Outdoor Grow - 2013 - NorCAL

**Forgive me, I already started a log in Basic Growing a few weeks ago. But that was before I found this Grow Log section, so I am moving it here.**

WEEK 1 VEG

Germinated 2 seeds (both are the same unknown "purple" strain). Then put them in these terracotta pots with Miracle Grow potting soil.

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WEEK 2 VEG

I noticed that they had already become root bound in the terracotta pots, and the pots made the soil extremely dry.

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WEEK 3 VEG

Waited a few days, then transplanted them into these 7 gallon plastic pots with only 5 gallons of fresh Miracle Grow soil each. Also started using Fox farm Grow big (2teaspoons per gallon every other watering). This was too much for the pre fertilized soil because I eventually got nute burn from too much Potassium and magnesium.

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END OF WEEK 3

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WEEK 4 VEG

Got another plant from a buddy, he said it was some bomb purp. Shes a week or so younger than my girls but she will do fine :thumbsup:
So now I have 3 unknown purple strains. I also topped the older girls on their 8th set of leaves.

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Also started using Bayer advanced Neem oil to help with aphids and these little nat bugs that I think are called Thrips.

End of week 4

Natural Pest control :thumbsup:

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WEEK 5

A day or two after topping, still recovering.

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The little purp that I got from my buddy is now 4 weeks old and got her first feeding. I am now using just under 1 tsp per gallon every other watering, because this is when I noticed the mature leaves on my older girls starting to get nute burn. (not much damage was done)

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Today my older girls are finally recovered from me topping them and Im very satisfied on how they turned out.
The mature leaves are almost bigger than my hands now. And the stocks are twice as thick.

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Lots of under growth appeared after the topping as well.

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Im still dealing with the "nats/thrips", but they are to small to capture on my phone. Ive been using bayer advanced neem oil, (got rid of all the aphids) and started using Bayer 3 in 1 insect, disease and mite control (granules) today.
I also have a blue dream and a cheese seed germinated in red solo cups and once they sprout Ill post another update.
But thats it for now. Peace.

Ok so I have read Indoor Marijuana Horticulture By Jorge Cervantes and it covers deficiency very well with pictures. But when I look up specific element (potassium, nitrogen, magnesium, zinc, etc.) burns in google they all look VERY similar to the signs of their deficiencies. So I need some help. I dont want to keep flushing them if they are actually starving for nutes. But I am pretty sure it is burn because it started after 3 or 4 feedings with Fox farm grow big.

So this is on a few of the mature leaves, the tips turn yellow, curl upwards, then die. Only the tips seem to be affected. To me it looks like nute burn.

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This is the very bottom growth on the same plant. The 2 lowest leaves turned very yellow today and are probably going to die soon.
And if you look at the growth with the spots all over, thats the only leaves that look like that. And if you compare it to the next picture, the growth is very different.

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This is the other older girl and you can see how much longer the inner nodes grew after topping her compare to the sick looking plant.

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Please help!!! Im going to continue feeding them plain water but those lower leaves that turned yellow today made me think that I might be starving them of nutes. It could also be because all of the other growth above is sucking up all the food and causing the smaller foliage to shrivel up and die. But I dont know, lol I need help. Thanks In advance.

For soil, the best way to feed is so simple, it's easy to miss. There are powder ferts that you can place in the soil, then you just water and forget about ferts (unless it becomes obvious that you are seeing a deficiency of some nute). In your grow shop, you'll find these powder ferts, many by foxfarm like fruit and flower or happy frog. There are others like Dr. Earth brand, of which there are many but you only need one that is geared toward flowering or vegetables or all-purpose. The problem is that it can be difficulty to know exactly how much to give and how often. Growers easily get too much fert in the soil, then flush, then fert, then flush... you can see how people are just guessing at what to do. Powder ferts remove the guess work. You put about one half cup of powder fert in for every two gallons of potting soil and mix well. These ferts have most, if not all, the ferts plants need, especially if you consider that most potting soils come with their own ferts. You must use a specific brand however, meaning that LillyMiller makes a powder fert, but doesn't include any bacteria and fungi to break the stuff down and deliver to the roots. Dr. Earth has bacteria, so does Foxfarm's fruit and flower, so does Whitney Farms organic or all purpose. It's interesting that so many ferts are in liquid form but many don't tell you how much to give or how often. How is a grower suppose to get it right when you don't know how to use the fert? As far as your plant's condition right now, it's hard to know what to do. It's hard to tell how much fert is in the soil. I think if I were you, I'd like the go for a while and see what happens. Don't water too much, let the soil dry out some. Many times if you don't know what to do, the best thing is nothing.

The yellowing is moving its way up the plant.. The 2 lowest leaves died and now its on this set of leaves. so I think it needs nutes. I dont want to go buy more because this is kind of a budget grow and the Grow Big has all of the fertilizers the plant needs. Im goin to feed her and hopefully in the next couple days she will get better. I also read somewhere that neem oil can cause burn but I spray them before the sun goes down and they are dry before the harmful sun rays touch her. Im honestly stumped and I hope she gets better soon. And if you look at the "burn" on the tips, thats on alot of the big shade leaves too but they dont die like these do.

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Here the top, not lookin too bad.. I sprayed them last night and it ended up getting pretty cold so all the plants look a little limp today but thats no big deal.

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Heres the top of my other girl.

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And heres a few of the younger purp that I pickup up from my buddy, she looks great :thumbsup:

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The blue dream sprouted a day before the cheese did and unfortunately, the leaves got eaten by some pest and the stem curled up and died over night :( But look who is still here :D

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Might check out Epsom salt(I know it's taboo) but it is wide range. Also maybe micro nutrients. GoLite

You'll see this problem reduce after some fertilizer.

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Originally Posted by polishpollack

You'll see this problem reduce after some fertilizer.

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So is the grow big useless? Or should I keep using it with the powdered ferts? And you said that I should mix the powder well in the soil but how am I supposed to do that when theyre in pots? lol.

Grow Big is a very good liquid nutrient and should be all you need right now. Make sure you are not over-watering and feed according to directions.

I didn't realize before that you were using miracle grow soil. that already has fert in it, so I'd suggest you avoid ferting for a while and see how things go. this contradicts what I said earlier, but I overlooked the name of the soil. If they yellowing continues after not ferting for several days, then you might consider giving a dose of fert. it would be nice if you could post once a day with pics so we can see what's happening.

Im not too worried about the damage because it is still mostly the lowest leaves, I just dont want it getting any worse.
More pics of the damage, also some of all of my ladies

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just a suggestion....when you take pics you might want to keep your hands palm down. theres a pretty much a full set of prints if anyone had the notion to collect em. better to err on the side of paranoia in some cases.

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Originally Posted by Mal420xl

just a suggestion....when you take pics you might want to keep your hands palm down. theres a pretty much a full set of prints if anyone had the notion to collect em. better to err on the side of paranoia in some cases.

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Thanks for the concern, but Ive never been fingerprinted in my life and its all legal. Just not federally lmao

Hey mate.

Those plants are looking beautiful.

I my self and a few other local growers completely discourage miracle grow. Some people like it, some people hate it.

There's much better soils out there then what you see on the tv.

Have you taken a pH reading of the soil? What ratio of NPK are they getting now to correct said nutrition issue?

Curious to see if the problem lies within the soil.

Good luck mate and will check back!

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Originally Posted by Joel

Hey mate.
Those plants are looking beautiful.
I my self and a few other local growers completely discourage miracle grow. Some people like it, some people hate it.
There's much better soils out there then what you see on the tv.
Have you taken a pH reading of the soil? What ratio of NPK are they getting now to correct said nutrition issue?
Curious to see if the problem lies within the soil.
Good luck mate and will check back!

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Thanks man! I havent taken an actual pH test yet but I have done the baking soda and vinegar test and it come up neither. The Fox farm grow big is 6-4-4. Once its time to transplant Ill be using either 707 or fox farm ocean forest in 15 or 20g pots. so hopefully the miracle grow will last long enough.

And I am going to start using video updates instead so you can get a better view of the ladies. :thumbsup:

Video 1 - 5/20/13

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAZrcyppvUU

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Growbigbuds

Im not too worried about the damage because it is still mostly the lowest leaves, I just dont want it getting any worse.
More pics of the damage, also some of all of my ladies

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The bottom yellow leaves could be water leaves idk. But the ones with burnt ends could be a zinc definciency.

Every leaf on a marijuana plant is a water/shade/sun leaf.. whatever you want to call em. And no its not a deficiency I believe its a toxicity from over feeding them..

Video plants look good, nice color, and topping job, big turning into lotsa?

For your pests. Have you heard of Azamax? Can be used all the way up to harvest.. It will inhibit their ability to eat.. and thus their ability to reproduce.
I am a landscaper and as to your Aphids on your Moms roses, try spraying the leaves with high pressure water on the tops and bottoms every other day for about a week. Then check back every 3-4 days for their return. Most of the time this will knock the outdoor population out for quit some time.

You mentioned you don't check the ph.. The old drops in a vial are tried and true.. Still use em even with my digital combo meter.. $15 still gives the same info as a $200 meter.. Also run clean water through the plant and collect some water from the bottom. Test the water before and after you water the plant. Then compare results. I just used some pro-mix and didn't feed them until a week and a half into veg. At that time they were showing a small sign of a lack of nitrogen and some small purple streaking to show signs of needing phosphorus. Which would have been worse if I would have given them ferts right off the bat. Which is why I prefer using a ph neutral coco coir. Nothing in their except what you give em. Also Fox Farm works.. but if you want a simple no bs program.. Try checking out Technaflora's Recipe For Success. All in one box from cutting to flower. Less than $50. Can find em for as low as 30.

You said something about a flea like bug that jumps/flies. If you can squish them, they are SpringTails.. And is completely ok for soil grows. They are a beneficial insect that love moisture. Had a bag of some pro-mix #4 release thousands of these in my room... They can be a bit of a pest indoors, but just let the place dry a bit and they will go where the water is.

If you are just feeding your plants and not your soil I suggest you checkout Xtreme Gardening and their line of products.. Check em out on facebook. Also have sample packs going on right now. Tell em BontanicMike sent you. No I don't work for them, don't get paid, Just love their products. They are amazing and I feature them in my grows. I feel everyone should enjoy the benefits of there products. They are responsible for growing some of the worlds largest veggies! Growing Pumpkins up to 40 lbs in a day! Making some grow to 2000+ lbs

Happy Growing

And Keep up the good work!

The first plant is the one that has the most tip damage and the third plant is the purps from my buddy, and it turns out he wants it so Im growing it for him, but it has a lot of holes in the leaves and the bottom foliage is very droopy so its a pain in the ass to water it. but other than that they are doin pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3uY9pbmaeQ&feature=youtu.be

The middle plant seems bushy lol and i think its because I didnt trim off the very low stuff like i did with the first plant that was turning yellow..

But would any of you experienced growers cut any of the fan leaves? Ive heard its good to do during flower if youre trying to get more sunlight to lower buds but what about during veg? or should I wait and let the tops find their way up?

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And I found out why the third plant is so droopy.. I asked my friend what type of soil he used and he said its just top soil :wtf: So i have been watering her a lot more at once to ensure the soil will hold some moisture for awhile. Because even when I give it around 1 cup of water, it still drains out the bottom of the pot. Hopefully it becomes root bound soon so I can transplant her into some decent soil. But in the meantime, I dont need to worry about her getting root rot haha

(and if you look at the soil in the third pic you can tell how shitty it is, because I literally just gave her 2 liters of water and its already starting to dry out!)

I'd let the leaves stay for awhile and work for you. While your working with them and you see a leaf that you don't like for some reason, then a good time to trim the Bush.

Question about droopy, if it dries so fast, think you drain to waste, which is good, have you tried a catch basin just for a day or two? Might help with any big air voids, and sometimes gets things started.

Cages are cool too.

In this update im only guna talk about my 2 plants, the 2 closest plants in the pictures below. But i did transplant my friends plant into a 15g pot and its doing much better..

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So its been about 5 days since Ive updated this, and its been the hottest 5 days the plants have had so far. But today the middle (shorter, only 23") plant started to show its sex. I know this happened before and you guys said dont worry about it, but this time its on almost every branch on every top.

this is the taller (26") plant that hasnt shown any signs of its gender
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The plants are the same strain and age, but the preflowering plant is 3" shorter. It might not seem like much but when you look at them its a big difference..
But i figured it was because i trimmed all the low stuff so it made the plant grow taller. And the shorter plant was never trimmed because it never turned yellow, so it put alot of energy into growing the low stuff. Inturn it became shorter but has alot more tops and girth.



so now i have millions of questions going through my mind but ill ask only a few..

1 . I just recently started rotating the plants a 1/4 turn every day, could this be the cause of preflower?

2 . do you think the taller plant is male?

3 . will the plant continue to flower or will it kick back into veg? and how bad does this stress the plant?

4 . Its only 7pm when these pics were taken and the last few hours of sunlight are blocked from the oak trees, does this matter?

5 . What should I do? lol



I know this update is all over the place and I apologize, but I dont know what is going on and I have a lot of stuff that I need to figure out. I didnt think the plant would be this small once it started to flower and I really dont want the taller plant to turn out male. please help!!

I have calmed down a lot since yesterday lol... I was just worried that everything had gone wrong, since Im new to growing outdoors and I dont have much experience with preflowering plants..
But I thought about it and theres nothing I can do about it, I should be thankful that its female. Its in mother natures hands and I have to let her take control. I just have to roll with it and provide everything I can to ensure the plants remain healthy. Hopefully its no big deal and they will continue to veg and grow. :thumbsup:

Hey man no worries.. Everyone tends to stress over their babies now and again. I had a nice OG plant a friend gave me from some seed and he said it was showing fre-flowers for more than two months.. Dunno what he was giving her but she was only about 15" tall.. Took out the foxfarm he had in it and threw her in a smart pot.. Did a super crop and threw her in under the LED's for about a week and went from a handful of shoots to more than I could count.. And now she's up on the roof in the back and is re-vegging like crazy.. And she only gets direct light for about 3/4 of the day.

Good luck..
& Happy Growing

A couple pics for your pleasure :thumbsup:


My taller plant
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The topping turned out pretty beefy
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The seven blade fan leaf just under the topping (this is the last set of leaves that have damage like this, everything above the topping is very healthy growth)
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My shorter plant (It was super hot today and I just watered them so shes a little droopy)
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Where I topped her
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The seven blade leaf under the tops
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My friends plant, now transplanted into a 15gallon pot. I love how she looks, very beautiful indica.
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Turn the volume up, relax, and watch these beautiful ladies dance in the wind :smokin: :thumbsup:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrFio1rAJPM