late bloomer

[demistify]

just make sure the growing medium is soaked. that's the advantage of the saucer I mentioned because ... if your medium does not take up all the nutrient as you water it on and it drains thru, the medium will soak thoroughly from the nutrient remaining in the saucer. these plants go nuts for wet feet ... as long as it's not too wet for too long.

 

try to keep the pot cool! cool roots is cool. hang some old carpet around it, for example.

 

you know your planting late, right? but there's still enough time for small heads (the plant looks like it's a female). it will begin to head soon. cut back on yr watering then. AND cut back on yr watering if the weather goes overcast and rainy.

 

when yr heads are formed don't pull the plant. you may get another set of heads come october. don't pull then either because you'll have a guaranteed female ready to go for next spring/summer. (having said that yr plant may not make it thru winter. yr a long way south. but give it a go.)

 

after thought: see also RADIC's posts on newbie growing. he's a genius as far as I 'm concerned.

Edited March 1, 2011 by demistify

[Auntynorm]

Another trick is mulch the surface of your growing medium, pea straw or sugarcane are good, whether in a pot or the ground. This will help keep the roots cool, conserve water/nutes and supply organic material to your medium. With regards to pots, get the biggest things you can find, old washing machine tubs are good, they don't like their roots crowded. Demystify has got it right with the watering program, you can drown them but the water has to be able to get away or be used, good drainage is vital, more so in the temperate zones. Too wet and they will react badly, rotting and mould.

[demistify]

when I referred to dilute chook poo previously I should have said apply a mixture that looks like WEAK black tea!

 

cos yr plant is small it won't need buckets full until it's at least a metre tall ... and then only if it's still hot ... the weather/hours of sunlight is yr enemy now.

 

our instructions are more suitable for a full on SPRING/SUMMER grow ... not an autumn one ... agreed Auntie?

[d&bfiend]

hey kids,

my baby is starting show some real growth, couple of branches now. really happy with how shes going. thanks for the updateed info on the nutes demistify, i know shes late, as i said previously it was given to me as a present so im just running this one as a test for next year when i plan to start from scratch. it's been a good learning curve. i cant seem to fing radics post on newbie growing, any idea what section of OS i'd find it under??? one last thing, drainage in the pot is good but my saucer is always full the next day when i go to water again? does this mean im over wartering?

[demistify]

probably only that yr plant is too small to drink it all yet! no doubt you'll find Radic's relevant posts in 'southern hemisphere'. sorry can't remember date ... but about a week ago ... cheers ... over and out.

[Auntynorm]

when I referred to dilute chook poo previously I should have said apply a mixture that looks like WEAK black tea!

 

cos yr plant is small it won't need buckets full until it's at least a metre tall ... and then only if it's still hot ... the weather/hours of sunlight is yr enemy now.

 

our instructions are more suitable for a full on SPRING/SUMMER grow ... not an autumn one ... agreed Auntie?

Without doubt, demist , get 'em in early, Melb Cup time is when I get down to buisness.

[d&bfiend]

Hi everyone, plant has been doin real nice with all your advise and tips. She is still fairly little though. I will post some pictures when I can get on a real computer. I was wondering if I also add some extra light artificially whether or not that will help her increase in size. I have the ability to move my pot around and could hang a hid lamp in mu garage for night time uses. Also wanted to know when is the latest I could start using the fruit and flower nutes???? Auntynorm was just looking at your ladies and I'm am well impressed.... Words "Master grower" come to mind =]

[d&bfiend]

hi guys,

as promised i have some new photos. i can only assume that im now in flowering period and that first pic is flowers forming??? demistify mate do you use the thrive flower and fruit throughout your whole grow as the packet suggests? i have just got my hands on the potash to add to my liquid chook poo fert.ive been doing so much reading of the OS and other books that im not sure what to do in some cases any crucial info anyone can throw at me to help with a bigger yield from my tiny pride and joy? how much longer do we have before last chance to pull in sa. weather is still awesome and still getting plenty of sun.

[demistify]

Because of the time of year you are not going to get a lot of smoke … but the smokes you get will be good. Yr plant may grow on thru winter and give you some heads come october. I see on the forum some guy in WA has just begun a winter grow which he says are successful there (around perth).

 

Congratulations on yr mulch! You won't get stem rot with stone mulch.

 

When I look at yr pics I see a healthy plant, but one that is at its maximum rate of growth for the available sunlight hours. (see the way the fingers of the leaves bend down and then up again toward the tip? This is a sign of lots of N and max growth.)

 

So what's best for the plant now is lots of rain; or water every day for a week without adding nutrients.

 

Then water it with flowering nutes ONCE and watch for a few days to see what happens. Don't be in a hurry to feed it up! Then we can talk again about what's happening.

 

Take the plant out of the saucer during rainy weather, but watch out the ants don't move in.

 

Dunno anything about lights. Perhaps some reflective paper against a wall on the south side of yr pot? Like paper insulation or that blue-backed stuff builders wrap houses up with before they put the cladding on. But doesn't have to be silver … could be white. Paint a wall white?

 

Would like to know two things:

 

Firstly HOW have you fed the plant so far and what with? Secondly, what is yr soil/growing medium made up of. (if you've detailed this previously sorry for not reading back but am in a hurry this morn.)

 

But nothing is going to happen either quickly, or on a large scale, simply because of the shortening sunlight hours.

[IAMTHEMANOHYEAH]

Iv got three plants i planted at the start of feb an there a bit little bit smaller than that one i just wanted to see how they would go