GANJI'S GROW JOURNAL -- Day 137

Noticed some yellowing on a few of the bigger leaves of a couple plants in the flowering chamber the other day. Decided to hit them with some chemical fertilizer to supplement the soil. Bought some Miracle Gro 10-15-10 and mixed one tablespoon per gallon of water in a tub in the sink. Watered each plant with the solution.
This is not surprising. Ganji’s plants are well past the half way point in their flowering cycle. Most of the fertilizer he added to the soil mix has by now been used up and a little chemical supplementation is definitely in order. When container gardening, it can be difficult to provide enough nutrient in the soil to feed a plant throughout its entire life cycle. Supplementation is often necessary to keep nutrient levels high enough for the plants to finish properly.

Chemical fertilizer is the best choice in this situation as it’s less messy and odorous, easy to apply, and readily available to the plants. Organic fertilizers generally take some time to break down and become available to the plant and they can be difficult to water into the root system. A 10-15-10 mix is an excellent choice for plants in the flowering cycle. The slightly higher concentration of phosphorous is exactly what’s needed during blooming. --MAX


Also decided to treat the clones. Maybe a little fertilizer in solution will give them a kick start. The two that are established are growing fast now. The rest seem to be dying off slowly. No new Afghani sprouts in the washcloth and the ones I planted the other day haven’t broken through the soil yet. Keeping them very moist.

The clone mothers are full of potential clones again and will have to be pruned back very soon. Think I’ll go ahead and take a new round of clones this week before I do. Have to buy more soil components. I’ll have to look into cloning options and supplies while I’m there as well. Got to find a more successful method.


A little kick in the grass may be just what the clones need to get started. At this late stage, it can’t hurt. Ganji’s cloning method seems to be sound, but something’s just not working for him. I suspect it’s the soil mix in combination with the larger sized planters that are the culprits. Clones need a lot of moisture during the first couple weeks. I believe that the larger containers are allowing the soil at the base of the fresh cut to dry before Ganji gets around to thinking that they need water. Consequently, the cuttings are drying out and eventually closing up before roots can begin to form.

A humidity dome may be a good solution. Going back to the smaller cups for cloning is another option. A change in the soil mix to something with even better water retention properties is still another way to go. We’ll have to wait and see what Ganji comes up with. --MAX