First grow, help is appreciated

[wyteboi]

this might cause a huge argument but I have never smoked dro that ever tasted as good as some dirt grows. It might just be the mostly organic food that most soil growers use or just the dirt itself. i really aint sure but i have read enough to see that 13 of 20 high times cups were won with dirt. (them boys in humboldt win the cup (or multiple cups) every single year)
my opinion is that most of the good shit is grown by dro , but the dirt guys that really know their shit will puke on a dro joint.
like i said before dirt is hard to master. With all this organic "hype" goin around the game will be mostly dirt soon (just until they see how hard it is then they will be right back in water)

 

[hempstead]

What makes dirt so hard? Most of the stuff I have read says dirt is easier than hydro and more forgiving for beginners. My dirt grow is so simple. I talk to it and check for preflowers every day. Other than that I water or feed it less than once a week and the thing is looking nicer and sturdier than my ag grow. I am using fox farm ocean forest. Is the ffof making it so easy?

 

[wyteboi]

Is the ffof making it so easy?

YES! that is the way to go for beginners! (or anyone)
it has all the NECESSARY things like castings, compost , food, ect....

basically once you get the grasp of dro then it is very hard to fuck up. (just make sure you watch things and replace/keep parts clean.)
With dirt you will never know exactly what is in it as far as NPK ect.... so u just have to keep trying new things until u have your strain mastered.

wb

 

[wyteboi]

I have been doin this for over 10 years now, and just now seein shit like this.
View attachment 681418

 

["SICC"]

Its a big difference from going to soil from hydro

 

[hempstead]

Do they have a nitrogen deficiency or something? The Ocean forest is nice. Wouldn't it just be easier for you to use it?

 

[wyteboi]

Do they have a nitrogen deficiency or something? The Ocean forest is nice. Wouldn't it just be easier for you to use it?

ALOT more then just N deficiency .........i think
this is a very long story............
but to sum it all up, for all but the last couple years i was using whatever potting "mix" that the local nursery had, they were all very similar to MG potting mix (used that too) they all had nute balls in um.
with that mix i would add some perlite to fluff it up some, and most of the time i added a pinch of blood meal and bone meal. mostly just used the meal because i did not think that the nute balls lasted very long. ok so all was fine and healthy through several gros but since i didnt know exactly what i was feeding them , i felt they could be "pumped up" so first i got some rainbow mix (blood/bone meal bat shit , kelp and other goodies, in powder form) and that seemed to do real good but again i did not know exactly what NPK i was putting in so i wanted to use a liquid organic food (with ingredients like rainbow mix had), that way i could regulate things more and know exactly what was goin in and maybe pump them up............ well that has led to a mess and i have no idea why, when there is no difference from liquid poop and powder poop so i got on the net and started researching BIGTIME , first thing i read was to get rid of the MG potting mix so i did, and within a month they were perfect and ready to flower. (from MG to promix) so i thought the promix was the shit and i kept going and then the lockout shit started again not too long after they got healthy.................................so..........i tried every fuckin thing , now i am on this "mycorrizia trip" thinkin that my promix dont have enough microbes in it (Research "beneficial bacteria for plants" its very important to know about)
and since i am SO obsessed with fixing my problem and learning more is why i dont just go back to MG mix and powder.
i will probably just mix worm castings and/or compost to my promix and i should be fine. I just dont wanna lug a bunch of little bags of FFOF out of the hydro store.

geez that was still long for makin it short


wb

 

[hempstead]

ALOT more then just N deficiency .........i think
this is a very long story............
but to sum it all up, for all but the last couple years i was using whatever potting "mix" that the local nursery had, they were all very similar to MG potting mix (used that too) they all had nute balls in um.
with that mix i would add some perlite to fluff it up some, and most of the time i added a pinch of blood meal and bone meal. mostly just used the meal because i did not think that the nute balls lasted very long. ok so all was fine and healthy through several gros but since i didnt know exactly what i was feeding them , i felt they could be "pumped up" so first i got some rainbow mix (blood/bone meal bat shit , kelp and other goodies, in powder form) and that seemed to do real good but again i did not know exactly what NPK i was putting in so i wanted to use a liquid organic food (with ingredients like rainbow mix had), that way i could regulate things more and know exactly what was goin in and maybe pump them up............ well that has led to a mess and i have no idea why, when there is no difference from liquid poop and powder poop so i got on the net and started researching BIGTIME , first thing i read was to get rid of the MG potting mix so i did, and within a month they were perfect and ready to flower. (from MG to promix) so i thought the promix was the shit and i kept going and then the lockout shit started again not too long after they got healthy.................................so..........i tried every fuckin thing , now i am on this "mycorrizia trip" thinkin that my promix dont have enough microbes in it (Research "beneficial bacteria for plants" its very important to know about)
and since i am SO obsessed with fixing my problem and learning more is why i dont just go back to MG mix and powder.
i will probably just mix worm castings and/or compost to my promix and i should be fine. I just dont wanna lug a bunch of little bags of FFOF out of the hydro store.

geez that was still long for makin it short


wb

Huh..... Stoned heh I will try to take that in tomorrow. I have been busy all day. My setup is done. Well 90% because I am using the wrong color light. Dude said the hps bulb will be here by Saturday. If it is here buy Monday or Tuesday I will still be happy. I will drop the light a little tomorrow. I read 18-30 inches at first soooo.

Setup is a 4'wx2'dx5'h tent with a Phresh Filter 4x12 and a Hydrofarm 4" fan. I have no intake fans but there are a couple screened openings and I opened 1. There is a nice vacuum with that blower. And no smell even when the lab is open. But if i shut off the filter the room smells and my garage does. heh Here are some pics.

All advice welcome on the setup. I wasn't sure about which way to face the light but that works and the reflector is huge. With the light on it stayed at about 77 today but it will be 80s this weekend. I will watch the temps. The room it is in has central air so should be ok.

 

[wyteboi]

looks great!
that AG is just growin alot faster then dirt, i know the dirt is behind a lil but still. same strain right?

 

[hempstead]

Same strain but people say there are different phenotypes of the strain. The ag definitely grows faster.

 

[hempstead]

Also the AG has been 12/12 from seed while the soil was 18/6(12/12 as of yesterday). And the ag was surrounded by light and the soil has never had more than 2 cfls 2-3 inches above it. Maybe a couple weeks under the same light and schedule they look the same.

 

[wyteboi]

Same strain but people say there are different phenotypes of the strain. The ag definitely grows faster.

yes that is very true, the Ice i got from nirvana was very unstable. 1 was purple , 1 was frosty, 1 was big , 1 was little....ect...

your babies look great!


wb

 

[hempstead]

They're loving the new light today. HPS should be here tomorrow. Mike from insidesun.com is pretty good when it comes to service. I highly recommend insidesun.com or their ebay store.

 

[hempstead]

Changed up the res and cleaned it inside and out. I am at 66% on the nutes. I don't wanna burn her. pH was perfect and ppm is about 900. Is 900 too high right now? Well I am sure she will tell me tomorrow heh. My girl is growing nice. She topped 12 inches today and her branches are growing out from the canopy. It is pretty cool watching her grow up to be a sexy sinsemilia. I got one of her lower fan leaves today on some duct tape. It ripped part off. I am wondering whether to leave it or take the whole leaf off. Soil is pretty dry but i will wait til tomorrow and give it straight water.

 

[hempstead]

Ok I was a little bored today so I am germing a Nirvana Northern Lights seed in some soil as we speak. I have the room so I figured why not. Northern Lights is supposed to grow nice at 12/12 from seed. I soaked the seed and then planted it in it's permanent pot and it is sitting under a cfl now to keep it warm. Once there is a sprout it will go 12/12. And when these 3 are done I will do Wonder Woman and Blue Mystic in soil, and Lowryder in the AG. I will do 18/6 til the Lowryder is done and then 12/12 for the WW and BM.

 

[hempstead]

Hmmm maybe she has a little nute burn. If it keeps getting worse I will flush for a day with water. But they may be ok because she exploded overnight. The soil grow is acting funny too. It started rolling last night before lights out. A few fan leaves up top were rolling under parallel to the center of the leaf. I watered it before lights out and it is a little droopy today. I hope it peps up by the end of the day.

 

[wyteboi]

Hmmm maybe she has a little nute burn. If it keeps getting worse I will flush for a day with water. But they may be ok because she exploded overnight. The soil grow is acting funny too. It started rolling last night before lights out. A few fan leaves up top were rolling under parallel to the center of the leaf. I watered it before lights out and it is a little droopy today. I hope it peps up by the end of the day.

any pics?
i do not think 900ppm is too high right now.
how much of that 900 is tap water and how much is nutes?
if it exploded overnight , then thats very good. the dirt one it would help to see it, so i can see what kind of "rolling" u got goin.
do u feed the dirt every watering?

 

[wyteboi]

what are u feeding them girls? npk? i cant find it anywhere in the thread.

 

[hempstead]

I am going by this recipe: http://www.technaflora.com/sharedfiles/USA3RFS2008.pdf but only at 2/3 now. If they don't handle it well then I will flush for a day or 2 and then go back to 50%. I heard short rider is kind of sensitive to nutes so I have been going light on them.

 

[hempstead]

any pics?
i do not think 900ppm is too high right now.
how much of that 900 is tap water and how much is nutes?
if it exploded overnight , then thats very good. the dirt one it would help to see it, so i can see what kind of "rolling" u got goin.
do u feed the dirt every watering?

I have only fed the dirt once and it was less than half strength. I definitely over watered it.
I dug down about 4 inches and it is wet like mud. I guess I will have to let it dry out and hope for the best.