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[MEGA]Growing advice, tips, tricks and experience: Mark 3

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I can't wait to get this years grow show going... under different circumstances than before tho... Used to be with bulb and all, and some pretty advanced setups incl. hyrdoponics... Now I'm just using a couple of big pots, some good strains, and just growing it in a homemade soil blend and using standard flower fertilizer for the vegetative phase, and then a bunch of bat guano for the flowering phase... Going outta the country though, end of summer, so will have to settle for an early harvest :( But still better than nothing... Can't wait till my seeds grow a root, so I can plant them and watch the green grow! Just not too familiar with the chosen strains in terms of M/F ratio, so I hope that most of the seeds are female.... I could have used some feminized seeds, but chose not to as that limited me to some quite bland strains (didn't have money to invest this time around, and am resorting to the stash of seeds from previous ventures... which makes it fun, because a lot of it is stuff that a friend and I have worked on over the years, some coincidental crosses, some on purpose). Happy growing all!
 
Prelude2TragedyII said:
Have a curious quick question, Is it easier to clone a plant that was raised from seedling, or is it easier to clone a plant that was, a clone.... Seems Ive had quite a few problems trying to clone a clone, and every time Ive cloned from a seedling I usually get 95% of them to survive, but all the cuttings I take from the clone itself I seem to get about 60-75%.
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Normally there should not be much of a difference really, if you're doing it right.

That said, I would make sure the seedling is mature enough before you clone it! If you're going to flower the clone pretty soon you must make sure it's taken from a sexually mature plant with good calyx formation.

Sorry I honestly forgot about your PM. I'll try and reply later on - I don't know how it slipped from my mind.
 
Prelude, as I say I haven't grown it, but I've seen it just flopping all over growrooms. I'm not sure if it's particularly hard to grow once you've dealt with that problem by staking it up, but it's certainly something to bear in mind.
 
^ yoyos are also good for support if using a stake is not practical, as is a scrog net (my favourite, since it often improves yield by quite a bit).

Simple as it is, another good technique is to make sure the plants are always exposed to a light breeze since this really does thicken the structure of the stem (if you take a cross section of an outdoor stem and compare it to an indoor stem cross section, you'll see a startling difference, mainly due to the natural wind outdoors strengthening and thickening the stem).
 
^I second that. And also if growing indoors, another thing one can do to strengthen plants is to spray water on them (this increases the weight the stem has to carry, and will also improve strength)... When I first started growing, and started the never ending battle of the mites, I noticed that whenever I would give a plant a shower, to clear off some mites, it would dangle and hang like an old sack of potatoes... thus in later grows, I used fans to blow air, which are needed for proper circulation, and kept a routine by which I would spray the foliage with water, and this increased plant strength in the long run... So wind and water are good for thickening stems and in theory improving yield.
 
Well I am toying with the fact of growing some small plants in my backyard, I'm trying to keep them as small as possible, in a few small pots. I have lots of seeds from various mids, it will be an experiment mostly, but I had some questions about trimming areas of the plants to make them grow differently. How can I do this without causing shock or damage, such as topping to encourage two growth spots, and can you remove parts of the fan leaves so it doesn't look like weed without any major downsides? I got a hidden area to put them in, but the sun isn't there all day, its sort of shady, but better than nothing.
 
Here's a photo of were to top if your going to do so. Just snip through the stem with some scissors avoiding all foilage and you'll be good to go.
NSFW:
015c-Ernie.jpg


Also I recommend looking into LST and supercropping, and checking out this link
http://www.marijuanagrowing.eu/supercropping-low-stress-training-lst-t29794.html

You also wont be able to "hide" your ladies by cutting the leaves off. This will only stress them and stop them growing.
 
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Ason Unique said:
Yeah I'll just keep them hidden, I had them growing in this area before, just gotta hope nobody tries breaking in the house and no cops go looking.
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Well as long as you got a clean slate to begin with, with the piggies, and you dont go telling your mates that your growing you should be right. Number 1 rule when growing is tell noone. You would be surprised what your "mates" would do when it comes to free weed. Lost a 20+ oz harvest one year because I showed the wrong person.
 
Well, if the fan leaves are enormous, and the stems that are starting to show are completely covered by the leaves that might be beneficial (or was to me at one point, I had leaves that were 7-8 inches from side to side, larger than my hand, and they wouldn't let any of the light penetrate into the middle of the plant), Though I only cut a bit off the lower leaves so the lower branches could get light... And my female is mature, thats for sure, lol, she's about 2 ft now, Probably going to have to throw her outside, weird thing is, both of these plants are Northern Lights, and they dont even look related. the one I ended up putting out side had about 4 main large branches, was 3-4ft tall, but very short and fat for its height. Its weird though, I put the plant outside and it started to bud a little bit. Im seeing ALOT more calyx and pistils on this plant and its late April, should I have waited to put it outside or is this normal (first time outdoor btw...)
I plan on making raised beds when I get the time, as for right now I just dug a hole about 3ft deep, 2 1/2 feet wide, tilled all the ground, fenced off the area , and did a few other things, Ill try taking pics of the crappy little fence I worked on (to keep the dogs from ruining every plant I put out there, damn beagle mix). Anywho, every time I water the outdoor plant from the hose, the plants leafs are 'praying' they start to go upward,

I dont know if I made this clear before, but I tried, the reason I try to adjust my water, or use R.O. water and adjust it is because in the city I live in, the schools literally send papers home with their kids saying they should bring bottled water to school and not use the water fountains as the water from here is pretty damn gross. comes out around 400-600ppm, RICH with sulfur (shit smells like rotten eggs) , and its pretty gross, anyways, idk if I should continue to water the plant with that water, or , start buying 5 gal waters for *cheap* and just using that, as I dont imagine Ill be getting much rain water at this point, (though I will be setting up next year to get rain water to use for outdoors)

Anyways, Its my day off, guess I should go work in the garden and drive around town and check out the clones in the shops, see if they have any plants I like
 
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Well, it looks like re-using dirt is working out quite well for me. When I rip a plant out of the pot, I try to get rid of all the really-clumpy-with-roots-dirt and then I reuse rest. For the initial planting I like to use fresh Fox Farm soil, and then the transplant uses reused soil. I'm saving a ton, and my plants are not complaining one bit.
 
leaves don't really block the majority of the light. Although your eyes may tell you they do, they actually allow the majority of light to pass straight through. I see cutting leaves off as causing unnecessary stress to the plant.

The leaves I would cut off are those at the base of the stem though, as most people do (or should).
 
w01fg4ng said:
Well, it looks like re-using dirt is working out quite well for me. When I rip a plant out of the pot, I try to get rid of all the really-clumpy-with-roots-dirt and then I reuse rest. For the initial planting I like to use fresh Fox Farm soil, and then the transplant uses reused soil. I'm saving a ton, and my plants are not complaining one bit.
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I'm also an advocate of reusing soil, but I would avoid using it a 3rd and definitely a fourth time, as the structure of the medium starts to break down and pests and diseases can develop (the latter effect is part of the reason gardeners use crop rotation in allotments, gardens and farms).

In my experience I get just as good results the second time round, if not slightly better than the first time, however the third run I often run into issues. If you're innoculating with mycorrhizal fungi (I assume you are), then it can save money on this too.
 
Artificial Emotion said:
I'm also an advocate of reusing soil, but I would avoid using it a 3rd and definitely a fourth time, as the structure of the medium starts to break down and pests and diseases can develop (the latter effect is part of the reason gardeners use crop rotation in allotments, gardens and farms).

In my experience I get just as good results the second time round, if not slightly better than the first time, however the third run I often run into issues. If you're innoculating with mycorrhizal fungi (I assume you are), then it can save money on this too.
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I like to add mycor during the transplant when using used soil and sometimes when feeding them. I never tried using the mycor on a young rooting, because I am scared to burn those little guys ever again (not that I can confirm if mycor would do that, I just have a general fear of burning them the young ones lol).

I'm currently using some soil for a 3rd time at the moment, but it is mixed in with a little bit of 1st time use soil as well as mycor+food, and there have been no noticeable problems so far. However, I am thinking I will need to dump this batch of soil out after this next harvest and start anew. A fourth run sounds like I might be asking for problems.

I also heard about the crop rotation and burning one section of the land per year to "replenish" it. I don't know how practical burning my soil would be, but it sounds like it could work lol.
 
Anyone who needs specific advice in terms of soil grows, hydroponics, aeropnics and homemade systems, please feel free to PM me. I have a scientific background, and I have extensive experience designing and implementing my own small-scale setups (usually in places a about 2-4x2-5 m in terms of floor space). Yeah, its indoors I'm talking, but I also have outdoor experience... So hit me up if you've got some dilemna or a question.

All the best, and best of luck to all those growing outdoors this season and those who are just starting out hoping for a good yield... And especially good luck to the guerilla growers (also have some tips to offere there). Thats why you might wanna PM me, I know some methods that improve yield etc... And I have grown plenty different strains.... sativas, indicas, hybrids, etc... Just don't wanna be boasting all sorts of irrelevant stuff, and would prefer to answer specific questions... so PM or ask me in this thread.

1 <3
-BWANAJZJ
 
Hey guys. So I just bought three lovely clones for a dispensary two days ago, and when I was planting them, I noticed that one of the stems was free from the roots that it grew. Because this is a clone and I assume it still has a bit of root gel still on it, will it be ok?
 
freehugs said:
Hey guys. So I just bought three lovely clones for a dispensary two days ago, and when I was planting them, I noticed that one of the stems was free from the roots that it grew. Because this is a clone and I assume it still has a bit of root gel still on it, will it be ok?
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Are you saying that one of your clones has NO roots attached to it? Naw man go get your money back or another clone or something because that's just fucked. :(
 
w01fg4ng said:
I like to add mycor during the transplant when using used soil and sometimes when feeding them. I never tried using the mycor on a young rooting, because I am scared to burn those little guys ever again (not that I can confirm if mycor would do that, I just have a general fear of burning them the young ones lol).

I'm currently using some soil for a 3rd time at the moment, but it is mixed in with a little bit of 1st time use soil as well as mycor+food, and there have been no noticeable problems so far. However, I am thinking I will need to dump this batch of soil out after this next harvest and start anew. A fourth run sounds like I might be asking for problems.

I also heard about the crop rotation and burning one section of the land per year to "replenish" it. I don't know how practical burning my soil would be, but it sounds like it could work lol.
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If you mean the notorious 'slash and burn' method (not sure if that's what you meant), it does make the soil more fertile in general, but I honestly believe that there are better ways.

I too get good results on the 3rd go, but it's a step too far for me personally. Fourth time it's definitely not worth it though. Not when you factor in the effort and time that goes into a crop, but at least we agree about that.

I've not had issues with mycorrhizal fungi causing nutrient burn ever on seedlings (even powdered onto the seeds themselves, which is my favorite technique) but I guess theoretically it could cause this. Your soil must be quite hot if you're having that issue. The potting soil I use is weak enough for germinating seeds but has enough nutrients for at least a month or so, so luckily I don't have those issues, but it means I need to fertilize sooner. It works for me though, as I get a kick out of using liquid nutrients in flower.
 
Artificial Emotion said:
If you mean the notorious 'slash and burn' method (not sure if that's what you meant), it does make the soil more fertile in general, but I honestly believe that there are better ways.

I too get good results on the 3rd go, but it's a step too far for me personally. Fourth time it's definitely not worth it though. Not when you factor in the effort and time that goes into a crop, but at least we agree about that.

I've not had issues with mycorrhizal fungi causing nutrient burn ever on seedlings (even powdered onto the seeds themselves, which is my favorite technique) but I guess theoretically it could cause this. Your soil must be quite hot if you're having that issue. The potting soil I use is weak enough for germinating seeds but has enough nutrients for at least a month or so, so luckily I don't have those issues, but it means I need to fertilize sooner. It works for me though, as I get a kick out of using liquid nutrients in flower.
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I had forgotten the name, but yes that's what I was referring to, the slash and burn method. Anyway thanks for letting me know your opinion on reusing soil as well as using mycorrhizal fungi. I trust your experience and knowledge on the matter, so I will be taking your advice and will not be doing a fourth run.
 
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