Skywalker grow day 1

[babystarbud]

freaky thats the exact same lamp ive got also:smokin:

you should be looking for a PH between 6 and 7.
by micronutes and trace nutes he means very small quantities of various minerals etc. that are in some specificly formulated plant feeds.
a 3 part formula is just that, you mix the three parts together to form a compleate feed. its in seperate parts because certain ingredients interfear with each other if mixed up, so you mix them right before you feed.

but get your ph checked before you start worrying about all that....my soil is actually acidic...see below

im on day 19 now and still groooowing sloooly.
got bored and mixed up my final pots ready for transplant, 20 liters of john innes no.2 compost, 10 liters of perlite and 10 liters of vermiculite.
in the bathtub.
made a bit of a mess.
girlfriend now not talking to me.
its a good job to because the PH reading of my new concoction is about 5.5...a bit too acid.

ill be doing a fush of the new medium and re-testing the soil shortly.
other than that im quite happy with the mixture....feels much more lose and airy...however, im not sure if there should be more actual soil in the mix....it looks good but only a 50% overall soil content sounds like not enough to me.

and....dunno if anyone can shed any light on this, but speaking of acid soil....

ive got one of those cheap PH probe things, and so does my friend ( his is a different make to mine) experimenting in cups with sodium bicarbonate and vinigar we came across a problem...

cup of tapwater, with a capfull of vinegar ...registered as acid on both meters....about PH 4-5 cant remember...great.

cup of tapwater with bicarb...registering neutral????? wtf....on both meters.
i was expecting like PH 8??
are both meters broken or am i missing somthing?:yippee:

anyway, without further adoo, here for your viewing pleasure, some pics of the sloppy muck that i created earlier!

[EventHorizon]

:stoned:

Ok, now I am scared....same strain, same compost, same light....

Anywho, cheers for clearing that up. My poor little mind was having a hard time. Any recommendations though as to where to get these from? We have loads of Garden Centers here...but TBH most are staffed by people who really have not got a clue.

Where did you get the PH tester from? I have only found a rather strange cartridge looking one, I have a moisture tester which you just stick in...that works really well. Want a PH tester like that.

As for the tap water, I was under the impression that it was slightly acidic anyway?

[babystarbud]

hiya, yeh the PH meter ive got was from a garden center, it looks the same as a moisture probe they are cheap, but im not sure how much confidence ive got in mine.

well ive had some good news and some stange news,
firstly, my PH of my soil mix has (if im to belive my meter) changed to about 6.5 PH, after a good flushing session.

also, my seedlings are looking a bit strange. generally they are looking quite healthy but they look a bit droopy, and theres purple bits on some of them....ive read its due to cold...but they are a bit warm if anything.
also there seems to be a bit of yellowing, but only on the ends of the most developed leafs:upsidedow
any ideas anyone?

[babystarbud]

and some pics showing the purple-ness:question:

[EventHorizon]

Hmmm,

the yellowing looks almost identical to mine...considering the similarities between our setups I would think that this is not a coinsidence. However mine do seem to be perking up a little.

As you the purple...no idea at all!

Have you started feeding them yet? I have still not got any nuts just yet, but have been watering them every two days now and not every day. Seems to have done the trick.

This is my strongest plant, still yellow at the bottom...but nice and green at the top. Anoying thing is though, it is quite a bit taller than the others Going to start feeding tomorrow...will pop to local gerden center(s) and find some good food for them.

Hope your plants pick up soon, I'll let you know if feeding them has any effect...(hope I don't kill mine!)

[babystarbud]

hi, i would hold off feeding just yet till you get the ph at a good level,
reason being is i re-potted mine last night, because the soil in the baby pots was acidic, and also the soil i was going to use for my main compost was acidic....
so i gave the new soil a good flush before i transplanted and got the ph somwhere between 6.5-6-9.....it was like 5.0-5.5 before.

my plants seem to have perked up a little bit overnight.

im sure somone will know better than me...but my guess is that the acidity of the soil is preventing uptake of nutes causing the yellowing, rather than there not being enough nutes as the soil does have some ferts in it. hopfully somone else can offer thier input on that one.....? anyone...

some pics of my plant in thier new home..

[mrberrys]

hi, i would hold off feeding just yet till you get the ph at a good level,
reason being is i re-potted mine last night, because the soil in the baby pots was acidic, and also the soil i was going to use for my main compost was acidic....
so i gave the new soil a good flush before i transplanted and got the ph somwhere between 6.5-6-9.....it was like 5.0-5.5 before.

my plants seem to have perked up a little bit overnight.

im sure somone will know better than me...but my guess is that the acidity of the soil is preventing uptake of nutes causing the yellowing, rather than there not being enough nutes as the soil does have some ferts in it. hopfully somone else can offer thier input on that one.....? anyone...

some pics of my plant in thier new home..

hi babystarbud.. well im no expert.. but your babys look just like mine did when they was in the too rich soil.. so mabe your soil was too rich ?? but seen as you have repotted and flushed got the ph right in ther new soil i think your babys will start to pick up... i have faith in your babys... heres 2 of my survivers for you too see how much they have improverd within 12days.. best of luck to you:thumbsup:

[BigStinky]

your plants died because you used those peat cups I promise.

[babystarbud]

they are transplanted into pots now, and not dead lol

[babystarbud]

day 23 and things are going well,
the re-pot was a sucsess, they have some healthy new growth now and are back on track.

looks like my problems were down to acidic soil.

some more piccies