Wanna Ask The Old Farts A Question?
- Thread starter HempKat
- Start date
You should be okay except that your plants will be pretty small for outdoors since they'll have very little veg time. Smaller outdoor plants may seem like a good thing (harder to be found by cops and rippers) but it kind of takes away from the main benefit of outdoors which is greater yield.
J
J man
Is Adirondack Gold still being grown?
I ah a friend who claimed he grew Adk Gold but wasnt sure.
I smoked a bud of it and got the effects I wanted. I might be mistaken but it might be a cross of Ducks Foot. Donald Mallard might know but I can't send PMs yet.
Thanks in advance!
-J
I ah a friend who claimed he grew Adk Gold but wasnt sure.
I smoked a bud of it and got the effects I wanted. I might be mistaken but it might be a cross of Ducks Foot. Donald Mallard might know but I can't send PMs yet.
Thanks in advance!
-J
The New Growers and Infirmary sub-forums both have a lack of experienced growers to a varying degree. It's mostly mooks like myself with no more than a few years behind them trying to help others. What's that idiom about blind people leading others..
From reading books worth of old threads I understand why many have given up re: newbers contradicting good advice, arguing with know-it-alls, the desire of many to be spoonfed their answers, answering the same old questions again and again and again, but who ever said herding cats (or kittens in this case) was easy ;D
Someone of your experience/expertise would make a difference.
From reading books worth of old threads I understand why many have given up re: newbers contradicting good advice, arguing with know-it-alls, the desire of many to be spoonfed their answers, answering the same old questions again and again and again, but who ever said herding cats (or kittens in this case) was easy ;D
Someone of your experience/expertise would make a difference.
Not that I'm aware of but then again this is the first time I've even heard of that strain. Based on that my guess would be that it's not being widely grown or if it is it's mostly by people not on this site.
Well it's not rocket science so there really isn't a need for years and years of experience to be able to help new growers. This thread is in the Cannabis Growing Questions forum so people who might want help shouldn't have a hard time finding me. The thread at one time was a sticky and as such always appeared at the top of the first page but I guess during the years that it hasn't been very active someone decided it didn't need to be a sticky anymore.
Well it's not rocket science so there really isn't a need for years and years of experience to be able to help new growers. This thread is in the Cannabis Growing Questions forum so people who might want help shouldn't have a hard time finding me. The thread at one time was a sticky and as such always appeared at the top of the first page but I guess during the years that it hasn't been very active someone decided it didn't need to be a sticky anymore.
My first grow was one of my best. Followed the instructions exactly per General Hydroponics website. Spent a fortune on supplements and additives. Grew 4 plants in one container DWC style. Paradise seeds White Berry..
If an old fart like me can do that in a closet with 600 watts.. you can too.. Read.. get advice from people who know wtf they're talking about.. you'll find em.. You found on here in Hempkat.. ok.. I'm gonna go take a nap now.. try to hold the racket down in here..
mgk
New gardeners should focus on the basics and enjoy their harvests. You can, as this sight underscores, get overload with scientific analysis. Let the plants do what they do and listen to them. By this I mean let them tell you what they need. Don't try to fix something that's not there. They don't always do what you think they will.
I have the legal amount of plants currently in solo cups but super leggy. I would say they are on their fifth set of leaves. No signs of root bound. Should I keep them in solo cups until I sex them? I'd rather not put up if I don't know. Do have to commit more root space before knowing my what my plants are?
Well my "Expertise" is limited as I mainly have always done very basic, simple soil grows with just the intent to cover my needs (including what I share with others). So I've never had a need to do anything special such as growing hydro style and/or using expensive ferts and/or CO2 or growing hydro style, to increase yield. So I typically just tell people I don't know so much about those things and try to point them in a direction that might help them better.
The truth is, it's not that complicated, the two most important things are to have plenty of good light in the right spectrum (HPS HIDs for flowering and MH HIDs for veg). The other most important thing is to have a good clean environment with proper ventilation (including odor control to help you no get busted or robbed). The medium is really up to you, each has their own pros and cons. If you're someone who is so into it that you want to tend to it and fiddle with it daily then hydro or soilless (Coco coir) might be a good way to go because it is higher maintenance. Conversely if you would prefer and/or know you can't tend to them every day for hours then you should consider soil as it you generally can get away with watering once every 2 to 3 days. Supplements like CO2 or odor control via the use of an ozone generator, I feel is bad because overexposure to humans can be quite harmful if one is not careful.
A solid one pound yield (dried-cured) of premium bud will hold most moderate to somewhat heavy smokers good for a year. If one's goal is to eventually grow enough to sell it too then they should start looking into all the other methods of improving yield but if they have no experience they should limit themselves to a basic soil grow down first just to get a solid feel on how it all works before you try to make it work better.
The ventilation is important enough that I want to mention it again. Proper ventilation gets good healthy air to the plants and removes the bad air and the odor. It also helps you to control temps, humidity, prevent plant disease and prevent pest infestations. All of which impacts yield. The maximum you need for ventilation is 5 complete room changes per minute. For a modest indoor grow space of 5'x4'x8' (length, width, height) one room change equals (length x width) x height. In the average example that equals (5 x 4) x 8 = 160 cubic feet. So one room change would need a fan rated for 160cfm or cubic feet per minute. Therefore to achieve 5 room change one would need a fan rated 160cf x 5 or 800cfm . Now a fan that big probably would make a fair bit of noise and use a fair amount of power. Also it would be fairly expensive and harder to find at a store, even online ones as most of them seem to top out at 720cfm unless you want to set up a 12" ducting system for it. So a lot of growers go with only 3 room changes per minute and for that in the same space would be 160cfm x 3 or 480cfm. The main thing that would effect is temperature which can be offset with AC units or something like a cool tube which allows you to duct the heat from the light out of the room.
Then of course there's the obvious things for security reasons that indoor growers should do and of course number one among them is tell nobody about grow club, net even family or close friends. If you're married or live with others though you should be open with them since your hobby can put them at risk of becoming homeless if you get busted, in some states. Next most important is a well designed grow. Proper ventilation connected to a carbon filter/scrubber will take care of odor control. Your plants will need complete darkness during lights out. So the grow space will need to be light proofed. Which means sealing up light leaks. If lights can't get in then nobody can see in. You'll also want to be removed from people that might see your regular coming and goings and become curious about what goes on in there. The ideal place in my mind is in a basement, especially if it's large enough to build a fake wall and thereby create a hidden room. That way nobody see's you carrying things in and out. The light, sound and odor or the grow is additional masked by the home but you still need odor control or your house will reek of premium bud. Also being in the basement in a hidden room cops or thieves will have to go thru you to gain access.
I could go on but I think what I've said mostly covers it. One last thing new growers should put a lot of thought and investigation into what they're going to use. There are a lot of things marketed out there making all sorts of claims. Some promise amazing results that cost an arm and a leg and don't produce results anywhere near what you think they will. Others do provide you with amazing results but also cost an arm and a leg. Then there are more reasonably priced options that are good nutrients and fertilizers but some of them aren't really meant for growing marijuana. The main one of these is Miracle Grow which is widely demonized in the marijuana growers community. It however can be used to good effect but you have to use reduced rates and you want 2 or 3 times you water without fertilizer between the times you use it. If you use it at full recommend rates you'll end up with big fat buds that are pretty difficult to smoke because of how poorly they burn. Just looking at a bud only goes just so far.
A good way to go is organic, when done right organic in and of itself can produce amazing results in the form of equally amazing buds that burn well and taste wonderful. Organics basically focuses on more natural things like what is found in it's native environment. These accounts not just for animal droppings, fish emulsions and the like but also things like beneficial microbes which are symbiotic organisms that help improve a plant's growth by more effectively breaking down the raw organic material in the soil in exchange for being supplied water and energy from the plant. They also can help fight off pests and disease if the right mixture of beneficial microbes are present. It might also include the use of insects like ladybugs which are great at eating up other pests that are bad for the plant all with minimal to no harm to the plant. There are also what are called predator mites that feed on other mites but they're better reserved for when/if you get a bad mite infestation.
Anyway like I already said, I've covered the basics. If anyone wants to add to what I've said if they feel I left something out, feel free to add your thoughts on what is most important for new growers to focus on.
No, a plant showing it's sex is more dependent on time and maturity and length of the dark period. What you do have to be careful of though is if your plant becomes root bound. Also with solo cups hopefully you made drainage holes? Anyway if they are getting root bound typically leaves will start yellowing and dropping off from the bottom up. If so then you really need to transplant to a bigger pot. It doesn't have to be very much bigger. If you started with a solo cup then maybe upgrade to some small (quart size?) plastic container. I personally like those small red containers of Folgers coffee. I've used those before. Another option I've use is to cut an empty 2 liter bottle in half (approximately one quart) and use the bottom half. The key with any cheap disposable container is to make sure to add sufficient drainage holes.
I get the thoughts of not wanting to waste resources on plants you might never put into flower but there is a point when you can by too cheap.
As for the plants being leggy, it sounds like they're too far from a good light source. What I typically do with new plants from seed is to keep them under two shoplights, each with 2 4' 40W T-8 cool white fluros (blue spectrum) suspended over a 2' x 4' table. This way I can keep the plants around 12" - 18" tall by the time they sex. Sometimes you do get that stubborn plant that just won't sex until you put it in flower by switching to 12/12.
new question - any tips for decidedly too hot plants?
very hot summer, micro goes 85 ("nights") to 95/100 ("days" which are of course actually at night). best i can do, low ventilation. it's the desert, and it's secret.
got a dinafem WW (my first WW) at five weeks, and the heat has really hit it hard... it's a nice green, leaves are small and oval/lemon shaped (extra detail but i like seeing them nonpinnate) and the buds are fucking miniature, the same size as when you massively overnute.
i actually have a few plants in the same condition now.. others were transplanted 2-3 weeks ago, and shortly after they all got a bit high pH... (epsom foliar and calcium citrate in soil, which i thought was - but was +.. oops!)
no leaf burn or damage, but zero movement - to summarise, too hot, bit of pH abuse..
..been trying to humidify, but only get to about 30%. and no nutes since no growth.
threw some yeast buckets in there for c02, which i normally dont due to mess and fuss.
....so given these semi-healthy plants with unavoidable criteria, any tips for encouraging them to grow a bit?
tried singing, haven't tried getting mad, but it never used to work. haven't tried jesus either for that matter.
very hot summer, micro goes 85 ("nights") to 95/100 ("days" which are of course actually at night). best i can do, low ventilation. it's the desert, and it's secret.
got a dinafem WW (my first WW) at five weeks, and the heat has really hit it hard... it's a nice green, leaves are small and oval/lemon shaped (extra detail but i like seeing them nonpinnate) and the buds are fucking miniature, the same size as when you massively overnute.
i actually have a few plants in the same condition now.. others were transplanted 2-3 weeks ago, and shortly after they all got a bit high pH... (epsom foliar and calcium citrate in soil, which i thought was - but was +.. oops!)
no leaf burn or damage, but zero movement - to summarise, too hot, bit of pH abuse..
..been trying to humidify, but only get to about 30%. and no nutes since no growth.
threw some yeast buckets in there for c02, which i normally dont due to mess and fuss.
....so given these semi-healthy plants with unavoidable criteria, any tips for encouraging them to grow a bit?
tried singing, haven't tried getting mad, but it never used to work. haven't tried jesus either for that matter.
So I take it you can't afford a to supply the grow area with an AC? What you're experiencing now is the same thing that happens to me when I grow in the summer without adding AC. If I do add AC then the electric bill gets crazy high on me.
Putting a frozen water bottle or ice in from of a fan is a good inexpensive way to go but it's probably not going to bring temps down enough. The only other option I can think of is to not grow indoors during the summer.
pet products
pet products
Had the same problem.
Tried freezing gallon jugs of water and setting them in front of the fan.
With our humidity, there is a lot of condensation so they need to be in a container.
And they only stay cold for a few hours..
Got to thinking that a denser material might stay colder longer, the more mass, the better. So I started putting paving bricks in the freezer.
Then I lay down a "puppy piddle pad" behind the fan to catch condensation, set a kitty litter tray on it, and stack frozen bricks in the tray.
That keeps me going through the hottest days.
Those piddle pads are cheap and useful.
Like diapers they hold an amazing amount of water.
I line the floor of my cabinet with them and any runoff is handled nicely.
Keep cool and dry,
Weeze
Edit:
Just had a thought.
(Hey, it happens.)
With your low humidity, a "swamp cooler" might be just the ticket, yah?
pet products
Had the same problem.
Tried freezing gallon jugs of water and setting them in front of the fan.
With our humidity, there is a lot of condensation so they need to be in a container.
And they only stay cold for a few hours..
Got to thinking that a denser material might stay colder longer, the more mass, the better. So I started putting paving bricks in the freezer.
Then I lay down a "puppy piddle pad" behind the fan to catch condensation, set a kitty litter tray on it, and stack frozen bricks in the tray.
That keeps me going through the hottest days.
Those piddle pads are cheap and useful.
Like diapers they hold an amazing amount of water.
I line the floor of my cabinet with them and any runoff is handled nicely.
Keep cool and dry,
Weeze
Edit:
Just had a thought.
(Hey, it happens.)
With your low humidity, a "swamp cooler" might be just the ticket, yah?
J
J man
Topped vs untopped?
Topped vs untopped?
I have no experience topping multiple times but I have topped once before flowering.
So does topping allow better training or a better yield?
I personally like to see baseball bats coming put of the table.
Thanks in advance and I appreciate the effort you put into this thread.
-J
Topped vs untopped?
I have no experience topping multiple times but I have topped once before flowering.
So does topping allow better training or a better yield?
I personally like to see baseball bats coming put of the table.
Thanks in advance and I appreciate the effort you put into this thread.
-J
