I need help! First time grower..think im making mistakes!!

[Newtothis119]

I'm a first time grower and fear that i am making mistakes.I have 3 plants growing right now, the seeds (feminized, blueberry/diavolo hybrid called La Diva) have germinated and have now grown to little plants, which is where the problem comes in, one of the plants is thriving and is about 6 inches in height while another one, is only about 3 inches in height but its leaves seem to be "fatter", aside from the height issue, it also seems to be doing well, on to the third plant, the biggest issue, it stands about 2 3/4 inches tall and recently two leaves have turned yellow and crusty, now browning on the tips. What am i doing wrong!??!!? Im putting up some pics, the first one is a pic of the browning leaf plant and the second is of all 3 of my babies, you can see the difference in size, im sure...also, the pack the seeds came in said this strain has an automatic 45 day harvest time, what exactly does this mean? i have very little understanding about "flowering" and other terms, it should also be important to know that these little babies have been under 24 hour light, is this a mistake? These seeds were germinated on 2/19 and planted on 2/20, so they are about 3 weeks old. So many questions to ask i cant even list them all!!! I guess if you guys help me this time, ill ask more Please help!
:rasta:

Newtothis119 Reviewed by Newtothis119 on 03-15-2011. I need help! First time grower..think im making mistakes!! I'm a first time grower and fear that i am making mistakes.I have 3 plants growing right now, the seeds (feminized, blueberry/diavolo hybrid called La Diva) have germinated and have now grown to little plants, which is where the problem comes in, one of the plants is thriving and is about 6 inches in height while another one, is only about 3 inches in height but its leaves seem to be "fatter", aside from the height issue, it also seems to be doing well, on to the third plant, the biggest issue, Rating: 5

[WashougalWonder]

Cannot address the autoflower part, but me thinks you are in Miracle Grow and the stuff is burning the plants. Sure looks that way to me. I suggest you fill out the troubleshooting form if this is not the case. Miracle Grow contains a lot of nutrients that release each time you water which is too much for many sub-species of cannabis.

[Rusty Trichome]

Looking closely at your pix, do you leave standing water on the leaves like that all the time? If so, you are suffocating the stoma's. (air-gas exchange pores in the leaves) I see no nute burn on the other leaves, which leads me to believe it's likely not the MG. The olny time I spray my plants, is if I'm trying to correct a deficiency.

Let the roots uptake the moisture. That's their job. :thumbsup:

[Rusty Trichome]

Don't get me wrong, MG is a bit rough on most seedlings, and there is very slight browning of the leaf edges, but they look real good otherwise. The leaf that's faded and drying-out was the larger issue, to me.
Wasn't trying to step on your toes, WW. Sorry if it sounded that way.

[Newtothis119]

i appreciate the input...i am in fact using "moisture control" Miracle Grow potting soil, and recently added a few little granules of "continuous release" plant food, also MG, to the soil, and as you can see the burning occured shortly thereafter, so if i just fall back on the watering a bit, will this plant survive? And if just leaving it alone isnt enough, is there anything i can do to save it? The reason for the standing water was that a friend of mine said that i should try "leaf feeding" by leaving droplets of water on the leaves, guess that was a mistake! What should I do from here on out?? Any advice you guys could give me would be great, i dont wanna screw this up!!!

[Rusty Trichome]

First thing...don't take growing advise from your friend any more. Best to learn from those that have grown for a while.

Those are too young for feeding, especially with MG. (MG All Purpose, I assume...?) Plus, you should let the roots do their job. When using MG soil, the nutrients last a couple of months. When you add more nutrients on top of that, it can and will kill the little girls. No more foliar feeding till you know how and why.

Take some time and flush the soil well with properly ph'd water, (three to five times the pot volume for each pot) then go through some Grow Logs, and perhaps memorize the FAQ section. It's a good place to start. Old leaves are old news, so watch for the effects on the new growth.

[TANKJR]

Sorry Rusty, but it's a bad idea to flush pure MG stuff...it releases nutes even faster if you try to flush to get rid of excess nute, and may burn them up entirely...

OP, MG is ok to use (it's all I have available, so I use it) tho a little hot or rough on youngsters...in the future dilute the soil some by adding perlite, dolomite lime and maybe some vermiculite, (you may want to read up on soils and amendments in the grow bible) although the moisture control has quite a bit of vermiculite in it already...or cut it in half with plain old topsoil w/ NO amendments added at the minimum...just water only for awhile (several weeks!) with no added ANYTHING, ph'd properly, and things will calm down. It's ok if some of the lower leaves yellow and fall off...they were going to anyway as the plants grow...the key is watching the leaf tips near the top....if the very tips of the leaves are yellow, she's taking up all the nutes she possibly can, so back off! You must be careful even adding molasses with MG in a pure form as just doing that at a young age will cause them to take up more nutes than w/o and will cause some burning...Hope this helps!

No disagreement on the taking advice from your friend there OP...RT is right on that part, absolutely! :thumbsup: LOL! Ya got some of the best there are right here in WW, RT and DP and I guess me since I seem to be the only MG expert...bummer for ME!...LOL! Use us! We like to help! Since MG is all I have to work with I had no choice but to learn how to use it....another personal bummer!:wtf:

[Newtothis119]

Okay, so the days of this "all purpose" shake and feed are over...Yesterday,i sifted through the soil and removed the green nuggets that are the MG continuous release plant food. Im putting up another pic that i just took, they seem to look better, additionally I am cutting back on watering as I was doing it twice a day and im now told this is a big no-no, more like once every 3 days?? I have been using Fiji water since germination, but it's getting to be a bit expensive, is there any other water i can use? Thanks for all your help guys...I could use a little input from some seasond Vets at this...Oh and my friend has been completely cut off from what is known as my little circle of trust I want only the best for my babies and im glad you guys are here to help

Smoke onimp:

[TANKJR]

K, so I have baked myself into a friggin coma now but here goes... go to the Cannabis lounge here and get all the books you'll ever want about this stuff and read, read, read! Get a dependable moisture meter and learn how to use it to take the guesswork out of watering, and let them dry out pretty good before watering, (when they start to wilt and the soil is DRY, they need to be watered!)...over time, you'll get the feel for it, when and how much to water, that is...then water thoroughly with properly ph'd water until you get some run off out the drains (10% or so...Emmie like percentages, so that's for her!) and all the soil in the pot or bag or whatever, is completely damp. After awhile using the moisture meter, and you have a feel for it, you can go to the "pick up the pot method" and give that fine new moisture meter to your buddy that's handing out incorrect advice....LMAO! You will need a good PH meter to tell what PH is, so get one of those, also...what the heck is Fiji water? imported from the island? LOL I dunno what that is, so I don't know what to tell you about it....ordinary tap or well water will work if it's fairly normal to start with, or possibly rainwater collected, depending on where you live and the rain you get...ck ph first (ALWAYS! EVERY TIME!) tho and adjust as needed....in soil you want around 6.8 or so...so adjust water to achieve that in the soil, but the soil should be close to that figure to begin with! That should keep you busy for a few days while they dry out...."two or three days" depends on way too many variables and the plants need for moisture will change and increase as they grow, so you need to know, not guess at it! Don't guess at ph either! Happy growing, and reading!

[bluntar]

give that fine new moisture meter to your buddy that's handing out incorrect advice....LMAO!

Love it!! made my night!! You guys rock, cann.com rocks!!! i love the love that goes arund here. how can anyone hate on this website

Newtothis, there is nothing that i could add that these guys didnt. just wanted to add my two cents but good luck man, youll get the hang of it soon enough