First time grow. Outdoors. UK

[Staropramen]

Okay so I finally set my journal up....

I bought 10 Hawaii x Skunk #1 seeds from Nirvana.
Only 6 germinated using the tissue paper method

Planted all 6 in very small 2 1/2" (diameter) pots. They popped out of the soil on the 23rd May. Had to keep them in these small pots for 4 weeks as I was moving house.

Growth slowed in the last few weeks and I have just transferred into much larger 6" pots. Used general organic compost (with 25% perlite) Because the weather hasn't been brilliant the last few weeks, leafy growth has been slow and they were getting taller so when transferring I buried the stems a little. Most plants are 4". One did get snapped by the wind a few weeks back but I think it survived...

Since I have recently transferred I'm going to wait about a week for them to settle before beginning a feeding programme (help needed!).

Could do with some help on watering too...
I'm guessing there needs to be access to run off so watering from the bottom is out of the question. Do the leaves need water? Or is it best just to make sure the soil is moist...?

Hope the pictures work:

Day 24

Post away


Mel

 

[Alto]

scribed
**crossing fingers for good summer weather**

watering in soil
at the point they are now you should let them dry out some
if you stick your finger in the dirt it should be about an inch before you feel moisture
before watering again.
Lots of people pick up the pot and feel the weight, when it starts to feel a good bit lighter, water.
This will allow the roots to grow out some searching for water and allow the plant to be larger over time.

still no food right?

 

[Twistyman]

You're in the same boat as me..4 days of sun (without rain) this month.. Maybe some cfl light would help as a supplement..For watering, if you don't have meter, feel the weight wet, and when it's noticeably lighter water, or as I do, when soil pulls away from plant pot.....They look healthy though.......shitty year up north..
not quite spot on...

 

[Staropramen]

When the soil dries out a gap appears around the soil of a few milimeters between the pot. I'm gauging the watering by this. Think I'm on top of it...

Growth has started up again since transplanting and hopefully the sun will come out...

I havent started feeding yet, gonna wait till after the weekend. Was thinking of using Canna Terra if anyone has any cheaper/better ideas...

From what I've read I don't feed every time I water, am I right in saying this?
Let me know

Cheers

Mel

 

[Staropramen]

Okay so a few problems havent gone away since transplanting and I was wondering if anyone could help me out with some of them...

Day 35

Yellowing on the oldest set of leaves with a little purple colouration...

Yellowing again but this time with browning on the tip of the leaf

Something has eaten some of the leaves. Have had a good look round but can't see any sign of life or eggs... Also some slight deformation to a few of the leaves...

This plant look healthy except new leaves are curling under a little. Older leaves look healthy...


Other than that the plants look pretty healthy. I fed them today with a small amount of 24-8-16 food. Will water in a few days to flush out any excess nuts in the soil...

Come on sun!!!


Post away

Mel

 

[greenbehemoth]

Hey Staropramen, sorry I haven't got around to posting until now. I did read through your journal yesterday but have had problems of my own and pretty busy otherwise. Good job on the transplant. As regards feeding, start off at about 1/4 the recommended dose so as not to cause the plants shock. Then build up gradually to about 3/4. Personally I wouldn't go above this. And only feed every other watering. Other recommendations which I am following are Epsom salts, about 1 tsp per gallon; and black strap molasses apparently works wonders every watering, again about 1 or 2 tsp per gallon. You can get it in health food shops and probably a good supermarket. One word of caution - as you've just transplanted check your soil packaging in case it has pre-added nutes. If it does then I'd be careful as adding even more could be overload.

As regards the damage, my experience is that the lowest leaves (the smallest true leaves) turned yellow and have stayed that way ever since, and brown marks etc will never go away anyway. So as long as these problems do not get any worse, for example start spreading up the plant, then I wouldn't worry about them. Your eaten leaves look like the work of a caterpillar - they tend to eat large chunks from the edge in. Could also be slugs or snails if they are out during the night. But chances are it's a one-off if you can't find any signs of bugs hiding in the plants. It's just one of those things with growing outside as I am discovering almost on a daily basis

The curling new growth is interesting as I have a similar problem with one of my plants except mine is a lot worse. I'm starting to think it could be genetic, but there are nute problems that can cause this. I think from memory they relate to ph or root lock-out problems rather than just a straight lack of nutes. I'll have a read up and see if I can find anything. But my guess is as long as you don't overfeed these babies, and they get at least some sun (come on the rays) you'll be fine. Sorry this was so long

 

[theloadeddragon]

I agree for the most part with my friend the behemoth... I think that your feeding solution is a little too strong, that will cause discoloration. the leaves curling down like that is a sign of over watering or root lock... add a couple worms to your soil, get a praying mantis, get you soil dry asap and water with balanced ph water to fix the nutes problem... all soil has nutrients already in it, I would say its better to wait until your plants tell you they need them, as yours are so young, the only thing that I would give them is (24 hrs after flush) 2-4 drops of Alaskan Fish emulsion mixed with a half gallon of water with a p.h. balance of 6.4-6.7 as well as a 1/4 tsp of a B1 mix like 1-1-1. your babies are stretching! Even good porch lights will provide some helpful light. I would put some fluorescents on them though, as they are. Just because I say thats what I would do in no way does it mean that I know everything about growing, nor that I may make mistakes sometimes, but I am pretty sure that would work for you.

 

[bobtokes]

a good cheap book to get is the tree and shrub expert by dr D.G HESSAYAN theres asection in there that covers pests B*Q sell it or a garden centre
good luck

 

[Staropramen]

The soil is pretty moist today but they have been in the conservatory all day.

I fed them a small amount of 24-8-16 food mixture, but kept the amount low...

I might have access to a HPS lamp. Should I use this during the night or when I don't put them outside?

I'm going to keep watering to a minimum now, as I think that's whats causing problems... Twice a week should do the trick right?

 

[theloadeddragon]

I try to move mine as little as possible...

 

[UKcyrus]

the bottom leafs should die off they do on almost all ganja plants!!! so dont worry about yellow on them.. id only worrie about the new leafs with yellow on them...

 

[UKcyrus]

starop mate that fert sounds like its got to much potassium oxide init do you use that fert when they are small babys or coming into flower?? well anyways its a flowering fertilizer..................... you need some thing like - N-16.-P-16.-K-5. the last number should always be smaller than the first 2 as its the potassium that makes big bud!!! give it to much k it'll grow funny

 

[UKcyrus]

trust me i been reading up bro cause i had to get some fertz 2 cause of a few orange dots... so here they are my npk's
for the veg stage i have
tomato food 7-7-7 + garden growmore gems 7-7-7 + slow release plant food 8-2-2 with added calcium,magnesium,suphur,zinc,iodin,iron,boron.
for flowering i have
more tomato food 5-5-10 +orchid bloom 33-100-100 + doff ec fertilizer with added magnesium and sulphur 12-5-24 + a drip feed fertilizer 12-1-9
so thats the basic of the fertilizers as you see the veg npk the k is either the same or lower as it should be but when flowering starts rocket the potassium shit up sky high man it'll give you some mean ass buds




I HATE FERTILIZERS

 

[UKcyrus]

Whoops The Drip Feed Goes In The Veg Stage My Bad And N Sry Caps I Aint Writin It Again.....

 

[UKcyrus]

Wtf I Wrote It All In Caps Lol

 

[Alto]

I might have access to a HPS lamp. Should I use this during the night or when I don't put them outside

That would do wonders if you could for at least a while so they get bushier.
To not add to the confusion I use hydro and so my nutes and PH etc are all different than yours, but the Molasses is a wonderful addition as it feeds the
productive friendly bacterias in the soil. If they thrive they also keep the destructive mean bacterias at bay as well.
A good way to defeat slugs should they turn out to be your midnight nibblers
is to place a shallow dish of beer near your garden.
For some reason they love the stuff, and it also will kill them, so go figure.
Its a little too much weather up your way for salt to be effective.
Plants are looking good tho' keep up the quality care and love.

 

[Staropramen]

I have heard off a lot of people on the net and from friends that Canna Terra Vega is the stuff to use...

It's not too cheap but is the best to use apparently. Bough some today and will be feeding it with that for the rest of the veg grow. Will try and find out some NPK stats for you guys and let you know how things bush out!

Cheers for the stats cyrus, will bear them in mind when keeping an eye on pH's...

Think that is my next step in growing (keeping and eye on my pH, something between 6 and 7 am I right?)

Cheers for the help guys

Mel

 

[Staropramen]

What kind and where can I buy some Molasses?

Mel

 

[greenbehemoth]

You'll get molasses in a good supermarket or Holland and Barrett - make sure you get the "blackstrap" stuff as that is the best quality.

 

[Staropramen]

Having done some reading it seems molasses is a by-product of sugar production and sweetens up the flowers increasing crystals and sugaring the taste...

Where di you read to use it during vegging?

Mel