Greetings Cultivators - My First Go at Grow

  • Thread starter SweetLeafGrow
  • Start date
  • Tagged users None
ImpulsiveGrower

ImpulsiveGrower

Supporter
2,081
263
I have been at a loss for exactly how to use this the Roots Organics Terp Tea Grow and Bloom and have so far not received any response to my inquiry from Roots Organics. If/when I do, I will post it here. I did get some advice from @ImpulsiveGrower that I am using going forward despite no communication from Roots Organics.

So I went ahead and fed my plants yesterday, 1 tsp of Terp Tea Grow and 4 tsp of Terp Tea Bloom. I also flipped to 12/12 lighting schedule last night for the first time. Next week, I will go with the straight 5 tsp of Bloom but will probably supplement the N midway through flowering much as I did this time. I was surprised this morning to see some fairly impressive progress with the plants as I didn't expect to see any difference for several days given that I expected because of the organic nature of this product. One thing that had me wondering is that all of the new growth is showing to be a light lime green. Is that normal? I expect that it is normal but wasn't expecting to see such a contrast in the lime green. See photos-
These plants look super vigorous and healthy man glad someone was able to give ya an answer about the new growth. Your gonna love this terp tea man. I use compost teas as well and if your looking for some good products to add that give you beneficial microbes and fungi (terp tea has some already) check out fish shit and recharge. Been using both of these along with the worm castings, molasses, epsom salt, and great whites orca “liquid mycorrhizae”. Your prolly good with the terp tea but if you want some extra goodies to add to your teas check out those products. Surprised you aren’t using the recharge as it seems everyone is using it since it’s such a good product. I can’t wait to see this grow mid flower.
 
Anthem

Anthem

4,155
263
Removing leaves and under growth is a matter of personal opinion. While I believe most if not all will agree to removing the bottom 1/3 of all growth is in the best interest of the plant. Opinions will vary drastically from this point. You have some that will say take off nothing, to some that will say take off just what is blocking bud sites and the way to taking every single leaf off but the very top one at each branch. With removing more leaves the skill set of the grow must increase with the about of defoliation. If you take it to the extremes you also need to consider environment, CO2 and nutrients.
 
Panhead59

Panhead59

407
63
Removing leaves and under growth is a matter of personal opinion. While I believe most if not all will agree to removing the bottom 1/3 of all growth is in the best interest of the plant. Opinions will vary drastically from this point. You have some that will say take off nothing, to some that will say take off just what is blocking bud sites and the way to taking every single leaf off but the very top one at each branch. With removing more leaves the skill set of the grow must increase with the about of defoliation. If you take it to the extremes you also need to consider environment, CO2 and nutrients.
As far As the light goes- i have same set up as u- download the lux app. Its free and tells u the strength of the light. I keep mine 20-24" from top of plant. Search lux and get correct strength at different plant stages. U use your phone as a meter. Just open app, put phone down by top of plant. It'll give u a lux value.
 
SweetLeafGrow

SweetLeafGrow

1,467
263
These plants look super vigorous and healthy man glad someone was able to give ya an answer about the new growth. Your gonna love this terp tea man. I use compost teas as well and if your looking for some good products to add that give you beneficial microbes and fungi (terp tea has some already) check out and recharge. Been using both of these along with the worm castings, molasses, epsom salt, and great whites orca “liquid mycorrhizae”. Your prolly good with the terp tea but if you want some extra goodies to add to your teas check out those products. Surprised you aren’t using the recharge as it seems everyone is using it since it’s such a good product. I can’t wait to see this grow mid flower.
Thanks for all your great help IG, and your kind words. I have not heard of any of the other products you mention but will look into them for a future crop. Thanks again Bro.
fish shit
 
SweetLeafGrow

SweetLeafGrow

1,467
263
As far As the light goes- i have same set up as u- download the lux app. Its free and tells u the strength of the light. I keep mine 20-24" from top of plant. Search lux and get correct strength at different plant stages. U use your phone as a meter. Just open app, put phone down by top of plant. It'll give u a lux value.
Great info PanHead, thanks for sharing! I will have to check that out.
 
SweetLeafGrow

SweetLeafGrow

1,467
263
While I believe most if not all will agree to removing the bottom 1/3 of all growth is in the best interest of the plant.
I agree Anthem and that is the route I have chose to take. Thanks for your input!
 
SweetLeafGrow

SweetLeafGrow

1,467
263
5 days ago I had fed my plants with 1 tps Terp Tea Grow and 4 tsp of the Terp Tea Bloom. Initially the results were great, some very nice growth. However, two days ago I noticed some slight clawing on some of the lower leaves of two of the plants, see photo. Nearest I could figure, this is coming from a bit too much Nitrogen but I could be wrong in that assessment. Regardless, I did need to water yesterday afternoon and so did so rather than wait until the next day when I thought they might wilt if I waited that long. They were ready for water so I did so with distilled water and some cal/mag supplement and ran a bit extra through the two pots with clawing lower leaves. So far, they seem to be loving the Terp Tea products.

A couple of photos show the progress. Got my scrog nets this week so have them added and the canopy is pretty level. Will bring the 4" net down once they are about mid stretch to trellis what I hope to be some big blossoms! Flipped to flower last Wednesday and the stretch seems to have begun. All are showing signs of the female gender.

It will be 4 or 5 more days before I will need to water again, so I plan to feed them again at that time but back off to about 3/4 of the recommended. I realized I may be using 5 gal pots, but they are not all the way full and so I should feed them at the rate of a 4 gal pot. So that might look something like feed, water, feed, water, etc. Does that sound about right?

If anyone has any input or suggestions, it would be appreciated.
 
IMG 0495
IMG 0494
IMG 0493
SweetLeafGrow

SweetLeafGrow

1,467
263
June 24th Update-

Yesterday marked day one of week 2 flowering and things are going well. I have figured some things out for blossom time that I had not previously done so I guess I am just in time!

I had originally planned to grow with Coast of Maine products, bought their soil, and was trying to buy their suggested additions to get through to harvest but they were all unavailable and I could not get them so I had to come up with an alternate plan. I found a couple of organic amendments with similar NPK as the Coast of Maine stuff but at the time I did not really know what the heck I was doing so I did end up getting some stuff I did not need. I found some great reviews of Roots Organics Terp Tea and so I ordered their Grow and Bloom blends. However, I knew to maximize my crop I would need to supplement that during flowering. I have been getting a lot of information from this thread on Roots Organics and trying to come up with a plan.


So I found a number to call Roots Organics and talked to a guy who was very helpful. He recommended the rest of the Terp Tea line for my grow as all 4 parts play their role in great cannabis crops start to finish. I had a bit of a hard time finding it, but I did find a bag of the Terp Tea Bloom Booster and my awesome wife found the Terp Tea Microbe Charge and we're going to share nutrients. 😍The guy at Roots Organics also recommended feeding 2 tsp Terp Tea Bloom mixed in each gallon of water and feed immediately instead of "brewing" as a tea once a week. Easy enough and I have found that these nutrients, for being organic, are pretty much instantly available. I can see it every time I feed or water. The plants are loving it.

So I have my outline to get to the finish line and it looks like an exercise in Roots Organics Terp Tea system. Will apply the Microbe charge first watering after it arrives and I think the Bloom Booster is not called for til week 4 flower so that should be here in plenty of time.

Currently I am watering about a gallon of distilled water per plant every 4 days. When I get the other two products and start using them, I will list it here in this journal but basically, if I remember right from what I have read so far, each gallon of water will in addition to the 2 tsp Terp Tea Bloom, get 1 tbsp each of the Microbe Charge and Bloom Booster. Some other updates, I have a hygrometer coming that has a remote sensor so I can see what is going on in the tent after lights out. I also got a 6" scrog net installed and tucked the taller branches over to get the canopy more even. I also have a 4" net to trellis and further separate the branches for optimal flowering. MarsHydro TSW 2000 is still at the top of the tent, now set at 75% power. The dehumidifier I got is working great at maintaining 40% RH but I have found that right after watering I have to switch it to continuous on to keep up with the extra moisture in the tent. I continue to use home made cal/mag because I am now only using distilled water due to the high TDS of our well water, which is about 685 ppm out of the tap! I bought a counter top distiller to save on the expense and PITA of buying distilled water. I am also planning on making an RSO cancer treatment with my crop so I can also use the distiller for making the RSO AND reclaim the solvent for reuse.

All but one of the plants is showing the beginnings of pistols and female flowers. The problem child has yet to really show. This plant was actually the last of the 4 to germinate from seed so it makes sense that it may show its gender a bit later than the others. Keeping an eye on it. At first I thought it may be a male, but I have since backed off on that as what I thought were nuts, turned out to be tiny leaves sprouting out of the node. So it may be a girl yet, we will see! These were bought as feminized so technically, they should all be F, but this plant did get stressed and has underperformed the others so far.

Will post some photos soon.
 
SweetLeafGrow

SweetLeafGrow

1,467
263
It's June 27 and now in week 2, day 5 of flower. All plants have now shown to be female, even the problem child which I thought may have been male, but it's not. Got some new photos and will point out the last to show gender. Otherwise, small flowers continue to grow, just so beautiful. And I think I am going to have a lot of them!

Plants are loving the Terp Tea nutrients. This coming week will introduce the Microbe Charge, Bloom Booster does not get introduced until the 5th week of flower if I remember right. I had been top dressing with the nutrients and watering them in, but have switched to mixing the dry nutrients with the water at the rate of 2 tsp per gallon. The Microbe Charge and Bloom Booster will be in addition to that base nutrient supply for flowering phase. I've pretty much gone to a water/feed/water/feed to get them the nutrients once per week. That is a bit off by the day as they are currently using a gallon each of water every 4 days. I might be able to stick with that exact weekly schedule if they start, as I assume they will, using more water than they are now.

Got the remote sensor in the tent now so I can monitor conditions after lights out. It will be a bit of a challenge to keep things cool going into a very hot summer week. Been slowly lollipopping the lower branches to get more air moving under the canopy. Took of some nice branches that would have made good clones but were never going to reach the canopy. Had a few leaves burned by the fan blowing on them too much and also the dehumidifier puts out some warm air and that fried a few leaves in close proximity. Trying to avoid too much defoliation and mostly just tucking leaves here and there to expose flower sites. They have really stretched in the past 3-4 days and are almost to the 4" trellis. I had originally planned to bring that down, but it might just be in the right spot for them to grow into it. A few more days and I will be able to start tucking these flower sites into that 4" net.

This first photo is the one I thought might be male but it appears it's a girl!

IMG 0576
 
IMG 0568
IMG 0569
IMG 0570
IMG 0571
IMG 0572
IMG 0573
IMG 0574
IMG 0566
IMG 0567
Last edited:
SweetLeafGrow

SweetLeafGrow

1,467
263
I wish my first grow looked that that! Good job man!
Thanks Bro! I appreciate the kind words.

Edit- I viewed some of your beautiful flowers jguit and wow, amazing. Very nice compliment indeed, thank you again!

I am not going to take a lot of that credit, but I will count it as a blessing. Much credit goes to all the great info and folks I have found here and the Farm. Thanks to all who try to selflessly help each other, even if our paths have not yet crossed. Even before I joined up here at the Farm, search after search led me here for the various things I was trying to learn about.

Also, the Roots Organics Terp Tea combined with the Coast of Maine organic soil has been a real winner. I recommend that combo to anyone new to organic soil gardening.

And most of all, I give credit to God for providing and making legal ways for folks to make their own medicine instead of going to Big Pharma.
 
ComfortablyNumb

ComfortablyNumb

6,099
313
@SweetLeafGrow ,

Lets look at a couple of basics for you that you may have missed.

Watering:

When you grow organic, that means that you should not be adding commercial plant foods to it. They will throw off your organics.

Soil, What you have is fine, just mix them together, don't layer.
Add some Recharge to your soil before planting.


Lights:
LED's (What kind do you have?)
LEDs should be about 16-20 inches above the canopy. Marijuana is a high light plant and can handle the light.
Just to make sure, turn it up to 80% and watch how they respond.
The intensity of light can also help drive height. If you light is not at the correct distance, the plant will not get what it needs and growth might be stunted.

Get a basic carbon filter for your water. It should put your pH right about 6.5 which is where you want it.
 
SweetLeafGrow

SweetLeafGrow

1,467
263
Lets look at a couple of basics for you that you may have missed.

Watering:
When you grow organic, that means that you should not be adding commercial plant foods to it. They will throw off your organics.

Soil, What you have is fine, just mix them together, don't layer.
Add some Recharge to your soil before planting.

Lights:
LED's (What kind do you have?)
LEDs should be about 16-20 inches above the canopy. Marijuana is a high light plant and can handle the light.
Just to make sure, turn it up to 80% and watch how they respond.
The intensity of light can also help drive height. If you light is not at the correct distance, the plant will not get what it needs and growth might be stunted.

Get a basic carbon filter for your water. It should put your pH right about 6.5 which is where you want it.
Thanks for your comments @ComfortablyNumb ! I have learned a lot about watering and think I have it down pretty good. Did you see something in the new photos that would suggest I am doing something wrong? Basically, when the pot is light, I know it's time to water. I also know when the lower leaves will start to droop, it's probably past time but I have learned through trial and error when I need to water. I try not to let it get to droopy, which it has happened only twice this whole grow.

As far as my understanding of organic soil, even the manufacturer of Coast of Maine Platinum Organic Soil mentions that the nutrients in the soil will only last approximately 30 days in a 5 gal pot. I have been using Roots Organics Terp Tea for feeding past that 30 day mark. I know it was ready because they were showing signs of deficiency right on that manufacturer provided schedule. As soon as I fed them with the Terp Tea Grow, they immediately began to flourish. I have also supplied and nourished the microbial life through the use of worm castings and molasses tea, and will soon be giving them the Roots Organics Terp Tea Microbe Charge. As far as I knew, these are all organic ingredients which also contain beneficial microbes. So I guess maybe I am understanding an organic grow correctly?

The LED light I am using is the Mars Hydro TSW-2000 and I have it at the top of the tent. When the plants were shorter, I had it down some because of some stretch I was seeing early on. Lowered it and the stretching stopped but at one point I had it too low and that same day saw some stress from that and immediately moved it back up, I'd say about 2/3 of the way up till I moved it again before everything was trellised so I could get in the tent to fix everything for the coming stretch. I have read and it seems there are two camps in light distance and intensity. For this first grow I have chosen to make it as easy as I can and just leave the light at the top unless I saw some unwanted stretch, which I have not. In fact, the plant on the front right has always been a shorty and has never stretched because the light was too high. She is currently sitting on a big thick dictionary and a 1 1/2" lifter made from a bucket for drainage. I also started them out at 25% light, went to 50% at 6 weeks from sprout, and recently went to 75% at the beginning of week 2 flower. Will go to 100%at the beginning of week 6.

As far as PH goes, I was real concerned in the beginning about that but have learned there are also two camps here. From what I understand, PH in soil less grow is very important, but not so much with soil. Water PPM I have found is way more of a concern to me. I am on a well and have a high ppm (685) and PH of 8.0. I distill my well water but it still ph's around 8.3 after distilling. I have tested the run off, and just like some here have said, the soil adjusts the runoff to between 5.8 and 6.5 (depending on the amount of runoff, which was small but not exactly the same both times I tested) the couple of times I have tested it. After I realized that, I have just ignored the PH and have not seen any lockout from the PH being off. I also have GH PH Up and have seen conflicting accounts as to whether or not this harms beneficial microbes. I've chosen not to use it and as far as I can tell, I'm doing OK. How these flowers actually do in the end will show if I did anything right or not and will serve as a learning experience!

Thanks again for your comments!
 
ComfortablyNumb

ComfortablyNumb

6,099
313
"Organic" means all you ever add is water. "Practical" organic means 3 feedings for the entire grow.

First feeding: Before planting, the soil should be amended to include all the microbes, bacteria and enzymes it will need to convert the soil to food.
I like Recharge for this: https://www.realgrowers.com/
If this is not added, the soil runs out pretty quickly.

Second feeding: About a week before changing to flower, It gets a top dress of more MBE (Microbes, Bacteria, Enzymes) by top dressing some mixed guano (bat, seabird, fish) with a small amount of Recharge again.

Third feeding is the same as the second except only half as much.

That's it. The only other thing to add is carbon filtered water because the carbon pH's it to ~6.5 and the MBE's also adjust it if needed.

You may need to add soil because the plant eats it.
 
SweetLeafGrow

SweetLeafGrow

1,467
263
I see! Learn something new every day. 😁 I guess what I am doing is a hybrid of sorts....so many choices!

I know my distiller came with carbon filters but I have not been using them. I will try one out and see if that effects the PH after distilling!

Thanks again Bro for all the information!
 
SweetLeafGrow

SweetLeafGrow

1,467
263
Today marks day 1 of week 3 flower and things are going well. I have been using the feed/water/feed/water which is getting me close on the Roots Organics weekly feeding schedule. I did get the final two Terp Tea blends of the 4 blend system, the Microbe Charge and Bloom Booster. I am expecting they will be ready to water tomorrow, maybe the next day and plan on introducing the Microbe Charge formula together with Bloom during that watering. I am mixing the nutes right in with the water and feeding that way per the manufacturer instructions.

I have a question for those who might know whether or not I should still be giving cal/mag every watering to replace the minerals lost in distillation? All three nutes I am using contain an amount of calcium and and 2 have magnesium. Terp Tea Bloom which will be fed weekly through week 7 contains 8% cal, 1% mag, Microbe Charge, 4% cal, 1% mag, and the Bloom Booster which will be fed weeks 4, 5, 6, and 7 has 8% cal and 0 mg. I don't want to over do the cal/mag so add the cal/mag or not?

Here are a few photos of the progress. Nice flowers forming all over, all 4 females. Near as I could count, there are about 56 branches with flower sites.
 
IMG 0545
IMG 0547
IMG 0549
IMG 0551
Last edited:
Top Bottom