HeavyChevy59 - First Grow - Mars II 400W - Happy Frog/Ideal 420 Soil - 2015

[Black Thumbs]

Mary Jane allready has hairs so she is a deffinate girl

And the others also look like female but not 100% on groot

 

[HeavyChevy59]

Plants are looking great man cant wait to see how the harvest turns out I will be watching and as for the lights I would say once you flip the plants to 12/12 you may want to let the lights get a little closer to discourage so much stretch and one the flowering you wanna have as much light power on the buds as possible without sacrificing on coverage of course

Thanks for checking out my grow journal and for the advice. So far I've been going by the recommended distance that Mars Hydro has posted on their website, germ 24"-30" veg 18"-24" flower 12"-18". I will definitely try to get the light as close as I can without stressing the plants and losing too much coverage.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

I also wanted to get your opinions on the different soil ratios I used for each plant, do you think the plants could survive an entire grow, and if they did would my yield or bud quality suffer. Just incase you forgot or missed it, I'm using 3gl pots with Happy Frog/Ideal 420 Soil, I didn't measure anything out I just eyeballed it. Groot is in a 50/50 mix, MJ is in a 70/30 mix, and Scarlett is in a 80/20 maybe a 85/15 mix. Also Groot and Scarlett's soil has been drying out to the point they're leaves are drooping every 2 days but MJ has been receiving her normal scheduled waterings , I used to water all 3 plants at the same time every 3-4 days.

 

[arellanobrian]

Yes the plants should survive and produce some good plants but they will only get as big as there roots slow them to so you won't have the biggest plants in the world or produce huge chuncky buds but ive seem several successful grows in 3 gal smart pots. And i would have to say just look at your plants and they will let you know when they need food but as a safe measure i wouldn't go any more than 2 months without starting a regular nute cycle

 

[arellanobrian]

And as the plants get bigger and the roots go into all the nooks in your soil they will require more water so I would say that is normal

 

[Black Thumbs]

I've got mine in around 3 and a bit gal of pro mix and after 6 weeks(auto strain) I'm having to water every day as it looks as though the roots have taken all the space and after 36hrs they are drooping.Im going 5gal next time

 

[GuttaCannabis]

Nice plants bro how old are they

 

[HeavyChevy59]

Yes the plants should survive and produce some good plants but they will only get as big as there roots slow them to so you won't have the biggest plants in the world or produce huge chuncky buds but ive seem several successful grows in 3 gal smart pots. And i would have to say just look at your plants and they will let you know when they need food but as a safe measure i wouldn't go any more than 2 months without starting a regular nute cycle

I won't be adding any nutes to the soil since I'm using Ideal 420 Soil, 420 soil is a pre mixed super soil that is specifically formulated for cannabis. It can take a plant from seed to harvest, although some people do have issues with the soil burning seeds. I'm concerned about MJ since Groot will most likely be a male I want MJ to have all she needs till harvest, I was thinking about transplanting MJ to a 5gl smart pot but she'll probably end up over shadowing Scarlett so maybe not. Just in case anyone is interested in Ideal 420 soil you can get a 1.5 cu. ft. bag for $49.99 with free shipping, just check out their website. I thought Ideal 420 Soil was a sponsor but I didn't see them listed on the sponsors page so I guess not.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

Nice plants bro how old are they

Thanks man I'm 5 weeks in veg, I'll probably veg them for another week before flipping the lights to 12/12.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

Well I still can't see pistils coming from any of the plants, hopefully they will show sex within the next week so I can figure out what I want to do with them before I flip the lights.

 

[arellanobrian]

I might have to look them up man im always looking for new experiments so if the coco thing doesn't work out for me like my fail with the deep water culture ill do a soil comparison see which one produces the best yield with no nutes .

Im currently using fox farms ocean forest with about 15% pelite added. On my first grow I made a ton of mistakes but still got about 5 oz from 4 plants under a little more than 600 watts T5 and only had to add quarter strength nutes at the last 4 weeks of flower and even then I saw some signs of nute burn. I attribute the Terrible weight (but A+ quality) to my noobness.

The only thing that turns me off of the 420 mix is $49.99!!! I can get 1.5 cu ft for between $16-$18 here in northern colorado maybe 20 bucks if my grow shop ran out and I have to go to the nursery. I'll ask see if they carry it or if they can order it for me

 

[HeavyChevy59]

I might have to look them up man im always looking for new experiments so if the coco thing doesn't work out for me like my fail with the deep water culture ill do a soil comparison see which one produces the best yield with no nutes .

Im currently using fox farms ocean forest with about 15% pelite added. On my first grow I made a ton of mistakes but still got about 5 oz from 4 plants under a little more than 600 watts T5 and only had to add quarter strength nutes at the last 4 weeks of flower and even then I saw some signs of nute burn. I attribute the Terrible weight (but A+ quality) to my noobness.

The only thing that turns me off of the 420 mix is $49.99!!! I can get 1.5 cu ft for between $16-$18 here in northern colorado maybe 20 bucks if my grow shop ran out and I have to go to the nursery. I'll ask see if they carry it or if they can order it for me

I only paid 15 bucks for the 2 cu. ft. bag of Happy Frog soil from my local hydro shop, so I definitely understand being turned off by the $50 price tag for a 1.5 cu. ft. bag of Ideal 420 Soil. Organic super soils seem like the best way to grow imo, if mixed right then all you have to do is water the plants, you don't have to constantly mix up and change out nute solutions, no worrying about PPMs, and if I remember right you don't have to worry about ph with a proper mixed super soil, there's living organisms in the soil that take care of the plants root system and even protects the roots from pest. So of course I wanted to mix up my own super soil but it was gonna cost me about $130 for all the ingredients, I was gonna buy everything online with free shipping, then I came across Shadowmans grow Journal using Ideal 420 Soil and seen his plants looking great on just water, so I figured I'd rather spend $50 than $130 for now. When I'm finished with all the 420 soil I'll see how much it will be to source everything locally, I'm just really digging the idea of growing my plants the way I want in my soil I mixed up the way I wanted. They also sell a $20 bag of Ideal 420 Soil if you do decide to test them out, it's just enough for one plant but you have to spend at least $49.95 to get free shipping.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

What's up everybody, so Scarlett is definitely showing pistils and it looks like Groot has pistils coming from one of the calyxes on him, I guess I should start saying her now, Mary Jane still isn't showing any pistils yet. I plan on flipping the lights on Wednesday maybe, so I was wondering if I should go straight from 18/6 to 12/12 or should I give them a 24hr dark period in between.

 

[Colesdad]

Yay, two girls!

 

[Black Thumbs]

Looks like you should have a room full of girls
You should be good to switch straight to 12/12.I used to only give the 24 hr dark till right near the end,one a week before harvest and then the last day before harvest.

 

[Antics]

I go straight to 12/12. No dark periods at any time for me.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

What's up everybody, I did my first lollipop a few days ago just prepping the plants for flowering. I was gonna flip the lights yesterday but I noticed some brown spots on all three plants, I'm thinking calcium deficiency but I wanted to get your opinions. I remember reading that plants grown under L.E.D. lights require more calcium, but I would think that the ideal 420 soil would have enough calcium available for the plants, so maybe the ph of my water is off. I've been giving all three plants 48oz of distilled water every 2-3 days, all three will be getting watered later today when the light comes on I will check the ph of the run off.

Mary Jane before

MJ after, I also tied her down one more time.

Groot before

Groot after

Scarlett before

Scarlett after

 

[HeavyChevy59]

And here's some pics of the brown spots

 

[Antics]

For the spots, check PH first, make sure it's in range.

If all is good, I'd consider a Calcium deficiency, and possible Magnesium.

 

[arellanobrian]

ya def check ph first always. and ya looks a little like cal-mag def maybe but usually it looks a little more rust like