First Time Grower - Cali Outdoor

I appreciate you checking this out! It's my first time growing and thought I'd share some pics and details and hopefully get some tips/suggestions from you seasoned vets. I picked up two clones - Banana Punch and Wedding Pie. I planted them the following day in a mix of soil and vermiculite (about 2/3 soil, 1/3 vermiculite), each in their own 5-gal grow bag. The sun is hot and direct where they are, so I thought the vermiculite would hopefully help with water retention. I'm by no means experienced in growing much of anything other than some house plants, so hopefully this wasn't a mistake.

Their growth in the first week was fairly slow, but shortly after they really started to get going. At this point they're telling me to feed them every 2 days or so - water with BioThrive Grow (4-3-3). As far as how much BioThrive, I'm just following the directions based on the amount of water I'm using - a bit under a half gal each watering.

I did only fill the grow bags about half way or a bit more thinking it would keep the height down. Now I'm second guessing that decision - thoughts on adding soil to the bottom to bring it closer to a full bag? I have another area that can accommodate their bigger grow size if they get to that point.

Day 1 pics were taken just before I planted them. The rest of them are from today, day 25.

Let me know what you think, I'm all ears. The good, the bad, the suggestions... it's all welcomed.

Be well everyone.

A

I grow on my pool deck in FL. Heat is my battle. I water my girl twice a day, and FoxFarm nutes 2 times a week. Unknown strain, as I got seed from a buddy. She’s healthy as far as I can see. Like you, I didn’t put enough soil in pot at beginning. I did add soil in May.
i think the heat has slowed flower stage, as there hasn’t been much change in her for the last several weeks. Also, there is no odor from flowers... which has me mildly concerned.
Yours look good, hope you benefit a great harvest!

Stukid said:

I grow on my pool deck in FL. Heat is my battle. I water my girl twice a day, and FoxFarm nutes 2 times a week. Unknown strain, as I got seed from a buddy. She’s healthy as far as I can see. Like you, I didn’t put enough soil in pot at beginning. I did add soil in May.
i think the heat has slowed flower stage, as there hasn’t been much change in her for the last several weeks. Also, there is no odor from flowers... which has me mildly concerned.
Yours look good, hope you benefit a great harvest!

Home Page - Make It Legal Florida

POT. WEED. MARIJUANA. CANNABIS. SIGN THE PETITION It doesn't matter what you call it. MAKE IT LEGAL.

makeitlegalflorida.com

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Appreciate the info brotha! Question for you - when you added soil, did you remove her from the pot and add the soil underneath or did you put some on top, covering part of the main stalk? I can't wrap my head around adding to the top being effective as the roots are growing down and out below, but then again I don't know much about this stuff.

A

Day 27, morning and early afternoon.

I just added when it was apparent that I didn’t put in enough to begin with. About an inch or so.

Stukid said:

I just added when it was apparent that I didn’t put in enough to begin with. About an inch or so.

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Cool, thanks. Good luck with the grow!

Day 29, morning. They really shoot up at the first signs of light.

Stukid said:

I grow on my pool deck in FL. Heat is my battle. I water my girl twice a day, and FoxFarm nutes 2 times a week. Unknown strain, as I got seed from a buddy. She’s healthy as far as I can see. Like you, I didn’t put enough soil in pot at beginning. I did add soil in May.
i think the heat has slowed flower stage, as there hasn’t been much change in her for the last several weeks. Also, there is no odor from flowers... which has me mildly concerned.
Yours look good, hope you benefit a great harvest!

Home Page - Make It Legal Florida

POT. WEED. MARIJUANA. CANNABIS. SIGN THE PETITION It doesn't matter what you call it. MAKE IT LEGAL.

makeitlegalflorida.com

Click to expand...

When is Florida going to make it legal?

Day 31, afternoon.

I've got a question if anyone can help - the plants are developing new pistils pretty rapidly now, and can be seen at pretty much each level (pretty evenly more or less). Is it of any concern that the plants have this amount/level of pistil development at day 31? Does this indicate that I am/am not doing something right?

Thanks all.

A

tellsnow said:

Day 31, afternoon.

I've got a question if anyone can help - the plants are developing new pistils pretty rapidly now, and can be seen at pretty much each level (pretty evenly more or less). Is it of any concern that the plants have this amount/level of pistil development at day 31? Does this indicate that I am/am not doing something right?

Thanks all.

A

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It’s flowering by the looks of it

crownroyal said:

It’s flowering by the looks of it

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Thanks for the quick feedback. Given that it's just 31 days since planting the clone, is this an issue/something I need to deal with or just switch to flowering nutes and let them run their course?? They're currently in the area that gets the most light throughout the day.

They will flower has the days get shorter. I have a dominant Sativa (black jack) that is also already flowering while my other are barely getting their. It’s part of their life cycle.

1twothree said:

They will flower has the days get shorter. I have a dominant Sativa (black jack) that is also already flowering while my other are barely getting their. It’s part of their life cycle.

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Makes sense, thanks and good luck with the grow!

Day 35, late afternoon.

These girls have pretty clearly entered their flowering stage. I haven't yet switched to a different nutrient - I plan on beginning to use the BioThrive Bloom product as the Grow product worked pretty well it seems. Any other suggestions? Also, any suggestions on what I should be doing as far as care? Pruning, top dressing, etc.

Thanks all,

A

tellsnow said:

Appreciate the info brotha! Question for you - when you added soil, did you remove her from the pot and add the soil underneath or did you put some on top, covering part of the main stalk? I can't wrap my head around adding to the top being effective as the roots are growing down and out below, but then again I don't know much about this stuff.

A

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Hey There, I know you're well past this stage now, but just wanted to let you know that when you add soil from the top any of the stem that has been submerged by soil will actually start to grow roots from. A lot of growers use this technique when plants get too tall or spindly. Just get a deeper pot and put your plant in as deep as you want it to go and cover with soil. I do this quite often with seedlings that grow to spindly, works perfectly. Great looking plants by the way, hope you have fun when harvest time comes around. Cheers

IndoBlazing76 said:

Hey There, I know you're well past this stage now, but just wanted to let you know that when you add soil from the top any of the stem that has been submerged by soil will actually start to grow roots from. A lot of growers use this technique when plants get too tall or spindly. Just get a deeper pot and put your plant in as deep as you want it to go and cover with soil. I do this quite often with seedlings that grow to spindly, works perfectly. Great looking plants by the way, hope you have fun when harvest time comes around. Cheers

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That's great info, much appreciated brotha! I'll keep that in mind going forward.

Day 49, late morning.

Been a minute since I last updated. Flowering seems to be going well. The girls are drinking quite a bit at this point. Almost a gallon of water each every 2ish days or so. Switched to BioThrive Bloom which is being included with each feed. Did a bit of pruning/defoliating about a week ago. Other than that, business as usual really.

Any comments/suggestions are welcomed!

They look really good, flower production is coming along nicely and she looks green and healthy. Good Work Mate

IndoBlazing76 said:

They look really good, flower production is coming along nicely and she looks green and healthy. Good Work Mate

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Thanks brotha! Been learning a ton through this process. It's my understanding that the flowering process is usually 7-8 weeks. Given these girls are in week 2ish, should I expect another 5 or so more weeks?

tellsnow said:

Thanks brotha! Been learning a ton through this process. It's my understanding that the flowering process is usually 7-8 weeks. Given these girls are in week 2ish, should I expect another 5 or so more weeks?

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No problem and you'll lot's from researching and listening to the experienced growers that you find on Forums like this. I've been growing for nearly 10years now and I'm always learning something new about cannabis cultivation. So length of flowering period can really vary from strain to strain. Indicas and indica dominant hybrids notmally finish flowering anywhere from 7 to 10 weeks, with Sativas and Sativa dominant hybrids are normally 10weeks plus. If a breeder says 8 weeks id normally say up to 10weeks depending on your grow conditions. 8weeks would be if you had prime optimal conditions.