K guys one thing I was thinking about addressing I my thread today is learning to become aware of little things that could signal problems.this is good to practice in other rooms if you see them, because it's harder to figure out signals with no history.
Anyways to start is the feel and the smell of the air when you first enter a room. Think of the feel, does the air feel dry or moist, cool or hot. Does it smell stale and sour, sweet and thick, clean and fresh. Obviously all this depends on lights on/off, size and stage of plant ect. But this first wave is often a huge key if apron entering there is a issue with health or room mechanics.
After entering before I do any work or decide on any course of action I walk through the rooms and inspect plants starting with leaves and stems I look for signs of colour or tip burn, look at how the leaves are hanging, how much of the plant can the roots support to hold up past parallel to the ground, if I see purplish tints did the rooms feel cool, did the dark rooms, other wise more likely more root related...,ph, moisture level, feed.
I then look at the dirt turn the plants feel their weight, I use the top and holes in bottom of pot to asses moisture, and for signs of greening or browning of the perlite that could indicate pathogens or toxicity of the soil.
I also use the overall look of the room to judge past care, if all the biggest plants are the healthiest then generally over feed over water ing even if just slight to high side... If the smallest plants consistently look the best then opposite is true, generally under feeding and or under watering would be suspect. Although other aspects could factor in, this can be a quick guide to narrow down where the little things are pilling up and starting to have a negative impact on those farthest out of ideal range, the tragic thing I see often is people catering whole rooms to the needs of the weekest plants, when often if the opposite approach was taken and we tried instead to figure out how to get the conditions of the best plant that is working to the others...
I usually like to wear just a normal long sleeve or thin jacket or hoodie and if room feels hot for you it is for plants too, if it feels cool it is going to be for them too. They do like humidity, but the air shouldn't feel heavy and muggy, there shouldn't be condensation on walls ever.
Also when inspecting the plants smell them too and look at the leaves and stems and feel them, healthy plants feel thick and fuzzy, the stems are very thick and yet strong and bendable, not woody or brittle.i usually can smell Powdery mildew days before I can see it, plants get that horrible sour smell, learn to just take the time and do a proper walk through even if your in a hurry, this is 100% the most important thing you can learn is to asses the plant, conditions and equipment efficiently and completely so there are no suprise incidents.
You also need to do this walk through to make your day plan for feeding, training, and preparing for your next day. Don't just follow a schedule and blindly think it will maximize health, it is a rough guide for general plants tapered to the safe side. To actually get maximum growth you need to be taking how ever long it takes to effectively observe as many factors as you can and base your actions on that, so roll one up and start thinking about how your plants feeling, time to have a hang out and really see!
Cheers all, and yes soon I'll stop just blathering on and posting up a couple pics... Just wanna drill home a couple theory principals first, make sure people are paying attention.
Anyways to start is the feel and the smell of the air when you first enter a room. Think of the feel, does the air feel dry or moist, cool or hot. Does it smell stale and sour, sweet and thick, clean and fresh. Obviously all this depends on lights on/off, size and stage of plant ect. But this first wave is often a huge key if apron entering there is a issue with health or room mechanics.
After entering before I do any work or decide on any course of action I walk through the rooms and inspect plants starting with leaves and stems I look for signs of colour or tip burn, look at how the leaves are hanging, how much of the plant can the roots support to hold up past parallel to the ground, if I see purplish tints did the rooms feel cool, did the dark rooms, other wise more likely more root related...,ph, moisture level, feed.
I then look at the dirt turn the plants feel their weight, I use the top and holes in bottom of pot to asses moisture, and for signs of greening or browning of the perlite that could indicate pathogens or toxicity of the soil.
I also use the overall look of the room to judge past care, if all the biggest plants are the healthiest then generally over feed over water ing even if just slight to high side... If the smallest plants consistently look the best then opposite is true, generally under feeding and or under watering would be suspect. Although other aspects could factor in, this can be a quick guide to narrow down where the little things are pilling up and starting to have a negative impact on those farthest out of ideal range, the tragic thing I see often is people catering whole rooms to the needs of the weekest plants, when often if the opposite approach was taken and we tried instead to figure out how to get the conditions of the best plant that is working to the others...
I usually like to wear just a normal long sleeve or thin jacket or hoodie and if room feels hot for you it is for plants too, if it feels cool it is going to be for them too. They do like humidity, but the air shouldn't feel heavy and muggy, there shouldn't be condensation on walls ever.
Also when inspecting the plants smell them too and look at the leaves and stems and feel them, healthy plants feel thick and fuzzy, the stems are very thick and yet strong and bendable, not woody or brittle.i usually can smell Powdery mildew days before I can see it, plants get that horrible sour smell, learn to just take the time and do a proper walk through even if your in a hurry, this is 100% the most important thing you can learn is to asses the plant, conditions and equipment efficiently and completely so there are no suprise incidents.
You also need to do this walk through to make your day plan for feeding, training, and preparing for your next day. Don't just follow a schedule and blindly think it will maximize health, it is a rough guide for general plants tapered to the safe side. To actually get maximum growth you need to be taking how ever long it takes to effectively observe as many factors as you can and base your actions on that, so roll one up and start thinking about how your plants feeling, time to have a hang out and really see!
Cheers all, and yes soon I'll stop just blathering on and posting up a couple pics... Just wanna drill home a couple theory principals first, make sure people are paying attention.