Can't find info online about my exact setup for nutes...HELP!

First successful grow up to this stage and I'm terrified of fucking it up as I begin adding nutes!! I've decided Fox Farms is the way to go, but I'm still a little confused and damned if I'm gonna try blindly experimenting at this point.

Here's what I'm working with so far



seed: mystery seed
age: a couple days shy of 3 weeks from breaking through soil
pot size: 4"
soil: Nature's Care Organic Potting Mix (by Miracle Gro...didn't know it was awful until recently)
light: 1 CFL bulb, only about an inch away from plant
indoor, climate controlled room.
watering with distilled water, every other day
It was thriving with only a couple set-backs, and now the first set of "leaves" are yellowing so I know it's time for nutrients!

I know I need to upgrade to a bigger pot soon, but I don't know when
I know I need to switch to better soil when I switch to bigger pot (going to stick with Fox Farms I think)

I found this feeding schedule by fox farms but I'm still a little foggy on some parts

http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/images/pdf/soilenglish2015.pdf

As written, I assume I put 6 teaspoons of Big Bloom into 1 gallon of distilled water and then 2 tsp of Grow Big into another gallon of distilled water. Once I have two giant gallons full of water, how much per each gallon do I actually water my plant with? Do I mix the two together? Do I measure out a cup of one and a cup of another and pour those in and add more by the cupfull until I get some drainage out the bottom? Do I keep the semi full gallon containers for later use or discard after first feeding? If I start at half strength as I've seen recommended, do I put 3 tsp of one into a gallon and 1tsp of the other into another gallon and water and then later on dump that and put the full strength in two more gallons?? HOW MANY GALLONS AM I GOING TO BE USING.

Hope this makes sense, I'm just very confused and do NOT want to kill my baby at this point. Thanks guys!

MerryJane420 said:

watering with distilled water, every other day

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distilled water does not work for cannabis. Use tap water.

I've been back and forth with distilled and tap water. I was told straight tap water is bad because of the chlorine in it, and that you should let it sit out for 24 hours for the chlorine to evaporate and once it does it has some nutrients in it your plant can use. But I also heard you might as well just use distilled water at that point because you have plenty of nutrients in the soil and in the plant's first leaves.

MerryJane420 said:

As written, I assume I put 6 teaspoons of Big Bloom into 1 gallon of distilled water and then 2 tsp of Grow Big into another gallon of distilled water. Once I have two giant gallons full of water, how much per each gallon do I actually water my plant with? Do I mix the two together? Do I measure out a cup of one and a cup of another and pour those in and add more by the cupfull until I get some drainage out the bottom? Do I keep the semi full gallon containers for later use or discard after first feeding? If I start at half strength as I've seen recommended, do I put 3 tsp of one into a gallon and 1tsp of the other into another gallon and water and then later on dump that and put the full strength in two more gallons?? HOW MANY GALLONS AM I GOING TO BE USING.

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Because of your soil, I cannot give you the best advice. What I would do is: I would cut down to the root ball and transplant into fox farm happy frog soil. When you can.

tip: 1 gallon of pot per 12" inches of plant. Plants double to triple in height in flower; so prepare for that. Mix with 33% perlite to help with drainage ( 2 cups of soil and then 1 cup perlite; repeat).

• If you were using happy frog soil, you can start using nutrients 14 days- 31 days after transplant. you can tell when your plant needs it.
• With fox farm nutrients: Start off with 1/4 of what they tell you to use every other watering. Work your way up slowly to 1/2 strength. You might never get to full strength. I didn't.

Ex: water (ph 6.5-6.9) on 8/1; then 1 tsp of nutrients per gallon of water (ph 6.5- 6.9) on 8/4; water (ph 6.5-6.9) on 8/8.

Another Tip: When you flip to 12/12: use Grow Big for one- two weeks. When you see white hairs, then use Tiger Bloom.

If you have any specific questions, I will answer what I can.

MerryJane420 said:

I've been back and forth with distilled and tap water. I was told straight tap water is bad because of the chlorine in it, and that you should let it sit out for 24 hours for the chlorine to evaporate and once it does it has some nutrients in it your plant can use. But I also heard you might as well just use distilled water at that point because you have plenty of nutrients in the soil and in the plant's first leaves.

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I let my tap water sit for 24 hours for two reasons: to lower the chlorine content; and to bring the water to room temperature.

The chlorine in tap water will not/ should not hurt your plants, unless your city water has an excessive amount. But you should be fine with regular tap water.

Make sure you use cold water from the sink. Using hot water will bring to many unnecessary minerals that have been sitting in your water heater.

mean.green said:

Because of your soil, I cannot give you the best advice. What I would do is: I would cut down to the root ball and transplant into fox farm happy frog soil. When you can.

tip: 1 gallon of pot per 12" inches of plant. Plants double to triple in height in flower; so prepare for that. Mix with 33% perlite to help with drainage ( 2 cups of soil and then 1 cup perlite; repeat).

• If you were using happy frog soil, you can start using nutrients 14 days- 31 days after transplant. you can tell when your plant needs it.
• With fox farm nutrients: Start off with 1/4 of what they tell you to use every other watering. Work your way up slowly to 1/2 strength. You might never get to full strength. I didn't.

Ex: water (ph 6.5-6.9) on 8/1; then 1 tsp of nutrients per gallon of water (ph 6.5- 6.9) on 8/4; water (ph 6.5-6.9) on 8/8.

Another Tip: When you flip to 12/12: use Grow Big for one- two weeks. When you see white hairs, then use Tiger Bloom.

If you have any specific questions, I will answer what I can.

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Oooh, lots of good info here, thanks. I have never had a green thumb so forgive how clueless I am but I would like a few more details.

My plant is currently just under 5 inches, I think I would like to get it to about 12 inches before I begin flowering. Will it be okay if I move it to a 1 gallon pot now? If it will double or triple during flowering, should I move it to an even BIGGER pot now to prepare for the extra growth?

I am going to switch it to fox farms soil (probably happy frog) when I make the pot switch. Should I give it some time to just hang out in the new, nutrient rich soil before I add nutes at all?

When I add the correct amount of nutrients to a gallon of water, how much of that water do I actually water my plant with?

excellent info mean.green but i disagree with tap water. some cities water have high alkalinity''hard water'' and it will mess with nutrients(form insolube compound and increase alkalinity of your medium).some city tap water might be ''soft'' but contain a lot of sodium and chloride and will eventually build up. it really depend on what your tap water content.

1/3 tap 2/3 ro or distilled water, you cant go wrong.

MerryJane420 said:

Oooh, lots of good info here, thanks. I have never had a green thumb so forgive how clueless I am but I would like a few more details.

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No problem, I am by no means an expert. I have only finished one grow. I did a lot of research before I started and learned a lot along the way. Still I have a long way to go. I am just saying what worked/ works for me.

weedemart said:

excellent info mean.green but i disagree with tap water. some cities water have high alkalinity will mess with nutrients(form insolube compound and increase alkalinity of your medium). the same water might be ''soft'' but contain a lot of sodium and chloride and will eventually build up. it really depend on what your tap water content.

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I am glad my tap water is fine. I would not want to buy water from the store each time.

MerryJane420 said:

My plant is currently just under 5 inches, I think I would like to get it to about 12 inches before I begin flowering. Will it be okay if I move it to a 1 gallon pot now? If it will double or triple during flowering, should I move it to an even BIGGER pot now to prepare for the extra growth?

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If you want to have a 12 inch plant when you flip, transplant now. 12 x 3 = 36 inches which is a 3 gallon pot minimum. You need a 3 gallon pot or a 4 gallon pot to be safe. After transplanting, give it two-four weeks to recover before you flip to 12/12.

MerryJane420 said:

I am going to switch it to fox farms soil (probably happy frog) when I make the pot switch. Should I give it some time to just hang out in the new, nutrient rich soil before I add nutes at all?

Click to expand...

• If you are going to use happy frog soil, you can start using nutrients 14 days- 31 days after transplant. you can tell when your plant needs it.
• When you flip to 12/12: use Grow Big for one- two weeks. When you see white hairs, then use Tiger Bloom.

MerryJane420 said:

When I add the correct amount of nutrients to a gallon of water, how much of that water do I actually water my plant with?

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When you start nutrients. Ex: grow big for veg. Measure out a teaspoon of grow big nutrients and dump in a gallon of water. Shake it like crazy. Poor it into a pitcher. Change the ph (with ph up or down) to 6.5-6.9, use a ph meter to find ph. Then poor slowly onto your plants soil until you get some runoff out of the bottom. I use a turkey baster to remove the water from the bottom. When I get about two solo cups full of water from the bottom, I am done.

mean.green said:

When you start nutrients. Ex: grow big for veg. Measure out a teaspoon of grow big nutrients and dump in a gallon of water. Shake it like crazy. Poor it into a pitcher. Change the ph (with ph up or down) to 6.5-6.9, use a ph meter to find ph. Then poor slowly onto your plants soil until you get some runoff out of the bottom. I use a turkey baster to remove the water from the bottom. When I get about two solo cups full of water from the bottom, I am done.

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On the weeks I'm supposed to use both Big Bloom and Grow Big, do I put the correct tsp measurements of BOTH into 2 GALLONS of water and then water as you said?

First thing first the Nature's Care is not awful it's great for plants. When people say Miracle Gro is terrible they are referring to the slow release nutrients which are infamous for burning plants that can't handle the nutrient levels. You can still use the Nature's Care for the whole grow. Take a look at mine.



I water this plant only every 2-3 days with tap water from my bathroom a few cups at a time. No extra nutrients or anything special.

If you're going to switch to Fox Farms your plant looks more than ready for it. You'll find Fox Farms is very rich and can make you some awesome green all on it's own without nutrients. I grew with Fox Farms my last grow and found my bag seed was real touchy to the addition of salt based nutrients. You say it's ready because the little round leafs are yellow? That doesn't mean much any healthy plant is going to yellow and lose those first little leafs your plant looks supremely healthy and is feeding well on the organic soil you got it in.

Transplanting is real easy just slide a butter knife around the edges of the pot palm the dirt with the plant stem between your finger and turn the pot upside down and the plant and root ball should come out safely. I've transplanted this time every time and my plant has never once slowed down or looked damaged.

YOU CAN MIX INGREDIENTS IN THE SAME GALLON OF WATER.

You don't need one separate gallon of water for one nute and one for the other. Just never mix the nutes together in their concentrated form, putting them into the same gallon of water one after the other is perfectly fine.

Cyrus420 said:

YOU CAN MIX INGREDIENTS IN THE SAME GALLON OF WATER.

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OOOOOOHHHHHH!!!! hahaha I'm so glad someone finally said something! This was the biggest area of confusion for me and I couldn't figure out why everything wasn't specific enough.

I think my plan as of now is to switch it to a 3 gallon pot with fox farms soil ASAP and just water for a few days/weeks to see what happens. The reason I'm all freaked out about the yellowing leaves is my first plant (which I didn't realize was sick as hell the whole time until I grew a healthy one) took a giant turn for the worse once the leaves yellowed, and the internet told me the yellowing meant it was time for nutes and I thought I was too late.

When you guys say the plant will "let me know" when it's time for nutes, what exactly does that mean? Droopy? Slowed growth? Discoloration?

MerryJane420 said:

On the weeks I'm supposed to use both Big Bloom and Grow Big, do I put the correct tsp measurements of BOTH into 2 GALLONS of water and then water as you said?

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When you see white hairs just stop using grow big and switch to the tiger bloom. There is no need to feed them both veg and flower nutrients in the same day. But thats just me...

Cyrus420 said:

First thing first the Nature's Care is not awful it's great for plants. When people say Miracle Gro is terrible they are referring to the slow release nutrients which are infamous for burning plants that can't handle the nutrient levels. You can still use the Nature's Care for the whole grow. Take a look at mine.

View attachment 3752788

I water this plant only every 2-3 days with tap water from my bathroom a few cups at a time. No extra nutrients or anything special.

If you're going to switch to Fox Farms your plant looks more than ready for it. You'll find Fox Farms is very rich and can make you some awesome green all on it's own without nutrients. I grew with Fox Farms my last grow and found my bag seed was real touchy to the addition of salt based nutrients. You say it's ready because the little round leafs are yellow? That doesn't mean much any healthy plant is going to yellow and lose those first little leafs your plant looks supremely healthy and is feeding well on the organic soil you got it in.

Transplanting is real easy just slide a butter knife around the edges of the pot palm the dirt with the plant stem between your finger and turn the pot upside down and the plant and root ball should come out safely. I've transplanted this time every time and my plant has never once slowed down or looked damaged.

YOU CAN MIX INGREDIENTS IN THE SAME GALLON OF WATER.

You don't need one separate gallon of water for one nute and one for the other. Just never mix the nutes together in their concentrated form, putting them into the same gallon of water one after the other is perfectly fine.

Click to expand...

I am glad somebody who has actually used his soil came in to help.

MerryJane420 said:

When you guys say the plant will "let me know" when it's time for nutes, what exactly does that mean? Droopy? Slowed growth? Discoloration?

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Anything other than green or light green. Here is the link I use to help me out. Start researching deficiencies, so that you know what to look out for. Normally, with happy frog soil, you won't need nutrients for the first month.

MerryJane420 said:

took a giant turn for the worse once the leaves yellowed, and the internet told me the yellowing meant it was time for nutes and I thought I was too late

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I think your plant looks fine. The only emergency is the transplant so that your plant can recover before you flip to 12/12. but ya I think it looks good.

Thanks to all y'all's awesome help, I did the repotting today!

Here's what I did, for the sake of science and experimentation...

Picked up a 2.5 gallon pot, Ocean Forest soil, perlite and 2 of the 3 Fox Farms nutrients - Grow Big and Big Bloom (I figured I had a few weeks before I had to get the third, and they're pricey)...

The repotting itself was STRESSFUL. I couldn't get the rootball free from the bottom of it's tiny 4" pot and had visions of me tearing apart all the roots and killing it. Thankfully I finally got it free, and OH MY GOD IT WAS, LIKE, DAYS FROM BEING FATALLY ROOTBOUND. I would have had NO idea to repot it anytime soon until you guys made it sound appropriately dire, so thank you!!

I filled the pot with 20 cups (1.25 gallons) soil and 4 cups perlite. I thought I'd need a larger perlite ratio until I realized that the soil itself contained a lot, and adding much more didn't "look" right, from what I'd seen in other people's grow photos.

I then watered it with 8 cups (0.5 gallon) of distilled water until a fairly steady drippy stream came out the drainage holes. I figured i'd give it some time to settle into the new high quality soil before I gave it any actual nutes just yet. I'll keep an eye on it and see when it wants it.

Thanks again everyone! I hope it's happy in it's new home