Need someones input!!!!

Ok, so i just started my first grow. i was excited to see my seeds germinated so i rushed out and picked up whatever medium i could find. just so happend to be Miracle grow with time release nutes. after reading how everyone hates this stuff i want to change.. would it be ok to switch to something organic when i transfer my lil babies to bigger pots, or will it be too much stress for them?? any help is deeply appreciated!!! thanks in advance!!!!

It will not effect the plants at all has long has you let the plants dry before the re potting is done.Wait for the small pots to dry out and then just turn them upside down squeezing the sides and the whole plant will come out far easyer than if it was wet.Put in the new grow medium and carry on with the grow has normal,try not to get into any bad habbits like over watering let them dry out a little this will benefit you and the over hall yeild.By letting the plants dry it will force the plant to send out new roots searching for nutrients and water.Also try and keep the lights has close has possible so that the plants don't become to leggy you want nice tight internodes.Water once a week twice at max but once will normaly do it.Good growing tyke...............................................

I use soils with slow release nutes for 5 grows now, never posed a problem.
Advanced growers would rather build their own soil mix containing what suits their plants, fertiliers and needs. Starting with time release nutes will actually be better for beginners from my point of view, as you will only need to start fertilizing after 2-3 weeks of growth.
However, you treat it differently.
You should transplant to the starting pot when you get roots, and then trasplant to the final pot. NEVER transplant while the plant is over 3 weeks of flowering as thoes time release nutes will not break down in time to flush.

As goes for watering - water when needed. Simple method to get dialed in is to keep a spare pot with the same medium without a plant and check its weight. water it just like you water the other pots. then lift that extra pot and see if its heavier. if it is - don't water. when no water will be left in it, it would be just as light as it used to.
for the first few weeks it works that way, later on the plant will take substantial emount of water. then you should lift the pot that contains the plant to determine if it needs watering.
Another method is sticking your finger 2-3 inches deep. if it feels even a bit moist - don't water.
Another method, which I do not like, is a bought meter.

If your using the correct size of pot, one that will not cause any root binding, you should be fine watering once every 5-10 days if you run around 24°C.
If your using smaller pot compared to the root mass you will need to water more. If by the start of flowering you need to water more than twice a week, repot.

Subcool checked and figured that a plant that gets rootbound will finish way after a plant that had enough rootspace, even if the rootbound plant will get transplanted.
I do agree with him.

Underwatered plants will raise their leaves "praying" for water. after around 24hours the plant will become droopy and suffer some trauma.
Overwatered plants will go to the droopy traumatic stage right away.
Overwatering can cause root rotting, promote deceases, and atract pests. Underwatering only weakens the plant and MIGHT promote some bugs to come when it gets to the droopy part, but after 24 hours or so it is good as dead.

Overwatering is quickly fixed by stopping watering, and leaning the pot to its side letting excess water do drain. Usually it also tells you that more draining holes might be benificial.
Underwatering is quickly fixed by watering.

When a plant suffers any trauma related to watering its better to give it a bit less nutes on its next feeding.

If you know you have a tendency to water too much, add a lot of perlite to the mix. When you use 50% perlite you can water once every 2 days and the plant will still be healthy and happy. It will promote faster root growth as well. However, watering will become more frequent.

^^^^^^^^what he said, i've used the same soil you are many times never had a problem, if its not broke don't fix it?

Wow, thanks for the boatload of info!!! Very kind of you.. only other question i have is, how do i know when my plants get roots? today is the 6th day theyve been in the "party cups"... Also, one of my plants have a little bit of yellow on the end of the one leaf.. is that due to over watering?? ive been watering a little bit each day.. which i plan on stopping now.. Thanks again!!!

SmokinJoe113 said:

Wow, thanks for the boatload of info!!! Very kind of you.. only other question i have is, how do i know when my plants get roots? today is the 6th day theyve been in the "party cups"... Also, one of my plants have a little bit of yellow on the end of the one leaf.. is that due to over watering?? ive been watering a little bit each day.. which i plan on stopping now.. Thanks again!!!

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The trick with those time released nutes is really to watch your watering. If you are watering too often, your also releasing nutes too often. If you water too much, you're releasing too much at once. I would suggest a 50/50 mix of the soil and perlite as suggested above to A) allow your roots to grow faster and B) to promote very good drainage. Overwatering is going to be your demise, so do what you can to avoid it in the first place.

Cool man.. I dont know how to thank you guys enough!!! What would be the "correct" pot size to use? my grow box is 22" x 24" x 47" high..

depends on how big you are gonna grow your plants i use 2 gallon buckets

I never managed to over-fertilize with slow release nutes :S

I recommand mixing 50% pelite to the first pot you use so its easier for the plant when it is still touchy. When you move on use AT LEAST 20% pelite in your mix. you might have some perlite in your pre-mix already, so take that into consideration.
If you want faster growth and to water more, add up to 50% pelite.
If you want to water less, add as little as 20% pelite.



If you see roots from your drainage holes - you need to transplant.

I rather use clear plastic cups as my first pot, sometimes covered by party cups to prevent light from damaging the roots, and I can just see when it needs transplanting. From there I usually go to my final pot or change only one more time.


Your pots should be covering your floor. I don't know how many plants you have to make the calculations for you.



If you need anything else and I happen to miss your post, feel free to PM me.

i have 3 plants now... im going to add one more because the one seed that i had never germinated and i planted it anyway for the hell of it.. it hasnt done anything yet, so im going to germinate one more and try again..

one of my seedlings still has the seed shell on top of her, i can see the leaves kind of balled up inside the shell.. will it just fall off one day, or should i take it off?? The third seedling had the shell on top and it looks like it just fell off, taking the leaves and everything with it... will it be ok, or should i get rid of it and start another???

thanks again man!! i was going to pm you all this but i dont want to be a nuisance..

don't overdo it. they should get rid of the shells themselves.
if you see the shell isn't falling 2-3 days after breaking the surface, gently, very gently, pull it out. if there's ANY resistance - stop and let it do it itself.

remember - marijuana is a hardy plant. it can grow without you as well. it would grow to harvest if you would just put it in the pre-mixed soil bag and watered once a week with tap water.
we want to give it the best conditions though, but its easy to overdo things at first.


the first 3 weeks after breaking ground with pre-mixed soil containing time release nutes is as follow:
day 1 - put mix in a pot. water pot with 6.7 PHed water. let it drain through the draining holes until it stops dripping. put seed in soil 5mm deep.
day 10 - give seedling water. pour slowly until water comes from the drainage holes. pick up pot and let all excess water drip.
day 17 - water again.
day 21 - check if plant needs watering.

beside that all you need to do is keeping a 32W CFL, or something stronger around 3 inches from the seedling, and maintaining temps around 24°C and humidity starting at 80% and by day 21 you should reach around 60%.
to build up humidity you put a clear plastic cup over the seedling.

THATS ALL YOU NEED TO DO IN THE FIRST 3 WEEKS.

you don't need to water everyday. you don't need to touch your plant. you don't need to fertilize your plant. you don't have to watch it every hour.


I have 7 big plants and 3 small plants flowering at week 2 and a half, 6 mother plants and 7 clones a few weeks old in a seperate closet. All hand watered, half of them are soil plants and half are coco\perlite.
I attend my garden once every 3-4 days. It doesn't die.
And that only because I hand water. If I was running my auto-watering system I wouldn't had to go there more than once a week.

My point - KISS. keep it simple, stupid.


Have a great night.

ps. I write too much as I had coffee 12 hours ago. I'm VERY sensitive to caffeine. I really need to go catch some sleep. :X

AWESOME!! Youre a life saver, or should i say "plant saver"... thanks again man... they are doing much better now that i havent watered them.. So, when i do water them, how much should i give them? should i water until the water starts coming out of the drain holes??

water slowly until you get 10%-20% runoff.

Congratulations

When would be a good time to switch light cycles? im on day nine and still running 24/0

SmokinJoe113 said:

When would be a good time to switch light cycles? im on day nine and still running 24/0

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Assuming you mean to 18/6 anytime is fine.

when they reach 1\3 to 1\2 of your available height is usually a good time.

Night Claptoman said:

I recommend mixing 50% pelite to the first pot you use so its easier for the plant when it is still touchy. When you move on use AT LEAST 20% pelite in your mix. you might have some perlite in your pre-mix already, so take that into consideration.
If you want faster growth and to water more, add up to 50% pelite.
If you want to water less, add as little as 20% pelite.

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Hey Night Claptoman. I have a question about perlite and watering frequency. I have posted it here https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/279393-target-watering-frequency.html I am certainly going to add extra perlite to a number of plants in my next grow.

How much perlite would you reccommend adding if you don't mind watering often ? And also do you lower the nutrient strength if you have to water more often ?

Cheers

the more perlite you add - the better.
you could grow in straight perlite as well if you like to.
however, the more perlite you have - the more you need to water.

straight perlite should be used with PH of around 6.2 and prefferably with hydro nutes theme.


using perlite with soil makes the soil fluffier and so allowing more air to get to the roots (roots love air. really love air) and its easier for them to poke through.
happy roots makes a happy plant. happy plant makes happy buds which makes a happy stoner. stoners like to consume happy meals. I love happy meals.

Anyway, if your new to growing, add 50% perlite. yes, thats a lot.
It will makes overwatering nearly impossible, and thats a good thing.

I also like to start working with new mediums using clear pots. its crap for the roots, but it allows me to know exactly when a plant needs watering as I can see how much water is left.


if you water more you just give less water. your feeding goes by ml\liter, and using less liters meaning using less fertilizers.
its actually better to water bit by bit everytime and do it alot, if you allow the soil to dry out properly before you next water.


If your not sure you need to water- don't. I can let my coco\perlite (50\50 mix, coco holds much less water than soil) almost rootbound plants go with one good watering for 5-6 days. I can water them once a day - they would flourish as well. but why to bother when they don't really need it.


anyway. 50% perlite to start with. add a layer of perlite on the bottom as well.

as i'm a lazzyass that doesn't like to water often I cut on my perlite when I use soil giving only 15-20% perlite, but the soil I use have some chunky perlite in it to start with and a good emount of coco.

1 gallon per a foot size of plant

Alright Night Claptoman.

Thanks for the comprehensive reply, I am using a mix which already contains perlite (prob about 10-15%) so I will add a load more to the test subjects and make observations over the course of the grow.

Grow will be starting in next few weeks so I will keep you posted.

Peace.