Volksball's First Grow: White Widow Feminized Grow Journal 2018

[West Hippie]

When using these cups could you use a kitchen scale, weight check before and after the add!

 

[volksball]

When using these cups could you use a kitchen scale, weight check before and after the add!

Thanks for the great tip! I'll definitely do that! Does it look like overwatering to you? And why only in one plant? Or is she normal?

 

[West Hippie]

Is there anyway you could get that light above the plants?

 

[volksball]

Is there anyway you could get that light above the plants?

There's a T5 running above them and the CFLs as high as I can get em.

I can send them to the tent under the MH. Think that'll be better?

 

[West Hippie]

Just have to keep it up high, watch the stretch. Keep the fan blowing the heat away and a light swing to the plant .

 

[volksball]

Ok. I was going to do it soon, but maybe today is the day. I've been weary about the distance so to not burn em. It's a 1000w. Was told 3-4 feet. Sound about right?

Just have to keep it up high, watch the stretch. Keep the fan blowing the heat away and a light swing to the plant .

 

[West Hippie]

I started at 42”s when I ran mine on a 1000w mh. But I hadn’t in 3 years and 7 months, went to leds!

 

[volksball]

And no stretch?

I started at 42”s when I ran mine on a 1000w mh. But I hadn’t in 3 years and 7 months, went to leds!

 

[volksball]

Alright, I took your advice and put the girls under the bright lights! Hopefully they perform under the pressure of the new stage.

"Bright lights, big city, have gone to my baby's head..." (sorry, had to)

I have 3 fans and heater in the tent and will be adding a humidifier as soon as Amazon delivers it today. The heater is there for when the lights are off. The basement can get very cool, like most.

They are at 40" from the light. The light is glass inclosed and air cooled.

Any suggestions? Or does it look right? See pic.

Thx.

 

[Emilya Green]

You are over watering by watering too often, and until you learn to water correctly you will continue to see struggling plants. You MUST let your cups dry completely, so that they are as dry as the sahara... so dry that you wonder why the plants are still happy... so dry that you can feel absolutely NO water weight in that cup when you iift it up. If you water while still being able to feel weight, you are drowning your lower roots, where that weight resides. When you do finally water, treat that soil as a sponge and try to get every last drop of water to sit in there before it runs out of the bottom. This means you need to water very slowly, taking your time to completely saturate that soil. After you do this, sit on your hands, tie yourself up in a corner and wait 3-5 days for the plant to USE all the water again... all the way to the bottom and as dry as the Sahara. When you can establish a clear wet/dry cycle, your plants will be growing at their maximum rate. Your roots will start rapidly growing and you will notice that wet/dry cycle shorten each time you do it, until eventually those plants will be able to use all the water you can get in there in less than 24 hours. When and only when this occurs, it will be time to up-pot to no bigger than a 1 gallon container, where you repeat this process clear up to the next up-pot.

 

[volksball]

You are over watering by watering too often, and until you learn to water correctly you will continue to see struggling plants. You MUST let your cups dry completely, so that they are as dry as the sahara... so dry that you wonder why the plants are still happy... so dry that you can feel absolutely NO water weight in that cup when you iift it up. If you water while still being able to feel weight, you are drowning your lower roots, where that weight resides. When you do finally water, treat that soil as a sponge and try to get every last drop of water to sit in there before it runs out of the bottom. This means you need to water very slowly, taking your time to completely saturate that soil. After you do this, sit on your hands, tie yourself up in a corner and wait 3-5 days for the plant to USE all the water again... all the way to the bottom and as dry as the Sahara. When you can establish a clear wet/dry cycle, your plants will be growing at their maximum rate. Your roots will start rapidly growing and you will notice that wet/dry cycle shorten each time you do it, until eventually those plants will be able to use all the water you can get in there in less than 24 hours. When and only when this occurs, it will be time to up-pot to no bigger than a 1 gallon container, where you repeat this process clear up to the next up-pot.

Thanks, Emilya.

I'm getting used to the watering cycle. It seems almost counter intuitive to let that happen, but it makes sense. The cups still feel like they may have a bit of water at the bottom, so as you've suggested, I'm sitting on my hands until likely tomorrow morning when it'll have been 72h and they should be thoroughly dry.

I will be potting up soon, but I bought 2gal grow bags, not 1gal. Ah well, they should adapt. From 2, I go up to 7gal and done. I know that may not be the ideal pot up scenario, but it must be so. I will be waiting until the 24h dryness occurs before potting up. I imagine that under the MH, they'll dry out much quicker.

Thanks to you guys for all the guidance, I'm really having a blast doing this.

I'm all ears for any suggestions and criticisms you may have about my current setup.

Volksball

 

[Emilya Green]

let me clear up something... they don't really dry out, due to heat or lights... so little is lost in evaporation actually. Your plants uptake the bulk of that water. Try sitting out a pot of wet soil sometime and see how many weeks it takes to dry out.

 

[volksball]

let me clear up something... they don't really dry out, due to heat or lights... so little is lost in evaporation actually. Your plants uptake the bulk of that water. Try sitting out a pot of wet soil sometime and see how many weeks it takes to dry out.

Good to know!

 

[MedicalMe]

water normally? How many times per day usually?

Others on this thread have made good suggestions regarding when to water. I'll just add this: Get a soil test meter. They're cheap (around $10), and will help you determine when your plants need water. I never water until the meter indicates that the soil is dry, but well before the plants wilt.

Another suggestion: PH your water, make sure it's 6 to 6.5% acidic otherwise your plants can't properly use some of the nutrients. My first grow, I used soil I'd composted but didn't PH the soil. My girls were struggling, and when I PHed the soil it was 7.5% - highly alkaline! Weed likes drinking water that's slightly acidic. The soil I use now (Happy Frog) is a little on the acid side, and I always PH my water to about 6%. My plants thank me.

One more: get rid of the mister. I once feared dry soil on the top, and so misted when my seedlings were little. I ended up with fungus nats. Noobienot had a good suggestion about dribbling a little water around the seedling and not disturbing it -

Watering should be done in a circular motion around the plant about a inch away from the stem to avoid disturbing the small tap root and to force the plant to search out the water and grow lateral roots .

Also, my thanks to Emilya for informing us about how fast that tap root grows!

 

[volksball]

Others on this thread have made good suggestions regarding when to water. I'll just add this: Get a soil test meter. They're cheap (around $10), and will help you determine when your plants need water. I never water until the meter indicates that the soil is dry, but well before the plants wilt.

Another suggestion: PH your water, make sure it's 6 to 6.5% acidic otherwise your plants can't properly use some of the nutrients. My first grow, I used soil I'd composted but didn't PH the soil. My girls were struggling, and when I PHed the soil it was 7.5% - highly alkaline! Weed likes drinking water that's slightly acidic. The soil I use now (Happy Frog) is a little on the acid side, and I always PH my water to about 6%. My plants thank me.

One more: get rid of the mister. I once feared dry soil on the top, and so misted when my seedlings were little. I ended up with fungus nats. Noobienot had a good suggestion about dribbling a little water around the seedling and not disturbing it -



Also, my thanks to Emilya for informing us about how fast that tap root grows!

Thanks for weighing in. The more eyes, the better!

Yeah, mister gone. In terms of pH, I just grabbed a test kit and it seems I might be around 7. I have some pH down, so I'll take your advice there. I may grab a pH pen to lake sure though. I'm using a color chart right now. It's a bit hard to match up the colors and know for sure.

Oh and I'll be following your grow as well. Good luck!

Thx again!
Volksball

 

[Emilya Green]

I will jump in every time I see this. I am determined to stop this 6.5 pH myth. The proper pH range in soil is 6.3-6.8. This doesnt mean for you to pick a sweet spot and say its good... it means that you need to drift through this entire range on each watering. How do you do that? You come in every time with every fluid that hits your plant adjusted to the low end of the scale, 6.3 pH. Let the soil take it from there, as it was designed to do, and your pH will traverse the entire suggested pH range.

 

[West Hippie]

I will jump in every time I see this. I am determined to stop this 6.5 pH myth. The proper pH range in soil is 6.3-6.8. This doesnt mean for you to pick a sweet spot and say its good... it means that you need to drift through this entire range on each watering. How do you do that? You come in every time with every fluid that hits your plant adjusted to the low end of the scale, 6.3 pH. Let the soil take it from there, as it was designed to do, and pH will traverse the entire suggested pH range.

So your saying is take it to the bottom of the scale so it has room to take the nutrients in as the ph itself rises ? I’m in hydro and when my system the water falls and the ec falls then my ph rises.

 

[Emilya Green]

yep, attempt to use the entire range, each time... that is why it is described as a range. If those who knew wanted you think that only pH 6.5 (or any arbitrary number) was the target, they would have said so.

 

[volksball]

Day 15

Had to build up the soil a bit for the girl in the front. She got lop sided. She stretched a bit after germination, the rest haven stretched.

How should I know when to lower the light? They seem happy so far. Would hate to roast 'em. Still holding water for 48 hours. One has hit the edges of the cup, but still holds water over 24 hours. The other two are growing. The look a bit goofy, in spots, but seem happy.

You'll see the temp is at 31 during light hours and the humidity is at 54%.

In regards to the pH talk, thank you. Should I also be correcting the humidifier water as well? I'm guessing so.

Have a look.

Thx!

 

[Emilya Green]

Looking happy! and regarding the humidifier, there are no nutrients needing to be mobile in humidity... its pH is inconsequential... well at least outside certain extremes... I can imagine an acid fog... don't do that. lol