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Idiot proof growing?
- Thread starter Wonderon
- Start date
theres several ways to simplify things. good luck . for me organics wins hands down as far as ease. if you start with ammended soil using a known recipe its gravy . and the quality is super too.but yield will be lower than hydro IMHO not by much but it will be lower.
The folks that worry about all hell breaking loose, don't know hydro very well. *shrug*
Give me an auto-top off and I can leave for a week at a time, once the stretch is done. Lights don't raise themselves.
Hydro is as simple as you make it... I see a lot of folks on here making it very complicated.
K.I.S.S....(basically lucas) the newbie success rate is there to prove it.Stay Safe!
wonnagogreen
Member
I'm new to growing its been my interest for many years now and this site and forum is very helpful but i think i'm an idiot or just need a good hands on approach and mentor. because this is not sticking
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s00thsayer
Sunshine 4 potting mix + dyna grow liquid fertilzers, grow and bloom, fed at 1/4 to 1/3 teaspoon per gallon at every watering. Ignore the pH and don't mess with it. Add the dyna gro pro tek if you want or if your strain needs more potassium. The end. Just don't over water and your plants should be happy.
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s00thsayer
if you did pretty well with your backyard soil and miracle grow then you should be able to do well with organic or a peat based medium with high quality fertilizers. when i think of "idiot proof growing" hydro is not up there. good luck.
joe guy
Member
Guess I'm in with both crowds I go 2 scoops of canna cocco and 2 scoops of ffof.. if I don't like the color I add a hand full of cocco otr two... best ofboth worlds... organic fuel and root loving cocco.. whas to go wrong? Nothing... I use full strength soul synth. (according to the chart not the bottle) and waaa bbaaam I get nugs like this
I havea meter but don't use it except to check th nute solution b4 I dump on top. 1 liter every plant in 2 gal smartiesevery 3 days or so keps them happy
The key is wait till there light like super oh shit there about to wilt light then give them just enought to start lookin for more and the smarties do the work for ya in the root zone... god luck nd don't give up.. there is alota cats here that can help
I havea meter but don't use it except to check th nute solution b4 I dump on top. 1 liter every plant in 2 gal smartiesevery 3 days or so keps them happy
The key is wait till there light like super oh shit there about to wilt light then give them just enought to start lookin for more and the smarties do the work for ya in the root zone... god luck nd don't give up.. there is alota cats here that can help
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s00thsayer
It says read the entire thread....151 pages.....what happened to keeping it simple? Doesn't look simple or idiot proof. Hydro works but it not where I'd start unless you're wanting low maintenance, set it and forget it gardening.
I mix my own recipe,all organic long lasting on the nute side it'll out last anything if grown.
So the question went from coco to soil, we all know that commercial potting soil has no dirt in it right, except may be some EWC if you get the expensive stuff. I got tired of doing buying happy frog and getting gnats or any other commercial soil and having been in the plant/ garden business ( now retired) it was time to make my own
In my 6 cuft wheel barrow I mixed a brick and a half of fine coco, a half of a large brick of the large chunky coco both bought at the local Down to Earth Store. Then I add about 4 qts of vermiculite and the same of perilite. 2 or 3 trowels of dolomite lime. and about a quart each of blood meal, kelp meal, and bat guano. 10 quarts or so, it all I had at the moment of EWC you can use a lot of worm casting they will not burn your plants ever. And lastly a couple handfuls of mykos inoculant. Mix it well and I let it stand for week or so.
I been using this mix for the last 3 years and have never had and problems with my plants or with gnats. So you can' go wrong with organic.
So the question went from coco to soil, we all know that commercial potting soil has no dirt in it right, except may be some EWC if you get the expensive stuff. I got tired of doing buying happy frog and getting gnats or any other commercial soil and having been in the plant/ garden business ( now retired) it was time to make my own
In my 6 cuft wheel barrow I mixed a brick and a half of fine coco, a half of a large brick of the large chunky coco both bought at the local Down to Earth Store. Then I add about 4 qts of vermiculite and the same of perilite. 2 or 3 trowels of dolomite lime. and about a quart each of blood meal, kelp meal, and bat guano. 10 quarts or so, it all I had at the moment of EWC you can use a lot of worm casting they will not burn your plants ever. And lastly a couple handfuls of mykos inoculant. Mix it well and I let it stand for week or so.
I been using this mix for the last 3 years and have never had and problems with my plants or with gnats. So you can' go wrong with organic.
Blue Dream
Coco with FloraNovaBloom from start to flush.
Good luck!
-BT
Enough said.
Ebb & Flow (hydroton) with Nova Bloom (or MaxiBloom) is pretty dead simple as well.
sort a way to stop using medium and it makes organic and traditional gardening look like a whole lotta work. Mix 1-part with water and let a pump and timer do its thing.
Checking pH? I ran lucas for years in RO and never bothered to check my pH after seeing it initially fell mid 5s after nutes. Stir with a truncheon and either add RO or nute to maintain a target EC..pH drifts naturally within range as an effect. Automate with RO top-off and your only job is to look at the plants and addback nutes.
^in retrospect I want to say it was easier then the setup/potting, etc involved in Blumats w/ Coco.. which is pretty damn easy itself.
I hate carrying medium.. I hate potting.
Mediumless Hydro w/ MaxiBloom FTW.
Messing around sourcing ingredients and hauling/mixing, potting watering, etc is just not my cup of tea. It may be keeping it simple.. but its not keeping it easy. With understanding Hydroponics is easy. Its clean. Its simple. It works.
Idiot proof? Doing a lot of mixing and potting of good stuff and giving the plant water seems pretty easy too.
I use ffof or any good organic potting soil would work(Kellogg's Patio mix, Black Gold potting mix, etc.) Add some chunky perlite 20% but that is optional. Add some ewc, 1 cup per gallon of soil, also optional. Veg them in that and water checking water ph if it is over 8, as mine is. I have to add lemon juice to water to lower it, but that is the exception. Most do not ph water ever using organics.
For flower up pot and use mix as above but add 2 tbsp Rainbow Flower Mix per gallon of soil. Or just top dress with the Rainbow and some ewc and water it in, if you want to flower in the same pot as you veg in.
Bugs are my only problems now and that is pretty much covered too. I spend time looking at my plants instead of fussing with them. Much more fun.
No flush needed at the end either.
For flower up pot and use mix as above but add 2 tbsp Rainbow Flower Mix per gallon of soil. Or just top dress with the Rainbow and some ewc and water it in, if you want to flower in the same pot as you veg in.
Bugs are my only problems now and that is pretty much covered too. I spend time looking at my plants instead of fussing with them. Much more fun.
No flush needed at the end either.
151 pages is turning you off? You're in the wrong hobby, buddy.
It's IS very simple though. Folks just post about it a lot.
All the info you need in that thread is within the first 10 pages. Most of the rest of it are newbs saying "Woah Shit! That's Cool! My grow ROCKS!", type stuff.
Been growing and reading online for over a decade now... That's about as simple and cheap as it gets. Period. The sheer number of newbs pulling great grows is overwhelming... especially compared to any other grow style/setup.
Stay Safe!
Penguin59
Member
Great thread to get the ball rolling with organics my man. Like everyone's said, if you get a good organic medium going from day one, you'll be rewarded all the way to the end of flowering.
Organic soil is the closest thing to what you're wanting. Idiot proof gardening in the sense that all your ph, nutes and watering issues will be non-existent.
Penguin
Gomez_Addams
New member
My hydro buddies who sell (or did) like it for the faster growth and shorter cycles. But they all prefer _my_ organic soil grown weed for the better flavor and more complex highs. We both get similar yields! Just last night I sampled a neighbor's hydro-raised Burmese Kush, comparing it to my own. His b
As for idiot proof growing, I don't believe there is truly any such thing. People saying "if anyone can do it I can" have at least educated themselves in the basic fundamentals. The difference between average medicine and great medicine is usually due to the knowledge of the grower and how much time and effort he is willing to put in. There are no free lunches, and spending thousands of dollars on fancy equipment will not ensure good results. Some of the finest medicine I have ever sampled was grown with crude gear by someone who had been doing it a long time and who spent many hours every day tending her very small grow.
I see benefits and disadvantages to both hydro and organic, 'engineered' soil, what's right for you will depend on your priorities. We semi-automate our soil grow with automatic watering, we only have to hand-water when we feed, about once or twice a week once they are really going strong. We prefer to feed more often at lower concentrations than less often at higher, the plants seem to like that too. YMMV.
If you want your grow to be "easy" and not require much effort or time or education on your part, you should pick a different hobby, or expect that your results will not be satisfactory. You get out what you put in.
Read opposing viewpoints and try to understand what facts and opinions informed those posted viewpoints. Instead of wailing "but who do I believe?!?" keep reading and trying to understand those differing viewpoints. Eventually, you will get to a point where you say to yourself, "aha! I see what HE picked THAT, and why SHE did something different, now I can see what I like better for my life / situation / goals."
As for idiot proof growing, I don't believe there is truly any such thing. People saying "if anyone can do it I can" have at least educated themselves in the basic fundamentals. The difference between average medicine and great medicine is usually due to the knowledge of the grower and how much time and effort he is willing to put in. There are no free lunches, and spending thousands of dollars on fancy equipment will not ensure good results. Some of the finest medicine I have ever sampled was grown with crude gear by someone who had been doing it a long time and who spent many hours every day tending her very small grow.
I see benefits and disadvantages to both hydro and organic, 'engineered' soil, what's right for you will depend on your priorities. We semi-automate our soil grow with automatic watering, we only have to hand-water when we feed, about once or twice a week once they are really going strong. We prefer to feed more often at lower concentrations than less often at higher, the plants seem to like that too. YMMV.
If you want your grow to be "easy" and not require much effort or time or education on your part, you should pick a different hobby, or expect that your results will not be satisfactory. You get out what you put in.
Read opposing viewpoints and try to understand what facts and opinions informed those posted viewpoints. Instead of wailing "but who do I believe?!?" keep reading and trying to understand those differing viewpoints. Eventually, you will get to a point where you say to yourself, "aha! I see what HE picked THAT, and why SHE did something different, now I can see what I like better for my life / situation / goals."
Gomez_Addams
New member
Damn, a phone call interrupted me and I dropped part of what I was writing. I can't see any way to edit my post. So to finish that first para...
His buds were tighter/denser, larger, and it looked as though the trichs were maybe a little denser and larger on his. Absolutely more sale-able if that was the goal, and appearance is all that matters. But the proof is in the smoking; the hydro grown BK had less much less aroma before I even lit it, the potency was just not there despite the more impressive looking trichomes, and the flavor was flat, slightly chemical-y (insufficient flush perhaps) and the high was simple, short, and unsatisfying.
But that's just one comparison - my buddy could have made any number of mistakes during the grow that could have that result. So while a lot of peeps agree that organic may give better flavor, that isn't a reason to condemn hydro.
His buds were tighter/denser, larger, and it looked as though the trichs were maybe a little denser and larger on his. Absolutely more sale-able if that was the goal, and appearance is all that matters. But the proof is in the smoking; the hydro grown BK had less much less aroma before I even lit it, the potency was just not there despite the more impressive looking trichomes, and the flavor was flat, slightly chemical-y (insufficient flush perhaps) and the high was simple, short, and unsatisfying.
But that's just one comparison - my buddy could have made any number of mistakes during the grow that could have that result. So while a lot of peeps agree that organic may give better flavor, that isn't a reason to condemn hydro.
A soil volume of at least 500 liter in one large container.
12/12 straight from lots of seed.(not clones!)
Blumat maxi tropf drippers + blumat tensiometer. (takes care of fully automated, perfect watering)
Biobizz line > bio-bloom, bio-grow, algea-mac, top-max >To be fed exclusively manually & seperate from the drippers >, start feeding after 3th week of flowering at 5 to 7 days intervalls. ( that's when the plants are about 6 to 7 weeks old on 12/12 from seed)
Raise up ec by 0.1 ms per every feed. starting off at 0.5 to 0.8 first time
Only use rain or RO water.
Add so much lime/woodash to your soil untill it gets 6.8 ph
No need to check for soil ph afterwards, since the accidic rain/RO/nute combo will automaticly bring it down while covering different ranges for nutes to become optimally uptakeble.
Can't go wrong like that and will be a great succes everytime, provided you got everything else in check too.
12/12 straight from lots of seed.(not clones!)
Blumat maxi tropf drippers + blumat tensiometer. (takes care of fully automated, perfect watering)
Biobizz line > bio-bloom, bio-grow, algea-mac, top-max >To be fed exclusively manually & seperate from the drippers >, start feeding after 3th week of flowering at 5 to 7 days intervalls. ( that's when the plants are about 6 to 7 weeks old on 12/12 from seed)
Raise up ec by 0.1 ms per every feed. starting off at 0.5 to 0.8 first time
Only use rain or RO water.
Add so much lime/woodash to your soil untill it gets 6.8 ph
No need to check for soil ph afterwards, since the accidic rain/RO/nute combo will automaticly bring it down while covering different ranges for nutes to become optimally uptakeble.
Can't go wrong like that and will be a great succes everytime, provided you got everything else in check too.
