I'm in need of a LOT of opinions!

[Maxor420]

I realize that there are tons of ways to have your grow room set up, as far as growing mediums and the like. I use soil, not soil less, or any type of hydro. Please do not give me those types of techniques unless it will work for my situation in a positive, non-work intensive manner.

I don't have expensive soil, in fact it's a premium blend from a bargain brand. They call it a "Potting Soil". It is spongy, has about 8-10% perlite (White granules), and a fair amount of wood particulate. (Sticks, bark...small chips... the whole tree it seems). It does drain fairly well, however seems to retain a large amount of water. (In a 3 gallon pot, it will hold around 500-700mL of water)

I don't have:
- Testing equipment (I plan to get a Hanna PH/EC/PPM/TEMP AIO when I can set aside $160 for anything other than bills)

[align=center](I would really appreciate only having people comment who have first hand experience, and can speak from it)
(lol... But come one come all!! I refuse no ones opinion if it's valid)[/align]

Here are my questions:
1) How much do you water you plants at the seedling/fresh clone stage?
(Do they need to be wet, moist, almost dry, or no humidity left in the soil?)
(Or should I sweep through all of those on rotation?)

2) Can you successfully clone in soil?
(Without rooting hormone?)

3) How much do you feed, and when do you start feeding?
(I've heard people who NEVER feed, and grow healthy tall plants...... how can that be?)

4) Is Dasani water ok for my plants?
(I've heard reports of it being anywhere from ph5-ph8)

5) When do you water?
(What do you wait for? When is TOO dry?)

6) Do the cheap testers actually work?
(I am trying to decide if I should get a temporary:PH (Test strips), and soil moisture tester.... again, cost is a major issue, so if it will REALLY help, I will consider it)


Thank you in advance to anyone who will bless me with their knowledge, I'm new, and excited. I know from past attempts, I feel bad for my plants when they hurt, and I almost go nuts until they look healthy again. ( Imagine me without testing equipment yet...lol) So that is why I am trying to be pro-active, to stop something before it starts. The only way I know of to do that, is with knowledge from those with experience.:rastasmoke:

Keep on smokin,
Maxor420

Maxor420 Reviewed by Maxor420 on 02-23-2010. I'm in need of a LOT of opinions! I realize that there are tons of ways to have your grow room set up, as far as growing mediums and the like. I use soil, not soil less, or any type of hydro. Please do not give me those types of techniques unless it will work for my situation in a positive, non-work intensive manner. I don't have expensive soil, in fact it's a premium blend from a bargain brand. They call it a "Potting Soil". It is spongy, has about 8-10% perlite (White granules), and a fair amount of wood particulate. Rating: 5

[maro69camaro]

I realize that there are tons of ways to have your grow room set up, as far as growing mediums and the like. I use soil, not soil less, or any type of hydro. Please do not give me those types of techniques unless it will work for my situation in a positive, non-work intensive manner.

I don't have expensive soil, in fact it's a premium blend from a bargain brand. They call it a "Potting Soil". It is spongy, has about 8-10% perlite (White granules), and a fair amount of wood particulate. (Sticks, bark...small chips... the whole tree it seems). It does drain fairly well, however seems to retain a large amount of water. (In a 3 gallon pot, it will hold around 500-700mL of water)

I don't have:
- Testing equipment (I plan to get a Hanna PH/EC/PPM/TEMP AIO when I can set aside $160 for anything other than bills)

[align=center](I would really appreciate only having people comment who have first hand experience, and can speak from it)
(lol... But come one come all!! I refuse no ones opinion if it's valid)[/align]

Here are my questions:
1) How much do you water you plants at the seedling/fresh clone stage?
(Do they need to be wet, moist, almost dry, or no humidity left in the soil?)
(Or should I sweep through all of those on rotation?)

2) Can you successfully clone in soil?
(Without rooting hormone?)

3) How much do you feed, and when do you start feeding?
(I've heard people who NEVER feed, and grow healthy tall plants...... how can that be?)

4) Is Dasani water ok for my plants?
(I've heard reports of it being anywhere from ph5-ph8)

5) When do you water?
(What do you wait for? When is TOO dry?)

6) Do the cheap testers actually work?
(I am trying to decide if I should get a temporary:PH (Test strips), and soil moisture tester.... again, cost is a major issue, so if it will REALLY help, I will consider it)


Thank you in advance to anyone who will bless me with their knowledge, I'm new, and excited. I know from past attempts, I feel bad for my plants when they hurt, and I almost go nuts until they look healthy again. ( Imagine me without testing equipment yet...lol) So that is why I am trying to be pro-active, to stop something before it starts. The only way I know of to do that, is with knowledge from those with experience.:rastasmoke:

Keep on smokin,
Maxor420

water the plants tell it just starts to come out the bottom, let them dry out. lift the pot when they are just watered and you will tell when its dry. pot will be light. you want to get them just before the droop but if the droop a little it ok the will perk right back up with a water. do not over water they need it just as mush as water. its kind of hard to clone in dirt without a root starter but some strains are very easy to clone and im sure would be easy but i recommend that for now you for get about cloning and worry more about the grow. then when you get that down you can expand. with nutes it really depends on alot of things, what dirt, what strain, some dont like any nutes and some you can stuff and the love it. start very low like half the recommended amount and watch the plants for burning around the tips and edges of leaves. i water twice with nnutes then once with straight water. you got alot of reading to do my friend. read up and with the people here you should have a good grow.:thumbsup: get a ph tester for sure. you will want to keep the ph between 6.0-6.8 and you should be good

[bigtopsfinn]

Here are my questions:
1) How much do you water you plants at the seedling/fresh clone stage?
(Do they need to be wet, moist, almost dry, or no humidity left in the soil?)
(Or should I sweep through all of those on rotation?)

Cannabis likes wet/dry cycles. You should water so that the soil is evenly saturated, with a little (maybe 10%) run-off. Then wait until the pots dry out, not totally bone dry, but dry... The best way to know if they are dry is by picking up the pot and feeling the weight. You should be able to tell when it's dry vs. still wet. You can also dig down about 3 in. or so to check the soil to see if it's dry.

This kind of depends on the size of your pots though. For instance, when transplanting into a larger container, some will say to not water with run-off, otherwise the water just sits in the bottom on the container for too long.

For seedlings before they emerge, however, you want to keep your soil uniformly moist, and do not let it dry out. But don't keep it soaked either. I water with a spoon. You can also use a dome or a bag over the cup before they emerge to keep humidity up, but take it off when they do emerge.

2) Can you successfully clone in soil?
(Without rooting hormone?)

Short answer is yes. There are some cheap methods to cloning that involve no rooting gel. If you download the "Overgrow FAQ", you'll find it there (and much more information also)

3) How much do you feed, and when do you start feeding?
(I've heard people who NEVER feed, and grow healthy tall plants...... how can that be?)

Depends on the nutrients already in the soil. Sometimes they are enough, sometimes not. You can tell that you need to feed when the plants start getting lighter green/yellow leaves. Your feeding too much if the leaf edges get yellow and crispy, burnt looking. I start with 1/4 to 1/3 dose recommended on the bottle and work my way up.

4) Is Dasani water ok for my plants?
(I've heard reports of it being anywhere from ph5-ph8)

Why not use your tap water? This is usually the best. With bottled, distilled, or reverse osmosis water you will likely need CalMag+ to supplement the micronutrients that have been stripped out. Bottled water will get crazy expensive in the end. If your tap is really bad, you can usually get R/O water from the grocery store, in the big machine at the front of the store that fill up 5 gal jugs.

5) When do you water?
(What do you wait for? When is TOO dry?)

Same as for the seedlings. If they start to wilt, they are too dry.

6) Do the cheap testers actually work?
(I am trying to decide if I should get a temporary:PH (Test strips), and soil moisture tester.... again, cost is a major issue, so if it will REALLY help, I will consider it)

Soil moisture testers are often unreliable, don't waste your money. The ph strips work fine. However, if you are testing liquid that is tinted, your results will be off. One fix for this is running the water through a coffee filter or paper towels until it is clear again.

You can get ph pens for just over $20 (Milwaukee 600 something or other... google it)

Happy growing :jointsmile:

[Wobster]

to answer 2 + 6.

2) You probably can clone without rooting a hormone but I would perfect the art of cloning WITH rooting hormone first. There is a learning curve with everything. Get used to succesfully cloning the easiest way possible before you jump in at the deep end. My BEST piece of advice with cloning is - Leave them alone. lol don't be impatient and carefully try to dig them out to see if roots have developed. Curiosity kills the cannabis lol. Rooting hormone is cheap as chips. Buy some.

6) The cheap testers work! They will give u an accurate reading. It's ur eyes that are the problem. The variation on colours of reaction are very similar. You will doubt your reading. A digital reader will give you a definate answer to the decimal point. This piece of mind and asurity will stop you making rash descisions and adding or taking things away that further the problem. Get a Digital tester. I know its more expensive but If you carry on growing.. u'll get one eventually anyway.

[Faddenator]

You can get ph pens for just over $20 (Milwaukee 600 something or other... google it):

I didn't know Milwaukee made Ph pens... i'm glad my hometown can provide tools for you guys :thumbsup:

Another fantastic post by Bigtops - You can't go wrong listening to this guy

[Maxor420]

This is great! I'm so happy that there are many kind growers.

I know I made myself possibly sound more ignorant than I am, and please don't take this the wrong way guys.... I knew a lot of that already. However, the people who gave the more pointed answers, thank you very much, well actually, thank you EVERYONE! it all helps, even if it is only to reinforce something already known.

Ok, with that said, I think I've worked out what my soil is supposed to look like when it's dry, and my newest clone is growing like a mad hatter. I've been overwatering, and that was leading to just constantly moist soil (No root rot on my flowering one, thank God!).

Bad side.... I learned this too late. My flowering girl has three weeks left on her, and I doubt that it will significantly increase my bud size to have correct watering this late in the game. (If I'm wrong, PLEASE TELL ME!)

I was also wondering something else:

1) Does my softener do a lot to my water? Will it be a problem?
(Could only find "It could build up over time, may require more frequent flushing")
NOTE: I have no access to the water before the softener, the dumbass who built the house I live in, didn't include one before hand, even the laundry room washtub is after the softener....weird!

2) When should you clone a mother plant?
(I'd think it would be node count dependent?!)

Keep On Smokin,
Maxor420

[Ocotillo]

If you download the "Overgrow FAQ", you'll find it there (and much more information also)

What is "overgrow faq"? How and where does one download it?

[bigtopsfinn]

What is "overgrow faq"? How and where does one download it?

It's a collection of OG threads on pretty much everything you need to know, and could ever ask. You can download it with utorrent, and find it at isohunt.com

[Faddenator]

Ok, with that said, I think I've worked out what my soil is supposed to look like when it's dry, and my newest clone is growing like a mad hatter. I've been overwatering, and that was leading to just constantly moist soil (No root rot on my flowering one, thank God!).

Bad side.... I learned this too late. My flowering girl has three weeks left on her, and I doubt that it will significantly increase my bud size to have correct watering this late in the game. (If I'm wrong, PLEASE TELL ME!)

You aren't necessarily correct! Lots of strain's buds don't thicken up until the end of flower. A few of mine increased their size by 25% or more in the last week of flower, so not all hope is lost!

be sure to water correctly from here on out, and don't forget to flush 10-14 days before harvest, and use plain water w/o nutes after that.

Good luck:thumbsup:

[Maxor420]

So I am one week out from cutting her down. If I flush now at this point, she will never dry out before all the trichromes are completely amber, and thus not what I was going for with this strain.

(I've always been under the impression that a person should harvest at the END of a watering cycle, so the plant can expend as much of the stuff it's been keeping inside itself?!?!)

I can see that there are about 25%-35% red hairs on the buds, however the trichromes still look a little too clear. Next tuesday, she will be done her 6 weeks of flowering. She's also been receiving nothing but water for the last week, so I will at least have been using straight water for the last two weeks.

(This whole grow was more of a test for my LED grow panels I designed, and they sure work.... even with my greenish-brown thumb) (At least it's getting greener!.....lol)

I got a different clone that is being sparingly loved as much as possible so it will grow as quick as possible (Read, I'm not overwatering it, yet trying to maximize it's growth so I can clone her.....in a hurry to get new clones going, as I'm already off my schedule)

P.S. I got rooting hormone, it's $2.38 CAD here at our Canadian Tire store. It's made by "ROOTS" and is a .01% powder.... level 1 of the roots brand.

Keep Smokin,
Maxor420:rastasmoke: