First grow: Lots of problems and in need of guidance

[SmokingWings]

Another question that i have in order to achieve proper application is, how long do they take to absorb, (guano and ash).
Do i have to top dress once at the start of flowering or wait till later?

I follow a schedule of giving the first dose of P (the Bat Guano) about 2 weeks before putting the plants into the flowering light schedule. Then the first does of K (the potash) about the time I start the flowering. The plants will get another dose of P about 4 weeks after the first one and a second dose of K about 4 weeks after the first dose of K. Then about 3 weeks before harvest I give another dose of the P.

It takes a bit of time to figure out the schedule that works for the soil, lights and set-up that you have. Sometimes what will work for one person will not work for the next. It takes some experimenting.

 

[freedom8976]

I follow a schedule of giving the first dose of P (the Bat Guano) about 2 weeks before putting the plants into the flowering light schedule. Then the first does of K (the potash) about the time I start the flowering. The plants will get another dose of P about 4 weeks after the first one and a second dose of K about 4 weeks after the first dose of K. Then about 3 weeks before harvest I give another dose of the P.

It takes a bit of time to figure out the schedule that works for the soil, lights and set-up that you have. Sometimes what will work for one person will not work for the next. It takes some experimenting.

At the moment, the plant is at its 21 day and starts to show some pre flowering at the top site. Hopefully next week it will start doing its thing.
I watered it yesterday without any nutes, next week i ll feed it. I have decided to start with 1ml of biogrow and biobloom per watering not liter, plus some top dressing of guano and ash. 20g guano and 10 of ash.
I will play it safe in order not to cause any further nute burn, if ti responds well i will add more on the next feeding.

It would be great to know the absorption time of the guano and ash, as the flowering period is 56 days. If they absorb slowly it would be better to top dress once for the whole cycle.

 

[bluter]

you are doing well.

biobizz can be tricky coming in to flower. there is always a point in the grow where the nutes in the media become depleted, and the heavy lifting through to the end needs to be done with the bottle nutes and supplements.

everyone falters with it for a few grows. it's not a huge worry though, and rebalancing the nutes gets easier with some experience. you have some good guidance here.

maybe get some yellow sticky cards for the gnats. there are a few other more aggressive things you can do as well. i eradicate gnats if i find them. the leaf spotting shows a very slight cal mag def, and can be linked to root issues caused partly by the gnats. it should get better with pest control.

the grow is completely organic btw.

the grow is anything but.

you are using organic based nutes but the grow itself is 180 degrees the opposite direction. it's ok though, the nutes and media are designed to fool you that way.

you will have both the issues organic, and non organic growers face in this system. it's a two-fer. but it's not a bad system. insanely popular in the uk.

a real organic grow uses no nutes or supplements and is not hydro based like this one is. everything in an organic grow is in the soil already, you only add water for the entire grow.

don't sweat it. you're looking good from here.

 

[freedom8976]

the leaf spotting shows a very slight cal mag def

It is solved now, after planting some cal/mag in the soil. The water i am using is almost distilled and there is none in it. The problem again is how much is enough, and how long does it last. I did plant 50g to see how things go.

What they suggest is this but i dont know how this translates to one plant in a15lt pot
Dosage:
During planting: 300g per square meter
For maintenance : 100g / sq.m
Repeat every 30 days

 

[freedom8976]

a real organic grow uses no nutes or supplements and is not hydro based like this one is. everything in an organic grow is in the soil already, you only add water for the entire grow.

do you mean to just put the seed in the soil and let it do its thing?
or making a so called super soil, where you add all the fertillizers inside before planting the seed?
Because that is my goal but i don't know how to do it yet, even an automated watering system would be nice.
Is it possible for this to happen?

 

[bluter]

do you mean to just put the seed in the soil and let it do its thing?
or making a so called super soil, where you add all the fertillizers inside before planting the seed?
Because that is my goal but i don't know how to do it yet, even an automated watering system would be nice.
Is it possible for this to happen?

do a search for LOS - living organic soil - grows. there are several on the board doing them. the various components are added to a base soil and left to "cook" for a period of time. everything is incorporated in the soil, the grower only adds water, ph is not a factor.

there are piles and piles of LOS journals. kind of sounds like the direction you are headed. you would probably like that growing style.

 

[freedom8976]

do a search for LOS - living organic soil - grows. there are several on the board doing them. the various components are added to a base soil and left to "cook" for a period of time. everything is incorporated in the soil, the grower only adds water, ph is not a factor.

there are piles and piles of LOS journals. kind of sounds like the direction you are headed. you would probably like that growing style.

That's exactly what i am looking for my friend !!
thx for the tip

 

[freedom8976]

Day 25
fed the plant yesterday with 2ml biogrow, 80g bat guano, and 20g cal/mag.It responded well but i show a little hole on one leaf, is this caused by bugs?
I did sprinkle some diatomic earth around the plant 3 days ago, any ideas how should i use this stuff guys?

 

[bluter]

you might have spider mite damage. only a possibility.
there are some white marks on the leaf beside it which could be further mite damage. the white marks could also be a tiny calmag def, it is hard to tell as the photo is blurry on that area.

the hole itself could be caused by piles of things not related to spider mites. i would just rule it out. get a loupe on the area and check it fully.

the leaf edge curl also has me wondering. it can be heat related if closer to the top. further down is usually an indication of predatory pest issues.

 

[Deketx]

You're going to need larger pots than that if you want to go LOS. I found out the hard way.

 

[freedom8976]

there are some white marks on the leaf

the white marks are from the diatomic earth dust. the leaves are clear and healthy looking apart from that little hole.
at this point i have put in the soil 80g of cal/mag pellets, would you add more?

the leaf edge curl also has me wondering. it can be heat related

the leaves have been this way since the plant sprouted, i have a heater inside the grow tent to keep the temperature at around 23C. I have it facing behind the plants so it doesn't hit them on the leaves, but i can't turn it off before mid March, it will get too cold and humid.

 

[freedom8976]

You're going to need larger pots than that if you want to go LOS. I found out the hard way.

It is 17 liters, isn't it enough? i thought that it was too big for an auto.

 

[SmokingWings]

It is 17 liters, isn't it enough? i thought that it was too big for an auto.

Many 'auto flowering' growers recommend that the plant go into the final pot as soon as possible. That final pot does not really have a size limit that I know of. What I keep in mind is that some growers plant outside in their garden and that is a lot of soil.

What I believe @Deketx is getting at is that if you were to go with Living Organic Soil you have use very large pots. Trying to do a LOS soil in a small pot just does not work since there is not enough organic material to keep a healthy population of micro-organisms. Plus there has to be enough soil to support the Marijuana plant, which is a heavy feeder, and support the growth of selected companion plants which will be growing in the same container under the MJ plant.]

 

[bluter]

the white marks are from the diatomic earth dust. the leaves are clear and healthy looking apart from that little hole.
at this point i have put in the soil 80g of cal/mag pellets, would you add more?

no, not at this point. would stay the course and monitor. without any other related issue the hole is likely nothing.

i will get tears and holes all the time caused by growth issues, genetics, but mostly me ..
on their own they i am not so much to worry.

the leaves have been this way since the plant sprouted, i have a heater inside the grow tent to keep the temperature at around 23C. I have it facing behind the plants so it doesn't hit them on the leaves, but i can't turn it off before mid March, it will get too cold and humid.

i need a heater in my veg space as well. you might get one or two that are grumpy around it.
mine sits under the plants now. the plants are on shelving units above.

 

[Deketx]

Many 'auto flowering' growers recommend that the plant go into the final pot as soon as possible. That final pot does not really have a size limit that I know of. What I keep in mind is that some growers plant outside in their garden and that is a lot of soil.

What I believe @Deketx is getting at is that if you were to go with Living Organic Soil you have use very large pots. Trying to do a LOS soil in a small pot just does not work since there is not enough organic material to keep a healthy population of micro-organisms. Plus there has to be enough soil to support the Marijuana plant, which is a heavy feeder, and support the growth of selected companion plants which will be growing in the same container under the MJ plant.]

Exactly. I use 5gal and they weren't nearly enough.

 

[freedom8976]

I'll start growing with Los after i figure things out though. Let's see how this grow goes first and let's hope for some good yield.
The plant starts getting bushy, should i cut off some leaves to increase bud sites or not yet? The leaf with the hole on it hides two bud sites under it, should i cut it off or is it useful to the plant?
I am expecting flowering the next week as i can see some forming on the main site and very slight on another one.

 

[Slammy Pajama]

Hey mate, looking great! Your plant is responding nicely to the soil and everything you are giving it, and way to stay on top of some of the signs she is giving you when things aren't quite right. Don't be afraid to give her some time to respond when making changes too, as sometimes they just need a little bit of time for little changes in nutrients or environment to take effect.

I have definitely found in my small amount of growing experience that there is little benefit to watering very much more than the plant asks for. During flower, you can definitely knee-cap your yields a little bit if you are watering like a veg plant and consistently letting her get too dry, but even letting her get to the point of a little bit wilty and sad one or a few times through flower has seemed to encourage a nice and frosty plant. Aside from that, just consistently getting enough water into her that there isn't really much run-off, but so she doesn't get droopy or wilty from either over/under watering is a safe bet in flower. I was really concerned for a while about trying to maximise how much water I was able to keep in the pot for her to drink from without drowning the roots, and it ended up being way more work and micro-management for not much gains

 

[Slammy Pajama]

LOS is definitely a really fun and satisfying way to grow, though! Highly recommend! It sounds like you are started on the way with some of your nutrient and soil plans. You definitely do need nice big pots, I've found that if I try to grow in anything less than about 35-40 litres, the plant will likely need supplemental feeding regardless of size, as there needs to be a really diverse and robust amount of microbiology within the soil food web for the plant to be fully supported. However, once you hit that 35-40 litre mark, you can grow a pretty whopping plant in there if you have a nice rich soil and are keeping a healthy microbial population. It also means I notice a need to up-pot out of smaller pots sooner I think than I would if I were nutrient growing. But once you get that soil dialed in and you are watching plants grow with not much aside from water, it is so exciting!

On a side note: my experience with ash is that it is an EXTREMELY potent source of bioavailable potassium, so you want to be very careful when applying it not too apply too much, as a sudden excess of available potassium can cause you a whole range of other nutrient uptake problems. Not sure what other grower's experiences are like here, but that's been my experience. Coconut meal is a nice slow-ish release of potassium that I like to use in my soil mixes, although I think any time you are dealing with coconut or coir products you need to account for their tendency to lock up Calcium and Magnesium from the soil and accordingly supplement a little extra

 

[Slammy Pajama]

If you find yourself still struggling with fungus gnats, I have also found the biggest and easiest solution was in mulch. I'm not sure the efficacy of standard mulches, but I got my hands on a sterilised mulch down at the hydro store that has some diatomaceous earth mixed in, as well as some alfalfa and yucca extracts. This has single-handedly wiped out the population of fungus gnats and thrips that I had across both my tents. Plus it helps with keeping the watering levels sustained in the pots! This Mulch Here from High Powered Organics is the stuff that I found and works a TREAT. Not sure what availability is like in your area, but if you can find/make it or anything kind of similar, I have been blown away with how effective mulching has been for my container growing!

 

[freedom8976]

my experience with ash is that it is an EXTREMELY potent source of bioavailable potassium, so you want to be very careful when applying it not too apply too much

Thats what i have read on their website too, my question is when would you use it?
At the the start of flowering or mid flowering to thicken up the buds?
They suggest to use 50g per plant, i am planning to go with 20g just to be safe and adjust from there, but i am not sure about the timing.
I already have top dressed with 80g bat guano, as i found out that it is slow release and lasts up to 12 weeks which is longer than my harvest date that will be max 10 weeks from now, 7/8 most likely.