1st Time Living Organics/1st Grow.....Questions

Whattup Riu! Started my first grow on June 10! Finally did it. Got some questions but first......

My genetics:
Fire OG Kush
Chernobyl (by far the strongest/best looking plant so far)
NL5 x Trainwreck
Kong
Triangle Kush
GG #4(real deal)

My setup:
In my basement 8x4x6.5ft tent.
titan saturn 4 Environment controller
" " helios 3 240v lighting controller
6in and 8in Hyperfan
2 1000w Solis tek
8 bulb 4 ft t5 (half the bulbs Hortilux uva+b t5......for whatever thats worth)
Hydro-logic small boy
16 inch hurricane wall mount fan(2 but only one one right now)
(im getting a dehumidifier this week....i need it bad)

Half of my plants are in my Water+Tea only soil that i built and the other half in Roots Organic that will be fed Pure blend, silica blast, and liquid karma at some point...not sure when yet. They are looking fine in the roots soil for now. I also put a tablespoon of mycos in each plant site.

So Im just starting veg so couple of the products haven't been purchased yet (8 inch fan+HPS lamps). Life comes at you fast and i went kinda broke. Unfortunately using work money to pay for some of these....and i dont get paid a lot, so its taking lil time. not a smart move by me but .....U grow and Learn right? So im in Day 10 of veg on plants that started from clones. Here is some pics of my ladies and my setup. Just the t5 and the 6 inch are setup right now. BTW i have been giving them arrowhead water(6.something PH) at the moment cuz i messed up a part on my small boy. should be here this week and then i will only use facet to small boy for water.



the ride home After getting home and Transplanting most

And these were today Day 10....i ran into some problems at first (heat)....will explain in a min. but i think i have the environment dialed in with the t5 in it.

Looking good but not liking 60% humidity.
Light and Environment controllers....will use the light cont. during flowering with the 1000s. Environment cont. hooked to my 6 inch hyperfan. also will connect dehumidifier in a week or so.
my ghetto fan stand......didnt know where to put the fan....wanted to put it high but need some better support. so this is temporary folks.
so this is my setup with my t5 in it at the moment. and here are my questions

1. I cant turn on all 8 bulbs of the t5 without the tent going 82+degrees. and that's with 6 inch and the wall mount fan running. i can turn all of them on but i gotta bring the lamp over 1.5ft from the top of the plants. I use 4 of the 8 lamps and i can put the lamp 3 inches over the plants with no problem and bring temps to 75-77. so which is better??? i really want to use all 8 bulbs the plants perk like crazy when i turn all the bulbs on. i know i should be venting that 6 inch somewhere else....could that be the problem? my 6 inch should be able to cool this setup right?

2. Some of plant leaves are twisting. less than half of the plants. and no specific strain. i looked it up and for the most part i read pH issues. What y'all think? could it be the arrowhead water? im not worried about pH with my soil i put together(they are twisting too)....but with the roots/botanicare plants i am. i have a pH meter but that is acting stupid at the moment(im currently in communication with blue lab and it should be resolved in a day or two:either mine starts working or they send me a new one). if u look in some of the current pics u can see the leaf twisting. more pronounced on a few. Growth doesn't seem to be hurting but i am still concerned...they are talking to me and i dont know what they are saying

3. this question is about my living organics plants. I left room for top dressing.....when can i apply? Also what other than Ewc should i use? i definitely want Neem meal in there... i heard it help with bugs(also going to get some neem oil this week and try and proactive). Also when should i use a tea on them (prolly Ewc ,Fish hydostrate, and molasses)?

Sorry for such a long post but i havent had the time to post so everything comes all at once. Thank you for any advice. Peace and Happy/Safe Growing!

bump

some of the soil looks a lil dark, meaning maybe not aerated enough, also sometimes a container that large will retain too much water when the root system is not developed (like with a clone).
Make sure you aren't overwatering, especially with high humidity.
for me personally anything in the 80s is fine.
90s is bad.

got it ...then my humidity is good(55day/70night). i should have dehumidifier in a week or so. i have been doin the turkey baster thing u told me about. im fairly sure i havent been overwatering. i aerated my soil with xxl perlite(never again) at about 30% of base mix. it seemed to breakdown alot and get mixed in with soil while i was turning it during the 'cooking' process. thanx grease.

FamMan said:

got it ...then my humidity is good(55day/70night). i should have dehumidifier in a week or so. i have been doin the turkey baster thing u told me about. im fairly sure i havent been overwatering. i aerated my soil with xxl perlite(never again) at about 30% of base mix. it seemed to breakdown alot and get mixed in with soil while i was turning it during the 'cooking' process. thanx grease.

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no problem man, I don't know what your ambient humidity numbers are, but it's much easier to just ventilate rather than running a de-humidifier, not to mention those suck up the amps.
I forget where you are, down south right?
your humidity is ok, but only for now... anything that high with flowers and you can have mold issues.
And yea... perlite sucks..
volcanic rock, biochar, pumice, rotted treelogs.. those work better for me. Even sand is a good thing to add.
As far your question about nutrients and teas, you will be LONG ways away from doing any of that.
Oh and I HATE those grow bags thingys.. they blow unwashed hippy-nuts. Don't drain enough and keeps the soil way too moist.
Neem meal you should have added when you mix the soil, it has to breakdown, and if you don't allow it to, it can mess with your ph. not that I have ph'ed anything in decades, but I digress.
With that soil i'd be leery of adding EWC, reason being is thesoil looks a lil thick, and EWC will clog it up like a mofo.
If you do do add EWC, i'd cut it with at least 50% aeration.

grow bags? the plastic ones? i ran out of money and couldnt get any more smarties. the guy who gave me the GG4 gifted me with those. not my first choice buy it will have to do for now. so do you think i should add some more areation to my soil(have about 40 gallons for flowering that im keeping moist)? i thought u could use neem meal as part of top dressing? i did use it as an amendment in the soil before cooking. and im in colorado. humdity isnt bad but im in a basement. im goin to get another therm/thermst. only have one for now and that goes in the tent. so NO teas right now? when then? a Ewc/mol/fish hydrolysate tea wouldnt jumpstart wats goin on in the soil?
heres some close ups of my soil....still looks too dark?

now the soil looks too dry, and too peat based.
whats in the soil man?

you can use neem meal as a topdressing, but to get the full benefits it needs to be in your entire mix, not to mention its good for it's other attributes too.
neem meal as a topdressing CAN give you probs if you overdo it...

lol....i have only been watering by the stem with a turkey baster. i havent been trying to wet every thing.
its 33% compost and ewc
33% perlite
33%roots organic
oyster shell biochar fish bone crab alfalfa neem kelp meals azomite soft rock phosphate.

and some sphagnum peat moss.this is the rest(most) of my mix. i will be using this for flowering. i keep it hydrated watering every two weeks or so. should i be water the whole pot of each plant now not just by stem with the turkey baster??? i have been given them about 1.5-2.25 oz of water each twice since transplanting. it seems that the ones in the smartpots need water about every 3 days and the other pots more like every 4 or 5. but i havent confirm this quite yet cuz they are on like day 12 or so since i got them and transplanted. for the most part minus some rookie mistakes(and the leaf twisting that i think is only one strain now) they are doin really great.

FamMan said:

lol....i have only been watering by the stem with a turkey baster. i havent been trying to wet every thing.
its 33% compost and ewc
33% perlite
33%roots organic
oyster shell biochar fish bone crab alfalfa neem kelp meals azomite soft rock phosphate.

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how much of that peat did you add, it looks a lil heavy.
also remember peat is naturally acidic

im stoned right now and cant find my journal but about 5 gallons out of 50 gallons....i think.

what do use as a top dressing grease and do you put anything on top of that?

5 spm out of 50 gallons of total mixture

FamMan said:

what do use as a top dressing grease and do you put anything on top of that?

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I use my screened compost and comfrey shreddings. Sometimes I add ewc, but I actually prefer the consistency of my compost, plus my compost is loaded with stuff.
When I made the pile I layered alfalfa meal, grass clipping, fish bone meal, leftover guanos, azomite, etc.
then after, I let it break down all autumn.
I reall, really think a good compost is the key to a good grow.
I also don't like to have smartpots on the floor, they tend to stay too wet, what I do (is ghetto) but I get three sticks underneath each pot, like a triangle, keeps it from getting "wet-feet"

greasemonkeymann said:

I use my screened compost and comfrey shreddings. Sometimes I add ewc, but I actually prefer the consistency of my compost, plus my compost is loaded with stuff.
When I made the pile I layered alfalfa meal, grass clipping, fish bone meal, leftover guanos, azomite, etc.
then after, I let it break down all autumn.
I reall, really think a good compost is the key to a good grow.
I also don't like to have smartpots on the floor, they tend to stay too wet, what I do (is ghetto) but I get three sticks underneath each pot, like a triangle, keeps it from getting "wet-feet"

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i dont think i have access to comfrey. havent really looked. nor do i have to time to grow it. so what could i use as a good top dressing? the reason i wanted neem meal is cuz i have gnats and they are getting worst. i thought that would help. have you heard anything about using natural wood mulch on top of everything? i unfortunatly have to purchase my compost(no manures) from a local nursery. i have located some high quality fresh EWC and i was goin to pick up 4 gallons tom. and was hoping to use it in a veg-top dressing.....but if im fucking up lmk bro im always down to admit when im wrong esp when im just learning. btw what kind of stics do u mean for ur smartpots?

FamMan said:

i dont think i have access to comfrey. havent really looked. nor do i have to time to grow it. so what could i use as a good top dressing? the reason i wanted neem meal is cuz i have gnats and they are getting worst. i thought that would help. have you heard anything about using natural wood mulch on top of everything? i unfortunatly have to purchase my compost(no manures) from a local nursery. i have located some high quality fresh EWC and i was goin to pick up 4 gallons tom. and was hoping to use it in a veg-top dressing.....but if im fucking up lmk bro im always down to admit when im wrong esp when im just learning. btw what kind of stics do u mean for ur smartpots?

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those plants look pretty healthy man, don't worry about using comfrey, that's just what I like.
For gnats, use a layer of horticulture sand. about an inch and a half.
also good windflow works well to keep damn near all bugs away.
those plants look ok though man
after ten days from transplanting, you'll start to see some good growth soon.

you telling me my plants look healthy and ok is the HIGHLIGHT of my day! thanx grease. Hort. sand.....i will definetly look into it.

A top dressing won't help get rid of the gnats but it can help you get through flowering without deficiencies if your mix is not very stout- that is if it hasn't been recycled a few times. You really don't even need a top dressing if you know your mix has all that the plants will need to make it though to flower cycle. If you are using a very basic mix & not sure your soil can provide all they need through bloom phase put on this top dressing a few weeks before flipping to flower cycle:

2 cups EWC - fresh or bagged
1 tbls guano - bat or bird
1 tsp blood meal
1 tsp alfalfa meal
1 tsp happy frog fertilizer 5-5-5
1 tsp greensand
1 tsp feather meal

Mix it up and sprinkle it on around the outside perimeter of your pot- try to avoid putting this mix directly on the stem rather shoot for close to the outer rim & then top it all with either coco coir or a natural bark mulch - mulching the top of your pots will help the topsoil retain moisture & keeps the micobeasties happy.
Then sprinkle some diatomaceous earth on top of all that which will control the fungus gnats- you should spray diluted neem oil on the leaves before the plants have buds on them. The combo of DE and an application or 2 of neem oil should keep most bugs at bay. Source some neem meal to add in as a soil amendment when you recycle your root balls in the meantime.
I agree- you should try getting those pots off the floor. I have had issues with uptake from having plants on cold concrete which stunted them until I elevated them on dairy crates. If you have limited vertical space a piece of plywood w styrofoam insulation underneath works in a pinch. Your vegging plants are looking pretty good so far IMO