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Growdoc's method

Growdoc

Cannabis Helper
I have been asked by several ic members to make a thread on my method. I must start off saying that my method is not the best in the world and it always depends on the grower! I also ask for lots of time to be able to put it together the right way... i would like this to be easy for all to understand...all comments and critics are welcome, also tel me if i leave out something or i am not makeing sense.

I love seed over clones, thats important to know about me and will help you understand my method...

First off is soil boxes/soil beds and how and why i use them...(below pic with under ground watering)




They can be made to fit anywhere and can be adapted to any situation. I do my best to keep things simple, in the soil bed/soil box you can mix in all your nutes straight into the soil therefore all you have to do is add plain cool tap water(you may even buffer your soil to counter PH probs). I have made them with and without underground watering,(below pic NO underground watering)



The soil can range in depth from 15cm-50cm depending on plant size. Commerical use of this system does not require long vegg times and therefore the lesser amount of soil can be used, for a hobbist vegg time can be extended many months meaning more soil is used.

I build the bed/boxes out of what ever i can get my hands on for free, everything from Pallets to 2x4 to 2x8 or what ever i can find/scrounge.

The soil bed is filled with earth and can be adapted to water from the bottom which helps gives the indoor plant the most natural environment possible. Cannabis being large leaf plants funnel water away from the stem, it naturally doesn’t like to be waterd at the stem.

The frame should be made from 2x4’s and then lined with plastic (I prefer white plastic with black out side) to make it water tight…the size and shape can be altered to fit any garden…the depth of the soil should be no less then 10 cm deep but can be up to almost 50 cm deep if desired. The bottom of the box has Flex piping that zigzags (S shape) from the middle out-ward to both sides.

Piping system: Is made from 50mm (2 inch) drainage coil piping. It should make an S shape through the entire length of the box or rings. The end must be capped or sealed. The idea is that the water will flow out of the pipes making the plants search for water with their roots. This water will be used up all the way so there is no need for drainage. In the middle of the piping system run one pipe up and to one side (don’t cap it off) this pipe is where you will water from. A funnel can also be added to this watering pipe for easy pouring.

The box can be placed along the wall or in the middle of the room. The advantage of having the box in the middle of the room is that it is easier to get to all plants from all sides.

As for the soil here is my mix:
Growdoc’s soil mix:
Per 100 liters/2 bags
60 gram seaweed meal
60 gram bone meal
120 gram blood meal
80 gram Guano Peru
20 gram trace element
40 gram lime/kalk
3 liter worm casting
12 liter Perlite

here is my Dressing:
Growdoc’s dressing mix:
Per 100 liters/2 bags
100 gram seaweed meal
100 gram bone meal
120 gram Guano Peru
30 gram trace element
80 gram lime/kalk
5 liter worm casting
1 bag fine cut coco’s
1 bag soil


If you can get your hands on a cement mixer it is the easiest way to mix great soil let mix for 30mins at a time repeating the process as often as you like until the soil is perfect and no lumps at all. If no cement mixer then i do it by hand for 20 mins very intense then break for 10-15 mins and do it one more time. These are the products i use.



I go to the Plagron farm myself and hand pick my products, i smell it, touch it and look carefully. I dont know of any other grower that does this. But then again people say i am a Fanatic, what ever thats suppoed to mean. I do love my work.

Soil: should not need to be changed more then 1 time a year. You do not need to pack the soil when the box is being filled, let the soil fall gently into place and crush up any large chunks that are found. Your soil mix should have good aeration (expanded clay, perlite). I do recommend that a good quality soil be used, one that has lots of good natural nutrients and some worm casting.Soil should come from the courty you are in, all imported soil is cleand out of bacterial life.in order to bring back life to such soil you must indroduce benifical baterica and heavy watering,let sit for a week before you add plants.

Smell: I have a diiferent aproach to this then anyone else i know(most people think i am crazy) In our grow world we have many fine strains to choose from, so many that you can find a strain for every grower, or so it seems. I choose strains that dont smell like Skunk or catpiss, have you ever smelt a super skunk plant 50 days into flowering?(superskunk reeks) Why would someone grow that it a stealth grow? You can find strains that smell like sweet candy,grape,fruit,both and 100's of others too. You may even add smell and taste to your plants and buds by pushing a small needle through the base of the stem haveing a string tied to the eye, pull the needle all the way through and tie off the string with a singel knot. Place the long end of the string into some pure natural extract of you choice (blueberry,orange and strawberry work well), the bottle should be placed lower then the hole so gravity works and she will soon begin to suck up the aroma and will disperse the smell of your choice.

Ventilation: In most rooms around the world i see a serious lack of good ventilation. This causes most growers to shut down during hot summer months, i too have experienced this in the past. Never under estimate good ventilation, bad ventilation will cause more long term probs like: powder mildew, bud rot, stem rot and many others... i always over do it when it comes to Extractor fans/out take/suckers. Also choosing how your intake and out take will be, is very important. this is a huge mile stone to cross when makeing a good vent system. When making an artificial environment for plants the CO2 is used up very quickly…the higher the temp the faster the plants use CO2… in order to replenish the co2 one must have exceptional ventilation both in and out…most growers short them selves when it comes to ventilation…they buy something very cheap like bathroom out-takes or just open a window and hope for the best…when creating a artificial environment you have to make it as real as possible…think to yourself if I was a plant could I live here, and why would I want to live here??? If you can’t answer that then you should quite growing and go home…the needs of the plant are the most important not your wants as a grower… I dont use filters or scrubbers but that is me, i am not saying that everyone should follow my exzample. I choose places to grow just for that not to live in. Penthouse apartments or attics are very nice, because the smell goes up. Most modern apartment buildings have great vent systems with lots of filters and pusher fans and can easily be tapped into. If you dont have proper ventilation then a A/C unit can be used, make sure it has an out take hose that can be placed by a window or out of the room.


Lighting: Don’t fuck around with anything but HPS they are 400 and 600 watt lights. These lights are the best in the business they give more light for the money…you can try to mess with other shit but in the end it will all come back to HPS.(pics below are 5X400HPS on 600 seedlings)


1000watt HPS and MH lights are very common and cheap to buy, these are some of the worst lights that can be used in a grow room. First they are very hot lights and with this brings danger of fire. 2X400 or my fav, a combo of 1X400HPS and 1X600HPS will bring more buds then a single 1000 watt light. For home growers 1X 400 HPS per 3.33 feet square or 1 meter square. To get into commercial standard, 600 watt HPS are used. Each plant should receive a minimum of 30 watts per plant. The more watts there is, more uptake by the plant. Meaning that the better the plant lives, the higher the demands become…

more to come... dressing has been added
 
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G

Guest

Very nice and very very interesting GD! Goes against everything I've been taught as you know, but I see you get excellent results and I'm game to take a peek as to how the whole thing works out for you :smile:

By the way, I also use Plagron products :wink:

:wave:
 
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dubmantx

Member
I like the method Growdoc. So you always mix the nutes in with the soil? I think mine might have gotten too much Nitrogen and stretched a little more than yours... that or its just the genetics.
Tell me... Why do you prefer seed over clone? I would think clones would be better since you know all of them are females. Just like the variety or what?
 

Wrecked

Active member
Awsome thread Growdoc, After i read soma's book i decided to grow some plants last harvest in beds... You have a much better bed then i used, I decided to go get some rubbermaids and bed them it worked great for all the clones i used. Since all the clones i used where female I knew How to space them out. WHat happens if say you get a bunch of males in a area of the bed How do you filll that area up with plants to fill the space? I think he probably likes seeds better as they are disease free. Nice Looking profesional setup :) PeAcE
 

issack

Well-known member
I also use docs soil mix.....let me tell you my plants are so heathy and fat....green, i love it....
 
G

Guest

hello growdoc....
hummm no bro this does not explain anything to me, all i see is a long black hose in a box.......i need to know how it work's not just whats need to make it bro....still trying to find out how you keep those roots from rotting with out having to drain the soil bed....i think its neat as hell the way your growing here, but i just flat out do not understand it......i need more indepth info and pics if you have them...
thank's bro......

P.S. i still can't find the ANGELDUST seeds in the auction????????
 

Growdoc

Cannabis Helper
Thanks for all the wonderful comments, i have added more info and more pics... i hope comments keep comming and please tell me if i miss something.

riesinish, i will try to explain... Most common problem amoung all growers is overwatering. Pro and hobbist alike! Useing a soil bed with no drainage wastes no water and therefore meaning use less water, you will learn real quick what is to much or to little. when i am finished with a run I pull all the root balls and stems out and turn my soil, breaking up any large chunks. roots are white and thick and very long...hope this helps.

Growdoc

ps... the seeds are in my signature
 
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Growdoc

Cannabis Helper
Underground watering...

Underground watering...

The Black hose which is used in the pics (also can be found in yellow) is for drainage for the outside of a house, its the hose they dig around a house to help water run away from the house so your basement dont flood. Its kinda flexy but not like a vent hose... you can make most shapes with it and its easy to bend around objects, there are 100's of holes in the hose and it wont be block up by roots. If you cap one end off and run one up to the top you can water easily.The water flows through the drainage pipeing picking up speed and causeing better spread of water through the bottom.

This can aslo be automated cheaply with a pump,res and timer...

Growdoc

more info: Depending on the depth of the soil and how you transplant will detemine if you water from the top or not. When useing the deep soil bed plants are not planted diect on the bottom and therefore have no roots on the bottom so they first week or 2 water from the top is best until the roots grab into the bottom.
 
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Dr.Ganja

Member
thanks now i see how it works! there are several holes that let the water escape to the soil.
when you water like that do you also water from the top near the stems?

thanks!

always learning with you doc
 

Jenna

Active member
hi Growdoc :wave:

i am curious about what you use for odor control and ventilation. Wanna share your method?
 

packn2puff

IC Official Assistant to the Insistent
I like the idea that the roots never have to stop growing...root-bound seems almost impossible.. :chin:
 

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