The Big Plant Growers Thread

Those of us that grow big plants outdoors know that growing these plants present a whole set of issues that growers of average sized or compact plants don't even consider. This thread is for those that grow big plants to share their knowledge and to provide that knowledge to those who are considering growing big plants. The inexperienced grower has little chance of harvesting these ladies without some insight. The big girls have special needs and i hope we can discuss all of the aspects that growers need to consider.

Every few days, i will pull the thread up and add to it with pics and conversation. Here are the aspects of growing biggies that I consider important. If you feel ive left out items, please add them. Here is what i think needs to be considered;

1. The reasons to grow big girls
2. Genetics- some varieties don't get big
3. Soil, sun, nutes and moisture
4. Growth rates
5. Wind, wieght and supports
6. Pest
7. Disease and Mould
8. Stealth
9. ?? Have i left off anything?

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Reasons to grow big plants:

Insurance: I started growing big plants for insurance. Insurance against rippers, the law, drought and a number of other calamities that can hit growers. I aim to harvest the 4lbs i need to make sure i don't have to buy any smoke, so no matter what.....

For years, i have planted 4 big plants, in 4 different isolated locations. These plants produce a lb or more. I know its unlikely that rippers or the law will find even one of the plants, and the mathmatecal odds that all 4 would be lost is much less than being struck by lightning.

Drought: I can tend 4 plants no matter what, even if i have to water every day.

The little wienie syndrome: Those with little wienie's like big trucks, big guns and im sure, big plants too.

Beginners: Just as with drought, a newb can manage a couple or 3 plants and have a decent harvest, as opposed to trying to tend numerous plants and harvesting very little. Even one big plant can often out produce many smaller plants.

Legality: Many states in the US provide for a few plants to be legal or a misdemeanor. Big plants will maximize the harvest without the risk.
Contributed by Jiu Jitsu Playa


Genetics:

If you're going to grow big plants, you'll need genes that will produce big plants. You can grow Maple leaf indica, sahdu, Deep chunk, and a 100 other varieties and never have a big harvest. If you want to grow a big plant, you have to select genes that get big. Vigor is required to grow big plants, so these strains not only get big, but they show good vigor as well.

Here are some of the strains that I know of that will get big and show real vigor.


KC33
TNR
Ledo Uno
Mango
Brain damage

Kali mist
NLxBB, Peaks
BBXNL, Dr. Atomic
Jack Herrer

Hollands Hope,Dp
Early Riser, Sag

Himalayan Gold
Great White Shark
Big Bud
Critical Mass
Cream caramel



**Feel free to add any you know of. I will add to this list form time to time..

I shall return

awesome thread SB. in growing big plants you should include legal aspects. I cant stress enough that if your going to grow where its not totally legal you should use premium genetics to grow premium plants. Growing 5 one pounders is 5 plants producing 5 lbs. If you grow a bunch of bagseed say 15 plants youll end up with males and no where near your one pound mark, especially if you dont use ammended soil and our favorite MG... so what im trying to say is growing 5 big plants will get you the same amount of trouble as 5 male plants.
As with everything in life, if your going to do it, do it big.

1. reason : less work , easier , less plants but big yield , pretty

2. frisian dew, nlx , kc33

3.soil : good balanced soil , not too much water (where i live)

4. mold , to grow outdoors here you need a mold resistant strain or it will melt away

5 support them with a frame or risk breaking branches in the wind

eurhn can't think of anything else atm

cheers

The difference between big plants and small, in my experience not too much but I can sum up the advantages/ disadvantages

-
a pain to trim come the end of the year
harder to inspect for insect and mold damage
more susceptible to mold because of less air movement and bigger buds
can easily exceed your capacity to water them

+
better from a legal perspective
less hole preparation
better use of vertical space

Mutual and depend on your situation:
camo, height can be an issue with monsters but small plants occupy more ground area and are more spread out and numerous
getting ripped or animal damage, monsters will take a lot more abuse before they die but losing one is a much more substantial loss

In short my advice would be don't hedge your bets on one monster only grow this way if you can do a few and make sure you can water them. That one really stands out to me from personal experience, the big girls can drink a lot under the summer sun and they will let you know it too.

Is topping or tying down used in the process of growing a huge plant?

It can be training a large plant results in something that resembles a hedge, untopped a large plant looks more like a christmas tree. In the spirit of this thread I have to post a picture from the master of huge plants Tom Hill.

I have found the White Widow,
NL X Shiva, Blue Mystic,
& Cinderella 99 all do well outdoors.

Experience has taught me NOT to TOP until these plants are good sized. Topping
too early produces thin stems that will not support your Big Girl.

You'll prolly still have to stake up, but nearly so much . . . The main pest threat for me are corn borers, a type of burrowing worm. Ugh!

EXCELLENT input by all !!! I had hoped the big growers would come out and i see they are.

Good info JJP, i added it
THC123, aint it the truth
Tirs, there are a lot of differences and youve mentioned a few.
It can be grim reaper. I have some biggies tied down as i write and in the stealth discussion i'll post them. Yes is the answer to your question and especailly where wind is a factor. One windy day can ruin a beautiful big plant. Take her down, out of the wind and support her weight.

As you suggest Lucky7 topping a really vigorous, big plant can be problematic. It can bulk up some plants and make them difficult to conceal and in some cases, increase the mould potential.

I like to grow big plants. Firstly, because we are allowed to have six each, with a reccomendation. In my experience, big plants produce bigger, better overall buds than small plants, and because of that I say it's easier to trim big plants than small. I think root space is key if you want to grow big ones. Mine are in 300 gallon planters and they'll still be limited in growth. Should get some decent yields as some are 6'-7' high and 5' wide already. As it's been mentioned, it's important to give support to big plants so branches don't break later in the season. I like to surround the plants from the start in 8' 'cages' made of field fence. The branches then grow through the cage which will support it and also help in bushing it out.

My biggest plants have been sativa dominate hybrids. Something that grows fast, produces heavy buds, and finishes by November. I'm running more than a few strains, and those that are the biggest/show the most vigor are: Casey jones, coral reef, snowcap, la Nina, amnesia haze, goo, chem3. It's still only June though, so I'll have to update the list after the season.

Intensity of the sun and amount of direct hours on the garden is also very imortant. I live in a popular mj growing area, and that's partially because of the great weather we get. Hot and dry all summer with very few clouds/storms...all sun all the time. Of course you need to have plenty of water on hand to quench a big girl's thirst. In the height of flowering, they can suck 10, 15 gallons a day easy. I'm in the process of setting up a drip system, as it's still early and watering is already getting out of hand... Back to work, another good thread SB.

Ps heard Ledo uno get unruly too, ever grown it?

Mine are in 300 gallon planters and they'll still be limited in growth.

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Hot Damn, that's what I'm talkin about! lmao

Obviously this isn't fisher15's first grow . . . . how much we talkin off one lady here? And just what does a 300 gal container look like - no, I wont' go there . . . .

I've tried White Rhino outdoors, but it got really stretchy & weird. Then I read that some plants just like containers - they don't care to be stuck in the soil. So this year I'm trying two Rhino females, each in two gallon containers.

If I could get a few ounces of this good indica I'd be pleased.

I now dust my plants with Dipel. Very few stem burrowing, bud infected worms!

If you're concerned about stealth as I am, the fat bushy lady will blend well in Oct with indigenous weeds, all except the last few weeks of course.

Another good thread silverback, thanks for spurring discussion so it may inspire others and help out everyone in general.

In addition to all the factors you listed and all the good points everyone made so far, I'd like to add an amorphous category you could call "experience" or the ability to "read" your plants. While managing large plants, all factors come in to play at a fast pace. It is crucial to keep them performing at tip-top shape. Big plants can be slow to turn if problems go too far. Conversely, they are big and strong and will survive but at what cost to quality/yield? The more experience you've had, the more your eye will be developed to anticipate problems with all the aforementioned inputs.

In short, you've got to be on your game. It's certainly not rocket science but after having every problem in the book over a period of years, you become "in tune" with your program and can preempt major problems because you catch it early. Big plants move at exponential rates and it's your job to understand that and provide for their needs. You spend time with your plants and you've seen it all before. At the slightest symptom of thrips for instance, you notice and deal with it before it's full blown. The list goes on and on, but the experienced grower realizes and adapts with a proven remedy.

Steering these big plants and helping them always direct their energy upward is such a rewarding thing. I believe every individual that has ever sprouted a cannabis seed wants to at least grow one MONSTER in their life, so if you haven't tried it yet, go for it! You just may get hooked!

I know this category is hard to quantify but I do feel that it is one of the keys to success when growin em up big....

Be good out there-

Rootwise

L7- you can see what a 300 gallon planter looks like in my thread called Fisher's Farm. It's around here somewhere. Hoping for 3-5+ per though some will be smaller.

I've never heard of a plant actually perfering to have it's roots contained. If it didn't get much light it would kinda stretch out. 2 gallons? Sounds like an indoor grow...am I in the right forum? I'd get those things in AT LEAST 15's.

Years of experience

Years of experience

I grow very large plants. One advantage for me is it's legal so that makes things alot easier (no stealth worries).
I've been growing in my backyard for well over 10 years. Many years ago, we planted in 5 gal. containers. Each year we would give them more room. They now are planted in the ground, in an almost 8'x8' patch each. When we first grew, they would be near a pound. Now they average 2.5-3 pounds. We even get some around 5 pounds. These are all different strains over the years. The only time we get a small plant is if it for some reason is a runt. Also, Indicas will sometimes be a bit smaller but are still 2 pounders or more.
Nothing special is used for nutes (organics only). We deep water them about once a week for many hours and we don't top our plants.
I, truthfully, think the main factors are plenty of room and deep watering.
We use 4' pasture fencing for the cages. We have tried many things in the past. Pasture fencing is by far the best. We use about 16' per cage and put them on before flowering.
This pic is our `08 garden. The plants were all rather short last year (still very high yielding). We figure it was because we were covered in smoke for about two months (North Cali. fires).

Hey grams, good words there and I really agree on the deep watering. I can see how putting the cages on later in the season would support more of the weight. Notice you don't need bamboo. Do you place the cage outside the plant so it grows through it, or do you put it more 'in' the plant with branches pulled through right away?

fisher15 said:

Hey grams, good words there and I really agree on the deep watering. I can see how putting the cages on later in the season would support more of the weight. Notice you don't need bamboo. Do you place the cage outside the plant so it grows through it, or do you put it more 'in' the plant with branches pulled through right away?

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Our cages go mostly on the outside but many branches still have to be pulled through.
Also, when we start them indoors, we put a strong fan blowing on them to build strength.

IMO
Deep Watering + Plenty of Room + Plenty of Sunshine = Monster Plants
These are the basics. All else is icing on the cake. But icing is a good thing no matter what flavor it comes in.

Add plenty of sun and we're in business.

And one more Q on the cages: do you pre make them and then place over the plants or wrap the fence around them then secure cage together?

fisher15 said:

Add plenty of sun and we're in business.
And one more Q on the cages: do you pre make them and then place over the plants or wrap the fence around them then secure cage together?

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Wrap and secure with zip ties. This way we can make them to fit, cut the zip ties at harvest to remove cages carefully, and have the cages for reuse the next season.
Oh yes, and plenty of sunshine. I'll edit my post and add that very inportant ingredient to my formula.

High big girl lovers!

Grandma, Tomato cages make great supports. I took this pic this morning of GWS


I could have written your post myself ROOTWISE.... and im tryin to liven the place up with a little converse!

Soil, Sun, and Moisture:

This ones easy. Big plants require big water, big sun and big nutes. Pounders dont grow in the shade and a minimum of 7 direct hours is needed for proper development.

Soil: Soil should be well drained and full of rich dark compost, however a little clay isnt bad. Soft soil is needed to allow the root system to develop. (This good soil will also allow the plant to be uprooted in high wind, but we'll talk about that later).

I prefer a ph o 6.8 and consider ph to be very important. Some like it lower, but not me. My plants are always bigger closer to 7. On smaller plants it not as big an issue, but ph is the condition which allows the roots/plant to utilize the nutrients that are in the soil. The big girls need a lot.

Water: Reread the discussion of Deep Watering a few posts back. Much moisture is required. Big plants arent struggling for moisture.

Nutes: I recently did a thread on nutes and my philosopy is to pour them on. Fatties eat a lot and thats why their fat.
Many swear by organics. Maybe we can get ROOTWISE, antimatter and others to speak up and educate us on the matter.

Here's a photo showing my field fence support...hoping that doubling them up will hold the entire plant. Trying to figure out a way to add another, wider cage. Hmmmm...