From a fellow grower:
One more question what are some ways to speed up my growth in veg stage and also the cheapest way as well ? And in the veg stage what should I use formula wise as far as fertilizer right now I have a mirical grow African cat-tis bloom booster with a formula of 7-7-7 what do I really need ?
I’m not sure I understand the question.
To speed up growth you need to have your environment as close to ideal as possible. Using cheap ingredients will not help. But this takes more than just fertilizer or plant food. You need optimum lighting and to keep temperatures at ideal ranges, as well as making sure conditions at the root zone are optimal, the right pH and not too wet, a well draining soil, etc…
Have you downloaded and read the free e-book? This will help you understand all the ideal parameters for a successful grow.
Also, please, if you want help, we need you to take your time and write clearly. 7-7-7 I’m pretty sure is African violet miracle grow plant food drops and not, I’m sure you meant cactus drops, not cat-tis bloom booster.
I look forward to a clearer question and helping you further.
~MacG
Yes that is correct. About the 7-7-7 plant food you menchind. My plants are in. 12 gallon pot have 5 great seedlings growing in the pot. They were growing so great so fast awesome starting out I thought and not wilting either and now the best seedlings 5 inch tall two set of branches with six set of leaves are turning brown on the leaves and looks bad I think others not bad but it’s like my grow is on hold or something just transplanted into the 12 from a 5 so I know the roots have to get use too and start I to the new soil but here’s my whole set up . I have 3 cfl lights 3inchs from all the plants soil is a humus organic with a 0.5-0.5-0.5 ratio I told you the plant food I use and a temp ranging at 77 to 79 constant with a small fan for air flow and soil temp of 70 to 72 what do u think ?? Plz and thank you so much for the reply
Also I’m going to Home Depot to get a ph meter today after work that’s the only thing I haven’t done so I’ll let u know what the ph is later this evening
The pH in the soil? Nutrient concentrations building up in soil? The pH of the water you give it? Is it hard water? Do you know the EC or PPM reading of the water? You can figure out the pH and the nutrient concentration building up in the soil by testing the run-off, and then knowing these numbers we can make some educated guesses about what is going on.
The typical pH probe you might get at home depot are not very accurate I am being told over and over by people that use them and then test the soil with a proper digital pH meter and or pH test drops or test strips.
The pH and the EC/TDS/PPM or total dissolved solids or minerals in your water as measured in electrical conductivity or parts per million would be a big help.
And again, please slow down and try to write proper sentences. If I can’t exactly understand what you are trying to type, I can’t very well help you. If you want me to put some effort into understanding your problem, please put some thought and effort into your writing.
~MacG
Thank you ! Sorry about the grammar I will do my best on the future replys. If you could step me threw what to do as far as the testing goes. It’s all new to me. I do know how to do the water testing as far as the ph goes but that’s about it. If you could step me threw on what to do as far as what you need to know to help I would love to get better at this as much as I could . I will give you all the readings and levels when I get home today . Again sorry for the grammar at work an was rushing but trying to be as detailed as I could . Thanks !
Also, indoors, right? It seems like you are overdoing it with your container size. 3-5 gallons, when used properly, is more than enough in most cases, as @latewood always likes to tell us. Also at least one transplant to the larger, say the 5 gallon container, would be warranted. If you start in the largest container first, the roots will grow straight down to the bottom and not use much of the volume of the container.
There are a couple of way to test the soil, but the easiest way is monitoring the run-off. There is a simple formula I use, you can find it in my responses on testing run-off in other threads, I’ll help you with that when we have all the pH numbers. By watering the soil evenly throughout the container until a little “runs off”, enough to test with the test drops/strips or a digital pH meter.
TDS meter on amazon:
pH pen on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Accuracy-Pocket-Handheld-Tester/dp/B00FJFEB2O/?tag=greenrel-20
http://ilgmforum.com/c/ilgm-official-sonsors-buters-guides/ph-ec-tds-meters-pens-controllers
You can also test the soil as shown in Robert’s blog:
And his you-tube video:
~MacG
I’m a beginner here but more info seems needed, are all 5 in the same pot? What strain and how often have you been feeding them sofar? are you feeding them full strength as per food directions? and how is the humidity. If you are feeding full strength could be toxic. If your humidity is too low could also be a factor since early veg like higher humidity. Most people recommend starting nutrients in 1/2 to quarter dose.
Yes indoors surrounded by white poster boards with allumium on the poster boards facing the plants so it reflects the light around the plants also I did start feeding them with the 7-7-7- full strength 10 drops to a quart spray bottle and have only sprayed/feed them three times like that haven’t fed them with the plant food in 4 days due to I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong in that area . And thanks a lot for the ph meter reference I’ll get it today and let you know
Yes all are in the same pot 12 gallon pot so the roots have plenty of room and also they are indoors and if u read my last reply u can see that I have been feeding them full strength but haven’t fed them since the transplant 4 days ago giving them time to set their roots in the new soil and strain wise. I went to colorado and bought some indica weed and some hybid weed they had 6 seeds all together and 5 are growing so I couldn’t tell you exactly what kind or strain they are as far as humidity I love in the south la. To be exsact and haven’t checked the humidity level at all thy are in my room so I would guess high but not outstanding what do I need it at or what are good levels ? What is your thoughts
Yikes. They should not all be in the same container. That can complicate things. Are they all the same strain? I don’t know why I keep seeing a lot of people doing this, growing and leaving a bunch in the same container.
5 plants in 12 gallons, that is barely a little more than 2 gallons per plant, which might be a bit tight in normal conditions, but now they are all going to be inter-tangling their roots and competing with each other below ground. This might not necessarily be a problem if they are all the same strain, but even sometimes when they are the same strain, an exceptionally healthy and vigorously growing plant could choke out the roots of its neighbor. Also if something happens to one and it gets sick? Trying to pull it out could damage its neighbors roots and leaving a dead stump with decaying roots below ground isn’t going to be doing any of the neighbor’s roots any favors necessarily. And worse case scenario, the weak plant could catch a disease and help spread it easily to the others through their roots.
OK, sorry about the rant, but it just doesn’t make sense for so many reasons.
~MacG
Well shit so percentage wise am I good for at least two of them growing up right? And yes same strain . The Only reason I kept them in the same pot is because the email I got back from Roberts support team said just transplant all of them in the 12 gal pot I could forward the email to you because I asked them if I had to transplant each one separate or leave them together and the response I got was just transplant them in a 12 gal that the roots will end up intertwining but it shouldn’t hurt them to bad … Is there something I could do to help them out to keep them fighting each other as much like injecting the soil with like a root booster or something away from the plant to get the roots to grow farther out ? What do you recommend ?
Also once I have all my levels as far as ph and all that do I new to start feeding them by injecting the soil so they all get the food thy need so they aren’t trying to fight one another I wish I knew that was gonna be a major issue really need some advise on it. Had a friend grow the same plants same number and made 5000 $ on his yield so I’m really hopeing I can make this work as best I can
Not that I know what the hell I’m doing, but adding a bit of kelp occasionally to the fertilizer solution seems to give my plants a boost during vege. My little plants seemed to hit a growth plateau recently. Gave them a tiny bit of SuperThrive (mainly B1 and kelp), and within a week they were sprouting leaves and branches everywhere.
As MacGyver was saying with so many plants in one pot you are magnifying your risks I prefer 3gal min per plant in soil and giving all plants equal oppertunity to thrive. I missed one more piece of info how far along are they if they have only been in the pot for 4 days you may be able to shuffle them again? if you are foliar feeding you should keep your food at a very weak concentration. As for humidity 40-50% would be about right too low or too high plants won’t drink.
All he has to do is mix up some super thrive and nitrogen peroxide in gal of water mix his solutions and P H it to 6.0 or 6.5 Soak new holes and dig them up very gently not getting nere the tap root and place in New home cover with soil soak again and Presto
done and over with. Then water only for about 3 or 4 feedings . After that start feeding doing at one quarter strength and increase each feeding by 1/4.
Done!
WILL
My ph levels are perfect and all my levels as far as anything goes are good the plant with two leaves growing side ways has a purpleish color on both leaves but smells amazing using 7-7-7 plant food I need ur thoughts plz
I think I’m using the wrong plant food and lacking nitrogen the plant that looks the worse is browning as far as the two leaves and idk what to do I’m new at thisBut have great plants that smell amazing
Stop giving them nutrients they are just seedlings and they have there own supply of nutrients to last them untill they have 5 or 6 true sets of leaves and then if the soil has any nutrients in it WoW the little ones are in trouble.
Just PH water of 6.0 6.5
Will
These are way too young to be getting any kind of strong added nutrient, and miracle grow african viloet plant food 7-7-7 any where near full strength is way too strong! You are actually causing the burnt leaves with too much nitrogen and other macro nutrients.
~MacG
