FIRST GROW! Soil and a 400w mh/hps. PRAY FOR GIRLS!!!

Jack Harer said:

Get out of that mindset of watering a given amount every so many days.

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True! I have found the most valuable tool for a soil grow is moisture meter. They cost like 5 bucks and all you do is stick it in the soil, and it has a moisture meter 1/5 and dry. This is the EASIEST way to tell if you should water, especially because you get in there and check different areas in the pot.

Jack Harer said:

Get out of that mindset of watering a given amount every so many days. Water that sucker until you get run-off. Then feel the weight of the pot. Let the pot dry out before you water again, this time feel the weight of the empty pot. That's how you judge when to water. Give them what they want, when they want it, and always water until you get run-off. Keep the soil from separating from the sides of the pot. If it gets too dry, the water will run right out. If that happens, place the pot a the tub full of water and let it soak.
As for the soil, you're always better off with soil that has not been "pre-nuted". Start out with a soilless potting mix, then add compost and any other amendments you plan to use. If you do use pre nuted soil, remember that the nutes in it will get you thru 90 days or so, well into most flowering cycles.

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good stuff as always jack! I don't have a strict schedule as was kinda implied by my post. I water when they need it, and have run off each time. Not a lot of runoff,but runoff nonetheless! Was more just noting how I've had to increase what I give them. How much runoff is ideal? They bounced back nice huh jack?! Thanks again for all your help!

growbuddy1 said:

True! I have found the most valuable tool for a soil grow is moisture meter. They cost like 5 bucks and all you do is stick it in the soil, and it has a moisture meter 1/5 and dry. This is the EASIEST way to tell if you should water, especially because you get in there and check different areas in the pot.

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Thought about picking a few of those up. Im trying to work on getting it down by doing ye olde pot lift, I still may grab a few if those meters, as they are fairly inexpensive!

Yes, they bounced back fine!! Looking good there!

Thank you jack. Will post new pics tonight or tomorrow! There has been nice growth in the past few days. Then friday morning ill be leaving for a week! Scary scary...I have a babysitter(brother in-law), that should be able to handle a watering or two.

loyaltytoafault said:

Thank you jack. Will post new pics tonight or tomorrow! There has been nice growth in the past few days. Then friday morning ill be leaving for a week! Scary scary...I have a babysitter(brother in-law), that should be able to handle a watering or two.

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I'm in the same boat (leaving for a week on Thursday). I'm just giving them a good feed/watering and hoping for the best...

ottawaliquid said:

I'm in the same boat (leaving for a week on Thursday). I'm just giving them a good feed/watering and hoping for the best...

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Doesn't it make.you nervous as all hell?! I'm having my brother do watering, but I don't trust him to do the lst on my babies. Don't want any branches being snapped. So they will be growing out of control for a week.....it just sucks. But, at least when I come back they will look very different....hopefully good.different .

FWIW I don't think your booster fan is helping, if anything I'd think it is causing more strain on your 170 fan because it's like an obstruction in the duct. I'd try it without the fan, check temps and compare. It could improve the life of the 170 and save a buck or two on electric.

I also don't water to runoff, I think it's a waste of nutes. And being that I water that way I also use the low end of the nute recommendation. Good luck the rest of the way!

supchaka said:

I also don't water to runoff, I think it's a waste of nutes.

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if you feed every other watering then just let it runoff when you feed plain water.

if you feed every watering then wasting the nutes is probally better than letting all of the salts buildup around roots then you have to flush with all kinds of other shit to remove them wich cost money so for what your saving you may end up having to put in anyways + time and aggrovation, not to mention the damage it does to the plant.

this past summer i had a issue with salt buildups because i only fed 1 gal of water once a week, had barely any runoff and ended up really messing up one of my plants, it ended up getting cut down 4-5 weeks early because it was nute locked due to salt buildups.

i mean do it how you want, personally i will feed every other and just let the tap water runoff so im not wasting my nutes but it is definatly a good idea to let the water runoff, it really sucks having lockouts 5 weeks from harvest after all the time you spend on them.

and yes i know this will not always happen, im just saying it could be a potential problem and why not try and prevent it

supchaka said:

FWIW I don't think your booster fan is helping, if anything I'd think it is causing more strain on your 170 fan because it's like an obstruction in the duct. I'd try it without the fan, check temps and compare. It could improve the life of the 170 and save a buck or two on electric.

I also don't water to runoff, I think it's a waste of nutes. And being that I water that way I also use the low end of the nute recommendation. Good luck the rest of the way!

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I have a 200cfm booster, but figured it was overkill and would suck through carbon filter (200cfm rated)too fast, not scrubbing all the air. I took the 80 CFM out and replaced ducting and didn't hear any difference in centrifugal fan. Didn't sound like my 80cfm was causing any resistance. At this point I don't want to experiment with temps and shit over.any period of time. I think I'll keep it as is for this run. I haven't been giving any nutes yet, only what's in the soil. The majority rules as far as runoff goes, like brute said, don't want a nasty salt buildup! Thanks for coming through and the comments! Happy growing!

loyaltytoafault said:

More pictures!! I adjusted my tie-downs and added a few more to some particularly big fan leaves. I have about 30 tops between the 6 plants, with more on the way! The daily growth is so fun to watch!!! Also, the plants are starting to stink already. Carbon filter working awesome though. No smell anywhere until I open the cab and then BAM!

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I see some nice healthy green, great job.

This BAM you speak of, I know of this as well. Congratulations.

TheRuiner said:

I see some nice healthy green, great job.

This BAM you speak of, I know of this as well. Congratulations.

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Thanks buddy, I appreciate it!!

UPDATE:
Took some pictures yesterday afternoon. They are all looking pretty Damn good. Some better than others, but for the most part they are filling in wonderfully! Going to have to let them just grow vertically soon or I may not have enough room ! Saw 3 plants with signs of sex. They were super super small little tear drops at the internodes(?). Too small to get a good picture with my shaky hands, but looked like female to me . Bb #3 and #1, and afghan kush#1(most sativa looking plant I have) are the 3 showing. Should have 100% confirmation by the time I'm back from my trip on the 31st! Not much else to report right now!


Hmmm, not sure how the picture of my daughters haircut got in there? Can't get rid of it from my phone though.

outstanding bro everything is looking great. give them a few more days til you actually see the white hairs to know they are female.

yes they do look great, impatiently waiting for the next update already

matthebrute said:

yes they do look great, impatiently waiting for the next update already

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Haha, thank you sir! Won't have another update until new years eve! It'll be worth the wait ! Happy holidays to you and yours!

loyaltytoafault said:

Haha, thank you sir! Won't have another update until new years eve! It'll be worth the wait ! Happy holidays to you and yours!

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those are the best ones cuz you can see a noticable difference. happy hollidays to you too hope you and your family have a great week...see ya in 2012

quick update:
Ok this one is the last update of the year. Just had to throw one more picture of all if them filling their 4 gal pots. So many freaking tops!! And also a picture of the only plant with big enough parts to get on camera. CONFIRMED FEMALE!!! See the two hairs !!!! Damn my camera can take some sick pictures!

yeah bro i definitely see the hairs. congrats!

sweet thread hoping to do the same with mine,nice selection of plants going be watching this as there has been some growth on those plants,how moist does the soil have to be the first 3 weeks