growing in canberra?

[greenbubbles]

Wow, first let me say, i've been reading topics on here for hours, and now i feel completely daunted... i thought i knew what i was doing, but boy have i got a lot to learn!!

 

Firstly, i guess, i was hoping for some advice - i have had a plant growing outdoors since september, didn't do anything really at first (i thought it had been stunted somehow - cold snap maybe) it was tiny for months, then started moving along... of course its now flowering given its autumn but its still only a little thing.  Its leaves have also started to curl up and dry on the plant, i don't know why!!! I water and fert alternately, however, i'm not sure i gave it enough now.  When i used to grow in the cupboard under hps they sat in a permanent water bath to take what they needed.  Some people on here have said they don't need much water, then someone said they water it 10ltr a day??

 

given it didn't do anything, and i can't grow outdoors in winter because it's frost here until 10 in the morning!, i got another seed started, then my partner thought it would be a good idea to throw it in the cupboard, but these days i have an led, which i hate... but maybe i'm just not getting how to use led properly so i'll be looking into that carefully too, i would like it to work , but the seedling seems to have been harmed by the change to led from sunlight (i'll try to snap a pic once i wrestle the ipad off my toddler, , and add it soon so you see what i mean) and if i put a pic of my led, could some people let me know if its any good?

 

Also - my seeds... i guess i have no idea what they are, i just found some in a baggy and planted, and a friend gave me some, but i think they are about 8 years old - would that have any impact on how well the plant does?  I suppose i should just bite the bullet like i want and visit the seed bank, but i was nervous about getting seeds delivered.

 

I hope i put this in the right place - soooo many subforums i wasn't sure.

 

Thanks heaps in advance for any advice you guys might be able to offer

[Sir PsychoHashy]

Pics would help.  With your little outdoor plant, being stunted can happen for various reasons such as lack direct light, poor soil, or even just a runty plant, I have one from the same stock as some others, grown in the same spot, same everything, it was stuck at around 18cm high from October through to late January, then shot up briefly and started flowering soon after, no logical reason.  With the curling drying leaves, are they the lower shade leaves, or all over.  It's normal for the shade leaves to start yellowing and dying off during flowering.

 

Bite the bullet and go the seedbanks.  There's some tutorials/information on the site about doing this safely(ish).  Biggest advice I can give you is if you cant get them sent to an alternative address, at least make sure you have nothing growing, or associated with growing, at your house, and keep the size of your order to a sane amount, they're not likely to bother much over 5-10 seeds, but if customs finds 100 seeds the piggy wiggies will be interested.

 

Post some pics and a wealth of info will come your way.

[greenbubbles]

thanks

 

k, i have some pics for you all, bad as they are, not bad photos, , bad plants!

 

 

first one is of my new sprouter, and really, its not new, its been that size for about 4 to 6 weeks, which is why hubby decided we should put it under the light, but the light has what looks like, burnt it, maybe it just needs adjusting time? I don't know

 

Second, is the light it was under - its some led my brother bought last year when he was here briefly, and i thought i'd put it to use... now - some back history... he (my bro) was really the grower years ago when we lived together but it was under HPS and he used to keep them on a 24 hour light cycle until he wanted to throw the plants into flower, then he'd swap to 12 on 12 off - his plants went nuts, not like mine, and he would fert with worm castings and hydroponic ferts, but is 24 hours on good practice?

 

Last photos are of my plant that has been going since september, the browning leaves are happening all over (oops, there are no big shade leaves left, cause as they have dried and crinkled i pulled them off - been living on grief since my dude went out of commission!!) thank god i think she turned out to be a girl after all that time, cause at least she does have little flowers on her now you'll notice the brown bits on the leaves, and they actually start to dry on the plant and curl up...

 

and as a side note, i was reading somewhere earlier, that mulching with wood chips isn't good - i use that redwood chips stuff on my vege patches, but now i'm wondering if it will hurt them more than help. They mentioned you should add lime to compensate for the acidity as the wood bark breaks down. so many things i don't know!!

 

thanks for looking

[Sir PsychoHashy]

It's a bit beyond my knowledge, possibly a nutritional deficiency on the bigger plant.  There's a great article in cannaversity

 

http://cannaversity.com/cannaversity/article.php?id=042

 

Basics would be to first check your ph levels before compensating for any nutrient def.  Could be that your growing medium is not good as well, looks a bit like cheap potting mix, could be a bit hot for the seedling as well.  I'm sure someone in the know will give better info shortly

[greenbubbles]

thanks - didn't think to check PH levels, admittedly my bro used to check every day, , but he used to meditate in front of them practically all day

 

yeah, it's cheap crap potting mix, was thinking of replanting into the beds that have all the good stuff and chook poo, worms, etc, but i'm worried it'll hurt it more than help at this stage?

 

Also, the seedbank thing :

 

 

 

 

Bite the bullet and go the seedbanks.  There's some tutorials/information on the site about doing this safely(ish).  Biggest advice I can give you is if you cant get them sent to an alternative address, at least make sure you have nothing growing, or associated with growing, at your house, and keep the size of your order to a sane amount, they're not likely to bother much over 5-10 seeds, but if customs finds 100 seeds the piggy wiggies will be interested.

 

 

i don't have an alt address, and if i set up a po box, they still know its me i think :S you've reminded me i need to take another look at the laws in Canberra, i thought we could grow two plants here, but maybe they've changed that! better double check

 

edited: darn it, i think its suffering from necrosis!!

Edited March 7, 2013 by greenbubbles

[-RiverRat-]

Hey green bubbles that first plant is most definitely suffering from "barkchipitus" its a common disease cause by cheap potting mix at hardware stores. I always wash my shoes after visiting hardware stores for this reason but only after emptying my pockets of booty first .

 

   Not sure what you have available as far as soil ingredients but the better soils are always home made and their composition are as diverse as your imagination. I'd be studying successful soil recipes and mixing your own version.

 

I'll let other comment on your choice of indoor lighting cause I grow outdoors

o

Good luck and welcome to the forum

 

-RR-

Edited March 7, 2013 by -RiverRat-

[pisspotgrower]

The reason your brothers plants went "off" and yours did not is 100% cause of ya light, HPS has heeps more power than leds. Yes you can grow plants with LEDs but will they git big n strong n produse big buds....NO.

 

I grow indoors only so cant help ya with the rest soz..

[greenbubbles]

thanks for the help guys

 

I transplanted the bigger one into sandy, chookpooey, wormy, composty soil yesterday, hope it helps it out - it was incredibly root bound... I'm worrying though as our nights are starting to get cold.  Days are still fine, but we are getting below 15 sometimes, and i know they prefer soil temps a bit higher, which is why growing outdoors here soon is just impossible.  If i could get the indoor figured out i could do a winter crop So much for all the debate going on about HPS v's LED, i mean some people out there are claiming killer crops under LED but i just don't see it here, i was wondering if it was because LED's don't put out the heat of the hps either, always having to fan the cupboard out with hps I did try to look at the Canniversity to see if there was any info on LED but i couldn't see any!

 

Wish i still had my ballast! guess I might have to see if i can find another HPS to set up, at least i know that works and there won't be as much trial and error till spring hits again... might have a look see at the classifieds here in case someone is giving theres up

 

thanks again all!

[canetoad]

Hi Greenbubbles,

 

Bit late in the season but you can recover the plant slightly. As Ratty says - cheap potting mix!

 

Grab a bag of dolomite lime at bunnings and sprinkle say half a matchbox around the plant and water in. You should see a difference in three or four days.