First Timer needs help

[MrGreen23]

Is there a way to calibrate my pH meter without buffering solution? my water reading the first time I tested was right around 7.0. Last feeding, it was showing 7.8.

[Beach_Town_Brit]

If you mix some distilled white vinegar with water you can use that as a quick and dirty PH benchmark. The 'internet says' that white vinegar in a 5% solution should read about 2.4 PH.

I calibrated a friend's PH meter this way and when we subsequently tested that meter with calibration liquid it was only off by about 0.1

[NebulaHaze]

It's really nice to have the calibration fluid. You get water you know is pH 4.0 and 7.0, and you can use it to test if your pH pen is accurate. That way you know you can trust that your readings are correct. It definitely gives you peace of mind!

[MrGreen23]

I tried some apple cider vinegar, which is around 3.5, give or take. Funny thing is, when I rinsed it and tested the water again, it was back to normal. I pHed down to 6 with lemon juice because the outgoing water was high last time.

[Karlee]

The natural way, Gordo does the same.

If using the PH up and Down I found if I didn't shake the bottle my reading could be off ....Lesson, I shake everything now before using

[MrGreen23]

I prefer lemon juice because it may add a little taste to the buds. I don't think I'll use vinegar to bring it down. i would rather drink lemonade than vinegarade...just sayin lol.

[kingfish]

I'm not a fan of putting anything in my plants that would alter the taste.

[MrGreen23]

Hi guys,

Only 4 days later and check the progress! They are growing fast now. The tops are getting longer by the day. I did a light pruning and removed the damaged leaves yesterday and have decided to let hem veg until Friday(42 days). I will do Sea of Green. I like the tutorials I've seen on it. Wish me luck!

[Karlee]

Just watch the fan leaves covering up the bud sites. They look happy now!

[MrGreen23]

Yea I thought about that, which is why I'm going to SCROG them when i start flowering. Can't believe more people don't do it...seems to be the way to bigger yields and all tops get even light..

[kingfish]

I only grow for myself and don't really want that much of the same type of weed. I did that last time and ended up smoking Purple Kush for over a year. If I can get 8 colas on each of my 4 plants, that will be all I need. But as for what you want, I say go for it. You get all the support you ever need from this place.

[MrGreen23]

King, being that this is my first time, I have no idea what to expect as far as yield. That's why I have 4 different plants growing. Having too much will not be a problem...I have 3 brothers that also indulge lol!

[MrGreen23]

Good morning everyone,

I have a big question. 2 of my plants (Medial Skunk and the bag seed) are growing faster than the others (White Thunder and Special Kush #1). Their tops are longer and the branches are thicker. I'm guessing it's because they are 4 different strains. They have been vegging now for 37 days, so I'm sure I can start flowering. Definitely don't want to over-veg. First question is: Can I still scrog these without having to veg much longer? In all the videos I've seen, the plants are either taller or bushier with stronger branches. The screens are also set at a certain height and they say let the plants grow up into it. I don't think the 2 smaller plants will fit...they're only 12 inches tall, while the other 2 are 16 inches. Guess I shoulda studied supercropping, topping and lollipopping more (sigh). Seems like the people in the videos are only bending branches, not the main stem. I really wanted to try this method. Is there any way to still do it? Second question: Should I start flowering now or allow the smaller plants to grow more? I'm still confident, just a little frustrated at this point. You guys are really knowledgeable, so please help! Thanks guys.

[NebulaHaze]

They look good! If you want to scrog, now would be a good time to start. The idea of scrog is to "weave" your plant through the screen in the vegetative stage, and once the net is mostly full, switch to 12/12 so the whole screen is just a bunch of colas.

This diagram shows the structure of a proper Scrog



These plants have all been scrogged





If you just put a screen on top without weaving the plant through the screen, it's basically just structural support at that point, which might be what you're looking for but not a true scrog.

This diagram shows the common structure of cannabis plants under screens which have not been properly scrogged.



The following picture has a beautiful under current, but this is not a Scrog. Skeletal support at best, but again, not an example of a real Scrog.



One isn't necessarily better than the other, every training method will get great yields indoors as long as you create a wide, flat canopy with lots of bud sites.

For example if you topped your plants you could spread the two new main colas down and away from the middle to help spread the plant out. If you did that with 4 plants you could cover a lot of area. Bending over the tallest stems and securing them down is also what you probably want to do for the taller plants. The main goal of training is to keep all the colas at the same height, so it's a good idea to always be bending over any stems that get taller than the others.

If you don't want to top you can just use bending by itself (LST - low stress training).

For example this plant is about a foot tall but is engulfed in fat buds.



Now take a look at the "guts" of this plant to see how this shape was achieved with LST



The main stem was first bent down and away from the center of the plant, towards the side. After that, the grower continued to bend the main stem in a circle around the plant. As a result, several lower growth tips rose up to become colas with fat chunky buds, giving much bigger yields than if there was just one main cola.

So you definitely have tons of choices as far as training! As far as when to switch to the flowering stage it's generally recommended to flip to 12/12 when the plant is about half the final desired size since most plants about double in size after the switch to 12/12. Hope that helps!

[MrGreen23]

Thank you...this helps a lot! I have my trellis net and zip ties ready. I was just really worried about vegging too long. I'm wondering how long the smaller will take to grow into the net because the lower tops are really small. I'm going to set it up tomorrow. Thanks again!

[Tika]

It will be interesting to see what you choose to do MrGreen. I have never done scroGing but find it a fascinating process.
I just top & LST ..I'm Wanna be .ScroGer. Hope you post many pics

[MrGreen23]

Well here's my first scrog attempt. I'm not very happy. First, the net didn't fit right and the squares were huge 5.5". I had to cut the space in half using sewing thread wrapped 3 times lol! I was thinking about pruning some of the lower branches and put them into flower on Saturday. Being that I didn't do a ton of early training, I'll just have to wait and see what happens.