Gravity_Loss

Seriously, why did it? Lol, I'm not entirely sure, but this is what I will be doing different when my seeds come in and I try again.

Changed my grow box ventilation system. Exhaust > Intake

I will probably build my own soil. There aren't any places here to buy good weed soil (only Wal-Mart and Home Depot). I may use my miracle grow organic soil and just sift out all the "nutrient balls".

I'm moving my grow box from the garage to inside my house. This should keep my temperature more stable.

I will stick to a strict watering schedule rather than watering when the soil looks dry.

I will religously test my PH before and after planting.

I will use seeds that I know have good genetics.

I will read my canni-bible more often.

I will set up a written game plan that will cover the ENTIRE grow but still leave room for emergencies.

I started out germing 50 seeds I collected from bag weed, 15 of them germinated correctly, and now I am down to 1 plant that looks sick as all hell. I guess this is the trial and error everyone was talking about when I started researching growing. I guess it is better to lose a crop when the seeds were free compared to paying for them, but either way, losing an entire crop blows.

Thanks a ton to everyone who helped (especially FarmerGiles) and expect a lot more questions from me!

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Genesis 1:29
And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the Earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.”

Reason is the mind's awarness of itself. --- Zen ..)

Dandaweedman

No such thing as a failure when you are growing.
I like to call it the learning curve

Did I hear someone mention genetics?

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BudSniffer

Actually, just my opinion, don't sweat it so much. It shouldn't have to be so "scientific". I use Miracle-Gro garden soil and don't sift anything, it will be just fine. You can't stick to a strict watering schedule, because things make the plant get drier or stay wetter. wind, temps, root mass, all have an effect on watering.....
I have never tested PH in my life
I've grown great stuff from bagseed.....
First off, I would try to start with a smaller amount of seeds.... don't try to jump in with both feet unitl you stick one toe in first!

Just try 8 or 10, depending on what your light will support, once you get those from start to finish, then go bigger!!
Hope this helps.... BS

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"Nobody thinks the way that I do, I guess nobody dares. My head's so full of things, I set my mind free of them. I'm breaking the rules, breaking all the rules. " -Ozzy Osbourne

Gravity_Loss

The reason I germed so many seeds is because I didn't think many of them would grow successfully. I need to check the PH because that is (I think) why my plants died. High PH level caused the plants to be nutrient starved, so they turned white and died.

Plus, I like being very thorough. I spent 5 years in the Marines and I work a lot better when I set a very strict game plan for myself. That also makes it more fun for me.

__________________
Genesis 1:29
And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the Earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.”

Reason is the mind's awarness of itself. --- Zen ..)

Dandaweedman

Good post BS.
Regimentation definitely has it's place in growing, it's just sometimes we don't recognize it as such.
Hit me a pm if you like GL, my seed bank may have something right up your alley

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BudSniffer

I started my first grow with 4 seeds.... and if you use miracle-gro soil, it already has ferts and a somewhat balanced PH. If you don't use miracle-gro and add soil additives, composted manure, blood meal, bone meal, you just have to be careful not to add too much. Turning white, not sure what might cause that right off the top of my head.
You might work better with a strict game plan, but nature doesn't Growing plants isn't a scientific experiment (though you can experiment).
Check out my Brainstorm grow....all I used was miracle-gro garden soil, got a bag of composted cow manure, bag of composted mushroom compost. Got a big bin, put in 2 gallon pots of soil, 3 double handfuls of manure and mushroom compost, mixed thoroughly and that was it. Course it would have been better with some perlite thrown in, maybe a couple doublehandfuls.....O h yeah, and if leaves start to yellow up some, I would mix a Tblspn of epsom salts to a gallon of water. You shouldn't need that but maybe once or twice the whole grow, it helps magnesium deficiency. Then just water with it when you would normally water.....
I would only check PH with a hydro grow, soil ph doesn't change that fast like hydro does.
Just holler at me if ya got any more questions...gotta help a fellow Marine

__________________
"Nobody thinks the way that I do, I guess nobody dares. My head's so full of things, I set my mind free of them. I'm breaking the rules, breaking all the rules. " -Ozzy Osbourne

vaporedout

if your gonna use miracle gro, a buddy of mine used to flush it before he would use it, got rid of some of the nutes, guess it was high in N. or something like that...... what kinda light do you have?

farmergiles

Lol there's a confusing amount of good info here.

Two things I'd say-

Water according to the weight of the pot.

Pot up into bigger pots gradually.

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Cultivate a stoic calmness

Pharm Girl

the cat is meowing.......~

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.....The Time has Come to 'Walk the Talk'.....~

......A message for ALL from the Deer Tribe...~

It is a great journey —
but you must do the walking
and have the willingness to change
and make the leap into
the next level of human evolution.

Become an inquisitive free thinking
individual that takes
responsibility for your life
and the spiritual accountability to live life to the fullest.

Fuck the Monkeys

vaporedout

do you salute or cover your heart when you recite that?

Gravity_Loss

Didn't plan on failing, but I was right. Most of the seeds were no good and didn't germ, hence me doing a lot of them.

I have a 400 watt MH for veg and HPS for flower.

I actually stand at attention when I recite it.

__________________
Genesis 1:29
And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the Earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.”

Reason is the mind's awarness of itself. --- Zen ..)

SmokeaJoint

I have seen a good deal of talk about pH locking nutrients out of the plants and I was wondering, is it the actual pH thats locking out the nutes or is it just to high/low and the nitrogen fixing bacterial die? If its the former, could someone provide a semi-detailed explanation? Feel free to be technical, I know my vocab pertaining to botany.

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farmergiles

SAJ-



I have no idea as to the actual chemistry.

You mention pH fluctuations killing the bacteria which assist in nitrogen fixing (they do a whole lot more too). This may become a factor as well but the pH alone does have an affect.

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SmokeaJoint

Yeah, even as I typed that, my brain was saying "but nutes get locked out with liquid fert feeding too, no nitro fixation needed". The only thing I can think of is maybe the xylem/phloem contract,(nah, or they wouldn't absorb H2O either) or the pH affects how the nutrients are metabolized. Its interesting how molybdenum, boron, and phosphorus increase at the extreme alkaline scale, and iron with acidity.

Edit: It actually may be the phloem contracting or losing function as thats the vascular tissue that mainly transports nutes. The xylem is predominantly for water, but it does a small amount of nutes too. Something to think about at least.

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stoneric

Other than the seedling stage, I water every 3rd day, period. The amount flutuates but the time doesn't. It works for me.

BudSniffer

Sorry ya'll, guess I got a little carried away
I wasn't sayin' use miracle-gro soil specifically, tho' that's what I use mostly, cause it is available, not too expensive, and I hate that cheap stuff with hunks of wood in it...miracle-gro soil has that slow release fert in it, but it ain't strong at all.

As far as PH, I still don't think that should be a problem in soil. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't really know of a way to correct soil PH, except with lime, and I would never do that in a pot, only something in the ground. I know too much of that will definitely cause nute lock.

oh ok, I understand the germ prob, been having them myself lately for some reason, seed I know is good tho'. I thought you meant you had germed that many and they had died.
LOL Stand at attention eh?

Yeah, that's about my timing, but as you said, the amount can vary.

__________________
"Nobody thinks the way that I do, I guess nobody dares. My head's so full of things, I set my mind free of them. I'm breaking the rules, breaking all the rules. " -Ozzy Osbourne

stoneric

Most times the soil isn't the problem. My well water has a high ph so I have to adjust it. Vineger will bring it down Baking soda will bring it up. I check ph balance of runoff and adjust my water/feed ph balance accordingly. I'm not sure about city water.

SmokeaJoint

Coffee is acidic, so if ur pH is on the basic side that'll help. They make soil additives that can raise/lower pH, should carry them in your local hydro store or greenhouse.

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BudSniffer

Never really thought about the water I have always had city water, no probs from that. I have a well here, not working yet, but was wanting to use it to water my veggie garden. Hopefully get it going one day

__________________
"Nobody thinks the way that I do, I guess nobody dares. My head's so full of things, I set my mind free of them. I'm breaking the rules, breaking all the rules. " -Ozzy Osbourne

Dandaweedman

For years I hadn't checked Ph then we did for a while, enough to know fish emulsion raises it like crazy.
Now I add some phdown to the fish mix by eye and have at er.

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