First closet grow - Soil + 250w HPS

[Baconpimp]

Hi there!

This is my first grow! After following many of your journals, reading articles and learning the basics, I finally started my own. It's already two weeks into flowering, and I started this thread so I can have your input, feedbacks and valuable informations for the last strech.

Plants: 2 female Mango started from seeds
Medium: 50% Scott's potting mix + 25% Schultz's perlite + 25% Schultz's vermiculite
Lights: 250w HPS
Nutes - vegging: SensiGrow (A+B), Pirhana and Tarantula
Nutes - (currently) flowering: SensiBloom (A+B), BigBud and CarboLoad

Unfortunatly, I just realised I can't transfer pictures on this computer. So they will be shortly (actually I feel dumb posting a grow without any pic :S)

I still have a few questions:

- So far, I water them usually every 2 days, half a liter each. They look heatly, and the soil never gets completly dry. Is it OK? What is your watering routine?

- I have had them in 8'' pots since the beginning, is this large enough for flowering?

- The plants are both between 2.5' and 3', is it realistic to expect around 2oz dried per plant? This would be 0.5g/watt?

pictures coming shortly, can't wait to show you my girls!

I might be a new member, thus posting for the first time, but I been reading here for many month, and y'all have been really helpful. Thanks, hope my grow is up to the expectation!

 

[diesel farmer]

I would get some larger pots, 3.5 to 5 gallon would be much better, 8" pots at 3` tall, might get rootbound before the end, they might be already.

 

[HawaiianDuck]

I'm kinda in the same boat as you, new to the indoor thing (tons of outdoor exp tho), been reading and researching on this site for a hella long time before actually starting up my grow. Letting your soil get almost dry between watering/feeding is pretty important from everything I have read. I have more than a dozen girls going, all within a 10 days in age, and I generally wait to water until at least one or two show a little droop in their leaves, then I make sure to do a lift test on the rest before watering just to make sure they aren't sitting on a bunch of water still. Watering too often can lead to salt build-up, nute lockout, root rot, and maybe a couple other problems I can't think of right now, where waiting until they are pretty dry to droopy the only downside is maybe loosing a couple understory leaves early (which in my mind isn't a bad thing at all since they wont do much anyways).
8" pots sound kinda small to me (do you know the volume in gal or L?), but if you already have 2.5 and 3' plants, maybe its not as small as I'm thinking. With your plants that size, if the volume of soil is kinda low, it may just mean having to water more often and may inhibit some growth (but with 250w I don't think you would want anything taller anyways).
Well, thats all the help this semi-newb has stored in his stoney brain. I wish you all the luck with your grow, and I'll keep checkin in to see how you are doing. Oh, and yeah, pics...lol, but you know that.
Aloha,
HD

 

[Baconpimp]

Finally I got a few pictures. Plant #1 is showing some nutes burn. I'll calm down on the watering abit. I will wait for the soil to be dry. Bad quality pictures, more to come as soon as I get my hand on a decent camera.

thanks for stopping by

 

[Baconpimp]

is it something recommend to put two plants in the same 55L rubbermaid plastic conainers? thanks

 

[Bandit420]

I think I may be able to offer some assistance.
For container size you want to go with about 1 1/2 to 2 gallons of soil per foot of plant growth is a good guide to follow. As for watering, after you've used the same type of containers and dirt for awhile you will be able to judge how much water is in the dirt by simply picking up the pot and feeling it's weight. Believe me when I say the weight difference between a waterlogged plant and a plant needing water is huge. You can also read the leaves on your plant and they will say alot. The talent to read your plants will get better as you grow plants thru their life cycle and you learn from mistakes. If they're cupped up toward the light catching it like a basket, conditions are optimal. If they're flat the plant will probably need water within the next 24-30hrs. If the plant looks wilted it's ofcourse dry and needs water immiedietly. If the leaves look wilted but are also curling at the tips with some necrotic spots the plant has been overwatered and is suffering. Leaf drop is soon to follow after. I've found that the best cure for an overwatered plant is a transplant to a container about 30% larger. Most marijuana strains do not want to sit in mud but damp well draining soil. No standing water in the bottom tray is always prefered.
For fertilizer application I prefer to use my nutes at half to 3/4 strength but I apply them more frequently. That quickly put an end to my burned plants.
At the stage the plants are in the pics, they are most definately rootbound already and should be feeding heavily trying build the buds. This is the stage where you may indeed need to water daily to keep up with their aggressive feeding and where judging the weight of the container can be very helpful.
As for expected dry weight it usually depends on strain but under optimal conditions a two foot tall plant should get you somewhere in the 1/2-3/4 oz range. Sometimes less, sometimes more.
Good luck!

 

[MI-grower]

I still have a few questions:

- So far, I water them usually every 2 days, half a liter each. They look heatly, and the soil never gets completly dry. Is it OK? What is your watering routine?

- I have had them in 8'' pots since the beginning, is this large enough for flowering?

- The plants are both between 2.5' and 3', is it realistic to expect around 2oz dried per plant? This would be 0.5g/watt?

Sound like you are watering them to much, the pots really should have time to dry out before water the plant again. It really makes the roots work for the growth and helps the plant grow very strong. We water once a week (Sunday)with our nute solutition 3/4 of a gallon and a 1/4 gallon of just plain water. If they need a drink through-out the week (like wed or thurs) it's just a little one of plain tap water to get them through untill their main feeding on sunday.

For the pot size if you plants are roughly 3 foot already (right?). Personally I would at least put them in 5 gallon buckets and watch how they explode with growth. From what I have read and ubderstand the unwritten rule is 1gallon of soil for every foot in height grown. If I'm wrong some-one please let me know because that's the scale I use.

A 250 will do good but if you want bigger buds go for a bigger light or add some side lights to your grow area (cfl clamp lights work great) Get a couple 42 or 65 watt (2700 k) and watch how the buds will swell right up.

Hope this info helps you out and sorry if I steped on any ones toes that might have stated any of the things in which I have just stated.


Oh I forgot to 420 and best of luck with your grow!!

 

[The Butcher]

Is this grow still alive?
If so, please update us with some pictures and info.

If you need any help with posting photos, please read the photo gallery tutorial
Photo Gallery Guide - How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

I am moving this to abandoned journals until we get updates.

Thanks and hope all is well in your world!

Love and respect from all of us here at 420 Magazine!