Markalister
Member
So it is my first time growing and I am starting off with Hash Plant from BC Bud Depot. Here is a primer for what's happened so far and then I'll have a slew of questions for the almighty wisemen (and women) of this forum.
PRIMER: Weeks 0, 1 and 2: I started with 15 seeds which were "cracked" in moistened paper towel and then planted in a off-the-shelf potting soil. Sprouted in 3 days while I was away for the weekend and came back to some leggy sprouts (read 3-4" with just cotyledons!). I moved them to my attic while I sorted out a proper growroom and equipment (lost one seedling during this time, down to 14). In the first 2 weeks they were under 24hrs of daylight (6400K) T8 fluorescents in a kind of shoplight tube structure with a fan on them (light at about 6"). The direct fan was to induce stronger stems since they were so leggy and keep fresh air supplied. Watered from a can every couple of days and cultivated soil surface.
During this time we had some serious heat issues and the plants were exposed to 85F-plus temps for many days, plus the direct fan. Leaves started getting blotchy and yellow with some interveinal leaf tissue puckering, plants looked kind of rough.
Weeks 3 and 4: I moved them into the bedroom with the light backed off to 3 feet, in air conditioning (73F) and repotted in 6" pots with 80/20 potting soil/top soil mixture. I figured the symptoms were a combination of wind burn and temperature. During repotting, noticed plants had nice clean white roots. During these two weeks, plants grew little but color returned and leaves stopped yellowing. Watered by soaking threw once per week.
Week 5: Moved plants to finished grow room. I was going to be gone for a week and didn't want the risk of someone tending to them so I took a risk and automated my entire grow room. Air conditioning was on a timer for 18hrs, the 6hrs it was off a window fan came on that exchanged the air in the room. A humidifier ran for the first few days as well. 4 T8 6400K fluorescents were on the same schedule as the air conditioner, roughly 6 inches from the plants. 2 fans were on air circulation duty 24hrs a day. I even CO2 doped the room with some dry ice (I'm a researcher by profession, have tons of the stuff at my disposal). Oh and I also put stones on the soil to minimize water loss/drying out.
Week 6: When I got back from my week away, my plants looked amazing! I walked in to roughly 3-4 inches of new growth on most plants, lots of new and healthy-looking green leaves. When I got back I had to do some monkeying around with the air conditioner and so the plants saw a day and half of unusually high temps (maybe hit 90F for 8-10 hours) and rehumidification. I am midway through this week and seeing some issues....so here are the big questions...
1) When I first got home most of the plants if not all of them had very rigid petiole and leaf positioning, almost perfectly perpendicular to the stem/truck. After the little bit of heat they saw some leaves drooped. I decided to water them and rinse out the soil with 3 total volume exchanges. A couple hours later the leaves had started drooping even more. The soil was not dry when I watered, still had lots of moisture. What is going on here?
2) I also noticed the once they were in regualr incandescent light, some of the leaves looked slightly less green/towards yellow, with some interveinal leaf tissue puckering. Back under the 6400K T8s, they look lush green. Additionally, the petioles, but not the stems have some purple spots on them, but I can't say that is new, i think it's been like that the whole time. My understanding is that that means Nitrogen deficiency but couldn't it also be the natural coloration of the plant? Don't some afghanis have naturally purple stems and petioles?
3) When should I start fertilizing and what NPK should I use? The plants are still in a 6" pot, with the 80/20 potting soil/top soil mixture, and roots have reached drainage holes. I haven't fertilized at all and the cotyledons are still attached (I've read you shouldn't fertilize until they fall).
4) Does anybody have any general advice for this particular variety (Hash Plant)?
Please lend a hand to a budding grower, I've grown quite attached to my "little buddies" (as my girlfriend refer's to them) and don't want to see them neglected or suffer due to my ignorance even if they all turn out to be male! haha!. Thanks ahead of time and if pictures would help I'd be happy to provide whatever you need to help me out.
Take care and thanks again!
Mark
PRIMER: Weeks 0, 1 and 2: I started with 15 seeds which were "cracked" in moistened paper towel and then planted in a off-the-shelf potting soil. Sprouted in 3 days while I was away for the weekend and came back to some leggy sprouts (read 3-4" with just cotyledons!). I moved them to my attic while I sorted out a proper growroom and equipment (lost one seedling during this time, down to 14). In the first 2 weeks they were under 24hrs of daylight (6400K) T8 fluorescents in a kind of shoplight tube structure with a fan on them (light at about 6"). The direct fan was to induce stronger stems since they were so leggy and keep fresh air supplied. Watered from a can every couple of days and cultivated soil surface.
During this time we had some serious heat issues and the plants were exposed to 85F-plus temps for many days, plus the direct fan. Leaves started getting blotchy and yellow with some interveinal leaf tissue puckering, plants looked kind of rough.
Weeks 3 and 4: I moved them into the bedroom with the light backed off to 3 feet, in air conditioning (73F) and repotted in 6" pots with 80/20 potting soil/top soil mixture. I figured the symptoms were a combination of wind burn and temperature. During repotting, noticed plants had nice clean white roots. During these two weeks, plants grew little but color returned and leaves stopped yellowing. Watered by soaking threw once per week.
Week 5: Moved plants to finished grow room. I was going to be gone for a week and didn't want the risk of someone tending to them so I took a risk and automated my entire grow room. Air conditioning was on a timer for 18hrs, the 6hrs it was off a window fan came on that exchanged the air in the room. A humidifier ran for the first few days as well. 4 T8 6400K fluorescents were on the same schedule as the air conditioner, roughly 6 inches from the plants. 2 fans were on air circulation duty 24hrs a day. I even CO2 doped the room with some dry ice (I'm a researcher by profession, have tons of the stuff at my disposal). Oh and I also put stones on the soil to minimize water loss/drying out.
Week 6: When I got back from my week away, my plants looked amazing! I walked in to roughly 3-4 inches of new growth on most plants, lots of new and healthy-looking green leaves. When I got back I had to do some monkeying around with the air conditioner and so the plants saw a day and half of unusually high temps (maybe hit 90F for 8-10 hours) and rehumidification. I am midway through this week and seeing some issues....so here are the big questions...
1) When I first got home most of the plants if not all of them had very rigid petiole and leaf positioning, almost perfectly perpendicular to the stem/truck. After the little bit of heat they saw some leaves drooped. I decided to water them and rinse out the soil with 3 total volume exchanges. A couple hours later the leaves had started drooping even more. The soil was not dry when I watered, still had lots of moisture. What is going on here?
2) I also noticed the once they were in regualr incandescent light, some of the leaves looked slightly less green/towards yellow, with some interveinal leaf tissue puckering. Back under the 6400K T8s, they look lush green. Additionally, the petioles, but not the stems have some purple spots on them, but I can't say that is new, i think it's been like that the whole time. My understanding is that that means Nitrogen deficiency but couldn't it also be the natural coloration of the plant? Don't some afghanis have naturally purple stems and petioles?
3) When should I start fertilizing and what NPK should I use? The plants are still in a 6" pot, with the 80/20 potting soil/top soil mixture, and roots have reached drainage holes. I haven't fertilized at all and the cotyledons are still attached (I've read you shouldn't fertilize until they fall).
4) Does anybody have any general advice for this particular variety (Hash Plant)?
Please lend a hand to a budding grower, I've grown quite attached to my "little buddies" (as my girlfriend refer's to them) and don't want to see them neglected or suffer due to my ignorance even if they all turn out to be male! haha!. Thanks ahead of time and if pictures would help I'd be happy to provide whatever you need to help me out.
Take care and thanks again!
Mark
.... gd luck....
