CFIT - Potted Outdoor Grow - Bag Seeds - Two Varieties

[daTenshi]

Honestly for 600$ you can get an awesome LED panel and have money to spare. LED's are cheaper, consume less energy plus they give off less heat.

Look over the sponsor list, awesome trusted sellers over there. Almost all give you a 2 years warranty.

Before I switched to LED's I was growing indoors with CFL's and just one generic panel replaced all my CFL bulbs and consume a lot less electricity.

I've never used MH or HPS, so I can only give you advice based on what I've read myself.

 

[Major PITA]

If you go with an HPS or MH, don't spend that kind of $$$. You can get 1000W for under $100.
Even indirect light outdoors is going to keep plants happy. Compared to the light from indoor setups, the plants are getting more PAR outside. Way better penetration to the entire plant. too.

 

[Kalomessimeri]

Cool - thanks you two. Yeah we've had no sun for two days and they still looked slightly bigger this morning although not as perky. Last night I noticed they didn't droop as much so direct sun vs. cloudy day must have some effect on degree of night time droopiness. When we have days and days of rain it affect my attitude in a negative way. I have no desire to live in Washington state, besides the mold up there must be outrageous.

 

[Kalomessimeri]

Tops are turning yellow and the plants are soft, not as stiff when I move the pots. Might be over-watered, top two inches of soil was dry but just sitting in the house I couldn't understand how they could be using that much water but I watered anyway. Over four days they've been outside three, maybe four hours total under overcast so maybe light deficiency is making them sick. I've done a lot of reading but the possible causes like nutrient deficiencies or bad water shouldn't apply here yet - but who knows. This is not an exact science, there are as many opinions out there as there are growers. Sun is supposed to be in and out today (haven't seen it yet and it's almost noon), they're sitting outside, maybe that will help. And maybe I shouldn't water until they look like they're wilting in the daytime. Who knows.

 

[Major PITA]

I know you get a lot of conflicting advice. Here's mine.
I wouldn't judge when to water by how dry the top of the soil is. The water roots are in the bottom. That's the part that matters. Feeder roots are in the top of the soil. Get to know what a dry pot feels like. Fill one up with dry soil. Pick it up. That's when it is time to water.
Best of luck!

 

[Kalomessimeri]

I know you get a lot of conflicting advice. Here's mine.
I wouldn't judge when to water by how dry the top of the soil is. The water roots are in the bottom. That's the part that matters. Feeder roots are in the top of the soil. Get to know what a dry pot feels like. Fill one up with dry soil. Pick it up. That's when it is time to water.
Best of luck!

Yeah but your advice is pretty good just look at your plants.

When carrying the pots outside today I did notice how much heavier they were with all the water. I've tried to be so careful about not over-watering but I really blew it yesterday. Don't they make something like a soil moisture meter? I'll take a look. Brief update, sun has been in and out for the past four hours, some of the yellow has turned green. They are over-watered but I think lack of light hasn't helped. Nothing but dim stormy light through a window for days just isn't going to cut it. I started this early out of necessity, later in the year when the drought comes would probably have been better.

Update: Yes there are all kinds of moisture meters from cheap to expensive. Just checked the soil, it's still sopping wet and now sativa-dominant's new growth looks necrotic. It's amazing how fast sickness can come on. At this point I think there's nothing I can do but leave them alone. Looks like rain again, geez this sucks.

 

[Major PITA]

Don't get a meter. This is a basic gardening skill you need to have in your arsenal. You'll get it. Meters are not very accurate and they don't have any idea of what you are growing (hopefully ). Cannabis MUCH prefers to be on the dry side, rather than a little on the wet side.

I have a couple of plants right now I'm going to let wilt so I can take photos to demonstrate the differences in under-watered and over-watered plants. One key in knowing which it is: A plant that needs water responds immediately when given a drink. A plant with too much water will stay the same, or get worse. Seriously, I can give my girls a drink and watch them react. They go from a wilt to praying to the sun in a matter of a few minutes.

The other key to knowing is, plants with too much water have droopy leaves. Plants that NEED water have droopy stems but the leaves still look good - unless you've really abused them.

 

[Kalomessimeri]

Don't get a meter. This is a basic gardening skill you need to have in your arsenal. You'll get it. Meters are not very accurate and they don't have any idea of what you are growing (hopefully ). Cannabis MUCH prefers to be on the dry side, rather than a little on the wet side.

I have a couple of plants right now I'm going to let wilt so I can take photos to demonstrate the differences in under-watered and over-watered plants. One key in knowing which it is: A plant that needs water responds immediately when given a drink. A plant with too much water will stay the same, or get worse. Seriously, I can give my girls a drink and watch them react. They go from a wilt to praying to the sun in a matter of a few minutes.

The other key to knowing is, plants with too much water have droopy leaves. Plants that NEED water have droopy stems but the leaves still look good - unless you've really abused them.

Cool, yes please photos are great! Yesterday top leaves were praying but bottom leaves looked slightly droopy but it wasn't because they needed water, I just don't know what I'm looking at yet.

This photo makes the blotchy necrotic new growth look slightly better than it actually looks, camera registers green better than it does yellow

Also I had a terrible thought - that's an old pillowcase sativa-dominant is growing in, maybe detergent residue is making it sick. I might be at the hydro store tomorrow, maybe I should just pick up a cheap plastic 3 or 5 gallon pot, they're like $1.25 each. ACK that was stupid of me!

 

[Major PITA]

The detergent thing sounds unlikely. Possible, but...
Those plants probably still have a ways to go for the roots to reach the fabric. By then, the water should leach out stuff left in them.
Also, they don't look quite ready for another transplant. How big is the fabric pot you are using?

 

[Kalomessimeri]

The detergent thing sounds unlikely. Possible, but...
Those plants probably still have a ways to go for the roots to reach the fabric. By then, the water should leach out stuff left in them.
Also, they don't look quite ready for another transplant. How big is the fabric pot you are using?

The fabric pot on the right is 3 gallon, we decided we could cough up enough for another like it tomorrow at the hydro store. They have fabric pots at places like Home Depot and Ace Hardware but you have to buy a package of 10 for thirty-something bucks. Oh so you like my pillow case pot, yeah I'll be sure and file for a patent - once the dirt was inside it became obvious a pillow case would not hold any kind of practical shape. That's when I requisitioned my best colander and we've gone without pasta ever since. I think I can get the plant into the pot without disturbing the roots too much unless you think it's asking for trouble. I would sort of like my colander back

Oh and after sitting outside five hours they do look better, the new growth is less yellow and I think the necrosis has stopped. We had a high near 80 so a little of that moisture evaporated. They're going to be fine, I just get bent when the train starts leaving the track.

 

[Kalomessimeri]

I've got leaf hoppers and either spider mites or very small spiders that won't get off my plants. After reading about options I think I'll go with neem oil during veg and switch to something less offensive like SM-90 during flowering. Garden Safe Neem Oil Concentrate is organic and they have it at Walmart so I guess I'll go with that. Just a word of caution, I read a couple articles citing cases of people being poisoned by neem, it can cause neurological problems.

 

[Major PITA]

Remember to do multiple sprays about 3 days apart. Mites (especially the 2 spotted variety) are a bitch to get rid of. You also may want to rotate the treatments (like the SM-90) so they don't develop an immunity. I find neem pretty inoffensive. It smells bad initially but it breaks down very quickly, which is why you need multiple sprays to get the bugs in their various stages of development.

 

[Kalomessimeri]

I got one of the spiders to run off onto a piece of paper - she was a spider not a mite and actually looked like she'd been eating mite-like things. I try to catch spiders and put them outside, spiders being a good thing. Won't be spraying until after dark - should take some pics today girls look great!

 

[Kalomessimeri]

We've had a setback, re-potting and neem will have to wait. In the meantime they look pretty happy. I need to get that spider back, I think she was actually beneficial.

I've never seen trichomes on a live plant, is that what these waxy bumps are? And if I topped it dried it and smoked it would my Saturday get any better? No after all this work I'm not going to try it, just curious.

 

[Kalomessimeri]

Tonight I'll be spraying with pepper spray made of 9 parts water, 1 part additive-free dishwashing soap and a tablespoon of cayenne pepper. I shook the plants over a white piece of paper and some white aphid-looking things fell off, the only dark specs I see are in the resident spiders' webs. Don't want webs on the plants though, don't want any of it. Some leaves have a few white spots of damage but it's not too bad yet if we can just get through the day.

 

[Major PITA]

Can you get a picture of the little buggers?
Plants are looking happy.

 

[daTenshi]

I see no bug damage on the leaves, that doesn't mean there is none there, but some preventive home-made bug spray might be a good idea.

 

[Kalomessimeri]

A lot more damage today and the weather became overcast so I mixed up some homemade pepper spray as per instructions and promptly ruined two spray misters. The pepper clogs the spray mechanism, I took them apart but either broke both or they're just permanently ruined. I guess the instructions were referring to a pump pressure mister rather than a spray mister although there was no clear distinction. I had to do something to stop the damage so I poured the pepper solution into a shallow pan and hand-dipped each set of leaves individually. Tiny pests were all over the sink but they're dead and mixed with particles of dislodged soil you can't really discern anything for photos. Tried to shake off excess solution, girls are sitting in the breeze drying behind a barrier from direct light, the sun is in and out. This is the best I can do, need to stop thinking about it for now.

 

[daTenshi]

I am a bug hater, but I've learned that jumping in head first trying to solve a problem that might not exist is worse then not doing anything. There are a couple of bugs that are bad for the plant, some more harmful then others, some harder to get rid off, some just plain evil that kill the plant! So I understand how urgent you want to fix it. The bugs are part of the outdoor experience, since cannabis is a plant that has a strong odor even in vegetative, that by itself attracts a number of creatures that you will end up hating.

Spider mites are awful, they ruined my first grow, and it was just horrible. You can figure out if those are indeed the pests your girls have by misting the leaves and looking for thin spider-like webs that usually start from under the leaf towards others. Or look under the leaves for poop, or eggs or things crawling.

Here's the way it should look if this is indeed your issue:

 

[Major PITA]

For misters, and fine sprays in general, you need to filter out any particles. Since the pepper doesn't dissolve, run the solution through a coffee filter.