Newbie(Old guy) needs advise

Sand4x105 said:

Sorry... Vermiculite helps aid in the oxygen flow to roots by keeping the soil well draining and aerated....
You are correct in a opposite world...Vermiculite is something everyone should add to their soil...
Now if you want to be against it because it could also contain heavy metals and other stuff go ahead....
But saying it helps hold moisture in your soil that has vermiculite is simply incorrect...
Google it

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i think you have vermic. mixed up with perlite.

vermiculite |vərˈmikyəˌlīt|nouna yellow or brown mineral found as an alteration product of mica andother minerals, and used for insulation or as a moisture-retentive medium for growing plants.

Thanks for all the information.
It is about 6" tall now and is in a 3 gallon pot which I plan to leave it in. How many weeks do you think it will take before I put in the
flowering cycle. How will I know the right time to do it? It is just a matter of making sure that it only gets 12 hrs. of light?
Also I need some suggestions on the right kind of nutes to use for the growing and the flowering cycle.
I would like to keep it as simple as possible since this is my first grow.
I know all these questions are pretty elementary to most of you experts but you have to know I am very appreciative.
Bill

64Goatman said:

Thanks for all the information.
It is about 6" tall now and is in a 3 gallon pot which I plan to leave it in. How many weeks do you think it will take before I put in the
flowering cycle. How will I know the right time to do it? It is just a matter of making sure that it only gets 12 hrs. of light?
Also I need some suggestions on the right kind of nutes to use for the growing and the flowering cycle.
I would like to keep it as simple as possible since this is my first grow.
I know all these questions are pretty elementary to most of you experts but you have to know I am very appreciative.
Bill

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i like to make sure my plants reach sexual maturity before i flower them .. this means one of two things, if not usually both.. the first is the plant will show preflowers, and the second is alternating nodes, or the branches won't come off the main stem evenly, but will start to have an inch or so space between them when the plant gets older and reaches sexual maturity..

there are tons of nutrients you can use as well.. fox farm makes a three pack of nutes that is easy to use, and botanicare also has a three part set up that's nice and works great imvho.. a lot of people like house and garden, and they're very cheap, but i don't see them around my part of the world, the mid atlantic coast.

Is there any problem with using Distilled water?

No, I use a tap/distilled mix. The pro to using distilled is that there are no salts in it. Which is good because you don't want to get salts toxicity. The con to using distilled is it doesn't contain any calcium so you may have to supplement calcium with cal mag.
I'd recommend using a 75% distilled 25% tap water to supplement calcium. Just make sure you let your tap water sit out for 24-48 to rid it of any chlorine.

Props to you for beating cancer and I hope you find all the answers you're looking for

Thanks for the well wishes. I am truly a Lucky person. Was given 6 monthe to live when they found the big C.
I told the Oncologist that wouldn't work, at the time I had 6 children to finish rasing and a wife who was my inspiration.
They got me enrolled in an experimental research for Hodgkins cancer and that is why I am Mostly still here. In that program I was given THC
capsules to help with the sickness. I have been on heavy dose of Oxy for the last few years for pain and it is really screwing me up, although
it does do what it is supposed to do.
Now I am trying to learn how to grow MJ to get off the Oxy., my body is like an old car that is hard to get going when you first start it, ie. getting
out of bed in the AM. After some meds and in a couple hours I am up and running. I now have issues related to all the Chemo. and radiation done to me,
arthritis, nerve damage, ect..,
Anyway this is a great forum and seems as though a lot of guys are more than willing to help an Old man get some meds growing. With all this help I may just make this happen. I have a cool little 8'x6' green hose, temp. controlled,that I have been growing veggies in for the past 2 years, have had great success with my veggies now
I hope to do the same with my 1st grow. Room for mytomatoe, pepper plants and at least 3 good mj plants. I have a evap. cooler on it so that keeps the humidity
pretty good as well as keeping the air moving and I can kee-p it any temp I want. For the veggies I keep it at 84/85 F.
What do you guys think I should keep it regulated at for optimual MJ growth?
I threw in some pics. of my setup give me thoughts/suggestions on anything you think I should do/change from wht you can see.
Yea, I am Old in years, but in spirit I will never grow up, just ask my kids, grandkids, but not my wife!
Hey guys, I have broad shoulders, if you see something that looks like it needs change, let me know.
Bill

The plant pics, I just took. The one is in a 3 gal. pot and the small one is still in the 4" pot, it is going to be a midget, I guess!

Seriously I don't know anything about what these are-strain- or anything, a friend of my friend gave the seeds to him and he gave them to me.

I just watered the bigger one today, it has been in the 3 gal pot for almost 4 days and was beginning to feel a little dry about3 to 4" down into the pot.

I need your thoughts, am I doing Ok or better yet how do the plants look. What do I need to do now? I am going to put the midget into a 3 gal pot but
not untill he gets potty trained. I am just trying to learn how to grow this stuff with these 2 plants, an experiment.I have some good stuff that I ordered from Nirvana
just got them today. If i don't screw this up, then I am going to start a couple of them next week.
I just reread this and it reads like I have allready had a doobie, sorry but I am not going to delete it, at least not yet. HaHa yikes
B

I agree with steelheaders post. this is great advice. and if you are growing tomatoes and other stuff, you do kinda have a green thumb already. I like this users recommendation on the 50/50 of the FFOF and light warrior. A perfect blend so the medium will begin ph balanced, have a great perlite ratio to prevent one from sogging out the roots too much. I would also add a small layer of perlite at the bottom of every container you plant in. if you have big holes at the bottom of the container, use newspaper to line the bottom to prevent the perlite from coming out. If you don't have perlite "by itself" don't rush out to buy some. just line the bottom of the container with the light warrior instead. it has a higher perlite ratio

without co2, don't go beyond 85 degrees. the ideal temperature is 76 degrees for most strains vegatively...

and from one old guy to another, you are doing great, and I really admire your spirit. Your garden and greenhouse look great, awesome

Best of luck with your quest for medical freedom. I saw my wife on Oxy for pain and it left her often feeling lost and suicidal.
Like your greenhouse approach to growing as well. I would start your known genetics now to take advantage of all the supplies you have already purchased. The free seeds of unknown genetics will take just as much time and energy and may provide you with the medicine you seek or not at all. Not sure how you intend to trigger flowering ( waiting until falls light cycle? darkening the entire greenhouse- not conducive to your other crops) nevertheless enjoy your grow! Lots of good advice you have already received, just keep it simple. I have been growing for forty years and I still have much to learn too!

Thanks for your concern and I hope your wife is now oxy free. I hope to be that way soon.
It is still not clear to me how I will know when it is time to start the flowering cycle.With the one plant that is now 6" tall
and looks healthy, what would be an educated guess as to how long it will be before time to trigger flowering.
I plan to to completely darken the greenhose for 12 hrs. a day or close to it when the time comes. The tomatoes/peppers will be fine
as I never had any lights in the greenhouse for the first 1 1/2 yrs. and I had bumper crops.
I plan to start the Aurora Indica feminized this next week. I know that the ones I have going right now is a crap shoot but I have learned,
with everyones great tips and advise, a lot. I feel that with a little more knowledge I may be able to pull this off.
Thanks everyone,
Bill

64Goatman said:

I plan to start the Aurora Indica feminized this next week.

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I grew that strain for over a year with pretty solid results. There were a total of 3 pheno's that showed up for me over that time. Here's hoping you get the short and stocky indica dominant pheno as it was my favorite for heavy yield and effects. There are 2 taller pheno's which was quality smoke, but they grew a bit lanky and the buds were more spaced out along the stems. Of those 2 one was more indica dominant and the other was slightly on the sativa side. The heavy indica dominant pheno only stretched about a foot and with topping/training would regularly produce 6+ ounces of dried bud in 64 days flowered.

This strain can also handle a pretty liberal amount of nutrients before anything bad takes place. I was up to 1350ppm in DWC during flower and they didn't so much as hiccup.

Good luck!

Nice looking yard goat. Where I live everything gets really muddy. Keep doing what your doing. I'd pop some more seeds now. It'll be a good thing to have a few extra jars laying around curing. My wife has some that's been curing for 5 months and keeps getting better. Have fun with it buddy.

64Goatman said:

Thanks for your concern and I hope your wife is now oxy free. I hope to be that way soon.
It is still not clear to me how I will know when it is time to start the flowering cycle.With the one plant that is now 6" tall
and looks healthy, what would be an educated guess as to how long it will be before time to trigger flowering.
I plan to to completely darken the greenhose for 12 hrs. a day or close to it when the time comes. The tomatoes/peppers will be fine
as I never had any lights in the greenhouse for the first 1 1/2 yrs. and I had bumper crops.
I plan to start the Aurora Indica feminized this next week. I know that the ones I have going right now is a crap shoot but I have learned,
with everyones great tips and advise, a lot. I feel that with a little more knowledge I may be able to pull this off.
Thanks everyone,
Bill

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..I don't think the tomatoes will be fine, they are light demanding. usually needing 16 hours of light per day. to flower cannabis, its a strict 12/12. Different strains stretch differently in bloom. usually a 1 foot veg plant can stretch to 3 to 4 feet after the first month of bloom, then should stop growing vertically. depends how tall the greenhouse is. the bigger the plant, the bigger the yield. If your greenhouse is between 6 to 8 feet tall, id let them veg till about 2 feet then start your light deprivation buddy. you MUST be consistent with the 12/12, otherwise the plants might "hermy" or turn hermaphrodite and give you pollen sacs and flowers. You want to avoid the pollination, if you do u will get seedless buds (sinsemilla) and potency and resins will produce more and higher quality.

goat, ever thought about or have you ever done "compost teas"? its easy to do and is very beneficial to all of your plants. If you have not, Id be willing to share with you my recipe. Its very very simple to brew compost teas too.

Heh buds, thanks for all this great info.. To be honest the tomatoes are not the top priority anymore.
If they can't make it on 12/12 then so be it. I will make a cover I can throw over the greenhouse if I need it
to keep it at 12/12, that will only be an issue for about2 to 3 months of the year. The evap. cooler I put on
the greenhouse keeps the humidity between 40/50% and I can keep the temp. where ever I want it, automatic
thermostat even when it is 110 outside prob.I will keep it at 75/77 with the MJ. I also have a small radiant heater
which I use in the winter, seldom need it, but with it I can keep it 70+ in there when it is 30ish ouside. I have been growing
tomatoes, peppers, ect.. year round. I have a lot of friends during the winter ha ha!
Going to start some new seeds Monday. No prob. with mud here in the desert. Been here almost 40 yrs and don't
remember the last time I stepped in any Mud, lucky me.
As far as compost tea, I have heard about it, but never tried making it, and if you are willing to share your recipe I would
be glad to give it a try. I don't have any grass clippings but I have a lot of leaves, ect. off of my citrus/Apple trees. Can you make tea
out of them? I ordered some soil tabs and some flowering tabs from Nirvana, don't have them yet, but a few guys swear by them!!
Till the next post
Thanks Bill

64Goatman said:

Heh buds, thanks for all this great info.. To be honest the tomatoes are not the top priority anymore.
If they can't make it on 12/12 then so be it. I will make a cover I can throw over the greenhouse if I need it
to keep it at 12/12, that will only be an issue for about2 to 3 months of the year. The evap. cooler I put on
the greenhouse keeps the humidity between 40/50% and I can keep the temp. where ever I want it, automatic
thermostat even when it is 110 outside prob.I will keep it at 75/77 with the MJ. I also have a small radiant heater
which I use in the winter, seldom need it, but with it I can keep it 70+ in there when it is 30ish ouside. I have been growing
tomatoes, peppers, ect.. year round. I have a lot of friends during the winter ha ha!
Going to start some new seeds Monday. No prob. with mud here in the desert. Been here almost 40 yrs and don't
remember the last time I stepped in any Mud, lucky me.
As far as compost tea, I have heard about it, but never tried making it, and if you are willing to share your recipe I would
be glad to give it a try. I don't have any grass clippings but I have a lot of leaves, ect. off of my citrus/Apple trees. Can you make tea
out of them? I ordered some soil tabs and some flowering tabs from Nirvana, don't have them yet, but a few guys swear by them!!
Till the next post
Thanks Bill

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those temps sound right on and great goat. If you have the ability to control temps in there twice a day (a day setting and a night setting), you want 76 target day temps and about 70 at night. humidity in flower mode is good at 50 percent. That's what I shoot for for humidity in my room. compost tea is great goat. Its a natural tonic for the plants. You can give it to your whole garden and foliar spray your leaves with it too. It helps your plants build pest resistance, better flavors, and larger fruits. My recipe is very complex. Id like to start you off with something simple, yet effective. It will require a rubbermaid tub, an airpump (8 dollars at walmart), and air tubing and airstones (about another 8 dollars walmart). They are in the aquarium section. Unless u have an aquarium and extra air pumps lying around. But you fill the rubbermaid tub with good DE chlorinated water (HAS to be DE chlorinated). You can use the air pump and stone to run it in the rubbermaid for 24 hours to dechlorinate tap water. Then, u add a few cups of good compost, (yeas, green and brown leaves) a manure, and some unsulphered black strap molasses. Bubble it for 24 to 48 hours then feed it to your plants, they will love it. Once you get the hang of it and if you got a few dollars to spend, i can give you my recipe. You can see my organic soil plants in my journal to see how good compost is for plants. Your tomatoes will get bigger and tastier too buddy.

Thanks tootee, what size tub do you reccomend? I had an aquarium that set in my workshop for about 5 years but sold it
at the last garage sale,shit!!
Are you saying to actually put manure in there or is that what the leaves make? The molasses , will this be Ok,Grandma's Original Unsulphured Molasses, 12 oz. That is what I have on hand and I will be making a trip to Walmart tomorrow for the rest of the stuff.
As soon as you clarify the manure issue for me I will get started with the brew(tea). How often and how much do you feed the plants
Do you use this tea along with normal watering or on different days?
I spent about an hour lookin at your journal, all I have to say is Dam Dam Dam fine setup, how big is the room?
Goat