I seem to do better at killing than growing - HELP PLEASE!

[GrowingInGeorgia]

I'm not a farmer and I can't even spell horticulturist right (Spell checker can though!) The absolute best thing I have ever grown is a rock garden and know nothing about caring for a plant properly.... so of course I'm going to have problems. Hell, as far back as I care to remember even lawn care is at best a spectator sport. But, I got a 400w MH light and built a grow room loosely following the construction steps as shown on the "I Grow Chronic" DVD - sans hydroponic system, co2 etc... I also discovered that window screen makes a nice deterrent to keep the cats out - (I DID get that part on my own!)

Being my first attempt to grow, I bought "potting soil" on sale at Kroger for a buck a bag and 8" pots. These had no drains, so I drilled a 3/8 hole in one side at the very bottom. I set these in 10" plastic drain pans, and have generally been watering from the bottom once the plant was established, keeping the water above the top of the drain hole and letting the plant (and soil) wick up what it will take. As you can see, my system is one of the '..ahem..' real high dollar systems. But being 100% disabled and trying to live on my disability, funding is 'limited'.

But my prettiest plant seems to be sick. The leaves are showing yellow patterns, that while pretty, I don't think should be there if everything was right. I just pulled on up that the yellow had gotten to the top of and killed, and re-seeded. Thankfully I'm just dealing with headache brown seeds while I'm trying to learn.

Can anyone take a look at this picture and give me some direction on what I might be doing wrong please? I dunno if it's water - too much/little, if it's nutrients, if it's too much heat in the box - or little green men coming in at night and painting the leaves. Any help would be appreciated greatly.

[attachment=o278398]

GrowingInGeorgia Reviewed by GrowingInGeorgia on 09-07-2011. I seem to do better at killing than growing - HELP PLEASE! I'm not a farmer and I can't even spell horticulturist right (Spell checker can though!;)) The absolute best thing I have ever grown is a rock garden and know nothing about caring for a plant properly.... so of course I'm going to have problems. Hell, as far back as I care to remember even lawn care is at best a spectator sport. But, I got a 400w MH light and built a grow room loosely following the construction steps as shown on the "I Grow Chronic" DVD - sans hydroponic system, co2 etc... Rating: 5

[pushit]

I'm not a farmer and I can't even spell horticulturist right (Spell checker can though!) The absolute best thing I have ever grown is a rock garden and know nothing about caring for a plant properly.... so of course I'm going to have problems. Hell, as far back as I care to remember even lawn care is at best a spectator sport. But, I got a 400w MH light and built a grow room loosely following the construction steps as shown on the "I Grow Chronic" DVD - sans hydroponic system, co2 etc... I also discovered that window screen makes a nice deterrent to keep the cats out - (I DID get that part on my own!)

Being my first attempt to grow, I bought "potting soil" on sale at Kroger for a buck a bag and 8" pots. These had no drains, so I drilled a 3/8 hole in one side at the very bottom. I set these in 10" plastic drain pans, and have generally been watering from the bottom once the plant was established, keeping the water above the top of the drain hole and letting the plant (and soil) wick up what it will take. As you can see, my system is one of the '..ahem..' real high dollar systems. But being 100% disabled and trying to live on my disability, funding is 'limited'.

But my prettiest plant seems to be sick. The leaves are showing yellow patterns, that while pretty, I don't think should be there if everything was right. I just pulled on up that the yellow had gotten to the top of and killed, and re-seeded. Thankfully I'm just dealing with headache brown seeds while I'm trying to learn.

Can anyone take a look at this picture and give me some direction on what I might be doing wrong please? I dunno if it's water - too much/little, if it's nutrients, if it's too much heat in the box - or little green men coming in at night and painting the leaves. Any help would be appreciated greatly.

[attachment=o278398]

The couple things that catch my eye is your watering technique and looks like its time for some plant food. For watering i think youll have better results by watering from the top until you see a little runoff, then let it dry out, then repeat. As for food, since you are growing cheap, i would suggest Miracle Grow all purpose for veg then when you flip to 12/12 use MG Bloom booster. You can buy big boxes at walmart for cheap. Start off small then increase a little until you get up to recommended doses on the label. Im assuming you are using tap water so id suggest you get a ph meter. A ph meter helps alot with growing. You can get a decent one on ebay for around 20 bucks.

If you decide to grow again i would strongly recommend getting better soil. A good soil will help out alot especially with a new grower. Good luck

[pushit]

Also check out some of the grow logs on here. They are filled with good info:thumbsup:

[GrowingInGeorgia]

The couple things that catch my eye is your watering technique and looks like its time for some plant food. For watering i think youll have better results by watering from the top until you see a little runoff, then let it dry out, then repeat. As for food, since you are growing cheap, i would suggest Miracle Grow all purpose for veg then when you flip to 12/12 use MG Bloom booster. You can buy big boxes at walmart for cheap. Start off small then increase a little until you get up to recommended doses on the label. Im assuming you are using tap water so id suggest you get a ph meter. A ph meter helps alot with growing. You can get a decent one on ebay for around 20 bucks.

If you decide to grow again i would strongly recommend getting better soil. A good soil will help out alot especially with a new grower. Good luck

I fed them Sunday a week ago. Just 1 cup each with some Walmart imitation of Miracle Grow called "Expert Gardner - All Purpose Plant Food" - at half strength. And I fed them from the top. How often would you suggest I do that?

And, I just ordered 2 PH meters, one for water, and one 3 way for soil, on your advice. $19.03 total on Ebay (/w free shipping!) They should be in next week. Could have gotten them cheaper from China but there was a little line about import taxes and call customs and blah blah.... Sounded a little like a bait and switch to me, so I ordered them locally. Probably cost less in the long run anyway.

Now, as to soil, seeings how I WILL be doing this again (and again and again) any particular soil you recommend for the next crop?

I'm in the process of constructing the flowering room. It will be 2.5' x 6' x 8'. My "intention" is to use two ceiling fan light kits mounted on a hanging board (and a home-made Mylar recovered reflector), with bulb splitters, hanging a total of 16 26-35w CFL bulbs. Do you think this is going to be enough light? I'm trying to get some red spectrum in there.

(Thanks so much - I'm just trying to learn! AND.... I've started watch the log thread as well.)

[Bobthis]

Im not the most experienced grower, but I think you should drill more drainage holes in the bottom, not the side, I had a few problems early with drainage, and that was with 5 hole in the bottom. Lil soupy at the bottom. Best advice I got was to keep it simple, and wait till they tell you what they need. We seem to wanna love em to death, as noobs. I think you got some good mentors to follow on here. Read till your eyes bleed, and read some more. How old are your plants, now? I started with mg at about 1/4 to 1/3 strength at about 3 or 4 weeks, and still got some nute burn, so be carefull! Also, watch the mh light on the youngins. Are you using tap water? If so, let it sit uncovered for about a day to let chlorine evap away. If bottled, disregard. Good luck, man. Hope you get a harvest outta this one!

[pushit]

In my experience Fox Farm Ocean Forrest is by far the best soil that i have used. Its expensive as hell around my part (30 bucks a bag and a 3 hour total drive) but i will gladly dish that out everytime since i have real small grows. If you wanna keep it cheap you can always go with MG soil from Walmart. Be careful if you get that cause most if not all bags contain time release nutes which could burn up the little ones if your not careful.

Bobthis pretty much covered everything for ya. If your soil gets soupy you can always add perlite to your mix.

Wait a min i just caught something. Are you planning on using the 400mh for veg and cfls for flower? Or are you gonna do a total cfl grow?

[GrowingInGeorgia]

I've never heard of Fox Farm soil and I doubt I'm going to find it locally here in the bible belt, so it'll probably be MG for the next crop.

I already have the 400w MH and am using it for vegetation. I'm building the flowering room now and plan on using CFLs in there... 16 of them. 8 26w and 8 35w, if I can find the 35's locally. If not, then I guess I'll have to use 16 26w CFLs for flowering in a 360º Mylar lined area with a Mylar reflective hood. Think that's enough for 2½' x 6' x 8'? I hope so, but... If necessary I will add more CFLs. Realistically, what other choice would I have with the budgetary restrictions I'm working under? I'm following Craigslist locally for some HPSs , but what I'm finding is already gone, or out of the budget. I'm SURE, given enough time, I'll end up with HPSs eventually, but time, right now, is not a commodity I have a lot of available... I think I'll be moving to flowering within the next 4-6 weeks. So I'm looking at what I believe to be the 2nd best choice.

BTW.. Thank you VERY MUCH for your advice. You can't realize just how much, what may seem to be small amounts of advice, mean to me at this point. This is unexplored territory for me and I'm trying to adsorb as much knowledge as I can without being too much of a pain while doing it. I really was serious when I said I could kill a rock garden.

[GrowingInGeorgia]

Finally, I found a dealer, in Georgia, that handles Fox Farm that's less than 100 miles away. However, he only has Happy Frog @ $28 a bag. Now the question becomes, "Is Happy Frog acceptable, or is it worth driving 40 miles further to specifically look for Ocean Forest?"

[pushit]

Finally, I found a dealer, in Georgia, that handles Fox Farm that's less than 100 miles away. However, he only has Happy Frog @ $28 a bag. Now the question becomes, "Is Happy Frog acceptable, or is it worth driving 40 miles further to specifically look for Ocean Forest?"

Since i have never used happy frog i couldnt tell you. Dont get me wrong i have had good results with mg soil and its right there at walmart. So its all up to you. I was just stating what i use and what i believe to be the best soil that i have used.

There's a lot to growing good medical grade smoke and its expensive to start. Its a lot of researching and time involved. Its harder than most people think. Check out a lot of the grow logs on here and you will see very few new growers actually make it all the way through curing with quality smoke. Hell ive been growing and researching every day for a year and i still dont have everything figured out. Plus im researching on 3 different sites haha.

You can find most of your grow equipment on ebay for a decent price. Just be sure you look at their shipping price cause sometimes its as much as the product. Cfls will do a good job but it takes alot of them and you have to keep them close. Once you add the bulbs, Ys, Clamp lights(or whatever), surgebar, and timer itll all start adding up price wise. Just do a little research and see what will give you the most bang for the buck. Also check out HTGSupply. They have some great prices. Here is a pic of my ghetto growbar that i use for veg. 18 26w cfls. I couldve bought a mh for what i spent on it but i was able to add to it a little at a time.
[attachment=o278464]

[GrowingInGeorgia]

First off, IT'S A GIRL!

I cut a male out today.... and attached is an image for the little girl. And she's started flowering.

I planted 4 seeds, the cats got one plant, I just couldn't resist killing one, and 2 made it to start flowering. I've never gotten this far before.

Now, my questions are:

A:- Those big leaves... I've always heard of them as referred as sucker leaves. Are these what I believe I heard referred to as sugar leaves in some other thread?

B:- Should I remove those to allow better light to get to the lower part of the plant, or should i leave them?

The had become root bound, so I re-potted to 3 gal pots. When I did, I used a mixture of MG, sand, perlite and a little peat moss to add some acidity... they were WAY to alkaline in the first pot. They LOVED the new mixture!

I've gotten this far with the advice given here, so I guess this is the best place to ask about these leaves.

Thanks!