I have many of those and don’t use them anymore as they don’t tend to hold very well in general.
Craft store large safety pins if you’re using fabric pots and rubber coated wire made for plants.
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Welcome…didn’t want to steer you wrong. The weird drop in DLI is because your hours change at flip, down to ~12/12, but you PPFD doesn’t decrease with it:
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Nice chart!
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I found that the staples held better for me personally vs the wire. I still play around with both as the wire definitely does have good uses.
Could i ask how you use the wire? As i have a absolute crap ton of it and would like to use more of it. Its mostly used to hang my buds to dry for my last 2 grows 
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I use it for pretty much all my tie downs and for hanging things too.
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My preference is tent stakes, I think it was @MeEasy that gave me that idea.
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Yes sir, I use tent stakes, safety pins and plant wire to tie up my ladies 
the safety pins are really nice because you can put them anywhere on your pots for a place to tie to. I’ve seen others use those binder clips
https://a.co/d/f5njQtN
https://a.co/d/aSYP4Se
https://a.co/d/8DFylw0
As always I posted before reading back to see what others already said. So I pretty much just repeated @Skydiver 's post
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Excellent tip, thanks for that. I wondered why it showed a drastic decrease on the other chart
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You’re welcome…I don’t grow photos because my environment doesn’t allow 12 hours of dark, but I learned a little about them along the way
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This “preparation” journal will be closing soon. I’m nearing the end of preparations - nearly ready to grow. My last update admits that I need to learn to use my new testers. (both EC & pH).
Before describing my results for testing tap water pH, there’s a couple of shoutouts I need to make:
@Skydiver & @Highgrow - Thanks for the good discussion about methods for low stress training (LST):
- Using staples / stakes
- Using safety pins & rubber-coated wire
If possible, I want to try both methods during my first grow; documenting results in my grow journal. Using a 10lb grow sack should make it possible to try both and along the way, figure out which method I like better. Maybe a mix of both?
pH Testing: Complete
I took samples of the tap water from my bathtub at three different times of day. Since that water is chlorinated, I allowed it to stand 24 hours before testing.
- Samples were taken at different times since I live in a high-rise where the water main is shared by neighbors.
- It’s not going to be necessary to calibrate my pH tester every time I use it. But for these three tests, it got calibrated each time - just practicing.
7am water: 7.5 result
1pm water: 7.5 result
7pm water: *7.4 result
That seems to be an out-of-range reading since cannabis grown-in-soil thrives when the pH range is between 6.0 and 7.0 (hydroponic is 5.5 and 6.5).
I’m not worried though! The next test (Soil Slurry) might correct it.
Next up: EC & pH Testing of Soil Slurry
Clay
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This entry tells about the last prep step for this journal (I think)
. . . . All the stuff needed to begin my first grow has arrived.
. . . . I’ve practiced using both my pH & EC meters.
As a result, right after a short trip in February, I can get this grow going 
I owe a huge thank you to all of you who’ve helped me land in this starting position!
I feel confident
Here in MN today (Sun, Jan 21st), the temperature finally reached 12F. So, I switched coats… wore my light coat when I went to the gym. Most everyone else there had done the same thing… put away their winter coat. It just shows you the stoicism here in MN.
I had recently added a little bismuth salts to the nutes I take. Today, I got to put them away - no longer needed
With that reporting out of the way, here’s the result for my final prep step.
Clay
EC Testing: Complete
My soil slurry tests had two parts… soil & water
-
Prior to today, I had bought two 4-qt bags of {coco cuir / soil}. Today, those bags got labeled “Bag A” and “Bag B”. A measured sample (1/2 cup) was taken from each bag and set aside in two separate bowls.
. . . . . If you’re curious about the components in the soil I chose, you can find details in an earlier posting for this journal. Look for the lil green pic that got posted the same day I said "Seeds arrived today! -
With the soil ready, I got the water ready next. After verifying a reading of pH 7.5 for my tap water, I used one drop of “DOWN” in 500 ML of that water to correct the pH down 7.0 (neutral)
-
1/2 cup of that pH-corrected water got added to both bowls of soil (a one-to-one ratio of soil to water). After stirring, I set the bowls aside for 90 minutes. After 90 minutes, a cheese cloth-lined fine-screen sieve was used to drain both water samples… ready for testing
Results for Bag A:
- The pH reading was 5.6. That reading was lower than the ideal range for cannabis grown in soil: 6.0-7.0 (non-soil 5.5-6.5).
- The EC reading was 2.8. For the seedling stage, that’s outside the ideal range of 0.8-1.3… on the high side.
Results for Bag B: (WINNER)
- The pH reading was 6.0. Success! That reading falls within the ideal range for cannabis grown in soil.
- The EC reading was 1.9. I consider that a success. Yes, it’s on the high side. But good starting nutrition is available in there.
The info about “ideal electrical conductivity (EC) range for cannabis grown in soil” came from these sources:
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If you havent seen these charts yet, they will be beneficial for you in your near future to avoid a lockout.
Soil
Hydroponic
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Thanks very much, @PhatPat !
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Yeah the slurry test is so key to understanding what’s going on with your soil before using it
I did this with the Happy Frog soil I’m using now - and the starting slurry pH was all the day down at 4.7. I’ve practically been watering my plants with pH balanced water over 7 for the entire duration of the grow just to maintain the soil pH at around 6.4-6.5
Recently did another slurry test for some other organic soil brand I bought from a farmers market by my house. That actually tested in a much better pH range around like 6.1 or 6.2 and the EC was like a 0.9. Kinda curious now on how things would grow in that compared to what I’m using 
Good luck with your grow!
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I am finding that aging the soil with an active microbial population helps balance things out. I will prepare a batch of soil by adding 1 part old soil with 3 parts new. I amend with Mykos, Azos, Hydroguard, and Recharge. I will treat this soil as though it was planted and water to keep moist for 2-3 weeks. I generally drop seed in the shot glass at about that time. After germination in a solo cup and a good crop of roots, drop in a pot of the prepared soil and she’s good for a few weeks.
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I need help bro i am COMPLETELY NEW TO THIS!!! I just purchased a dwc kit lights snd outdoor green house. I went to mix my solution and it said 2ml per gallon of each and my water ppm came to 123ppm but i keep reading online it should be between 400ppm to 600ppm by 3rd to 4th week. So my question is do i just keep adding till i hit that range? Just even doses of each chem?? Pls help i never grew anything in my life and i dont want these bad boys to die on me. Help
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Have they already sprouted ? If so, how old are they ?
Autos ?
In Soil ?
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Auto they are already at 3 rd week now i have trasfer them to buckets i was useing one of those dum hyfdropnic herb things LOL I AM SO LOST
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They are autos
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Well to be honest, I’m not a “numbers” guy so I won’t be much help there. I can tell you autos are more sensitive to nutrients then photos … I use anywhere from 2ml-5ml per gallon depending on what the nutrient is…
I learned how to grow by A Lot of trial and error until I narrowed it down and found what works for me.
There’s a ton of variables to growing and some actual science to it also.
You can ask 5 people the same question and get 7 different answers LoL.
@Lostgirl is good with the numbers side of it. I’ve tagged her for you so she should be able to help more then I can regarding ppms.
I’m around if you have future questions about autos.
Happy Growing
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