pulpoinspace
Well-Known Member
warning: wall of text. tl/dr i do okay but i know people here could help me do better
its been just over a year since i started growing indoors. recently i've put a lot into this hobby and i want to be the best grower I can be. So I will expose myself to the flame and see if I come out any better for it.
i've had moderate success. but i feel there is room for improvement. for the record, i grow under 400w LEDs (currently QB96Ev2 but also use VERO29C cob leds) and often harvest in the 300's. there are still a few concepts i don't understand and i figured i would write out a detailed explanation of my op and anyone and everyone with spare time and a kind soul can feel free to post and critique where they think i am making mistakes or taking unnecessary steps. i am seeking advice about my growing practices, as well as altering the set-up, however please don't just say things like "get a bigger tent". i will be doing that when i have more space in January. also not particularly interested in true hydro at this point. I would consider an inert medium, drain to waste, but I'm not keen on having any large reservoirs since i rent a townhome.
i'm currently flowering in a 3x3.
i use 2 plants in 5 gal fabric pots
i veg for ~3 1/2 weeks.
here are the girls at day 20 of flower:
now heres where a lot of my confusions/questions come in:
my grow medium is roots organic original potting soil. i have heard different things about this soil. some say it is super hot. i've heard some say its nearly inert. i just treat it like normal potting soil. Here are the ingredients for reference.
Ingredients: Perlite, Coco Fiber, Peat Moss, Composted Forest Material, Pumice, Worm Castings, Bat Guano, Soybean Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Fish Bone Meal, Kelp Meal, and Greensand
I use it fo everything from seedlings to flowering plants. Works for me, that okay? I give the plants plain tap water when they are first put into the soil, but then I immediately start feeding nutrients at subsequent waterings. Is this unnecessary? Does this soil actually have the fertilizers in it to get me through to flowering? Their website says begin feeding 10-21 days after transplant. In my mind I've always thought better to feed closer to the 10 days. I've rarely seen signs of nutrient toxicity or lockouts on my plants. I know I could test this easily by not feeding a plant but since I use my whole harvest as medicines I don't want to do experiments on a system that is working for me right now.
watering: this medium. I just treat it as normal I let it get completely dry and then I water it to run off. However, I've seen people say to treat it more like coco and water it every day. are they confused or am i?
nutes: i use house and garden soil a + b. multi-zen in veg and bud-xl in flower. mixed in water, following directions. i give a little nutes at every watering, 1/4 dosage. but i never give plain water. I've heard very experienced growers say this is wrong. And that i should feed->water->water. So am I using too strong of a nutrient solution? Also, I know I could try a 1-ingredient nutrient like MEGACROP and I will once this is gone but it's lasted me the year. I also do like the quality of the product it delivers. If that's even related.
and pH: this is where i've gotten most confused because so many people insist that you don't need to pH in soil because of the things in it like oyster-shell lime and dolomite lime that will buffer the pH to proper levels as long as the water is not wildly out of pH. First of all, none of these ingredients are listed for Roots Organic Original. Can someone tell me which ingredients in it are buffering pH? I mostly see fertilizers? Using the color changing drops my tap water is in the 8.5+ range. So i put some pH down with my nutrient solution and try to bring it to just below ~6.5. Is this unnecessary?
Well, if you read it all, congratulations you now have my undying friendship.
If you have any advice, or experience with this medium, or a different medium to suggest, or anything at all, feel free to post! Even new growers! Even if it's just something you've heard. Throw it out there!
Cheers!
its been just over a year since i started growing indoors. recently i've put a lot into this hobby and i want to be the best grower I can be. So I will expose myself to the flame and see if I come out any better for it.
i've had moderate success. but i feel there is room for improvement. for the record, i grow under 400w LEDs (currently QB96Ev2 but also use VERO29C cob leds) and often harvest in the 300's. there are still a few concepts i don't understand and i figured i would write out a detailed explanation of my op and anyone and everyone with spare time and a kind soul can feel free to post and critique where they think i am making mistakes or taking unnecessary steps. i am seeking advice about my growing practices, as well as altering the set-up, however please don't just say things like "get a bigger tent". i will be doing that when i have more space in January. also not particularly interested in true hydro at this point. I would consider an inert medium, drain to waste, but I'm not keen on having any large reservoirs since i rent a townhome.
i'm currently flowering in a 3x3.
i use 2 plants in 5 gal fabric pots
i veg for ~3 1/2 weeks.
here are the girls at day 20 of flower:
now heres where a lot of my confusions/questions come in:
my grow medium is roots organic original potting soil. i have heard different things about this soil. some say it is super hot. i've heard some say its nearly inert. i just treat it like normal potting soil. Here are the ingredients for reference.
Ingredients: Perlite, Coco Fiber, Peat Moss, Composted Forest Material, Pumice, Worm Castings, Bat Guano, Soybean Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Fish Bone Meal, Kelp Meal, and Greensand
I use it fo everything from seedlings to flowering plants. Works for me, that okay? I give the plants plain tap water when they are first put into the soil, but then I immediately start feeding nutrients at subsequent waterings. Is this unnecessary? Does this soil actually have the fertilizers in it to get me through to flowering? Their website says begin feeding 10-21 days after transplant. In my mind I've always thought better to feed closer to the 10 days. I've rarely seen signs of nutrient toxicity or lockouts on my plants. I know I could test this easily by not feeding a plant but since I use my whole harvest as medicines I don't want to do experiments on a system that is working for me right now.
watering: this medium. I just treat it as normal I let it get completely dry and then I water it to run off. However, I've seen people say to treat it more like coco and water it every day. are they confused or am i?
nutes: i use house and garden soil a + b. multi-zen in veg and bud-xl in flower. mixed in water, following directions. i give a little nutes at every watering, 1/4 dosage. but i never give plain water. I've heard very experienced growers say this is wrong. And that i should feed->water->water. So am I using too strong of a nutrient solution? Also, I know I could try a 1-ingredient nutrient like MEGACROP and I will once this is gone but it's lasted me the year. I also do like the quality of the product it delivers. If that's even related.
and pH: this is where i've gotten most confused because so many people insist that you don't need to pH in soil because of the things in it like oyster-shell lime and dolomite lime that will buffer the pH to proper levels as long as the water is not wildly out of pH. First of all, none of these ingredients are listed for Roots Organic Original. Can someone tell me which ingredients in it are buffering pH? I mostly see fertilizers? Using the color changing drops my tap water is in the 8.5+ range. So i put some pH down with my nutrient solution and try to bring it to just below ~6.5. Is this unnecessary?
Well, if you read it all, congratulations you now have my undying friendship.
If you have any advice, or experience with this medium, or a different medium to suggest, or anything at all, feel free to post! Even new growers! Even if it's just something you've heard. Throw it out there!
Cheers!
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