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Simple tips to grow excellent cannabis

TickleMyBalls

just don't molest my colas..
Veteran
if growing indoors, buy a generator in case your power goes out. during my last cycle I had 8 days without power, having the generator saved my ass. would have had to scrap 16 ghost OGs if the genny wasn't there for the first outage.
 

benjuanman

Active member
Veteran
Have thermostat hooked up to your exhaust fan to keep temps stable. My first 2 grows I did'nt have one and used a timer instead but temps were'nt stable. I've noticed a huge improvement on the density of my buds since this little investment.
 

TickleMyBalls

just don't molest my colas..
Veteran
Uber simple tip for new growers:

When using bottled nutes, organic or synthetic, shake well before pouring into your mix. Pretty much common sense there, but sometimes people need a reminder. While sitting in storage a lot of nutrients will begin to separate and different components will settle to the bottom.

It's pretty much muscle memory for me now. I find myself shaking the bottle before every pour even if I just mixed up 20 gallons worth of nutes in the previous few minutes.
 

dansbuds

Retired from the workforce Bullshit
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I've been rackin my brain to come up with something to add here but everything i can think of has been covered . (alot of great growers giving great advice ) The only thing i can do is give my 3 top priorities .
1 environment ... if thats off then the plants will never show their full potential .
2 . PH levels . I really feel that the proper PH levels in whatever mediums are more important than what nutes your using . the plants won't receive the nutes the way they need if your PH is off .
3 patience ... whats the sense in spending 12 to 20 weeks growing a plant if your going to chop it before its done ????

those i feel are the most important things i can tell a newbie to follow . yeah theres alot more but thats what ICmag is for ... to learn to be the best grower you can & the people here are top notch !!!
 

budman678

I come from the land where the oceans freeze
Veteran
velco plant ties when growing in smarties. can be had at any big box home improvement store with a garden section. i LOVE them and allow me to tie down in a smartie. its even better because how quickly you can adjust
 

geeker

Member
low stress training. multiple tops, w/ no topping involved. probably wont actually help with quality, but it will at least add to your abundance. twist ties/bread ties are great for this.

a proper timer is worth it's weight in gold. if you have to be home when it turns on, just to make sure it turned on, then you probably need a new timer. lost 3 clones to reveg due to a crappy timer.
 

Crusader Rabbit

Active member
Veteran
Use binder clips to train your plants. You can tie a pipe cleaner to a clip and clip to the container rim, or clip around the branch and clip the pipe cleaner to the container rim. With smaller plants you can clip floppy bud stems to a barbecue skewer stuck upright in the growing medium. With a too tall bud the lower stem can be bent and the bud repositioned down lower bound to a skewer. I actually use clips to train branches in a circle around the rim of my container to keep a low profile.

If you grow multiple strains at once, you can color code your plants by assigning each variety it's own color of clip. You can then identify plants at a glance and it's less hassle than writing on a label or stake. Now when I plant a clone in a beer cup I just attach the proper color clip to the rim of the cup instead of writing on anything.
 
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if growing indoors, buy a generator in case your power goes out. during my last cycle I had 8 days without power, having the generator saved my ass.

This is good advice if you're serious about what you do!

My tip for outdoor gardeners....by a small 3Hp rotary hoe, saves a lot of effort with the pick and shovel.
 

budman678

I come from the land where the oceans freeze
Veteran
make sure to be patient. dont freak out about things. obstacles, deficiencies, mites dont happen overnight and these things wont be fixed in that amount of time either.

be patient, be mindful and listen...the plants will tell you everything you need to know
 

burns1n209

Member
Talk to them, they are great listeners. i use this trick for some reassurance sometimes that things are going well. Put some music on, they like to have dance partys when lights go down and fans come on.
 

eastbeast

Member
Keep it clean. I always keep a clorox wipe dispenser around the growroom. If there's nothing to do in your growspace, take 15 mins and wipe your shit down( get rid of dead leaves, clean trays, clip dying foliage, etc). Poor growroom hygiene is asking for pest/disease problems...
 
T

The Sensi Rebel

I have only been growing 3+ years, but I tell you, repetition and routine is key.

Also, I think Soluble Sillicate is a great additive to any nute regimen. You'll have yourself some strong, hearty babies.

Foliars are a quick-fix application if you need to green things up.

Curing is possibly the most important part of growing and most overlooked.

Also, if you haven't honed your skills completely, dont ditch your weedman. I still hang out with mine and I've grown out bagseed that has blown my mind. You might have a dry spell sooner or later.

If you have problems cloning, stop touching them. Cloning was the biggest hump I've had to overcome yet, and I honestly checked them excessively at first. Now I just peek one or twice every couple days to check progress and let in O2.
 

budman678

I come from the land where the oceans freeze
Veteran
give them what they need and get out of the way. let the ladies do thier thing
 

RubeGoldberg

Active member
Veteran
-Most "growing experts" are liars and its very difficult to get good advice due to people over-complicating everything.

-Make sure you have a good strain, good temperatures, good humidity, good pH control, good fertilizer. If you don't control your pH, don't scratch your head why your leaves are yellowing. If you don't have a rez chiller, don't whine about root rot etc..

-Don't be lazy, growing requires work, write down a schedule of tasks and follow along with them.
 
H

hope2toke

aren't you over-complicating everything by attempting to "control your PH"?

instead of messing around measuring adjusting and wasting all that time, and money, just use a thermal compost base to pH buffer. if you have a well-rounded soil theres no pH problems and no fertilizers added to the water. way faster, cleaner, and better quality.
 

RubeGoldberg

Active member
Veteran
aren't you over-complicating everything by attempting to "control your PH"?

instead of messing around measuring adjusting and wasting all that time, and money, just use a thermal compost base to pH buffer. if you have a well-rounded soil theres no pH problems and no fertilizers added to the water. way faster, cleaner, and better quality.


What you're mentioning is like an artform for most people though. I wish I could grow like that.

In a production setting though I like reading numbers from accurate instruments to tell me everything is going okay. By simply understanding the importance of your various readings and how to keep your room/plants at the ideal ranges you can master any type of indoor growing method.

With compost I'm too scared I'd end up like half of the guys on the infirmary with custom soil blends and really no way to fix their yellowing leaves other than additional amendments or trying to fix something that they messed up in their mixture.

:tiphat: Hats off to the growers who can master it though, I truely think its an artform.
 

thal

Member
I'm late to the party but I'd like to add a few things I didn't see mentioned:

- Use only as much light as you can cool. It won't do you any good to go from 600w to 1000w(or any increase), if you can't keep the room cool.

- In the same vein, if you are using ducted hoods use one fan size larger than your duct work and use a reducer to get everything attached. For example, if you are using hoods with 6" ducts, use a 8" fan. I found this out the hard way. My flowering rooms are 8, 1kw lights in two rows of 4 lights. I initially had an 8" fan for active intake and active exhaust, and then two more 8" boosters in each row of lights. I was able to replace all of those fans with one 10" fan, and reducers at the now passive intake and exhaust.

- In organics, chlorine is not your friend.

- It's okay to use multiple plant training and/or pruning techniques on the same plant. All of my plants get topped, lollipopped, and low stress training. I top multiple times throughout veg too.

- If you are just starting out, don't estimate your yield. It will only cause you unnecessary stress.
 

MPL

Member
Cleanliness. I think that's number 1 for me.

Running bleach or H202 24/7 in a hydro reservoir is huge for me too.

Genetics. I don't care what anyone says about their nutes or lights or whatever. If you don't have the genetics then you don't have squat.
 
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