First Grow: 400 watt HPS, Permafrost, White Widow, White Rhino, Blackjack

[jrp677]

DAY 35 OF FLOWERING

TIP OF THE DAY: DO NOT USE MIRACLE GROW SOIL

So it looks like IGLAW called it, I have PH problems which are causing all of the leaves on my flowering plants to brown and die off. I blame Miracle grow for locking up my ladies and keeping them from the nutes they need to fatten up. I mixed lime into the top inch of the soil being careful not to damage any of the roots. From what I’ve read it takes months for the PH to adjust in soil so I’m not holding out much hope that they will make a full recovery before I chop em down. At this point I’ll claim victory if they can just make it to harvest. I was planning on treating them again for spider mites but I’m concerned that it will cause more stress on my already stressed out ladies. Hell, half of the leaves are dead, so I wonder if it really makes any difference at this point. What do you guys think? Luckily my new plants are in organic soil and have an almost perfect run-off PH. The sprouts don't look much different from the pics I took yesterday after topping them so no new pics of them. This grow has had a lot of ups and downs, mostly downs, but I’m keeping a positive attitude and think that the next go around with the White Rhino, Blackjack, and Permafrost will be much more successful. Stay tuned…….. OUT!

 

[itsgrowinglikeaweed]

It won't take monthes for the lime to buffer the PH. If you added the lime your PH has already started to change. Everytime you water more lime will mix down in with the soil and the ph should rise. Water with 7.0 instead of the 6.5 untill your runoff gets back into the 6's. Next time you water and test the runoff you should notice a difference. So for the record, exactly how much lime did you use, and was it fine powdered or coarse granular?

I've seen much worse. You'll still get some nice bud off these.

 

[jrp677]

It won't take monthes for the lime to buffer the PH. If you added the lime your PH has already started to change. Everytime you water more lime will mix down in with the soil and the ph should rise.
That's good to hear, I'm really looking forward to the next watering to see if it's having a reaction.

Water with 7.0 instead of the 6.5 untill your runoff gets back into the 6's. Next time you water and test the runoff you should notice a difference.
Just throwing this out there, would watering with 7.5 be any added benefit?

So for the record, exactly how much lime did you use, and was it fine powdered or coarse granular?
I used 3 Tbs of Dolomite granular lime in each pot. I thought it was appropriate based on a website which recommended 2 lbs per square yard. What do you think, 3 Tbs too much, too little?

I've seen much worse. You'll still get some nice bud off these.
You really think so? The buds aren't fattening up like I thought they would by week 5.

 

[jrp677]

Do you think it would stress the plants out more if I treat them for spider mites?

 

[itsgrowinglikeaweed]

3 tablespoons seems like a lot in my mind. I guess we'll find out, as I'm just not sure.
Will watering with 7.5 help? I dont know. It seems logical on one hand, but on the other hand 2 wrongs don't make a right...so? Personally I would not go above 7 especially since you applied the lime. We'll see what that does.
The spider mite treatment? Again, not something I've done. I'll have to leave the pros and cons of that up to you.
If missing a treatment could result in hatching of eggs and re-infestation etc....IDK Do what you gotta. Good luck.

 

[jrp677]

This morning I waged war on the remaining spider mites. A sprinkle here, a sprinkle there and now all of my plants are covered with a total of 1000 preditor mites. They were only $33 so I thought I'd give them a try.

Since my plants are locked up from taking nutes out of the soil I wondered if foliar feeding would be a good TEMPORARY solution? I know you shouldn't spray flowering plants due to the risk of bud rot and other fungus but is the risk better than the chance that the PH won't adjust enough in the next few weeks?

 

[itsgrowinglikeaweed]

I would not foliar feed this far into flowering. Thinking of it, is a good idea(under the circumstances), but actually doing it is a no no. Not everything you spray on there will be absorbed by the plant, and I would be afraid of smoking that which is not.

 

[jrp677]

I would not foliar feed this far into flowering. Thinking of it, is a good idea(under the circumstances), but actually doing it is a no no. Not everything you spray on there will be absorbed by the plant, and I would be afraid of smoking that which is not.

Hmmm...that's too bad. I was thinking that I could JUST spray the fan leaves but I see what you're saying. I'll just have to ride it out and see what happens.

 

[trapper]

have you thought about using high levels of co2 to eliminate your mites,you seal up the room and give them high levels of co2 and it kills the mites,i never did it but my buddy swears by it.by the way what is permafrost.

 

[jrp677]

have you thought about using high levels of co2 to eliminate your mites,you seal up the room and give them high levels of co2 and it kills the mites,i never did it but my buddy swears by it.by the way what is permafrost.

No, I've never heard of that until now. I did a quick search on the subject, most of the comments were speculation but the one person I found who actually tried it said it didn't work for him. I'm fairly confident that the preditor's will take care of the problem but if not I'm open to other options.

Permafrost is a local strain to Northern CA/Southern OR. I've done a lot of internet searches on the strain but haven't found much. I got my clones from a Medical Marijuana Clinic. I haven't found any seedbanks that sell permafrost seeds so I'm assuming it was bred locally and shared among the MM community. Supposedly it's a cross between Train Wreck and Northern Lights with 18% THC.

 

[trapper]

the co2 works,my buddy did it,i can assure you i saw the results.

 

[jrp677]

the co2 works,my buddy did it,i can assure you i saw the results.

I'll give it a try if the preditor mites don't work, I'm willing to try anything other than chemicals at this point. Thanks for the advice! Do you know how much CO2 he used? My flower room is 3ft wide x 2.5ft deep x 6ft tall, do you know how much I would need to use?

 

[trapper]

I'll give it a try if the preditor mites don't work, I'm willing to try anything other than chemicals at this point. Thanks for the advice! Do you know how much CO2 he used? My flower room is 3ft wide x 2.5ft deep x 6ft tall, do you know how much I would need to use?

i believe it was 2400 ppm,but i will be hereing from him this weekend and i will give you the exact details.im sure you wouldnt need the big tank probably just the small hospital type for your room.his was about the same size.

 

[jrp677]

Today I trimmed some undergrowth for the last time until harvest. I ended up with a good size bag of leaves and small budsites. Would the trimmings have any effect if I made butter with them? I've found lots of info on how to make butter but nothing on how mature the plant needs to be.

 

[wiseguy316]

I read from start to finish. 1st have you removed the heater(ballast) from your cabinet. They tend to get hot. On your clone bucket you have the pump running 24/7 and still got roots?

 

[itsgrowinglikeaweed]

I've made cannabutter. And then made brownies and took them camping.
You've got THC there, you could do it. Whatever you do, dont let the stuff in the bag get moldy. I'd save that and add my trimmings from harvest to it and then make the butter. What you have there isn't really much...yet.

 

[jrp677]

I read from start to finish. 1st have you removed the heater(ballast) from your cabinet. They tend to get hot. On your clone bucket you have the pump running 24/7 and still got roots?

Hey wiseguy, thanks for stopping by! My ballast is in the top section above the flower room. The ballast does get HOT which is I made a shelf for it. All of the heat is exhausted out of a hole in to top of the cab, not far from where the ballast sits. I do have the clone bucket running 24/7. The only time it wasn't running was when I turned it off to look at root progress. The clone bucket works great, 100% of my cuttings rooted. Everyone should use a clone bucket, its just too easy!

 

[jrp677]

I've made cannabutter. And then made brownies and took them camping.
You've got THC there, you could do it. Whatever you do, dont let the stuff in the bag get moldy. I'd save that and add my trimmings from harvest to it and then make the butter. What you have there isn't really much...yet.

I set up a little drying rack for the trimmings. The person I'm growing it for is anxious to try cannabutter and so am I. It'll be tough but we'll try to hold out until after harvest. When you made yours how long did you boil it for? I've seen threads that say boil for 1 hour and others that say to slow boil for days. I was thinking a max of 3 hours, I don't have the patience to wait 3 days.

 

[wiseguy316]

i see it up there, do you have a seperate exhaust fan for that top area? I have tried several cloning methods, the bucket was going to be my next try, I thought I had to dish out 70 bucks for the recycling timer. If it works without it, i'm going to try it. Are you mistimg, foilar feeding, dome? May end up with the timer down the road. Thanks

 

[jrp677]

i see it up there, do you have a seperate exhaust fan for that top area? I have tried several cloning methods, the bucket was going to be my next try, I thought I had to dish out 70 bucks for the recycling timer. If it works without it, i'm going to try it. May end up with the timer down the road. Thanks

I originally had the exhaust fan up there but moved it into the flower room to improve the air exchange. Theres just a hole in the top for passive exhaust but the 465 CFM fan pushes air out of that hole at a pretty good rate.

This is my opinion on the clone bucket: 24/7 works, I'm proof of it, BUT I believe the clones would root FASTER if you had a timer that you could set for 3 mins ON 2 mins OFF. When the bucket is off the cuttings have a reason to send out roots looking for nutes, but by only leaving it off for 2 mins you aren't giving them a chance to dry out. I truly believe that is the most effective method but 24/7 works too, just not as fast. GOOD LUCK!