Complete Newbie - Opinions Please

J

jenniferfh

Active Member
Nirvana Blue Mystic Auto feminised. Sprouted in soil at day 5 - now been on 18/6 for 13 days under a 300W output LED.
One seemed to be stretching early on so lowered lights and inserted stick for support.
Trying now to decide watering regime - 12 litre pots with good quality potting compost and 15% Perlite.
Neutral PH and heating 24 degrees lights on and 21 degrees lights off.
Not venting out yet but have fan supplying air in at bottom.
Exhaust fan is ready to go.IMG_20180217_083235.jpg IMG_20180217_083244.jpg IMG_20180217_083251.jpg
 
J

jenniferfh

Active Member
xjking said:
they are looking good @jenniferfh , I will be starting my first grow soon, so I will follow yours to learn for now.
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Remember - this is my first too. Added a CFL last night.
Lower leaves starting to touch side of pot - should have filled higher with soil.
...... and no water now for 2 days.IMG_20180219_065545.jpg IMG_20180219_065552.jpg
 
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SchweeDubz

SchweeDubz

Well-Known Member
Probably should have filled the soil higher but it shouldn't be too huge of a difference. The cloth pots will promote the best root growth as far as I know. Your soil will slightly compress over time as you water it so I usually fill mine to the brim. Stretching can mean the plants aren't getting enough light but I wouldn't get too worried about that for now. You can always control your plant height with topping or LST. Which, I would do your first topping in about a week from the last pictures. (Google topping if you don't know what it is.) Don't water them again until the pots feel completely dry when you lift them up. The dry soil encourages root growth. The leaves are curling just a bit at the ends it looks like which signals over-watering. Also, ideal range for ph (as far as I know) is 6.2-6.5 to let the plant get the nutrients from the soil. I had pretty bad nutrient issues on my first grow and ultimately figured out it was cause my tap water was at about 8. Ph matters!

Pro tip: Measure and cut a piece of string at 18" or whatever you "litre" people use to measure stuff and attach that to your light so it can hang. It makes it much easier to tell if you're plants are too far or too close to the light source. (18" is usually the ideal distance for LEDs).
 
J

jenniferfh

Active Member
SchweeDubz said:
Probably should have filled the soil higher but it shouldn't be too huge of a difference. The cloth pots will promote the best root growth as far as I know. Your soil will slightly compress over time as you water it so I usually fill mine to the brim. Stretching can mean the plants aren't getting enough light but I wouldn't get too worried about that for now. You can always control your plant height with topping or LST. Which, I would do your first topping in about a week from the last pictures. (Google topping if you don't know what it is.) Don't water them again until the pots feel completely dry when you lift them up. The dry soil encourages root growth. The leaves are curling just a bit at the ends it looks like which signals over-watering. Also, ideal range for ph (as far as I know) is 6.2-6.5 to let the plant get the nutrients from the soil. I had pretty bad nutrient issues on my first grow and ultimately figured out it was cause my tap water was at about 8. Ph matters!




Pro tip: Measure and cut a piece of string at 18" or whatever you "litre" people use to measure stuff and attach that to your light so it can hang. It makes it much easier to tell if you're plants are too far or too close to the light source. (18" is usually the ideal distance for LEDs).
Click to expand...
I thank you for this valuable info. Not watering again today.
My tap water is quite neutral and I am filtering it too to remove chlorine etc.
I will investigate your other helpful points.
 
J

jenniferfh

Active Member
SilentQ said:
They got that big without nutes? Wow. Anything I have grown has never gotten past the first two leaves without nutes.
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Yes. I was following advice and will not feed nutes until 3rd week after sprouting - that will be 26 days after planting seeds.
I understand that my potting soil has enough nutes for 3 weeks - it is NOT "hot" soil.
 
J

jenniferfh

Active Member
SchweeDubz said:
You can always control your plant height with topping or LST. Which, I would do your first topping in about a week from the last pictures. (Google topping if you don't know what it is.) .
Click to expand...
I read a good deal about topping and training. I am not sure about topping my autos. May try LST at 3 weeks - 4 days from now. BUT - they are still very short - just about to clear the pot top edge.
 
J

jenniferfh

Active Member
Day 18 since sprouting. No water for 3 days. No nutes. Bottom leaves fouling pot side.
I move the 2 pots around to even out lighting and vent.
Feeling scared about bending the main stems for LST.IMG_20180222_085537.jpg IMG_20180222_085601.jpg
 
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