A very new grower saying hello

[Pommie]

Hi all, I'm in Brisbane, Australia, 60 years old and trying my first grow in an apartment which is not without it's challenges. I'm more interested in the medicinal uses - aches etc.

I'm in the process of growing a caramelicious (sp?) from seed. It was planted second week of December and appears to be growing healthily. However, it is now 4 months old and still not budding - or I don't think it is. Not sure if I'd recognize budding if it was/is.

I'm starting to wonder if it might be male and read all I could about sexing but just can't see what I'm supposed to look for.
This is the best picture I can get of the top of one branch.

Can anyone advise if this is male/female? What might be the next step?

Is there a better angle to take pictures? Or, a better part of the plant?

Thanks.

 

[Old Salt]

to the forum...

What you see in the image is the flower or bud. This will expand and fatten over the next few weeks. The white pistils (hairs) tell me this is not a male plant. That makes it either a female or a hermaphrodite. I'm heavily on the side of it being female, as I don't see any pollen sacks.

Cannabis Male and Female Plants
​

 

[Pommie]

Thanks Old Salt, so I'll just have to wait and see.

 

[bluenoserjoe]

What is your light cycle set at?

 

[Pbass]

Welcome @Pommie looks like the start of some fat buddage going on there! Congrats, luck to your grow!

 

[Pommie]

What is your light cycle set at?

I'm on 12/12 at the moment. However, my drainage seems excessive, I'm having to water daily or there is a marked droop. I have 3 cutting that have been under 24 hour light and they seem to be doing well. Guess I'll just have to have patience.

 

[Old Salt]

What are you growing in? Soil? Coco? Promix?

 

[Pbass]

Guess I'll just have to have patience.

What's that funny word? I know it not.

 

[Pommie]

I'm growing in soil. I have another house plant (Cardamon Ginger) in a slightly smaller pot, I water that whenever it weighs less than 2400g and I add approx 150g of water - this only needs watering every 3 or 4 days. With MJ I can only go from around 3800g to 4100g with watering but the next day it'll be back to 3800g. I guess I need to do some more research on different soil mixtures.

Edit, for anyone interested I am an electronic engineer and built a web based auto watering system. It's being tested on the Cardamon Ginger plant and this is what the web page looks like currently.

The red lines are when it's been watered, each vertical line is 6 hours. The blips in the downward lines are the difference between day and night time usage. I'm finding it very interesting but don't want to risk it on my better plant.

 

[Emilya Green]

Hi Pomm, welcome to the forum!

First, you have a beautiful female flower growing there... I am curious how much light you are able to provide for her? I am estimating based on the size of your bud there that you are about a week and a half into flower?

So how are you determining the time to water... by time? Kudos on the computerized setup, but weeds dont so much like regular by the clock waterings... they need to dry out between each watering, and depending on the strength of the roots, this happens in an ever decreasing wet/dry cycle, until the plant outgrows the container and it is time to up-pot to start building the roots again.

I wrote a very popular piece a few years back explaining the need for the wet dry cycle and describing a better way to water so as to move soil around in the container and to make sure the bottom feeder roots get the oxygen they need. I invite you to read it, and then I bet we could devise some sensors that would water more properly, based on what the lower roots are needing. Please click on the link down in my signature lines, The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant. I look forward to hearing your comments!

 

[Carcass]

Welcome to 420 ,Pommie

Good looking lady you've got growing...

What size pot is she in?

 

[Pommie]

The pot is a 250mm (10" dia) pot. It weight about 4kg - 8lbs to you Americans. I tend to water on weight but think I'm watering too often. Emilya's article was interesting as I went straight from a plastic cup type container to this one so the root ball won't have had a chance to develop properly. I've just transplanted a cutting into an intermediate pot (115mm) and weighed it dry (518g) and after soaking and draining for an hour (860g). I may try the auto waterer on this one but wondering where to set the start weight - maybe 518 plus 20% = 620 and then water for a short period every ten minutes until it reaches 600? Anyone any idea?

 

[John Wick]

Hi Pomm, welcome to the forum!

First, you have a beautiful female flower growing there... I am curious how much light you are able to provide for her? I am estimating based on the size of your bud there that you are about a week and a half into flower?

So how are you determining the time to water... by time? Kudos on the computerized setup, but weeds dont so much like regular by the clock waterings... they need to dry out between each watering, and depending on the strength of the roots, this happens in an ever decreasing wet/dry cycle, until the plant outgrows the container and it is time to up-pot to start building the roots again.

I wrote a very popular piece a few years back explaining the need for the wet dry cycle and describing a better way to water so as to move soil around in the container and to make sure the bottom feeder roots get the oxygen they need. I invite you to read it, and then I bet we could devise some sensors that would water more properly, based on what the lower roots are needing. Please click on the link down in my signature lines, The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant. I look forward to hearing your comments!

Just want to chime in here and thank Miss Emilya for her watering instructions.
I turned around my first indoor grow, to a positive with her program.
Thanks again, Hun.

 

[Old Salt]

Rather than time, can you water slowly once? I made some drip rings, and slowed my pump by cutting the voltage so that their rate was about 250ml /min. As I use coco/perlite in a drain to waste system, I water with my nutrient solution twice a day about 500ml per plant. They are in 11l caged grow bags. Here's a link to my test system.

 

[John Wick]

to the forum Pommie, you can't buy the free knowledge and friendship here. In other words you came to the right place, enjoy.

Wick.

 

[Camaro1691]

Hi all, I'm in Brisbane, Australia, 60 years old and trying my first grow in an apartment which is not without it's challenges. I'm more interested in the medicinal uses - aches etc.

I'm in the process of growing a caramelicious (sp?) from seed. It was planted second week of December and appears to be growing healthily. However, it is now 4 months old and still not budding - or I don't think it is. Not sure if I'd recognize budding if it was/is.

I'm starting to wonder if it might be male and read all I could about sexing but just can't see what I'm supposed to look for.
This is the best picture I can get of the top of one branch.

Can anyone advise if this is male/female? What might be the next step?

Is there a better angle to take pictures? Or, a better part of the plant?

Thanks.

Welcome to Pommie, that’s a nice looking lady you got there, next step is to enjoy watching the flowers form, it’s a slow painful process but one we’ve all come to love, take some pictures along the way all you can go back and watch the growth week by week, it’s crazy how fast they grow. Maybe start up a grow journal, we all love seeing people’s experiences with different strains in different parts of the world. You’ve come to a wonderful community and one I’ve come to consider family, we’re all here for the love of Cannabis, should you have any specific questions there’s plenty of experienced growers to guide you along the way, there’s a few links in my sognature to get you started if you need help. welcome, and cheers mate

 

[Emilya Green]

I like the watering by weight idea, imitating our lift the pot method to see if it is time to water. If you weighed a similar container filled with dry soil, and then added 10% to that total, that would be very close to the correct time to water. The problem is that in a room, each plant may not be on exactly the same schedule. If each plant however was sitting on a sensor that told the system when it was time to water, and then water could be applied slowly until finally achieving runoff... I could see being able to automate a proper watering system. I experimented with a system many years back that would sense the water table level in the container and would give me a visual indication as to when to water based on that... there are several ways to skin this cat. I have tried various drip, halo and sprinkler systems to do the watering... but still have not found anything better than good old fashioned hand watering... I never have been able to totally trust my automation.

 

[Camaro1691]

I like the watering by weight idea, imitating our lift the pot method to see if it is time to water. If you weighed a similar container filled with dry soil, and then added 10% to that total, that would be very close to the correct time to water. The problem is that in a room, each plant may not be on exactly the same schedule. If each plant however was sitting on a sensor that told the system when it was time to water, and then water could be applied slowly until finally achieving runoff... I could see being able to automate a proper watering system. I experimented with a system many years back that would sense the water table level in the container and would give me a visual indication as to when to water based on that... there are several ways to skin this cat. I have tried various drip, halo and sprinkler systems to do the watering... but still have not found anything better than good old fashioned hand watering... I never have been able to totally trust my automation.

A combination of weight and soil moisture sensors should be able to do the trick for the most part but then it runs into the issue of wether it’s a strain acclimated to rain forest like conditions or desert like conditions, but that could be figured out easy enough if someone is running the same strains consistently from the same mother. Agreed though that the best watering is done by hand

 

[KingJoe83]

Hi all, I'm in Brisbane, Australia, 60 years old and trying my first grow in an apartment which is not without it's challenges. I'm more interested in the medicinal uses - aches etc.

I'm in the process of growing a caramelicious (sp?) from seed. It was planted second week of December and appears to be growing healthily. However, it is now 4 months old and still not budding - or I don't think it is. Not sure if I'd recognize budding if it was/is.

I'm starting to wonder if it might be male and read all I could about sexing but just can't see what I'm supposed to look for.
This is the best picture I can get of the top of one branch.

Can anyone advise if this is male/female? What might be the next step?

Is there a better angle to take pictures? Or, a better part of the plant?

Thanks.

Those are bud sites happening white pistils. Means female.

 

[buzz62]

Welcome Aboard!! Your girl is looking great!

I recommend a much bigger pot next time. I get away with watering every 2-3 days with a 15 gallon pot in flower in buffered peat. Usually once a week from the top with a 50% nute mix 2 gallons imp., and twice a week at the bottom with full nutes 1 gallon each time. So 4- 5 gallons a week .
I water by weight, by hand, and years of practice, but to computerize it, you also have to figure out approximately how much the plants mass is increasing daily, and raise the lower cut in weight or it will get drier at each watering cycle. Other factors that affect water usage are room humidity, temperature, and if there are circulation fans blowing on the plants.

Happy Growing, check out my journals in my signature if your interested!