Hey everyone this is my first grow and I wanna have this bud ready by June 5th to smoke for DMB concert. I decided to order 5 female snow ryder seeds and wanted to ask for some pointers...
I will be using Miracle- Gro soil that has nutrients in them and says it feeds for 6 months I believe. I wanna know if I should add nutes and when? What kind? I currently have Miracle-Gro All Purpose and Bloom Booster.
Also whats a good pot size to keep the plant under two and a half feet? Vertical space is limited and that is why i chose autoflower.
Help is greatly appreciated!
MG soil is what I used for my current grow of Apollo11, which is not an AF strain. The stuff I bought was MG Organic, and I also bought MG peat moss and MG perlite to make a nice blend. I added some MG blood meal for vegging (which you wouldnt do) and when I transplanted them for flowering, I added 2 cups per 5gal of soil of bone meal. Everything was bought from walmart, bone meal was the only thing non MG.
So I would recommend using the MG soil but at least add some perlite to it. Buy non MG if you can, but any will be better than none, makes the soil much more airy. I noticed that the few pots I didnt have perlite for ended up having soil that was so hard it wouldnt soak up water hardly at all, which is BAD!!
As far as giving it more nutes, the bloom nutes at 1/2 strength should be fine but wait till week 3-4, or 1 week after they have shown sex. I just used the Schultz 10-15-10 on my AF diesel ryders, the bloom nutes should be better, just dont fry them by using too much.
8" pots max, or maybe a 1gal grow bag or 2-3 liter soda bottle. My largest was 20" from the soil in 2L soda bottles. Shortest was less than 12". Is 24" your total height or the amount of room for JUST the plant?
I have read a few things about curing and it has many benefits.... any info on this and is it neccesary and what does it entail?
Roznurub
So glad you came away with something from this thread Ron! I have learned a LOT since the day I started it and I know many others have too. The best way to overgrow is to spread new ideas & knowledge and I think everyone has done a FINE job that has contributed positively to this thread!
As far as curing goes, no it is not "necessary". HOWEVER, would you spend hours laboring over your tomatoes and then pick them right when they start to turn red? If you were starving then it may be necessary, but otherwise it is not. Typically you would wait till they are nice and plump, and have been red for a while so they taste much better. Same goes for curing bud. Sure you can pick it, dry it, smoke it and get nice and high. But if you cure it after drying it it will get you MORE stoned, for LONGER, and taste soooo much better. So in essence, you get more out of it and it lasts you longer.
Best way I have found to cure (there are many good ways) is to:
1) Hang the bud dry until the stems (not the main stalk) snap easily and dont bend under stress. The outside of the bud should feel a little crispy, but if you squeeze a bud there should be a slight softness to the middle. That's when they are good to start curing and usually takes 4-10 days after chopping.
2) Pack them into SEALED mason jars, as full as you can get them without forcing any bud down. Every day, around the same time, open the jars up and allow them to sit opened for an hour or 2. Close them back up, put em in a cool, dark room preferably, and repeat the next day. Do this until the "planty" smell goes away and the buds are no longer moist (usually takes another 4-10 days)
3) At this point, the real cure begins. Leave them closed up for up to 2 months. Check them every day for a while to make sure they are not molding. If so, open them up for a day. If they dont retain at least SOME moisture after a few days, drop a fruit peel or fresh pot leaf in with them for a day.
To an extend, the longer you leave them sealed up after drying, the better they get. Eventually the THC will actually start to degrade but most people smoke it well within that time frame. If you really want the true experience of smoking cured bud, you need to make it to step 3, then cure for 1 week MINIMUM before sampling. It is truly amazing how the taste and appearance changes, and the high lasting longer and being more noticable doesnt hurt either
Best of luck! Enjoy your harvest when it comes time, just dont rush it too much, thats the hardest part
KB