CptTripps' first grow journal.

CptTripps said:

I'll check it tomorrow. I've been going mad researching this all day. I can't figure it out, and the thread I made isn't getting any replies. I can't stick my head in the tent right now to see if it's getting worse. Tomorrow morning is the earliest I can check.

If the PH of the medium is too high, what do I do? PH the water even lower? I've been using 6.2-6.5 throughout the entire life of this plant. Go into the 5's?

I'm confused...that's for sure.

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Hello there my friend , just noticed you had a grow going right in your sig ! I haven't read every single post but have an idea of what might be going on in your grow. Mind if i ask , how does your feeding schedule look like ?

I noticed you may have a problem with a certain deficiency , and since neither the light height , nor the mag , nor the PH might be the problem , i can only think of one thing : nutrient lockout . Always keep in mind that the plant never absorbs all nutrients equally, and thats why you should always give nutes once every 3 waterings, for example : nutes ---> pure ph'd water ---> pure ph'd water ---> nutes .... (this is what my cycle looks like usually).

It wont matter anyways since your plant is almost done (just saw your microscope pics). Don't forget to flush though before you chop

Edit : Just wanted to add that its completely natural for the leafs to turn yellow in flowering and specially towards the end of their season since they're using all possible nutrients available to give that last push before they die (they knew the end was coming since the day the flowering process started). On the other hand , the paragraph i wrote above might explain the brown spots visible on the yellowing part of the leaves though

CptTripps said:

I'll check it tomorrow. I've been going mad researching this all day. I can't figure it out, and the thread I made isn't getting any replies. I can't stick my head in the tent right now to see if it's getting worse. Tomorrow morning is the earliest I can check.

If the PH of the medium is too high, what do I do? PH the water even lower? I've been using 6.2-6.5 throughout the entire life of this plant. Go into the 5's?

I'm confused...that's for sure.

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From my research, if the medium had a PH of 5 then I would water with a PH of 7.0. You really have to take a descent swing at it to correct the PH and you might have to do it more than once.

This isn't the best way to check the ph of the medium. Buying a $200 ph soil probe would help...I don't own one, but others like them.

Eliehabib said:

Always keep in mind that the plant never absorbs all nutrients equally, and thats why you should always give nutes once every 3 waterings, for example : nutes ---> pure ph'd water ---> pure ph'd water ---> nutes .... (this is what my cycle looks like usually).

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Holy shit...I think this may be my issue. I've been adding nutrients to every watering. I was just going off of what the guy at the hydroponics store told me to do. I may have been over-feeding this whole time.

Teag said:

This isn't the best way to check the ph of the medium. Buying a $200 ph soil probe would help...I don't own one, but others like them.

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I'm honestly thinking this may be my next purchase. I just used my cheap-o PH soil tester, and it came up with 7.5. This may be part of my issue, so I think it's time to invest in a decent PH meter.

Appreciate the help @Teag and @Eliehabib

Got a few more seeds planted this morning, in my effort to get a perpetual grow going. Admittedly, I may have gone overboard, as I germinated too many seeds I think. I'll have 8 in some stage of Veg here shortly, so I'll need to dial it back a bit at some point. All these damn freebie seeds make it so tempting to just throw a few more in the tent!

Not been getting the notifications for your thread but YAY, another white widow that's growing.

Renfro is in your other thread. Ask him everything and he has a lot of knowledge.

CptTripps said:

Holy shit...I think this may be my issue. I've been adding nutrients to every watering. I was just going off of what the guy at the hydroponics store told me to do. I may have been over-feeding this whole time.

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There are different watering methods for sure. But watering every time with nutrients is best because it keeps a consistent PPM in the medium. Without a PPM/EC meter, its going to be difficult to figure out what is best though. People have great success watering once with nutes and once with water everyday

If you want to do more reading this site has everything.
https://www.cocoforcannabis.com/watering_coco/

I also wouldn't buy a PH meter just yet. And its tough to tell if the cheap meter is actually giving a good reading.

Poobzilla said:

Not been getting the notifications for your thread but YAY, another white widow that's growing.

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This is what I have in the tent right now:

3 Diesel
3 Bruce Banner
2 White Widow
2 Blueberry

All in various stages of growth. I'll be adding Zkittles and Red Russian in about 14d.

Teag said:

I also wouldn't buy a PH meter just yet. And its tough to tell if the cheap meter is actually giving a good reading.

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I love me a good gadget. Already ordered...

CptTripps said:

This is what I have in the tent right now:

3 Diesel
3 Bruce Banner
2 White Widow
2 Blueberry

All in various stages of growth. I'll be adding Zkittles and Red Russian in about 14d.



I love me a good gadget. Already ordered...

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My next grow I have already decided I am going with dinafem as they have both white widow and blue widow (widow x blueberry). Can you tell I love the widow genetics

Teag said:

If you want to do more reading this site has everything.
https://www.cocoforcannabis.com/watering_coco/

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Just read through that whole page. Lots of great info. Thank you!

I guess I'm not watering enough then. I was only doing it when the pots got light. I'm going to try nutes every other feeding on the big girls for a bit and see if that fixes the issue I'm having. In the end, it all could be nothing. I am learning what to look out for though, and what the effects will be, so this is all valuable.

Problem solved then ! Never feed on every watering since it is completely impossible to know how nutes get absorbed precisely ... Ive always used that same cycle (nutes , water , water , nutes) , either indoor or outdoor and trust me , i always got maximum yields using that exact protocol . You can at least try feeding once every 2 waterings (nutes , water , nutes) if you're worried that plants might become thirsty or if you ever see some deficiencies.

Regarding the subject about watering enough , here's a good example of how to properly water (i've also always used that protocol with success) :

• Soil – Water plants when the soil feels dry up to your first knuckle (or if the pot feels light).
• Coco Coir – Aim to water plants every 1-2 days. If coco is staying wet for 3+ days, try giving less water at a time until plants get bigger and start drinking more. Don’t wait for your coco coir to dry out, but don’t water if the top inch feels “wet”. If the container feels light, it’s definitely time to water!

Good luck brother

Just read the whole thread. Had a laugh at how long that KingLed lasted. Whatever you do don’t harvest early!

Eliehabib said:

Problem solved then ! Never feed on every watering since it is completely impossible to know how nutes get absorbed precisely

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Yeah, I just ducked back into the tent and checked the water level after reading that article that @Teag recommended. Gave them all a topping-off of straight PH'd water. I'll re-assess daily from here on out, and dial back nutes for a few days to see how that goes.

Brettman said:

Had a laugh at how long that KingLed lasted

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Literally 72h. 24h of that was waiting for Amazon to deliver the replacement! As soon as I turned it on I knew it wasn't going to last all that long. I typically buy the wrong stuff initially when I'm starting a new hobby. This one was no different. The good news is that I can always return on Amazon so I can learn quickly and adapt.

According to the marijuana bible that's a potassium deficiency. Yellowing with brown spots. However I have also read in my research that yellowing of the leaves in the later stage of flowering is because the plant is focusing all its energy on making buds so the leaves get what's left over which can be nothing sometimes. Read multiple times what's happening to your plant is quite common. Hope this was helpful, not talking from experience but what hours of reading has stuck in my mind lol.

Bogey8897 said:

According to the marijuana bible that's a potassium deficiency. Yellowing with brown spots. However I have also read in my research that yellowing of the leaves in the later stage of flowering is because the plant is focusing all its energy on making buds so the leaves get what's left over which can be nothing sometimes. Read multiple times what's happening to your plant is quite common. Hope this was helpful, not talking from experience but what hours of reading has stuck in my mind lol.

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Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. Potassium deficiency: Yes. Was I doing something wrong: No. All my other plants are on the same feeding schedule, and they're all doing fantastic. Thanks for the reply! I'm a newbie at this too, but I've been reading non-stop for about 3 months now as I've been going through this.

Not too big of an update, as I've been concentrating most of my time to my grow-room and getting it set up and cleaned while I'm on quarantine. (Link in my sig)

10 plants in the tent at this point, and I've only got room for 2 more that I'll start in a few weeks when some seeds arrive. All 10 are doing something right. Seedlings are sprouted and happy. Veg plants are vegging out. Flower girls are packing on weight. At this point, I'm just watering and feeding and making sure everyone is having a good time.

CptTripps said:

Not too big of an update, as I've been concentrating most of my time to my grow-room and getting it set up and cleaned while I'm on quarantine. (Link in my sig)

10 plants in the tent at this point, and I've only got room for 2 more that I'll start in a few weeks when some seeds arrive. All 10 are doing something right. Seedlings are sprouted and happy. Veg plants are vegging out. Flower girls are packing on weight. At this point, I'm just watering and feeding and making sure everyone is having a good time.

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Looking nice!

Everything related to marijuana from smoking to growing has seen a huge increase in sales i'm sure.

My second flower tent will be here in a couple weeks, and my rosin press won't be far behind

Mar 31 - Day #68 from napkin.

Diesel ladies are doing really well. A couple of the branches bent over from the weight of the buds, so I need to get in there and figure something out for that. I see a lot of guys "super cropping" basically doing the same thing on purpose, so I'm not going to worry too much about it. They're still fine 3d later. Here are some pics of the plants, and the trics.




They're starting to get really milky. Another week or two I think? Maybe three? Who knows. I'm just keeping an eye on them every Monday.

Bruce Banners aren't even in flower yet, and they're already taller than the diesels by 3-4". I expect they'll start throwing pistols any day now. They look a lot like the Diesels did at this stage, and are stretching like hell.



I've got Diesel #3 and Bruce Banner #3 right behind. Did some serious trimming on them 2 days ago, as some of the fan leaves were bigger than my hands, and blocking everything below. Above is what they look like today, and this is what they looked like after I gave them a haircut 2d ago. these suckers really needed it I guess.



I am experimenting with defoliation on autos. I have 2 BB and 2 Diesel that I've been feeding the same way. I'm defoling one heavily and one only a little bit. I'm going to see the yields of each plant on each strain to see how I want to do things in the future. From the looks of things, the serious defoliating is going to outweigh the plants that I did little with. I can tell from the bud growth on the Diesels. The "gimp" plant that I gave a serious haircut just before flower to, looks much fuller and heavier. It's all an experiment, so we'll just have to see.

I'm also experimenting with nutrients. I've got 2 White Widow and 2 Blueberry as seedlings right now. Giving one of each the Chicken Soup for the Soil, and the other ones the GH 3-step nutes. We'll see who the winner is there as well. So far, the Chicken Soup plants seem to be about 2-3 days ahead of the GH plants. It'll be interesting to see how this continues in time. I also added Co2 bags to each end of the tent. My temps have been running a little hot since I upgraded the one TSW2000 to a TSW3000. I've read that Co2 will help, although it'll be 2-3 weeks before I see the benefits, according to the bag. I'm working on a way to cool the lights a little bit too. More on that in my Setup thread later this week.



Anyway...that's my update for the week.

CptTripps said:

Mar 31 - Day #68 from napkin.

Diesel ladies are doing really well. A couple of the branches bent over from the weight of the buds, so I need to get in there and figure something out for that. I see a lot of guys "super cropping" basically doing the same thing on purpose, so I'm not going to worry too much about it. They're still fine 3d later. Here are some pics of the plants, and the trics.

View attachment 4519012
View attachment 4519013

I'm working on a way to cool the lights a little bit too. More on that in my Setup thread later this week.


Anyway...that's my update for the week.

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You're almost done with the flowering ladies ! Careful not to keep them in bloom for too long or else you'll get more of a "couch lock" effect from the buds. You'll want to harvest as soon as the trichomes start to become amber , when you have an approximate number of 80% milky crystals and 20% amber colored ones. I feel this is the sweet spot for me.

I once experimented with the harvesting time and chopped a Jack Herer plant (60% indica - 40% sativa) a little too soon when i had around 70-80% milky crystals and 20-30% transparent ones and boy i can tell you that sh*t made you really paranoid and i mean it ... anyone who smoked it felt the same thing.

I think you're still good to go for another week or week and a half (maybe 2 at most). Keep a very close eye on them.

Regarding the TSW2000 , here's a pic of what i did to mine to keep temps to a minimum. Seems to be working great. Its a 22W pc fan blowing air straight onto the boards ! 24/7

Eliehabib said:

You're almost done with the flowering ladies ! Careful not to keep them in bloom for too long or else you'll get more of a "couch lock" effect from the buds. You'll want to harvest as soon as the trichomes start to become amber , when you have an approximate number of 80% milky crystals and 20% amber colored ones. I feel this is the sweet spot for me.

I once experimented with the harvesting time and chopped a Jack Herer plant (60% indica - 40% sativa) a little too soon when i had around 70-80% milky crystals and 20-30% transparent ones and boy i can tell you that sh*t made you really paranoid and i mean it ... anyone who smoked it felt the same thing.

I think you're still good to go for another week or week and a half (maybe 2 at most). Keep a very close eye on them.

Regarding the TSW2000 , here's a pic of what i did to mine to keep temps to a minimum. Seems to be working great. Its a 22W pc fan blowing air straight onto the boards ! 24/7

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He is growing for someone else and is for medical purposes so I don't think he wants to chop when it only has 20% amber. To get a better mix and for a higher CBD product it should be harvested at around 50/50 cloudy/amber or higher but then you run the risk of deterioration and bud getting less potent. I reckon he has done his research if earlier posts are anything to go by, and will know exactly what his lady needs from the medication.

Poobzilla said:

He is growing for someone else and is for medical purposes so I don't think he wants to chop when it only has 20% amber. To get a better mix and for a higher CBD product it should be harvested at around 50/50 cloudy/amber or higher but then you run the risk of deterioration and bud getting less potent. I reckon he has done his research if earlier posts are anything to go by, and will know exactly what his lady needs from the medication.

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There was a discussion at the Autoflower Network with Mark from Dinafem and what they've found is that all cloudy is the best time to harvest for the highest percentages of CBD.

Just Be said:

There was a discussion at the Autoflower Network with Mark from Dinafem and what they've found is that all cloudy is the best time to harvest for the highest percentages of CBD.

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So, looking at my tric pics, would you say I'm at 100% cloudy? That's kinda what I'm thinking right now looking at those pics.

It's true, I'm doing this for medical purposes. Although, she never minds getting high too! I was planning on taking a look next Monday, and if it looked right, chopping next Wednesday. My Bruce Banner plants are starting to come into flower, and I'll have new seeds this week, so If I can move the Diesels out of the tent, I'll have room for 2 more.

I'm also experimenting with defoliation. I did a pretty serious defoliating on one of the Diesels, and left the other alone. I'm doing the same thing on the BB plants. Seeing what the yields do in both scenarios. Whatever works best for me is what I'll do with the rest of my plants.

Then, I have another thread going about nutes. I'm doing an experiment with the two White Widow and two Blueberry plants to test out two different nute schedules. Testing Chicken Soup for the Soil against the GH Flora trio. CSFTS is definitely easier and organic, but are the results better/worse than the GH trio? I'll have data!