First Grow Ever - Crop King Seeds Sour Jack Feminine

[CannaCountry]

Good Morning Spaceman,

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't touch her. It appears she's just beginning to show what she can do above the soil. I'd let her go a little longer before you begin taking off leaves or tops. You can always do this in another week or so without issue and with the same end results. At this point I would think doing so is going to put her back in the slow lane, being she's so small. I'd just let her get her feet underneath her...then whack away. Just my two cents.

All in all though she's looking like she's made a nice turn from your last pic...steady as she goes.

Have a great day!

 

[StonedVet]

Think of the leaves as solar panels. The more surface area you have the more light it can absorb. Other than that she is looking good.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Week #5
Looks like Hurricane Irma is going to miss us! I was starting to prepare the generator, but it looks like we may just get rain and a little wind now. My girl is still small and showing a little browning of the lower leaves, but still growing and I think she is still healthy, let me know if you see something that I don’t.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Week #6
Midweek the lower leaves of my girl were looking bad. It started with yellowing tips, followed by browning and moving in from the edges into the center of the leaf. After some research, I believe it was nutrient deficiencies, probably related to high pH. My soil pH started right at 7.0 and it sounds like decaying organic matter can cause the pH to increase and lead to nutrient lock. Not 100% sure, but my solution was to add some Apple Cider Vinegar to the water, bringing the soil pH down to 6.5-6.7 and I think she is already looking better. Noticed the pH was back up again the next day, so added a little more vinegar. I’ll keep watching and if the pH was the issue, maybe she will start growing faster? I will keep you posted.

On a positive note, while she is still short, only about 7” tall, she now has 6 nodes and all the new growth still looks healthy. Below are two pictures, the second showing the leaf damage.

 

[Lemon Scent]

hey mate, just popping my head in, neat looking journal, think ill keep a eye out on this one as noted above u can always dry her out a little and flush her with some PhD water if that's your concern nutrient lock / burn is a pretty common problem but easily solved
nice work reguardless keep it up!!

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Thought I killed her!

The pH controled water was working well until the other night. I added my vinegar and also some hydrogin peroxide, to help get oxygen to the roots. Then after a very long day at work, I came home and popped in to check on her and her leaves were curling and twisting in all sorts of directions. If she wasn't already dead, she had to be dying. I immediately started flushing! It seemed that she started to relax and look better within minutes, but she still has not recovered completely. (Below is a picture taken this morning.)

Her leaves feel dry and brittle now and I turned the lights off for a couple of hours to allow a little resting period. I'm thinking about trying a foliure spray, but not sure if this is a good idea and would appreciate any suggestions.

 

[StonedVet]

This is a source that I keep handy hopefully you can get the information you're looking for in here... Cannabis Nutrient and Deficiency Table - RQS Blog

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

StonedVet, thanks for the link! I like the pictures, this is the best collection of good pictures that she have seen. I'm defiantly bookmarking this site.

 

[CannaCountry]

Good Morning Spaceman,

Any way for you to check your soil pH? A 7.0 in soil is not that far off from ideal...not enough to fuss with really. Your soil acts as a buffer so I wouldn't sweat it being 'off' a smidge.

Try to refrain from doing anything drastic. I have to think the vinegar and peroxide were not to her liking. Check your pH and if it's way off, try to flush it back to where you want it (using pH adjusted water...don't pour vinegar or peroxide straight into your soil)...but don't do much more. Let her dry out and attempt to get herself together.

If she pulls through, make yourself an earthworm casting tea, or get yourself a smidge of fish emulsion...give her a meal of that and then just plain water for the next couple feedings...and just watch her. In soil the plants are a little slower to change to our remedies, but you'll be able to know in what direction it's going after a couple days. Slow and steady wins this race...relax, breathe and have fun. You'll get it figured out.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Morning CannaCountry!

I'm following close to your recommendation already. I do have a soil pH meter that can be used when the soils are moist and it is reading 7.0. The vinegar and H2O2 were mixed with water, not straight, and I believe the flushing took care of whatever the imbalance was and that she is going to be alright. Following the flushing, I actually saw one of the worms that I added several weeks ago, so I don't think I have done anything too bad. Trying to be patient and see where we go from here. I'll try to post pictures Thursday, because I will be traveling Friday through next Wednesday.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Week #7
Alright, I am proof that these plants can take a lot of abuse. Don’t know how everything will come out, but I think that she is going to live and I’m learning a lot along the way, mostly about patience and taking it slow. She has some new growth on top and it looks healthy.

 

[FlavoursUk]

Hi mate, what are your temps like? I'm seeing a bit of nutrient burn on your leaf tips, might want to half the dosage if you're using nutes. Are you doing 18/6 for the light cycle during veg? If you're going to top her I'd wait a bit till she gains a little strength. Looking good though, be patient and try not to rush her.

Here's my latest plant Black Domina, this is a few days ago at about 3 weeks and 3 days old. Topped her too at 4th node. Will have to get an up to date pic. Good luck pal!

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Thanks and mine was looking much better before I sort of messed up last week. I think it was the hydrogen peroxide that did it to her, but she is starting to recover. Yours look nice, so if you have a grow log, I may follow along for a while.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

By the way, I have not added any nutes. However, I am a little concerned about my choice of soil and will be finding something else before my next grow. I mixed vermiculite and organic potting soil 50/50. The vermiculite definitely helps with the drainage probably root growth. The organic matter seems to be a bit much, because it doesn't want to dry out and looking at the bag, it states organic fertilizer added and is not real clear about what the fertilizer is. Several weeks back, I added some worms and during my last flushing, a couple came to the surface for air. What I am taking from this is that there is enough organic matter and moisture in the soil for the worms to survive, and that my recent additions which harmed my plant were not enough to kill the worms. I was glad to see them living and believe that they may help my girl with root development and aeration. They may also convert some of the organic matter into good food for my plant.

Today, the new growth is looking good and I don't plan to add anything other than rain water, at least until I switch to my 12/12 light cycle and I may not add anything else even then. There seem to be plenty of nutrients in my soil mix already. If I start to see more burning, I will just keep flushing.

 

[FlavoursUk]

I'd say the easiest most sufficient growing medium is coco coir, should give that a try. It holds more oxygen than soil does after watering. There's a few benefits to using coco if I'm honest. Sounds like you got it under control though. Mine has changed drastically over a period of a day alone and fan leafs are nearly the size of my hand. Just give me a shout if I can help anywhere along the way.

 

[CannaCountry]

Good Morning Spaceman,

New, green growth is a great sign!

You mentioned a 50/50 mix of organic soil and vermiculite and that it appeared maybe your soil wasn't drying out enough. Vermiculite, while it's a great aerator it's also a moisture holder. I use it as well, but I tend to lean more towards using it in amounts that are about 1/3 of my total aeration amendment. In other words, if I'm adding 3 quarts of aeration to my soil, I'll add 1 quart of Vermiculite and 2 quarts of perlite. This way I get some of the added benefits of the vermiculite in terms of its aeration and moisture holding ability while still getting good drainage and eventual drying of the soil via the perlite (though I would guess your worms don't want to be 'dried' out, so that's something you'll have to balance. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with worms in my pots). Just my two cents...

I think you're on the right road...steady as she goes. Have a great weekend!

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

The vermiculite/perlite mixture might be a good option for me, if I can just find some good fertilizers. About the only thing I can find around here is MircleGrow. I'm in a very rural area with limited selection, never been able to find coco or some other other option people on here discuss and I have to be careful what I order on-line, because the mail carrier seems to know everyone's business. I travel a good bit, so I will take a look the next time I drive somewhere large. Last time I was in Colorado I noticed advertisements everywhere, but while it may be allowed, I'd look awfully suspicious boarding a plane with grow materials.

Thanks for the info!

 

[MrSwishaa]

The MG seed starter works wonders

 

[MrSwishaa]

You want to look for the lowest nitrogen content and NO TIME RELEASED MG nutes. When you begin to flower you will be releasing too much nitrogen.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Week #8
She is recovering well and looking much better this week. You can see some of the damage from a couple of weeks back, but the new growth is healthy and she has gown another inch, but still only 7” tall. I am preparing to install a screen over her, thinking that I will place it about 2” over her current height so that I have room to prune under the screen, but I’m wondering how long it will take before she will reach the screen. At her current rate of growth, it may be two more weeks. Also, I am wondering what will happen when I switch the light cycle to 12/12, being a predominately sativa strain I expected her to be much taller already. I think she is short, due to the more than sufficient light that I am using, and suspect that she may not fill the screen until after I switch to a 12/12 light cycle. What should I expect when I switch to the 12/12 light cycle? How much will she stretch?