My first grow

warisnottheanswer

Well-Known Member
oh and beasties and chi ching are the shit and well worth it open sesame is a waste to me but back to what dodge asked "whats your ph jerry?"
 

Babs34

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I certainly don't want to burn them, but wide girl needs something different.

I looked at the Open Sesame and Beastie Bloomz but you only use them for 2 weeks...seems like a waste for $30 each. At least the Cha Ching is used for 4 weeks, and its got a good amount of N to maybe stailize the yellowing.

If this most recent attempt doesn't cure wide girl of her problem, I don't know what will. It took about 3 days for the bottom fan leaves to totally dessicate and die, so in about a week I should have no fan leaves left if I don't fix this...fuck:cry:

And then what happens? Will it start attacking the flowers? If so I'd have to chop her a few weeks early.

Ugh.
Hey Jerry, I'm falling asleep here, but just wanted to stop by and check out your thread.
I don't know what your most recent attempt was to rectify the yellowing leaves.....but here's my opinion.
I view fertilizing weed in all its various stages like exercise.....yeah, I'm REALLY tired, LOL.
When you run, you gradually build up to the 7-8 mph(I'm not tall, so that isn't exactly slow for me)...this varies for individuals, as well as plants. Some begin with the brisk walk, while others jump straight to the jog, simply because walking is like being asleep to them......ok, I'm really tired, so I hope that made "some" sense.
I'll be honest with you. I rarely if ever follow anything "by the book." It's all about intuition for me. I've taken on plants proclaimed as dead and made them show plants......and never researched the "whys and hows" to make it happen.
I'm not actually "seeing" your plant and touching it to give you any solid advice. The yellowing leaves could be indicative of oh so many deficincies, and/or over/under watering. Try not to over analyze it.
Back to my "exercise analogy"...
While getting your heart pumping at an adequate rate to burn calories efficiently, etc....it is also just as important to bring that heart rate back down--and not so abruptly at that.
As I said the gradual build up is of the essence in my opinion, just as the few weeks before harvest are.
You are using some fairly strong nutrients. For approximately a week, I would suggest using something like seaweed/fish emulsion, and oh maybe a "bit" of molassas.
Sorry, I don't measure ANYTHING..
I didn't know Beasties was "by the book" only supposed to be used for two weeks. I used it for more like 4 weeks with good results. But bear in mind, I didn't measure it.
In some cases, less is more.
These damn nutrients in hydro stores are ridiculously priced in my opinion, but I'm not going to lie......I want to try them all.
My guess is that if you continue on the same regime, your leaves will yellow all the way straight up that plant, and that yes...your harvest time will be dictated much earlier than you would prefer.
Go with something light, like the fish emulsion, for a bit and see what effects it has on the plant. I assure you it won't hinder its growth in a negative way. The seaweed and fish emulsion, along with molassas, will adequately provide your babies with the required nutrients....and who knows?.......maybe even slow down those yellowing leaves climbing up that stalk.
:peace:
 

Marcus66

Active Member
Excellent journal. I appreciate it, as I'm on my first grow and my girls seem to be about the same age as yours (kind of funny how it sounds like we're talking about our children.), or at least going through the same stage of development. I just found your journal and feel much better now that I've read through it. Your children look great; I hope your sick child gets better, and I wish you the absolute best of luck, and now will be following as closely as I can. If you don't mind me asking, what camera are you using to take the pictures? I should be getting my Canon XS in the mail soon and can take good pictures of my plants now, something I couldn't wait to do. Thanks again for the stellar journal.
 

Jerry Garcia

Well-Known Member
Whats your runoff ph jerry?
I pH'd my nutrient solution to 6.6 going in, and the runoff registered 6.8. Both right where they should be (I think).


Hey Jerry, I'm falling asleep here, but just wanted to stop by and check out your thread.

I don't know what your most recent attempt was to rectify the yellowing leaves.....but here's my opinion.
I view fertilizing weed in all its various stages like exercise.....yeah, I'm REALLY tired, LOL.
When you run, you gradually build up to the 7-8 mph(I'm not tall, so that isn't exactly slow for me)...this varies for individuals, as well as plants. Some begin with the brisk walk, while others jump straight to the jog, simply because walking is like being asleep to them......ok, I'm really tired, so I hope that made "some" sense.
I'll be honest with you. I rarely if ever follow anything "by the book." It's all about intuition for me. I've taken on plants proclaimed as dead and made them show plants......and never researched the "whys and hows" to make it happen.
I'm not actually "seeing" your plant and touching it to give you any solid advice. The yellowing leaves could be indicative of oh so many deficincies, and/or over/under watering. Try not to over analyze it.
Back to my "exercise analogy"...
While getting your heart pumping at an adequate rate to burn calories efficiently, etc....it is also just as important to bring that heart rate back down--and not so abruptly at that.
As I said the gradual build up is of the essence in my opinion, just as the few weeks before harvest are.
You are using some fairly strong nutrients. For approximately a week, I would suggest using something like seaweed/fish emulsion, and oh maybe a "bit" of molassas.
Sorry, I don't measure ANYTHING..
I didn't know Beasties was "by the book" only supposed to be used for two weeks. I used it for more like 4 weeks with good results. But bear in mind, I didn't measure it.
In some cases, less is more.
These damn nutrients in hydro stores are ridiculously priced in my opinion, but I'm not going to lie......I want to try them all.
My guess is that if you continue on the same regime, your leaves will yellow all the way straight up that plant, and that yes...your harvest time will be dictated much earlier than you would prefer.
Go with something light, like the fish emulsion, for a bit and see what effects it has on the plant. I assure you it won't hinder its growth in a negative way. The seaweed and fish emulsion, along with molassas, will adequately provide your babies with the required nutrients....and who knows?.......maybe even slow down those yellowing leaves climbing up that stalk.
:peace:
Thanks for the advice babs...my real concern is that the other plants don't appear to be showing any negative impact from the nutrients, just the wide girl. Having said that, they could probably use a short break from the nutrient-filled diet I have them on. I'll give them another water only feeding in a couple days (just fed with Big Bloom, Tiger Bloom, Cha Ching and molasses) and then go from there. You're exercise analogy is priceless!

Excellent journal. I appreciate it, as I'm on my first grow and my girls seem to be about the same age as yours (kind of funny how it sounds like we're talking about our children.), or at least going through the same stage of development. I just found your journal and feel much better now that I've read through it. Your children look great; I hope your sick child gets better, and I wish you the absolute best of luck, and now will be following as closely as I can. If you don't mind me asking, what camera are you using to take the pictures? I should be getting my Canon XS in the mail soon and can take good pictures of my plants now, something I couldn't wait to do. Thanks again for the stellar journal.
Thanks for stopping by Marcus. I'm using a Nikon Coolpix 10megapixel. Nothing too special, but it does pretty good.

I love hearing that my journal actually helped someone! Good luck with your grow, and post some pics when you get your camera!

oh and beasties and chi ching are the shit and well worth it open sesame is a waste to me but back to what dodge asked "whats your ph jerry?"
Yeah, that's what I thought about the open sesame. And the beastie blooms is probably fine, but I figured to just go with the Cha Ching for now.

Brief Update:
Got my portable a/c yesterday. Thing is freaking huge. Kept the temps around 81 all night though, so I'll take it!

While feeding yesterday, I noticed a rather unsettling situation--ANTS in the PLANTS! Seems the little red fire ants (I think...they could have been black) had been living in the soil of tall girl, and when I watered they all came to the surface in a hurry! I killed as many as I could as they came up, but undoubtedly there are still some there. I read that cinnamon is a good deterrent, so I poured a layer of it over the top of the soil. I also noticed a couple gnats flying around, so I think I'll get some sand and cover the top 2" of the pot to keep them out.

Any other suggestions for the ants? I've got the little baits all over (in the grow space, under the grow space, near the grow space, outside the grow space...I even put one directly on top of the soil of tall girl after I applied the cinnamon) but I don't think they care for it when they've got perfectly good soil to live in. My space is clean, but I think they can get in rather easily from the outside. They could only have been there for a day or two since my last watering, but already there was a good number of them.

Also, I removed the yellowing leaves from wide girl. Some of them just fell off with the slightest touch, some required a little more force. I think it stressed the plant a little, as she was the slightest bit droopy this morning before the lights went out (which is unlike her). No pics yet...have to wait until tonight...I've been working on papers and presentations and trying to finish this semester...only one more week!:leaf:
 

mared juwan

Well-Known Member
yo Jerry, if your leaves fall off with a gentle tug then they were about to fall off anyway. The nutes you are using are reputable and should be working. Perhaps there is something else going on. It looks like your run of the mill deficiency from undernute but if your ph is right and you are nuting at label strength it should not be getting worse like that. Maybe the ants are attacking your roots or something. Do whatever you can to get rid of them. I've never had ants but have battled fungus gnats plenty. I know plenty of tricks to kill those suckers if you need them. The sand should help.
 

Jerry Garcia

Well-Known Member
yo Jerry, if your leaves fall off with a gentle tug then they were about to fall off anyway. The nutes you are using are reputable and should be working. Perhaps there is something else going on. It looks like your run of the mill deficiency from undernute but if your ph is right and you are nuting at label strength it should not be getting worse like that. Maybe the ants are attacking your roots or something. Do whatever you can to get rid of them. I've never had ants but have battled fungus gnats plenty. I know plenty of tricks to kill those suckers if you need them. The sand should help.
As far as I could tell, the ants were ONLY coming up from Tall girl, and she doesn't have any deficiency. I did lots of searching last night on how to get rid of them, and cinnamon was mentioned a few times. We'll see how it works. My room no longer smells like weed though...just lots of cinnamon.

I only saw a couple gnats, but it only takes a couple to lay eggs. I'm going out to get sand right now. If that doesn't work, I'll seek your advice on ways to deal with them. I hate bugs so much.

The room in which I am growing used to be the back porch, but has since been converted to my bathroom, and wasn't constructed the most solidly (I rent...). Point is, there is ample opportunity for bugs to find a way in. I've got a cat and I used to put his food in there until the ants found it. Once I moved it they were gone. Unfortunately, I can't move the plants.

I've got traps all over, but I'll probably call an exterminator to spray around the exterior of the house and under the porch (I don't like them spraying inside because of the cat...and because of the plants).

Regarding the leaves...most of them came off with little effort, but some required a tug and a couple got snipped. There was no green left on these leaves whatsoever, but they were still alive.

Gonna set up my MH today too (if I have enough time). Still haven't decided on a bulb. Been looking at the Eye Hortilux HPS conversion--45,000 initial lumens is by far the highest (but more expensive). A sunmaster "warm" 3000k metal halide has 38,000 lumens and is at least $30 less than the hortilux (hortilux=$99, sunmaster=$70).

I'll get some more pics up tonight:leaf:
 

mared juwan

Well-Known Member
Cool. Did the a/c you got have an exhaust duct you need to route to outside? I was considering one but I can't really run a duct like that where I live without arousing suspicion. Hey I also got my seeds in today including the G13 labs stuff. New genetics rocks.
 

Babs34

Well-Known Member
Ants in your plants? LOL, that sounded funny for a second. Sorry. I've never even heard of that with an indoor. I actually SHUDDERED when you mentioned the gnats. Be prepared for WAR. They aren't leaving anytime soon. I should have made a video while battling those little bastards...funny as hell, but moreso frustrating as shit!!! Sand is good for "now." Don't use bombs like I've seen so many suggest on RIU. Those are to be used in places that are not to be occupied for a long period. You live there, right? I don't know why so many suggest that as a solution.
Anyway, war Jerry........those bastards almost became the death of me. Every time I just KNEW they were completely gone.......there they were!!!! I'd see that little spec flying unexpectedly right in front of my face. I clapped and CLAPPED. They don't DIE!!!
Now, here is one suggestion I've never seen on RIU---other than from myself. Once you get that feeling of cockiness that you've slayed them all....humble yourself, you are in for a rude awakening. I have a magnifying glass that I used to inspect my plants--every last inch mind you, at least twice a day. In particular, look under those leaves. You can actually see those lil "things" coming to greet the world and take their first breath.
If you really don't want to see the damage they do, you're going to have to get tedious! Stock up on some q-tips and dip it in rubbing alcohol. Run along underside of leaves (or wherever they are uninvited)---it kills them ON THE SPOT......guts and all on display on that q-tip. Sorry, I get kind of demented while dealing with these!!
Solid advice here.....don't wait a single day to address this.
OK, so once I finally just knew, positively--- no questions asked that I had WON the battle, guess what? I just last night witnessed while cleaning my windows 5 or more of them flying around in between my window and screen!!!! ACKKKKK.......they're so small and I'm paranoid that they will somehow find their way in. The only thing I can think of as to why they are even there is that maybe while my windows were open a couple of weeks ago, they laid eggs there? I don't know. I don't care. I am officially at war again.
 

Jerry Garcia

Well-Known Member
Cool. Did the a/c you got have an exhaust duct you need to route to outside? I was considering one but I can't really run a duct like that where I live without arousing suspicion. Hey I also got my seeds in today including the G13 labs stuff. New genetics rocks.
Yes, it my understanding that all portable air CONDITIONING units require an hose. I've got a small window that is way too small for an a/c unit but is fine this (6") tube. Now, there are air COOLERS that use frozen ice packs and are not too unlike the DIY one I tried...

The reason they need this tube, as I found out yesterday, is because the exhaust air put off by this thing is HOT! You can touch the tube and just feel the heat. Thankfully, the a/c blows pretty hard so it doesn't make the room any hotter. But you need somewhere to vent it--I don't think it even needs to be a window or the outdoors, just somewhere that doesn't matter if it gets a little hot.

One problem I noticed today is the WHITE tube allows a lot of light in my once totally and wonderfully pitch black bathroom. But i'll be getting something to fix that today as well.

Also, the unit I got is large and only blows straight ahead (albeit with great power). It was tough for me to position it so it blows into the grow room because of the additional depth from the tubing. But I don't fucking care, because it is gonna be a nice, controlled climate for my blue cheese babies when I get them rolling.

Glad your seeds arrived too! Quite a good feeling I know!

Ants in your plants? LOL, that sounded funny for a second. Sorry. I've never even heard of that with an indoor. I actually SHUDDERED when you mentioned the gnats. Be prepared for WAR. They aren't leaving anytime soon. I should have made a video while battling those little bastards...funny as hell, but moreso frustrating as shit!!! Sand is good for "now." Don't use bombs like I've seen so many suggest on RIU. Those are to be used in places that are not to be occupied for a long period. You live there, right? I don't know why so many suggest that as a solution.
Anyway, war Jerry........those bastards almost became the death of me. Every time I just KNEW they were completely gone.......there they were!!!! I'd see that little spec flying unexpectedly right in front of my face. I clapped and CLAPPED. They don't DIE!!!
Now, here is one suggestion I've never seen on RIU---other than from myself. Once you get that feeling of cockiness that you've slayed them all....humble yourself, you are in for a rude awakening. I have a magnifying glass that I used to inspect my plants--every last inch mind you, at least twice a day. In particular, look under those leaves. You can actually see those lil "things" coming to greet the world and take their first breath.
If you really don't want to see the damage they do, you're going to have to get tedious! Stock up on some q-tips and dip it in rubbing alcohol. Run along underside of leaves (or wherever they are uninvited)---it kills them ON THE SPOT......guts and all on display on that q-tip. Sorry, I get kind of demented while dealing with these!!
Solid advice here.....don't wait a single day to address this.
OK, so once I finally just knew, positively--- no questions asked that I had WON the battle, guess what? I just last night witnessed while cleaning my windows 5 or more of them flying around in between my window and screen!!!! ACKKKKK.......they're so small and I'm paranoid that they will somehow find their way in. The only thing I can think of as to why they are even there is that maybe while my windows were open a couple of weeks ago, they laid eggs there? I don't know. I don't care. I am officially at war again.
I was trying to be funny with the ants in the plants thing--like the old game ants in the pants? I guess old is relative depending on your age...

I had no idea those little fuckers could require an all out war! If you used the sand, how did they manage to keep coming around? That's supposed to prevent them from laying eggs...they are just so small who knows how they get in. Mared said he has some tricks of the trade to get rid of them, maybe he would be willing to share if you asked him nicely...lol

I've got plenty of rubbing alcohol and q-tips, so if it really starts to get bad I'll try this. But I've only seen a couple in the grow room, and only last night when I started watering tall girl. I think they might like her the most because she often sits in the back where there is slightly less air blowing around.

I'll get some pics up tonight and let you know how my first battle with the little bastards is going:leaf:
 

mared juwan

Well-Known Member
I have tricks for controlling the gnats. It seems with coco at least it is impossible to get rid of them completely. It's not that bad though because they don't really harm the plants too much and they never really leave the grow room. So the tricks I can think of right now include neem oil sprayed on top of the soil and keeping the medium on the dry side. It seems the wetter the environment the more those phuckers thrive. Also you can put slices of potato on top of the soil and the gnats will prefer laying their eggs in the potato rather than the soil. Throw the slices out every few days and repeat the cycle a few times. This is really the most effective method I have found. I only have to repeat when I buy new coco. To kill the ones that are already flying I like the hot shot pest strips as well as a little secret weapon called sundews. They are actually carnivorous plants related to the venus flytrap. They have long sticky tentacle like branches that trap and digest the gnats. I have a whole bunch of em.
 

Jerry Garcia

Well-Known Member
I have tricks for controlling the gnats. It seems with coco at least it is impossible to get rid of them completely. It's not that bad though because they don't really harm the plants too much and they never really leave the grow room. So the tricks I can think of right now include neem oil sprayed on top of the soil and keeping the medium on the dry side. It seems the wetter the environment the more those phuckers thrive. Also you can put slices of potato on top of the soil and the gnats will prefer laying their eggs in the potato rather than the soil. Throw the slices out every few days and repeat the cycle a few times. This is really the most effective method I have found. I only have to repeat when I buy new coco. To kill the ones that are already flying I like the hot shot pest strips as well as a little secret weapon called sundews. They are actually carnivorous plants related to the venus flytrap. They have long sticky tentacle like branches that trap and digest the gnats. I have a whole bunch of em.
Sundews eh??? Sounds like something I will look into (and something that could help you too Babs!) I like the potato idea as well.

I actually read another post about 2 months ago recommending those hot shot strips. I got 2 of them (only opened one though...they are like $6.50 a pop!) and stuck one in my grow space about 3 weeks ago. I may need to move it a little closer to the back where the problem seems to be occurring though.

On a side note, I've been thinking about getting some coco coir and growing a couple plants just to see how it works--seems to have worked pretty well for you Mared!

Maybe I should just get good at soil first...I'm overly ambitious when it comes to this growing thing!
 

Sleepless

Active Member
Hey! I've been following your grow for a while and it's great! Def my favorite on RIU. Every time I visit i forget to subscribe, but not this time!

I'm gonna start my first this summer (I think I may have said this in an earlier post?), a bit larger but I'll be stuck in the same boat every newbie grower is stuck in.


Peace and Love
Sleepless
 

Babs34

Well-Known Member
Alright, well here I sit tired AGAIN. So I'll try to make sense...sigh.
I want you to know my battle was SO much more extensive than I wrote. I initially used an organic spray from Lowes''''can't remember the name right now. Apparently it was only to be used once. After using, I peeked in at my plants hours later and thought for sure they were on their way to death. Yet they perked up soon after. Every two weeks, I was doing the neem oil treatment. I tried the potatoe slices.....never saw any gnats lured to them.
I had left a glass of OJ (out of sheer laziness) on my kitchen counter one night and awakened to find several floating around in it the next morning. They say beer works as well. Thinking that would significantly help, it became the daily ritual for WEEKS. I even noticed that while rooting something in water, they drowned themselves in that. There weren't even roots that had begun to form, so WHY they went there.....don't know. I think it's safe to say they aren't the brightest creatures.....yet they are infamous for tormenting the true gardner.
That hot shot strip IS exactly the one I had bought. Note the instructions to leave in an unoccupied place. I take that as don't put it in your home where you are actually breathing and occupying space.....so, I took it back.
Note also that I have a ton of house plants, but NEVER had spider mites/gnats until I "added on to my garden." I'm convinced those lil bastards prefer weed........not all roots are created equal to them as far as I'm concerned.
I treated ALL of my plants at the same time.
Understand that when applying that sand on the surface, you are only addressing the gnats underneath. You have basically suffocated them with that technique AND created a barrier so as for new ones not to enter.....but let me tell you, one little grain of dirt is exposed, they WILL find a way. Water a few times, that thick layer of sand somewhat diminishes. I've watched them.....they fervently hunt to get down there. HOWEVER, that is not the only place they exist. They take their little breaks it would appear and fly around....and when they land, God only knows how many eggs they've laid in that time....and where. The most likely place where they would lay their eggs is on the underside of the leaves.....thus, the rubbing alcohol. Odd thing is I don't know how long the actual gestation period is. Like I said earlier, I obsessively scrutinized these plants DAILY......when I said at least twice, count that as more likely 10 times daily. I spent NUMEROUS hours making certain there was NOTHING left on that plant. Only a day or two later......eggs would appear again. It just had to be from that one or two that was off flying around and only later decided to once again lay some eggs..sigh.
If you look very closely under a magnifying glass, you can actually see a lot of them coming alive........they very slowly start squirming around. Give them enough time (which I don't)....they're off flying around, and thus the vicious cycle starts over......again and again and again.
Someone said they did little damage to their plants.......I beg to differ!! They literally suck the life out of your plants. It's gradual, but left for only a short time will at the very minimum all but totally destroy your "crop." Those first showings of crystals will literally disappear......swag for you, in other words. Ha, I'll see if I can find a picture of my first grow. You want to see what gnats left unattended for even a short period of time will do? I'll be the laughing stock of RIU. That was my first indoor. Your first grow looks great, and it's not worth losing it to little flying specs in the night.
LOL, the ants in the pants thing came long before my time.....and yours too I'm sure.
 

Sleepless

Active Member
Alright, well here I sit tired AGAIN. So I'll try to make sense...sigh.
I want you to know my battle was SO much more extensive than I wrote. I initially used an organic spray from Lowes''''can't remember the name right now. Apparently it was only to be used once. After using, I peeked in at my plants hours later and thought for sure they were on their way to death. Yet they perked up soon after. Every two weeks, I was doing the neem oil treatment. I tried the potatoe slices.....never saw any gnats lured to them.
I had left a glass of OJ (out of sheer laziness) on my kitchen counter one night and awakened to find several floating around in it the next morning. They say beer works as well. Thinking that would significantly help, it became the daily ritual for WEEKS. I even noticed that while rooting something in water, they drowned themselves in that. There weren't even roots that had begun to form, so WHY they went there.....don't know. I think it's safe to say they aren't the brightest creatures.....yet they are infamous for tormenting the true gardner.
That hot shot strip IS exactly the one I had bought. Note the instructions to leave in an unoccupied place. I take that as don't put it in your home where you are actually breathing and occupying space.....so, I took it back.
Note also that I have a ton of house plants, but NEVER had spider mites/gnats until I "added on to my garden." I'm convinced those lil bastards prefer weed........not all roots are created equal to them as far as I'm concerned.
I treated ALL of my plants at the same time.
Understand that when applying that sand on the surface, you are only addressing the gnats underneath. You have basically suffocated them with that technique AND created a barrier so as for new ones not to enter.....but let me tell you, one little grain of dirt is exposed, they WILL find a way. Water a few times, that thick layer of sand somewhat diminishes. I've watched them.....they fervently hunt to get down there. HOWEVER, that is not the only place they exist. They take their little breaks it would appear and fly around....and when they land, God only knows how many eggs they've laid in that time....and where. The most likely place where they would lay their eggs is on the underside of the leaves.....thus, the rubbing alcohol. Odd thing is I don't know how long the actual gestation period is. Like I said earlier, I obsessively scrutinized these plants DAILY......when I said at least twice, count that as more likely 10 times daily. I spent NUMEROUS hours making certain there was NOTHING left on that plant. Only a day or two later......eggs would appear again. It just had to be from that one or two that was off flying around and only later decided to once again lay some eggs..sigh.
If you look very closely under a magnifying glass, you can actually see a lot of them coming alive........they very slowly start squirming around. Give them enough time (which I don't)....they're off flying around, and thus the vicious cycle starts over......again and again and again.
Someone said they did little damage to their plants.......I beg to differ!! They literally suck the life out of your plants. It's gradual, but left for only a short time will at the very minimum all but totally destroy your "crop." Those first showings of crystals will literally disappear......swag for you, in other words. Ha, I'll see if I can find a picture of my first grow. You want to see what gnats left unattended for even a short period of time will do? I'll be the laughing stock of RIU. That was my first indoor. Your first grow looks great, and it's not worth losing it to little flying specs in the night.
LOL, the ants in the pants thing came long before my time.....and yours too I'm sure.
I will certainly remember to watch out for gnats.
 

Jerry Garcia

Well-Known Member
Hey! I've been following your grow for a while and it's great! Def my favorite on RIU. Every time I visit i forget to subscribe, but not this time!

I'm gonna start my first this summer (I think I may have said this in an earlier post?), a bit larger but I'll be stuck in the same boat every newbie grower is stuck in.


Peace and Love
Sleepless
Thanks for the kind words! Mistakes are part of the learning experience, so as long you expect to make them it works out alright.

Glad to have you along for the ride, good luck with your first grow!
 

Jerry Garcia

Well-Known Member
Alright, well here I sit tired AGAIN. So I'll try to make sense...sigh.
I want you to know my battle was SO much more extensive than I wrote. I initially used an organic spray from Lowes''''can't remember the name right now. Apparently it was only to be used once. After using, I peeked in at my plants hours later and thought for sure they were on their way to death. Yet they perked up soon after. Every two weeks, I was doing the neem oil treatment. I tried the potatoe slices.....never saw any gnats lured to them.
I had left a glass of OJ (out of sheer laziness) on my kitchen counter one night and awakened to find several floating around in it the next morning. They say beer works as well. Thinking that would significantly help, it became the daily ritual for WEEKS. I even noticed that while rooting something in water, they drowned themselves in that. There weren't even roots that had begun to form, so WHY they went there.....don't know. I think it's safe to say they aren't the brightest creatures.....yet they are infamous for tormenting the true gardner.
That hot shot strip IS exactly the one I had bought. Note the instructions to leave in an unoccupied place. I take that as don't put it in your home where you are actually breathing and occupying space.....so, I took it back.
Note also that I have a ton of house plants, but NEVER had spider mites/gnats until I "added on to my garden." I'm convinced those lil bastards prefer weed........not all roots are created equal to them as far as I'm concerned.
I treated ALL of my plants at the same time.
Understand that when applying that sand on the surface, you are only addressing the gnats underneath. You have basically suffocated them with that technique AND created a barrier so as for new ones not to enter.....but let me tell you, one little grain of dirt is exposed, they WILL find a way. Water a few times, that thick layer of sand somewhat diminishes. I've watched them.....they fervently hunt to get down there. HOWEVER, that is not the only place they exist. They take their little breaks it would appear and fly around....and when they land, God only knows how many eggs they've laid in that time....and where. The most likely place where they would lay their eggs is on the underside of the leaves.....thus, the rubbing alcohol. Odd thing is I don't know how long the actual gestation period is. Like I said earlier, I obsessively scrutinized these plants DAILY......when I said at least twice, count that as more likely 10 times daily. I spent NUMEROUS hours making certain there was NOTHING left on that plant. Only a day or two later......eggs would appear again. It just had to be from that one or two that was off flying around and only later decided to once again lay some eggs..sigh.
If you look very closely under a magnifying glass, you can actually see a lot of them coming alive........they very slowly start squirming around. Give them enough time (which I don't)....they're off flying around, and thus the vicious cycle starts over......again and again and again.
Someone said they did little damage to their plants.......I beg to differ!! They literally suck the life out of your plants. It's gradual, but left for only a short time will at the very minimum all but totally destroy your "crop." Those first showings of crystals will literally disappear......swag for you, in other words. Ha, I'll see if I can find a picture of my first grow. You want to see what gnats left unattended for even a short period of time will do? I'll be the laughing stock of RIU. That was my first indoor. Your first grow looks great, and it's not worth losing it to little flying specs in the night.
LOL, the ants in the pants thing came long before my time.....and yours too I'm sure.
Well shit Babs! You have some history with those little bastards! You've got me a little more concerned now than I initially was about this situation.

I got some sand today, I'm going to throw it on the plants right now and then take some pics for the soon to come update. Back in a few.
 

Jerry Garcia

Well-Known Member
So as promised, here is the updated status of my situation. First, my a/c keeps tripping the surge protector I have it plugged into. It doesn't quite reach the wall, so I'll have to get a heavy-duty extension cord instead. I hope it isn't going to trip the breaker in the house if I bypass the surge protector...maybe I should get a better surge protector? Eh, we'll see. For tonight I shut off all the cfls and t5's, leaving only the orange glow of the hps. I can't wait for my hps conversion bulb to arrive...

Which reminds me, I bought an Eye Sunlux 360w HPS conversion bulb. I am quite confused however, because the Sunlux is somehow different from the Eye Hortilux conversion bulb, which was $20 more expensive. I compared the spec sheets for both and found them to be identical. Same lumen output, use life, everything to a T. If anyone is interested, check out www.eyehortilux.com and www.eyelighting.com. Find the 360w hps conversion bulb and compare technical data sheets. Either way, 45,000 initial lumens will be shining on the girls in the near future.

On the little critter front...I applied a layer of sand over the top of all 3 girls. I only observed 2 or 3 gnats flying around, and ZERO ants. I guess that cinnamon really did the trick! I just applied it liberally and then gave a few misting sprays to hold it together.

Otherwise, I think they look good for 40 days of flowering. As I said yesterday, I removed the yellowing fan leaves from wide girl and she looks way different. The yellowing/spotting appears to have slown down a little, so I'm hopeful the worst has passed.

Anyway, here's the good stuff...

Mixin it up and starting with shorty today. Looking good. Never too much to say about her. Except her buds are going to be thick and tasty!


Here's wide girl sans a few fan leaves. Though the upper leaves are getting a little spotty and lighter green, the pace has dramatically slowed and things seem more stable now. She looks nice though.


Her top.


Some lower bud growth. Much of it is newly exposed thanks to the absence of the fan leaves.


A couple middle stem buds.


We end today with Tall girl. Still tall.


Delicious topness


Here's a couple of her middle stem buds.


Some very nice lower bud development. I've had 3 cfl's ~1inch away from this bud and this side of the plant. seems to be helping. Too hot today though :(


Babies. They've been on 12/12 for about 3 days, and starting to strech. I think a couple are getting topped soon...I want 4 colas!


Here's tall girl and her cinnamon with ant trap


All three covered in sand



So situation stable right now. Just need to get the a/c situation worked out, but then I'll be good to go. I don't understand, the stupid a/c worked fine all last night and yesterday. Oh well, I'll call sears or someone.

On a not at all related note, I'm going to see Kings of Leon tomorrow outside Raleigh. Not sure if anyone is familiar with these guys, but I saw them a couple years ago and they freaking rocked. I'm pumped!

Thanks everyone for tuning in and don't hesitate to share your thoughts--this journal is for the benefit of everyone, not only myself (though I do get all the just rewards):leaf:
 

Flower Pot Men

Well-Known Member
Fantastic !

It really has em looking forward to mine ...

Great Thread .defffinately subscibed .TONS of usefull info here ..
Just wonder when did u start knipping fan leaves off? only when yellow ?

Iam still leanring ...but people do advice to cut leaves off ...when yellow or touching soil (avoid mold ?)

King of Leon ...WOOHOOO Great gig seen em 3 times now ..(Iam in europe)
You ll have a great time !!!!!
 

mared juwan

Well-Known Member
Hmmmm.... maybe Babs and I are dealing with different bugs. My gnats and plants have peacefully coexisted for over a year. At one point I had a swarm flying around the top of my flower room but still the plants looked fine. The only reason I get rid of them is so they don't fly into my eyes and mouth when I'm in there. Spider mites will phuck up your plants bad I know but the gnats seem to be just chillin to me. Also you won't be able to see anything in the potato slices. That's where they lay their tiny eggs. The actual bugs you can see won't get trapped by the potato.

Jerry, I like the idea of moving to coco. I've never grown soil but I don't see how it could be any easier than coco. Coco is like a sponge and will let you change its properties very quickly. So if your plants don't like something all you have to do is flush and you are back to square one. I don't imagine that the deficiency issue you have with the one plant would have lasted this long in coco. Plus coco will give you hydro size growth while keeping the flavor of soil-grown.
 
Top