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[MEGA] Every Year's Community Growing advice, tips, tricks, & experiences

I use sea weed kelp, is that the same as the extract , or should I be getting something else,
and for my next grow, I will be trying diff nutes than Fox Farm line.
 
She's the Queen of Scotland as well, sega. And your Queen too, JS.
 
Just out of interest, do you ever use foliar seaweed extract (or soil drench SWEs)? If I had to choose one organic 'additive' alongside my main feed indoors or out, it would definitely be SWE. I find it to be an amazing growth/root stimulant and it's 100% organic if you get the right type. I find it superb for dealing with any sort of mild stress.

Perhaps that could give you the boost you need?
Nah I dont use foilar feeds at all. As long as the plants seem healthy I dont really bother, I just continue what im doing. As for seaweed extracts, the only real stuff Ive used before was fish emulsion, but im guessing that's different.

The only fert I feed with is called Thrive. It's got a huge Nitrogen value of about 27.5 I think it was. Nearly every plant ive grown ive used this, and the plant's always show a huge ammount of health, and show a very vibrant, lucious green(like you saw in the pictures last week when they were taken during the day under rays)
 
You're stepping onto someone's foot with this thread... and it ain't mine!

:) If you would like the title edited, let me know. Hell, I already gotcha.
 
You're stepping onto someone's foot with this thread... and it ain't mine!

:) If you would like the title edited, let me know. Hell, I already gotcha.

Sorry about that, I truly was not aiming to to take anyone's thunder lol.. Not my intentions at all. I'm glad the thread was moved. :)

@AE, I turned my blower down, and I get the insides to suck in now. Would a second 600Watt be sufficient in my case?
 
You're stepping onto someone's foot with this thread... and it ain't mine!

:) If you would like the title edited, let me know. Hell, I already gotcha.
Why couldn't you keep the title we had? It was a lot better than the one you changed it to.
 
Why couldn't you keep the title we had? It was a lot better than the one you changed it to.

That would be my fault. :| I made a new thread "2011-2012" because the old one was "out of date"... but I was corrected.
 
Sorry about that, I truly was not aiming to to take anyone's thunder lol.. Not my intentions at all. I'm glad the thread was moved. :)

@AE, I turned my blower down, and I get the insides to suck in now. Would a second 600Watt be sufficient in my case?

It's the bare minimum light requirement. You will get satisfactory results from this, however if you got a second 1kW light you would prefer it as you'll get better results. You should be okay with the 50W/sqft a 600W and a 1000W HID will give in your tent.

You need to make sure you have mixed lighting. So, if the 1kW light is MH, then the 600W light should be an HPS and vice versa. Ideally you want 1kW HPS to 600W MH rather than the other way round. You can use this combination right the way from the start of the vegetative stage to finish. I would however use lower light conditions for the propagation stage, such as your propagation lights.

If it's just 6 clones or seedlings, you can literally get the results you're after with a single 20W CFL (the ones you get from supermarkets for pennies - you just need to DIY a frame to suspend it over the plants). A lot of people seem to over do it in the light department in this stage.

I use a 2 x 24W (i.e. a total of 48W) of T5HO (2 x 2' tubes) for all my propagation, whether it be cloning or seedlings, since the T5 lights are always more efficient than CFLs, however since the wattages are so low, efficiency doesn't really matter anyway.

I would get a 125W CFL as an intermediary stage between the beginning of propagation and the start of the main vegetative period under the main HID lights. This way you'll be able to gradually introduce them into higher light conditions without stressing them too much. Sometimes moving seedlings/clones from a 20W CFL to 1600-2000W HIDs can be hard on them, so they need to be eased in with less powerful lights first, although this is by no means necessary as you can just raise your more powerful lights up to start with. You'll find your electricity bill will probably be quite big, so prepare yourself. I would use a price comparison website to find the best electricity supplier, making sure to type in your predicted usage in so you get the best deal. In the UK at least, the difference in price between suppliers can be huge, so it pays to keep checking for the best deals. I'm on economy 7, so for 7 hours during the night the cost is reduced by 75%. Naturally, I have my lights on during the night!! This also helps with temps as temps are always cooler at night.

If I were you I would strongly recommend ditching your current hood and buying a parabolic, especially with the lights you suggested in your tent. The parabolic allows you to get closer than any other hood (even air cooled) and gives a far better light coverage and heat dissipation than pretty much any other reflector, partly because the light in mounted vertically so that the plants directly underneath don't hog all the light and get burnt. The light footprint is far more even with a parabolic. I managed temps of 21C (70F) with the parabolic only a few inches away, which you can't achieve with any horizontally mounted bulb reflector any day. Not in a million years.

I didn't really believe the claims made about parabolic reflectors until I tried one. Now I wouldn't even give it away if you paid me. It works so well it's crazy. It's the best purchase I've made for my grow as of yet.
 
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Nah I dont use foilar feeds at all. As long as the plants seem healthy I dont really bother, I just continue what im doing. As for seaweed extracts, the only real stuff Ive used before was fish emulsion, but im guessing that's different.

The only fert I feed with is called Thrive. It's got a huge Nitrogen value of about 27.5 I think it was. Nearly every plant ive grown ive used this, and the plant's always show a huge ammount of health, and show a very vibrant, lucious green(like you saw in the pictures last week when they were taken during the day under rays)

That's interesting. I've not heard of thrive before.

I can vouch for fish emulsion (particularly Biobizz fishmix). If it's made well without acids and is pretty much organic, it can work really well, particularly in outdoor crops. They're great for AACTs as well.

Have you got any links for this thrive so I can read about it more?

The problem is some are made with nasty chemicals so you need to find the right type. I've always preffered the Biobizz fishmix, like I said.

I really badly want to give aquaponics a go. It's basically a type of organic hydroponics that uses fish in symbiosis with the plants. The fish produce waste shit which feeds the plants because it's rich in nutrients and the plants take up the nutrients, thus acting as a type of biological filter, meaning they can both thrive. This way you're able to grow hydroponically with organic nutrients. The best type of fish to use is Talapika, since it's edible. So, not only do you get your vegetative material from the plants, but you get proten from the fish!

Click here for more info Aquaponics using fish. I'd love to try it with cannabis!
 
I agree the old name with years 2010-2011 was better. Once this thread is closed the next one can be be called 2011-2012 :)

Here's a link to some Thrive products made by Yates. Yates seems to be Aussie owned. Ive never heard of folks in the US/UK using this product before. Kinda like how we dont get any of the Foxfarm range. http://www.yates.com.au/brand/thrive/

This is a link to the same site, but to the specfic one im using called Thrive souble. (NPK analysis: 27 : 5.5 : 9). http://www.yates.com.au/products/fertilising/water-soluble/thrive-soluble-all-purpose-plant-food/

Ive heard about organic hydroponics but the only real negative to using it is the solutions clog up pipes/fittings etc which means the systems need to be cleaned reguarly.
 
^ that's very true. However luckily you can buy bio filters which are designed for ponds, so there's ready made technology that we can bring over to an aquaponics setup to deal with this issue. Also, there are particular types that apparently don't need separate filtration:

Media-filled bed
A media-filled bed system uses a tank or container that is filled with gravel, perlite or another media for the plant bed. This bed is periodically flooded with water from the fish tank. The water then drains back to the fish tank. All waste, including the solids, is broken down within the plant bed. Sometimes worms are added to the gravel-filled plant bed to enhance the break-down of the waste. This method uses the fewest components and no additional filtration, making it simple to operate. The production is, however, much lower than the two methods described above. The media-filled bed is often used for hobby applications where maximizing production is not a goal.

To be honest, I'm still researching the subject and my knowledge of how to build them and operate them is quite limited. However, I'll get there one day as the idea of growing organic hydro weed (if we give 'organic' a sensible definition) and getting free fish seems like such a cool thing to do.

I'm aiming to slowly but surely become more and more self sufficient. It will cost a lot of money but eventually I'll get to the point where I won't have to earn any income for food etc. The only thing I'll need to spend money on is rent. That's why I'm saving up to buy a big greenhouse, chickens and am going to build massive wormeries and buy compost tumblers, so I can grow pretty much all of my staple foods without having to buy from supermarkets. With food prices set to skyrocket it's a sensible thing to aim for.

I'm already self sufficient when it comes to producing weed, so that's one step in the right direction. The more money I can save, the more money I can spend on the luxeries I really want.
 
Okay guys skiped watering her yesterday and today it was hot (35C) so gave her a water,gave her bout 4ltrs....the red leaves are starting to die down and pulled most of em off....shes really starting to smell nice =D will upload photos tomorrow :p
 
Right I'm buying a 5'10" by 7'10" greenhouse on the 21st, made of polycarbonate (a good one). Either that or the 12 foot long one (if I can get away with it without my Housing Association giving me trouble). I asked for permission to install a small greenhouse ages ago and they gave me permission so I'm not sure whether I'd get away with a 12' long one! I might just try my luck since it's only £289 and it wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to take it down, so I guess it might be worth the risk.

Anway, I need to think about how I'm going to control odour and ensure it's stealthy! Any suggestions are welcome, but I plan to perhaps put a silenced fan and carbon filter in a chest of drawers that looks like it's got garden tools in it, inside the greenhouse. Leading under the greenhouse, buried under the soil and coming out the other side would be some ducting to lead the air from inside the greenhouse to the outside, through the carbon filter and fan, if that makes sense. Either that or I think of some other way of controlling odour.

To keep it stealthy I'll try and grow the cannabis at the back of the greenhouse, obscured by some tomato plants.
 
Since you're in a container, I think you should just go to a nursery/garden centre and buy powdered ant killer. Then liberally apply it to the ants' next on the ground so they don't come climbing up your pot.
 
Some more photo's from today. Couple of different views.

Notice in the second last shot the side shoot's just below the newest set of leaves. It show's just how much she is growing now :)

Not long untill flower now =D I may tie her main over one last time before she starts. I dont think i'll crop her anymore, you can notice in some shot's ive been pretty brutal lol.

Also the last shot is a pic looking over the plot. The area im standing in is open and it's about 30 metres off the main track. If anyone walks to this bit this is the view they'll see if they look in the direction of my plot. Obviously pretty well hidden amoung all the shrubs and ferns.

IMG_0447.jpg

IMG_0454.jpg

IMG_0461.jpg

IMG_0456.jpg

IMG_0463.jpg
 
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Anway, I need to think about how I'm going to control odour and ensure it's stealthy! Any suggestions are welcome, but I plan to perhaps put a silenced fan and carbon filter in a chest of drawers that looks like it's got garden tools in it, inside the greenhouse. Leading under the greenhouse, buried under the soil and coming out the other side would be some ducting to lead the air from inside the greenhouse to the outside, through the carbon filter and fan, if that makes sense. Either that or I think of some other way of controlling odour.

To keep it stealthy I'll try and grow the cannabis at the back of the greenhouse, obscured by some tomato plants.
Good luck with the GH mate. Using the carbon filter to treat the smell sounds like a great idea. Also using a fan, like an industrial one for example would work great in moving that air around in there, especially on rainy days.

How long untill you plan to start your beans/clones for the outdoor season? And I assume you'll be putting them into the GH after they've been started under light's for an extended season? I look forward to watching how you do in the great outdoors. Also just wondering, have you ever grown outdoors before?

BTW if you'd like some more shot's put up through Photobucket just send them through :)
 
Good news =D i think the ants are starting to leave the plant :p went out there today and there was only like 5-10 ants on it and none at the base! :)

http://img69.imageshack.us/g/img0167fr.jpg/

Tell me what ya's think is she looking healthy?is this a sativa?ive never grown this type before :) all my other ones have been more bushy if ya get what i mean?

Thanks for all ya help guys
 
Good news =D i think the ants are starting to leave the plant :p went out there today and there was only like 5-10 ants on it and none at the base! :)

http://img69.imageshack.us/g/img0167fr.jpg/

Tell me what ya's think is she looking healthy?is this a sativa?ive never grown this type before :) all my other ones have been more bushy if ya get what i mean?

Thanks for all ya help guys
She's looking better. Keep letting her dry out and only water when necessary. You can tell if she needs more water cus her leaves will droop down. This a sign she's lacking water and needs a top up.

She also looks to be mostly sativa dominant. Not long untill she starts to flower ;)
 
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