Photosynthesis
Member
Photo nailed it. Who has the greater bragging rights?
The guy who grows with 18 hours of light for 4 to 6 weeks, then flips to 12 hours for 75 (avg) days of flowering and ends up with 2 lb per light. Then he needs to reamend his growing media or at least mix it up and remove roots. (plant to harvest = 110 days approx avg)
Or
The guy who grows with 18 hours of light for 10 to 14 days in a living soil then flips to 12 hours with a fast flower ripening cultivar finished in approximately 50 days ending with 1.5 lb per light. No need to reamend, nor transplant part way through; just pull out the immediate root ball (old peat pellet, etc) and plop in rooted cutting.
(plant to harvest = 62 days approx avg)
In scenario number one you may consider that one might add on at least 2 days for dealing with the media = 112 days. This means that in a year one gets 3.26 harvests @ 2 lb per light = 6.52 lbs per light per year. Also consider having to deal with the extra plant tissue, trimming lots of leaves, etc.
In scenario number two in a year one would get 5.89 harvests in a year @ 1.5 lb per light = 8.84 lbs per light per year. The bonuses are that; no remix of soil, the lights were on less, the quality is likely higher, the plant is finished at around 18 inches tall and is practically all floral clusters, so less trimming is required.
If this is for other people then another attribute is a clean conscience. Do the math. You may also alter flowering times etc. but I believe one still comes out ahead using natural living soil techniques.
BTW, this movie is based on a true story
What he said.