Home-Made Mix VS Bottled Fertilizers

[daozen]

I'm growing on 5 pots. 1 with a homemade soil mix. 1 with bottled fertilizers in a coco/sand medium. 1 with both. Also, in small cups... 1 with the homemade mix + azomite, one without the azomite.

So I need to know what you guys think. I want to grow 5 plants in 5 pots, how do I sow seeds in 5 pots so that I get females? Do I put 2 seeds in each pot, or 3?

Anyway, here's the final mix I used for the home-made mix pots.

MEDIUM 40%
--------------------
Coco Coir 100%


COMPOST 40%
--------------------------------------
Worm Castings 50%*
Dirts 15%
Coffee Grounds 10%
Cow Manure 15%
Composted Banana peels 5%
Kitchen Compost Tea 5% (liquid)
-------------------------------------


MINERALS & Drainage 20%
-----------------------------------
Powdered Eggshells 25%
Volcanic Sand 25%
River sand 37%
Wood Ash 10%
Epsom Salts 1%
Sea Sand 2%
-----------------------------------

I then mulched with some leaves I picked around the house. I also fertilized the coco pot and the mixed pot with big bloom and buddha grow to test against my home made mix. I'm also comparing 2 mixes to test the benefits of azomite. Fertilizing with Buddha grow was hell, I shook the bottle and the shit exploded when I opened it! I'm now giving it 3 weeks to cook, I will sow some mango/raspberry landrace bagseeds on the 12th. Here's some pics of me mixing the mix.

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_0961_zpsd8d16df0.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_0961_zpsd8d16df0.jpg.html)

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[daozen]

I just realized sowing 1 seed on each pot won't only delay the comparisons if a male pops up, but the nutrients wont be the same... I think I could sow 2 seeds on each pot to have probably at least 1 fem on each pot, What do you say?

[lipps]

Have you checked the PH ? Start single seeds in smaller containers grow until they have good root growth then go to the bigger pots and no two in one won't guaranty you a female just smaller plants.

[daozen]

So I sowed the seeds but I found some earthworms and I decided to chuck them in just for an extra bit of luck. It's now up to the seeds to do their magic.

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1146_zps7c2154f1.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1146_zps7c2154f1.jpg.html)

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1178_zps32134dd4.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1178_zps32134dd4.jpg.html)

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1090_zps51b233cc.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1090_zps51b233cc.jpg.html)

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[daozen]

So I've been seeing these tiny insects flapping around on the surface when I uncover the plastic. I've seen them all the time everytime I put plastic over a pot, they obviously like humidity. They are about 2mm long. What are they? and are they a pest to worry about?

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1190_zps0d51ddd1.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1190_zps0d51ddd1.jpg.html)

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1187_zps8399f3b5.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1187_zps8399f3b5.jpg.html)

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1186_zps6f9280af.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1186_zps6f9280af.jpg.html)

Mating
http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1196_zps969ccacc.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1196_zps969ccacc.jpg.html)

Next to a tiny ant.
http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1204_zpsd1ae39ea.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1204_zpsd1ae39ea.jpg.html)

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1181_zps79a90544.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1181_zps79a90544.jpg.html)

[daozen]

So I'm sad to say those were indeed fungus gnats whose larvae ate half of the seeds, the other half was replanted into a recovery pot. I waited almost a week for the germinations to find out.

Anyway, I will try again, fortunately I still had seeds from the same batch altought they we not the best seeds :( Before planting them I used the hidrogen peroxide technicque to kill the larvae (1:5 3%HP to water) then I used the sand over the surface to prevent any further infestation and gave it a few hours while I soaked the seeds before planting them.

I still see some fungus gnats but they do seem confused about the sand, hopefuly the HP took care of the larvae and these are just the ones that were wondering around the room.

Fingers crossed for attemp #2...

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1221_zps0641af4b.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1221_zps0641af4b.jpg.html)

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http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1236_zpsa930dbf6.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1236_zpsa930dbf6.jpg.html)

[daozen]

So the grow is finally up and running. I had troubles with fungus gnats and germinations but finally found a bulletproof method. The only drawback is that the plants are of different ages now, 1 is 3 weeks old in a cup, 3 are 2 weeks old including one which had some problems with the leaves, probably related to the gnat attack, that soon resolved but will take longer to veg, and one I just germinated a couple days ago into the other cup. they look green and healthy to me, and are growing quite fast :) I have a couple questions...

Given that I won't transplant the plants into bigger pots, as I want to keep them small and rootbound. When should I induce flowering so that the plants use the size of the pot the most efficiently, meaning they won't either be too small or too rootbound at the end of the grow?

What strain/landrace would you guys say it resembles?

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1660_zpsf672487c.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1660_zpsf672487c.jpg.html)

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1659_zps94eaa503.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1659_zps94eaa503.jpg.html)

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[daozen]

Given that I won't transplant the plants into bigger pots, as I want to keep them small and rootbound, when should I induce flowering so that the plants use the size of the pot the most efficiently?

Meaning they won't either be too small or too rootbound at the end of the grow.

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1690_zpse7ba2fdb.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1690_zpse7ba2fdb.jpg.html)

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http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1703_zpsd525551f.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1703_zpsd525551f.jpg.html)

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http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1702_zpsc4c2ea2d.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1702_zpsc4c2ea2d.jpg.html)

Also, I have been fertilizing 2 of these but they are not getting any greener so maybe the solution is too weak and they need a stronger dose.

How long does it take to see the effects of organic liquid fertilizers?

[Buggy]

More experienced growers, please chime in too!

But, from what I've read, cannabis will usually use whatever space you give them for roots quite well. They produce TONS of roots for their size. But, for many plants, the size of the root system is the size of the plant. So, if you have a smaller pot, it's healthiest if you plan on the plant being not much larger than the pot itself. On the other hand, since you are growing and supplimenting nutrients and such, I'd think a plant being twice the size of the pot is about the max you'd want for a healthy plant.

As a plant grows another 100-150% when in flower from the size when it enters flowering, you'd want to flower them when they are no more than the size of their pots IMO.

I may be VERY wrong in all this, but I am going from what I've read combined with what I know with other plants. :)

I'm not sure about the nutrient problems, but there are guides online I've seen to diagnose what the problem is with certain plants. Too much food and you could hurt them. Sometimes it's too high of a pH, thus the nutrients are "locked out" and the plant can't use them. If you can't test the pH, one option is to flush with neutral water - 2 to 3 times the size of the pot at least. Then add fresh nutrients, which is usually suggested at 1/2 strength or so. As I've not grown with organics before other than in the outdoor flower garden, I'm not sure how long you should wait for the plants to respond. :) Good luck!

[daozen]

Fantastic! Could not have asked for a better answer! I'll flower in 10 days then as they are pretty much as tall as the pots, sounds about right and makes sense. I totally forgot about the PH! do I just water and test the runoff?

Thanks a lot! :)

[Buggy]

testing the runoff will show the pH of the soil decently.

But, I personally am one to not worry about it unless it looks like there may be a problem - it you watch carefully every day to see how they are reacting, you should be able to catch things quickly. i.g, I just found a white tip on ONE leaf on ONE plant out of 10. It may mean nothing, but it MAY mean that we have nitrogen deficiency - likely from high pH. Because my water is 7.2 normally, I have to make sure I watch carefully for these things. Tight money this time keeps me from having the correcter additives and testing kit, but I'll likely be doing so myself next time. I watch the plants closely instead.

Again, I'm totally new on cannabis, although I've gardened for awhile outside. :)

Oh, and plants ALWAYS can become root bound, but if you are doing a rather quick grow it shouldnt be too bad normally I THINK!

[daozen]

Update... They are a few days into flowering now. One of the plants is kind of stunted and looks a lighter green than the rest, (the small one on one of the galon pots) so I'm wondering if I should give it a more concentrated dose of fertilizer or just give it time? Could it be that it's just naturally lighter even if I took it out of the same bag of buds?

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/taozen2010/IMG_1952_zps71629a64.jpg (http://s743.photobucket.com/user/taozen2010/media/IMG_1952_zps71629a64.jpg.html)

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[Buggy]

There are occasional runts or slow growers of any species - it's quite possible this one is one of them. What difference is this one versus the others? What age is it versus the others? Those answers may be what's going on with it, but likely if you wait everything will be fine. :)

[daozen]

So one of the small ones was kinda stressed and hermied so I planted it outdoors.

Then I got 2 females I just transplanted to bigger pots and what I think looks like a male... Im not sure tho...

Are these male flowers or just budding leaves?

Thanks!

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