. That's easily and cheaply fixed, though.
And you're a great son in law
Similar threads
