Miracle Grow hahaha ....help me? ..questions

[freshkix420]

So I was bored one day and stumbled upon growing pot...didn't know much about anything and didn't wanna wait to I threw them in some pots with miracle grow after germinating them...I have learned a lot more and am pretty fasinated with this new hobbie... however like a 'new guy' I am using a 23watt CFL bulb and so far I have a 4inch, 10inch, and 11inch tall plants. They weren't reaching too high but i noticed the tallest one close got a leaf burn :/ not bad though at all...minor wounds. When I started them for 2 weeks they were just using sunlight....so I think they stretched too far to begin with.

some help... did I create failure on day one with miracle grow or can I end up with some mehhh ok plants? anyway to flush out those nutes and chems and start fresh? Transplanting now would lead to death cause of a new soil medium correct?

I am getting either a 150wattHPS... or just 2 23 watt CFLS...(I'm on a budget) I know which is best but I don't know which would be best now at the state I'm in plant growth wise...recommendations?



I will be starting again soon with better lighting, room, soil, nutes, everything.... but as of now I am here...so please help if you can.

Thanks

 

[jimbo99]

i used miracle grow my first time too and the plants turned out great. Get the hps if u can. if not get a lot of cfls. its only like 8 bucks for a 3 pack so put as many in there as you can.

 

[Dr. Dank]

lol...It wasnt the sunlight dude, get some more light on those. While I would not recommend MG, it will work to grow some bud.

 

[basspirate]

Hey man, I know that soil you're using. Isn't it the stuff that comes in the brown bag?

With MG soil, you want to be careful not to over water as it's going to release more nutrients than needed and possibly singe your plants a little.

Those little plants look like they are puttin' the stretch on pretty good. If I were you, right before you water them, take a piece of string or a twistie tie, whatever and tie your plant down and then raise it up to within 10-6 inches of the light. To get a better idea, look up LST; you'll only need to tie down once for now though as your plants are pretty small/young. Also, if you can, go buy a small fan and put it in with them. A PC fan or something a little bigger will make those plants stronger by putting a breeze on them-resistance training for pot plants!

For flowering, my suggestion would be to go and buy a couple of warm white 42w cfls. They should be 7-8 bucks a piece at the Home De-pot. If you can, get a splitter so you can run either a combination of the two spectrums (cool blue and the more red warm whites) or for flowering you'd be ok with two warm whites. In my cab I have one 23w cool blue CFL and 2 42w warm whites. Once you are running these lights though, you are gonna want a fan to keep things cool in your box, too.

Ok, I am forgetting some stuff...but I need coffee. Welcome to IC and good luck with the grow. You're in good hands around here when it comes to getting an education on growin good pot.

 

[Moondog]

Deleted

 

[BLUNToPOTomuss]

MORE LIGHT!! and CLOSER TO YOUR PLANTS!

You need atleast 50w per plant.

 

[freshkix420]

thanks for the responses guys...and the welcoming basspirate. everyday i notice the plants lookin better...hope they keep it up..I did notice i have a few gnats flying around the plants though...

 

[2Lazy]

Okay, so here's what you do with the miracle grow. Allow the soil to go basically bone dry, like, when you lift the planter it is surprisingly light. Don't let it stay dry for long though, you need to time it right, so that the soil just goes dry but the plants don't also dry out.

Now water with a vast amount of reverse osmosis filtered water (you can get it by the gallon for .25 at the machine in front of your local grocery). Looking at those planters you need at least 2 liters and probably nearly a gallon for each, and make sure you drop the pH a touch with a few drops of lemon juice. Allow the soil to get evenly and completely saturated with a whole bunch of run off. Do this very slow. About 1/4 of the water over the course of 1 minute every other minute.

Repeat this process two more times. Basically what you're doing is allowing the roots to fill out when the soil is dry because there is a higher oxygen content. Then you saturate which releases some chems, and then you rinse it three more times to cleanse as best you can. Once you get the root ball to fill those planters you can transplant them to a better potting soil.

Over-watering and miracle grow with moisture control are synonymous, so let it dry

 

[candypurp]

]Miracle grow is an incomplete fertilizer. It doesn't have all of the essential nutrients needed by cannabis. You CAN grow weed with it but it won't be the best quality. Miracle grow, peters, scotts, etc... only have 8 or 9 of the 16 essential nutrients.

And yes, you definitely need more light you have some crazy stretch going on. A good rule of thumb in decisions for lighting is to think 1 gram per watt maximum. So, for example, you could get up to 150 grams off a 150 watt hps or 46 grams off two 23 watt cfls. It is difficult to get a gram per watt, especially on your first grow with miracle grow as fertilizer. Just always keep that rule in the back of your head. The MOST you will get is 1 g per watt from any light source. More likely you will get 1/2 gram per watt or less.

 

[basspirate]

Are a lot of people pulling even a half gram per watt? It seems like you need to be rockin a bunch of plants or a couple big ones on a screen to get quantity. I guess genetics play a big role in that?

I have had *ok* results with some MG organic liquid fertilizer supplemented with superthrive. I've been growing on and off for the past three years but am still an uber noob. It seemed the MG did better in my outdoor last year when I had big seven gallon containers; it grew me some amazonian beauties.

 

[freshkix420]

Okay, so here's what you do with the miracle grow. Allow the soil to go basically bone dry, like, when you lift the planter it is surprisingly light. Don't let it stay dry for long though, you need to time it right, so that the soil just goes dry but the plants don't also dry out.

Now water with a vast amount of reverse osmosis filtered water (you can get it by the gallon for .25 at the machine in front of your local grocery). Looking at those planters you need at least 2 liters and probably nearly a gallon for each, and make sure you drop the pH a touch with a few drops of lemon juice. Allow the soil to get evenly and completely saturated with a whole bunch of run off. Do this very slow. About 1/4 of the water over the course of 1 minute every other minute.

Repeat this process two more times. Basically what you're doing is allowing the roots to fill out when the soil is dry because there is a higher oxygen content. Then you saturate which releases some chems, and then you rinse it three more times to cleanse as best you can. Once you get the root ball to fill those planters you can transplant them to a better potting soil.

Over-watering and miracle grow with moisture control are synonymous, so let it dry

I'm planning on throwing some fans in and getting a thermometer and something to check humidity as well.

is it worth transplanting now to better soil? I will be buying a 150HPS light...tomorrow so light shouldn't be too much an issue... the seeds I used are kinda rubbish as it was first time grow.

I know MG has their nutes in it...is there anything actually recommended to add to it to give it the rest of the nutes it needs?..

If I start 12/12 will my plants just thickin out and not grow in height anymore?

 

[2Lazy]

The miracle grow is alright for now. On the scale of stresses I think transplanting them at this stage would do more harm than good. You can just leave them in that soil so long as you don't also over water them. Just get the root mass up high enough to get it transplanted. Superthrive is a good option, but take it REAL easy at first.

Adding nutrients to a miracle grow system is going to do more harm than good. If anything, just high potassium.

Be careful of using tap water here also. Magnesium related deficiency and phosphorus burn are what you should have your eyes open for, indicating a pH imbalance. Flushing throughly when you water should help keep that to a minimum.

If I start 12/12 will my plants just thickin out and not grow in height anymore?

You need to do some research here on the growth of a cannabis plant. Look online, growers bibles. Search here. That is a question which has been answered countless times over.

But no your plants can double in height during flowering. There is a stretch phase, followed by a flowering phase, followed by a swelling phase, followed by a ripening phase.

 

[candypurp]

I have had many plants that I have flipped at 4 feet. Sometimes I'll grow to them to three feet, lollypop 'em, and then flip 'em a week later. Suppercropping/training is key as well. I had a lollypopped plant that I had in a veg room that was just huge. It was about 5 foot 8 and I decided to just flower it out. It ended up about 6 foot 6 inches in the end. The lights were as high as they could go. It was not ideal but I just needed to get rid of the plant and didnt want to kill it. I had that plant taking up most of a 600 watt light and I had trimmed and trained the top so there were about 25 branches perfectly formed at the same hight and it was absolutely sweet. Im gonna try to upload a pic. Because of extenuating circumstances I didn't get to way the final product, it just got thrown together with other plants of the same strain after drying, but I would estimate the final yield at about 6 ounces from that one.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/photo_popup.php?e=vB_Editor_001#

Anyway. I feel it is a common occurrence for people to flip 4 foot plants when clearing out mother rooms, etc...

They definitely don't double in height

 

[microgram]

You can get 150W HPS for anywhere between 100-150$, it wouldn't be the best, but it'd at least get you something more than what you have. HPS produces more lumens per watt than any other bulb. 150*150 = ~22500 lumens. CFL is approx 80 (the home depot ones are very crappy, they come in at ~62 lumens per watt.)

If all else fails, buy two dual bulb fluoro kits. You'll get about (4 bulbs at 34 watts, is (69lumens*136) equals 9384 lumens.) With the fluorescent 'kits' running you at about 60$ for everything. Still nothing in comparison to that 150W HPS. If you can, pick up two HPS kits, the more light points the better. More even growth. For now, start stunting their growth until they bush out a bit, it wont be much, but those pretty ladies look like they can't even support their own weight.

Google up some local light supply stores, or check your paper phone book for some information on lighting specialists.

UG!

 

[2Lazy]

Anyway. I feel it is a common occurrence for people to flip 4 foot plants when clearing out mother rooms, etc...

They definitely don't double in height

...your plants can double in height during flowering.

Is this guy growing 4 foot mothers? No. Then how does what you're saying carry relevance to the OP?

To be specific, for this grower, who has 3 plants all under 1 foot tall. Who intends to purchase a 150w lamp. For this one guy, yeah, his plants CAN, key word there partner, CAN double in height. Are all plants going to do the same thing? No! Of course not. I never, EVER, make that claim.

 

[messn'n'gommin']

So I was bored one day and stumbled upon growing pot...didn't know much about anything and didn't wanna wait to I threw them in some pots with miracle grow after germinating them...I have learned a lot more and am pretty fasinated with this new hobbie... however like a 'new guy' I am using a 23watt CFL bulb and so far I have a 4inch, 10inch, and 11inch tall plants. They weren't reaching too high but i noticed the tallest one close got a leaf burn :/ not bad though at all...minor wounds. When I started them for 2 weeks they were just using sunlight....so I think they stretched too far to begin with.

some help... did I create failure on day one with miracle grow or can I end up with some mehhh ok plants? anyway to flush out those nutes and chems and start fresh? Transplanting now would lead to death cause of a new soil medium correct?

I am getting either a 150wattHPS... or just 2 23 watt CFLS...(I'm on a budget) I know which is best but I don't know which would be best now at the state I'm in plant growth wise...recommendations?



I will be starting again soon with better lighting, room, soil, nutes, everything.... but as of now I am here...so please help if you can.

Thanks

Ya, you can grow "mehhh ok" plants with MG. Add some Perlite to your soil before planting and if using MG Grow ferts, use at 1/8 to 1/4 strength and Flower ferts at 1/4 to 1/2 strength and Cal-Mag throughout. It is not the best soil or ferts to use, but they will do the job.

Cannabis is a pretty hardy plant and transplanting won't kill them, but, it does slow growth for a few days. I have seen a thread or two that showed somebody that pulled a plant and literally shredded the rootball, repotted it, and it kept right on truckin'.

I say finish out this grow for the experience and in the mean time look for a method of growing that suits your particular style.

btw...It is probably best to use the actual wattage of the CFL's than the equivalent wattage for comparison's sake.

hth

 

[freshkix420]

UPDATES:

UPDATES:

I have had them on a 12/12 light cycle past few weeks or so... yes they are all female anyone realize how hard that shit is when you don't have a auto timer yet? lol..god damn.

the ladies were 4, 10, and 11inches tall before...and now they are 13,14,15 inches tall

... i have a fan now and the stems are much thicker now plus I am running the HPS 150w.

all three are bag seed but not the same kind or bag... I have them 12/12 cause i want them done soon.. i have future plans in mind.. diff seeds, soil, nutes ... they are big enough right? I don't expect much of a yield anyways with all the conditions and stress they've prob gone through...


Any and all comments appreciated!!!! thanks

 

[xmobotx]

all things considered those are looking pretty darn good

let me be the 1st to recommend organic - read up and introduce some compost tea (ACT AACT) w/ your next watering - no more "food" till flower

maybe try flower tea when you start seeing some flowers (make the tea by collecting flowers and putting about a cup of flowers to a gallon of water - shake it up good once a day and start using it at about day 3 - it's done by day 7 and dont use it if it gets rancid) you use it like any nute solution w/ ratios anywhere from 1 TBS/gal to 1TBS/qt

 

[Batboy]

Congrats Fresh. It looks like you've got some real plants there.

Did you say that you are in 12/12 with no timer????? That is not going to work out well for you or your grow; I HIGHLY recommend picking one up.

Even though it was one pic, it doesn't look like those will be done anytime soon. They could certainly produce for you, conditions permitting. Use this time to study up for your next grow and decide the method that best suits you. I second the Organic soil recommendation.

 

[Speedcat]

I like were this is going. I love seeing grows like this because It lets you compare and see how diffrent equipment and conditions will effect plant growth. Keep us updated and informed at what day there on. I tihnk The biggest thing lacking ont his site with grow journals are people not posting how old the palnt is in veg. I am always trying to find threads where they put the day the plant is in veg, Every one dose flower but Its like people dont state how old the plant wis in veg. I liek to compare to how Im doing. If I were you id use a power strip and buy the plug sockets tha tplug directly into an out let. you can probley fit three on a power strip. get 2 power strips and 6 socket splitters so you screw a socket splitter into the plug in socket that is plugging into teh power cord and now each power strip will hold 150 watts of flourecent light which will be 300 watts with 2 power strips. Plenty for a small boxed in grow like yours. Plus you could probly do like 3 power strips if you wanted to one on top and 2 on each side and you get great results with 450 watts lol. Id vent with small cpu fan tho.