AK-48 Planted 10-19-15 From Seed
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- #162
swwilson20
New Member
What are your thoughts about growing in coco or promix? I've got seeds on the way and was thinking on growing 2, one in soil and one soilless.
I don't personally like the idea of soilless but I have strong biased opinions about that. It isn't because it doesn't work. it can be done great. I think you are not ready for that as it is more difficult. You are much more in control and therefore much more easy to spoil it. Soil acts as a buffer and will help to prevent you from making mistakes. going soilless or hydro means you can't make mistakes for more than about 3 days before there is detrimental impacts.
I always recommend for beginners to grow one way until they are happy with it as there is some much to learn. Then at some point you can try more difficult ways. but if you are unhappy with trying a good soil blend (which I find easiest) then go for it.
I don't do coco so I can't help as much. I do DWC and organic soil blends.
I have never used promix.
I like a soil mix that is 1/3 perlite, 1/3 decent soil like fox farm Froggy blend, and 1/6 steer manure, 1/6 coco.
I always recommend for beginners to grow one way until they are happy with it as there is some much to learn. Then at some point you can try more difficult ways. but if you are unhappy with trying a good soil blend (which I find easiest) then go for it.
I don't do coco so I can't help as much. I do DWC and organic soil blends.
I have never used promix.
I like a soil mix that is 1/3 perlite, 1/3 decent soil like fox farm Froggy blend, and 1/6 steer manure, 1/6 coco.
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- #164
swwilson20
New Member
I appreciate the advice. I know I messed this one up early on with too many mistakes going on at once, and have tried to bring her back, but she's still limping along, just feel like if I had a "clean slate" each time I dumped some water on her I'd be better off, but I also here and 100% believe how easy everyone makes growing in soil sound. I just haven't been able to do it, and it's probably bc of everything I did early on.. Set the momentum back then for where I'm at now kinda thing.
So yea I'll use soil on this 2nd grow. Thx for that easy recipe. Is that okay for sprouting seeds in? Btw this 2nd grow won't happen for a while. Waiting on what my first attempt is gonna do.
So yea I'll use soil on this 2nd grow. Thx for that easy recipe. Is that okay for sprouting seeds in? Btw this 2nd grow won't happen for a while. Waiting on what my first attempt is gonna do.
You really had some bad pH and kept doing it. You really made the soil toxic up front and that can be devastating and hard to turn without some shock and awe therapy. I tried to get you to do some but that is all water under the bridge.
Next time just water correctly with 6.3 water and a decent mix and you will be amazed.
Next time just water correctly with 6.3 water and a decent mix and you will be amazed.
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- #166
swwilson20
New Member
Ah man I know you did, I really like that tea recipe, after I got the right ingredients in there. I'll be doing more of that I'm sure.
You will be fine. Just shake it off and start again. It honestly takes years of growing to learn half the stuff you need to be great at this. I can't teach you half of what I know a few posts here and there.
I have been helping navigator for 4 months giving her very long detailed posts and I think I haven't given her half of what I want to get into her brain.
I really should just go write a book. But then I would get banned from here trying to get everyone to buy my book. LOL
I have been helping navigator for 4 months giving her very long detailed posts and I think I haven't given her half of what I want to get into her brain.
I really should just go write a book. But then I would get banned from here trying to get everyone to buy my book. LOL
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- #168
swwilson20
New Member
Yea I've been following that one, a lot of info in that journal, and closet case even tho I'm not hydro, that dude has a really cool setup.
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- #169
swwilson20
New Member
Maaaan the plant had about the worst day a plant could have... I don't even wanna say, but I will. I started using 2 lights (Mars Reflector 48 is the new one I recently added) I thought I could be slick and manage unpluggin it every morning before I leave, and this morning I flat out forgot. Came home and saw the glow through the intake vent and insta-shit myself.. So basically it's had light for 24hrs straight now, and it's about 4-5 weeks into bloom..
I guess tat's what I get for trying to be a cheap ass and not getting another timer..
I guess tat's what I get for trying to be a cheap ass and not getting another timer..
LOL
It wont be that bad. the issue is the night cycle not the day cycle.
At night a hormone builds up. when it gets to a critical mass then it will initiate blooming. if light comes on before it gets to critical mass it wont bloom. if light leaks in preventing part of the plant from getting there it may hermi. But a long day cycle I think the plant wont really see just once. I mean sure you can force it back into veg by doing that for a long time. if it never sees the hormone (which is destroyed by light) then it will not bloom. but one day shouldn't be a big deal.
It wont be that bad. the issue is the night cycle not the day cycle.
At night a hormone builds up. when it gets to a critical mass then it will initiate blooming. if light comes on before it gets to critical mass it wont bloom. if light leaks in preventing part of the plant from getting there it may hermi. But a long day cycle I think the plant wont really see just once. I mean sure you can force it back into veg by doing that for a long time. if it never sees the hormone (which is destroyed by light) then it will not bloom. but one day shouldn't be a big deal.
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- #171
swwilson20
New Member
Ok so I have some cow manure on the way. I can't ever find small bags, it's always 40-50lbs and I don't need that much...Anyways, About the coco, can I use those compressed bricks that expand when you get them wet, or the loose coco coir that comes in 40lbs bags only, lol. The bricks like $3 each so please say yes, lol.
Hey wilson dont kick yourself to hard man. My ph is running 7.2 and I didnt notice the spots that was taking over till I pulled them out of the lights to give them a good flush before 12/12 and as soon as the sun from the window hit them I seen sickness all over. I dropped the ph to 5.6 with white distilled vinegar for 2 waterings and then came up to 6.5 and lollipoped and trimmed the hell out of them to start the clone wars.all trial and error brother lol Id send pics but my little girl has found that electronics makes a cool sound when shes dumping milk on them so bye bye dell im back to the tab 
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- #174
swwilson20
New Member
That made me laugh man, sorry about your electronic gadgets though, I'm sure they weren't cheap! My mental state is okay for the time being, I just got seeds for my 2nd grow in yesterday! I wanna pop em' now and start growing fresh, but I'm like 40 days into flower, and I think I might get something out of her (mayyyybe a 1/2 oz) but I'd like to see it through anyways to get a feel for drying and curing and what not..- Thread starter
- #175
swwilson20
New Member
Alrighty VI, I checked the ppm and pH of my run off for the first time. pH was 6.3 and ppm was 740ish. I watered with bloom nutes just a minute ago and my pH was 6.5, ppm was 280 or so. I was pleased to see the pH at 6.3, I expected some out of whack number to be honest. I know many people think measuring pH of runoff is useless, some very notable growers on here, one of whom you often slightly disagree with. I'm sure I did the measurments the wrong way as I was in a bit of a hurry, I tested about halfway through watering.
And about the ppm, I'm assuming I still have a fair amount of nutes left in the soil if my ppm was over twice as high as what I watered with?
One more thing I always noticed is the water temp is around 69 f pretty consistently, that too low?
And about the ppm, I'm assuming I still have a fair amount of nutes left in the soil if my ppm was over twice as high as what I watered with?
One more thing I always noticed is the water temp is around 69 f pretty consistently, that too low?
1/2 oz is better then no oz lol you staying with an indica or going to a big ass sativa next grow?- Thread starter
- #177
swwilson20
New Member
Blue mystic is the strain I chose and it's indica. Cross between blueberry and northern lights.
And Damn! How big was the pc you salvaged the fan from?
And Damn! How big was the pc you salvaged the fan from?
I don't think measuring run off is accurate at all. It is very easy to mess up. But it isn't meaning less. If you actually raise the pot and catch directly from a drain hole and it reads 9 that means something. I didn't ask you to do that in the beginning...only after your were not correcting it.
but anyway...
69F is fine for water. actually that is nice.
AS far as your yield goes. the last few weeks of the grow are amazing on a healthy plant. Just keep it going and when you think it is ready it probably needs at least 2 more weeks. The number of flowering weeks you will find on the web site ar for doing things perfect. My BM I took off the tops that were looking good and left the lower ones. 2 more weeks and that stuff was another 1/3 more. It just kept growing.
but anyway...
69F is fine for water. actually that is nice.
AS far as your yield goes. the last few weeks of the grow are amazing on a healthy plant. Just keep it going and when you think it is ready it probably needs at least 2 more weeks. The number of flowering weeks you will find on the web site ar for doing things perfect. My BM I took off the tops that were looking good and left the lower ones. 2 more weeks and that stuff was another 1/3 more. It just kept growing.
millertm
Well-Known Member
Good info brother.
Cheers
Cheers
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
I have been reading over this journal trying to figure out what I would have done or advised differently, and I am still forming theories here as to what has happened to the organic grow. Starting off with RO soil and GO nutes, this should have been easy. Switching to teas should have made things even better, but there still seems to be some problems. Let me ask some basic questions to try to get to the bottom of this. First, what are you using to adjust pH? Could it be killing off the microlife? Second, how big is your air pump that you use to make your teas, at least 500gph?
I know you have to be careful to have your pH in the right range so that the plants can immediately uptake the GO nutes and the teas could be throwing the system off very easily. I would think that you should be able to brew a simple tea that brings in microlife at an acceptable pH and still work alongside of the GO nutes, but you will have to take special care to keep this microherd alive. The sugars that you give are not to feed the plant... the molasses is provided to feed the microlife. If there is no microlife to eat the sugars, they are just going to sit there and ferment.
I am also reading with interest this idea of chasing a perfectly good tea with plain water. I dilute my teas 50/50 with distilled water, but I mix it all together. Logic tells us that if you have just watered with a tea rich in microlife, and then follow up with a watering of plain water, you are pushing the tea and the microherd to the bottom of the container. Unfortunately, the feeder roots and the place where the microlife is needed to interact with those roots is at the top of the container, near the surface.... but you have just chased the microlife away from there. This just doesnt seem like the best way to approach this.
Roots Organic soil comes out of the bag with everything the plants need in it, along with fungal inoculants... this is a wonderful organic soil that is ready to go. My present grow was started in this, with a layer of supersoil at the bottom. Technically all you needed to do with RO soil is to add pure water with a tea about once a week to keep microlife coming in, and everything goes on autopilot at that point. You supply the water and molasses to keep the microlife alive, and the herd feeds your plants. This is what I do. I have no need to add anything other than a few general purpose nutes to my teas, some bat guano and worm castings and some regular vitamin supplements and I really believe that all of the plant's needs are taken care of at that point. I don't even have to worry about my pH... I havent checked a pH even once in the last 2 grows for any incoming fluid, runoff fluid or any portion of my soil. Since I no longer am feeding my plants, and instead are feeding only the microherd, I don't care about the pH... the microherd takes care breaking down the minerals, and as long as the pH doesn't get so acidic to kill them, they really don't care about whether it is in the proper soil range... pH is no longer a factor in my garden and I strongly believe that adding an acid to bring it down to the normal range for a synthetic grow, would end up killing a portion of my rhizosphere.
I think what is happening here in your grow is that you have been told to combine two systems... and you are literally throwing everything but the kitchen sink at them. You are trying to give them a well designed organic nutrient system, as well as giving them rich nutrient teas. One or the other is called for here... or give the nutes, along with a simple tea brewed simply for microlife... but too much of a good thing, especially for a weed... it just doesn't work. I would continue to use the RO line as recommended, and would brew a simple EWC or Ancient Forest tea every other time. I would continue to give the recommended dosage of organic calmag for the rest of the grow.
I know you have to be careful to have your pH in the right range so that the plants can immediately uptake the GO nutes and the teas could be throwing the system off very easily. I would think that you should be able to brew a simple tea that brings in microlife at an acceptable pH and still work alongside of the GO nutes, but you will have to take special care to keep this microherd alive. The sugars that you give are not to feed the plant... the molasses is provided to feed the microlife. If there is no microlife to eat the sugars, they are just going to sit there and ferment.
I am also reading with interest this idea of chasing a perfectly good tea with plain water. I dilute my teas 50/50 with distilled water, but I mix it all together. Logic tells us that if you have just watered with a tea rich in microlife, and then follow up with a watering of plain water, you are pushing the tea and the microherd to the bottom of the container. Unfortunately, the feeder roots and the place where the microlife is needed to interact with those roots is at the top of the container, near the surface.... but you have just chased the microlife away from there. This just doesnt seem like the best way to approach this.
Roots Organic soil comes out of the bag with everything the plants need in it, along with fungal inoculants... this is a wonderful organic soil that is ready to go. My present grow was started in this, with a layer of supersoil at the bottom. Technically all you needed to do with RO soil is to add pure water with a tea about once a week to keep microlife coming in, and everything goes on autopilot at that point. You supply the water and molasses to keep the microlife alive, and the herd feeds your plants. This is what I do. I have no need to add anything other than a few general purpose nutes to my teas, some bat guano and worm castings and some regular vitamin supplements and I really believe that all of the plant's needs are taken care of at that point. I don't even have to worry about my pH... I havent checked a pH even once in the last 2 grows for any incoming fluid, runoff fluid or any portion of my soil. Since I no longer am feeding my plants, and instead are feeding only the microherd, I don't care about the pH... the microherd takes care breaking down the minerals, and as long as the pH doesn't get so acidic to kill them, they really don't care about whether it is in the proper soil range... pH is no longer a factor in my garden and I strongly believe that adding an acid to bring it down to the normal range for a synthetic grow, would end up killing a portion of my rhizosphere.
I think what is happening here in your grow is that you have been told to combine two systems... and you are literally throwing everything but the kitchen sink at them. You are trying to give them a well designed organic nutrient system, as well as giving them rich nutrient teas. One or the other is called for here... or give the nutes, along with a simple tea brewed simply for microlife... but too much of a good thing, especially for a weed... it just doesn't work. I would continue to use the RO line as recommended, and would brew a simple EWC or Ancient Forest tea every other time. I would continue to give the recommended dosage of organic calmag for the rest of the grow.
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