Questions from an organic first timer.

[Cuban B]

Hey guy's, first time poster but long time lurker. I have a bunch of questions, but first I figure I should give a quick description of my grow. This is my second grow ever, though my first effort was completely half-assed so I consider this my first proper grow.

I'm currently flowering 3 girls, the strain is White Skunk from White Label Seeds. I'm using the Earth Juice range (Grow, Bloom, Catalyst) which I bubble to help with pH issues, and a kelp based liquid for micronutes (a locally produced product called Super Seaweed, I live in New Zealand btw).





The soil I use is a Peat-based mix that is meant to be 100% organic, and fairly rich in nutes as it also contains WC, blood and bonemeal, neem pellets, lime and perlite. I use water straight from the tap, which has a pH of about 7.5. I initially vegged under Cfl's, then finished vegging and have begun flowering under a 400W HPS (Philips son-agro). Things have been going smoothly for the most part, I messed up my pH early in veg, but the plants seem to have recovered. Here are some pics :
















Now for my questions

1. The last photo shows the plant i'm most concerned with. It is smaller than the other two and has purpling along the fan-leaf branches. Could this be a lack of Potassium? I have read that purple stems and dark green leaves come from a lack of K. I haven't bothered to puchase EJ Meta-K, and have been feeding with only Bloom(0,3,1) and Catalyst for the last 2 weeks. Is this the problem? Could it be a pH problem, or maybe it's just a different pheno?

2. When does the flowering cycle begin, from the 12/12 switch or when the plants show sex? I know this question gets asked alot, but everyone seems to have a different opinion. I ask because it took almost 3 weeks to show sex after I switched the lights, so the girls could be on day 46 or only day 26 depending on how you count. This strain takes 45-50 days according to the pack, but imho they have some way to go.

3. Is it too late in flowering to prune, and if not should I? I did some minor pruning early in flower, but my babies still look a lot bushier than many pics from this forum, and i'm worried i've hurt my yield by not pruning enough.

Cheers guy's, i've really learnt alot from reading these forums (organics especially), and i'd be grateful for any advice.

 

[gromer]

Grow looks great if I was a newb and my garden looked like that Id be showin up to bragg not ask questions but thats good that you are.I wanna guess the purpling stems could be a few things,one a result of the ph inbalance you spoke of 7.5 is still a little high for your fert water 6.3 is the sweet spot.You could get some fulvic acid to ph the water b4 use.Two,An overdose of one thing somtimes screws with uptake of others the plants look shiny leafed and really dark cus of too much N,back off on ferts all together from here out,Three,It could just be genetics I have strains that do that no matter what every run.As far as the count goes typically you count from the day the lights are flipped.But somtimes with new seedplants it takes way longer at flipping for them to show sex and develop buds.Because of this what Id do is split the difference call it 36 they look more 46 than 26 but Id go 36.And due to this fact in that youve got real green leaves and only a couple to few weeks left Id start starvin em now.All plain water from here on out.You had alot of food in the medium to start with and then fertigated on top of that,could be the reason for the N overdose.Extremely good job though for somone just starting out.They look very happy and frosty.Best of luck to you bruda!!!Peace,Gromerr Pott!!

 

[Suby]

Those look good on the whole and to answer your question it is probably a K def but it could also be teamps and/or genetics.
EJ Meta-K will take care of that fast, I like using kelp meal in my soil mix to cover K, your using kelp already but sometimes it's not enough in the liquid form.
Go easy on the N, I notice clawing and very dark foliage, they are healthy but keep it light on N in flowering.
Flowering starts the first day you cut the lights down to 12/12.
It is FAR too late to prune, even popcorn buds at this stage your pushing your luck, I like low stress when it comes to plants at this stage, popcorm buds are good for hash making so yield is yield dont' stress.

Gromer--I like your posts dude but my eyes are shit, anyway you can space all that out a bit, my retinas hurt reading your posts lol.

Suby

 

[gromer]

Sorry Im a decent grower but I dont know crap about computers or typing.I think Ive tried to put gaps in stuff and start different paragraphs but the damn cursor kept goin back to where I left off last.Hey at least Im using punctuation and its not all just one big run on sentence like I use to do...LOL!! See I just tried it wont move.Sorry!!!

 

[Guest]

Gromer, my computer does the same thing. Cursor goes crazy on me, jumping all over the place. Words get all jumbled up, etc.
I found by hiting the "enter" button you can go to a new line but with my cursor sometimes on acid it often messes up.
Cuban, you got 2 of IC Mag's best helping you...no..certainly not me but Suby and gromer...very nice first grow, very nice.

 

[Guest]

Gromer and oldfool are probably like me. Guys didn't take typing when we were in school...except for the sissy types

One of my Aurora Indicas had the purple stems. I think it is a phenotype thing UNLESS you have reason to believe there might be a nute problem.

12/12 begins the count. That said some strains take longer than what the package says....as much as 2 weeks longer. Get a good 10-20 power glass and check your trichomes every so often. Don't chop them too early from impatience. You probably have 10 days to 2 weeks more to go


I think your grow looks good. Less is more at this stage. Just water them and watch them go ))))
Obli

 

[Guest]

Oh, I took typing in HS..had to. My basketball coach was the typing teacher and had all of us in his class. Last period. Right before practice. No typing was done. All of us got A's. Room full of oversized jocks, taped fingers, small keys, all A's...go figure.
Cuban, get a loupe/microscope. They are a great aid. A digital camera with a macro function. Zoom right in on the trics.

 

[gromer]

Thanxx old fool for the kind words and the computer help.My girl just showed me the tab key.
And that little thing called the enter key.Like I said b4,totally computer illiterate.
Ha look at this now I can start different paragraphs.
And start different sentences below pics and whatnot to show emphasis on certain things.
Imagine that Gromers figurin this computer stuff out.There ya go Suby problem solved now you can see my posts and read em better.We owe it all to Mrs.Gromer Pott!!!

 

[Guest]

Darn, now ya done it! Never let the female know you don't know anything! Didn't you get the memo, gromer? Or did you misplace the male decoder ring you were given in shop class back in high school? EMERGENCY male meeting! gromer has fallen under the spell of a female...and I don't mean a plant. He's let it out we don't know anything and can be taught. She doesn't know my wife does she? Maybe we can localize the damage. Damn stoner! hahahahahaha Glad to have played a part in helping you help Suby.

 

[Suby]

I am guilty of being a 2 finger typer, i learnt the right way...I'm stubborn I guess.

S

 

[gromer]

Buhahahahahaha!!!LOL!!!You guys are a riot,yeh Im a two finger myself.At least now I can get a post up in under an hour..LOL!!!!No buddy I dont think are wives are in the know.They are ALL sisters though.I guess yer right we gotta stick together or the women will take over and then well be the back seat growers.Ha ha!!!LOL!!!