New Grower First Grow Journal- Northern Light Auto

[AndyBotwin]

Growgirl, since your runoff is still quite low, I recommend that you get some dolomite lime as soon as you can. You can find it at a grow shop, nursery, or any place that sells fertilizers and such. It's not a cannabis specific thing, and it should only cost a few bucks. Make sure you get dolomite, not hydrated or garden lime. Hydrated can cause some real issues, and garden is mainly calcium while dolomite also has magnesium. Canna plants love their cal/mg. Try to find powdered or crushed lime, as it will work faster than pellets or larger pieces.

Once you get it, you can rough up the top inch or so of the soil and mix in around 1tsp per gallon of soil. Over time it will mix through your medium and bring the pH closer to 7. It takes a week or so to see the effects, which is why I recommend doing it now rather than waiting until you see problems with your plants. Because if your soil pH is in the 5s, you will see problems sooner or later. The last thing you want is to get into flower and have all your fan leaves die off on you.

 

[growgirl]

Growgirl, since your runoff is still quite low, I recommend that you get some dolomite lime as soon as you can. You can find it at a grow shop, nursery, or any place that sells fertilizers and such. It's not a cannabis specific thing, and it should only cost a few bucks. Make sure you get dolomite, not hydrated or garden lime. Hydrated can cause some real issues, and garden is mainly calcium while dolomite also has magnesium. Canna plants love their cal/mg. Try to find powdered or crushed lime, as it will work faster than pellets or larger pieces.

Once you get it, you can rough up the top inch or so of the soil and mix in around 1tsp per gallon of soil. Over time it will mix through your medium and bring the pH closer to 7. It takes a week or so to see the effects, which is why I recommend doing it now rather than waiting until you see problems with your plants. Because if your soil pH is in the 5s, you will see problems sooner or later. The last thing you want is to get into flower and have all your fan leaves die off on you.

Thanks andy! This is really helpful. Ill definitely pick up some dolomite lime. I heard that hydrated lime is good too because you can mix it in with your water so it can spread through the soil better? So if I get the crushed or powdered lime how much should I put in the top inch of soil? Should I mix it well into the top inch or should I just kind of let it sit on top of the soil?
Also would I water with pH 6.5 water still? Or keep it at 7.0?

 

[AndyBotwin]

Thanks andy! This is really helpful. Ill definitely pick up some dolomite lime. I heard that hydrated lime is good too because you can mix it in with your water so it can spread through the soil better? So if I get the crushed or powdered lime how much should I put in the top inch of soil? Should I mix it well into the top inch or should I just kind of let it sit on top of the soil?
Also would I water with pH 6.5 water still? Or keep it at 7.0?

Hydrated lime can be toxic to plants even in small doses, and while it does act faster, it does not maintain stable pH over time. Some experienced growers use it in drastic situations, but I would strongly recommend against it for a first grow. You can mix dolomite lime with water as well, and while it doesn't dissolve very well, it will form a suspension that mixes with the soil somewhat. I'd still do the top dressing also. Just mix 1tsp per gallon of soil and let it do its thing. I bury it under the top inch of soil to keep from getting a crusty build up on top. Once you're working with the lime, I'd just go with 6.5 water for the time being and see how the runoff looks in 1-2 weeks.

Going forward, it's a good idea to mix the 1tsp per gallon of lime in with your soil before potting it up. That will ensure that it's spread throughout and can help keep your pH stable from day one. It's been my experience that most amended soils like those from Fox Farms tend to be on the low side of pH & can use the lime. :gthumb:

 

[shax]

Dont rush into things!. Go easy, your plant is doing just fine(better then mine at this age) + you're in good hands

 

[growgirl]

Dont rush into things!. Go easy, your plant is doing just fine(better then mine at this age) + you're in good hands

Hydrated lime can be toxic to plants even in small doses, and while it does act faster, it does not maintain stable pH over time. Some experienced growers use it in drastic situations, but I would strongly recommend against it for a first grow. You can mix dolomite lime with water as well, and while it doesn't dissolve very well, it will form a suspension that mixes with the soil somewhat. I'd still do the top dressing also. Just mix 1tsp per gallon of soil and let it do its thing. I bury it under the top inch of soil to keep from getting a crusty build up on top. Once you're working with the lime, I'd just go with 6.5 water for the time being and see how the runoff looks in 1-2 weeks.

Going forward, it's a good idea to mix the 1tsp per gallon of lime in with your soil before potting it up. That will ensure that it's spread throughout and can help keep your pH stable from day one. It's been my experience that most amended soils like those from Fox Farms tend to be on the low side of pH & can use the lime. :gthumb:

Thanks guys!
I really appreciate all of the help I'm getting here! I am by no means an expert haha, but I truly am interested in learning about growing and improving along the way.

I'm going to stop by the local hydroponics shop very soon, hopefully tomorrow. So if I only need 1 tsp of crushed lime per gallon, I will only need 5 teaspoons for my entire 5 gallon pot? Will using more hurt? I'll have a lot left over, so for my next grow I'll definitely pre-mix it

I have a few more updates on things that are starting to concern me that I'm going to post in a minute with some pictures!

 

[AndyBotwin]

I'm going to stop by the local hydroponics shop very soon, hopefully tomorrow. So if I only need 1 tsp of crushed lime per gallon, I will only need 5 teaspoons for my entire 5 gallon pot? Will using more hurt? I'll have a lot left over, so for my next grow I'll definitely pre-mix it

You don't want to give too much cal/mg, so I would just go with the 5tsp for now. You will have plenty left, but dolomite lime is something that every soil grower needs to have on hand anyway. A one pound bag will last you the rest of your life if you're a small scale indoor grower. :smoke:

 

[growgirl]

Day 18

Today is day 18, some things are popping up that are making me a bit concerned.
Here's a list of things, and some pictures that correspond with them:

1. The plant seems to be growing tilted, away from the light. I always thought that they try to grow towards the light, but I try to make her stand straight my moving some dirt around, and she keeps tilting. Today it's worse than it has been. Her leaves are also pointing downwards at the tips. I watered yesterday, with pH 7 water only, and the runoff was 5.0-5.5ish (I'm going to take Andy's advise and pick up some crushed dolomite lime asap):



2. There is a brown spot that formed on one of the first true leaves (NOT a fan leaf):


3. The same leaf that the spot formed on is the leaf that is closest to the exhaust fan. The exhaust fan has been catching some white web-looking things, that are blowing around that are attached to the outside of the fan. The same white web looking things are on this leaf that is closest to the fan. It's hanging off the side a bit and is also on the top of the leaf a bit. It just looks like fine little white strings, but they're only on this leaf (closest to the exhaust fan). I checked for spider mites on the under sides of the leaves, but it looked clean. Nothing to be seen (yet). Any idea what this is?(the third picture shows the clean under side of the leaf with the strings):



4. The stem has little root nodes all over it. Should I bury it more? Or leave it like this? Maybe if I bury it more it'll stop tilting? This would also allow me to mix the dolomite lime in better and just add that to the pot? But I've also heard that burying the stem more can cause stem rot.

 

[shax]

vs same strain same soil same everything and one likes it one doesnt... Give her somethin to hang on, wooden stick will do it. Fan slightly blowing on her could make her stronger too... Leafes could be under/over watering...

 

[growgirl]

View attachment 335880 vs View attachment 335881 same strain same soil same everything and one likes it one doesnt... Give her somethin to hang on, wooden stick will do it. Fan slightly blowing on her could make her stronger too... Leafes could be under/over watering...

I'll probably put a stick in there and use a loose bread tie to keep her up. It's not to the point where she's literally falling over, but she is quite tilted. I put a piece of tin foil over the fan so it points downwards a bit, and hits her more. Also, I'm not sure what to do about this over/under watering situation. I water her when she's dry (about every 3 days. I just watered yesterday (Sunday) and the last water before that was Thursday. Now her leaves are droopy. They haven't been this bad before either. I'm 99% sure I'm not watering too often, but I think it might be the drainage in the pot. I bought a 5 gallon pot from the hydroponics shop that already had four big drainage holes in it on the edges of the bottom. I thought this would be enough, maybe it's still retaining too much water because theres not enough drainage at the actual bottom of the pot? Any ideas how to make extra drainage holes with the plant still in it? This is the type of pot she's in:

 

[AndyBotwin]

Growgirl, I'd keep a very close eye out on those webs. Probably just something blowing in from outside but if it is mites, you want to catch them early. As for that spot, it is likely the first sign of pH issues. Usually starts out with brown spotting as cal/mg are locked out:

You're already on the case with lime so let's get this nipped before it spreads. Drainage is a tough one. When you stick your finger in the bottom of the pot, is the soil wet? Four large holes should be enough for drainage unless your soil has packed up on the bottom and isn't draining.

I have had a plant with that same pimp lean going on, and it turned out fine in the end. I think I did bury the stem since it was already on the ground. Once you get your lime and are topdressing, you can make the call on that. Either way should be fine.