Somebody please help a little old lady

Okay, hi folks. This is my first post here. I never thought I'd be trying to grow pot at 54 years old. I hadn't even smoked any for over 30 years and didn't know anybody who did (or admitted to). But then a friend brought me like three different bags, maybe an ounce worth, and then he moved away. I'd like some more but have no clue where to get it, but I still had some seeds, so if I don't grow some I won't have any. So there you have it, how I went from being a fine upstanding law-abiding citizen to a dangerous stone-cold criminal. So far, no black sedans with men in sunglasses drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes parked across the street. I've been watching for them.

So, I took six seeds from the best stuff, I'd had them sitting in a drawer for a few months. Two sprouted in paper towels, and I planted them in soil, half Miracle-gro and the other half organic stuff with earthworm castings and bacteria expensive stuff. I started them sometime shortly after tax day, so maybe 7-8 weeks ago. Those are what I have now. I've lurked around here and I'm almost positive both are females. One is big and bushy and a nice dark green (that's good, I hope). I've pruned it periodically to keep it short and branching. I do other gardening. The only issue with that one is some of the larger fan leaves look like an animal has come in and munched on them. I wonder if those are leaves that have come in contact with my tin foil I've used for a couple reflecting walls? It's very few and seems to have stopped. Otherwise she seems to be growing like crazy. BTW, I got my mylar today, tonight I set up a "grow cabinet" in a closet, and "portable mylar panels" for hospital patients. I have foliar fed her once recently with 1/4 strength 5-10-5 and did a regular feed of same not too long ago. Next water I plan to do MgSO4. Maybe I did that once already. Not sure. I'm hesitant to do much, she looks so good, I don't want to mess it up. Should I leave her alone instead? Oh, she is under a 135W bloom UFO 24/7 now. I've been upgrading my lights along the way. I started with incandescent grow lights..... then CFL's, then the splurge UFO

The second one has been my problem child from the beginning. She sprouted fine but then the seed didn't want to fall off the cotyledon leaves. I was patient and figured eventually they just HAD to come off. Instead I had a plant about six inches tall and falling over with the seed on. I finally gave it assistance and staked it, and it started to grow more normally. She was about 3 weeks old at this point, a little behind her peers, with only cotyledon leaves. She grew normally for a while. I was putting them both out on my deck which gets about 5 hrs sun on sunny days. I repotted her a couple weeks later to a 5 gal pot. I noticed I had some kind of bug problem, mostly just in the small plant, so she got put in a different room. What kind of bugs? Good question. There were probably at least four. Not spider mites though. I think white flies and fungus gnats, but don't bet my life on it. I think as of yesterday I got rid of the last of them. You don't want to know how, but the plant is none the worse, or maybe it is, but shouldn't be. Even before that, the first problem I noticed with her was she looked mottled. Like a plant would look under mottled sun or a disco light, blotchy spots of lighter green on darker green. I had no clue what the deal was but had recently repotted her then. I got a pH and nute test and it said the pH was 4 and N was high. So I said, "holy shit" and played with rinsing the soil until I got the pH up to six, with MgSO4 and Milk of Magnesia (Magnesium hydroxide -- more alkaline, wouldn't add any other nutes to compete or interact, but does the OH bind something else out besides the spare H+?). I used to know chemistry, probably enough to be dangerous. In any case, mottling disappeared. Meanwhile, she got a heavy pruning. I figured if she was diseased with something I should get rid of all the bad stuff and just leave what little looked normal to minimize stress. In regular gardening I've found that helpful. I think I screwed up and lost even more time. I've thought about chucking her but I'm afraid I'll kill the other one yet (just because I like to garden, doesn't mean I'm any good at it, and don't kill more than my share), then I'll have none.

Then, almost immediately, noticed problems with leaves having small spots. They are dark with some having little yellow or light green halos. They appear right on the veins, peripheral and midline and there are more on the lower, older leaves, none on new growth, which looks normal. The veins to the final fan leaves are reddish-purple, darker some days than others I swear. Tonight they look more green. Yesterday their color worried me. No dark green veins. Lower leaves are starting to yellow overall, worse today than yesterday. I did the same 1/4 strength foliar of 10-15-10 yesterday, except this one I rinsed off with distilled water a couple hours later. I've looked at several sites with pictures of problems and none fit exactly and I get confused. Damn, I thought this plant grew as a weed. It sure is persnickety. Last checked pH at last watering about 3-4 days ago (probably will water tomorrow or next day) and pH was around 6. I'm using soil you put in distilled water and tablets you dissolve to check pH. I don't like it. Does anyone recommend more convenient way to test that is inexpensive? Oh, its currently got a 125W Feliz CFL @ 2700K and three CFL's totalling about 50W in higher daylight spectrums, 5000-6500, they are household bulbs. I just got the Feliz a couple days ago. Before that it only had the 50W, 24/7, poor thing, and out on sunny days.

I should be grateful if anybody has even read all this and have no right to ask, but does anybody have any feedback on what the problem might be with my special needs child? Or notice anything else that I'm doing wrong? I won't get offended, I promise, if I'm told I've really screwed up. I'm used to being told that I screw up lives.

I have some pictures. I used my cell, so they aren't fabulous, but not that bad either. I can't believe that it got pictures that are this good. More importantly, I can't believe I'm sending them out over the Internet. Somebody on another thread said something about the government not having any way of monitoring such things. That is incorrect, and its not conspiracy theory. You need to read up on the new NSA facilities, particularly in Utah, though they are expanding I believe it was Atlanta and Miami. They are dedicated to monitoring internet activity and have mind-goggling capacity. I'm sure they have clever algorithms that search for certain keywords or usage patterns, they get the software from Israeli intelligence, much of work is subcontracted out to Israeli vendors (now how smart is that, given Israel's history of spying on us......... we also use chips bought from China, the other country that spies on us.). The Patriot Act has broader implications than most realize. Any citizen can be placed under surveillance, including phones and internet, and the government never need admit who has been targeted, much less justify rationale. I'm not saying this place is monitored, I don't know any such thing and surely hope "they" are doing more important things with our taxpayer funds......... only that theoretically, the potential is there, and one doesn't need to be conspiracy theorist to not be able to make 100% assurances traffic is not being eavesdropped on this forum.

So, the first four are pictures of my first plant, the bigger and healthier plant. I'm showing a chomped leaf, one of her purple stems, how dark green she is (is that okay?), and hopefully what ya'll will tell me is proof that she is a girl. I post pictures of plant TWO in a post below.

This is Two, my smaller and more frail child. She's in a 5 gal glazed clay pot.
The first picture is one level up the plant, so a bit younger leaves and earlier symptoms. This isn't the same mottling I saw previously. But this is how my current problem seems to start out.
This the lowest level of leaves on the plant and the worst looking ones. The color on my PC monitor looks true.
Any sexing advice also appreciated. Am I imagining they're both girls?

BTW, I LOVE how you can put the pictures inline! Really kewl function!

God bless you but I can not read a post that size. I just black out when presented with to many options.
i will give it a try later. Hopefully someone will beat me to it.

Charface,

I apologize. I get too wordy.

Reader's Digest Version: First grow, two plants. Four pics from plant one, four pics from plant two, in separate posts.

Please tell me what is wrong with them, what I should do, and if you can tell if they are girls? Or any of above or something else.

Thank you for giving me a second shot.

Are you using Nutrients?

Recently Plant One has had some 1/4 strength 10-15-10, foliar, and had a soil feeding a while back. Otherwise, nothing else.

Plant Two same as above but has had MgSO4 also recently, and Milk of Magnesia (MgOH, ph was 4).

Both have been planted in 1/2 Miracle Gro and 1/2 potting mixture w/bacteria, worm castings, etc.

Yeah what kind of nutes, common for it to look like a deficiency when in reality you have salt build up.
If its salt buildup flood the pot with three times the amount the container will hold. Room temp if possible, at lease tepid.
Wait for more replies though before ya do everything we recommend or you will compound the problem. Read the replies and go with the general consensus of the group. Good luck

Do you have ph problems with your soil? I have a friend who used a wallmart brand of organic soil [probably miracle grow]that looked like your soil does .To solve his trouble I gave him some promix. But ya I think your biggest problem is your soil

There is alot going on. And sorry didn't read all that. But here is what I can see. They need food. You seem to be on a buget so go to the gardening store get a good tomato dry nutes. Make sure its not the cheep crap. It still won't be that bad and a small bag will get you thru the grow. Also you need N so tomarrow take your coffee grounds and mix in the top inch of the soil. Then water. Let dry a few days and add the nutes. Then it's water water feed water water feed. And from what I can see they do look female. But might be to erly to say for sure. And as for your age don't feel bad. My mom is thinking of growing too. And she is 60. Lol we all need our meds.

charface said:

Yeah what kind of nutes, common for it to look like a deficiency when in reality you have salt build up.
If its salt buildup flood the pot with three times the amount the container will hold. Room temp if possible, at lease tepid.
Wait for more replies though before ya do everything we recommend or you will compound the problem. Read the replies and go with the general consensus of the group. Good luck

Click to expand...

This is good advice. It wouldn't hurt to flush before doing what I said above. But here is the problem. MG has time release. So flushing dosnt work that well but can help get build up out.

I learned from grandparents so go figure. People are people. Plus my back hurts and I`m cranky so I`m not long
for this world lol

One do look like a female to me and looks nice...I'll let the growing stars on this site to led you though..But i will sub you journal...I'm over 50 older than you ..I'm growing my meds..why not?smile welcome ............." So there you have it, how I went from being a fine upstanding law-abiding citizen to a dangerous stone-cold criminal. So far, no black sedans with men in sunglasses drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes parked across the street. I've been watching for them. " .....Funny stuff you are halarious....hehehe

Okay, thanks to all for the replies, esp. bigfattone for making me feel extra welcome and warlock for the specific and detailed advice. I'll keep it short from now on. I thought from reading one of the FAQ's ya'll wanted all of the details.

I wasn't quite sure if the advice was for both plants or just the one that looked sick, so I only flushed the sick one. I forgot to say in original post it doesn't have miracle-gro anymore, I got rid of it when I transplanted. (Big one still does.) Only earthworm castings mix and organic garden soil, 50/50. I've added coffee grounds, mostly just sick one, when I have more grounds, I'll add more to the big plant. I assume I should feed tomato fertilizer to both? The bottom leaves on the big one are starting to turn yellow in the last couple days (but no brown-black little spots on veins like little plant). I'm guessing N deficiency, too? Finally, since bugs are under control, they are back together, sharing 135W LED bloom and 125W feliz 2700K CFL.

I still can't believe these are the "tall weeds" that some friends of mine back in KY stumbled onto growing between their rows of corn. They removed the plants, and the following morning they found all their cows had been shot. Marijuana is allegedly the largest cash crop in KY. I would hear that much would be grown in the Daniel Boone National Forest, hardly native conditions. I'm finding my two fussier than the other things I grow in my garden. But then really the big one is doing pretty well and the little one got off to a bad start (maybe genetically weak seed that Darwin meant to be culled?) so maybe they aren't so bad after all. It couldn't possibly be that I'm a failure as a parent to my little green children, too. Still, does anybody else appreciate that they can't talk to complain?

Lululady said:

Recently Plant One has had some 1/4 strength 10-15-10, foliar, and had a soil feeding a while back. Otherwise, nothing else.

Plant Two same as above but has had MgSO4 also recently, and Milk of Magnesia (MgOH, ph was 4).

Why on earth did you apply Milk of Magnesia? Especially such a low pH on soil? It should be ok, just don't do that anymore. Epsom Salts is something different and ok to apply every now and then.

Both have been planted in 1/2 Miracle Gro and 1/2 potting mixture w/bacteria, worm castings, etc.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't flush or do anything crazy, yet. That mix looks moist enough. Are you doing organics, or sorta organics?

Looks like something might be noshing on plant#1. They don't look all that bad, if you don't fix/love them to death. I don't see any emergency.

Can't tell sex with my old eyes, but looks like you have some alternating nodes, so they will show soon.

Do you garden or anything?

Wet

i looked at your soil lovely lady and i'm thinking you have a lot of good stuff in it, but it is dense and with little O2 at the root zone. that is why you have spots with rings. a better mix with more perlite would have eliminated the lack of O2. you can transplant into a lighter mix still. don't be afraid. just cut back the plant a little to make up for any root loss. ezpz. i can't see any signs of sex yet. you may see male preflowers before you see signs of female preflowers as that is the genetic makeup of cannabis. males flower first. just remember this if you forget everything else. the soil has to be moist, fertile AND well drained. don't go overboard on nutes. it's a slippery slope. good luck.

That's funny, I was wondering if drainage might be an issue. I even picked up some perlite today. It must be ESP, or maybe we're soulmates or something . When I repotted the smaller one, I didn't use any Miracle-gro, that cut way back on the Perlite. I've noticed it's taking longer to dry out than the bigger plant. I got another plastic pot now, too, so I'll change it out of the clay pot it's in, too. That thing is really heavy to haul around.

I poked around the net and looked at more pics of nute problems and feel no more enlightened. Just as I think I might have found one of my problems I'll find another site that will have info that rules it out. My big plant has a couple fans that have a new problem as of yesterday. I give up. Hopefully the coffee grounds will fix it up. Coffee does wonders for me. But I did get it narrowed down to one of 8 different things.

Cool kitty avatar, Dannyboy!

Just saw this reply. I don't know how I missed it. Too late, I already flushed the little one, and today added transplanted and added perlite. Poor thing just probably wants to be left alone now. So far it looks none the worse for wear. If anything a little better, but the transplant was a rough one. I swear the roots were crazy glued to the pot. Maybe in the morning it won't be looking quite so well anymore. But its draining great!

Yeah, I garden. Though not necessarily well. Sometimes I kill things. I added the Milk of Magnesia to bring the pH down fast, without having to add anything to the mix except Mg. Hey, it worked pretty well. The pH has stayed right around 6.5 ever since. And it was 4.

ok .. as most Ppl. in here I did`t read it all (most tho)

and yea dont feel bad about your ages ..
my mom (63) dont grow but thinks its realy cool I do .. she is like one of them 69`r who smoked her self back then ..

seems like you had a lot of problems going on with your plants .. but hopefully most of them is fixd ?

Im a fist time (indoor) grower myself and found this link very usefull ..

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/how-grow-marijuana/81264-how-grow-marijuana-everything-you-need-know.html

best of luck and keep it simple and try to use logic (plant logic)
and remember even tho ther is a lot of realy nice and helpfull Ppl. in here and other places and some might be great gatners/growers ther are also a lot of missguided/bad/nubish advice on the net .. dont belive evrything you read .. get as much info as possible and then make up your own mind based on all your new knoleges ..

Pretty big post but I managed to skim through it and I think I may be able to help you out

And getting tracked is way easier than most people think, everyone's internet has a special IP address to it so that address only needs to be traced. Fortunately cops usually like making big busts, they usually aren't looking for small timers like the people on this forum because we're usually just people who have a hobby and enjoy what we do. They're usually looking for people connected to other more serious crimes. Anyway

Your first plant looks beautiful, especially for a first time grow. I love the training that you've done to it and your prior gardening experience will be a blessing for you, but it can also be a bit of a curse because it's a little different in a lot of ways. Marijuana is in fact a weed, but think of a marijuana plant as a child. ANYONE can grow one, but without knowing what the plant needs and making sure you provide everything for it then the plant will turn into crap. There are a few things to consider though. Marijuana loves soil that is light and airy, if you give them a coco/perlite mix they'll take off! If you can get Fox Farm soil then mix that up with the coco/perlite. Miracle Grow tends to have time released ferts in them which may explain some of the problems you're having now. Another thing to consider is that some strains are extremely sensitive with their pH levels and NPK levels where as other strains are just as forgiving. It's possible that your problem plant was just a bad seed or it's a finicky strain.

Your plants also don't look like they're flowering just yet, so the particular nutrient mix you're using isn't good for veg. That's actually a pretty good mix for the transition from veg to flower (if diluted of course), but I'd definitely go with something that has more nitrogen during veg and something with more phosphorus and potassium in flower. During veg, marijuana plants need lots of nitrogen. Either attempt to find yourself a good nitrogen fertilizer or try making your own compost tea with bat guano and earthworm castings, there are plenty of great recipes on here for compost teas and they don't burn the plant like chemical fertilizers. Do your best to flush the plant and start feeding with food high in N and give it less P and K.

Also how's your ventilation in your grow room? Do you have an intake and an outtake? Do you have fans circulating in there? Your one plant looks really healthy and the stem is huge so I'm guessing you at least have some fans in there which is good. But make sure it's also properly ventilated and cooled if it's too hot in there. And if bugs ever start giving you a problem, just boil up some cayenne peppers with some garlic and onion and dilute it with a bit of water and then spray the hell out of your plant with it. The bugs will die trying to eat your plants

Those are just a few things, I hope I helped you out in some way. Keep growing your plants out and researching these forums, this way your next grow will be better. They always get better, just keep having fun with it and doing research and asking questions and you'll get it

i couldn't read it either, but i'm gonna go out on a limb. STOP.........misting, feeding, watering, fluffing, singing to.............your plants. begin to neglect them a bit and.......they will grow fine.