First Grow - Soil - White Widow

[Stinkybud]

What strain is it - White Widow
Is it in Veg or Flower stage - Veg
If in Veg... For how long - 30 days from seed
If soil... Ocean Forest
If soil... pot size - 2 Gallon
Size of light - 240W LED
Temp of Room - 73F
RH - 50%
How often are you watering - Every 3 days
Type and strength of ferts used - 3 tsp Grow Big every other feeding.



I'm new to the forum but actually 30 days into my first grow. Today I moved the plants into my basement which is now their permanent spot. The room is 3x5 and lined in mylar. I havent done the exhaust yet but plan to tap into a vent that goes to the roof. The actual room the grow room is in is around 500sq ft so I'm not too worried about the exhaust yet.

I currently have 2 plants that are 30 days old and 7" tall and 1 that is 3 weeks old and probably 3 inches tall. I started to germinate a bunch more yesterday and have another LED light on the way. I just wanted to get everyone's thoughts on how things looked so far.

I was thinking they should be taller by now. Is it because the container is too small (2 gallon)?
Should i clip some of the bigger leaves off of the bottom?

 

[Stinkybud]

Another question:

The temp is bouncing around between 72 and 73. I would actually like to warm it up a few degrees. Should I try an hps light rather than another LED?

 

[TuzoMagnus]

Subscribed. No professional knowledge on the temperature question, but my instincts say that 72 degrees is just about perfect. I'm sure some heavyweights will chime in. An HPS would certainly heat things up, should that be the verdict.

 

[Stinkybud]

I think its day 35 on the big plants, I may have been off a few days before. I don't have any experience but i think they look pretty good. I transplanted them into 5 gallon containers 5 days ago and the last few days they are really starting to gain some height. I would say almost 2 inches in 3 days. The bigger plant is about 12". Today they had a little downward curl on some of the fan leaves. It was happening on both plants so I think they were just thirsty.

The little guys came up on Tuesday. My current plan is to keep the bigger plants in veg until the younger ones are old enough to flower. I would prefer to keep them all under the same light schedule.

I decided to go with a 600W hps/mh combo light. I haven't purchased it yet but that's what I'm planning on. I think that when the temp outside drops 90 degrees and the ground freezes I'm going to like having the extra heat in the basement compared to another LED which puts out pretty much no heat.

Random question: I've read that when using Ocean Forest there is no need to add nutes for a few weeks. If I keep transplanting every couple of weeks into new soil/bigger pots when should I be giving the full feeding?

 

[Stinkybud]

I was using the arrows for a height measurement btw. When you stare at something 100 times a day it never seems to get bigger.

 

[Stinkybud]

The curling on the leaves has gotten worse towards the top of both plants. Its odd that this is happening to both plants at the same time so I'm guessing its probably something common?? I ordered some calmag but not sure if that will do anything. I've skipped the fertilizer the last two waterings because of the curling. Currently 74F and 55RH. I also increased the light height about 4 inches. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated!

When I first watered the plants into their new buckets 7 days ago i used tap water instead of distilled. I've used distilled the last two times. Could that have F'ed something up?

 

[smokey1507]

Hi stinkybud
Typically the leaf curling down effect is either due to over watering or ph problems.. Do you check the soil ph ??
I'm only a noob but that's my guess, hope you get it fixed soon

Good luck

* edit. This is a handy chart to have to identify possible problems

 

[dunc014]

Subbed. I'm gonna say over watering. Just my opinion. Just few more questions. Smokey mentioned ph, what is yours? I'm a soil grower I try to keep mine at 6.2 - 6.8. After you add nutes you might need to adjust your ph again. Nutriants how often? I see you water every three days. How is your drainage, and the ph of that? How are you testing that it's time to water? Are you doing the finger method?

One tip I have found for adjusting ph is white vinegar. One teaspoon to gallon, depending on nute strength you might need to add more.

Never get rid of leaves at this stage. They need those to help move energy. Try topping or fimming. And throw some LST in there and your good..

Things are looking good.

 

[Stinkybud]

I actually haven't tested the ph. I'm going to home depot shortly so I'll see if they have a gauge and report back with what I find. I was giving nutes every other watering but left them out the last 3 feedings because of transplanting and the curling leaves.

I think that my drainage is good. I added a bag of perlite to 5 bags of ocean forest and also drilled 25 or so holes in the buckets that they are in. I think I'll add a couple more bags in the future to make sure this doesn't happen again.

I was using the finger method to test when its time for water. I've seen moisture meters so I may pick one of them up too.

Can the plants bounce back from this fairly easy?

 

[dunc014]

Yes they can. I wouldn't say it's to much nutes. I'm really thinking it's over watering. I had this happen to me when my plants first started. Had to get the hang of it. I did the three day things also. Still turn out to be to much, also had a lot of rain so that didn't help me either as im outdoors. I think you'll be fine. I would recommend only watering with nutes every third watering. Start small and build to full strength. Bigger they get more nutes they will need.

 

[Stinkybud]

I picked up a digital water meter at Home Depot. It goes from 0 to 9.9. The top 2 inches measure around 5 while the middle and bottom were at 9.9. I think it's safe to say the cause is over watering. I drilled more holes in the buckets thinking air would get in better. Hopefully they dry out before more damage is caused.

I also bought the only ph meter they had but I think it's a piece of shit. It just says 7 all the time

 

[dunc014]

Try to adjust ph. Do this slowly with each water. Try to get the run off around 6.0 to 6.8 same as what's going in. Once you get the hang of that, it gets easier every time. Let them get completely dry before you water again. This should help. They look very healthy and will recover from this.

Believe it or not I use pool tester strips. This give me a wide range of what is in my water, and percentage of how many chemical are in it. Such as (chlorine, alkalinity, ph) are just a few things that it shows. Big help for me.

 

[Tropical Thai]

PH Meter with accurate reading re expensive, i ve same problem with mine.

 

[J189RFC]

It might be working properly. If your using distilled water every other feeding a ph of 7 sounds legit.

Usually that leaf curling and dark green leaves are associated with over abundance of nitrogen. Easy on the feeding for the next week and it should be fine.

Heat wise 70 is good (bout 21 celcius) but yet ideally about 80(26-27) is a good range. My cab runs at 31 almost always but I run a 400 Hps plus others and I havn't had any problems. You could add a little 400 hops, or another led, or some compact fluros or just keep the heat in the house higher hahah! No but really you may want an hps for flowering and that will bring up the temperatures quite a bit!

Keepin in touch, this grow looks like fun! GL!

 

[Lik2smoke]

Yeah I bought one of them too, is it the one by Burpee? Always reads 7...

 

[Stinkybud]

I'm gonna hold off on any water until that meter reads around 5.

I'm def going to add another light and possibly a 2x2 room to flower the two big plants. I was thinking a 600hps for the bigger room and use my LED in the small room.

 

[Stinkybud]

haha yeah the Burpee. POS

Does anyone have any knowledge as to how long White Widow takes to mature? I read somewhere that 52 days is about average before its ready to flower. Other sites said that I can flower as soon as they are 12 inches tall.

I'm assuming the longer I leave in veg, the bigger plant I will have and therefore have more buds?

 

[GreenMinded]

sub. just bought my seed. same strain. ill be lurking around here for info. good luck to you bro.

 

[Stinkybud]

The moisture level is finally starting to drop after 5 days of not watering. The bigger two plants are around 15 inches now and the one a week behind is around 10 inches. The seedlings are 7-9 days from sprouting and a couple inches tall. I plan to start working on my exhaust setup this weekend. I can smell the bigger plants as soon as I walk into the room.

I've read a lot of conflicting opinions online about the proper time to VEG this strain. Is it better to go by height, number of nodes, or age? Maybe a combination of all of them? Any input would be appreciated.

 

[smokey1507]

Personally it's down to preference and different factors including growing style, height of room, light output.. Once a plant reaches maturity you will see pistil's form/ pre flowers.. I reckon around 7-8 weeks of veg but you can 12/12 from seed too.. Here is some info I found..

Indica Strains

Most pure indica strains slow their vertical growth very quickly once switched to a 12/12 light cycle. It’s not uncommon for an indica strain to add only 25% to 50% to its total height after switching to a 12 hour light cycle. Most of this additional growth will take place in the first week or two of flowering. If an indica plant is switched to flowering when it is 12 inches tall it can be expected to finish flowering at about 18 inches, give or take. That math is pretty consistent, so a 2 foot tall indica will likely finish flowering around 3 feet tall.

Here is the equation for indica strains. The vegged plant height (V) multiplied by 1.5 equals the plant height at harvest (H) or 1.5V = H

Sativa Strains

Pure sativa strains are much more difficult to grow indoors and are becoming increasingly rare in general. I don’t recommend them for novice indoor growers for several reasons. What is important for this topic is that their growth after being switched to a 12/12 light cycle is unpredictable. Pure sativas often continue to produce significant vertical vegetative growth many weeks into the flowering cycle. Sativas often double in size while flowering, and in some cases, will finish at three times the height they were at when the light cycle was switched. A 12 inch plant switched to the 12/12 light cycle could end up as tall as 36 inches, sometimes even taller. This additional vertical growth can quickly become a problem in a normal grow room. I’ve seen growers flower sativas at 2 feet tall only to end up with 6 foot plants at harvest. Most grow rooms just can’t accommodate plants this tall, not to mention some other real problems with tall marijuana plants.

Here is the equation for sativa strains. The vegged plant height (V) multiplied by 2.5 equals the plant height at harvest (H) or 2.5V = H.

Hybrid Strains

Hybrid cannabis strains are crossbreeds of various sativa and indica plants that have been bred selectively to promote specific characteristics. Some hybrids strains grow similar to sativas, other grow more like indicas. Most of the strains sold by seed and clone vendors are some form of hybrid. Find out as much about the strain as possible so you can guess how much vertical growth to expect after the flowering cycle beings. As a general rule, leave enough room for the plants to double in size. Once you are familiar with the strain you can let them grow a bit taller if there is room. Don’t forget, at a certain point, taller is not better.

Here is the equation for hybrid strains. The vegged plant height (V) multiplied by 2 equals the plant height at harvest (H) or 2V = H.

These equations are meant as a general aid and are by no means exact. Actual growth patterns may vary considerably.