Into week two of flowering (8-9days in). Did a little more training but know that the time for training will soon be over… right? No water today.
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I train until week 4 or 5. Especially with sativas that get their leaves all into my lights
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Ahh, excellent. Silly sativas getting all up in those lights. pushy
Good to know though, I’m enjoying trying to figure out what part is going where and when to tie things down.
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It’s a ton of fun. I haven’t played with a net yet, it’s challenging in DWC and I’m super lazy.
Buckle in for the stretch!
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Oooooooo – I feel downright giddy for the stretch. So many firsts! I’m expecting it to get a bit more thirsty than it has been. I’ve only been watering once every 3-4 days or so.
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you’ve done a great job Let them stretch and show off those buds 
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An unhappy leaf! The fan was blowing right on this spot so I moved the fan up and at an angle to help not contribute to this (if that’s what’s causing it). Otherwise moving right along here!
I watered a little yesterday and used some Build A Soil Big Six (1/4 tsp), and some Rootwise Mycrobe Complete (1/4 tsp, a little under) in about a half-gallon of water. Didn’t use it all, she is moist enough!
Can that jug of water sit in my closet for a few days?
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I’d toss it. For microbe inoculation, one or two times throughout the course of a grow should be enough. I’ve actually stopped using those powdered microbe things (I’m assuming that’s what Rootwise Mycrobe Complete is), but in general, the longer stuff sits, the better the chance that something’s gonna get fucked up. I know that AACT’s (which is what I use) aren’t supposed to sit for longer than six hours max, same thing with the OG Biowar powdered inoculant that I’ve used in the past, just because it’ll turn anaerobic without oxygen.
Anyway, saw you commenting on the shroom thread (where I lurk, but don’t contribute haha) and figured I’d see what your deal was. I always enjoy watching people’s first grow(s), so this should be fun.
Just a couple things: As far as the trellis is concerned, I’ve never used them because I can’t get in there and get a good, close look at my plants. I wanna be able to check for herms. I start new seeds and new genetics every round and didn’t have an issue for YEARS, but lately one or two plants seem to herm every round. Could be my fault, could be what I’m growing; whatever the reason, I wanna be able to look at stuff closely. I feel like a trellis prevents me from doing that. It’s too late for you now haha, but in the future…
Soil: skip the bagged stuff and make your own. Even though I trust BAS, making your own soil allows for greater control (obviously) and it’s fun! Kind of… haha. Here’s a really simple recipe that I’ve been using for years (lifted from MountainOrganics’ no till thread on grasscity):
“Base soil mix:
1:1:1: CSPM (Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss) : Pumice/Lava rock : Compost - Malibus B/U is an excellent choice if it is available in your area.
Amended per cuF with:
1/2 - 1 cup Neem or Karanja
1/2 - 1 cup Kelp
1/2 - 1 cup Crab/Crustacean meal
1 cup MBP (Malted Barley Powder)
1/2 cup Gypsum (nice sulphur source)
4-6 cups Basalt
6-8 cups Biochar”
You can skip the MBP and just top dress with it. Or you can not use it at all, I don’t think it’ll make a big difference. Some grows I use it, some grows I don’t. And you can use EWC instead of compost, just make sure whatever you use, compost or EWC (I like a combination of the two), is good. Don’t go to Home Depot haha.
Also, skip the biochar altogether unless you’re absolutely sure it’s all good and charged. Even then, I’d probably skip it. I’ve made mixes with it before that were fine, but the last time I did, shit got all fucked up, even though I charged it myself. I had to toss the bins that I’d added it to and mix up some new soil, probably won’t eve include it again.
Anyway, you can use and re-use that mix for a whiiiiiile. I haven’t made any new soil in like two or three years. Just re-amend every-other grow and you’ll be fine.
You may wanna consider mulching. I use that barley mulch from BAS, pretty sure I like that the best. One grow I used their composted wood bark mulch or whatever it’s called and got a serious fungus gnat infestation, first time that that’d ever happened, so now it’s strictly the barley stuff.
Anyway… Growing weed is really, really easy. I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
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Nice! I like the idea of making my own soil, trying to understand all the different ingredients and where they came from/what they do.
I’ll admit I’ll probably run the BaS until I’m out of it, but that won’t take that long! I’d love to try something else that seems simple enough and provides more control.
Also dually noted that I’ll not keep that jug around for future watering – don’t want to be putting bad stuff in!
I feel like I can see in the trellis fine, but there’s only one plant in there. I could see it getting harder with 4 or 8. (I have a 2.7x2.7 and a 4x4 ft tent now)
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I mean, it should be fine to keep re-using, same as if you’d mixed up your own soil. I’d probably just add it to the new stuff you make on your own, no point in tossing it.
Those nanners aren’t always easy to see haha. I usually grow in seven-gallon pots and take them out of the tent when I water, which is every-other day. Even then I’ll sometimes miss them. My eyesight is admittedly pretty bad, but still… I dunno. Trellises seem like a PITA. I mean, if you’ve got six or eight plants (or more) growing in there and you have to remove one of of them for whatever reason… On your hands and knees, working around other plants, chopping something in the back of the tent, then pulling it out of the net… No, thanks haha.
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Hmpf. Good food for thought. Maybe I’ll keep the trellis in my 2.7x2.7 and then go without in the 4x4 and compare? Everything you said makes sense though. I could see something hiding out in there!
Tonight:
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I wouldn’t let the soil dry out too much. You really kind of want good, consistent moisture levels. That’s a five-gallon pot, right? How much are you giving it when you do water?
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Look at those little baby pompoms! 
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I don’t recall what medium you are using but when I got to the flowering stage I was giving my 5g pots a good half gallon of water daily or every other day. I use the crummy soil meter from Vivosun to see how dry things are towards the bottom.
Looking great so far!
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Gotcha. I’ve been worried about root rot and read that I should be letting it dry out.
It is in a five gallon fabric pot. Build A Soil Light. I’ve been watering about 2000mL (3784ish mL in a gallon). Also using a little moisture meter that I only trust so much but trying to let the bottom dry out a little.
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Whe I use this soil meter I shove it down pretty low to get a reading. When my fingers a holding it is usually when the top of thw soil surface is. I feel that gets pretty darn low into the fabric pot.
With my four successful harvests so far using a mix of Fox Farm soil and their nutrients, I have produced my largest yeild so far out of four plants resulting in 18.69oz so far. Still have a about another ounce and half maybe from what I predicting I still need to trim.
I haven’t experienced root rot with these fabric pots so far and feel as long as you are going by your meter and visual of the soil you will be fine. I do however “train” my plants throughout their life gradually giving more and more water up till that half gallon mark of water.
This was my latest harvest:
You got this! The plant will let you knownifnyou have given too much water. Trust your lady 
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That’s an antiquated notion that cannabis growers from, like, fifty years ago perpetuated. And also coco growers haha. I don’t know enough about growing in coco to say one way or the other that they’re right. Seems to work for them, but your not growing in coco, so…
Think of plants/soil life like you think of yourself. What would you prefer? Getting all dehydrated and then drinking a shit-ton of water and then waiting until you’re dehydrated again to drink more water? Or would you prefer to stay hydrated all the time?
It’s the same reason that I would never veg on a 24/0 or even a 20/4 light schedule. Everything needs a little rest.
That typically happens with those “drip” systems, where small amounts of water are dripping out of lines all day, every day. I think it may happen a lot with flood-and-drain grow setups, too, but I’ve never done that, so I dunno haha. I don’t think it’s something you need to worry about, though.
Okay, so about a half-gallon. That should be fine every-other day, at least for the next six weeks or so. After that, you may wanna start dialing it back a little bit, depends on how far along the flowers look.
It really would be a lot easier to determine how much/often you need to water if you could just pick the pot up, but that trellis… haha. Honestly, it really is just kinda common sense. Stick your fingers into the soil about two inches down; if it’s still moist, don’t water.
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I grow in DWC so my roots are 100% of the time submerged in water. If dry back cycles work well for you do it, but it’s not the only way.
You want to make sure you soil has air. A heavy mud with stale water will suffocate your girl. People use perlite or some kind of sandy grit to give the right soil structure.
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Dually noted!! I’m going to go check on my gal shortly. Just woke up (again). Sleeping a ton with this ick.
I like the thought of not drying it out to the Sahara and then providing an oasis. That seems stressful. I also like the idea that you trained your plant to drink a little more :). I trust yall! You’ve obviously got a lot more experience with this than me!
I have a feeling I’ll be happier without the trellis in the new tent. I do feel rather locked in with that thing.
The soil feels like it has good aeration and retains water well.
I pulled this from their website:
Ingredients: BuildASoil Worm Castings, Organic Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, Organic New Mexico Pumice, Organic Par-Boiled Rice Hulls, Grand Mesa Colorado Volcanic Basalt, Organic Diamond K Gypsum, Montana Grow Silica Rock Dust, Organic High P Bran, Organic Mustard Seed Meal, Organic 2 Row Milled Malted Barley, Organic Terviva Karanja Cake, BuildASoil Pre Charged Bio-char with Rootwise Mycrobe Complete.
I’m guessing the sphagnum peat moss is holding most of the water.
Out of my next six plants in solo cups (different thread) two are in Mother Earth Groundswell, and four are in Build A Soil. So, I’ll get some experience with a different medium (and not using a trellis!).
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