New Grow Help

Hello!

First thank you all for your help. I just harvested my first grow and ehh it worked. Trying to do better this time so I am asking for any opinions/advice on my plans.

-Seeds - Mephisto Ghost Toof x2 and a Toof decay x Skywalker (freebie) both are autos.

-Lights - Bloom Plus xp 3000 (300 watt) and a Philzon 100W something or other - both full spectrum with red some kind of rights too. (I got the philzon for free and I pjust put it up next to my current light because it gives that side of the closet a little more light.

- 4x3x6.5ft grow closet .

-I will do 2/3 FFOF on the bottom and 1/3 of FFHF i am going to add some pearlite to be 25% pearlite and 75% soils.

-I will use tap water that sits for 24 hours (probably most of the time). I do have a Berkey water filter that i can use to filter the water and then PH it like I did on my last grow but I don't know much about the Berkey and maybe it is stripping the stuff from the water that helps the plant?? idk..

- Going to germinate in plastic baggy with paper towel and put directly into 5gal grow bag so no transplanting. This is why i want to do 1/3 FFHF on the top and then the ocean forest below so that I am not putting it right into FFOF

- lights will be on 30% to start and work up to about 60% in flower. I had them on 80 last grow and i think that is what killed all my leaves this time and maybe the heat that it got up to 91 a couple times for a couple hours and maybe the over/underwatering lol. Maybe because i had no airflow.. maybe it was everything combined lol but I am still trying to figure the light situation out. So any help here on how I do that would be greatly appreciated.

- should i ph the water? wasn't planning on it but my tap water is very high around probably 7.5-8 i see both sides.. with FF it doesn't matter and then some say it does. I probably will simply because i just bought a digital ph meter.

- i'll start FF trio of nutes at flower and nothing but water until then and probably start at 1/4 strength. I may give it some grow big if it looks like it's low on nitrogen as this grow was and i didn't know until it was too late. i think i know what to look for now.

- i plan on topping this time after the 4th maybe 5th node depending and some LST

I think I'll do better this time but any tip/recommendations/opinions please feel free!

Thanks again.

if you dont mind me asking what do you mean "trying to do better this time" were you not happy with the end quality of the buds? what exactly are you trying to improve?

secretmicrogrow420 said:

if you dont mind me asking what do you mean "trying to do better this time" were you not happy with the end quality of the buds? what exactly are you trying to improve?

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This....

I haven't smoked any yet need to dry and cure

One I pulled too early the other foxtailed like a mofo but it looks good but we will see soon and pics of the "best" one I got this grow which, well, look at it.

I did not top that one and i plan on topping this time to hopefully improve my canopy height and keep it relatively the same this time

Most important thing people forget to do and claim they do is actually read the plant and adjust accordingly. Watch for claws and burnt tips, dark colors and act early not hastily.

If your using hot soil as your medium you want to transplant a healthy plant when you up pot. I think a lot of issues people in soil face in flower comes from a unhealthy plant and root system. The unhealthy plant is plopped into very rich soil thinking the new soil and bigger pot is the solution to bad care. That in turn shocks and stunts the plant that is then pushed into bloom before any proper recovery can happen.

-I will do 2/3 FFOF on the bottom and 1/3 of FFHF i am going to add some pearlite to be 25% pearlite and 75% soils.
**you don't really need the extra perlite but it should not hurt anything (both soils already have some).

-I will use tap water that sits for 24 hours (probably most of the time). I do have a Berkey water filter that i can use to filter the water and then PH it like I did on my last grow but I don't know much about the Berkey and maybe it is stripping the stuff from the water that helps the plant?? idk..
**You can leave it out if you prefer but you really don't need to. I leave mine out just to get closer to room temp. I am not familiar with Berkey filters, before you use it check that it does not add sodium to your water or it may not be a great option for plants.

- Going to germinate in plastic baggy with paper towel and put directly into 5gal grow bag so no transplanting. This is why i want to do 1/3 FFHF on the top and then the ocean forest below so that I am not putting it right into FFOF
**I also prefer the paper towel method but many will suggest you just start them in soil. As for going straight to a 5gal grow bag this is usually not the greatest idea. One reason many growers start in party cups, then to 1gal, then 3-5gal etc is so the roots grow faster. Starting in large containers can cause the plant to grow slower and also often leads to watering issues that persist throughout the grow.

- lights will be on 30% to start and work up to about 60% in flower. I had them on 80 last grow and i think that is what killed all my leaves this time and maybe the heat that it got up to 91 a couple times for a couple hours and maybe the over/underwatering lol. Maybe because i had no airflow.. maybe it was everything combined lol but I am still trying to figure the light situation out. So any help here on how I do that would be greatly appreciated.
**usually the manufacturer suggests distance and intensity so you have something to go off. for seedlings you will have intensity low and lights further away and as it grows typically the light distance and/or intensity can be changed as the plants show their needs. Especially watch them for stretch and lankiness and adjust lights from there. With your lights you will likely be changing height and intensity throughout the grow. You should be able to run your lights at full intensity at 12-18 inches from your plant tops in flower. I run a 450w at full intensity and 12-18" distance. I think more of your issues were related to watering and feeding habits based on the look of the plants.

- should i ph the water? wasn't planning on it but my tap water is very high around probably 7.5-8 i see both sides.. with FF it doesn't matter and then some say it does. I probably will simply because i just bought a digital ph meter.
**(not everyone will agree with me but) typically with soil like FF you only really need to worry about ph if it is really high 8+ (imo) or anytime it is low. Otherwise the soil will buffer the ph where it needs to be. I suggest correcting when it's low but not so much worrying when it is high (below as FF has an easier time buffering down to the correct ph than it does buffering up from what I have read.

- i'll start FF trio of nutes at flower and nothing but water until then and probably start at 1/4 strength. I may give it some grow big if it looks like it's low on nitrogen as this grow was and i didn't know until it was too late. i think i know what to look for now.
**I would obviously observe and react to the plants needs but that said, you should typically get a few weeks of food from the soil before you need to start to feed. Depending how long you veg you may or may not need to start feeding before flower. It is wise to start at 1/4-1/2 strength of what the feeding chart says (bottles usually have a much higher dose listed as they don't consider the other nutes). That said you will likely see a few comments suggesting better nutes. FF are not terrible, I used the trio when I started but many people struggle to put out a great harvest with them and there are better options. Sadly it seems like the line if you follow the feeding schedule creates issues that require you to get additional products that then correct some things but create others. what you saw as low nitrogen may have also been a cal or mag issue if you were not also giving any cal or mag.

we're here to help!

You’re not going to improve much running autos.

hotrodharley said:

You’re not going to improve much running autos.

Click to expand...

True dat

ALPHA.GanjaGuy said:

-I will do 2/3 FFOF on the bottom and 1/3 of FFHF i am going to add some pearlite to be 25% pearlite and 75% soils.
**you don't really need the extra perlite but it should not hurt anything (both soils already have some).

-I will use tap water that sits for 24 hours (probably most of the time). I do have a Berkey water filter that i can use to filter the water and then PH it like I did on my last grow but I don't know much about the Berkey and maybe it is stripping the stuff from the water that helps the plant?? idk..
**You can leave it out if you prefer but you really don't need to. I leave mine out just to get closer to room temp. I am not familiar with Berkey filters, before you use it check that it does not add sodium to your water or it may not be a great option for plants.

- Going to germinate in plastic baggy with paper towel and put directly into 5gal grow bag so no transplanting. This is why i want to do 1/3 FFHF on the top and then the ocean forest below so that I am not putting it right into FFOF
**I also prefer the paper towel method but many will suggest you just start them in soil. As for going straight to a 5gal grow bag this is usually not the greatest idea. One reason many growers start in party cups, then to 1gal, then 3-5gal etc is so the roots grow faster. Starting in large containers can cause the plant to grow slower and also often leads to watering issues that persist throughout the grow.

- lights will be on 30% to start and work up to about 60% in flower. I had them on 80 last grow and i think that is what killed all my leaves this time and maybe the heat that it got up to 91 a couple times for a couple hours and maybe the over/underwatering lol. Maybe because i had no airflow.. maybe it was everything combined lol but I am still trying to figure the light situation out. So any help here on how I do that would be greatly appreciated.
**usually the manufacturer suggests distance and intensity so you have something to go off. for seedlings you will have intensity low and lights further away and as it grows typically the light distance and/or intensity can be changed as the plants show their needs. Especially watch them for stretch and lankiness and adjust lights from there. With your lights you will likely be changing height and intensity throughout the grow. You should be able to run your lights at full intensity at 12-18 inches from your plant tops in flower. I run a 450w at full intensity and 12-18" distance. I think more of your issues were related to watering and feeding habits based on the look of the plants.

- should i ph the water? wasn't planning on it but my tap water is very high around probably 7.5-8 i see both sides.. with FF it doesn't matter and then some say it does. I probably will simply because i just bought a digital ph meter.
**(not everyone will agree with me but) typically with soil like FF you only really need to worry about ph if it is really high 8+ (imo) or anytime it is low. Otherwise the soil will buffer the ph where it needs to be. I suggest correcting when it's low but not so much worrying when it is high (below as FF has an easier time buffering down to the correct ph than it does buffering up from what I have read.

- i'll start FF trio of nutes at flower and nothing but water until then and probably start at 1/4 strength. I may give it some grow big if it looks like it's low on nitrogen as this grow was and i didn't know until it was too late. i think i know what to look for now.
**I would obviously observe and react to the plants needs but that said, you should typically get a few weeks of food from the soil before you need to start to feed. Depending how long you veg you may or may not need to start feeding before flower. It is wise to start at 1/4-1/2 strength of what the feeding chart says (bottles usually have a much higher dose listed as they don't consider the other nutes). That said you will likely see a few comments suggesting better nutes. FF are not terrible, I used the trio when I started but many people struggle to put out a great harvest with them and there are better options. Sadly it seems like the line if you follow the feeding schedule creates issues that require you to get additional products that then correct some things but create others. what you saw as low nitrogen may have also been a cal or mag issue if you were not also giving any cal or mag.

we're here to help!

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You're the fucking man. Thank you.

hotrodharley said:

You’re not going to improve much running autos.

Click to expand...

Did you see my pics?

Orin190 said:

Did you see my pics?

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Yep. They’re like grenades with the pin pulled. They’re headed to flower and you’re going along for the ride hoping to increase yield. Photos you can take the time to top and shape your plants and develop a canopy.

hotrodharley said:

Yep. They’re like grenades with the pin pulled. They’re headed to flower and you’re going along for the ride hoping to increase yield. Photos you can take the time to top and shape your plants and develop a canopy.

Click to expand...

Not worried about yield. I just want some good looking tasting and smelling weed. Idc if I get 1oz per plant if it's good.....

Orin190 said:

Not worried about yield. I just want some good looking tasting and smelling weed. Idc if I get 1oz per plant if it's good.....

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Glad some people feel that way. Personally it seems to cost as much for a “meh” yield as it does a big yield as far as electricity and time. Are you under the impression a larger yield gives poorer grass in taste and quality?

Orin190 said:

I did not top that one and i plan on topping this time to hopefully improve my canopy height and keep it relatively the same this time

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How about low stress training? I’ve had nice success with both keeping the canopy low and increasing yield with LST when growing autos. HST is riskier with autos, but can definitely work well. I’d start with half dose rather than quarter dose of nutes, but observe the individual plant. Mine have generally seemed hungry even when delivering half dose. Good luck. The pic looks over trimmed. Try to keep more fan leaves on. The smaller size of autos means it’s often less important to trim for light access. Those leaves are important, if not always pretty when they start to give up their nutes to the plant.

Orin190 said:

Not worried about yield. I just want some good looking tasting and smelling weed. Idc if I get 1oz per plant if it's good.....

Click to expand...

Ah.... so what you need to look for is good genetics then. Imo, autos are more of a crap shoot. Do a pheno hunt with photos.