I'm a noobie grower, help me get my first harvest please ily!

S

Sicknam

Member
Hey ya'll. Have done about a hundred hours of reading online now across everything I can find, and need some super noobie help.

I have never been able to get past the seedling / early veg stages of growing. I started with 25 feminized seeds from ilovegrowingmarijuana, and I'm about to be all out of them with no bud :( lol. maaaaan I did all the research before I jumped in and some people are like "its a weed bro it just needs light and water and air and you'll be good".

Anyways long story short, sorry I know this is a question that ya'll get all the time and yes I saw the stickied post in the forums about it, but I still don't feel confident on how to diagnose my issues. It seems like everything I read is like, if you have yellowing leaves on the bottom of your plant your best bet is nitrogen deficiency, but it could also be pH lockout, light issues, temperature issues, or it could be genetic and just leave it, and I'm like wtf maaaaaan which one is it, and where do I start. I'm on like seedling 23 over the course of 3 months and I thought I would be harvesting by now lol.

It seems like the seedling grows beautifully for the first 2.5 or 3 weeks and then they start to pale a little and start turning lime green and yellow, when it hits its 2nd or 3rd node it just starts rotting from the bottom up, I've seen all the colors, yellow, purple, brown, dark brown almost black. (Not the cotyledons i know its normal for those to wither and die). Then the growth pretty much completely halts, so I start over.

For my first 2 rounds of seedlings (R.I.P.) I was using Espoma potting mix which I know isnt the best. I also got espoma plant-tone as an organic nutrient topfeed during veg. I read online that some people had amazing results with these, although not the go-to. And at the time these were the only available at my gardening store, so I tried them. I'm now on my 3rd round. Rounds 1 and 2, I ran into heat issues (got up to 95f some days during a heatwave inside the tent) and also I'm assuming the soil & nutrients aren't ideal causing nutrient deficiencies, N and P i'm guessing are the biggest candidates because my leaves turned yellow and purplish for the most part. Also I was overwatering, which I believed I fixed this time around.

For the 3rd and current round I'm hoping ya'll can help me so my new seedlings don't end up like the last. The first bottom leaves are starting to turn lime green and yellow so I'm trying to act quick! (pictures attached) here are my specs:

Indoor grow
New soil: Fox Farm Ocean Forest (I read online I should be good with no added nutes until flower with this soil?)
Light : Viparspectra 450W LED light I have hanging from a curtain rod 25" above 18/6, also natural sunlight coming through a window right next to the table I have the plants on.
Tent: No tent, moved into a room that's A/C'd will move back into tent once New England cools off.
Temps: Between 66 and 77 degrees
Humidity: Fluctuates in New England from 30-80% is this a huge factor?
Water: Bottled spring water only. pH tested with electronic meter around 6.8 always.
Strains: Sour D, Bubblegum, Granddaddy Purp, and AK-47

Attached in the pictures are the current seedlings. Since the FF soil I'm using should have enough nutrients, do you think it's time to transplant into fresh soil thats why I'm seeing these deficiencies (maybe deficiencies)? Also, a friend of mine suggested clipping the leaves that are starting to yellow. I don't know if I should trust that, I've read you can do that further into veg but is it too early now?

Thanks to anybody that can help!
 

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Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
Sicknam said:
Hey ya'll. Have done about a hundred hours of reading online now across everything I can find, and need some super noobie help.

I have never been able to get past the seedling / early veg stages of growing. I started with 25 feminized seeds from ilovegrowingmarijuana, and I'm about to be all out of them with no bud :( lol. maaaaan I did all the research before I jumped in and some people are like "its a weed bro it just needs light and water and air and you'll be good".

Anyways long story short, sorry I know this is a question that ya'll get all the time and yes I saw the stickied post in the forums about it, but I still don't feel confident on how to diagnose my issues. It seems like everything I read is like, if you have yellowing leaves on the bottom of your plant your best bet is nitrogen deficiency, but it could also be pH lockout, light issues, temperature issues, or it could be genetic and just leave it, and I'm like wtf maaaaaan which one is it, and where do I start. I'm on like seedling 23 over the course of 3 months and I thought I would be harvesting by now lol.

It seems like the seedling grows beautifully for the first 2.5 or 3 weeks and then they start to pale a little and start turning lime green and yellow, when it hits its 2nd or 3rd node it just starts rotting from the bottom up, I've seen all the colors, yellow, purple, brown, dark brown almost black. (Not the cotyledons i know its normal for those to wither and die). Then the growth pretty much completely halts, so I start over.

For my first 2 rounds of seedlings (R.I.P.) I was using Espoma potting mix which I know isnt the best. I also got espoma plant-tone as an organic nutrient topfeed during veg. I read online that some people had amazing results with these, although not the go-to. And at the time these were the only available at my gardening store, so I tried them. I'm now on my 3rd round. Rounds 1 and 2, I ran into heat issues (got up to 95f some days during a heatwave inside the tent) and also I'm assuming the soil & nutrients aren't ideal causing nutrient deficiencies, N and P i'm guessing are the biggest candidates because my leaves turned yellow and purplish for the most part. Also I was overwatering, which I believed I fixed this time around.

For the 3rd and current round I'm hoping ya'll can help me so my new seedlings don't end up like the last. The first bottom leaves are starting to turn lime green and yellow so I'm trying to act quick! (pictures attached) here are my specs:

Indoor grow
New soil: Fox Farm Ocean Forest (I read online I should be good with no added nutes until flower with this soil?)
Light : Viparspectra 450W LED light I have hanging from a curtain rod 25" above 18/6, also natural sunlight coming through a window right next to the table I have the plants on.
Tent: No tent, moved into a room that's A/C'd will move back into tent once New England cools off.
Temps: Between 66 and 77 degrees
Humidity: Fluctuates in New England from 30-80% is this a huge factor?
Water: Bottled spring water only. pH tested with electronic meter around 6.8 always.
Strains: Sour D, Bubblegum, Granddaddy Purp, and AK-47

Attached in the pictures are the current seedlings. Since the FF soil I'm using should have enough nutrients, do you think it's time to transplant into fresh soil thats why I'm seeing these deficiencies (maybe deficiencies)? Also, a friend of mine suggested clipping the leaves that are starting to yellow. I don't know if I should trust that, I've read you can do that further into veg but is it too early now?

Thanks to anybody that can help!
Click to expand...
Hello, welcome to RIU. Now I will let others try to diagnose your issues, I don't grow in soil. I would however pose an alternative, have you thought about switching to Coco? I started in Coco because it gave me the ability to pick and regulate every bit of nutrition going into the plants. Just a thought as what you are doing is not working for you. Anyway there are some really great people here that will be along to help you. Good luck.
 
S

Sicknam

Member
Kalebaiden said:
The pH is high and FFOF is only good nute free for x amount of time. You should be well within that time so pH seems like your past issue.

There's an amazing post on the forum that explains a start to finish how to with only FFOF.
Click to expand...
oooohh thank you, I'm going to try and find that post right now.
 
S

Sicknam

Member
Doug Dawson said:
Hello, welcome to RIU. Now I will let others try to diagnose your issues, I don't grow in soil. I would however pose an alternative, have you thought about switching to Coco? I started in Coco because it gave me the ability to pick and regulate every bit of nutrition going into the plants. Just a thought as what you are doing is not working for you. Anyway there are some really great people here that will be along to help you. Good luck.
Click to expand...
I want to try everything down the line as I grow but for now I'm focused on the simplest for beginners. When I make it into flower without killing my plants I'll try some new things lol
 
Kalebaiden

Kalebaiden

Well-Known Member
You'll get there. Let's get you through your learning grow first.

Is there any member on the site that you have checked out yet and thought "I want to do that!"?
 
Rooster91762

Rooster91762

Well-Known Member
Looks like they will snap out of it, it looks like it went through a Nitrogen def. that was quickly fixed, I think it's going to be fine.
 
S

Sicknam

Member
Kalebaiden said:
You'll get there. Let's get you through your learning grow first.

Is there any member on the site that you have checked out yet and thought "I want to do that!"?
Click to expand...
No sir, definitely want to look into mephisto strains have heard a lot about those. Right now I'm just tired of street weed and want to know exactly what I'm smoking, and save a ton of money $$$. You said the pH might be a little high.... 6.8 is high? I thought between 6 and 7 was good? Thanks man!
 
S

Sicknam

Member
Rooster91762 said:
Looks like they will snap out of it, it looks like it went through a Nitrogen def. that was quickly fixed, I think it's going to be fine.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the response, any reasons why this would happen and correct itself? The yellowing is fairly new only noticed the last 2 days and only on the bottom leaves. And would you recommend clipping the leaves off?
 
Kalebaiden

Kalebaiden

Well-Known Member
6.2 and 6.5 with 6.2 being ideal for FFOF.

Now what I meant was have you found someone on this site that you would like as a mentor. If you've been having problems 20+ tries then it might be a good idea to have someone you can leave messages for and get consistent advice to help you learn.

I can't be that person but I can recommend some amazing people (based on their grows, I don't know these bitches).
 
S

Sicknam

Member
Kalebaiden said:
6.2 and 6.5 with 6.2 being ideal for FFOF.

Now what I meant was have you found someone on this site that you would like as a mentor. If you've been having problems 20+ tries then it might be a good idea to have someone you can leave messages for and get consistent advice to help you learn.

I can't be that person but I can recommend some amazing people (based on their grows, I don't know these bitches).
Click to expand...
Ahhh, that sounds amazing. I do not have a mentor. I mean I contemplated making a post here for weeks and I finally did it. I'm amazed at how fast people have been responding to this thread already. The only thing I've been following is a dude named EndoGrows on youtube who does a whole beginners guide start to finish.

Thanks for the pH advice. On my first couple grows I was using city water that was around 9.2 pH, and I would use lime juice a couple drops at a time and measure it until it was acidic enough. For this time I just switched to bottled spring water, what would you recommend to bring the water pH from 6.8 to 6.2?
 
Kalebaiden

Kalebaiden

Well-Known Member
There you go Sick, if you have any questions contact Lime. You can send direct messages, leave a message on their profile or put an @ symbol before the name lime73 and tag them or you can keep using this thread for your posts and Lime will help you out.
 
Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
Sicknam said:
I want to try everything down the line as I grow but for now I'm focused on the simplest for beginners. When I make it into flower without killing my plants I'll try some new things lol
Click to expand...
That's the spirit, good to hear. It is a great hobby and you are more than capable. The fact that you are here trying to learn speaks volumes. I see there are a bunch of experienced folk here trying to help you along so I will just say good luck and stick with it. Before you know it you will have your skills dialed in and be helping someone else along.
 
Last edited:
ilovereggae

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
My $0.02

FFOF is popular because it was so easy for any of us to find anywhere for the last 25+ years. The fact that you could buy it with cash and maintain some stealth made it a no brainer.

However it is not really a great soil. It runs out of juice pretty quickly. I was always told 1 gal of FFOF will take you thru 4 weeks of veg. Maybe under HPS but under hungry QB leds I always need to top dress or add liquid nutes before then. Forget about flower, even amended with compost and ewc it always fell short. I feel like FFOF is actually a bad choice for a new grower because by design you need to depend on bottles to get you to harvest.

There are plenty of supersoils to choose from, but BuildASoil has established themselves as some of the best "artisanal" living organic soil out there. They ship to anywhere in US or Canada. They have multiple mixes including veganic options (which is how I found out about them). If you want a truly beginner friendly growing soil that you just have to water, and can be run multiple times just ammending with some ewc, imho that's the move. I even made up a batch of my own supersoil first and it worked great but when I factored in labor its cheaper to just buy it.
 
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