Thanks in advance for taking the time to help me with this grow. I live in Canada and growing indoors.
To begin with, I have always wanted to grow but never committed to it. While researching led lights and equipment I decided to take 6 mostly poor seeds I found in my smoke. I think most were undersized as they were incidental. My equip was not purchased yet so I put them in an old led aerogarden. Luckily I had one sprout. I put it on the aerogarden 18/6 light schedule and used their nutes. I have attached a couple of pics from this period. It is starting to look more like an indica or hybrid with the broad leaves don't you think? I really hope it is a she.
Eventually, I got my shit together and bought a 4x2 vivosun tent, and 5-gallon fabric pots. The plant was getting too tall for the aerogarden so I unscrewed the light from its post so I could turn it off and get it out of the way while still using the reservoir. I placed it inside the tent under two cheap knock off 300-watt lights. Fearing a tall spindly plant I toped it. At this point, I knew I had to either go with a hydro bucket or take a chance on root shock and put it in soil. I went with soil. My GH liquid nutes and ph up/down were on its way from amazon. I made a dumb mistake at this point. instead of using a decent garden potting soil that would have at least some nutes in it I went stupid and used crappy potting soil with no nutes. I replanted into the fabric pot and hoped for the best. Naturally, for a couple of days, it drooped and the largest leaves at the bottom started to die. I trimmed them off and prayed by ordered nutes got here quick. LOL.
They showed up two days ago. I mixed up a small batch and fed the plant. It has now responded and seems healthy. It is starting to look good and hopefully you can help me sex it?
Specific questions:
1. sex?
2. I have been letting the soil get fairly dry before watering as I am afraid of root rot. Is that the right way to do it? Once every two or 3 days?
3. Do I mix up a larger batch of nutes and water using that exclusively or is that only used once per week and regular water the rest of the time?
4. How will I know it is time to reduce light and make it flower?
5. How long does flowering usually take before it is ready for harvest?
Here is what I have today.
I have one small fan in there and plan to add another one soon. My inline fan and carbon filter arrive next week. Lights are on a timer with battery backup set to 18 removed link
Specific questions:
1. sex?
2. I have been letting the soil get fairly dry before watering as I am afraid of root rot. Is that the right way to do it? Once every two or 3 days?
3. Do I mix up a larger batch of nutes and water using that exclusively or is that only used once per week and regular water the rest of the time?
4. How will I know it is time to reduce light and make it flower?
5. How long does flowering usually take before it is ready for harvest?
Welcome to Percys man, great update
1: Too soon to tell really mate, you really have to flip them to flower to be sure of ex.
2: and 3 :Hmmmm, Im not a soil grower so I dont know for sure, but usually its water a couple of times a week just water and once with a feed. Depends on the plant and the soil
4: after about 4 weeks after germination, maybe five. The nodes of the plants, ( where the side shoot and leaves come from) They will start growing off set from each other, rather than directly next to each other
5: Depends on the strain, but around 10-12 weeks after flowers start to form is average
With an introduction like that all I can do is applaud 👏. You really did provide excellent info on the grow brother. Welcome to Percy’s mate, find your way over and start a diary for your grow. It really is the very best way to get help all the way to harvest. You already heard from the legend himself, Macky. Lots more great growers hang out here.
Hey, nice looking plant mang, you're definitely on the right track.
To your questions though, this is my experience:
1. Plants will show sex after about 5-6 weeks of vegetative growth. They will form 'pre-flowers' at the nodes (the part where the leaf grows out of the stem - this link has some good pics) which are simply single flowers, either male or female. They form regardless of the light schedule if growing photoperiod-type plants. This is one sign the plant is sexually mature and ready to flower if triggered. If you flip to 12/12 earlier than that, you simply wait until they show their gender, usually after 4-5 days. Autoflowers will normally start to flower after about 4-5 weeks of growth after sprouting.
2. Every soil is different in terms of drainage depending on what it's made of, and so you'll have to gauge it for yourself.. It will ultimately depend on how well drained it is, as well as the size of the plant (the bigger it gets, the more it drinks/transpires) and the size of the pot (smaller pots dry out faster). My soil needs to be watered every 2-3 days when growing in 3 gallon (12L pots) but, my rule of thumb I use regardless of medium is when it weighs about 1/2 as much dry as it does wet, time to water. You never want to let it get so dry that a gap forms between the soil edge and the pot wall as this exposes the roots and makes it hard to water, but you don't want it sopping wet so that the roots suffocate and die (they need oxygen too and can't extract it if in a saturated medium - they essentially will drown). With proper soil though, your 5 gal pot should have plenty of water holding capacity, so I'd guess every 2-4 days. You also don't necessarily have to soak the entire pot either - especially important when the plant is small and easily damaged.
3. Yeah, like Macky says, depends on the plant and soil. I use supersoil, which has enough food for a 3-4 month grow without having to add any additional nutrients, but if your soil is an un-amended potting soil (just regular stuff from the store) she'll definitely need some food. With your nutes, you should be okay to follow the GH nutrient schedule being that you're basically growing the same way as a coco grower, just using inert (right?) potting soil instead of coco coir. But full disclosure: I am not a bottled nute guy so not really in my scope.
4. Yeah, you need to wait at least 4 weeks-ish before the plant can physically even produce flowers, but you basically make that decision when it's best for you. You obviously don't want to grow the plant too large for the pot it's in, or the tent itself... Remember too that after you flip to 12/12, the plant will go through a period of about 3 weeks where it 'stretches', and can sometimes double in size. Also something to keep in mind. So yeah, basically, whenever it's convenient for you.
5. Totally depends on the genetics of the plant - some can finish is as little as 7 weeks, and some can take as long as 16 weeks! Most average between 8-10 weeks though in my experience.
Thank you, everyone. It is amazing to be able to have such knowledgable growers be so generous with their abilities. I will give MJ (what I call her, hopefully a her) a week or so get some growth happening now that she has gone from hydro to a happy pot plant. (ha ha)
I am worried about Ph though. I bought a cheapo 3 in 1 light/moisture/ph meters and it shows mine as high, in the 8 range. But I am not sure I trust a cheap meter and don't want to mess with something I don't have to. Should I buy a soil test strip kit and try it? I don't think a $150 CAD Bluelab meter is in my future for a bit yet.
Bassman the ph meter is one of the must buys I’m afraid. I have done the same and get a cheap one but they are rubbish in my opinion, I got one for about 40 euros and it has been excellent 👍the other thing u could do just now is buy bottled ph water.
The latest update is that I gave her a feed tonight and if all goes well, next week I will hit the switch and see what happens. She looks pretty healthy and happy. So far, so good. Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls. (never thought I would ever say that)
Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow ballsPlease don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow ballsPlease don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow ballsPlease don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow ballsPlease don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow ballsPlease don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow ballsPlease don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow ballsPlease don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow ballsPlease don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow ballsPlease don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow ballsPlease don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow ballsPlease don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls. Please don't grow balls
Fingers crossed bro loll
Seems to be a common chant around here lately 😂😂 might as well not jinx it....
Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't grow balls Please don't! 🤣
Fingers crossed 🤞
Here are the latest photos. I forgot to turn the lights off so I had to turn them into greyscale to be easier on the eyes. As you can see my fan and filter have been installed as well.
Nice plant man. Did you've done any type of training?
Hand out cigars or possible hermie?
I can see what I believe are pistils which is great news, but in one place I see what might be a pollen sac? or is that just because it is so new and yet to elongate and grow pistils?
Im concerned tbf man, that one in pic two, looks bit Carl Jenner. But dont rush into anything, even if it is male youve got at least a week before it has viable pollen.
So no slow singing and flower bringing just yet lol
There is definitely white hairs mate, so it might just be a calyx waiting to fill out, we will know more over the next couple of days. Just watch it closely
First off, GREAT pics. I love when they're so clear. Blurry pics are just lazy.
ANYWAYS. That does look a micro-dick to me. I would monitor the other nodes and make sure you don't have any more. If you don't see more growing, and just get pistil formation, you'll prrrooobably be okay lol.
I had the same-ish thing with some Glueberry OGs I have going right now - a few little male flowers popped out just at initial flowering, so I picked em all off and that was that. Didn't grow back. They weren't growing in/on the budsites, which is much worse IMO. And it was potentially caused by me leaving the lights on too long one night while I was busy trimming though so, yeah...
Basically though, I would watch very carefully. If you don't find any more keep her going - if more and more keep popping out, might not be worth the trouble.
Update
I took her right out of the tent tonight to get a good look at her. I could not re-locate the possible micro-dick, although that is not something I have any experience with! 😜 I will give her another thorough check-up in a couple of days.
Overall, she is getting big. I may tie back the two large shoots to get some more light into the middle.
I really appreciate the great advice, so thanks to @Macky, @Templegrower, and @Monkeydo to mention a few.
Here is today's photo. Please excuse the droop as I had just handled her and she had just woke up. (I am running the lights at night to help keep the temps down)
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