Prepping for first grow

[dan-dada]

Responding in purple cause this is easier for me lol.

Hey everyone! I haven't even begun my grow yet and I already feel SUPER overwhelmed about it all. Granted I have severe anxiety, so I'm sure that plays a role in said feelings of overwhelmed.

First, take a breath. We all have to start somewhere. We've all screwed up, its how you learn what works and what doesn't. It's part of the journey of growing.

-2x2 or 3x3 tent (my concern with a 2x2 is the maximum height of 48"...valid concern or not really?)

I started in a 2x2. I very quickly realized I wanted more space (or, I was told I needed more both by the fine folks here and my husband) and ended up with a 4x4 under my Christmas tree. But! I really enjoy the 2x2 still as well. You just have to be mindful of the space you are working with and plan your grows with the space in mind. I specifically chose strains that were described as staying small, and then did a lot of various training to keep them as small as possible. You can definitely keep the fan outside of the tent, and tbh you can put the filter outside as well. If you get a slim light (I *love* my HLG100 Rspec, and they have a discount code for AFN members) and mount your fan and filter outside the tent you will only lose as much space as the light needs for headspace. With running short strains and/or doing intense training I have had zero issue with running out of height. You want to make sure you get a quality light though, I had two of the 100W spider farmer lights in my 2x2 to start and my one RSpec blew the pair out of the water. I've had anywhere from 1 to 7 plants in there at a time but that was purely for my own curiosity, not something I would advise.

-Super soil (just add water during grow?)

1000% yes, but make sure you do your research. There are some really great organic growers on here who are more than happy to help! I believe @pop22 has a guide somewhere.

-2 plants, both a different strain (open to recommendations (1) strain for daytime anxiety control, (1) strain for nighttime enjoyment and sleep)

Love this, 100% doable in this space.

So my original plan was to attempt a DWC setup, but after some research and Q&A with experienced growers I decided that I should maybe wait for a later grow to try DWC. (good call )

(0) What's the difference between a dry amendment and a nutrient? Or is a dry amendment just the term for the process of adding nutrients to soil?

Technically dry amendments *are* nutrients, but when you see people talking about nutes more often than not they are talking about bottled/powdered salt nutrients. Dry amendments would be things like kelp meal, guano, etc that get added to the soil during the grow to recharge the soil with food for the plant (or really food for the microbes to make into food for the plant). Dry amending would be the action.

(1) I love the idea of prepping everything beforehand and just adding water throughout the process. I see growers running various super soils that mention top dressing and dry amending during their grow. Is that for deficiencies during the process, or is there just not really a way to get all the way through a grow without adding nutrients?

The biggest factor in this imo is container size. A living soil is going to do better in a larger container if you want it to be water only due mostly to volume but also in stability in moisture levels and such. In organics you are feeding the soil (and its microbial herd) and not the plants themselves as you would with bottled nutrients. Which means that keeping that herd happy is gonna be a top priority. Just like with our plants, they have conditions they thrive in, and others that they can just kinda get by in. I'm actually about to start two plants in a single 10gal in my 2x2 with living soil myself. Having started with salt nutes because I thought all this soil stuff was too complicated, I cannot say enough about how much I love using a no till living soil lol. It has taken so much stress out of growing for me. Last I saw build a soil doesn't have their take and bake kit available currently but that is what I went with and I absolutely love it.

(2) I have heard great things about Nature's Living Soil. Which to my understanding is a "concentrate" that you add into your soil (i.e Fox Farm) prior to planting your seed. Correct? And if yes, from there on is it just add water?

Stay far away from NLS, I have seen nothing but problems from it. I bought some when I was toying with the idea of doing organic without researching first and quickly realized I had made a mistake.

(2a) How does this differ from Bio360 "BioALL" that doesn't seem to be a "concentrate" to add to anything. No Fox Farm or other soil required? Which would mean that the bioALL is your medium, correct? And then just add water throughout the grow?

I've actually never heard of this brand or product so I'm not sure, but there are premixed water only type soils available. I know a lot of people use BAS, Kis, promix, etc but I've never used the prebagged myself.

(3) Is there a way to prevent bugs/insects from the start of the process? Is that a "controllable", or will there always be threats of bugs no matter what?

Some bugs are good, springtails, rove beatles, isopods, worms, etc. As far as other bugs, fungas gnats are most common. Things that require a plant host will be less common as long as you're not bringing plants into the house, at least to my understanding. It doesn't hurt to keep neem oil around just in case, though pray you don't need it cause that stuff is noxious af.

On ANOTHER note, I found someone local to me selling the following for $225 - is it worth an hour drive?

Vivosun Grow Tent Setup
- 2x2 tent
- VS1000 LED light
- Straps to adjust lighting
- 6" inline duct fan (240 CFM)
- 6" duct work
- 6" carbon air filter
- 6700 mAh USB fan
- One pair of sunglasses

Nope. Starting with quality gear is the way to go, that way you're not wanting to upgrade in a few months when you get into the swing of it. Like I said, super highly recommend the RSpec (if you look in my grow journal in my signature you can see the WMD I just harvested from under that light like 3 posts back, she was grown under 100w in my 2x2). Mars hydro has an AFN discount code too and they have really nice quality tents. As far as the fan and filter, I like the ones I got from Mars but I don't know a huge amount about them. I run a 4" in the 2x2 and a 6" in the 4x4. I use a 40 something inch tower fan in the 4x4, but I've used two tiny USB fans in the 2x2 with no issue.

If you're seriously leaning towards a super soil I would recommend doing a living soil in an earthbox, its about as simple as you can get. @WildBill is the resident earthbox guru, and @Fermented_Fruitz and @nizmoKush are both organics peeps as well. There's a bunch more, but I'm high and can't think of anyone rn.

What's wrong with NLS? You say to stay far away but give no reason. I have already started a run in this and you are the 1st person with this view.

 

[Bill.de.Cat]

Ok...having been in Fire protection industry for 15+ before becoming a truck driver, I go straight for the meat of a new product.....while great in theory, well, been done before and found lacking. Main thing from their website that caught my eye....
Unfortunately Elide Fire USA products are currently not certified by US agencies. Elide Fire has won multiple awards worldwide and received certifications in various other countries. The US certification will be coming soon! Certification is a complicated process and we are taking numerous steps to gain certification.
- Creation of a new Standard to test the product against
UL listing is required on ALL fire equipt. to specify the parameters it actually works under and more importantly, those it won't...just a couple pennies worth.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

6 inch fan is overkill for a 2x2.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

What's wrong with NLS? You say to stay far away but give no reason. I have already started a run in this and you are the 1st person with this view.

Search natures living soil on the forums here and you will see a pattern emerge. Its mostly an issue with the product not being aged properly and then people using the layering technique. Plants get leaf issues from what looks like ph or deficiency..Ive used it and don't recommend it...Most people have a hard time with it.. Now if you buy it and mix it into your soil and let it sit for a couple months and add a few things to it, it becomes usable but then its not the "easy to use" expensive product you paid for anymore, its just expensive raw amendments.. imo

 

[Antidote]

Watch the YouTube series from build a soil called 10x10 season one. It gives a fairly quick overview of most of the things you should be doing.
Reading extensively here is great too.
Looking forward to your first smoke report!

 

[Suki]

Search natures living soil on the forums here and you will see a pattern emerge. Its mostly an issue with the product not being aged properly and then people using the layering technique. Plants get leaf issues from what looks like ph or deficiency..Ive used it and don't recommend it...Most people have a hard time with it.. Now if you buy it and mix it into your soil and let it sit for a couple months and add a few things to it, it becomes usable but then its not the "easy to use" expensive product you paid for anymore, its just expensive raw amendments.. imo

Thanks for getting that one for me!

@dan-dada, basically what Tom said. Its overpriced for what it is. There's nothing wrong with running with it if you've already got it but I wouldn't tell someone to buy it. After I bought it I began searching the forums here and elsewhere for people's grows using it and there was absolutely a common trend of growers having problem after problem. I have a disability that affects my memory so I can't give you specifics at the moment since I genuinely don't remember, but it is just as easy for you to use the search function here as it would be for me.

Anyhow, since you asked and I try to back my claims here is a selection from the infirmary, the first is a full thread about issues with it specifically. You can click the orange arrow at the top of each quote to see the full thread.

So I usually mix my own soil...this time around I decided to be lazy and try a premade supersoil made specifically for autoflowers..i mixed this garbage exactly as directed on their website with roots organic soil (their preferred soil):
__________________________________________________________________________
HOW TO USE
Super Soil Technique:
1. Add 1lb of Nature's Living Soil concentrate for every 1.5 gallons of organic potting soil to make a ready to use Super Soil (about 1/3 of a 5 gallon container)
2. Fill a container 1/3 full with the super soil from step 1 and 2/3 with organic potting soil.
3. Plant and water from seed to harvest
____________________________________________________________________________
I use a charcoal kde filter to remove chlorine and chloramine from my water... my ppm is at 250 and ph 6.5 - 6.8 (not that it should really matter)
everything was going along nicely until the plants hit the ss layer and the tip burn started... another week or so later, I started to see calcium deficiencies.. then after a couple more weeks phosphorus deficiencies...To be fair this was happening with a sour kush plant that is known to be a calmag hog... but this doesnt explain the lack of P in their mix. The soil ph was never out of range and the runoff ppm after a month was extremely low @ around 700 ppm. ive never had issues with supersoil mixes until I used this stuff. I contacted the company and they were cool about it and offered to give me a different batch or give me a refund. It seems as thought their quality control is an issue or their instructions are wrong, I havent decided yet.. I think the stuff needs more time to break down and the smell that this stuff has kind of confirms my suspicion...I guess its possible they gave me a bag that hadn't sat long enough possibly. None of my super soil mixes smell terrible after they have cooked and are ready for use... this seems to indicate that the components have yet to break down and this seems evident by the tip burn. Just a heads up.. if you use this stuff and plan on growing a heavy feeding auto, dont buy the auto flower mix...but the regular mix... I ended up culling that sour kush plant it was so far gone with P deficiency.. . I may have just gotten a bad batch and the company was cool about refunding my money... Just thought you may want to know what youre getting into.. or if anyone has had the opposite experience with the stuff, feel free to leave a comment. What I experienced, boils down to a lack of amendments in the autoflower soil NLS produces.. and the amendments are not properly processed or cooked and can and will cause burn. I cant speak on their standard mix, I havent used it...

Cheers!

New here and new to growing. Not sure what’s going on with my girls. They all starting to look similar to this.

Problem: yellowing and wilting leaves

Medium/grow method: Fox farm ocean forest

Feed: and supplements used: nature’s living soil top feed

water source: tap phed to 6ish(need to buy a meter)

Strain/age: 420 fast buds blackberry almost 3 weeks

light used: 600w Phlizon LED 19/5

Climate: temp between 72-80 RH 60%

Additional info:

Mango Smile/Mephisto Genetics Day 41 from sprout. At the end of week 2 in flower. I think. It’s my 1st grow.

5 gal airpot

Ocean Forest, Happy Frog, Coco Loco, and perlite mix with Natures Living Supersoil on bottom 1/3 of pot

3000W Philzon 6 COB LED (628 actual watts pulled from wall) 24hr on and 32in from canopy.

Water every 2 or 3 days as pots get lighter with bubbled tap water and Recharge every other watering. I’m also watering with just enough to saturate the whole pot and have just enough runoff to measure because of the living soil. Roughly about 1/2 gal each lady.

Used Malibu Compost Tea 3 weeks ago and had a slight nitrogen toxicity with clawing. Since then I’ve been watering with plain overnight bubbled tap water Ph’ed 6.4-6.7 with Recharge every other watering. These spots popped up Tuesday evening and thought maybe it was a calcium deficiency so Wednesday morning I added Green Planets Pro-Cal (cal-mag) at 3ml per gal. The recommended dose is 4.5ml per gal. Ph was 6.6, ppm was 340, and water temp was 76 degrees. Runoff Ph was 6.7 and ppm was 740. Pots were getting light so I watered with the same thing tonight. Ph and ppm were identical.

All problem leaves are older leaves, no spots on newer growth.

Oh, I do have a slight white fly issue but it’s not out of control. Maybe see 1 every other time I’m in the garden and have a few on yellow sticky traps but it’s not too bad. Other than that, no bugs under any leaves that I can see and over all the girls look happy.

The photos taken under the cob white light.

This community is the most helpful place I’ve ever found. Thank y’all for being here and doing what y’all do. Any help would be much appreciated.

Started my first grow ever. I got some trans Siberian seeds from seedsforme.com .

My tent is 3x3x5.25 and currently I have the ac infinity T6 for ventilation with carbon filter. I'm using sf-1000 LED for my light. I'm actually getting a second sf-1000 soon to add in there as well to use during flowering stage. I have a 12" fan mounted in top corner to circulate air inside tent and a space heater.

I'm planted seeds today in 2 five gallon pots.
I know it's probably not ideal but I went with miracle grow nature's care organic raised bed soil and super soil concentrate. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07TRYL6K7?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I watered the soil yesterday and planted the seeds directly into the soil and added a little more water and covered each with the top part of a 2 liter bottle to help keep humidity up until it germinates.

My temps seem to swing between 75ish to 85. I have exhaust vent set to turn on at 83 and it will vent until temp is down to 79.

Humidity seems to be hovering around 50 to 60ish % depending on temp of course.

My plan is to top the plant at 4th node between 14 and 20 days after it's sprouted and wait a week to lst assuming it's healthy and large enough.

Any thoughts or suggestions are always welcome.

Problem: I see some yellowing on only a couple older leaves.

Medium/grow method: Organic soil. 5 gallon pots using nature's care organic raised bed soil and nature's living soil Super Soil Autoflower Concentrate mixed into lower third of pot.

Feed: and supplements used: None

water source: Tap water left out for 24 hours. Don't have PH meter but know I have hard water with minerals.

Strain/age: Trans Siberian from AutoSeeds 37 days old.

light used: I have 2 SF1000 lights in tent.

Climate: Mid 70's with 45% humidity

Additional info: I have been tucking some leaves to allow more light to certain spots.

I did some some light yellowing at tips of some leaves so I raised light a little and that's fine now. Only these couple lower leaves are currently having issues. The rest seem fine and she is seems to be chugging along.

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Hi friends, this is my very first grow. I'm in a 3x3 tent with a TSW 2000 light. I'm growing organic in 3 gallon canvas pots, using super soil method with the amendment from "nature's living soil"and happy frog

I think what I'm seeing is nitrogen toxicity, but I'm not sure, and I'm not sure what to do.

At the advice of Richard at nature's living soil, I watered them on Wednesday with 1tbl/gl of blackstrap.

Normally when I water, I am using tap water with just a little vitamin c added to 1, bring down the ph to 6.5, and 2, neutralize the chlorine.

I'm thinking of flushing them with a ton of water. Normally when I feed them every four or five days or so I am giving them somewhere just under a gallon of water each.

I read somewhere that what I should do is flush with 9 gallons each??? That seems like a ton of water. I'd love advice before I actually do it.

I was also thinking that maybe the problem isthat I'm growing in 3 gallon instead of 5 gallon with super soil, so they are hitting the rich stuff too early. I was thinking I could move them to 5 gallon pots pretty easily, by just cutting these smart pots open.

Any advice would be super greatly appreciated.

It's my first grow. I used a super soil amendment mix from nature's living soil, with happy frog. Ran into some nitrogen burn issues and did a 9 gallon flush a week ago. I fed them water last night with a little bit of cal mag. Other than that, I've never given them anything but water.

They're in 3 gal smart pots in a 3x3 tent under a Mars hydro TSW 2000 LED.

Thanks friends

Hi friends. First let me say how much I appreciate all of the help and camaraderie of this community. Really appreciate it.

Here's the short version:
3x3
Tsw 2000 led
Mephisto seeds
First grow
3gl smartpots
"Nature's living soil autoflower amendment" mixed with bottom third + happy frog

**I have only watered. I have never added nutes, other than adding a little cal mag 2 waterings ago.
------

It was way too hot at the beginning, so I had some real stunting and nitrogen burn. At the advice of the nature's living soil guy I flushed each pot with 9 gal of water about 2 and 1/2 weeks ago. Things definitely got better, but I've been dealing with some yellowing.

I tried folliar spraying with a little cal mag and some B-52, and I'm not sure if it made any difference or not.

however, in the last few days I've started seeing some significant yellowing on the lower leaves of these plants.

I'd love any advice that you all have. I've got another day or two until my next watering, and I have all sorts of chemicals here and ready for the next grow.

Hi this is my 1st grow. Plants are 14 days old. Today I noticed my seedsman Northern lights auto has some yellowing/browning on the tips of the bottom leaves. The other is plant is Dutch passion auto Mazar. This one has some slight curling on the bottom leaves. I have 5 gallon fabric pots with Natures living soil for autoflowers on the bottom 1/3 and filled with OF the rest of the way. Temps have never gotten above 30c. My humidity is a low at 30%. I have been watering with plain tap water every 3 days. My lights are 2x Kingbrite 240W Samsung LM301H mix red Epistar 660nm UV IR quantum. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Ty

So I'm on day 42 of my first grow with gorrilla glue genetics and this is a picture of my main cola. Should it be looking this burnt in week 6? I used a super soil which I'm thinking was pretty hot. Any advice much appreciated!

Garage closet converted. (19"x48"x60")
Fox farm Happy Frog
3-gal fabric pots
2- AutoCobs
Natures Living Soil
10" fan
Humidifier

Dropped seeds in water (Jack Herrer, Gg#4). Going directly into SuperSoil in the AM.
Closer is currently 79deg, 70%rh
Lights are 36"
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Couple more notes I used a mix of ff ocean forest abs ff happy frog for soil. Have a blue lab ph pen...do you think I also need the soil ph pen? Is that what you mean by probe. I have the ph pen to test my water. Water to 6.3-6.6...so the oldest plant was my first ever grow used nature living organic super soil concentrate but it didn’t go to good. Mog has saved it and buds are flying in....the Ither ones are my 3 white widows from crop kongs in the mixed soil I mentioned and I’m using TT and worm poop with that tea I mentioned the following day (molasses abs bio heaven).View attachment 1274439View attachment 1274440View attachment 1274441View attachment 1274442View attachment 1274443View attachment 1274444View attachment 1274445View attachment 1274446View attachment 1274447

Hope I did this right.

Problem: Well the first word out of people's mouths after they screw up is usually, I thought. So I will let you guys do that for me lol.

Medium/grow method: ffof/ 8 0z of nature's living soil for autos mixed at bottom of pot.

Feed: and supplements used: PHd water at 6.4, top feed ffof

water source: tap 7.1 ph usually

Strain/age:Bruce Banner/ 28 days

light used: HLG 100 v2 3000k

Climate:day 75-78/55 night 71-73/55

Additional info: had nitrogen toxicity, flushed using ph water 6.2. Starting growing and yellow spots on top leaves and any leaves exposed to light 3 days later. Now turning brown.View attachment 1300117View attachment 1300117View attachment 1300117View attachment 1300118View attachment 1300119View attachment 1300120View attachment 1300121View attachment 1300122

Nature's Living Soil Update
Last week, we finally decided to dump our ready-made NLS pots into a large container to let rest for 90 days.
We refilled our 5 gallon pots with fresh Ocean Forest. Hopefully when our cycle ends in the next week or so, we will be ending our experience with NLS. Results we not bad, and we were overall satisfied. We just don't like the lack of controls, non-existent product support from the company (ignored my emails and chats), and other issues mentioned earlier, and throughout @Big Sul's NLS grow, and all the experts help here too.

We went with BAS craft blend as our nutrient source/ top dress and soil amendment moving forward to test. We will top dress our new grow with this around week 6 or whenever the plants need it, and again every other week throughout flowering. Then we will amend the soil with BAS craft blend, and rest it for another 90 days, and it should be good for the next round.

We need to learn or decide if we want our soil to be living or not. It appears can just follow the above recipe, and forget living soil part.
This can open a can of worms so to speak...
Or, we can throw in some worms, castings and compost before resting the used non-living soil to ensure proper nutrient breakdown and soil harmony. It would be cool to eventually get to "water" only method explained by @Proph earlier. Our plan is not to be constantly growing and have a break for a few months in the Arizona summer, so we will figure it out along the way...

11 days since the last update and day 60.(4 weeks flower).

Plant has looked pretty miserable.
Severe clawing tips and turned under leaf edges with bright yellow new leaves that take a week to green up.

Today I saw the first sign of nlsd rust spots .

Nature's living soil,shit for both photo and Auto.

Still won't stop stretching.Now 12.5 inches from light.Fucking stop already.

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Are you using Nature’s Living Soil? I’m not an expert but I think you need to make sure the pots are a fully watered so all of the soil is moist. Don’t water everyday. Watch your plants as they will let you know when they need watering. In veg they don’t need a whole lot of water. When they go into flower you will usually need to water a little more frequently but not every day. If you are using NLS do a search here. Several of us have had issues with it.

We have been growing photoperiod for a few years with overall satisfactory results,, a few pitfalls a bunch of atta girls.. These were all clones.. This year we change a lot of things.. we are growing all from seed and we are for the first time including autoflowering plants..
We grow in outdoor plastic tent type greenhouses.. Water is all filtered...We grow in cloth pots...
We seem to change up our soil every year and this year in 7 gallon pots the auto grow is 2 1/2 gallons of organic aged compost with 1 pound of Natures Soil for auto grows added in.. then the rest of the pots filled with mixture of Ocean's Forest and Happy Frog soils.. The autoflowering seeds are germinated in the pots..
As far as overall growth I have no issues.. and bud's seem to be doing ok so far.. But from the get go, the leaves have had a 'crinkly' look and now some are turning yellowish and drooping. This is my first time even seeing a autoflowering plant so have a lot to learn.. Any constructive comments will be appreciated.. and I Thank You

*not a part of this business but where I get my aged compost (interesting place) .. Regenerative Farming - Alexandre Family Farm - Alexandre Family Farm


First 2 images are trying to show the crinkly of the leaves and other 2 are the yellowing of the leaves.. 2 different plants

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Nature's Living Soil? Search for NLS/Nature's Living Soil here on this site. Several people have had issues using it. Unknown quantities of ingredients in it. I'm not an expert by any means but maybe it's possible that with the aged compost, NLS, OF and OF HF there is an excess of nutrients in the soil/mix. I've read that OF is too hot for germinating/seedlings. Seeds were started in this mix and the problem was seen from the very beginning and the plants are still "young'. Might be worth pondering.

First two grows using Nature's Living Soil. Not sure what's going on with either grow except both were grown in the same medium, i.e., Happy Frog with NLS mixed in for a "Living Soil". Deficiencies or too much of something?

3 weeks into flower.
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4 weeks into flower
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2 weeks into flower
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3 weeks into flower
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5 weeks into flower
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Six Shooter by FastBuds. Outdoor grow in Arizona. High heat and very low humidity. Was actually doing pretty good. I top dressed with
NLS Girl Flower Power about 10 days previous to this photo. Hmmmmmm....
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Girl Scout Cookies by FastBuds. Started out indoors then moved outside about 3 weeks ago. High Aridzona temps and low humidity. Had some leaf yellowing when in the tent then moved outside. Top dressed with some NLS Girl Flower Power about 10 days before this pic was taken... then things went really bad. Guessing too much of something. Looks like it's drying out on it's own. Watering every 2 to 3 days. Soil still damp when this photo was taken today.
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Sorry for the lack of updates this week. I ran into a pretty severe potassium/phosphate toxicity that caused a nitrogen deficiency on the Black Strap. I think this was caused by a compost tea I fed them that included the Nature's Living Soil mix. After some scouring of the forums it seems like a lot of people run into issues with that mix so I definitely won't be using it again (at least in a compost tea).The Witch Doctor handled it pretty well but she's about done anyways. The Black Strap started getting really yellow before I flushed about 750 ml out the bottom. I was worried I had royally screwed this up but she's turning green again! So hopefully I'll have some nice pictures again soon.

I didn't take many pics of the yellowing because I was embarrassed and depressed about it lol but here's a couple that show the early yellowing. I definitely learned my lesson. I think for my next run, I'll just stick to 2 top dressings max on top of the nutrients I build the soil with and any compost teas will just have worm castings and black strap molasses.
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Hello All,

Problem: Leaves dying/yellowing. NLS disease?

Medium/grow method: Roots organic orginal with bottom 1/3 mixed with 1lb Nature's Living Soil(autoflower). 5 Gallon Fabric pots

Feed: and supplements used: Cal mag Pro, Bud Bread 1/2 dose, Angels Touch 1/2 dose started feeding day 47. 8 cups of water every 2-3 days

water source: using Apera PH20 tester. 6.2 - 6.5 ph, RO water buffered with Cal Mag Pro

Strain/age: Mephisto Genetics - Double Grape Day 53 from sprout

light used: Meiju A8 LM301B 600w, 60%, 42.3 K lux using UNI-T

Climate: 76 - 85 F, 20Hr on/ 4hr off, 50% RH

Additional info: Any assistance would be appreciated. First time growing and not sure if this is just nitrogen deficiency. Topped day 16. Recharge once a week, started feeding bud bread day 47 @ 1/2 dose. View attachment 1352225View attachment 1352226

Hi folks!

This is my first grow and I could use some help. Started to identify some discoloration on the CBD Crack and Gorilla Cookies about 12 days ago. NLS advised to mini-flush with half-dose calmag and follow with 2tbs molasses for next watering. I've had two waterings and one second half-dose calmag since. The G.Cookies looks to be holding steady but not improving and the CBD Crack is continuing to discolor.

I'm worried about hard water as I've been using my tap water since vegetation. At first, I was using an inline gardening hose filter to help with chlorine (850-1100ppm). I was advised that it may be filtering calmag also and leaving me with nutrient imbalance. The last three waterings, I've been using unfiltered tap water (1150-1320ppm). Always rested 24-48 hrs and ph'd to 6.5.

Not sure what (if anything) I should do at this point but suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

**Fun tidbit, I'm red/green colorblind and have a confusing time reading these plants when it comes to deficiencies and toxicities.

Details: FastBuds Gorilla Cookies, CBD Crack 1:1, Forbidden Runtz
HLG 600Rspec in 4x4
74-79F and 52-57%
Nature's Living Soil HF supersoil technique 5gal pots

Hey folks,

First grow here, wanted to see if there are some problems with my setup that may be causing some slight nutrient burn using Nature's Living Soil. I also started introducing Megacrop v3 today which may actually exacerbate the issue (at least I hope not).

Going to keep an eye on things and will likely post more pictures over the coming days. I have another strain (Blue Dream) that's a few days behind and not showing anything of concern yet.


Problem: Leaf tips on new growth turning white

Medium/grow method: Fox Farms Coco Loco mixed with Nature's Living Soil Autoflower concentrate (bottom 1/3 pot). Autopots XL 6.6 Gal, air dome in each pot running 24/7, air stones in the reservoir

Feed: and supplements used: Nature's Living Soil Autoflower concentrate. Flying Skull Z7 in the reservoir. Introduced Megacrop v3 in the reservoir today (4 grams/gallon). Planning on top feeding with Recharge on next tray fill

water source: tap water - moderately hard 7.2PH, lowered to 5.8 in reservoir. Tray Readings EC 1950, PPM 972, PH 6.0

Strain/age: FastBuds Strawberry Banana Autoflower, 23 days from sprout

light used: SF2000, 20/4 cycle, 27 inches from the canopy at 100%

Climate: 75-81F, 60-65RH

Strawberry Banana Day 23:
View attachment 1354363

Blue Dream Auto Day 19:
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Super late update

Had to leave town for a while and Temps were over 90f in the storage room.

Ended up with the plant 6 inches from light and larfy bud.

Made a tincture with some and have 3 jars that I will make some canna oil or something.

Got to wait for the temps to cool down,but now I know what to expect for the upcoming season and the Temps in the storage room

Going to do the same 2 previous grows,but start much earlier.

Will be using earthbox jr and buildasoil 3.0 this time.
Will also be getting Craft blend,buildaflower and bloom along with Kashi and worms.
Looking forward to starting up again,hopefully in 5 weeks.


Threw away the nature's living soil .

View attachment 1354654

Problem: autoflower leaves turning yellow
-Medium/grow method: soil; mother wart coco plus perlite added to that is one pound to 5 gallon of soil is autoflower living soil concentrate from nature’s living soil.
-Feed and supplements used: use cal-mag from bottle add between 2.5 and 3 ml per gallon of water water about every 2 days or so (alone); method-- by hand
-Water source: RO
-Strain and age: autoflower feminized cheese strain almost 3 weeks old
-Climate: about 80 degrees In tent and r/h 50%
- Light used: LED, 1000 watt. Light cycle was doing 24/7 on. Changed to 18/6 one day ago.
-Additional info: noticed changes about 4 days ago.How fast did symptoms appear? Plant was fine until I used some rain water that I was able to catch in a cooler and then the next day it started to change color. Has continued to get more yellow once I transplanted it into its final pot from a plastic cup. View attachment 1361052

I know that NLS says it is ok to mix their product with COCO but we have seen way to many problems with that mix here on AFN. It looks like it is too "hot" in your case. It may work better with peat as the base? They don't tell you how much lime or dolomite lime they include so there is really no way to know how much if any calcium or magnesium may be needed? If you are to believe them the answer is none. " Our concentrate contains all organic ingredients including all the nutrients your plant will need from seed to harvest." If you are using RO water you should be able to add 50 PPM of cal-mag to bring the water to a soft tap water level. I would not go over that. Too much Cal-Mag is the number one reason a plant ends up in the infirmary.

Do not layer soil. The physics of how water moves through soil dictates that water will stop moving at a stratification until the soil above is saturated. This can cause dry pockets in your pot. Roots and soil microbes will die in these pockets. A cannabis tap root can grow 9 inches in three days and the laterals will be close behind. If the tap root hits a dry pocket or soil that is too hot it will slow down or stop growing all together. This will stunt a plant. Homogeneous soil is best.

Problem: Leaf tips are looking red, with other parts of leaves yellowing.

Medium/grow method: Nature's Living Soil Autoflower, using as super soil (1 lb mixed with 1/3 of pot volume in bottom of fabric pot, filled with Roots Organic to top). Growing in a 2x4 tent, 24/0, pH water between 6.3-6.8.

Feed: and supplements used: I watered using a tea around Day 38. To make the tea I used 2.5 tbsp of NLS auto flower mix + 1 tbsp dried molasses in 1 gallon water, then watered normal amount after I let it brew for 24 hours.

water source: tap water, pH to 6.3-6.8

Strain/age: Mephisto Genetics Grizzly Crinkle, Day 56

light used: Sonofarm 2000 LED

Climate: Tent temps are typically 74-76, Rh 60%

Additional info: After I gave her the tea, I did notice some balls within 4-5 days - I'm in a situation where my best chance was to pluck them and ride it out as I can't start another grow during 2021.

Thanks in advance to anyone with any tips!

View attachment 1363536View attachment 1363537.

Hope that helps!

 

[Suki]

Watch the YouTube series from build a soil called 10x10 season one. It gives a fairly quick overview of most of the things you should be doing.
Reading extensively here is great too.
Looking forward to your first smoke report!

Thanks for the rep!

 

[Big Sul]

Im Big_Sul, and I’m a NLS survivor.

 

[rxcknrxll]

Hey everyone! I haven't even begun my grow yet and I already feel SUPER overwhelmed about it all. Granted I have severe anxiety, so I'm sure that plays a role in said feelings of overwhelmed. As you'll probably be able to tell from my list of questions, I am not a green thumb by any means. This will be the first plant I think I've ever grown in my life.

First, I'll detail you with my "plan"
-Growing in my attic
-2x2 or 3x3 tent (my concern with a 2x2 is the maximum height of 48"...valid concern or not really?)
-Super soil (just add water during grow?)
-2 plants, both a different strain (open to recommendations (1) strain for daytime anxiety control, (1) strain for nighttime enjoyment and sleep)

So my original plan was to attempt a DWC setup, but after some research and Q&A with experienced growers I decided that I should maybe wait for a later grow to try DWC. Since then I've been trying my best to understand the idea behind super soil. I guess prepping your soil with nutrients (or buying pre-prepped) before planting your seed, and then basically just adding water during the grow. That idea sounds great to me. A few questions regarding the super soil idea.

(0) What's the difference between a dry amendment and a nutrient? Or is a dry amendment just the term for the process of adding nutrients to soil?
(1) I love the idea of prepping everything beforehand and just adding water throughout the process. I see growers running various super soils that mention top dressing and dry amending during their grow. Is that for deficiencies during the process, or is there just not really a way to get all the way through a grow without adding nutrients?
(2) I have heard great things about Nature's Living Soil. Which to my understanding is a "concentrate" that you add into your soil (i.e Fox Farm) prior to planting your seed. Correct? And if yes, from there on is it just add water?
(2a) How does this differ from Bio360 "BioALL" that doesn't seem to be a "concentrate" to add to anything. No Fox Farm or other soil required? Which would mean that the bioALL is your medium, correct? And then just add water throughout the grow?
(3) Is there a way to prevent bugs/insects from the start of the process? Is that a "controllable", or will there always be threats of bugs no matter what?


On ANOTHER note, I found someone local to me selling the following for $225 - is it worth an hour drive?

Vivosun Grow Tent Setup
- 2x2 tent
- VS1000 LED light
- Straps to adjust lighting
- 6" inline duct fan (240 CFM)
- 6" duct work
- 6" carbon air filter
- 6700 mAh USB fan
- One pair of sunglasses


I'm sure I will have tons more questions as we go, so thanks in advance for taking the time!!

Agreed with other comments that a lot of space will go toward lights, ventilation. I'm new to growing cannabis but not new to gardening, you will always, always want more space no matter how big the space is lol. You also want some space to get in there for watering, pruning, being able to see the plants from different angles to inspect leaves, etc.

Check humidity, temp and mold in your attic. Attics can be susceptible to huge temp variations. If possible install some hvac to control the environment outside the tent, it'll make a huge difference toward keeping air clean and even inside the tent. Consider filtration on the tent vents. It's amazing how dirty the air can be even inside a fairly clean residential home. Up in the attic, even more so of course. They even make carbon filters that will catch any potential mold spores or any other gunk that can mess with your environment.

Consider that one sativa and one indica will likely present very different heights, different lifecycles, etc.

Believe it or not while there's a ton to learn in any endeavor, I promise that watching your girls grow is one of the most relaxing and anxiety-relieving things ever.

Getting your soil right is still very much something I'm working on, so I'll leave it to the vets to speak on that. I can testify that people definitely get their soil dialed in and simply provide water from there. I think it's certainly a good practice to have liquid nutes and amendments on hand for troubleshooting as you go.

The best soil resource that's been recommended to me here is https://buildasoil.com/. It's a site worth reading in it's entirety and they provide top quality components for your soil. Everything you need for soil is likely right there.

Nature is a fickle bitch. No matter how well you prep, there will be pests. There will be nutrient deficiencies. Keep in mind also that every strain is different. Some may love your soil and take off while others will stunt and falter in the exact same environment.

The best thing I can say is to spend as much time literally just looking at your plants, researching and applying what you're learned. You will learn so much every time you go through the process.

I tend to use neem oil with dr Bonners periodically in a foliar spray as a preventative. If and when pests arrive there are other treatments depending on what you're facing, but for what it's worth I've found that keeping everything clean and using a preventative spray once a week or so keeps away 95% of any issues for me indoors. Outdoors, whole different game lol. But to answer your question directly, yes there is always the threat of bugs. They love that shit as much as you or I do

 

[dan-dada]

Watch the YouTube series from build a soil called 10x10 season one. It gives a fairly quick overview of most of the things you should be doing.
Reading extensively here is great too.
Looking forward to your first smoke report!

I am currently watching this videos. Bed but I will be going

Thanks for getting that one for me!

@dan-dada, basically what Tom said. Its overpriced for what it is. There's nothing wrong with running with it if you've already got it but I wouldn't tell someone to buy it. After I bought it I began searching the forums here and elsewhere for people's grows using it and there was absolutely a common trend of growers having problem after problem. I have a disability that affects my memory so I can't give you specifics at the moment since I genuinely don't remember, but it is just as easy for you to use the search function here as it would be for me.

Anyhow, since you asked and I try to back my claims here is a selection from the infirmary, the first is a full thread about issues with it specifically. You can click the orange arrow at the top of each quote to see the full thread.































Hope that helps!

wow that's alot of thread to look thru. Like you I bought this and the researched. So I'm stuck with until done. In some of what I see these issues are having low pH and small pots, though I'm far from an expert. I am in a small pot (3 gal) but will be switching to a 7s. Thank you for all this. I'll eventually get thy most of it and switch to BAS.