My first grow!! Chocolate skunk

[Homura]

If you get a digital, DO NOT get a cheap Amazon one, I only trust Blue Lab, just calibrate and your golden

Also if your new to hydroponics and ph testing, I highly recommend always premix your solutions a day ahead of time and recheck ph, as SOME nutrient lines will "bounce" or change ph after being mixed a while, as a rookie long time ago took me forever to figure that out. No one told me.

I personally prefer the general hydroponics kit, but digital blue lab for shore!

Let them (plants) tell you, you'll see dude, awesome stuff

EDIT: OR APOGEE , they are reliable as well if blue lab not available over there, I take it your in UK?

Edit: another tip, if use litmus, NEver dip drop onto paper, and only after solution is really well mixed and sat for while. Dipping litmus in recently mixed solution will not be accurate, trust me

I will note that!
I was told that with mineral ferts you should premix, but with organic ferts I was told is not ideal because they deteriorate or something??

Another question, if I use organic ferts, and the watering solution is brown, assuming a pH of 6, the liquid will turn Yellow clearly? Maybe overthinking this because of the solution color, any tutorial I find is people testing the drops in plain water

Edit: I'm from Spain, blue lab should be available

 

[Creeperpark]

I will note that!
I was told that with mineral ferts you should premix, but with organic ferts I was told is not ideal because they deteriorate or something??

Another question, if I use organic ferts, and the watering solution is brown, assuming a pH of 6, the liquid will turn Yellow clearly? Maybe overthinking this because of the solution color, any tutorial I find is people testing the drops in plain water

Edit: I'm from Spain, blue lab should be available

There are a lot of pocket meters worth buying around $130. The trick is to keep the probes wet and never let them dry out. Don't drop them and keep them stored upright.

 

[Homura]

Hi!
Little update! They are looking good imo.
One of them are more yellow yet, bet greener than 2 days ago.

Here are some pics!!

Maybe I do a little lollipopping tomorrow and turn them to flower next week... Or maybe I don't do nothing to them and flip to 12/12 this Saturday.
Feel free to leave your opinion!!

 

[Creeperpark]

Hi!
Little update! They are looking good imo.
One of them are more yellow yet, bet greener than 2 days ago.

Here are some pics!!

Maybe I do a little lollipopping tomorrow and turn them to flower next week... Or maybe I don't do nothing to them and flip to 12/12 this Saturday.
Feel free to leave your opinion!!

Those are looking good friend. Leaves collect light, if you pull them off too early you will lower the plant's productivity. Topping and removing fan leaves will slow a plant down a couple to a few weeks. Wait until a little before flowering if you have to remove any leaves and then only remove the main stem fans that block bud sites.

 

[NEED 4 SEED]

You are watering wrong and you have the wrong soil. Why do I say this? I see dry areas on your soil surface. How shall roots be growing there when parts are dry? Always water thoroughly every area until water comes out at the bottom. If the surface repells it because it's too dry then first water just the surface are a bit until it's moist and then a second time after a few minutes for the whole pot to soak really well. Then wait with the next watering until the pots are really lightweight again. When I'm judging the size of your pots this could take several days or even weeks. And I mean it.
But novices tend to over-care when watering. They think they need to water at least once a day or even twice, just a little. Don't be fooled by a dry surface. Just judge from the weight if the pots.
Then, your soil is a light mix. I can never understand why people are using this stuff for growing, especially new growers. Light mix would be good for sensitive seedlings to not burn them but Cannabis is not like this. I always plant them seedlings in rich gardening soil. Light mix needs to be fertilized constantly. It's just a means for grow suppliers to help making more money from fertilizers. On the other hand it's possible to get more yield using light mix and fertilizers because of the better oxygen supply but you have to know exactly what you are doing, know your plants well and everything else.

 

[Homura]

You are watering wrong and you have the wrong soil. Why do I say this? I see dry areas on your soil surface. How shall roots be growing there when parts are dry? Always water thoroughly every area until water comes out at the bottom. If the surface repells it because it's too dry then first water just the surface are a bit until it's moist and then a second time after a few minutes for the whole pot to soak really well. Then wait with the next watering until the pots are really lightweight again. When I'm judging the size of your pots this could take several days or even weeks. And I mean it.
But novices tend to over-care when watering. They think they need to water at least once a day or even twice, just a little. Don't be fooled by a dry surface. Just judge from the weight if the pots.
Then, your soil is a light mix. I can never understand why people are using this stuff for growing, especially new growers. Light mix would be good for sensitive seedlings to not burn them but Cannabis is not like this. I always plant them seedlings in rich gardening soil. Light mix needs to be fertilized constantly. It's just a means for grow suppliers to help making more money from fertilizers. On the other hand it's possible to get more yield using light mix and fertilizers because of the better oxygen supply but you have to know exactly what you are doing, know your plants well and everything else.

I will only defend myself telling you that last time I watered them, there were runoff water, and the dry spots are really really small (just the corners and just 1cm in the top) because it seems that they dry faster just in those spots, I promise I water them thoroughly!
And this soil contains a % of Coco, so they drain faster

But yes, I was told to feed them once a day and not overwater them, and I got afraid of drown my plants haha


I bought myself a pack of organic ferts, but maybe I will try heavy mix soil (or maybe go all the opposite way and more organic ferts and coco choir, I surely will try to experience multiple techniques al least once)

Thank you so much for your comment and your tips!! Stay around to see them grow

 

[Homura]

Those are looking good friend. Leaves collect light, if you pull them off too early you will lower the plant's productivity. Topping and removing fan leaves will slow a plant down a couple to a few weeks. Wait until a little before flowering if you have to remove any leaves and then only remove the main stem fans that block bud sites.

I'm SO SO SO SO SO afraid of messing it up I'm thinking I probably won't do too much pruning... Maybe only remove bigger leaves in floration...

So... This variety doubles near triples their size when flowering, maybe I won't wait too much more...

 

[Homura]

Hi there! Little update!
They pretty filled up the space so I will turn them into flowering today or tomorrow I think...
Should I do a defoliation of the bigger fan leaves? To make the bud branches receive more light?

Could I defoliate them while I'm flipping the lights? Or if I do a defoliation I should then wait more?

Also, could I flip them, wait to have PreFlowers and then cut out the lower weaker branches and defoliate? Like lollipopping + defoliation but during flowering

Anyway, being my first grow could also means that I should flip them and see what "no training, no pruning, no nothing" does before learning some techniques.

Maybe I'm getting a little anxious and overthinking...
Any tip, hint, advice are so welcome right now!



Bonus: RH has gone up enough to turn off the humidifier, and the bonus is the cat herbs growing on top of the humidifier (seeing if they grow better here than in windowsill hahaha)
Maybe I should take out the humi, to make more room for the plants and air circulation

 

[Homura]

Maybe got a little impatient but they are sleeping at 12/12 today...
If they can be pruned, I maybe should remove some fan leafs, right? Will they stress too much if I do it while flipping? I prefer to not prune and let them be than have hermies

 

[NEED 4 SEED]

You can defoliate up to week 4 of flowering in my experience, but depending on the strain and grow style. Watch their speed of development of new shoots and leaves and act accordingly. On hydroponic systems you need to do it much more often than on conventional soil because they will grow so much mass in no time. But you are in soil and should not overdo it. Anyways, you can only approach the right amount over time with experience.

 

[Homura]

You can defoliate up to week 4 of flowering in my experience, but depending on the strain and grow style. Watch their speed of development of new shoots and leaves and act accordingly. On hydroponic systems you need to do it much more often than on conventional soil because they will grow so much mass in no time. But you are in soil and should not overdo it. Anyways, you can only approach the right amount over time with experience.

Great! I think I'll wait a few days for them to stretch and stabilize, and maybe Thursday/Friday I'll do some cutting of the lower branches and some fan leaves

 

[Homura]

Update!
Did some pruning of the lower branches.
Looks OK?

 

[NEED 4 SEED]

Update!
Did some pruning of the lower branches.
Looks OK?

You'll know in a few weeks... ha ha

 

[Homura]

Hey guys,
I was researching about mold and despite being in a dry climate, I got scared and... Better safe than sorry hahaha
I bought a second fan to be oscillating below the canopy, and I bought a scrog net because seemed a good idea to even the canopy, these added to the intake and the fan I had, I think air circulation shouldn't be a problem!

Also the shop was on sales and I got a couple of free seeds:
-3x wedding cake fem
-1x gelato 33 fem
-1x sherblato fem
-1x strawberry cola sherbet F1 fast (sweet seeds)


I will update with a pic today or tomorrow, but they didn't get yellow and seem to be recovering fine (phew, I was afraid I overdid them)

 

[Salva]

Hola buenas, yo tampoco me aclaro con el riego, cada uno dice una cosa. Unos que hay que regar hasta que drene y otros que no hace falta que drene. No lo entiendo. Unos que riegos abundantes y poca frecuencia y otros que riegos cortos y mucha frecuencia. Este tema me lleva loco.

 

[Salva]

Ah! Y para rematar... Si hace falta que drene por que va bien el riego por goteo? El riego por goteo es imposible que drene! Y dudo que moje todo el sustrato. Entonces en que quedamos?

 

[Homura]

Ah! Y para rematar... Si hace falta que drene por que va bien el riego por goteo? El riego por goteo es imposible que drene! Y dudo que moje todo el sustrato. Entonces en que quedamos?

Hola Salva.
Por lo que veo la gente que indica que debe gotear se suele referir a suelos inertes como el coco, para evitar acumulación de sales, supongo que el riego por goteo soluciona ese problema porque tampoco acumulará mucho al "echar poquito a poco y lo necesario".

También con respecto a la tierra suelo ver mucha gente que dice que es mejor regarla entera y dejarla secar varios días, y gente que prefiere un riego diario más pequeño.
Al ser mi primer cultivo soy muy inexperto, pero supongo que (quitando riegos automáticos que se ve que están más que demostrada la eficiencia), dependerá del gusto y de lo que mejor se le dé a cada uno

 

[Salva]

No sé no se el riego por goteo suele ponerse en coco por lo que he visto y con fertilizante mineral. Pues yo llevo muchos cultivos y no me sale bien. No sé por qué. Con lo fácil que era cultivar en exterior yo también soy de España. Estoy cansado de mirar seguimientos foros videos libros.... Y no hay manera. Esta foto es de ayer.

 

[Homura]

No sé no se el riego por goteo suele ponerse en coco por lo que he visto y con fertilizante mineral. Pues yo llevo muchos cultivos y no me sale bien. No sé por qué. Con lo fácil que era cultivar en exterior yo también soy de España. Estoy cansado de mirar seguimientos foros videos libros.... Y no hay manera. Esta foto es de ayer. View attachment 19023301

Mucho ánimo con tu cultivo, ojala poderte ayudar pero soy muy novato, a lo mejor en la categoría "indoor growing coco" puedes encontrar ayuda!