What are common mistakes made by first time growers?

[sully508]

never use tap unless filtered. distilled water at wal mart is 7.0 and so it the drinking water which has gone through reverse osmosis. sping water is usually 6.5 6.6.
clorine is man made chemical and is in evertones tap water. my tap water ph is 7.8.
it kills the good bacteria and fungus in your plant. which could lead to root rot.
so if your using mycorrhizae or beneficial bacteria such as tarantula/ pirahna etc..
it will not work. always use anykind of water except tap. rain water,distiled, drinking or reverse osmosis. tap water is toilet water. sulfur is a good micronutrient to lower ph.
more acidic. lime is good to sweeten or raise the ph.. FF TIGER BLOOM is good to lower the ph slowly. but im only talking about soil or soiless medium. been growing in soil for the past 4 years. inside/ and outside. id be happy to share if anyone wants to.
because 4 years ago i knew nothing. until all the good people ay 420 where nice enough to answer my questions. and believe me i had 1 or 2 a day. my first grow was a big screw up. 2nd was ok the 3rd was right on baby. i try to keep it going all year w/ autoflowering and reg. plants, clones .i only use female seeds to save space. got no time for males. always checking for hermi. he can be a sneaky bastard. sully:

 

[Captain Kronic]

I use my tap exclusively but mine is well water and tests out at about 6.8 and PPM of about 50 every time. The best policy IMNSHO is to test your water yourself and then you'll know for sure!

 

[sully508]

i forgot about well water. but goes to a filtration prior to going to your tap.
6.8 is perfect i think. not to familiar with it. does it have clorine in it? ive always had city tap. with a water filter on the main line. well water varies from location. some have a very high iron content i heard. one of my neighbors has well water and he hates it. turns his sinks toilet and tub brown.
he just cant afford to convert regular tap. he has a septic tank too. thats about 40 years old. but it depends on location. any info on well water would be helpful. does it go through a pump and filter? thanks CK.

 

[Dr FrankenKush]

Remove all landlines from area!!! #1 security must

 

[kennysamra]

Hi everyone,

Can someone please help out with my question !!!

I have a small crops that its growing outside, they are not bigger than a finger. And I need to move them inside, I aredy have everything , the place, the light, I got alumin paper on the wall. But my question is ..... Did my crop will survive the change of enviromet ??? Please I need to know abou this really fast, because they are growing and I need to bring inside but I dont want to kill my plantation.

Thanks

 

[The303Stoner]

dig them out with as much of the dirt as you can getting all the roots, I would place them in pots and feed them Thrive Alive b1 or some kind of kelp, add mycozema(I like myco Madness or FF root drench, Sub culture A and B, Great White, White Widow). You should cover them with a dome, ziplocks work great, until you see them growing. Do Not over water use seed starter soil a coco based or lite warrior are great, I like General Hydro's "Just Right Extra" no need to add anything just water this stuff well for babies it can burn them.

 

[Bill C]

i forgot about well water. but goes to a filtration prior to going to your tap.
6.8 is perfect i think. not to familiar with it. does it have clorine in it? ive always had city tap. with a water filter on the main line. well water varies from location. some have a very high iron content i heard. one of my neighbors has well water and he hates it. turns his sinks toilet and tub brown.
he just cant afford to convert regular tap. he has a septic tank too. thats about 40 years old. but it depends on location. any info on well water would be helpful. does it go through a pump and filter? thanks CK.

I've got well water and a septic tank. VERY hard water with lots of calcium & iron in it, but zero chlorine. PPM varies but 650-700 is typical. pH is closer to 8.

The water is pumped out of the ground. I have a whole house filter that uses 20m filters, so only the largest particles are filtered out. Many homes around here have no filter at all. After the filter it goes through the softener (I use the "rust out" type of salt) and then is distributed throughout the house. I have an outside spigot that is unfiltered and unsoftened. In the grow room, I have an RO system. My concern with soft water is the number of sodium molecules. I have no problem drinking it myself, but give it to my girls??? No way!

All in all, I prefer well water over city provided fluorinated/chlorinated/whoknowswhatinated water.

 

[sully508]

I've got well water and a septic tank. VERY hard water with lots of calcium & iron in it, but zero chlorine. PPM varies but 650-700 is typical. pH is closer to 8.

The water is pumped out of the ground. I have a whole house filter that uses 20m filters, so only the largest particles are filtered out. Many homes around here have no filter at all. After the filter it goes through the softener (I use the "rust out" type of salt) and then is distributed throughout the house. I have an outside spigot that is unfiltered and unsoftened. In the grow room, I have an RO system. My concern with soft water is the number of sodium molecules. I have no problem drinking it myself, but give it to my girls??? No way!

All in all, I prefer well water over city provided fluorinated/chlorinated/whoknowswhatinated water.

thanks for the info. i do ro water too.
my town has excellent water quality. its drinkable and clear. but will they tell you if something is dangerous in the water. not until the emergency room
is full. i only drink it when i have no bottled and for coffee. but i want to make my babies have their beneficial bacteria and fungus w/out any man made chemicals. also because im trying to keep it orgainic. bills perfect fertilizer, floralicious plus, kelp, fish emulsion, FF big bloom, bud candy.
i use FF tiger bloom/ FF bushmaster micro brew and sprayngrow also. i know tiger bloom isnt orgaic but i love it.
hi kenny try to keep them on the same light dark schedule until they start taking off. they are use to a brighter light, the sun, and 8+ hours of darkness.
id put them on 16/8. and keep that way until 12/12.

 

[420freedom]

Wuzup folks. Im 4 weeks into my first garden and I have found the answers to every question I had so far. Thanx to 420 mag for all the awesome tips and starter info.

 

[kennysamra]

Ok I move then to the container, put some lights and its really preatty, and they are OK .... so. what are the most common food I can give them .... Im will use the Thrive Alive b1.. What else can I use !?

 

[sully508]

id recommend a nutrient regiment of grow/micro/ bloom series such as FF grow, FF big bloom, and FF tiger boom. which i use and follow the feeding chat at foxfarms web site. i also use supplements such as floralicious plus by GH also fruit n fossion AN overdrive and Azos by RTI. AN bud candy also during flowering stage. agve nectar w/ molasses etc. GO cal mg+. folair w/ spray n grow and GO diamond nectar every other week.
but i use about 1/2 strenght nutes w/ distilled water now.
to keep the ph around 6.8.never over nute. your better off starting off slow w/ nutes 1/4 strength. then 1/2. before you know it thet be at full strenghth and they will reward you w/ beautiful buds.

 

[kennysamra]

Thks for the advise, I will probably gona look for some of those that u tell me, but I really dont want to use many quimical in the plant. I want to keep them natural, using less quimical products. Let them grow the same way they come to the earth.

 

[cy023]

First time grower planning to use a growlab. It's 4ft x 8ft and planning to use 2x1000w HID lights. Is it realistic to grow 20-25 plants? How will the spacing between plants effect the yield?

 

[Captain Kronic]

Trying to hide your spam by putting 420 mag is it is not only classless but clueless... go away n00b!
By the way, in order to be good at spamming, your links need to work... FAIL!

 

[sully508]

hi cy023. it really depends.
so you have 32sq. feet id put 16 or less to give each 2 sq. ft minimum. 16 female plants. unless you have to weed out the males. then id do 20, or more to expect 10+ females;
good for scrog.

 

[cy023]

Thanks sully508.

My other concerns are heat and electricity costs. Has anyone had experiences with Cool Tubes and/or Water Cooled Tube reflectors? I've heard that you can run your light 6"-9" from the tops instead of 18" to give it more light.

 

[420Cudistoner]

So a little off topic but not really too sure where else to post this and I also didn't see the answer anywhere around the site, sorry but how long would you guys say it takes to grow a plant on average and when should you usually harvest it?
Thanks guys

 

[Bill C]

So a little off topic but not really too sure where else to post this and I also didn't see the answer anywhere around the site, sorry but how long would you guys say it takes to grow a plant on average and when should you usually harvest it?
Thanks guys

There are several factors to consider when answering your question. First, is it indoors or outdoors? If outdoors, the grow will take all summer with harvest in October.

If indoors, you'll typically have 2-4 weeks of veg growth, followed by 8-10 weeks (more if a sativa) of blooming. The veg growth begins with rooted clones, or seedlings that have attained 3-5 leaf sets.

 

[420Cudistoner]

There are several factors to consider when answering your question. First, is it indoors or outdoors? If outdoors, the grow will take all summer with harvest in October.

If indoors, you'll typically have 2-4 weeks of veg growth, followed by 8-10 weeks (more if a sativa) of blooming. The veg growth begins with rooted clones, or seedlings that have attained 3-5 leaf sets.

Alright thank you very much! but another question, sorrys new grower, would you wait after the full 8-10 weeks to harvest?
thanks

 

[Twyzt3d]

That's the worst regurgitation of information I've ever read....sorry...

Outdoors, harvest is based on season and location...not October...It also depends on when it was planted, location, sun, aeration, etc... In the northern hemisphere, the sun hits red in fall, which triggers bloom. That's all, it's not like the bud says "oh shoot, its october, better bloom" .. . . .

Indoors, you'll have as much veg and flower as you decide... YOU control the elements indoors, nothing else...you can veg for years if you decide, many do, this is how clones are formed...

Harvest based on appearance, texture, color, not season or weeks. If you base it on time, you're almost guaranteed to fail as a new grower...