Rookie Grow

Long time reader, first time poster.

These are 6 Widow clones and 5 Casey Jones from a club in Oakland. I gave them very little sunlight their first 2 weeks and recently transfered the gals in to 7 gallon buckets.

I'm using Organic MG and timed release MG. The ph has been a steady at 6.5-6.8.

I'm looking for any and all advice as this is my first grow. I've read through the UB topping method thread and am planning on cutting above the 2nd node at 6 nodes on half the plants. I'm aware that Miracle Gro products are not optimal, but I had a short amount of time to get these going and had to work with what was available. Any input on veg or flowering nutes would be greatly appreciated as well as any "i don't like what i'm seeing here."

Thanks in advance and I will continue to post pics of the progress.

If you're using a time release miracle gro formula you should be alright...As far as nutes go I like to use organic things mostly. Though I have used fox farm and the like. The sunleaves bat guano's and peruvian sea bird guanos are good. As far as miracle gro goes...Thats a real big fuss over nothing in my opinion, I've had some miracle gro grown PPP before and it was just fine...I'm not dead, it tasted alright...

SativaGreenThumb said:

If you're using a time release miracle gro formula you should be alright...As far as nutes go I like to use organic things mostly. Though I have used fox farm and the like. The sunleaves bat guano's and peruvian sea bird guanos are good. As far as miracle gro goes...Thats a real big fuss over nothing in my opinion, I've had some miracle gro grown PPP before and it was just fine...I'm not dead, it tasted alright...

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Thank you for checking in on this. I have some friends with a lot of experience, but I want as few people to know about my plants as possible. This site seems like an amazing resource.

My brother has some "Big Bud?" flowering nutes that I was going to use or I was going to grab some fox farm stuff next week from a hydro store.

What are your thoughts on the Uncle Ben's topping method? I've read through that thread 20x and decided that I was going to apply it to half of the plants.

Not familiar with it so can't comment, I"ll probably check it out some time when I'm a little less busy and give ya an opinion.

I think I read somewhere that MG time release is the devil spawn, but I'm not sure if i remember right. You're best off checking that out, and then possibly transplanting your kids ASAP.

Sleepless

Sleepless said:

I think I read somewhere that MG time release is the devil spawn, but I'm not sure if i remember right. You're best off checking that out, and then possibly transplanting your kids ASAP.

Sleepless

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A few people on this site have used MG timed release with success, though clearly there are better alternatives. Again, I had to rush this and may pay the price, but they're looking healthy and growing well so far.

If I'm wrong on this, please send me the link. That's why I put the thread up, so I didn't make some catastrophic rookie move. Thanks again.

So I had a look at the thread. Looks to be just basic topping tutorial. But I am in favor of topping. As far as miracle gro goes, again...its really a big fuss over nothing. Its just like some people who will claim that hydro is the best and others who will say 100% organic soil is the best. All methods have their pros and cons. Smoking pot grown with miracle gro is not going to kill you!!! I prefer to make my own soil using a high quality soil as a base and grow 100% organic but its not a necessity and miracle gro is not a spawn of satan. Its just the cheapest decent soil mix out which is widely available at non specialisit shops and so the product has become popular among gardeners.

SativaGreenThumb said:

So I had a look at the thread. Looks to be just basic topping tutorial. But I am in favor of topping. As far as miracle gro goes, again...its really a big fuss over nothing. Its just like some people who will claim that hydro is the best and others who will say 100% organic soil is the best. All methods have their pros and cons. Smoking pot grown with miracle gro is not going to kill you!!! I prefer to make my own soil using a high quality soil as a base and grow 100% organic but its not a necessity and miracle gro is not a spawn of satan. Its just the cheapest decent soil mix out which is widely available at non specialisit shops and so the product has become popular among gardeners.

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Dumbfuck question here: the MG timed release claims on the directions that it's only needed once every 90 days. I'm planning on adjusting to flowering nutes once they enter that stage, which is will be sooner than "90 days." Is that a fucked idea?

As I mentioned, this grow has been derived from journals and threads I've read through on RIU, so I know my overall design here is fair at best. Also I understand the advanced levels of thought, patience, and analysis that goes in to soil creation, space design, and nutrient application - among other things.

I've also observed a sincere interest in making sure people don't fuck their shit up, which is why yours, and anyone else's input is highly valued.

Every week I will upload pics of the progress and of course be interested in feedback.

Watchful observation will be much appreciated.

-gracias

danvillain said:

Dumbfuck question here: the MG timed release claims on the directions that it's only needed once every 90 days. I'm planning on adjusting to flowering nutes once they enter that stage, which is will be sooner than "90 days." Is that a fucked idea?

As I mentioned, this grow has been derived from journals and threads I've read through on RIU, so I know my overall design here is fair at best. Also I understand the advanced levels of thought, patience, and analysis that goes in to soil creation, space design, and nutrient application - among other things.

I've also observed a sincere interest in making sure people don't fuck their shit up, which is why yours, and anyone else's input is highly valued.

Every week I will upload pics of the progress and of course be interested in feedback.

Watchful observation will be much appreciated.

-gracias

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I use mg and the girls love it. I think some people can get snobbish about it. On the other hand some strains may not like it. here's a pic.

roma46 said:

I use mg and the girls love it. I think some people can get snobbish about it. On the other hand some strains may not like it. here's a pic.

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are you using time released MG? When they flower do intend to use bloom nutes?

danvillain said:

are you using time released MG? When they flower do intend to use bloom nutes?

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FYI - After some guidance from a friend, I'll be giving them Earth Juice Catalyst and Age Old Veg and Bloom nutes.

Sorry these are a bit blurry, I will take a few more this weekend. Even though I've steadily rotated the plants positions, I think some are getting more sun than others because of the growth difference. The White Widow plants seem to be doing much better than the Casey Jones.

On Wednesday I'm starting to use Earth Juice Catalyst and Age Old veg nutes. These came highly recommended and I can't wait to see these plants get some juice. I also purchased the Age Old flowering nutes.

On the last pic, that plant is hurting. I'll take better pics in a week or so.

It's probably not too hard to distinguish between the WW and the Casey Jones. Because the nodes were offset, I had no idea how to apply the UB topping method (next time). I did pinch the tops of the plants off when they were 6 weeks.

Questions:

On the last few pics you'll notice three of the plants have yellow spots on the upper leaves. There's no evidence of pests and from what I've read here it's possible that the spots are a result of Nitrogen deficiency. I had planned on adding a fish emulsion to the those plants water supply. Is this the right thing to do?

Some of the plants are starting to lean. I have bamboo poles I'm going to use for support but if I send them down through the pots am I going to damage the roots?

Lastly, I had been pulling off the bottom leaves as they were hanging in the dirt, but on a few of the plants it looks like the new branches have bud sites. Should I tie these up towards the stalk or bamboo?

Thanks for stopping by and any and all input is appreciated.

adios, dvn

{you may notice there is one shitrunt - the plant died and I planted the topping}

Suggestions:
Lights, has both veg/flowering. The price, in my opinion, ain't the best, but it's a good for the versatility.
Haven't grown with this, plan to, but I hear raving reviews about this shit.
Get some oscillating fans, a good fresh breeze never hurts.
You could get a grow tent for like 200, waste of money to me, but I have no experience so eh. That's all I got so far, for an outdoor grow anyways.

4 out of the 11 plants are over 4 feet tall and are very much in the veg stage. The debate continues whether or not to let nature take it's course or forced flowering by putting dark bags over each one. Obviously I'm wondering how tall they're going to get because since I started using the Earth Juice Catalyst and Age Old veg nutes, they've grown 12inches every 10 days. That fence is about 8ft tall and it's probably smart I stay below that line. Does anyone have any opinions as to applying bush master at this point?

Three of the plants are have holes in some of the leaves. Little tiny holes that I'm guessing are some insect though I didn't see any insects or webs. This morning I wiped the back of each leaf down with lightly soaped water and when the sun went down hit them with a Neem Oil spray. I'm hoping this corrects what at this point is a minor problem, but if anyone has any ideas as to what may be causing this, I'd love some suggestions.

I didn't have very good lighting when I went to take these pics, but will take some more pictures next week.

Things are looking very good. The shortest of these are 9ft. They're about 6-7 weeks in to flowering and they probably have another 4 to go.

I've been reading a lot about trichrome coloration for harvest purposes and I'll probably harvest in phases with some of the plants being cut with cloudy trichromes and some with amber tones.

Props to RIU for all the info to make my first run, so far, a total success.

Wow! these plants are epic!

We had some rain last night and when I went to shake out the plants I noticed that the Casey Jones plants have some coloration in the hairs. I thought I had about 3-4 more weeks on those, but any feedback would be appreciated.

I used a little magnifying glass for a couple fo the photos. The WW has no orange hairs.

Today I'm going to introduce Cha-Ching in with the Fox Farms Big Bud. They had two feedings so far with the Fox Farms and they responded VERY well.

The tallest plant is 13ft and the shortest is 10ft. Any and all feedback welcome!

gracias,
D

Very lush! They are starting to get trichombs. You will have alot of trimming to do at harvest. The main colas must be huge. Thanks for the update pics.

danvillain said:

Long time reader, first time poster.

These are 6 Widow clones and 5 Casey Jones from a club in Oakland. I gave them very little sunlight their first 2 weeks and recently transfered the gals in to 7 gallon buckets.

I'm using Organic MG and timed release MG. The ph has been a steady at 6.5-6.8.

I'm looking for any and all advice as this is my first grow. I've read through the UB topping method thread and am planning on cutting above the 2nd node at 6 nodes on half the plants. I'm aware that Miracle Gro products are not optimal, but I had a short amount of time to get these going and had to work with what was available. Any input on veg or flowering nutes would be greatly appreciated as well as any "i don't like what i'm seeing here."

Thanks in advance and I will continue to post pics of the progress.

Click to expand...

MG potting soil is fine, no issues, just don't over water and get good light and they will be fine.

Check out this plant 6 weeks old topped with UB's topping technique, grown under a 600 watt hps in MG potting soil, never any problems.