First Grow...Any help would be great

This is the first time ive tried growing. I have 2 (Hells Angels) plants that are about 3 months now both a foot in a half tall and i just added a baby (Northern Lights).

Theyre all planted in fox farm soil. they sit in the sun during the day and under a 2 40watt flourencent bulbs at night. all 3 are in a 3 gallon pot. the two bigger ones ive been watering once a day about as much as you can fit in a red plastic cup (like the party ones. ive put egg shells and dried banana peel in the soil for the bigger ones as food. im going to start using bat guano instead for all 3 in the next couple days. so far the bigger ones have started atracting thrips here and there but just one or two. to get rid of them i started using a mix of 3 gloves of garlic two drops of dish washer soap and put it in a gallon of water. applying it by spray bottle. been working so far.

i want to stay as organic as possible. please any help will be much apreciated. i really would like these to come out very very dank and tasty.

more light, stop over watering. that would be a good place to start also get rid of the egg and banana. You should read some about what plants any plant needs to grow. Me or just about anyone could tell you what to change but that would involve changing everything your doing. I'm olny commenting cuz you have no repyls so far.

what should i do instead?

RawEsoteric91 said:

what should i do instead?

Click to expand...

well, i suppose i'll bite. alright, this was not written by me but its what i would say if i were to explain it myself almost word per word. here is how to tell when to water.
"What is the "lift the pot" method?

Added by: 10k

The "lift the pot" method is a widely practiced, and very accurate method of knowing when to water your container plants.

The best way imho, to know when soil grown potted plants need more watering is by checking how heavy the pots feel. This method is very simple to learn once you get the feel for how light a ready for watering pot of soil feels.

Get an equal size pot and fill it with your soil. The medium should be about as moist as a new bag of potting soil. Use this planter as a learning tool to get a rough idea of how much the pots should weigh before watering again. The pots with your plants will feel only just slightly heavier when the soil is ready for more water. Pick up one of your planted pots, if its noticably heavy, do not water it until it feels "light". Next time you water a planter, pick it up and feel how much heavier it feels compared to the sample pot of soil.

It only takes a few times picking up the pots until this skill is like a "second nature" to you. You wont even need the sample pot after you get accustomed to the lifting method.

Sure your plants are always putting on more weight as they grow larger, but once you're proficient at lifting the pots, you'll also know how to compensate for the weight of the plants with ease.

I dont know how to better explain this method of knowing when to water, but believe me, anyone who learns this method, will always know when its time to water"

Get the light alot closer, 2-3 inches away at most. how good are the conditions where it stays outside? what is the light cycle where you are outside? a

As above posters mentioned. You've got a lot to work on lol. The part that worries me most is the bananas and egg shells. Not much you can do besides transplanting but who knows, if you let it go it might not affect the plants.

thanks alot guys. i only did the banana and egg thing once so far. my friend who finished harvesting a few of his plants used them and said they would work. good thing i posted on here to make sure.
as far as light condidtions outside its been anywhere from 60s to 80s lowest like 58. been sunny every day except for like two rainy days and the occacional overcast.
i live in cali by LAX.

As far as lights i know i need better equipment but have no clue what exactly to get other than and HPS or MH bulbs.

I've found that cfl's work well in veg. imo you should have about a 100w of 6500k light per plant. you can pick them up at any lighting place. The downfall of those lights is the ballist. I've seen but not found 100w self ballist lights. They screw into a normal socket and cost a bit less, if you can find them. another way to learn the "lift the pot" method. take 2 cups fill with soil. water one and leave the other. pick up both cups when the wet one feels like the dry one it's time to water again. When you water. do it slowly and water well.

thanks thats helps alot

Banana, egg shells, coffee grounds, will NOT hurt your soil or your grow.
That can be verified on every single gardening/horticulture site or forum on the net.
They won't break down and have a beneficial effect on the soil for quite some time though.

Those that say different, have received bad information.

I strongly urge you to check out the regular gardening and horticulture forums.
You'll get better, more accurate info than on ANY mj forum.

Be smart and don't mention mj on non-mj forums though.

Good luck!

edit: BTW, Eff the haters..... besides looking a bit over watered, your plants are doing way better than a lot of other new growers!

Rj41 is correct. That stuff will not hurt. But needs to be composted before adding to your soil. You'll see that in those same forums. Adding raw stuff to your soil will bring bugs and much unwanted smell.

I'll be back later to add a few more tips for you.

how much money do you have to invest? if your kind of iffy about the whole thing look at it this way say you spend around $200 for a 600w hps w/cool tube and free shipping +timers and hangers(look on ebay, price varies a little bit depending on the auction but you shouldnt have any problem finding one around that) since you are going to kill any males and watch for hermies youll end up with seedless high quality bud, stuff like that goes for about $50-$75 an 1/8. so if you can grow around a half oz (which is absolutely nothing for a 600w, 6-8 oz a harvest wouldnt be a bad goal.) the first harvest you'll be pretty much breaking even but youve still got that light setup to do more grows with, which as you improve your skills will improve as well. so you can pretty easily get thousands of dollars worth of bud for your small investment.

Yeah im tryna invest like 200 or so . Just waiting to get paid. Lol

Thanks RJ41 that makes ne feel alot berthed bout em. Haha.

@darkdestruction420

something like this
http://www.amazon.com/600Watt-Electronic-Dimmable-Reflector-Hydroponic/dp/B00521B894/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1320972599&sr=8-5

yeah, but go to ebay to buy it. type in 600w hps cooltube then select the sort by option and put it on sort by price-lowest first. there are a ton of them up right now with free shipping that are cheaper than the one linked to when you take the $65 shipping charge into account.

make sure you have a four way meter for ph,ppm,moisture,and light. they save you alot of hassle

thanks your lots of help cant wait get it!!!

Your lights need t obe a lot closer, like 2" and I would get some cfl bulbs, as high a wattage as you can. A minimum of 1 per plant. You can find 150 watt at wally world.

you mean 150w incandesent equivelent right?
while we are discussing where to get cfl's i have to share an amazing deal ive found. you get 6 42w(150 incandesent equivelent watts) 6500k for $22 w/free shipping.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pack-6-6500K-45W-Photo-Studio-Day-Light-Bulb-PB45-6P-/180665575475?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a1081e833#ht_3434wt_1152
or 4 65w 6500k for $36 w/free shipping.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Bulbs-set-Photographic-6500K-65W-Lighting-Light-Studio-Bulb-PB65-4P-/250895778604?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6a8dc32c

those are easily the best deals ive ever seen on cfls, thats why i bring up all the time. lol