Pizzajedi's First Grow - Soil - Indoor - Blue Cheese

[pizzajedi]

howdy folks. ive been lurking on this site for some time now sucking up knowledge like those brain bugs from starship troopers, and decided to finally make the plunge and start growing. this is my first time, and im kinda piss poor at the moment, but hey, im a go-getter, and as a swift kick in the arse to get me growing my close friend and medicinal patient brought me a sweet gift: 6 clones! christmas definitely came early this year. i put them in a sunny windowsill (hard to do in the pacific northwest come this time of year) and immediately went and bought a set of cfls to keep em going till i had a proper room. and now i do, sort of! the only space feasible for me was my closet, as my house is tiny. here are the specs:

the closet is 3x3x8. my medium is soil cause i hear its more forgiving, roots organic original to be precise. i have multiple strains: 3 blue cheese, 2 dream queen, and 1 UW for a total of 6 plants. they are all in veg in 3 gallon aero pots, but i dont know how old the mothers were when the cuttings were taken. oh well. ive kept them on a 24/0 cycle under a single 600w hps lamp (uncooled unfortunately) since i got them 2 days ago with the exception of the dream queen which are still under my cfls (24/0 as well). the temp in the room is fluctuating between 80-90 degrees. its a little hot i know, but im waiting on my fan with enough cfms to exhaust the room, so hopefully theyll be fine. i watered once right after transplanting and the soils still moist so i dont really know what the watering schedule is gonna be like. the only nute i have is alaska fish fertilizer which comes highly recommended, but i havent fed yet. i was going to wait until the next watering, but some of my leaves are starting to yellow and curl slightly, and the tips of a few leaves on the UW are dry and brittle. any suggestions? any knowledge is good knowledge in my book. i also dont have my soil tester or humidity gauge yet, so it may have something to do with that and totally unrelated to feeding. anyways, thats all for now. im still waiting on my photos to upload, hopefully theyll be up shortly to give you folks some better perspective on what im working with. til next time, and thanks in advance for any feedback or advice. peace.

 

[Jimmy6000]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

Welcome to pizzajedi,you have come to the right place,looking forward to pic's.

 

[pizzajedi]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

i said i was working on some photos, so let there be photos! apologies for the quality, theyre from my phone until i get a better camera.

you can kinda see the beginnings of an LST regimen for the 2 front plants (UW & Blue cheese)

closer look at the UW.

2 Blue Cheese without LST. i feel like a mad scientist!

and lastly but not least, 2 Dream queen clones under cfls.

so hows everything look? im hoping im not killing them, and they seem ok so far with the exception of the slight yellowing and brittle leaf tips. im going to feed them either tomorrow or the next day with my alaska fish depending on when they need water. hopefully it helps. ill keep you all posted, and thanks for stopping by and the welcome Jimmy6K! i already feel right at home.

 

[pizzajedi]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

hey guys, i could use some insight. i fed my girls earlier today with a 1/4 strength solution of alaska fish, went to work, and came home to this!

it looks like a nute burn as far as i can tell, but i followed everyones advice about not going over a 1/4 strength solution so now im left wondering...should i not feed until theyre better developed? im going to use straight water for about a week to see what happens, but any advice would be greatly appreciated. i dont want my babies to die!

 

[Jimmy6000]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

I am just a noobe,but I take a guess.It look's like a ph problem.Have you tested ph?

 

[pizzajedi]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

I am just a noobe,but I take a guess.It look's like a ph problem.Have you tested ph?

thats what i fear as well. im strapped for cash at the moment and i have to wait until next paycheck to get a ph tester. i am woefully unprepared for my first attempt for now im going to do a light flush in case it was the fert and hope for the best. thanks for the advice man, for a self proclaimed noob you grow some beautiful plants.

 

[Jimmy6000]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

If you have to get a couple gallon's of store bought water until you get a meter.Also,you can a get cheap ph kit for under 10$.ph is very important to you girl's and need's to be adjusted to there liking.I would not suggest a cheap 20$ ph meter from a online store.I have 1 and never use it.I hope you get it all worked out.Would love to see you with a closet of hanging bud's. Thank you Jimmy6K

 

[Light Addict]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

Hey my friend and welcome to 420 land. Well done on starting a journal. Firstly how often are you watering? Less is more with MJ, so only water when pots are dry. If they have just recently been potted up into bigger pots dont feed for a couple of weeks.
Vegging under hps you will get alot of stretch, lots of cfls is better for veg. It keeps em compact.
Also I noticed on one pick your girl has shown sex so its sexually mature meaning you wont get much stretch when you flip to 12/12.
Personally I go with 18/6 for veg. Cheaper and gives the plant exactly what nature intended, dark periods are good for them even if veg. That is just a personal choice.
I would flush with double your pot size in volume of water minimum, then leave to dry out real well then no nutes for a while. Hope this helps!

 

[pizzajedi]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

thanks for the advice Light Addict! its like you read my mind, i was just looking for answers on how much water to flush with. they have been watered twice in the last 4 days, going by the 2 inch method. im going to flush tomorrow because i definitely fed too early as they were only transplanted 4 days ago. amateur hour right here haha but i think im going to go for cfls for a veg room next grow for sure, i have an old dresser that would be perfect for a stealth box. baby steps! but im glad to have you along for the ride man, you seem to know your stuff. and again,

 

[trichifingers]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

Pizzajedi

Thanks for visiting my new journal, thought I would check in on your's. I wish luck in your endeavors, you seem to have a good start, and have attracted some input from more experienced growers. I'll try to check in from time to time.
trichifingers

 

[pizzajedi]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

Pizzajedi

Thanks for visiting my new journal, thought I would check in on your's. I wish luck in your endeavors, you seem to have a good start, and have attracted some input from more experienced growers. I'll try to check in from time to time.
trichifingers

thanks trichifingers! good to have a fellow Pacific NW'ster checkin in. has your weather been as crazy as ours? sunny one day then it feels like the depths of winter the next. crazy.

but now for the update:
i flushed to day going with Light Addicts advice, using 2 times the volume of my containers for a solid flush. i also ordered a digital ph tester that i should have in the next few days. here are some photos of the suspected nute burn:

im also keeping an eye out for pests cause i dont want to rule anything out, but so far i havent seen any with my magnifier so who knows. for now im going to wait until the soil dries and hold off on the nutes for a while. as soon as i have my tester ill be testing my runoff (not before the next watering, dont want to waterlog 'em) and ill post another update on how the ladies are doing. wish me luck!

 

[Light Addict]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

Great plan, you'll be fine I'm sure!

 

[pizzajedi]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

cant sleep for shit so i thought i would give an update now that i have a humidity meter. here are the readings as of an hour ago:

and yes, it did reach 100 in my room, but i caught it very quickly and rearranged my fans so one of them is blowing cool air up from ground level towards the reflector to try and neutralize some of the heat. it seems to have worked as the room is staying at a steady 86-88F... jeez i cant wait for my proper fan and humidifier, and i wish i had gone for an air cooled system, but you live and you learn.... im worried that the RH needs to be higher, but im broke at the moment. i put a dish of water in the room cause i hear that as it evaporates it will raise humidity but i havent noticed any change yet ( i put it in the room about 8 hours ago). anybody got any tips on this? ive read about the towel and bucket method but i dont really have the space to feel comfortable doing that, cause we all know water+electricity= no bueno. any advice would be greatly appreciated. til next time,

 

[smacsidhe]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

Well, I'm a newbie as well, in the middle of my first staged harvest. A couple of things I noticed that I'll mention from my own limited experience -please, all you more experienced growers, chime in and tell us both if I'm on the right track.

First is your RH. it does seem a little low.. I saw a friend make a humidifier using a rectangular pan for dry-wall taping with a wire clothes hanger frame to support a washcloth with it's bottom edge in the water. He placed it in front of his fan with the top slightly lower than the bottom of the fan. It wicked up the water and evaporated it into the air, and the water was pretty well contained. He saw a rise of about 15% RH with this.

Second, I highly recommend going back to the CFL's for vegging. The HPS is too hot, and is making your plants too hot. You're running about 20 degrees over your optimal temp. Closets are hard to dump heat from... most growers have to put in an intake and exhaust vents at the bottom and top of the door to control; temp when the get into flower and start the HPS. The lack of good ventilation will kill your plants with mold or fungus.

Watering: I use the dry pot method. I filled an extra pot with soil, and use it for a comparison to judge my watering needs. I lift the pot that is just soil, then lift a pot with a plant. The plant doesn't weigh much, so when the plant is just slightly heavier than the soil only I water. I use enough water that I get a half inch in the tray under the pot. I started by using a Dixie cup to measure out a starting amount, water all the plants that much, then go back through adding till I have the half inch. It takes two to three days to use up that water. If you water too much you'll get root rot and kill the babies. Not enough, and you will see the wilting and have time to fix it with more water.
Nutrients: Same with feed, less is more. If you underfeed a little it is no big deal, but if you nutrient lock you can stunt your plant badly. Don't feed until you have used up the nutes already in the soil, roughly 8 -10 days for every gallon of soil.

I think you're doing real good for starting with plants already there and needing your attention immediately. I'm going to sub and see how you do.

 

[smacsidhe]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

subbed now

 

[pizzajedi]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

smacsidhe for the input. i took your advice and built a janky veg chamber with cfls, my closet is just too hot and i would like to get SOME meds out of this harvest. here are some photos, jerry-rigged all to hell until i get materials for a real box. oh well. it is definitely making a difference though, the temps are staying right at 70-74F and RH is up to 40%. woohoo!

forgot to mention i tested my soil ph today for a gauge on what im working with after my flush, and it looks to be neutral unless im going color blind, so thats good right? i also posted photos of the suspected nute burn. it hasnt progressed at all since the flush so lets hope that did the trick. still waiting on my real exhaust fan for my closet and the digital ph tester...sigh...sometimes i wish i could time travel. anyhow, thats all for now. til next time fellas.

 

[KingJohnC]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

subscribed. Is your High Intensity Discharge ballast a digital dimable ballast? if so you can simply adjust its output lower until your temperature is acceptable. 70°-85° degrees Fahrenheit is ideal, up to 90° Fahrenheit is acceptable. I would adjust your lighting schedule to 18/6 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness. I read a thread on light schedule versus root length and plants grown under 16/8 grew the longest roots, 18/6 was not tested. I was informed of a test of lighting schedule versus plant growth and plants grown with at least 5.5 hours of darkness grew the largest roots. how large is your grow area? do you have a fan for air circulation you can use to gently move the stems of the plants? your leaf damage appears to be a combination of pH fluctuation and nutrient burn. 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.

 

[pizzajedi]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

thanks kingjohnC! that chart is quite helpful. as far as my ballast goes, its not dimmable so i moved the plants to a cfl veg box that i have much more environmental control over (temps holding at 66-71F and RH at 40-50%). theyve been on a 24/0 light schedule, and ive read that changing the lighting schedules can cause some problems like hermies, so im a little apprehensive there. ive already decided to go with a GLR next grow, as the results from that look fantastic and it would save me some much needed cash. my flower room is my closet, 3x3x7. i have an inline fan on the way (around 350 cfm) that im going to set up as an exhaust before these ladies are ready to flower (they already are but im waiting), and i also have a floor fan to move air around the stems. i think once i receive all my equipment it will be much easier to keep that closet in control. but, like a noob, i started before i was fully prepared. never again. im calibrating my oakton ecotestr right now and then ill be checking the ph of the soil and ill post an update, cause im sure ill want some feedback on an organic way to raise/lower ph. again, KingJohnC, im really glad you stopped by. youre like a legend round here! ill be keeping a much closer track of my ph from now on.

 

[pizzajedi]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

PH UPDATE:
i finally got my digital ph tester in the mail and immediately went about testing my soil and water. here are the results:

as you can see the ph between pots differ slightly, i assume thats normal in soil just due to varying composition of the sample. my tap water (unfiltered and left out for 24 hrs) is at a steady 7.0 after multiple tests. i know the soil ph is low, so should i adjust the ph of my water up a 1/2 point to 7.5 with baking soda or something to try and stabilize the soil to 6.5? the ladies are growing, but very very slowly. this ph madness is moderately confusing, but im trying to figure it out. any input on poor mans ph up/down would be greatly appreciated. here are some photos of the suspected combination nute burn/ph issues on the leaves.

after some more research im pretty sure it was a ph problem to begin with, locking out nutrients. so then i FED (dumb george-michael, dumb! ((been on an arrested development kick))) and caused more problems than i fixed. whoops! but hey, im learning, and all you guys have been more helpful than i could have hoped for, so thanks guys. youre all helping me keep my babies alive. til next time.

 

[smacsidhe]

Re: pizzajedi's first grow (soil/indoor/ blue cheese)

I've been told, and read here from old growers that your PH in soil should be 5.5 - 6.5, depends who you listen to, and what strain you got. What really matters is the PH of your run off, that's the ph your roots are taking in. test the soil directly as well, but if the soils close then adjust for the run off. I use tap water, leaving it set for 24 hours to dechlorinate. So far every time I check my water is around a 5 going in and the run off is right at 6.
I did the same thing to my first grow, lol. Half way through veg I got the worst case of powder mold, almost killed the plants. It took four tries over a months time to find something to kill it, and then another couple weeks to recover. As soon as the babies were really getting healthy again, and I'm thinking flower time, bam! Nutrient lock big time - and I, in all my stupendous wise Sageness, upped my concentration of Nutes. The poor, poor dears... Once again, my babies almost died. I did figure it out, and brought them back, but between the two attempted assassination attempts I went into flower a full month later than planned, and still ended up with smaller yield than had they just been healthy all along.