Tweaks, Upgrades and Refinements

[adorno]

Hi, I thought this thread might be a good place to ask what are the key tips for small, beginner growers (i.e. the bulk of people i would expect to want to grow MJ, such as to not pay good money to bad drug dealers) to maximise their yeilds.
I'm thinking of feasible, affordable options. CO2 etc. might be a bit expensive, apart from the yeast and vinegar method (good thread on this @ http://www.icmag.com/ic/member.php?u=17053 ).

apologies if this has been asked before, but it might still be good to compile them in one thread. I'm thinking less about the key new growers mistakes (which I'm sure is the main factor affecting yield) and more about little tricks that might help.

if anyone has a clue what im talking about please post em here!

 

[marx2k]

For small, beginner growers, my advice would be to go through a test run without any extras like co2. Just start with a seed, some soil, some lights and some nutes. This might take you a few cycles to get THIS right without burning your ladies.

CO2 is mainly for closed, VERY controlled environments and the grower is already pretty much at the threshold of what he/she can do without CO2.

It's like if you're just getting into weight lifting, you probably don't need to be buying all type of protein powders, NOx additives and all that. Work with a beginners setup and progress through time. Get everything dialed in correctly first then worry about extras.

By the way, I tried the poor man's yeast method with sugar. It may have added some CO2 but the only results I had was my closet smelled like Milwaukee.

 

[adorno]

lol i might skip the CO2 method then. thanks for the advice

 

[2buds]

Comments removed. Tip, live and learn.

 

[minds_I]

Hello all,

My advice to you is read about cabinets and environemntal controls (ie cooling and venting). The space you are putting the cab in will mitigate some design considerations.

Your realistic expectations on yields and yoru needs.

HOW MUCH YOU WANT TO SPEND makes a hugh difference.

Once you have a cabinet or box or closet and you can control the temperature and airflow, then work on growing...soil/soilless? Hydro?

But really start with the space you have and go from there. Take some time to plan out your ideas and sketching is a great way to try alternatives in the design.

Good luck,

minds_I

 

[Guest]

start with a good comercial potting mix and add more perlite to the mix....dont go all out at first, and just make a simple grow.

IF advise sounds odd , there is probly a reason for it...just a general knowlage of all types of plant growing can help alot, so read ,read, and read somemore.

potting mix
proper wattage of lights
water correctly
and use nutes in small amounts, more isnt better.

 

[Guest]

if i were you id grab a bag of ocean forest, and a bag of perlite, and some dolotmite lime.

i went 70/30 and added 1tbs of dolomite lime every gallon of soil.

i put germed seeds in it and now all 3 have grown to about 2 inches so far, they are under 2 32 watt flo's 6500k and i think in a week i might move them under my 400w hps.

i know im going to make a few mistakes and that yield will really suffer, so i grabbed some pbp grow, and pbp bloom(supposed to be good nutes) to kind of make up for my yield mistakes....

 

[Guest]

Thats a great fert,you can use it every watering at least the veg formula,havent tried the flower.A good tip is to flower under HID's,but get a 4 ft 2 lamp shoplight to start your new seedlings and clones.Keep the plants 1/4 inch under the lamps until 4 or5 inches high,if it touches the tubes it wont hurt them a bit.I use HID's but its the best way to start a seedling/clone that I've found.Keeping the lamps literally 1/4 inch to touching is whats important,move them up to two inches and you've lost your edge over the HID's for beginning plants.

 

[Guest]

ballast, i have them under the 4ft 2 tube shoplight, 8 bucks at HD

ill wait until they are about 4-5 inches until i put them under the HID, btw, should the plant have multiple nodes by the time it reaches 4-5 inches or will it just be a couple leafs?

 

[Guest]

Oh no man,the ones I'm about to transplant are 6-7 inches I let them go a little longer than usual,at least 50 60 leaves and tons of nodes,it will surprise you greatly trust me.Remembert.1/4 inch,let them touch a leaf it wont hurt,keep them close.EDIT I should add they are clones,but seedplants will react the same way,keep them close remember

 

[tngreen]

i know this sounds really weird but i would start out with hydro. i did and dont regret it one bit. you can do organic in hydro to get quality with the hydro yield. soil seems like a lot more trouble than its worth. i have a small space so dealing with soil, perlite, etc wasnt worth it to me.

also, read read read and read some more!

 

[marx2k]

I would not suggest trying hydro first. Soil is a better bet mainly because it takes longer for problems to come up and kill your plant and you have more time to fix it. After a cycle or two of soil, I'd recommend trying out different methods.