Proper watering is tricky to learn. It’s important to allow some drying in between waterings. The spaces that open up in between soil particles as the soil dries are filled with air. When you water, it forces the air out of these spaces, as the soil dries out, water is replaced by air., which is why you see bubbles happening as the water is trickling down into the soil.( when you water) This is the old air being forced out . It is this constant wet / dry routine that constantly replaces old air with fresh oxygen-rich air. This is what keeps your roots happy. I’ve always gone by weight when I water. This can also be tricky, because as the plant grows, it adds more weight to the container. After a while you just know when it’s time. Sounds like the plants are starting to catch the Rhythm, so you must be doing something right! Mulching your containers will help keep the soil moisture levels more in Balance. Many of your roots, if in a proper environment, would enjoy those top couple inches of soil. This is due to the extra oxygen located near the surface. Roots don’t like air or light. Mulch solves both problems. My apologies for my awful post this morning. I realize it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and is quite repetitive LOL
Next time you recommend seedling soil, perlite and mulch? If so what percentage of mulch?
Also what kind-of container could I use for three plants under a gal in size?
Do these nursery bags work well? Or should I just do a Solo cup?
@Upstate
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZYCYH8C/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyRFM4WUo1MFhaMkVEJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTQwMzI1MUZENjRURk8xNkFYTCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODU4NTA4Mk1XRkpNOEtJTU1OVSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbDImYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl&th=1
I dont use seedling soil. Ocean forest makes a great " base mix" soil. This soil has been cooked ( composted) already. It has many of the same additives that i would recommend. Bat guano, kelp meal, bone meal and blood meal(?) Worm Castings and more. It is fine as is for low nutrient requirement plants.
(Sativa landraces and seedlings). Modern day hybrids require more food than what ocean forest can provide for the plants whole life. It usually starts to burn out ( no more nutes) before full flowering. However it is perfect for hybrid seedlings, and I highly recommend it for the first container to get yr plants off to a quick start. It’s a little over $20 2 cubic foot bag I think ( maybe1.5 cubic ft) . But if you switch to this organic Style , you can recycle your soil and reuse it . When you transplant into a larger container you want your plants to go into a stronger mix. Here are two ways you can do this . You can either mix fertilizer into that same ocean forest soil ( in a trash bag or outdoors)when you plant your seedlings in the dirt, mixing the ferts in thoroughly, and it will be ready for transplant 20 = 30 days later. So you’re not putting your plants right into this mix. You’re putting yr seedlings into the ocean forest, but at the same time mixing a separate batch of ocean forest with additional nutrients for later. or you can simply use that same ocean forest soil, and just make some piles of nutrients throughout the container. Or could just put one massive pile of food in one corner of the bottom of the container if you want. I have done plants in the ground where I had two rows of plants with a row of fertilizer in between them. This works similar to an earthbox. The Roots can grow where there are no nutrients if they prefer it, and if they need food they will simply tap into this source. I myself prefer multiple sources, around the perimeter of the container in the form of spikes. You would use a dowel to make a hole in the soil down to about a half inch above the bottom, and fill this with your favorite dry fertilizer mix. Organic of course. If you do it this way, you want to make the spikes at transplant time, and keep them at least an inch or two away from your plants roots. A great fertilizer for this is called Holly tone. By espoma. It’s a cheap fertilizer that contains all of the amendments your plant will need, and starting with this fertilizer will not cost you very much at all. Basically has all the blood meal bone meal kelp meal crab meal castings ( sorry no castings. Have to add them separate)Etc all mixed up together. If you are on a budget, then this fertilizer is for you. I have used it by itself and it works great. When you get good at using that, you can make things more complicated and start buying individual amendments and make your own custom mixes tailored to yr favorite plants needs. Are you familiar with the numbers on the front of fertilizer packages? So let’s say you follow the directions for adding kelp meal (1=0=2) and blood meal (12=0=0) you have the recommended amount in two piles. If you combine them you have made a custom mix of 13=0=2. Generally with Organics, you are taking many low-number fertilizers, and combining them together to make a high number fertilizer. In this way you can make your own blends. A little research will let you know what concentrations you are aiming at for the seedling , veg, transition and flowering stages. But this is later on, when you have a better grasp of this style. For now pick up some of that Holly tone. I also can’t recommend enough that you read the book true living Organics if you can That’s if you’re interested in this particular style. It does have a higher learning curve than other styles, and not having anyone to help me, it took me three years to get it down. However you do have help. The reward for this style is the best smoke you will ever have. The flavors of all your favorite plants will be on a scale you’ve never experienced. No burning of the throat, no harshness. And your plants will be all they can be. I’m sure with this long post I’ve created more questions than answers
I bookmarked for reference, thx!
This will be the last make-shift Grow…The Tent is halfway up and should be ready in a week or so.
The current Grow looks like it will make it, all plants are growing and a few growing well. They had a hard start in life so I’m not expecting a whole lot more from them. They are 2/3 through their life cycle (Being Autos) and I’ve noticed a marked change when using “Base” nutes.
Still need to get that fish nute @Meesh was talking about. Just can’t find the ones you need with less N in it, only see 5-1-1.?.
I’ve got to take back that Coco I bought and trade it for FFOF. So I’ll play around with the FFOF by starting a few in it bypassing the seedling soil. So yeah, I’ll stop bugging y’all so much now, lol I think they will be ok.
If this were a normal Grow I would have pulled everything and started again. Just didn’t have the time to waste on this run. If I can get a half O then I’ll be happy. It’s just for me so don’t need pounds and pounds.
The last question I have is about molasses. Can or should I use this and if so is now the time?
In a panic I started 4 seedlings and they are doing fine, a little stretchy but that’s to be expected with bad lightly. They need to be moved, I guess a nursery bag is better than a Jiffy pot or a solo cup. There white is the only thing…
Picked up Ed Rosenthal’s book, “A field guide for identfinying and correcting problems”
It’s actually a very easy read and he explained things very well without getting bogged down to much. I’ll deff keep it as a reference book to fall back on. Going by the book a few of the plants a N defencey. The pics looked the same, had one plant that was almost yellow and now mostly green.
Here are a few pics, the one with pre-flowers is a Berry Ryder. It’s now the biggest plant and looks very healthy. And here are the 4 seedlings that I’m hoping to finish off in 1gal-3gal bags, I just need to keep them in a smallish container for now, outta room. 
The 5-1-1 is fine for veg. They sell a 0-10-10 for flower
Hey @Meesh I was is the name for the 0-10-10, didn’t see it listed.?. There is prob hundreds of differ brands but here is one with less N.
That should work fine for veg. I’ve heard of Neptune… Check out Alaska Morbloom for flower. These are really cheap, but will save your grow. Regular veg fish fert by alaska is 5-1-1 which is just fine too. I use it all the time.
Okay thanks. Most are about to show pre-flowers so I was thinking of trying the Alaska Morbloom with the N I have. When do you cut N in Auto or basically any strain? Most popped on Jan14th, so that’s 6 weeks out (Or 36 days) in 60-80 day strains.
What about molasses? Do you use it?
And where did the Green square/dots go, I am back to 2 of them…
Stay with veg nutes until 2nd week of flower. I have used molasses only in a tea of seabird guano and kelp for flower. You don’t want to use it too often or too much as it will attract ants and/or start composting in organic soil and burn your plants
I don’t know about the pips aka green dots. One of the mods posted a thread asking Joe. We think he may just be trying something new. You think yours went away? Sheesh, Mine have been cut in half and it takes exponentially longer with each one
Yeah, had 5 down to 2 of them…?
It’s my fault, I had too many (Meesh wasn’t far behind) so they changed the scale. You have the same amount of “karma” points, it’s just displayed different.
Molasses is a great source of potassium magnesium, and carbs. Supposed to add up to 20% more weight to your Harvest if used properly.
Make sure to use unsulphured for Organics. Blackstrap molasses. With autos I’m not sure when to start using it but it’s used toward the end of flowering. Maybe 3 weeks before harvest until 10 days before harvest. You want to wash all that magnesium from the molasses that’s built up out of the soil by using plain water the last week to 10 days . (About a teaspoon per gallon when using molasses.) If you don’t wash it out of your soil before Harvest, your smoke will burn the back of your throat . It burns hot so to speak .Careful what else you give them at the same time. You don’t want to o.d. the plants with potassium or magnesium.
Yr basically giving the plant carbs, and some of the other stuff you’ve been using may provide them as well. Alaska makes an organic 0=4=2 fish fert, though some have problems finding it. It works great. I used the Alaska morbloom 0-10-10 years ago until reading that it was not natural and organic. They trick you with the wording by calling it organic based. Probably fine to use it but go light. 1Teaspoon per gallon. I never did have issues with it. I think it only matters if you’re using the myco. They don’t like it. That berry Ryder has a way to go yet. You should get something from it. How big is container? It still has the whole flowering phase to go. 5 more weeks i think. 6 maybe. If it’s a 60 day strain, this is how they are supposed to look at day 25 or so, which is when they normally start to flower. It’s whole flowering schedule must have gotten screwed up. I never found one gallon fabric pots either. I want to say they were two gallon. Probably a great size for autos. You can also do one larger bag and just do Autos around the perimeter in a circle then tie them outwards as they grow. Definitely get those little ones transplanted before they are stunted. White is okay for container color. Good actually. Try planting one of them in the container it will finish in. Squeeze it in there somehow! Pick the shortest one. You’ll get to see how much faster it grows that way. Beer cups are okay for the other ones if you have to, but at least quart-sized until sexing is better. Sorry if I miss something. I have a lot going on right now with family
The amount of Green Dots has been reformulated. Nobody’s been demoted LOL. I would mix both the Alaska 5 11 and the 0-10-10. Start with half strength and see how they react. You want your nitrogen at half the amount of phosphorus right now give or take. And if someone else is reading this and thinks otherwise please chime in. If they look good after 3 days you could probably hit em with another half dose. Always start lower than what you think. It’s hard to take back something once it’s done. This particular style is not my area of expertise anymore. It’s been a long time since I used liquid nutrients that haven’t been brewed in a tea.
There coming along fairly well now, most show pre-flowers. There in 1 gal pots and I have room for one more, just waiting on perlite to come in. I’m going to put one of the seedlings in a 1 gal pot and the rest in these.
Hopefully by the time they fill out these bags there will be more room for 3 more 1 gal pots. I did find some fish nutes, they went up $6 since I ordered it a few hours ago.
When this comes in I will stop the Base Nutes I am giving and replace with the fishy stuff.
So I was checking on perlite, usually get it local but he just sold out and the owner is having surgery. Anyways I was searching Amazon, which is WAY overpriced for canna supplies. They charge almost twice as much as what I get local…I came across the seedling soil that I used and just for shits and giggles I read the reviews.
I’m in no way passing the buck, I screwed up but there might be something with this soil…Read the First Two Reviews, lol!!!
I’ve got to return the Coco and I still have a large bag of Happy Frogs. The 4 seedlings will either go in Happy Frogs or Ocean Forest. They are a little hot but I’ve read that many peps use this the whole run.
Those 4 seedlings will be the last, in my make-shift Grow. The Tent is halfway up so I’ll be moving in there. The environment should be much nicer for the plants.
I’m getting excited for you for your next run! I think it will go much better for you than this time. I read those reviews. Sometimes retailers leave that stuff outdoors in the rain. All it takes is a pinhole to let water in and saturate the mix, ruining the product. That would be my excuse😉! Did you notice there are no nutrients in there? Just some dolomite lime for ph. The only advantage to using a seedling mix is being able to give the plants only the nutrients you want them to have. In this way you can up your odds for more female plants.( there are many more ways too) for the first 7 to 10 days plants use what they have in the embryo for food. I prefer to have the plants in that Ocean forest potting soil from the get go so the second they want some food, it is there waiting for them. Also, as seedlings the connections roots make with the myco will occur, setting the plants up for explosive growth later.( That’s what the biotone in the holly tone fertilizer does) those grow bags look fine to me. It says they are breathable, which is way better than plastic pots. When the roots reach the edge of the container, they are " air pruned ". Instead of circling the pot looking for food, the roots turn back around and grow back into the soil. In this way the nutrients you have in yr soil are more thoroughly used up, and you can keep larger, happier plants in containers . The only downside with them is that they are difficult to transplant out of, so get the biggest size you can fit in ur tent. Also it’s good to start with bigger containers, and shrink the size of them as yr skill set improves. 3 gallon is ideal for photos. 2 gallon for autos ( maybe one gallon) last thing… If you plan on trying this organic method, adding yr own nutrients, you have to compost them first. This is the case with most powdered nutrients, even if organic. Takes around 3 weeks indoors. ( example …blood meal,kelp meal) Or you could get pelletized 5 5 5 organic ferts to add without having to compost first. Hope I’m not confusing more than helping. Let me know what style you plan on using. Pick up a bag of dolomite lime as well. Powdered or pelletized are both good. Very cheap. I forgot to tell you to pick that up. It should last you a long long time for 10 bucks or so.
Is Ocean Forsest sterlized unlike Happy Frogs? The rest of the supplies will be here tomorrow. So if I can’t get by the garden store then I’ve got a new bag of Happy Frogs, I’d rather use Ocean but can’t let it go to waste.
Those white nursery bags are designed to be planted not removed, so that will make it much easier on me and the plant. :). Oh and Neptune Harvest Fish Fert came in…They don’t need watering today but I’ll start using it tomorrow.
Is says one Tablespoon per gal, should I half that?
That’s strange you mentioned lime, I was just reading Jorge Cervantes ( I know it’s dated but some good info) and he was talking about using lime.
When I was a kid my granddad used to help me build a garden on the side of the house. It was really cool, we did it for several seasons it wasn’t huge maybe 20’ long dual lines.
It was mostly Tomatoes and I still remember him grabbing a big fist full of lime and throwing it in the hole.
So either way tomorrow the last 4 will go in pots. Just depends on if I can get by the store, if not then Happy Frogs will do. And Perlite.
What do you think of a layer of course perlite in the bottom of the bag? Maybe a inch or two deep.?.
They are basically the same growing medium, the difference is Happy Frog is the “for container growing” recipe.
Go 1/3 strength on fish. One teaspoon. Its better to use lower amts more frequently than high amounts less frequently.Which one came in? Flowering fish fert ? Or higher in nitrogen fish fert? I guess just use the happy frog. Don’t want to waste it. Adding anything else to the happyfrog? Or just using the 2 liquid fishes? Perlite is ok to add to the bottom. No more than an inch. Any dry food you could sprinkle on the floor under the perlite? With that lime, you have to let that " cook" as well. It will burn yr plants and possibly cause sunburn, with leaves bleached white. Ugly.
Perlite is the only thing I will add right now. I guess I need to find nutes for these, instead of using the other nutes I have.
The only one I got was the Neptune Harvest 2-4-1, so I will need a N which meesh gave me the name for that one. It’s that Alaska something and starts out something like 5-?-?, I saved it on Amazon.
Besides those two Base nutes. Is there anything else I should need?
I have some Cal-Mag, Root Powder and Bio Minerals left over.