My first mistake, first grow.

I Love Indica

I Love Indica

Active Member
Today I realized my first mistake as a newbie was to start without a ph meter for soil or water. It's driving me crazy not knowing what my ph is :confused: I'm starting to see spotting and edges turning brown and I know it's from lockout not deficiency. I got everything else but the meters cause my funds were low...I still gotta have smoke till I grow'em :lol: They should be able to hold out until Tuesday? Can anyone recommend one of each?

Hopefully no one else is making this mistake :shock: :peace::peace::peace::peace:
 

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blatMachine

blatMachine

Member
I went to wal-mart and got a cheap fish tank ph tester for less than $5. It only measures between 6.0 and 7.6 but that's all you really need.
 
rene112388

rene112388

Well-Known Member
I went to one the garden shops got soil/water ph meter 8 bucks good decision what kind of water are you using?
 
G

gobbly

Well-Known Member
water and soil PH meters are different. If it's a question of one or the other, I'd get the soil tester. It will take you a water or two to get it set properly this way. They aren't pricey.
 
The Ruiner

The Ruiner

Well-Known Member
There are really crappy soil testers out there...be careful. The cheapest most accurate solution is the bromothymol testing solution. Trust me on this, I learnt from experience. I still use solution, and I use a multimeter to test EC...some cheap, but accurate ways to make sure you are taking good care of your girls.

I run a canna/coco system and I have to test my EC/ph everytime I feed, these two have not failed me. Together, you would spend about $20 to measure the most important indicators of solution strength. Don't take a short cut. Spend $20 and be safe.
 
jawbrodt

jawbrodt

Well-Known Member
They are right about that size where they slow way down, in party cups, and are ready for transplant. Buy some distilled water to go along with it, and you won't have to worry about PH, or deficiencies, for awhile. It'll buy you lots of time to get a PH meter. Plus, they'll really take off, again. :)
 
I Love Indica

I Love Indica

Active Member
jawbrodt said:
They are right about that size where they slow way down, in party cups, and are ready for transplant. Buy some distilled water to go along with it, and you won't have to worry about PH, or deficiencies, for awhile. It'll buy you lots of time to get a PH meter. Plus, they'll really take off, again. :)
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I started with regular Poland Spring and now I'm using the distilled...I've only watered once so far with it. I was thinking of going into 3 gallon grow bags next week??? does this sound right? Thinking of switching to FFOF with the transplant and getting some Jack's Classic.
 
rene112388

rene112388

Well-Known Member
I'd just go with 5 gal buckets you will find most people go for 5 gal ffof great stuff I'd say use that and funny someone said water and soil ph meters are different well the one I bought says water/soil was using test strips for water then one day thought ill see if my soil meter does work for water ph and funny enough within a minute it registered the same ph however a ppm meter is different
 
Oldgrowth

Oldgrowth

Well-Known Member
What kind of soil? Any good potting soil has plenty of nuttrients for at least three weeks. Tell me your not feeding them yet are you? If you are go flush them three times with fresh water.
 
I Love Indica

I Love Indica

Active Member
Oldgrowth said:
What kind of soil? Any good potting soil has plenty of nuttrients for at least three weeks. Tell me your not feeding them yet are you? If you are go flush them three times with fresh water.
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I'm using Scott's premium (it has those little nute balls) and Miracle Grow Perlite...I'm only watering, but I think my water/soil may not have been ph balanced and the plants are'nt taking up the nutes. I'm going to be switching to a bigger pot in 2 days with FFOF so I know they will be getting everything they need then.
 
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stealthymurph

Active Member
damn mr or mrs indica you should have told me you started a thread haha. and yeah a ph meter will be worth the doe, idk witch is better tho. and you want to go with 5 gallon or bigger. still looking green and healthy.
 
jawbrodt

jawbrodt

Well-Known Member
I Love Indica said:
I'm using Scott's premium (it has those little nute balls) and Miracle Grow Perlite...I'm only watering, but I think my water/soil may not have been ph balanced and the plants are'nt taking up the nutes. I'm going to be switching to a bigger pot in 2 days with FFOF so I know they will be getting everything they need then.
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Stick with the FFOF from now on, in case you haven't already realized that. Anything with pellet fert is a no-no,(unless you are outdoors, in some cases) because you lose control of feeding schedules. OF isn't going to hurt your babies, unless you happen to get a strain that is very sensitive to nutes. There aren't very many, but, they do exist, from what I've read. Most of the time it's the growers mistake, causing nuteburn. I've grown about 10 strains, and OF never hurt them one bit. :)
 
I Love Indica

I Love Indica

Active Member
I figure since it's my first grow and I'm using bag seed not to get the FFOF just yet...I'm going to wait until my next grow. I made another mistake..lol. I'm going to post about it now.
 
I Love Indica

I Love Indica

Active Member
stealthymurph said:
damn mr or mrs indica you should have told me you started a thread haha. and yeah a ph meter will be worth the doe, idk witch is better tho. and you want to go with 5 gallon or bigger. still looking green and healthy.
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My fault Murph.... Your the one who sparked the flame...lol. I don't think I have enough light to go 5 gallon because I'm using CFL's. I already have 10 running a lil over 200 W. I've transferred them from the party cups and I made another mistake..lol.
 
I Love Indica

I Love Indica

Active Member
I Love Indica said:
My fault Murph.... Your the one who sparked the flame...lol. I don't think I have enough light to go 5 gallon because I'm using CFL's. I already have 10 running a lil over 200 W. I've transferred them from the party cups and I made another mistake..lol.
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I transferred into MG Organic Garden Soil not potting soil...I had filled all my pots and was going to throw the bag away when I seen it was not for pots. Are my crops a goner? I guess your suppose to mix it with your soil outside. I mixed it with MG Perlite and Dr. Earth's Bat Guano 10-3-1. I still have 2 that I did'nt transfer yet I figured I'd mix them with the scotts combined with what I have left from this mix. Here is what the soil is looking like.
 
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stealthymurph

Active Member
I Love Indica said:
My fault Murph.... Your the one who sparked the flame...lol. I don't think I have enough light to go 5 gallon because I'm using CFL's. I already have 10 running a lil over 200 W. I've transferred them from the party cups and I made another mistake..lol.
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you live and learn. i have made a shit load of mystakes growing myself. what size pots did you put them in?
 
S

stealthymurph

Active Member
I Love Indica said:
I transferred into MG Organic Garden Soil not potting soil...I had filled all my pots and was going to throw the bag away when I seen it was not for pots. Are my crops a goner? I guess your suppose to mix it with your soil outside. I mixed it with MG Perlite and Dr. Earth's Bat Guano 10-3-1. I still have 2 that I did'nt transfer yet I figured I'd mix them with the scotts combined with what I have left from this mix. Here is what the soil is looking like.
Click to expand...
i honestly have no clue. if i where you i would transplant into diffrent soil just for safety. good luck.
 
I Love Indica

I Love Indica

Active Member
stealthymurph said:
you live and learn. i have made a shit load of mystakes growing myself. what size pots did you put them in?
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I'm not sure, I ask for 3 gallon and she said they are in inches. I got 14 inches which was the largest. they were 99 cent each. I have some Barney's Phatty Fruit and Royal Queen's Silver Haze for the next go around. I'm going to start with 1 gallon smart parts then move to 3 or 5.
 
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