[MEGA]Community Growing advice, tips, tricks, & experiences Part 4

[A Lucid Pet]

^ AE, I don't want to come off wrong here because you obviously know what you're doing and I can tell that you're one who will not settle for less if you don't have to; but do you really think that's the best advice to give to someone just starting out? I agree with what you're saying as it demonstrably true but if you're just starting out growing a plant or two I don't think you'll be anywhere close to filling your house with mold. Plus, a lot of that water ends up staying in your plants as can be seen after drying your fresh harvest.

I just remember reading a lot of good advice when I was just starting out and then spending too much time worrying about it. Some things are good to know right off the bat and other things can have way too much thought needlessly put into them, especially considering the dude on the net doesn't know anything about your set up, the weather out/in/side, or any other number of variables. I only write this because I don't want to see people become discouraged or think that they need all these things to even get started when that's far from the truth. Sure their first efforts might not be much but that's how you learn. Also, I've found that learning this way you only acquire the stuff you need instead of going out and buying "The Setup" or whatever the dude on the net told you that you need only to have it laying around for years only used once or twice.

I just don't want to see people who are just starting out to get turned off. Again, your advice is solid and your technique is tops and I think you for taking the time to write out your advice and experiences.

 

[Artificial Emotion]

^ well it depends really. If you're just growing one plant under 125W-250W of light, then no, you could get away without it, but if you're using more than that even on one plant which is vegged for a considerable length of time under something like a 600W HID then yes it is necessary.

I talk from someone who has experience of not ventilating outside. I decided I should just do it properly at around the time when my doors fell of their hinges because of the high humidity

You'll find pretty much all the water used to irrigate the plants ends up being used by the plants themselves. Even if it was only half (which it isn't) then with reasonably sized plants that's a lot of water to be pumping into the air.

If possible just put the ducting pointed towards the window, but extracting outdoors is very important. It's not just for your sake - the plants will benefit from fresh air containing higher CO2 levels since the air is not being recycled over and over again and temps are far easier to control. If there's a way to do it then it's best to do it from the start, but that's his call, I can't force him to do it or you to change your mind.

 

[Warped Reality]

That setup is completely inadequate, but I think you understand that now. I would either buy a wardrobe or use a cupboard, as said, but if you want a pre-made grow area buy a grow tent. Are you aware of how much a whole setup will cost you? I'm not being funny or anything, but are you really serious about putting down a significant amount of money towards your grow? Do you live with your parents or roommates? Or do you live alone?

Have you considered doing an outdoor guerilla grow? What part of the world do you live in?

I live alone, I have enough money to afford just about anything I need to grow weed, I live in Canada.

 

[Artificial Emotion]

Well for growing outdoors you're limited in the strains you can grow but in any case it's too late this year to grow anything. I would pick a cheap strain like mandala #1 rather than rely on bagseed. You can grow some good bud with bag seed but I definitely wouldn't rely on it for the reasons I've stated above. The logic is that if you're going to lay down a fair amount of money on a grow room it's good to at least get seed that's been bred by a breeder. As is the case with mandala #1, seeds don't have to cost the earth.

 

[Chainer]

AE speaks the truth, growing more then 2 decent yield plants at once will require ventilation.

 

[Artificial Emotion]

I'm so chuffed that I've found the greatest spot for next year's guerilla grow ever. It's fully of these small trees shaped like a tree that's been repeatedly coppiced over the years but is much smaller than you'd think. They obscure the view and there are so many of them that nobody will see the area or walk through it. More importantly, the trees are so short that the plants will get full sun all day long. I can't believe my luck, especially since there's enough time tomorrow to dig the loam over (another bonus, since it's not heavy clay!!) before the frosts next week. So by the time it's ready to plant the soil will be lovely and fine.

The only problem is finding the spot where my plants are. I'll have to leave some sneaky ribons to lead the way.

 

[papa]

GPS baby....

 

[Artificial Emotion]

^ I did consider that, but I think it would be like cracking a nut with a sledgehammer. I think I'll just get a print out using Google Earth and use an orienteering compass. Unless I can get one for cheap, that is. I could just get an iPhone I suppose, since I've always wanted one.

I've decided, next year I'm going to grow some fucking trees. Plants will be germinated indoors early March and transported mid-late april after being hardened off in a coldframe. I'll be using semi-autoflowering genetics like Purple Maroc for a September harvest but I'll also do a couple of true autoflowering plants for an extra early harvest too. I was thinking of trying something like Cream Caramel (auto). I'm actually growing it in an empty corner of my tent right now in fytocell and I have to say, so far theyre showing a lot of vigor and seem to be showing LSF resistance funnily enough. Next year I'm also going to try growing from garhwali shiva, kumaoni, malana cream and lebanese landrace cuttings too. I figure that the sexually mature cuttings will have a headstart and possibly could get that little big extra vegetative growth required to produce monsters if all goes well. One other thing I'm thinking of trying next year is 2L plastic coke bottle tops as cloches. They will be used to keep in heat from the sun and act as mini greenhouses whilst the weather gets warmer and the plants develop. The open lids let fresh air in to allow the plants to breathe.

NSFW:

 

[Prelude2TragedyII]

2 weeks into flower, had them under MH for the first two weeks, switched it to HPS tonight. Ive also got to get some spray ,as spidermites are on the lower leaves of the plant. But the buds look great. Smells delicious, can't wait to harvest, Im actually suprised at how fast these plants are budding though, normally it takes much longer.

Im going to be cooking with the butter I made a few weeks ago, Ill let you know how it goes. (Accidently used salted butter).
Hopefully that goes well. Glad to see everyones getting some great advice in here. Thanks for all the dedication and time you've put into this, AE/Chainer/Lucid, takes everyones input to find the right option , glad to see everythings still rolling.

Got the flu recently , started using my vaporizer again, I forgot how efficient that thing was , lol.
, Ill try to post back soon after cooking the butter into something (dont know what yet, lol) and eat it, hopefully taste isn't too bad, thats been the part I have a problem with most when cooking. Taste like im eating brownies with chlorophyll.

Hope all is going well, take it easy. (Sorry couldn't hide the pictures, dont know what button it is with the new layout.

 

[papa]

I could just get an iPhone I suppose, since I've always wanted one.

yeah,....I have an iPhone....it has a compass on it..pretty cool. It has already come in handy when I took my boat out on a lake that I had never been to before...

There is a GPS app.. I'll get it one day..

 

[papa]

my plants are 18 days into flowering and I'm going to take cuttings from them.....yeah,..that's right. It can be done. I've always cut my clones from flowering plants. who wants to fight about it?...

 

[Hoes call me santa]

You guys were talking about ventilation earlier... I understand you need to have an intake and an output, but what kind of setup do you use for that? I guess you use fans but can't seem to see it.

I'm still reading about growing every week and waiting for when the time comes that my place will be legit before starting to invest in a complete setup because if i'm putting effort in this I want it to be well made.

 

[Artificial Emotion]

^ use inline fans (centrifugal type). You also need a carbon filter otherwise your whole street will start smelling strongly of week late in veg.

NSFW:

 

[Prelude2TragedyII]

papasomni, how is it going.
I know rooting plants that are flowering is possible, I've done it before, it's just that the success rate seems to drop with
already hardened stems. What strain are you growing?
Im waiting for my 2 True OG plants to finish flowering so I can start my Northern Lights grow again.

AE, Ive got a question, I've been out walking quite often with my dogs, and on every block I can smell a house that seems to wreak of skunky weed smell.
Im wondering if there are just plants that smell oddly similar to marijuana (which I know there are a few that produce the same type of smell)

An on the note of carbon filters, I usually dont go above 4 plants in my closet, Im going to be replacing my carbon filter soon, and Im curious to know if I were to switch to a smaller size filter (currently 3 ft tall, 6 inches wide), going to 1 & 1/2ft x 6inches. Would that be adequate to remove the smell during flowering? Or should I stick to having the same size of a filter that I currently have.
Any advice is appreciated, thanks for the help, glad to things still rolling.

 

[papa]

papasomni, how is it going.
I know rooting plants that are flowering is possible, I've done it before, it's just that the success rate seems to drop with
already hardened stems. What strain are you growing?

I'm currently growing a sativa dominate hybrid... I haven't lost a clone yet. The thing that really seems to help speed up the process is to remove the tips of the flowers. you really can't remove all of the flower, but if you cut the growing tip of it off, it seems to revert to veg much sooner than if you just leave the flower to diminish on its own.

 

[Hoes call me santa]

^ use inline fans (centrifugal type). You also need a carbon filter otherwise your whole street will start smelling strongly of week late in veg.

NSFW:

Thanks. Just to make sure I understand, I would need 2 of these fans right? One for input and one for output of the air right? Also, If I need an air entry and an air exit, will the carbon filter suppress all the smell so it is possible to put the entry and exit next to each other?

 

[Chainer]

the filter will help as the word you used suggests (suppress), but it won't get rid of the exhaust smell completely. If you are venting from the second floor, though, it should do the trick.

 

[Artificial Emotion]

Thanks. Just to make sure I understand, I would need 2 of these fans right? One for input and one for output of the air right? Also, If I need an air entry and an air exit, will the carbon filter suppress all the smell so it is possible to put the entry and exit next to each other?

You would ideally need two fans of the same size. The intake fan would be slowed down a little bit more than the exhaust so that you have negative pressure and if you're using a tent, this would cause the sides to be sucked in. It's very important that you have negative pressure so that all air from the grow area goes through the carbon filter.

With a 600-1kW HID you would ideally need something like 6" fans (about 725m3/h or 427 CFM), a 400W HID would need 5" (about 365m3/h or 215 CFM) fans and a 250W HID a 4" (about 285m3/h or 168 CFM) fans. To slow them down (they're noisy and don't need to be run on full speed) you would need to buy variacs - one for the intake and one for the extraction. They work better than other types of fan speed controllers which are not good for the fan bearings and cause a humming noise which can attract attention.

the filter will help as the word you used suggests (suppress), but it won't get rid of the exhaust smell completely. If you are venting from the second floor, though, it should do the trick.

^ in my experience a good Rhino CF gets rid of the smell completely, as that's with pretty stinky plants. I don't know what CF you've been using? Was it a cheaper brand? I'm just basing this on my experience, and when I do start to smell the plants a little I know it's time to refill the carbon filter with fresh activated carbon.

That said it's impossible to avoid smell coming out when I open the tent. For this reason I try and tend to the plants at night when everyone is asleep and I'm actually planning on getting an ozone generator to deal with smells creeping out into the hallway in future. These devices can be dangerous but if you know what you're doing and take precautions they can be pretty safe.

A good thing to use in hallways for a belt and braces approach are those pots of ONA gel. Alone they do not work well enough to mask the smell, but if a faint whiff were to get through they can be useful in getting rid of it apparently.

edit: I've just been thinking about it and I reckon you've probably been using the CF when the relative humidity is particularly high. Under these conditions the CF can partially fail and let smell through. It also shortens the lifespan of the CF dramatically.

 

[Hoes call me santa]

Thanks a lot guys, this is very helpful, will note all of that for when the situation enables me to grow.

Smell in the grow room or around in the house shouldn't be much of a problem as the room will be in the basement that will be locked up and only accessible to me. It's in my understanding that I will need air from outside everyday, so I must suck my air from another room if the temperature outside isn't proper for plants? (Aka Canada's winter).

Thanks again! Just have to be patient a couple years and will be ready to start my small operation hehe.

 

[Artificial Emotion]

Intake from the house and run exhaust outdoors. I would be money smell will be a problem and will surprise you lol. I'd just ike to warn you, the two major causes of people getting busted are 1) smell (people thinking they can get away with no carbon filter or just a budget one) and 2) people telling friends and loved ones, who tell other loved ones and so on. One flowering plant of a decent size has the potential to give off an incredible amount of smell. Conveniently, you can get away with a few big plants outdoors with nobody smelling a thing though, due to the natural ventilation provided by the wind, so I would recommend looking into a small greenhouse with greenhouse shading to obscure the view. That way you won't have to pay for electricity and the light has a better spectrum than any artificial light could ever provide, UV included which stimulates the production of THC directly. A guerrilla grow might be an option as well, especially since you won't have to wait for a couple of years. This would allow you to practise your growing skills with not a lot at stake, so might be worth it.