Complete Newbie, First Grow, Just Seeking Any Tips Tricks Or Pointers For Soil Grow

CandaceMarie · Apr 14, 2019

SoLowDolo said:
Sorry if it was already mentioned, I didn't read all of the replies, but I would suggest better drainage. Maybe elevate them above the ground a little so eat can flow out easily. Drill plenty of holes in the bottom, and you can even drill them all over the side to improve air flow to the roots. Good luck to you!

Initially drainage was a big concern of mine, is there anything specific you see that indicates bad drainage? I drilled 5- 1/2" holes all over the bottoms and the buckets have about a 1/4" lip from the actual bottom of the bucket and the clear trays theyre sitting in have periodical 1/8" ridgids for better water flow so theres about 5/8" from the bottom of the bucket to the bottom of the trays. Would you still reccomend raising them? I added a smidgen extra perlite to the soil and put a solid 1" layer of perlite in the bottoms. I actually considered side air holes but i was worried it would be too much. I probably wont drill into the sides of the girls ive got going just so i dont mess with them any more than i have to, but after this grow ill add some holes to the sides. Initially i overwatered all of them so i have seen all of them actually draining lol

UncleRomulus · Apr 14, 2019

CandaceMarie said:
Thank you for the tips, i will definitely top them lower next time. As for the watering, would you recommend giving them less water to continue watering multiple times a week, or is about 1/5th of a gallon when they begin getting drier better?

Here’s the deal friend (welcome to the farm by the way :))

As growers we need to stop thinking from our perspective and start thinking from the plants. No human can tell you how often to water. Your plants will tell you. Water em and wait till they dry up (like almost totally dry) and the pot is light. (If in coco or coco mix not quite totally dry but mostly.) you will see fan leaves perked like cold nips and the plant thriving. Then and only then will you provide that plant with some good ol water or nute mixture.
As far as nutes try just water every second time and even cut recommended fertilizer amounts in half. You can always increase that if you see them fading (yellowing) a bit. Less is better than more. Noobies always always over feed. The recommendations on bottles and that usually call for the amount you’d use if you were a pro runnninf co2 and maximum everything.
Good choice on the setup. A 600 in a 5x5 works but for maximum performance you’d want a 1000 watt in 25 sq ft. This is fine tho, you still have the potential to get a lb or so off what your using, what I’m saying is your not at maximum so don’t ‘feed’ at maximum.

Seems like you have done your homework knowing what you already know. Besides a few things to improve you are on track to be good at this in no time.

SoLowDolo · Apr 14, 2019

CandaceMarie said:
Initially drainage was a big concern of mine, is there anything specific you see that indicates bad drainage? I drilled 5- 1/2" holes all over the bottoms and the buckets have about a 1/4" lip from the actual bottom of the bucket and the clear trays theyre sitting in have periodical 1/8" ridgids for better water flow so theres about 5/8" from the bottom of the bucket to the bottom of the trays. Would you still reccomend raising them? I added a smidgen extra perlite to the soil and put a solid 1" layer of perlite in the bottoms. I actually considered side air holes but i was worried it would be too much. I probably wont drill into the sides of the girls ive got going just so i dont mess with them any more than i have to, but after this grow ill add some holes to the sides. Initially i overwatered all of them so i have seen all of them actually draining lol

Sorry I may have missed that part. I just said that cuz it looked like they may have been overwatered. Just a big mistake most new growers make. Sounds like you're def doing it right now and on the right track tho

CandaceMarie · Apr 14, 2019

SoLowDolo said:
Sorry I may have missed that part. I just said that cuz it looked like they may have been overwatered. Just a big mistake most new growers make. Sounds like you're def doing it right now and on the right track tho

Nah you're good, I hadnt mentioned any of the specifics of it. And yeah I made a straight up rookie mistake, theyre definitely over watered I just hadnt realized what was wrong; I had been watering on my own schedule not the plants so i think its not so much of a drainage issue but more of not letting them use what theyve already got and constantly forcing the max they can take. Thank you for the tips! As I said, before my next grow I'll add some air holes on the sides, and hopefully I can learn to just leave them the hell alone

CandaceMarie · Apr 14, 2019

UncleRomulus said:
Here’s the deal friend (welcome to the farm by the way :))

As growers we need to stop thinking from our perspective and start thinking from the plants. No human can tell you how often to water. Your plants will tell you. Water em and wait till they dry up (like almost totally dry) and the pot is light. (If in coco or coco mix not quite totally dry but mostly.) you will see fan leaves perked like cold nips and the plant thriving. Then and only then will you provide that plant with some good ol water or nute mixture.
As far as nutes try just water every second time and even cut recommended fertilizer amounts in half. You can always increase that if you see them fading (yellowing) a bit. Less is better than more. Noobies always always over feed. The recommendations on bottles and that usually call for the amount you’d use if you were a pro runnninf co2 and maximum everything.
Good choice on the setup. A 600 in a 5x5 works but for maximum performance you’d want a 1000 watt in 25 sq ft. This is fine tho, you still have the potential to get a lb or so off what your using, what I’m saying is your not at maximum so don’t ‘feed’ at maximum.

Seems like you have done your homework knowing what you already know. Besides a few things to improve you are on track to be good at this in no time.

I will absolutely cut down on watering and start listening to the plants more, ive definitely been over watering and over feeding. I think I got aggressively excited about nutes and need to just stop. I did see a leaf that is showing some calcium deficiency so in that case should i just be adding the basics and some calmag when i do use nutes?

also the temp started going crazy when i removed the 6 males so i swapped it out for a 400 w bulb after i lowered the light itself, should i go back up to the 600 and add more cool air to lower the temp?

Thanks for the advice and reassurance that the hours of research havent been a total waste

UncleRomulus · Apr 15, 2019

CandaceMarie said:
I will absolutely cut down on watering and start listening to the plants more, ive definitely been over watering and over feeding. I think I got aggressively excited about nutes and need to just stop. I did see a leaf that is showing some calcium deficiency so in that case should i just be adding the basics and some calmag when i do use nutes?

also the temp started going crazy when i removed the 6 males so i swapped it out for a 400 w bulb after i lowered the light itself, should i go back up to the 600 and add more cool air to lower the temp?

Thanks for the advice and reassurance that the hours of research havent been a total waste

I would imagine the cal mag deficiency is from overwatering or wrong ph. I wouldn’t add more yet. What are you using for a fan?

OldManRiver · Apr 15, 2019

CandaceMarie said:
I did see a leaf that is showing some calcium deficiency so in that case should i just be adding the basics and some calmag when i do use nutes?

Overwatering causes deficiencies. It kills the root hairs, which limits nutrient uptake. Overfeeding worsens the problem. Fix the overwatering before you add stuff. To be blunt, calcium deficiencies are pretty rare unless you're using Reverse osmosis water. Almost all tap water has plenty of calcium.

CandaceMarie · Apr 15, 2019

UncleRomulus said:
I would imagine the cal mag deficiency is from overwatering or wrong ph. I wouldn’t add more yet. What are you using for a fan?

I have 4 of these 6” running for fans

Robot or human?

CandaceMarie · Apr 15, 2019

OldManRiver said:
Overwatering causes deficiencies. It kills the root hairs, which limits nutrient uptake. Overfeeding worsens the problem. Fix the overwatering before you add stuff. To be blunt, calcium deficiencies are pretty rare unless you're using Reverse osmosis water. Almost all tap water has plenty of calcium.

I’m probably misdiagnosing it, i just used a cannabis leaf chart i saw in the infirmary. Yeah I’ll definitely get the overwatering and over feeding under control before i consider making any changes, along with checking the soil ph and adjusting from there.

Jimster · Apr 15, 2019

Things are looking kinda rough, for sure. Don't fret because EVERYONE started off like you...a tent full of hope and eyes full of ambition! The biggest issue I see with new grows is patience and the "Bigger is better" school of thought. The more stuff that you mess with, the more problems you are likely to have. I use the same very basic formula that I've been using for decades and it is simple and works great I use Promix, general fertilizer, and some composted manure, about 4:1 Promix to Compost ratio. General 20-20-20 nutrients fed every 7-10 days after being established. It's simple, it works great, and you don't have to worry much about runoff, Ph, overwatering, overfeeding.
I'm not being difficult, I am just recommending starting off with something easy and foolproof, from which you can tweak over the grows to improve your process. The premium powders, elixirs, and 95% of the other stuff is not typically needed by the typical grower. Patience is the hardest part, because, well...you know why. Overfeeding is an American problem, where everyone is overfed! Plants, like people, don't benefit from overeating. Most of the pre packaged soils I see bein sold are very high in nutrients already, so adding to them makes it even hotter. Avoid this pitfall by holding off of fertilizing for at least 2 weeks after the plants get started. Cal-Mag is way overused IMHO, but it is necessary in some regions depending on the water source and how much mineral content is in it.
The hardest part of this site is figuring which advice to follow, since there is a lot of useful info (and some not so useful). Keep your setup simple, at least initially. Plants need light (and lots of it!),nutrients, but not too much, and air to breathe, which includes roots. Promix drains well, so overwatering shouldn't be a problem. I'm just trying to provide a known and proven easy way to do this. It can be done a million ways, but start off simple and work your way up.

OldManRiver · Apr 15, 2019

CandaceMarie said:
I’m probably misdiagnosing it, i just used a cannabis leaf chart i saw in the infirmary. Yeah I’ll definitely get the overwatering and over feeding under control before i consider making any changes, along with checking the soil ph and adjusting from there.

The leaf above this one shows the probable primary problem, which is overwatering. Since overwatering causes symptoms that look like deficincies, that's prpably why this leaf looks poor

UncleRomulus · Apr 15, 2019

Start a grow diary, guuurl. Folks can follow along on your journey getting the hang of it. It’s a great way to keep track for yourself also. After a year goes by it’s fun to look back and see how you’ve improved. I bet in a year or two you will be an ace! I can tell you got the desire to learn. Keep it simple to start and try one or two changes per grow so you can judge results and no what works best for you.
That should be enough air movement. Truth is, depending on where you live, you’ll need some a/c to run the 600. That the downside of good ol hps.

CandaceMarie · Apr 16, 2019

Jimster said:
Things are looking kinda rough, for sure. Don't fret because EVERYONE started off like you...a tent full of hope and eyes full of ambition! The biggest issue I see with new grows is patience and the "Bigger is better" school of thought. The more stuff that you mess with, the more problems you are likely to have. I use the same very basic formula that I've been using for decades and it is simple and works great I use Promix, general fertilizer, and some composted manure, about 4:1 Promix to Compost ratio. General 20-20-20 nutrients fed every 7-10 days after being established. It's simple, it works great, and you don't have to worry much about runoff, Ph, overwatering, overfeeding.
I'm not being difficult, I am just recommending starting off with something easy and foolproof, from which you can tweak over the grows to improve your process. The premium powders, elixirs, and 95% of the other stuff is not typically needed by the typical grower. Patience is the hardest part, because, well...you know why. Overfeeding is an American problem, where everyone is overfed! Plants, like people, don't benefit from overeating. Most of the pre packaged soils I see bein sold are very high in nutrients already, so adding to them makes it even hotter. Avoid this pitfall by holding off of fertilizing for at least 2 weeks after the plants get started. Cal-Mag is way overused IMHO, but it is necessary in some regions depending on the water source and how much mineral content is in it.
The hardest part of this site is figuring which advice to follow, since there is a lot of useful info (and some not so useful). Keep your setup simple, at least initially. Plants need light (and lots of it!),nutrients, but not too much, and air to breathe, which includes roots. Promix drains well, so overwatering shouldn't be a problem. I'm just trying to provide a known and proven easy way to do this. It can be done a million ways, but start off simple and work your way up.

Yeah, i was planning on starting simple and i found it extremely difficult to stop looking for more information so the plan kind of spiraled. I absolutely appreciate your input and next time i will certainly tone the enthusiasm down a bit and figure out how to grow simply before trying to get complicated again. Thank you so much for giving me an idea of where i should be starting, theres a lot of information out there and almost none of it is simple lol

Jimster · Apr 16, 2019

CandaceMarie said:
Yeah, i was planning on starting simple and i found it extremely difficult to stop looking for more information so the plan kind of spiraled. I absolutely appreciate your input and next time i will certainly tone the enthusiasm down a bit and figure out how to grow simply before trying to get complicated again. Thank you so much for giving me an idea of where i should be starting, theres a lot of information out there and almost none of it is simple lol

It is too easy to start down the road with good intentions, only to get distracted from the process along the way. You are trying, and that is worth a gold star by itself! I tried for years to grow withno luck at all. An older hippie gave me his "recipe" and told me it would work, gaurenteed. I got a big light and was astonished at how well it works. I don't want to blow my own horn as there are a LOT of folks who do things I couldn't imagine, but the simple recipe...Promix, buckets, a lot of light...and you will be successful! Just go easy on the nutrients and you will grow stuff that others could only imagine.

Complete Newbie, First Grow, Just Seeking Any Tips Tricks Or Pointers For Soil Grow

Complete Newbie, First Grow, Just Seeking Any Tips Tricks Or Pointers For Soil Grow

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