So discouraged

[MimiCozelle]

Hi All, I'm a grandmom fast approaching retirement age and decided I'd try growing my own supply. I've smoked for over 40 years at first for fun and now to help with neuropathy pain from Diabetes type 2. I purchased 3 seeds, Blue dream auto, AK 49 auto and chocolope auto. I live on acreage and produce an acre garden every year, organically. What I normally use is a mix of peat moss, worm casings, dolomite lime, vermiculite and compost I make from cow manure, grass clippings and chicken poop. I used the compost sparingly. All my veggie plants thrive in it, I start them from seed indoors. While I was waiting for my seeds to come in, I germinated a few bag seeds and used the mix I was planning on using for the purchased seed. They have grown great! However, my seeds arrived and I germinated two of them, then planted two of them in my usual soil mix. They germinated fine in a paper towel and I planted them in their final pot in the mix listed above. Humidity was good, water ph was good, they came up, the blue dream had the first cotyledon leaves and two teensy tinny leaves, the ak49 looked better when it popped out of the ground but since there have been no growth, the Blue Dream is on it's last leg, it'll be dead by tomorrow. THe AK is a tiny bit better, but I fear it won't survive. It's cotyledon leaves are fading and it only has the next two leaves and that's all. I planted them on 12/25. I have the chocolope in wet paper towel now. Blue Dream Auto and Ak 49 Auto were from the same seed bank and the chocolope is from a different one. I started them under a 150 watt LED and 3 85 watt cfl, just like I did the bag seed. I'm at a lose as to what to do differently, any help would be much appreciated.

 

[aspiegeek]

Hi sorry to hear you've not had much luck.

It maybe the soil is to heavy for them. I only use pre mixed special cannabis soil such as BioBizz or COCO.

If there still alive, I would transplant them ASAP, if you don't have a hydro garden store locally then just some normal garden soil mixed with perlite may work better.

I'm not a expert on soil so maybe some guru growers can advise on a better homemade soil mix.

But I would say it most likely is because the soil is to heavy for them.

When it's your first grow although it costs a bit extra ordering specialist soil, it can be the easier route, as these plants are not easy to grow (to grow well I should say). So as a new grower you have enough things to learn without worrying about soil mix too. Personally I'd leave mixing your own till a few grows have gone by and you know everything else you have to do with growing them

 

[aspiegeek]

P.s as very young seedlings i would say just use the CFL's for the first week or two. Then add the LED. They don't require a tonne of light as seedlings and the LED could damage them if too close.

What size space are you using indoors?

What height do you have the LED at?

 

[Ian Bastage]

Welcome MimiCozelle

The best place to get fast help is in our Grow Room. Go to:

Forum > THE GROW ROOM > Frequently Asked Questions > Ask Us Anything - Sharing Knowledge 420Style

I am sorry that you are having problems but you will get it right.

Ian

 

[Guy Cavallero]

I agree with Aspie and Ian. Don't complicate things for yourself. I am in the process of building my own soil.....its taken me months to source and order all of the necessary amendments so that all I have to do is Brew teas and water. This is my 4th grow, too much to learn all at once. If you are in the US, and you are looking for something relatively easy to start off with that is organic..... I would buy a bag of kindsoil. That's a water only fully amended soil and it's good from early stages of veg and all the way through flower. Van Stanks 1st grow was kindsoil and he nailed it if you need a solid reference!

Keeping the Leds at bay is solid advice too......depending on light distance.

 

[Planter420]

Maybe you should try to layer the soil. Top few inches something with no nutes. Then back to your good stuff. You will need to build a beneficial colony, so add some Benny's, they will help break down the soil into nutrients for your ladies. Something you need to worry about with growing cannabis is PH. Ideally you want to be around 6.5-7 in soil. These babies will feed off their cotyledons the first week to two weeks so they don't need to be in a high nitrogen environment this early, especially because they are feminized seeds. I am a Hydro grower and know a little bit about soil but like guy mentioned, van Stank killed it in his first journal with the kind soil. You're here at 420 now, so you will succeed, this community doesn't allow people to give up and fail, so welcome to and keep growing!

 

[SweetSue]

Well hello there Mimi. What a frustration, eh? I've found it to be true that bag seeds will always outperform those expensive genetic bundles we purchase. Makes you a little nuts, to be honest.

It'd be near impossible to be of any real help to you without seeing where you're growing. As the others have pointed out, heavy soil and excess light could have both worked against you. Cannabis will grow like a weed, but given better conditions it'll perform the way we hope.

I take it the choice of seeds was in an attempt to counter pain? The concerns you're treating could use something with significantly more CBD in them, but that's something we can help you with later. For now it'd be nice if you could get them to grow, right? We have a thread dedicated to organic soil mixes you may find helpful in your quest to grow. Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations and Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

Share a little more with us, but first move this question to the link Ian shared with you. You'll pull in many more talented cultivators that way. Not that we would abandon you or anything over here. Just that you'll only get a smaller sampling of the helpful membership over here.

And by the way. I'm a retired gramma, living the dream of growing my own and for others. Careful Mimi, this growing hobby is addictive.

Are you thinking of possibly running a grow journal, in which case you'd have a group gathered round you to help all along the way to harvest?

 

[Tony Urban]

Welcome to 420 Mimi! Don't get too discouraged; there are 100 folks willing to help you here, and I suspect you won't need much help from the sounds of your experience.

A bit of a bummer to have a rough start though. I would recommend starting a grow journal and you will find an army ready to help you succeed.

Good luck .

 

[MimiCozelle]

Well hello there Mimi. What a frustration, eh? I've found it to be true that bag seeds will always outperform those expensive genetic bundles we purchase. Makes you a little nuts, to be honest.

It'd be near impossible to be of any real help to you without seeing where you're growing. As the others have pointed out, heavy soil and excess light could have both worked against you. Cannabis will grow like a weed, but given better conditions it'll perform the way we hope.

I take it the choice of seeds was in an attempt to counter pain? The concerns you're treating could use something with significantly more CBD in them, but that's something we can help you with later. For now it'd be nice if you could get them to grow, right? We have a thread dedicated to organic soil mixes you may find helpful in your quest to grow. Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations and Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

Share a little more with us, but first move this question to the link Ian shared with you. You'll pull in many more talented cultivators that way. Not that we would abandon you or anything over here. Just that you'll only get a smaller sampling of the helpful membership over here.

And by the way. I'm a retired gramma, living the dream of growing my own and for others. Careful Mimi, this growing hobby is addictive.

Are you thinking of possibly running a grow journal, in which case you'd have a group gathered round you to help all along the way to harvest?

Thanks Sue, I'll admit I was pretty arrogant and thought, I've fed my family off an acre garden for 40 yrs, this will be a snap. lol I did move this over to the link Ian provided, grateful for the help. The AK49 was for pain, after visiting Colorado for a few weeks, I found I didn't need my Gabapentin for neuropathy, the smoke controlled it better and it was one less "Big Pharma" I had to take, so I continued to medicate with the cannabis after returning home, AK49 was what I had smoked in Colorado. After reading about the strain, Doug's Varin, which touted a sometimes 20% reduction in blood sugar in some patients, I tried to find a couple of strains (of course there is no Doug's Varin available) that might have an elevated level of THCV, that's why I chose the Blue dream and Chocolope. I know it's a shot in the dark but I figured, why not try. I'll probably have to order more seeds before I start a journal, the last seed I purchased still hasn't germinated. (sigh) another order,,, I worried myself to death over the last one just knowing the DEA would bust down my door any moment and I'd spend my retirement in prison over 3 seeds. lol At least while I'm waiting, the bag seeds (that I dug out of an ashtray) flourish and I've been experimenting with them, topping, fimm, lst, training a couple to go around the edge of the pot. I figure if the smoke is harsh or not potent, I'll try my hand at canna butter and make some sugar-free brownies... can't go wrong with brownies!

 

[SweetSue]

Thanks Sue, I'll admit I was pretty arrogant and thought, I've fed my family off an acre garden for 40 yrs, this will be a snap. lol I did move this over to the link Ian provided, grateful for the help. The AK49 was for pain, after visiting Colorado for a few weeks, I found I didn't need my Gabapentin for neuropathy, the smoke controlled it better and it was one less "Big Pharma" I had to take, so I continued to medicate with the cannabis after returning home, AK49 was what I had smoked in Colorado. After reading about the strain, Doug's Varin, which touted a sometimes 20% reduction in blood sugar in some patients, I tried to find a couple of strains (of course there is no Doug's Varin available) that might have an elevated level of THCV, that's why I chose the Blue dream and Chocolope. I know it's a shot in the dark but I figured, why not try. I'll probably have to order more seeds before I start a journal, the last seed I purchased still hasn't germinated. (sigh) another order,,, I worried myself to death over the last one just knowing the DEA would bust down my door any moment and I'd spend my retirement in prison over 3 seeds. lol At least while I'm waiting, the bag seeds (that I dug out of an ashtray) flourish and I've been experimenting with them, topping, fimm, lst, training a couple to go around the edge of the pot. I figure if the smoke is harsh or not potent, I'll try my hand at canna butter and make some sugar-free brownies... can't go wrong with brownies!

Actually I'm buzzing on a brownie as we speak. I just posted the recipe using a pressure cooker to make a better oil on my grow journal. How timely of you. Here, I'll give you a link to it. I'm pretty famous around here for my brownies. SweetSue's BioBomb Brownies

Doug's Varin is one of those chemovars that everyone will be chasing. In no time at all the breeders will become proficient in coming up with more variety in the cannabinoid expressions. Exciting times are ahead of us. Diabetes is one of the physical conditions that responds well to higher CBD levels and I always recommend something with purple in it, because the purples are typically high in Beta-caryophyllen, which activates the CB2 receptors, those you want activated for treatment of diabetes. It's essentially an auto-immune disease, and CBD in higher concentrations is of great benefit. B-caryophyllen appears to do many of the inflammatory functions CBD does.

It's good to hear that AK49 offered relief from neuropathy. I'll file that info away for future patients. A topical would be a nice addition to your regimen. You'll love a pain cream Mimi. Knocks out the creaks and twinges as it softens and feeds the skin.

We'll figure out what's stumping you and you'll be on to a steady stream of happy harvests. I'm glad you sought us out. These guys will fall over themselves trying to help you work it out.

 

[Guy Cavallero]

You've gathered yourself a killer little group here Mimi....

 

[aspiegeek]

Actually I'm buzzing on a brownie as we speak. I just posted the recipe using a pressure cooker to make a better oil on my grow journal. How timely of you. Here, I'll give you a link to it. I'm pretty famous around here for my brownies. SweetSue's BioBomb Brownies

Doug's Varin is one of those chemovars that everyone will be chasing. In no time at all the breeders will become proficient in coming up with more variety in the cannabinoid expressions. Exciting times are ahead of us. Diabetes is one of the physical conditions that responds well to higher CBD levels and I always recommend something with purple in it, because the purples are typically high in Beta-caryophyllen, which activates the CB2 receptors, those you want activated for treatment of diabetes. It's essentially an auto-immune disease, and CBD in higher concentrations is of great benefit. B-caryophyllen appears to do many of the inflammatory functions CBD does.

It's good to hear that AK49 offered relief from neuropathy. I'll file that info away for future patients. A topical would be a nice addition to your regimen. You'll love a pain cream Mimi. Knocks out the creaks and twinges as it softens and feeds the skin.

We'll figure out what's stumping you and you'll be on to a steady stream of happy harvests. I'm glad you sought us out. These guys will fall over themselves trying to help you work it out.

I love reading your posts Sue, there always so interesting and full of information.

It's good to know that CBD also helps with blood sugar (I have Hypoglycemia) which at current is controlled with yet more tablets! So will be interesting to see how my Candida plants help with it.

Mimi you'll do great don't worry! There is a lot to learn when it comes to growing but it's a lot of fun!

With regards to seeds, maybe have a look at Seedsman website. That's where I buy from mainly, they also offer stealth shipping .

This website has a tonne of useful information for first time growers on the setup etc and whatever you need help with that's what 420 is here for.

 

[Eyes4grandpa]

I am a great example of how the people here rally around a newcomer, and new grower. I am blind, and if you look over my journal, you will see how awesome the people are here. Just I have had massive failures, but the people here have rallied around me and are helping to figure out the issues as we speak. You are in the right place to fix any problems. As others have suggested to you, I would recommend a grow Journal. You can start one anytime. May God bless and happy growing! :young-plant:

Here's a link to my journal if you are interested...

Grandpa's Second Try - Come Join Us!