2 More Absolute Beginner Questions

[Hawk518]

I read the article The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant by @Emilya Green and thought it extremely helpful. However, I have a question. Once again, it’s raining here in N. VA. Pot plants appear to be extremely particular on watering needs, etc. What to do when it rains for a couple days in a row? Rainy days totally mess up the need for the soil to dry out before watering again. Pots are too big to try to move them. So, what to do?

 

[SmokingWings]

What to do when it rains for a couple days in a row?

My thoughts are that there is nothing much to do. Let it rain. Most of the time there are short breaks in the rainfall over those several days. If there is any excess water already in the pots it drains out. Even in hurricane rainfalls with 10 o more inches of rain it still should not be a problem.

If someone is doing a flushing of their grow medium they run a lot more water through their soil and several days of rain is not that much different.

I seem to remember that one of the points @Emilya Green brings up about over-watering is that it is the consistent watering and never letting the soil drain and dry that causes problems. Seems to me that the occasional soil saturation is not a problem.

 

[Emilya Green]

I read the article The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant by @Emilya Green and thought it extremely helpful. However, I have a question. Once again, it’s raining here in N. VA. Pot plants appear to be extremely particular on watering needs, etc. What to do when it rains for a couple days in a row? Rainy days totally mess up the need for the soil to dry out before watering again. Pots are too big to try to move them. So, what to do?

Good question! Too much rain can definitely affect an outdoor grow, and I think the only times I really see a N deficiency is in your particular situation, where it gets leached out of the soil because of too much rain. The best solution that I have found for protecting your plants from a monsoon season is by putting a tin foil cover over your container, with your plant sticking through. However you figure out to do it will block a good portion of the rain that will fall on the surface, while you will still get a bit that runs off of the plant and down the center. Other than that, you just have to deal with what you got and be aware of how much water is sitting in your containers before thinking of watering again.

 

[Hawk518]

The best solution that I have found for protecting your plants from a monsoon season is by putting a tin foil cover over your container, with your plant sticking through. However you figure out to do it will block a good portion of the rain that will fall on the surface, while you will still get a bit that runs off of the plant and down the center.

Thank you! I’ve put down a tin foil cover on both 7 gallon grow pots and it is helping. Hopefully, the sun comes out soon.

 

[Hawk518]

From questions on watering to questions on lighting.

I Need an LED light. However, at this time I don’t have the ability to hang an LED light. Are there any WAND LED lights that are strong enough to make it worth buying? I still can’t make heads/tails of the numbers they provide since I’ve heard that a lot of the listing numbers/stats are misleading. Can anyone help steer me in the right direction? Hoping to find one under $50 (no idea if that’s realistic or not). Thanks in advance!!

 

[bluter]

since you are outdoor what are you trying to do with the light ?

From questions on watering to questions on lighting.
Are there any WAND LED lights that are strong enough to make it worth buying?

not really. they are more of a toy for houseplant use. 1 per houseplant.

I still can’t make heads/tails of the numbers they provide since I’ve heard that a lot of the listings are misleading. Can anyone help steer me in the right direction?

stick with the sponsors or check back here as far as quality and use. you light for the area you are covering, not by dollar value.

we can help you decipher what the numbers mean, important numbers are going to be actual draw from the wall, and ppfd numbers and maps. claims such as 1000w leds from a 150w draw are misleading garbage, stay away from those mfgrs. brand can be important in lighting.

Hoping to find one under $50 (no idea if that’s realistic or not). Thanks in advance!!

put at least a 3 or 4 in front of that 50 to begin getting somewhere. a lot depends on what you are using it for. a seedling light can be cheaper. anything to get through veg will need to be bigger. flower will need more than that.

it is assuming you are going indoor only though. outdoor may only need supplemental. go look at @InTheShed 's journal, he is outdoor with indoor supplemental.

 

[Hawk518]

since you are outdoor what are you trying to do with the light ?

I was hoping to use an LED wand light for newly planted seedlings. Would use the wand light til they were ready to go outside.

not really. they are more of a toy for houseplant use. 1 per houseplant.

That’s really unfortunate! At this point, I don’t have the ability to hang LED lights for indoor use. The LED wand seemed like a perfect solution. But NOT if they’re not strong enough to be worthwhile.

stick with the sponsors or check back here as far as quality and use. you light for the area you are covering, not by dollar value.

we can help you decipher what the numbers mean, important numbers are going to be actual draw from the wall, and ppfd numbers and maps. claims such as 1000w leds from a 150w draw are misleading garbage, stay away from those mfgrs. brand can be important in lighting.

Thank you so much for this input! Would love to purchase from sponsors, but haven’t seen any LED wand lights available. Maybe I’ve missed something? I was looking for a new LED wand since the one my wife bought for her veggie seedlings definitely falls under the misleading garbage that you mention. When I posted the stats, someone informed me that my LED wand only draws something like 15K despite claiming far more. This is exactly what I’m trying to bypass. Any idea if any of the sponsors have inexpensive LED wands that would be appropriate for the first couple weeks of the seedling stage?

put at least a 3 or 4 in front of that 50 to begin getting somewhere. a lot depends on what you are using it for. a seedling light can be cheaper. anything to get through veg will need to be bigger. flower will need more than that.

it is assuming you are going indoor only though. outdoor may only need supplemental. go look at @InTheShed 's journal, he is outdoor with indoor supplemental.

I had a feeling that the any decent LED lights would be a couple hundred. Had hoped that an LED just for seedlings would be more affordable. Not going to invest for a real LED that I’d hang up til I purchase an actual grow tent.

Also, thanks for the referral, will check out @InTheShed ’s journal!

 

[Need Fer Weed]

Hey @Hawk518, you can build a lil stand using 2x4. 2 vertical, 1 horizontal, and 2 feet. Make to fit yer light. You can use T5 grow lights, they come in lengths of 18” to 4’ long, cheap and effective lights fer seedlings. Hope this helps.

 

[Sueet]

For seedlings you can use just about any light, they don't need much as babies. Even a bright window works for temporary living space. Save your light money for when you want to do a full grow inside, definitely need something strong for flower if you want a decent crop.

 

[bluter]

just run a couple banks of t5 leds if it's just for seedlings. you can even use them to lengthen the day cycle on larger plants if you bring them in from outside.

 

[Hawk518]

7/15/23 - These 2 (GDP & THC Bomb) are nearly 12 weeks old now. Didn’t really start to grow until they got a couple doses of GeoFlora nutrients. My question is very basic – what do I do now? What is the next step here (besides patience)? Low Stress Training? Fim? Just leave them alone?

As always, any help / advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[bluter]

you could top and train if you want or just let them grow as is. keep up with the feeding.

if it's a first grow i'd just let them be, and grow them out natural to gain the experience. you can try topping / training on the next grow once you have some jars filled.

considering you are outdoor you may want to think about another up pot at some point. if your climate is decent, the plants will get much larger than they would indoor.

 

[Hawk518]

7/20/23 - looked more closely at my two plants today and noticed a couple problem leaves. Can anyone please tell me what the issue is and what I need to fix it? Thanks in advance!

 

[Emilya Green]

It looks like bugs. There are many ways to fix it, from natural to nuclear. The choice is up to you.

 

[Hawk518]

It looks like bugs. There are many ways to fix it, from natural to nuclear. The choice is up to you.

Thank you! I'd prefer the natural remedy. Not sure what to search for though, since no idea what kind of bugs I'm dealing with. Greatly appreciated if you can point me in the right direction. Thanks again!

 

[SmokingWings]

Not sure what to search for though, since no idea what kind of bugs I'm dealing with.

Good chance you have several different types of insects. Could be mites, thrips or some sort of caterpillar involved.

These are the outdoor plants and they look healthy in the earlier photos and the leaves in the newest photos also look healthy so maybe there is nothing to do. A good healthy outdoor environment usually means that there are predator insects attacking your pest insects.

If you start spraying for pest insects there is a chance that you will also kill off enough predators and then the balance goes out of whack and within weeks the pests are reproducing faster than you can control them. There is a good chance that even if the predators are not affected there will be a new batch of pest insects move in from plants in your yard or from all the neighboring yards.

Figure out what insects you have and watch to see if they are doing more damage than is safe for the plant. I see a lot of photos of outdoor grows where the gardener leaves well enough alone and ends up with harvests they brag about.

 

[Emilya Green]

Thank you! I'd prefer the natural remedy. Not sure what to search for though, since no idea what kind of bugs I'm dealing with. Greatly appreciated if you can point me in the right direction. Thanks again!

You haven't shared in your profile where in the world you are, so I don't know if my preferred solution is available to you. In the USA I enjoy access to @Sierra Natural Science products, and I love them. They are a sponsor of this forum and I highly recommend all of their products.

SNS-209 is a systemic preventative that you start using on your very first watering, and it provides a natural barrier to infestation. If the bugs take hold, SNS-203 comes to the rescue, which can be sprayed or used in the soil as a drench, and it will naturally kill the bugs on contact. If things get out of hand, such as with spidermites and other tough bugs, SNS-217 is the nuclear option... and used properly, the bugs don't have a chance.

 

[Hawk518]

Thanks for all the info / feedback! Greatly appreciated. I'm in N. VA, where it's been scorching hot lately. Just discovered that my wife already has two different solutions. Looks like both products get rid of the same pests. Any preference as to one of these products?

I'll be looking into the Sierra Natural Science products for the next purchase.

 

[Sueet]

1 vote for Captain Jack's here. Both products would probably work fine (individually of course)

 

[Emilya Green]

Neem might work, but the Jack's will definitely work. While you can't use a poison like this in bloom, most of these degrade and are gone in 5 weeks, and as long as you get the bugs gone, all will be ok. Or, kill them now and then use the preventative after you wipe this round out.