¤¤¤New Medical Marijuana Grower - Week 1 Flowering¤¤¤

My introduction is here http://boards.cannabis.com/introduce...me-grower.html

I am a new Medical Marijuana patient and recently was provided with 4 clones about a week and a half ago. I am legally allowed to cultivate marijuana in this state but never have so I had and probalby will have questions over the next month or so if anyone feels like tossing me some growing advice that would be awesome!!:rastasmoke:

In a nutshell...
39"x39"x76" HydroHut
Air Cooled Refelctor
80cfm inline duct fan (pushes in)
147cfm CanFan (passive intake)
Carbon Filter
400watt HPS
Room Temp 73-82 degrees f
The ONLY fertilizer I have given it is Miracle Gro 15-30-15 on day 1 and Open Sesame 5-45-19 on day 6.

Also, I have a very small spider mite issue. I attempted to apply a Neem Oil water mixture on day 2, then I have applied a Neem Oil/Dish Soap solution approximately 50% of recommended mixtures on day 12.

Here is my setup
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...K3y3/setup.jpg

Here is the light height
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...tfromlight.jpg

Week 1 Flower
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...wringweek1.jpg

Discolored (smaller growing medium)
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...discolored.jpg

My questions are:

1. With the air cooled reflector things are staying pretty cool, how close can I drop my 400watt HPS on them? Right now they are roughly 6 inches from the glass. Is that too close?

2. If you examine the first picture, you will see one plant that is smaller than the others, it came to me in a smaller pot than the rest. It is also discolored slightly (you can only really tell when the HPS is directly on the leaves) SHould I transplant this into a larger pot during its 8th day of flowering? I have not been able to identify a deficiency type yet. Any ideas?

3. Stretch, I understand is for the first few weeks of flowering. Upon examining the pictures above, what is my outlook on having to worry about stretch? Should I be removing some of the fan leaves to hinder stretch?

4. Fertilizer - I have been reading so many conflicting reports of what to use for fertilizer. I read here Grow Marijuana FAQ, Cannabis cultivation - marijuana growing tips & photos a fertilizer such as the one I am using (Open Sesame 5-19-19) is damaging to the flowers themselves in terms of density potential. Any input on this? I would rather under fertilize.....so I am gonna hang low on feeding them until I hear some differntiating facts.:smokin:

5. Neem Oil use - I have read that some people use neem oil every 3 or 4 days as preventative maintenence for spider mites (once they have already erradicated the spider mites) up until a couple of weeks prior to harvest. Is this true?

Right now my main concern is the deficiency of the smallest plant, and the 4 or 5 spider mites that I have found. Other than that how do things look for a first timer? I have spent every waking moment reading, postulating potential issues and basically trying to absorb as much information as possible.

As of 10 days ago, I killed houseplants. Wish me luck!!!! :hippy:

transplant into bigger pott

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr.Blue

transplant into bigger pott

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Will that help with the discoloration you think? Or are you just saying in general, that the little bugger needs an upgrade?

Hey, I'm not far from you :)
Your weak plant should probably be repotted. I suggest you take off the top inch of soil and discard it, as it is bound to carry eggs from the spider mites. Then at least you will know what kind of soil it has. If you use neem oil, I suggest you take a 5 gallon bucket with water and your neem oil, (some people also like to put a drop of soap in with the oil and water mixture), and dunk your plants into the mixture. In other words, put a cardboard over the soil so it won't fall out, and turn the plant upside down and immerse it completely. Dump the mixture after use.

Your plants will grow 2 to 3 times the size of what they went into flowering. I suggest you start "training' them. That is, by using string, tie the branches down, and make each plant lower and bushier.

You can't get a light too close, as long as there is no heat problem, and with a 400w light, 6" is fine...

I invite you to join the WASHINGTON State area.... just cursor down from the main index.

SN

Is this the SOG method? It seems a little advanced for a nooblet like me. Although I logically and practically could use the tie down method.

And its okay to completely submerge the plants in this 3gallon bucket of solution?

just saying it in general

I would be careful with the nutes.

Mr Blue is correct in advising to move to bigger pots - you really shouldn't worry about fertilizing your plants just yet. If you repot and give them another couple of gallons of soil, they will be OK till they START flowering.. then you can think about fert.

Apart from that, your photos don't show any light burn, although i'm no expert on fert burn, i would suspect something like that. StinkyAttic would know.

Keep updating.

MJD

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sOcK3y3

Is this the SOG method? It seems a little advanced for a nooblet like me. Although I logically and practically could use the tie down method.

And its okay to completely submerge the plants in this 3gallon bucket of solution?

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Yes, that's the sog method.... the aim is to keep the tops of the plants all at the same height, and fill in the areas that gets light. Your light will not penetrate as deep as those plants are gonna get tall.

Yes its safe, just don't get the soil part into the neem oil mixture. The idea is to get EVERY part of the plant protected. Most of your eggs are underneath the leaves, some may end up in the soil. I even have pieces of cardboard as a 'lid' over the medium, to make it more difficult to lay eggs in there.

SN

Okay, thanks for the info. I will update this thread in a week or so with an update and more pictures.

Peace Out

I created a new post when I probably should have included it here in my main. Just for logging purposes here is the thread

This is my second application of Neem Oil. Last one was 3 days ago. I only have a 1/4 tsp measurement. I mixed a half of 1/4 tsp of Neem Oil, a half of 1/4 tsp of dishsoap and 8 oz of water.

Subsequently I used a quarter teaspoon of Open Sesame 5-45-19 in one gallon of water (pH not checked, water set out in gallon milk jug for two days without cap)

They got kinda droopy so I sprayed them down an hour after the Neem Oil with water with a spray bottle. I took these pictures an hour after that.

Overwatering is what I am guessing (and hoping) but I welcome your input. Please examine the pictures below. Do you think they are doin ok? THis is day 9 of flowering.

(btw, these pictures were taken in the dark so forgive the crappy quality....hope the flash doesnt bug them??)


[attachment=o152393]
[attachment=o152392]
[attachment=o152394]
[attachment=o152395]

p.s. I think the ones on the left side of the hydro hut are a different strain than the two on the right. The leaves on the ones on the right are dark green and very intricate in their texture. THe two on the left seem to be four or five days behind the left ones as well.

TOmorrow I will take some better pictures....

Did you read the instructions on how to use neem oil? The neem oil I use calls for 1 tsp of oil to one GALLON of water. So if you are using the same stuff I am, its being applied too thick. The soap also, I use one or two DROPS of dishsoap per GALLON, Also, spraying them every three days is too often. Maybe every 10 days would be more in order.

If you still have problems controlling your spidermites with neem oil, I suggest you use a can of indoor fogger....but read the directions before applying, and don't have the lights on when doing this.

SpaceNeedle