SOIL First Grow

[Macadellic]

Hello GWE community,

I am setting up my first grow with much builded anticipation for myself as things have finally aligned. My light and tent are on the way I've aqcuired hotsoil and containers! I think im on track thus far. Id like to set up a grow journal to properly document the entire process. If anyone has any tips as to exactly what info to include, improvements, etc. wonderful im all ears! Id like this to be where I document this information. I hope I am posting this in the "right" place for a grow journal.

Tent size: 32"x32"x63"

Light: 1000w LED Phlizon CREE Cob Light

Container: 3gal. fabric bags

Medium: (need to grab a good soil with no slow release BS, grabbed a bag of that junk by accident) & HOT SOIL in bottom of container filled with quality soil (so I won't need to worry about nutrients ideally)

Tools: sunglasses....anything else...?

I was looking into PH meters and then realized that they actually require a good amount of maintenance and special gels for storing....I was just thinking about buying spring water just for the plant. Hope everyone is staying strong through this pandemic and keeping the immune system up!

.....I also have some diatomatious earth ready for any knats that dare come my way!

Pics to follow


Thank you,
Macadellic

 

[CaptainWiese91]

About the Ph meters. Never heard what you are describe. Never calibrated mine, never done anything to it for the last 2 years. Than meter my Ph level. I’m doing great,
as for soil I’m usin standard tomato soil, it’s has the right nutrients for the 3-5 weeks in the start. And also has the right Ph level in the soil for cannabis plants.

 

[MeestaFeesha]

Ah, them gnarly gnats! You're in the right place bud, what are you planning to grow?

I do not use a pH meter(pen) myself, but I had not heard of them having excessive maintenance/care. More that it's worth buying a quality one over a cheap-o.

I had not thought of putting nutrient rich soil as a base layer, are you opposed to using liquid nutrients added to your water? You would have more control on what the plant is receiving at which time.

 

[D.A.A.S.69]

What type of hotsoil did you get ?something like KindSoil?
Coco-Loco works very well over KindSoil, plus it will hold your plants a couple of weeks before your roots get in the hotsoil .
If it's your first grow I'd suggest a ph,meter for sure, the cheap yellow 20buck ones on Amazon work fine, an are easy to calibrate, if you like growing you might want to get a good one like BlueLabs.
I grow in living soil, that's hot, an don't use a ph meter any longer, only because I know what my water an teas are from over the years.
You just don't want to water to runoff, or there goes all your good stuff in your soil, sometimes I use a saucer under my fabric pots to wick the excess back up ,it wicks back up in a matter of minutes, then I remove the sauciers,
What are the actual watts coming from the wall from your light?
You got about 7-8 sq. ft, in your tent, an normally you want 40-50watts a sq. ft. to grow decent plants, i hope your light is strong enough.
If I was you, I'd suggest autos for your first grow, some go from sprout to harvest in 65-80days, with most being ready around day 80 or so, unless they got NLights, in them, then they will take longer ,like 90-100days.
Anyway good luck, it's a very addictive hobby, that's a hellava lot of fun, plus your finished product is much, much better, than that dogshit, you buy across the tracks.
HappyGrowing

 

[Macadellic]

Hey all you cool cats and kittens,

First off, thank you for the responses!! I really appreciate the input! I will look into one the cheaper Ph meters now that I know it wont require a bunch of maintenance!

I finally got my grow space set up!

MeestaFeesha:

Id prefer to grow primarily feminized seeds simply for bigger yields per plant.

I have one Black Mamba clone currently in the tent.

I have one Critical +, and one Amnesia Haze currently germinating...and i just ordered a bunch more seeds from seedsman. (A mix of feminized and auto fem)

Its not that I am opposed to liquid nutrients, i actually have the fox farms liquid nutrients but for sake of convenience I bought kind soil hot soil so all I have to do is water.

Has anyone seen coco loco in stores or is it something id need to order. I think i might go with CaptainWiese91 of using tomato soil as the base and kindsoil hot soil as the 1/3 filling on the bottom of the pot as the company suggests.

D.A.A.S.69 are you growing in only hot soil or filling the bottom 1/3 of the pot and filling the rest with another soil?

From what I read online I selected a pretty good chinese light but they fudge the numbers. So from what I read the actual watts coming from the wall is 245w. I have another cheap 75w LED I was considering using as a supplement in the tent later on.

Thanks again all! I know im embarking on a lifelong hobby!

 

[D.A.A.S.69]

Yeah, when I used KindSoil, I used 1pound , or 7cups of KindSoil per 1gallon of pot size, so if your using 3gallon pots, you want to use 3lbs.,or 21cupfuls of KindSoil on the bottom of your pot, an Coco-Loco in the top half of your pots,
PH your water between 6.0-7.0, an you'll do fine. Around 6.5 is just right.
GoodLuck an HappyGrowing

 

[Macadellic]

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[Macadellic]

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[Macadellic]

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[Macadellic]

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[Macadellic]

So both seeds sprouted! I am keeping clear plastic cups on them for now. I have 3 fabric pots in the grow space and noticed a lot of moisture has started to build up in the tent. I have the lights on 24-0 and im thinking maybe an 18-6 would help. I just opened the top vent to try and help a little. Other than that the plants seem pretty content.

I had to repot the clone in new soil because I accidentally planted it in slow release nutrients soil. I noticed signs of nutrient burn before reporting so its still a little stressed out. Each pot is a base of kind soil and then filled with fox farms happy frog soil.

Thank you for any and all input!

 

[Macadellic]

Hey all you frosted flakes,

I've been compiling pictures of the grow and for my first time I think the girls have come along really well. just under 2 months in! So just an update: I water every 2-3 days. 18-6 light cycle. I am using Kind Soil Hot Soil as a 1/3 base in the pots and filled the rest with Fox Farms Happy Frog. I have one clone growing which is the biggest and two plants I started from seed. While I did use a hot soil I did supplement the grow with some Fox farms liquid nutrients every other week for about 3 weeks now. I noticed some weird discoloration on the leaves early on that stopped after the liquid nutrients and I haven't seen any signs since. I was thinking to give them bud producing nutrients when I switch to flower and if the liquid nutrients plus the hot soil are too much Ill just flush them. Thoughts? An insight on the discolored leaves? And finally, as I come up on two months I am wondering if I should wait another month or begin switching to a 12-12 cycle.

Cheers!

 

[Macadellic]

Amnesia Haze

 

[Macadellic]

Critical +

 

[Macadellic]

Black Mamba Part 1 - Clone

 

[Macadellic]

Black Mamba Part 2 - Clone

 

[Macadellic]

Unhealthy leaves from early into grow....I haven't seen many signs other than some leaves displaying the claw

 

[Macadellic]

Then and now...last pic is the most recent. Should I give them another month before switching to flowering?