What's new
  • Please note members who been with us for more than 10 years have been upgraded to "Veteran" status and will receive exclusive benefits. If you wish to find out more about this or support IcMag and get same benefits, check this thread here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

successful grows - veg time and pot size, plants per light?

Albertine

Member
So, all you guys getting over a pound a light over there on captinknots thread, can you fill us in on the minor aspects of the craft? We have a lot of soil recipes, but I could really benefit by more info about how many plants per light, when you repot, how long you veg, and into what size pot for flowering. Are a lot of you using open beds indoors? I'm thinking that they might be better than pots - I'm not able to keep plants going after they run out of room - is it even possible with organics?
 

Clackamas Coot

Active member
Veteran
So, all you guys getting over a pound a light over there on captinknots thread, can you fill us in on the minor aspects of the craft? We have a lot of soil recipes, but I could really benefit by more info about how many plants per light, when you repot, how long you veg, and into what size pot for flowering. Are a lot of you using open beds indoors? I'm thinking that they might be better than pots - I'm not able to keep plants going after they run out of room - is it even possible with organics?
Albertine

Under Oregon's MMJ law I'm allowed 6 'mature plants' which 'generally' means those plants in the 12/12 cycle.

I use a 600watt HPS and grow out 4 plants in #7 SmartPots with a homemade soil mix and adding minerals, seed meal and that's pretty much it. The plants are set up for irrigating with the Tropf Blumat devices.

Hitting 4 oz. per plant is a no-brainer with this set-up.

Imagine if I were to start using molasses or 'Wet Betty' - I'd probably be hitting 7 or 8 oz. per plant!!!

Or not.

CC
 

Albertine

Member
Imagine if I were to start using molasses or 'Wet Betty' - I'd probably be hitting 7 or 8 oz. per plant!!!

Or not.

CC[/quote]

Of course - the better the marketing and the higher the price, the better the product. It only stands to reason - more and more = more. What am I doing in this forum, anyway?

So, what size pot are you transplanting from, into the 7s? Do you transplant right before you go to 12/12?

I sound like an interrogator - need to work on my online persona.
 

GeorgeSmiley

Remembers
Veteran
7-10 gallon containers. Topped then topped a month later. 3 Months veg 4 plants per 1k. Veg till it fills out 2 ft wide 3 ft tall then flip.

8 plants only need a QP per plant to get 2lbs.

I did that last time in 10 gal. This time im doing 12 5 gallon since I have another card but will be going back to 8 7 gallon plants.I'll know in a month and a half how I did.

Wanna go hydro you can shave a month and a half off that veg time for sure. My buddy's hydro setup gets a plant almost twice as big as mine in 1 month vs my 2 month.

Amazing

Anyways, I'm not terribly good at this so there's a ton of room for improvement.

Smiley

on pot size.
I'll dig it up but the difference in starting a clone in a 1 gal vs a 18oz beer cup was staggering. Ill find it. I go #1 to #3 to #5 or #7. Less veg I go from #1 straight to 4.75 gallon pots.
 

guest2012y

Living with the soil
Veteran
You would not believe how fast my room grows....it's insane. Like a jungle...unbelievable really....all organic under 24 hr light. Pot size has a lot to do with plant size,as does type (strain)
Since I'm doing 5k nowadays,that has a lot to do with it as well. But it's really in the practice itself. Here's a pic of my veg....note that the top half of the pic is from clone to this in about two and a half weeks...the bottom half about three and a half. PS...When I was really on top of the game I was getting close to 2 lb's per 1000 watt...now I'm older and digging through genetics and only getting a bit over a lb....soon this will change.
picture.php
 
Z

ZENARCADE

I don't do too many soil grows these days but a few times I did my BlueHashplant cut veg for 30 days under 1k from 1gal-5gal-20gal organic soil. Topped twice I think, and tied/trained branches everywhere. Flowered under 2k, 1 plant per light about 24oz each. Good times!
 

Albertine

Member
So, sounds like at least a 7 gallon at this point. I can tell you the 3s I potted into, a week into 12/12, aren't cutting it. Big surprise there. I was planning to just keep on potting up, but didn't get too far before I decided to see if I could get by with topdressing and teas instead. the one I did pot on is definitely holding better at this point - may be the topdressing will kick in later, I dunno. I can't seem to find anything that will keep them going once they decide they are out of what's in the soil.
I'm thinking about a giant smart pot the size of the drain tray, an open bed smart pot. How does that sound?
I found some smart pot material, finally, today at a pond supply shop(it's 6 oz pond underlayment - a little shinier, but no bad plastic odor and definitely permeable), and the smart pot people can make them also. They are already making 'tray liners' but are the wrong size for me.
 
We use fish hydrolysate when we have a pot that looks like it's going to yellow in early to mid flower. Works at 1/4 cup per gallon,but it's pretty acidic and you need a good complete organic soil for it to work well. Don't know what results others are having with it...we get the Eco-Hydro fish brand @ Naomi's or Concentrates in PDX.
 

guest2012y

Living with the soil
Veteran
We use fish hydrolysate when we have a pot that looks like it's going to yellow in early to mid flower. Works at 1/4 cup per gallon,but it's pretty acidic and you need a good complete organic soil for it to work well. Don't know what results others are having with it...we get the Eco-Hydro fish brand @ Naomi's or Concentrates in PDX.
Actually.....I make AACT with the fish...but once in a while I'll just hit them with the fish alone if they yellow out at that point. Rarely do I get but a couple pots that yellow out....and it may be locked out more than a lack of nitrogen. If it's locked out a EWC/compost top dress follwed by an AACT a couple days later usually fixes it. If not I'll do the fish hydrolysate alone.
I think the giant smart pot thing could work if you don't have to move them around.
 

Albertine

Member
Hi Missgreendreamz! Thanks for the input, I just started using some fish powder, Down to Earth 11-2-1, at 2 heaping TBL per 5 gallon bucket, they call for 4T per gallon for watering into open ground, in the ewc tea. I was just at Naomi's today ( got the Marwest compost and Ground Up ewc CC and CC1, thanks for the tip), bummer, next time for that. I have a staggered thing going time wise so maybe I don't have to make the same mistakes for everyone. The yellowing is a lot more and a lot earlier than seems right, could be lock out but I think it's small pots - it'll be interesting to see if I can get any recovery from the tea and topdressing.
 
Actually.....I make AACT with the fish...but once in a while I'll just hit them with the fish alone if they yellow out at that point. Rarely do I get but a couple pots that yellow out....and it may be locked out more than a lack of nitrogen. If it's locked out a EWC/compost top dress follwed by an AACT a couple days later usually fixes it. If not I'll do the fish hydrolysate alone.
I think the giant smart pot thing could work if you don't have to move them around.

what causes lock out in organics? since ph isnt supposed to be an issue?

Dude, the yellowing early is killing me. ive been using a jamaican guano with fish emulsion each at 2T per gallon, for N and P. dont have hydroslate. no changes yet. its been 4 or 5 days now. ive started to just use general organics line for the rest of the bloom stage. im just going to water right down the stem since mine have a hard time drying out after i water em. i dont think my roots grew much after transplant and that extra soil just stays drenched. but the plants will start to look thirsty even if the pot weights a ton.
i do a semi weekly rotation and the last 3 batches in my organic soil, all 2 weeks or so apart, all fell victim to the exact same thing. somethings got to change right? good luck man.

get to the bottom of it for the both of us! ill keep trying and let you know if my shit improves. or worsens for that matter.

peace
 

Albertine

Member
Captin, have you had root aphids the last three grows? My plants didn't drink much and yielded little with them. If you are treating with neem on the roots that's not gonna help either.
Mine are gone now. I'm not having problems with watering - they're taking a lot of water.

I just saw a thread I can't find again that quoted Laura Ingram as saying that an overpopulation of bacteria from too much molasses can lock N out - maybe I'm proving that the teas with molasses have a balance that needs to have more attention paid to? I'm being sloppy with mine - bubble for 24 and put it on, ready or not.

Cheeze, you had somewhere some plants you finished in 2 gallons? How did they do?
 

guest2012y

Living with the soil
Veteran
Ok you guys what is your soil mix? Everything starts with the right mix from the beginning... there are a lot of people on here who have unique soil mixes, there is no one mix that I can say is the one you should use. If there was one mix that I'd say you should use, it'd be CC's mix. And mine is different from CC's mix. The key is: a diverse organic mix that has had time to break down all the components which you have added in balance according to the rules of organic indoor soil.
It seems you guys over analyze this whole thing when you should really keep it simple, and I say keep it simple which may be complex to others. I'd say start with a base mix, utilizing my base mix, CC's base mix, LC's base mix, Verdant Green's base mix, and then start to incorporate the other amendments that we use after you get your base mix working for you. so again, forgive me for not paying attention to what your base mix is - but what is your base mix!??
 

VerdantGreen

Genetics Facilitator
Boutique Breeder
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
unless you are flowering some long flowering sativas, repotting during flower is pretty pointless as the root growth slows and stops.

i use 4 x 4 gallon pots under a 250 and a fairly intense modular scrog. vegging varies from between 2 and 6 weeks. plants get potted up and put into flower at the same time - but a weeks veg in the final pot may be better (i dont have room for that)

i get between half and 3/4 pound each round if i grow reasonable to good yielding strains

genetics will have a big influence on your final yield too. but the thing that had the biggest positive effect on my yield is the scrog grow method. more buds in less space all close to the light. with bigger lights you have more penetration but getting more buds into the space will still up your yield.

picture.php


VG
 

MrFista

Active member
Veteran
2x400 watts. 6 plants in 16 sq ft bed. lb plus in a 13 week cycle but! I have to wait 3 weeks before I can replant it's no till so I grow seedlings for 3 weeks then pop em in the bed. So really, it's a sixteen week cycle, or a thirteen week cycle adding seedlings throwing their first five leaves out. Those first few weeks are so slow...

To get weight with artificial lights scrog is a very nice way to go.

Apparently a 1000 watter is much better for yielding than the equivalent in smaller lights like what I got (well, 80% of equivalent),
 

guest2012y

Living with the soil
Veteran
unless you are flowering some long flowering sativas, repotting during flower is pretty pointless as the root growth slows and stops.

i use 4 x 4 gallon pots under a 250 and a fairly intense modular scrog. vegging varies from between 2 and 6 weeks. plants get potted up and put into flower at the same time - but a weeks veg in the final pot may be better (i dont have room for that)

i get between half and 3/4 pound each round if i grow reasonable to good yielding strains

genetics will have a big influence on your final yield too. but the thing that had the biggest positive effect on my yield is the scrog grow method. more buds in less space all close to the light. with bigger lights you have more penetration but getting more buds into the space will still up your yield.

picture.php


VG
Talk about utilizing space....this guy's on top of it^^^^!!!
....OMG their yellowing out!
 

VerdantGreen

Genetics Facilitator
Boutique Breeder
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
perhaps a little :D but it's day 50 odd and i like it to be downhill from there ;)
 

Clackamas Coot

Active member
Veteran
Hi Missgreendreamz! Thanks for the input, I just started using some fish powder, Down to Earth 11-2-1, at 2 heaping TBL per 5 gallon bucket, they call for 4T per gallon for watering into open ground, in the ewc tea. I was just at Naomi's today ( got the Marwest compost and Ground Up ewc CC and CC1, thanks for the tip), bummer, next time for that. I have a staggered thing going time wise so maybe I don't have to make the same mistakes for everyone. The yellowing is a lot more and a lot earlier than seems right, could be lock out but I think it's small pots - it'll be interesting to see if I can get any recovery from the tea and topdressing.
Albertine

RE: DTE Soluble Fish Powder

I just saw that specific product for the first time at Portland Nursery last week. Since DTE doesn't manufacture a damn thing I'm trying to find their source as it looks interesting.

RE: Eco-Nutrient's Fish Hydrolysate

I've been using this product since Naomi's business opened last November. I feel that I've had good results using it as per the label.

Eco-Nutrients also has a liquid seaweed product that is interesting among these type of product in that the kelp is broken down using enzymes though it's not a true 'hydrolysate' product, per se, it is convenient.

I still think that the soluble seaweed extract that Keep It Simple is a better product and their price is lower than either Naomi's or Concentrates. It's also important to note that the Eco-Nutrient liquid kelp is derived from the Bull Kelp (Nereocystis) found off of Canada, Washington, Oregon and Northern California. The product from KIS is the kelp harvested in the North Atlantic ("Ascophyllum Nodosum")

RE: Organic Canadian Sphagnam Peat Moss

Concentrates sells a specific brand (Alaska Peat) which is not from Alaska but from North Alberta. Microbeman ran a series of testing using Premier Sphagnam Peat Moss (from Premier Horticulture which is the Pro-Mix people) vs. Alaska Magic Humus (aka Alaska Humus, Denali Gold, et al). MM's testing proved that this specific form of peat moss is 'not dead' as is usually cited by cannabis growers - quite the opposite.

Microbeman was kind enough to get a sample bale of the Alaska Peat product and ran a similar series of tests on this product. It too is a very viable product to consider using in your potting soil mixes.

I ran 3 plants that are in the 20/4 cycle right now and I found that I have had better results using this peat moss vs. the organic coir product from Sun Gro Horticulture (also sold at Noami's and Contentrates under the 'Sunshine Just Coir' label).

Big difference. Not even close.

HTH

CC
 
S

staff11

what causes lock out in organics? since ph isnt supposed to be an issue?

Dude, the yellowing early is killing me. ive been using a jamaican guano with fish emulsion each at 2T per gallon, for N and P. dont have hydroslate. no changes yet. its been 4 or 5 days now. ive started to just use general organics line for the rest of the bloom stage. im just going to water right down the stem since mine have a hard time drying out after i water em. i dont think my roots grew much after transplant and that extra soil just stays drenched. but the plants will start to look thirsty even if the pot weights a ton.
i do a semi weekly rotation and the last 3 batches in my organic soil, all 2 weeks or so apart, all fell victim to the exact same thing. somethings got to change right? good luck man.

get to the bottom of it for the both of us! ill keep trying and let you know if my shit improves. or worsens for that matter.

peace

This is why I and many other recommend transplanting into the final container a week or two BEFORE flower, it gives the plant time to fill out a bit before flower which slows root growth WAY down. Sativas are a bit different, they grow for a bit longer then indica dominant plants. Transplanting right during the switch doesn't help a whole lot in my experience. Others will probably disagree but just by looking at my plants transplanted before flower compared right when flipping it was night and day difference between the root growth. Seems to me overwatering might be the problem you are having, which will cause yellowing as the roots are starved of oxygen and can't take up the proper nutrients.
 

Clackamas Coot

Active member
Veteran
what causes lock out in organics? since ph isnt supposed to be an issue?
captinknots

Hi-dosing with magnesium (Mg) is a typical cause. Excessive magnesium locks out calcium (Ca) big time as well as potassium (P).

In a healthy soil, calcium cations (ions) will make up between 50-60% of the available exchange sites with Magnesium, Potassium and Sodium cations/ions making up the remainder on the base alkaline side.

Calcium should be 4 - 6x over magnesium specifically. Hi-dosing with dolomite lime can blow that ratio apart as dolomite is 2x magnesium vs. calcium - the opposite of what you're trying to achieve.

The over-application of minerals specifically can definitely 'lock out' the availability of other 'nutes' - that sounds so 'stoner' doesn't it? LOL

Just a couple of random thoughts.

CC
 
Top