Quick Soil Question/Help

[xxnerdzillaxx]

Once and for all, I know you all say to ditch them (The likelyhood of me trashing them with in the next 5 days is like 99.999999999999%), Day by day remember? I need solutions and that's it. Also, think about it... it will be at least 2 weeks before I put the little ones in because I will be slinging bleach water in the flower tent like a mad man for a week or more. How do I get this stuff out of the carpet? (preferably without a bug bomb becuase I live in an apartment and that would not be too safe) When I do find that blasted camera I'll prove that I know what I'm doing by taking pictues of the seedlings... They exploded overnight under the 400W. Those are now in another room in their own tent and are exibiting no signs of infection so far.

If you knew me in person you would find that I am stubborn as hell. I appreciate the input, remember... solutions. (Sue me I wanted to see how bright the 600W was) In terms of business this guy is dead to me. I will not be accepting anything from him for growing. But... What do you guys think of the grow setup I have?

EDIT: Though, to be honest... Even though I am legal, it still makes me nervous to throw away the plants. Is my concern justified?

 

[xxnerdzillaxx]

On a side note the ginger we plated is starting to come up (On my balcony) Which is friggin awesome! Our tomato plants are huge and we harvested some of our bananna peppers. I also have a pumpkin which is getting big. When I toss these crap plants (I think it's a matter of time) what do I need to do to save the soil they're in? I think I will just put it through the oven again... That is one hell of an ordeal. I think just to be safe I will be picking up some Greencure from the local hydro shop just to have on hand for my little ones. I am also considering picking up some ladybugs when I flower them just to be on the safe side. I want to stamp out this PM/Bug problem with overwhelming force and not take chances. Do you guys think I could get one of those toy gun super soakers and bleach things down that way? (yes that is a joke). When I do disinfect the tent I think I am going to mix a solution, spray the whole tent and let it sit and dry, then repeat a another time or two. On the last treatment I will be wiping everything down and throwing away the towels.

I guess this guy sold me plants that had been sitting off by the washer/dryer (outside of his lights) and more or less sold me his garbage. My brother and partner in this refuses to see that these things are crap. I guess he wants to believe the sky is red and that 2+2=5... or whatever the fu&% his friend says. That guy is coming over tonight and I am going to give him a piece of my mind. (he also scoffed when I mentioned rollitup...) Of course, he is also telling me that I can't get much of anything without a 1000W light and yada yada yada. I think he has his way, which is disgustingly inefficient, and I have mine... MAke sure things are done right from the beggining. What do you guys think about that philosophy? I will probably have to pay him, but his involvement in my grows will be getting the axe.

 

[alotaball]

What was your exact setup again ? Understand that if your seedlings show signs of infection .. it will already be too late. And bleach alone wont kill mites.

Anyhow .. tell us about your setup and ill try to give you a opinion while refraining from hating you for not killing the plants make sure you change your clothes and shoes between the 2 grow areas.. and it will still take a act from god and a unicorn to stop the spread

 

[alotaball]

O and to answer your question.. about getting them out of the carpet.. the only 2 ways I know are bug bomb or No pest strips.. both are toxic and you would have to vacate the apartment for a certain amount of time. Maybe someone else knows a easier way.

You should also incorporate a preventive pest managment program for you seedlings.. ITS tons easier to keep mites and pest off them then to get rid of them once they are established!.. NEEM oil is very good for preventive.... I dont like to use it for a knockdown infestation killer.. but to prevent problems it works VERY WELL.

I spray all my garden thats not in flower every 2 weeks with neem oil... It helps prevent mites.. aphids all kinds of pest.. even helps prevent powdery mildew from infecting them.. NEEM oil can be a little pricy .. 10-30 bucks depending on brand and size.. but you use a very small amount. Get a spray bottle.. dilute it to the specifications on the bottle... add a couple drops of dish soap ( helps as a wetting agent since your mixing water and oil) then spray them completely .. FOCUS under the leaves as well! Neem wont hurt yoru girls .. when used moderately it will actually improve them !

 

[steeZz]

AND A UNICORN, NOT JUST GOD. lol.
You can only lead a horse to water alotaball.
But do note this nerdz, every single veteran grower on this website will most likely tell you to throw those away.
I feel we have opened your eyes a little bit, and I'm sure you will be chucking them away in 3, not 5.
If I knew you in person man I would just give you one of my plants to flower out at this point in time.
You arent even sustaining the plants life anymore, you're sustaining the spidermites life by keeping them alive.

 

[alotaball]

Thats so true steez... I told him the same thinng... if he was local I would give him clones to get him started right...

Your not keeping the plants alive .. your keeping the mites alive LOL.. sad but true..

I WILL SAY THOUGH .. he is determined.. gotta commend that .. and he def will learn from this... It might be that he never grows again because how bad it comes out.. but if you make it through it .. then much respect.. your a better more stubborn grower then me..

 

[Kingrow1]

On a side note the ginger we plated is starting to come up (On my balcony) Which is friggin awesome! Our tomato plants are huge and we harvested some of our bananna peppers. I also have a pumpkin which is getting big. When I toss these crap plants (I think it's a matter of time) what do I need to do to save the soil they're in? I think I will just put it through the oven again... That is one hell of an ordeal. I think just to be safe I will be picking up some Greencure from the local hydro shop just to have on hand for my little ones. I am also considering picking up some ladybugs when I flower them just to be on the safe side. I want to stamp out this PM/Bug problem with overwhelming force and not take chances. Do you guys think I could get one of those toy gun super soakers and bleach things down that way? (yes that is a joke). When I do disinfect the tent I think I am going to mix a solution, spray the whole tent and let it sit and dry, then repeat a another time or two. On the last treatment I will be wiping everything down and throwing away the towels.

I guess this guy sold me plants that had been sitting off by the washer/dryer (outside of his lights) and more or less sold me his garbage. My brother and partner in this refuses to see that these things are crap. I guess he wants to believe the sky is red and that 2+2=5... or whatever the fu&% his friend says. That guy is coming over tonight and I am going to give him a piece of my mind. (he also scoffed when I mentioned rollitup...) Of course, he is also telling me that I can't get much of anything without a 1000W light and yada yada yada. I think he has his way, which is disgustingly inefficient, and I have mine... MAke sure things are done right from the beggining. What do you guys think about that philosophy? I will probably have to pay him, but his involvement in my grows will be getting the axe.

Dont reuse old soil unless it was organic or natural and kept that way through the whole grow, even then it needs new amendments and stuff, much easier to buy new good soil, dont set yourself up to fail when new soil is so easy to buy and very cheap.

As for being stubborn growers, it is the only way to grow, got to have belief in your plants and yourself that even if you fail you will try again. Peace

 

[alotaball]

you can grow quality with any size hps light.. of course your yield will be greater with the larger lights.. but if you dont over extend your lighting .. you can get quality from 400's 600's and of course 1000s.

I use 1000's .. but thats because I grow for 3 people .. If I was growing just for myself I would run a 600 in a 4x4 tent..

I think your better off asking your questions here then even CONSIDERING listening to ANYONE that was involved with those plants lol. Greencure is a good bandaide if you get a infection in flower.. but try to incorporate neem oil on the youngins .. to PREVENT infection....

AS for throwing the plants away.. I dont .. I just cut them up and put them in the corner of the yard.. they decompose and within days you cant tell what they ever were ..

 

[xxnerdzillaxx]

Those plants will be dead by tonight and discarded into a trash compactor. We bought some Einstien oil and that greencure stuff. The flower tent will be treated with bleach/water solution everyday for the next week. I see some heat stress on the young'ns as we are still getting the temps dialed in. No big deal and will be dealt with promptly. I also have some distilled water (4 gallons) that I'll use on the little ones. My wife checked the little plants for bugs and they have some so we are startng treatment now every two days until the problem is fixed, we just need to remain vigilant.



My set up is:
Veg tent 2x4 ft
400W Phantom digital ballast
400W Sunpulse bulb 6.4k
Hydrofarm 6" A/C Hood
6" fan pulling air through light


Flower tent 4x4 ft
600W Phantom digital ballast
600W Sunpulse bulb 3k
Hydrofarm 6" A/C Hood
6" fan pulling air through light exhausted into a carbon filter Can#33

That's all I can think of at the moment but I'll keep ya all posted on what happens throughout the day if anything changes.

 

[alotaball]

WOW bro with that setup you can do well.. specially for personal.. Stay diligent like you said on the pest stuff.. and you will be ok.. its alot easier to control them when they are that small.. And you have some time before flower to get it all sorted out

IF you dont see results mite wise.. switch up what you treat them with ... the mites can build resistence.. so if you do more then one thing.. it just makes it more effective... BUT the most important thing is just to be ontime with treatment EVERY time you need to.. that way you can break their breeding cycle .. your seedlings look good!

Were here if you need help ask away... in my opinion .. those are GREAT dimensions for those lighting systems..

Are you planning to always keep a veg going ?

 

[alotaball]

btw .. +rep on the setups..!

 

[Kingrow1]

Plants look good dude, keep us tight with some pics and updates. Talk ferts with them seedlings, if you been giving them ferts then i think there at their sweet spot, any more might tip them over this but if you havent then you got off to a very good start, short, compact, watering spot on, ludh green like they should be and basically no purple stems or stalks. Always remember what you did to get them so good, lot of experience gained here. Look nicer than mine. Peace

 

[xxnerdzillaxx]

Yeah, eventually we will get a cloning station as I have two big CFLs waiting to be used. I am thinking about staggering the plants I put into flower so I have like two or three plants ready to harvest every few weeks or so. (that may be more of a pain than it's worth so we'll see)

 

[Kingrow1]

You will be able to flower in two weeks with cfls, keep em short and quick. Peace

 

[xxnerdzillaxx]

Plants look good dude, keep us tight with some pics and updates. Talk ferts with them seedlings, if you been giving them ferts then i think there at their sweet spot, any more might tip them over this but if you havent then you got off to a very good start, short, compact, watering spot on, ludh green like they should be and basically no purple stems or stalks. Always remember what you did to get them so good, lot of experience gained here. Look nicer than mine. Peace

The soil had some nutes in it, but I'll be checking that later. I have to do a PH, water, nute test. Yeah, it's a lot of work but at least I dont have some asshole breathing down my neck. Never back down on something you love. I am trying to get my mom set up with a perscription that would allow her to qualify for special pain therapy and would allow her to grow 100 plants (to make hash oil) and then I'll be her provider and spend some real money on a set up. (My mind is buzzing with what I could do down the road)

 

[Kingrow1]

Reading runoff aint that simple but good to pH nutes and water. just keep an eye on your runoff pH and when it goes down too much then it is due a flush. Best i can describe it. Peace

 

[alotaball]

For soil all you really need is a digital PH meter.. it will save you tons of headache's

Perpetual is awesome if you can pull it off.. having a plant harvested every so many weeks to keep yourself happy is awesome...

BUT ..( always a but) it is harder to manage problems.. if you do a perpetual.. you gotta think about more pest problems ect.. that room will ALWAYS have plants in it .. so you never really get a reset time where you can clean the whole area and start again.. Its kinda a preference thing... AND you REALLY wanna make sure your new plants going into flower are SQEEEKY clean pest wise because if you put it in there next to a plant that is a couple weeks from harvest.. your gonna have problems cus you cant use pesticides on the mature plants...

So both have pros and cons....

I do a semi perpetual myself.. My flower is 8x4 ft.. So i normally stagger each side a month from eachother.. So when once side finishes .. i clean it and fill it back up with fresh clones. So its all up to you... just know a perpetual can be alot of work and you need to keep good notes/schedule .. because you cant feed them all the same... some will be on transistion nutes.. some will be full flower .. some will be flushing.. just gotta stay on top of it.. but very doable!

 

[xxnerdzillaxx]

So I am happy to report no new PM spots right now... No active bugs (however I do see some eggs though not many) There are some pistils starting to form. they're female... New growth is looking better. Yeah, they're crap. I don't know what do you guys think? Let em stay and see what happens tomorrow? (risk) Or thumbs down even considering the improvements?



As far as my nutes go I have Earth Juice Grow, Bloom, Microblast, and Catalyst. I also have Bio Root and Purple Maxx. I like the general idea of organic as my recent research into synthetic petro chemicals led me to a horrifying conclusion, so I avoid them like the plague... Cuz they're not much different. In the past I mixed earthworm castings into the soil and I think I will do that on the next go around. I will be much more choosy about my soil purchases as well.

That being said, can anyone offer some soil mix suggestions? Ratios and the like...

 

[xxnerdzillaxx]

For soil all you really need is a digital PH meter.. it will save you tons of headache's

Perpetual is awesome if you can pull it off.. having a plant harvested every so many weeks to keep yourself happy is awesome...

BUT ..( always a but) it is harder to manage problems.. if you do a perpetual.. you gotta think about more pest problems ect.. that room will ALWAYS have plants in it .. so you never really get a reset time where you can clean the whole area and start again.. Its kinda a preference thing... AND you REALLY wanna make sure your new plants going into flower are SQEEEKY clean pest wise because if you put it in there next to a plant that is a couple weeks from harvest.. your gonna have problems cus you cant use pesticides on the mature plants...

So both have pros and cons....

I do a semi perpetual myself.. My flower is 8x4 ft.. So i normally stagger each side a month from eachother.. So when once side finishes .. i clean it and fill it back up with fresh clones. So its all up to you... just know a perpetual can be alot of work and you need to keep good notes/schedule .. because you cant feed them all the same... some will be on transistion nutes.. some will be full flower .. some will be flushing.. just gotta stay on top of it.. but very doable!

I would love one, however they're quite spendy and the less expensive models are sold out in my area... still yet to deal with the little ones, as I'm waiting for temps to drop and enjoying a beer with the wifey.

 

[cary schellie]

u will be lucky to get 3 grams dry on the bamboo bud plants