Dr. J's 1st Auto-Flower Soil Grow - BigBud X NorthLights - 400W HPS

[Dr Jay Rolla]

This is my BBxNL.....she is 47 days old today. And she is way further along than the other 3 plants that were planted the same day....
The bud is really starting to develop and get fat and smells really good.....starting to develop some purple on the bud on the very top of the plant. Pics dont do it justice....this looks like some evil bud!!!!!

All these next photos are of the same plant....which is the same plant from the pic above.

Any opinions on my plant.......

Tonight im going to be watering them with 1/2 dose of 'BLOOM' nutes and i will also add a little more epson salt(ive already given them 3 tablespoons for 3 gallons of water)....should i give more????

Im thinking maybe my pH is too low and my plants arent absorbing magnesium or calcium....they look deficient in both......i might buy a pH pen and test my pH runoff...(i was told not worry about pH levels with soil tho????)....Should i worry about my pH?

i think im gonna pick up some Cal-Mag and get the pH right if this watering tonight doesnt help with my yellowing leaves with brown spots....and ive got some leaves that are light green on the edges and viens......im gonna try to get this under control before i lose too many leaves......

Any suggestions on what i can do to avoid these deficiencies in the future???

 

[Kalimaki420]

That are some fat buds.

For PH you get to much different options some don't care some say 6,5 to 7,0 for soil.
I try to hit 6,5 and bought a cheap ph-pen at the bay for 12 $.

I think 3 tbls should do, always better to do not to much, deficits are much better than lookout.
And that leafs will not recover so look for other leafs to see if it helps.

You just can learn and make notices for that what you have grown or see what others do with the same setup and strains.
Or react to this what you see don't worry to much its no drama what is see and Epson or Cal.mag should help.

 

[Dr Jay Rolla]

Hey thanks again man....

and the buds get fatter and fatter everyday....the plant is like 18" tall....i wonder how much ill be able to get in dry weight off of it????

...thats exactly what i wanted to hear....so ill just keep watering them and feeding bloom every other watering.....i wont be giving anymore epsom salt for this grow then.....

Im gonna look into the Cal-Mag...but from what i read it wont do me any good if my pH is too low or too high......do you think its worth my time to at least check pH of my run off water???

I think for my next grow im going to use a different soil mix
1/3 Fox Farm Ocean Forest
1/3 Happy Frog
1/3 Perlite
and also add the recommended amount of dolomite lime to the mix...(6-7 tsp per gallon of soil)
...i may even think about purchasing some kinda of Molasses to add to the soil...Any suggestions?

 

[Kalimaki420]

Don't know for dolomite lime but I think it could hurt you ph of the soil.

Good grow soil has ph about 6,5 and some buffers in it that's why some say ph of water is not that important as I understand it.

I meant it should be enough Epson for 3 gal, if it helps use it every other watering till flush.

How much plants do you have that you need 3gal ?
I give about 10% of pot seize every 3/4 days.

 

[Dr Jay Rolla]

I have 7 plants......4 of them are in three gallon pots and the other 3 are in two gallon pots.

....i dont always use the same amount of water.....just depends how many need watered and how much water.....
....like tonight i had 1 plant that was pretty much bone dry, the bucket was as light as ive ever felt it.....but all the others that needed watered at least still had a little bit of weight to the bucket......so that one took a little extra water.
...but i store my water in a 3 gallon container i bought from the store....i have 2 of them so im able to have 6 gallons of water ready to go at all times....it was just the easiest way for me to be able to store water and let it sit for at least 24 hours before i use it.....so therefor when i mix nute i do it in a 3 gallon container.......i dont always use all of the water...if theres any left i just get rid of it...

....i just water them til i start seeing a little run off.....usually ill get about a liter of run off water but tonight i only allowed a slight bit off run off water except for the one that was bone dry.
...usually i water my plants every 4-5 days.....now that they are bigger they seem to be ready for another drink sooner and sooner...

According to the company i bought the seed from....that plant in the most recent pics above is supposed to be ready for harvest in 20 days......not sure what to think about that....we'll see i guess...

im new so im not real sure how to tell when its ready for harvest??? any help?

And about the dolomite lime.....i knew you werent referring to that....but i read that dolomite lime will help to slowly release nutrients your plant needs over months....and it will help to stabilize the pH levels........i was kinda wondering if you had any opinions on it.

With the epsom salt...i only added 1 TBS with the 3 gallons of water tonight.

Five of my plants are 7 weeks old on 1-8-15
Two of my plants are 6 weeks old on 1-8-15
....they are looking pretty good, some better than others, if it wasnt for the yellowing leaves and brown spots, and rusty looking spots i would be extremely happy with all of them.....as they are right now i am still very happy...this is my first grow and my plants look to have some really solid looking buds.

Thanks for your input.

 

[MaxYields]

I have 7 plants......4 of them are in three gallon pots and the other 3 are in two gallon pots.

....i dont always use the same amount of water.....just depends how many need watered and how much water.....
....like tonight i had 1 plant that was pretty much bone dry, the bucket was as light as ive ever felt it.....but all the others that needed watered at least still had a little bit of weight to the bucket......so that one took a little extra water.
...but i store my water in a 3 gallon container i bought from the store....i have 2 of them so im able to have 6 gallons of water ready to go at all times....it was just the easiest way for me to be able to store water and let it sit for at least 24 hours before i use it.....so therefor when i mix nute i do it in a 3 gallon container.......i dont always use all of the water...if theres any left i just get rid of it...

....i just water them til i start seeing a little run off.....usually ill get about a liter of run off water but tonight i only allowed a slight bit off run off water except for the one that was bone dry.
...usually i water my plants every 4-5 days.....now that they are bigger they seem to be ready for another drink sooner and sooner...

According to the company i bought the seed from....that plant in the most recent pics above is supposed to be ready for harvest in 20 days......not sure what to think about that....we'll see i guess...

im new so im not real sure how to tell when its ready for harvest??? any help?

And about the dolomite lime.....i knew you werent referring to that....but i read that dolomite lime will help to slowly release nutrients your plant needs over months....and it will help to stabilize the pH levels........i was kinda wondering if you had any opinions on it.

With the epsom salt...i only added 1 TBS with the 3 gallons of water tonight.

Five of my plants are 7 weeks old on 1-8-15
Two of my plants are 6 weeks old on 1-8-15
....they are looking pretty good, some better than others, if it wasnt for the yellowing leaves and brown spots, and rusty looking spots i would be extremely happy with all of them.....as they are right now i am still very happy...this is my first grow and my plants look to have some really solid looking buds.

Thanks for your input.

Whats up Dr Jay Rolla!!!

Your ladies are lookin' sweet and sticky!! Gettin' really chunky, definitely getting towards the end of the grow!!! 20 days definitely seems right, I mean there is only one sure fire way to tell and that is by inspecting the Trichomes. You should invest in a 30-80x Jewelers Loupe / Handheld Microscope so you can get a good look at the Trichomes! You're looking for Cloudy/White and Amber colors on them... Depending on your preference of high, you can either harvest with mostly clear/cloudy Trichomes for a euphoric head high, or mostly cloudy/amber Trichomes for a couch lock stoned body high.

Good luck! Can't wait to watch you harvest!

 

[Kalimaki420]

Ok Dr that make sense with the water.

For harvest I am with Max and look at trichomes and bought an 50-100x magnifier with LED for 10$ at the bay.
Times can change depending on conditions and light it can easy be more than advised like 1-2 weeks.

I cant tell any more to the dolomite. I doubt I would not use it on all plants and give it a try to 1-2.

Just read that 1 Tbls = 5ml

 

[MassMedMan]

I picked up and put down some molasses last night.

All I could find was grandma's brand. Put one tablespoon in warm PHd water, didn't change PH.

I used it last night on my SCROG girls and this morning it's clear they loved it.

I see you think you have a cal mag deficiency.. maybe the molasses will help. Was $2.50 for a jar.

Good luck Dr, plants look great.

 

[Dr Jay Rolla]

Wow.....great information guys!

.....Darkgrow, i will do more research on the dolomite lime.....determine if its necessary for me or not. I think i will also try Petergreens method of molasses...sounds fairly cheap too....ill do more research on that as well....thanks for your continued input sir!


...Max, the magnifying tool is on my short list of things to buy on my next trip to the store. I actually think ill buy one on ebay...any specific recommendations would be cool...i dont want to buy a piece of junk but something fairly inexpensive.....
....and yea man those buds keep getting thicker and thicker....the big bug x northern lights strain you can tell that bud is just pure evil...compared to the other developed plants the smell that comes from the buds on this plant is soooo strong and sweet...the smell of it almost hits your lungs and makes you wanna cough lol...no joke.


...petergreen, hey man thanks for your input.....do you think its good to use the molasses now?....im 7 weeks into my grow.....im not sure when to use it during the grow or how much to use....any help?


Last night i mixed a 1/2 dose of GH FloraNova Bloom and gave 4 of my plants a decent watering and the other 3 i just gave a little drink as they didnt need it quite as much...but i wanted to get some of that nute water to those plants as well......after 1 night it already looks like they really wanted that food.....i noticed significant growth over night and some damaged leaves are starting to come back to green and healthy........im excited for this grow

....im on pace to exceed my goals!!!!

 

[MassMedMan]

I read it's best to use in flowering, it's like steroids for your soil. So much info out there on it, most seem to favor it and prefer or say do it in flowering. But some use it all the way through. My plants loved it. The Auto's are getting it tonight and those are 7+ weeks in....

 

[MaxYields]

Wow.....great information guys!

.....Darkgrow, i will do more research on the dolomite lime.....determine if its necessary for me or not. I think i will also try Petergreens method of molasses...sounds fairly cheap too....ill do more research on that as well....thanks for your continued input sir!


...Max, the magnifying tool is on my short list of things to buy on my next trip to the store. I actually think ill buy one on ebay...any specific recommendations would be cool...i dont want to buy a piece of junk but something fairly inexpensive.....
....and yea man those buds keep getting thicker and thicker....the big bug x northern lights strain you can tell that bud is just pure evil...compared to the other developed plants the smell that comes from the buds on this plant is soooo strong and sweet...the smell of it almost hits your lungs and makes you wanna cough lol...no joke.


...petergreen, hey man thanks for your input.....do you think its good to use the molasses now?....im 7 weeks into my grow.....im not sure when to use it during the grow or how much to use....any help?


Last night i mixed a 1/2 dose of GH FloraNova Bloom and gave 4 of my plants a decent watering and the other 3 i just gave a little drink as they didnt need it quite as much...but i wanted to get some of that nute water to those plants as well......after 1 night it already looks like they really wanted that food.....i noticed significant growth over night and some damaged leaves are starting to come back to green and healthy........im excited for this grow

....im on pace to exceed my goals!!!!

No worries my man, although I wish I didn't have such a busy day at work before you read all of these, earlier I got a paragraph into a post here about Molasses and Dolomite Lime... Then got hammered with work. Boo.

ANYWAYS!

Dolomite Lime: So this shit is loaded with Calcium and Magnesium, I went back and see you are growing in a FoxFarm Ocean Forrest PS / Perlite mix. Good call with the added Perlite, but I was curious if you added anything else to your soil mix? The deal with F.F. Ocean Forrest is that it is relatively "hot" for soil, it has a lot of added nutrients in it, and seems to be more geared towards late-Veg and Flowering plants. Also, a reoccurring problem I see in journals who use FoxFarm is indeed Cal-Mag deficiencies... And what just happens to have a shit load of C and Mg?... DOLOMITE LIME! Sweet right? This is my advice: Top-Dress your soil with 1 (one) tablespoon of Dolomite Lime per 1 (one) gallon of soil. (e.g. If you're using 5gal pots, top dress with 5 tablespoons of D.L.)

Topdressing: Just sprinkle the tablespoons of Dolomite Lime as evenly as possible on top of your soil, then lightly mix it in with the top inch of your soil. Once its nice and worked in give it a watering to spread it down towards the bottom of your pot and roots. It will have an effect almost immediately, it is also a long term solution, your soil should definitely have enough C and Mg for the rest of your grow.

Just for future reference, if you plan on using FoxFarm potting soils as your grow medium again, there are plenty of different mixes that have proven themselves. This is the mix that I have been using (recipe courtesy of HunterNitro) and so far I haven't had ANY problems.

• 2 parts FoxFarm Ocean Forrest Potting Soil​
• 2 parts FoxFarm Happy Frog Potting Soil​
• 1 part Perlite​
• 1 tablespoon Dolomite Lime per 1 gallon of soil mixture​
• (e.g. A 5 gallon pot would hold: 2 gallons F.F. Ocean Forrest / 2 gallons F.F. Happy Frog / 1 gallon Perlite / and 5 tablespoons Dolomite Lime)​

Molasses: Molasses is an awesome supplement for your ladies! Every single grower has a different opinion on its effects and uses, but as far as I have seen there aren't any negatives to using Molasses. I am going to be using (1 tablespoon of Molasses per 1 gallon of water) it during flushing on my most current ladies. It is said to increase flavor and aroma of flowers... however some people complain it makes the smoke harsher.... Like I said, all personal opinion. The point is I have seen more people praising it than hating it. The ONLY think you need to make sure of when buying your molasses is that it is UNSULFURED Blackstrap Molasses. Anything organic (from like Whole Foods / Sprouts) is perfect.

Hope that helps, feel free to ask any questions! Good luck!

 

[MassMedMan]

I'll be getting some dolomite tomorrow, thank you Max. I read about it but nothing specific (that i found but I read so much) about how to add after the fact. Sweet tip!

 

[KingJohnC]

Are you saying that i will go longer than 70 days?

Can you get a rough estimate of how many weeks are left just by judging how my plant looks?......
...if so how long does my BigBud X Northern Light roughly have left?

Just trying to get ahead of myself lol.....i know its waiting game and hobby thats takes a lot patients.....


......Just a little update....

im going to let all my plants dry out completely before i water them again.....just to be sure they are dried up and im not over watering.....im confident that i havent overwatered....but this being my first grow i dont have anything to judge that by other than how much i think is too much lol.....but i water each plant maybe 1 time per week.....some less, some more....just depends when they need it....

My Big Bud X Northern Light is more most developed and best looking and most potent strain....so its probably my strongest as well so it seems to have been able to handle the nutrients without any issues.....and right now she looks like she need something.....so with her next watering i will be giving her another 1/4 dose of bloom nutes....

....all my other plants will continue to get plain water until i feel they are ready for a very light dose of nutrients....

...i have 1 plants that has prolly 80% of leaves that are damaged from the nutrient burn....and 1 more plants that has prolly 50% of leaves damaged....
...what would you do with theses leaves...???????
will they recover?
or at least survive without hampering the plant?

Damaged leaves will not recover, the plants will use stored nutrients in the leaves and discard them.

 

[KingJohnC]

Thanks for the recommendation.....ill give them 1/2 dose of bloom on next watering.

And yes i couldnt believe the improvement in appearance after giving AP#1 the bloom nutes......she has since dropped a little in some places but not the whole plant .....she still looks much better.

The rust looking spot are getting worse and on more plants.....

can i add the epsom salt in with the bloom nutes??? .....if so how much epson per gallon?

Epsom Salts are magnesium sulfate that will add magnesium and sulfates to your plants. Epsom Salts can also be added to a nutrient mixture. Epsom Salts can be used at 1-2 teaspoons per gallon.

 

[KingJohnC]

This is my BBxNL.....she is 47 days old today. And she is way further along than the other 3 plants that were planted the same day....
The bud is really starting to develop and get fat and smells really good.....starting to develop some purple on the bud on the very top of the plant. Pics dont do it justice....this looks like some evil bud!!!!!

All these next photos are of the same plant....which is the same plant from the pic above.

Any opinions on my plant.......

Tonight im going to be watering them with 1/2 dose of 'BLOOM' nutes and i will also add a little more epson salt(ive already given them 3 tablespoons for 3 gallons of water)....should i give more????

Im thinking maybe my pH is too low and my plants arent absorbing magnesium or calcium....they look deficient in both......i might buy a pH pen and test my pH runoff...(i was told not worry about pH levels with soil tho????)....Should i worry about my pH?

i think im gonna pick up some Cal-Mag and get the pH right if this watering tonight doesnt help with my yellowing leaves with brown spots....and ive got some leaves that are light green on the edges and viens......im gonna try to get this under control before i lose too many leaves......

Any suggestions on what i can do to avoid these deficiencies in the future???

I would introduce a calcium and magnesium supplement containing calcium nitrate and magnesium nitrate Such as Botanicare's Cal-Mag Plus after 2 good weeks of vegetative growth from a seedling. Cal-Mag Plus and CaliMagic are synthetic calcium and magnesium supplements. If you are using a natural source of calcium and magnesium based calcium and magnesium supplement such as General Organics CaMg+ you can start to add at the start of vegetative growth. I use Botanicare's Cal-Mag Plus at 5-8 milliliters or 1-1 1/2 teaspoon per gallon as a calcium and magnesium supplement for the majority of my cannabis plants.

(Click on the photographs for direct links to the products)

 

[KingJohnC]

There here are pics of what im dealing with right now......
anyone have anything to offer as to what would cause this????
im thinking possibly Thripes??? PLEASE HELP!

I do not agree with Thrips insects. Your leaf damage appears to be from pH fluctuation and/or nutrient burn.

 

[KingJohnC]

Hey thanks again man....

and the buds get fatter and fatter everyday....the plant is like 18" tall....i wonder how much ill be able to get in dry weight off of it????

...thats exactly what i wanted to hear....so ill just keep watering them and feeding bloom every other watering.....i wont be giving anymore epsom salt for this grow then.....

Im gonna look into the Cal-Mag...but from what i read it wont do me any good if my pH is too low or too high......do you think its worth my time to at least check pH of my run off water???

I think for my next grow im going to use a different soil mix
1/3 Fox Farm Ocean Forest
1/3 Happy Frog
1/3 Perlite
and also add the recommended amount of dolomite lime to the mix...(6-7 tsp per gallon of soil)
...i may even think about purchasing some kinda of Molasses to add to the soil...Any suggestions?

Unsulfered molasses is a popular ingredient in many nutrient formulas. Unsulfered molasses can add aroma and a sweeter flavor to your buds and contains many nutrients that are used by cannabis plants. Unsulfered molasses can be used at 1 teaspoon per gallon in vegetative growth and flowering. Unsulfered molasses can be used as a harvest flush at 2 tablespoons per gallon. I would not add molasses to a Aeroponic/Hydroponic system unless it is a part of a Heisenberg Tea.

"Nutritional information

Molasses contains no protein or dietary fibre and close to no fat. Each tablespoon (20 g) contains 58 kcal (240 kJ), 14.95 g of carbohydrates, and 11.1 g of sugar divided among

Sucrose: 5.88 g
Glucose: 2.38 g
Fructose: 2.56 g

Important minerals

Minerals in Meridian/Organic/Pure blackstrap - per 100 g (equivalent to 5 tablespoons):

Calcium: 400 mg (50% RDA)
Iron: 13 mg (95% RDA)
Magnesium: 300 mg (38% RDA)"

https://en.wikipedia.org Molasses

 

[KingJohnC]

Ok Dr that make sense with the water.

For harvest I am with Max and look at trichomes and bought an 50-100x magnifier with LED for 10$ at the bay.
Times can change depending on conditions and light it can easy be more than advised like 1-2 weeks.

I cant tell any more to the dolomite. I doubt I would not use it on all plants and give it a try to 1-2.

Just read that 1 Tbls = 5ml

I harvest my cannabis plants by trichome maturity. You need a 30x jewelers loupe to see the trichomes and judge when to harvest. Most people harvest from 5%-30% amber trichomes. Harvest at 5%-15% amber trichomes for a "head high" energetic effect and harvest at 30%-50% amber trichomes for a "body stone" sedative effect strain dependent.

I own a Hydrofarm Active Eye 30X jewelers Loupe, Carson Optical MicroMax LED Microscope 60x-100x and a 25X-200X Magnifier USB Digital Microscope Video Camera that I use to take trichome photographs.

Active Eye Loupe, 30X

Here is a Gro1 1.3MP USB LED Digital Microscope 10x & 300x

Gro1 1.3MP USB LED Digital Microscope 10x & 300x - Perfect Gardens

 

[KingJohnC]

Here is my soiless mixture

I use peat moss, perlite, vermiculite and mycorrhizae and bacteria for my plants. I would mix your soiless mixture in a ratio of 60% peat moss, 20% perlite and 20% vermiculite. If you can get Pro-Mix HP you would only need to add 20% vermiculite and mycorrhizae. Vermiculite acts as a catalyst between nutrients and the plants roots as well as retaining moisture.

PRO-MIX HP Mycorrhizae - High porosity peat-based growing medium


https://www.hydro-organics.com earth juice rooters mycorrhizae

Pro-Mix HP has 1 species of mycorrhizae added, I add 10 others species of mycorrhizae and more of the strain already contained in Pro-Mix HP. When I transplant my plants to larger size pots I use 1 teaspoon per 1 gallon size pot and 2-3 teaspoons per 3 gallon size pot of additional mycorrhizae granules.

 

[KingJohnC]

Can you please take some clear photographs of the spots and yellowing of the leaves on your plants?

You want pH 5.8 for hydroponic and soiless (peat moss and coco coir) and pH 6.5 for soil.

Here is a nutrient availability chart

Here is a cannabis leaf deficiency chart

here is the Cannabis Plant and Pest Problem Solver and the Plant Abuse Chart

Cannabis Plant and Pest Problem Solver: Pictorial

Plant Abuse Chart