My medical grow in progress

[Mort Fink]

Okay I figured I'd post my medical grow since Im reading about and looking at everyone else's.

1. Plants started out under about 3.5 hours of direct sunlight and the rest of its 18 hours under a measly 13 watt 2700k CFL later changed to a 26watt CFL. It's funny but I think I vegged them great and got good results with this method. Yes that is 6 plants in one pot, don't worry about it. MG organic mixed with perlite, lime, and diatomaceous earth. The 6 plants in one are Tartukan, others various bagseeds.



2. As the plants were vegging I ordered a 400watt HPS and 4x 68watt actual 2700k CFLS. 71800 Total Lumens in about a 2x3 space. To me veg power doesn't matter extremely, you really need the light power to create the fat heads. Just as the lights came and I was setting everything up I got a bug problem. Thrips I believe little tiny soil flies. So I tried making a homemade pepper garlic mixed and nearly destroyed my plants with it. Im pretty sure I made it way to strong.



3. This was a downer, but i do think the spray at least stopped the thrips. I have since bought spinosad spray as well and used that. Also I sprinkled some diatomaceous earth on top of the soil. I love that stuff. I got a Ph meter so I could get my plants in the optimal zone 6.5-6.9 and nurse them back to full health. At the same time they were being introduced to the intense light that was a bit of a shock to them as well. Transplanted to a bigger pot and that really helped obvious since it's six plants in one container. I got them back to full health and they are standing tall and proud. I have also started a couple more sprouts and seem to be truckin' along quite well.




4. Here is my favorite new plant of the few news ones I started. It looks so strong, compact and healthy. Soil sprouted, HID the whole time.



Any questions or comments? Of course feel free to say and ask anything.

 

[Mort Fink]

Bueller... Bueller... Bueller...

 

[Mort Fink]

I think the thrips I thought I had are fungus gnats. Stupid little bitches go eat any of the millions of plants outside. Spionsad spray doesn't seem to work cuz they can hide out in the soil. DE is my best friend right now, Im laying a bunch of DE barriers on the soil so the little suckers can't in or out of the soil alive. I will prevail!

 

[Tyler D.]

I use to have fungus gnats quite often. Eventually found out it was the MG soil, it came with eggs in it. I also grew in MG soil for a while and always had problems, like your yellowing. I moved to coco and havn't looked back.

Anyway, how you kill them is by getting a bag of playground sand at any nursery or HD/Lowes and put a layer about 1/2 inch thick all over the top of the soil. They can't get out of the sand and die. The eggs laid buy the adults die in the sand. Cheap easy fix and you can water through it just fine. If you really want to expedite their death put a clear glass or clear plastic cup 3/4 full of apple (not regular) vinegar with vaseline/grease on the top 1/4 of cup (inside and out). They are attracted to the smell and will get stuck on or in the cup and die.
As for your grow, I'd say transplant that 6 planter into a larger container. I use trash cans from wally world. For six plants i'd go with at least an 8 gallon tub. Trash cans are nice because cannabis likes deep containers, not necessarily wide.
Good luck man, looks good so far. Just make sure you water them very frequently. With 6 plants they will dry that out in a day or so.

 

[Mort Fink]

I use to have fungus gnats quite often. Eventually found out it was the MG soil, it came with eggs in it. I also grew in MG soil for a while and always had problems, like your yellowing. I moved to coco and havn't looked back.

Anyway, how you kill them is by getting a bag of playground sand at any nursery or HD/Lowes and put a layer about 1/2 inch thick all over the top of the soil. They can't get out of the sand and die. The eggs laid buy the adults die in the sand. Cheap easy fix and you can water through it just fine. If you really want to expedite their death put a clear glass or clear plastic cup 3/4 full of apple (not regular) vinegar with vaseline/grease on the top 1/4 of cup (inside and out). They are attracted to the smell and will get stuck on or in the cup and die.
As for your grow, I'd say transplant that 6 planter into a larger container. I use trash cans from wally world. For six plants i'd go with at least an 8 gallon tub. Trash cans are nice because cannabis likes deep containers, not necessarily wide.
Good luck man, looks good so far. Just make sure you water them very frequently. With 6 plants they will dry that out in a day or so.

Thanks for popping my threads cherry. I actually just made a spinosad soak to water the soil with, should kill the larva. I put DE and perlite on the surface not sand, I got these scum bags. I'll be persistent. Im definitely gonna get a better soil mix next time, but I have seen them before I had any plants. Im not gonna do the six in one any more, but I was going for a topped bush look that just shot up fast with no topping.

 

[Tyler D.]

No prob. Idk what DE is but the main thing is that you cover the soil and it sounds like you did so they should be on their way out. Ya they are annoying!
I've heard good things abaout fox farms and I've seen recipes on here that should work really well and you don't even need fertilizer just water. But i've never done that so who knows.

I was going for a topped bush look

haha i'm pretty sure your going to get that.

 

[Mort Fink]

DE is diatomaceous earth, a white powder that kills bugs if kept dry.

 

[Mort Fink]

I have 3 confirmed females out of my pot of six. The others are still up in the air, but probably females cuz' males are supposed to show first. The first two that showed are females. Can I get an amen.

 

[Mort Fink]

Does anybody know If you use too much garden lime will it make my ph alkaline? I know it's supposed to buffer it to 6.5-7 if you put the right amount in. Lets say for instance I put double the amount in that it says will this then buffer the soil and keep it around 7.5-8. Bottom line my question is can you over do the lime resulting in a alkaline soil thats very hard to bring down the down in pH due to the lime bringing it back up?

 

[Tyler D.]

I believe lime isn't so much a buffer as it will just rise your pH. Basic soil is also bad. Do you have a pH meter?

 

[Tyler D.]

in other words yes you can add to much.

 

[Mort Fink]

in other words yes you can add to much.

I was told that hydrated lime it easy to overdue, but dolomite pretty much keeps it around 7. I guess I was misinformed. I think I added a bit much cuz I can't get my runoff to below like 7.3 no matter how much I flush. MG soil is usually too acidic so I must have added to much lime as it is staying alkaline. I don't think it's gonna be a major issue, on a lighter note all 6 plants from my pot of 6 are all females

 

[Tyler D.]

Very nice!! You can always add a teaspoon or so of vinegar to drop your pH.

 

[Mort Fink]

Darn it! I been dealing with fungus gnats, originally thought they we're thrips. Long story short after a few weeks I got pissed off and tried a spinosad soil soak for the larvae. I don't know if spinosad is safe for in the soil as the product I have is a foliage spray. To complicate matters even more I added a drop of dish soap per gallon to really kill em'. I've heard success stories, but should have trusted my gut. I tested a plant and nothing happend for a day or so, I then proceeded to water all my plants with it. Big mistake it took a couple days to act. The second day after I saw black spot appear on certain leaves on all my plants, the next day tips and edges we're black and rust colored and drooping, I flushed. Today they are less droopy, but still look pretty bad. Could have been the Spinosad, most likely was they dish soap with bleach alternative. Any advice? It was a dumb mistake I know so don't rag on me for that. I just figured Id tell about and post some pics to see if anyone wants to chime in or has anything relevant to add. Thankfully not all my plants look as bad as this one.

 

[Tyler D.]

That doesn't look good dude. One drop in a gallon doesn't sound to horribly terrible but then again it is soap.. If you just watered with that stuff and you flushed them well, (draining at least twice the amount the pot can hold) they should pull out but they''ll have scars. Are you using any nutes on them? If so right after the soil starts to dry is the best time to feed. You just rinsed out all the nutes and they'll still need to eat. If your still having fungus nats fill that pot to the top with sand and you wont anymore. I like sand because A. it works and B. no risk from chemicals.

 

[Mort Fink]

No nutes I don't think they need them yet, my soil has nutes in it. They've bounced back and are growing new healthy shoots, but yeah some leaves look ugly. Lesson learned. Dish soap might worked, but I used the wrong kind, it had a oxy bleach alternative and was concentrate. Doh.