First Grow Guidance: 400w MH/600w HPS & Soil

[NoLogo]

thanks for the quick response, so with the covering of perlite, how do you determine if your plants need watering? is it purely based on the weight of the pot? i have little experience using soil, and find i like to be able to touch the soil to see how dry it is.

[Harry Red]

Most places like Lowes or Home Depot sell a double probe moisture meter for around $9.00 that works really well. Wet all the way to the right and dry all the way to the left. When it gets in the red, down to around 2 on the scale, the pot is light and you can easily tell they're about ready for water. I've been using the wet to dry cycle that was suggested by biggreenbuds4 in this thread.

The one I have includes a light sensor and a PH meter. Never used the PH meter but I suspect it's not that accurate. I have a PH test kit so I'll probably compare the two one of these days

Harry

[NoLogo]

thanks for answering my questions

[Harry Red]

Hey, this is a good sign!!




Looks like two ladies for sure. One other plant looks like it is just starting to show female signs and one looks like it is starting to show male signs. The other one is not showing me anything yet.

I would be happy with 3 of 5 ladies out of the batch.

Harry

[KevinStoner]

YEA! go harry. 3 out of 5 is not bad. Looking good. Can not wait to see them in a couple more weeks :-D

[Harry Red]

Thanks KevinStoner!!

Looks like I may have gotten very lucky. I'm seeing white pistols on 4 of the 5 plants.

I still can't confirm the suspected male is actually a male but I'm pretty sure it is. Four plants this bushy are about all I accommodate under the 1 600w HPS so it really wouldn't hurt my feelings if this last one turns out male.

Then again, they could all be a bunch of hermies, which would really suck!!

Harry

[Harry Red]

Well, I've confirmed one male and it's outta there!!

Having FOUR of 5 females was best case scenario for me. woohoo!!

I had a few backup plants under veg just in case disaster struck but with 4 ladies, I'm not sure what to do with them now. Guess I'll just play around with them and try to squeeze 'em into the flower area as some point. I also have 4 female clones I'm trying to keep alive.

The flowering ladies are really stretching out. They are 30+ inches tall from the top of the bucket. Pix soon...

Harry

[Boss]

Looks good, I will be following this one :-)

[Harry Red]

Thanks Boss Man. Glad to see you back!!

It's going pretty good at the moment with my grow. I certainly could not have came this far without the help and guidance from y'all here at 420mag. It's much appreciated.

Harry

[Frog]

Pretty Work Buba

Great job, not luck

[Harry Red]

'Preciate that *********!

My grow has gone so well I'm getting nervous and expecting disaster to strike at any moment.

Hopefully, y'all will keep me on track if I start going off the rails.

I'm just hoping that this strain doesn't take forever to flower and I run out of root space in my 5gal buckets.

Harry

[BIGBudDug]

Yes, start some nutrients they should come back ok! also they can take the light now! remember before you transplant them next time for flowering with the HPS type light to put a cup of dolomite lime per cubic foot of soil to keep your PH stable when adding all the nutrients, fertilizers tend to allow salt to build up and cause early PH issues, this should always be routine when you mix the 70/30. I use 50 FFOF 10 Sphagnum Moss 10 Earth Worm Casting 10 Bat Guano and 20 perliite! with 5 cups dolomite lime to each 5 cubic ft. pot it's 50/10/10/10/20. I use organic fertilzers only! this has been what works best for me and I will sware by it. But plant genetics also get some credit also, depends on what the genetics are of each plant. Keep us posted can't wait to see your success, I think you will surprise us later on.

BBD

[Harry Red]

Thanks for the vote of confidence BIGBudDug. I used Fox Farms soil and nutes with this grow. I understand that FF soil already has the necessary dolomite so I didn't need to add any.

RooRman has suggested about that same soil mixture in another thread and I certainly plan on giving it a try next time out. From what I've read, that seems like a lot of dolomite, considering that FFOF has it in there already. I was told to take it easy on the dolomite, 1-2 tbls per gallon of soil. I think I'll stick with FF liquid nutes for the time being.

Harry

[Boss]

Beat me too it :-) Thanks Dahui :-)

[Harry Red]

Well, it's day 15 of flowering and 62 days from seed. I'm hoping the stretch is over. The plants, which I'm calling Jolly Green Giants, are averaging 50+ inches.

I can't believe how fast these ladies grew.





They are getting lots of white pistols and are just starting to form actual buds. Here's a pic a little while after lights out. They were watered today, plus they get a little droopy during lights out. Hope I didn't wake them up. :)


I've been giving them 1/2 strength Big Bloom and 1/2 strength Tiger Bloom for the last 3 waterings, with about 3-4 days between watering. Am I giving too much nutes?

I also have 4 clones sprouted, planted and they are all showing new growth. I should have chosen a little larger branches for a couple of the clones but I'm learning as I go here. I will use these for my next attempt. Nice to know I'm starting with all ladies.

I also took a clone from the plant that I considered to have the best genetics, at least as far as looks is concerned (time will tell). The plant has larger, wider leaves and a huge main stem to really pump the nutes. The nodes are tighter and the plant is burlier, for lack of a better word. I hope to make a mother from this clone.

Here she is...



I'm hoping they don't grow so large as to become root bound. Considering the plants went from ~21 inches to ~50 inches during the initial stretch, wonder how much taller do y'all suppose they might get?

Harry