Silly questions

[GrannyA]

I hope I am not posting this in the wrong place. I am new here and still trying to find my way around.

Anyway, here are some questions I can't find the answers to. Maybe because they are completely irrelevant, maybe I just haven't looked in the right place yet.

1. Why are some of my seedlings purple. Is that normal or does it indicate something I need to know?
2. Is there any benefit or detriment to clipping the top off? I know it makes 2 branches instead of 1 but does it make any other major difference?
3. Does the watering pattern include misting? I only water when needed but mist several times a day. Is this good, bad, or does it matter?
4. Is there a certain shade of green I am looking for or does it vary. Mine seem to have different shades, I know yellow and brown are not good but does the light or darkness mean anything other than different types of plants?

If these are stupid irrelevant questions, sorry. If the answers are somewhere else point me in the right direction. And thanks to anyone who is bearing with me while I learn how things work here.

 

[KeepItSimple]

hi grannya

just to get started no questions are stupid new growers always have lots of questions better to get them answered then not ask an kill a plant!!!!!

purple stems on seedlings dont mean nothing bad its nothing out of the ordianry lots of seedlings begin life with a purple stem but 1ce they start establishing there 2nd or 3rd true sets of leaves (not the first two round leaves known as cotyledons) they should become nice an green as long as theres no nute deficiency

topping is done to keep the height of the plant down maybe if uve got lack of height room so by cutting the top the plant drives its energy to lower braches which causes a more bushy plant and also forms 2 main colas but they wont b as good IMO as 1 main cola but then u get alot more lower developed buds becoz they had time to reach the light there are other techniques called FIM where u dont remove the whole top look it up then there is bending known as low stress training LST for short look that up 2

the only time u need to mist is at seedling stage or cutting to keep humidity up but you want to be misting the media to keep it moist not the actual plant itself but there really is no need to mist plants once there established there are foiler feeds for booster but there not needed to grow a plant but if u want to foiler feed always mist a plant right before lights out not while light on it will burn an cause leaf damage

on the leaf colour its quite important ur leaves tell u how your plants are doing so a really dark green leaf and curled edges would suggest to much nitrogen but then a pale green to yellowing could be telling you they want more nitrogen there just two examples theres lots of reasons they might not be happy so please dont just add lots of nitrogen everytime u see a yellow leaf many times new growers panic to much and over fertilize so start low then build up also leaf colour can depend on the strain indicias tend to have darker lookin leaves the sativas which are more pale green

 

[GrannyA]

Wow, thank you, great info. Maybe I am trying to learn too much too fast but this is so much more complicated than other plants. It's worse than roses!!! But then again roses won't make you happy when you burn them.

You answered everything for me, but the color I still don't know. My 2 bigger plants still have a purple tint to them on the stems, if you have a sec and don't mind I uploaded pics of them just yesterday. Can you tell me if I am looking good? Or maybe SHOULD be concerned. I am tickled I actually have a plant with hairs on it as I have been trial and erroring it for almost 2 years with a LOT of frustration.

I really appreciate your time.

 

[KeepItSimple]

yea if you upload them ill take a look but i have had strains in the past that had purple on the stems all the way to harvest and were good quality and good yeilders and some that haven't what strain are u growing?

 

[GrannyA]

I have no idea. I have tried to research based on the visual, taste and smell signs but all this new info is SO confusing. They are already uploaded in my gallery. I just take seeds from the bag and try my best. This is my best try so far thank goodness. It would suck to make it this far and loose them. Based on what I know about plants in general I think they are ok, but looking at other pictures of first timers, mine look puny and sad. I am only looking for a small private yield to save time and money, have to go over an hour to visit my friends.

 

[KeepItSimple]

yea just checked out ur journal yea they defo look like there from sativa background being taller and light green the smaller of the 2 looks abit over watered the soil looks very drenched and the leaves drooping abit have you got drainage holes in the bottom of the pots? how long are they taking to dry out an by dry i mean the top inch or two crusty

 

[GrannyA]

I think I was for sure over watering until a few days ago when I read some info here. I have not watered in a few days trying to let them dry out. So that might make a big difference. Yes it has good drain holes I was just under the impression they needed more than they do. Thanks for chekin it out. I am hoping when I correct my watering error they will both perk up a bit.

 

[KeepItSimple]

yea as a rule you should water when the top inch of soil goes crusty dry because the soils so damp it will be suffocating the roots also you will have to sex them plants once you start flowering after 2 weeks you should no the sex of them so i would advise buying sum feminized seeds from a reputable company because your doing a low number of plants if they both turnout male youll b very anoid so the intial cost of 50/70 quid for 10 seeds u hopefully should have a much better succes rate i always use feminized seeds and have had 100% success rate but beware there not 100% guarenteed and when streesed they will turn hermie also i wud suggest sum better pots from a jiffy or peat pellet a 4ltr/ 1 gallon pot for 2/3 weeks then transplant to a 10 ltr to finish thats based on vegin for 3/4 weeks then flower for 8/10 weeks them pots youve got look quite big u dnt want lazy plants sittin in drenched soil for long periods its better if they need feeding more regular 2/3 times a week