bird mcbride
Well-Known Member
I discovered flood and drain hydro all on my own. Never seen it, never heard of it; just a wild idea that worked out.
Things You found Out on your own
- Thread starter billy4479
- Start date
Guitar Man
Well-Known Member
I'm assuming you mean, Hermaphrodites. Try taking a Herm all the way to harvest. You will learn more about MJ than you can imagine. I started a Thread on this subject called, The Truth About Hermaphrodites.
https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/593843-truth-about-hermaphrodites.html
Scroga
Well-Known Member
my first grow was a maph and it shit pollen all through my tent..was a prick to clean and the plant itself was good for fk all!
No offense but id rather learn about them on here..
jeffdamann
Active Member
On the first paqe I stated "Miracle Gro soil SUCKS" and I see a lot of posts saying Miracle Gro works well. I feel I need to elaborate on my experience.
When doing my first grows back in 2003, I didnt have internet, and just Jorge's Grow Bible. I used some local miracle gro soil, ran a 2 month veg, and a 2 month flower.
When I flipped to 12/12 my leaves toasted right up, curled into contorted messes. I tried desperately to flush the soil and couldnt. Why?
Miracle gro soil contains high levels of N. These nutrients stay in the soil for at least 3 months, so if you transplanted directly into it and didnt use it for 3 months before flowering, your plants are gonna burn. Im sure the soil would work fine if you did a long veg and sucked up most of the N, but people dont USUALLY veg that long.
Miracle Gro fertilizer on the other hand, works fine in veg, its just is missing a few key micros.
When doing my first grows back in 2003, I didnt have internet, and just Jorge's Grow Bible. I used some local miracle gro soil, ran a 2 month veg, and a 2 month flower.
When I flipped to 12/12 my leaves toasted right up, curled into contorted messes. I tried desperately to flush the soil and couldnt. Why?
Miracle gro soil contains high levels of N. These nutrients stay in the soil for at least 3 months, so if you transplanted directly into it and didnt use it for 3 months before flowering, your plants are gonna burn. Im sure the soil would work fine if you did a long veg and sucked up most of the N, but people dont USUALLY veg that long.
Miracle Gro fertilizer on the other hand, works fine in veg, its just is missing a few key micros.
bird mcbride
Well-Known Member
Only if you're UB and tie a whole bunch of plants together and claim it's one plant. Probably from the NS.
Guitar Man
Well-Known Member
View attachment 2575229View attachment 2575215
Well, these were just harvested this weekend, grown in MG MC Soil. Nice little jungle of BUDS, and they will make me BOOGIE!
[video=youtube;57oBC_WLsYA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57oBC_WLsYA[/video]
Guitar Man
Well-Known Member
It shit pollen all through your tent because you didn't watch your plant close enough. From my own experience, I wouldn't want a Herm in a large grow (too much going on with several plants). But smaller grows are an entirely different subject. My last 2 grows were from seeds I aquired from from a "little" pollen getting past my efforts to stop any buds from getting nailed. What's interesting, the plant I harvested on Saturday was from the few seeds I did find from the last grow, but she didn't Herm on me. Also, ALL seeds will be feminine.
bird mcbride
Well-Known Member
All the seeds I get off my non-pollinated snips are female. I don't get very many of them though.
Scroga
Well-Known Member
Oh I watched it closely alright..it was my first..(bagseed) I just couldn't bring myself to kill it..id loved it for a lifetime and desparetly needed a return from it....i new what was happening and I didn't want to stop it..
I appreciate your delusional assumptions none the less....
Guitar Man
Well-Known Member
Yeah, well my delusional assumptions are the fucking truth. I've grown 9 Herms in my last 3 grows and you didn't watch your plant close enough. You bitched about pollen getting all over your tent, now you're saying you didn't want to stop it. Get your shit together before you post again.
If you would have noticed balls/nanners earlier on, you could've virtually eliminated ANY pollen from getting on ANY of your plants.
Scroga
Well-Known Member
Haha, passionate man!
Like I said pal, I was deeply entrenched in learning, I saw them begin, the plant was too big, just because I'm fuckin lazy doesn't mean I wasn't watching....what I wasn't aware
Of was the amount of pollen to be released! But saul good, nothing a lil spray and wipe didn't fix...i understand what your saying about the herms, but you can have em mate... Hope my shit was together enough for you this time...
P.s aren't all your seeds prone to being to being herm as well?
Guitar Man
Well-Known Member
What's interesting, the first grow Herm I did released pollen that did swat a couple of non-Herms in my closet, but very minimal damage was done. So, I got some seeds from this REALLY dank bud/plant that wasn't a herm. I planted 1 of those seeds this last grow and she didn't herm, and the fucking bud is unreal!!
I'm not sure about the scientific equation in this, but I believe if a Herm pollinates itself, those seeds will be feminine, but with the Herm strain.
I've been told that 1 ball can pollinate an entire closet, but I disagree. When balls blow up (I've had balls blow up) on the branch/node, the dust is limited mainly to that area. Even if you get nanners, they will pop up through your buds when trics are sticky, keeping the pollen localized to that bud. If several balls blow up, well, that's the shits no matter how you look at it.
I know a commercial grower who wasn't watching his LARGE grow close enough, and light leaks caused a bonanza of balls to explode!! His entire crop was exposed and he was PISSED! This is why I feel large grows don't compare to growing a few plants in a closet or tent. We can get down to the details and keep things in order, IF, we aren't FUCKING LAZY!!! HAHAHAHA!!
Guitar Man
Well-Known Member
Another thing I've learned: if growing inside a closet, do your best to vent out the roof to fresh air with a good ceiling bathroom fan. The reason is obvious, but, I found that because of my home ventilation system (Heat/Air Conditioning), when the unit kicks on, the vacuum from the unit will suck fresh air from the ceiling fan back into your closet, helping a grower to maintain optimal air freshness when lights are out.
This keeps me from having to run my ceiling fan all night, which would do nothing but pull air from inside my house, which isn't as fresh as outside and is limited because of protecting the plants from ANY light (sealing every crack and corner).
If temps are cold, I use a small indoor heater in the closet that turns on so the closet doesn't get too chilly. I did build my closet with a shelf about 20" off the bottom floor of the closet, and this is where my small heater is (below the plants), which is triggered by a timer during lights out.
In my situation, I have a bedroom that is no longer needed because the kids have grown up and moved out (THANK GOD!! LOL), so this room and closet is dedicated to my grows during the season I grow. Because of this, I shut the main door of the bedroom and closet during nighty, nighty, and because I have sealed up the bedroom door so tight (keep any fucking light from getting at the girls), I utilize the heating vent in that room as an air source when I do my five 30 minute night purges with the ceiling fan in the closet. Again (going the other direction), fresh air can be pulled from this vent as long as its open, up and into the closet.
I know some might be thinking, well, since you sealed the room so tight, how does air pull down from your ceiling fan when the heater turns on? I use a towel to seal the bottom of the bedroom door, and air can still move or filter through the towel (I can feel the suction when the house heater turns on).
I know this works, because I have a temperature gauge that I watch when all of the above happens. I have an excellent balance of fresh and tempered air, and what's cool, I never built my grow room with this idea in mind. As I struggled to balance everything out in my first couple of grows, I have perfected this system and it does work.
I'm sure others out there understand what I'm talking about.
This keeps me from having to run my ceiling fan all night, which would do nothing but pull air from inside my house, which isn't as fresh as outside and is limited because of protecting the plants from ANY light (sealing every crack and corner).
If temps are cold, I use a small indoor heater in the closet that turns on so the closet doesn't get too chilly. I did build my closet with a shelf about 20" off the bottom floor of the closet, and this is where my small heater is (below the plants), which is triggered by a timer during lights out.
In my situation, I have a bedroom that is no longer needed because the kids have grown up and moved out (THANK GOD!! LOL), so this room and closet is dedicated to my grows during the season I grow. Because of this, I shut the main door of the bedroom and closet during nighty, nighty, and because I have sealed up the bedroom door so tight (keep any fucking light from getting at the girls), I utilize the heating vent in that room as an air source when I do my five 30 minute night purges with the ceiling fan in the closet. Again (going the other direction), fresh air can be pulled from this vent as long as its open, up and into the closet.
I know some might be thinking, well, since you sealed the room so tight, how does air pull down from your ceiling fan when the heater turns on? I use a towel to seal the bottom of the bedroom door, and air can still move or filter through the towel (I can feel the suction when the house heater turns on).
I know this works, because I have a temperature gauge that I watch when all of the above happens. I have an excellent balance of fresh and tempered air, and what's cool, I never built my grow room with this idea in mind. As I struggled to balance everything out in my first couple of grows, I have perfected this system and it does work.
I'm sure others out there understand what I'm talking about.
Uncle Ben
Well-Known Member
Hmmmmmmmmmm, let me take a guess....because you did the typical noob drill and fucked them up using a bloom food......and too much of it too?
Quickly learned that bloom foods suck and that high N food from start to finish is best for cannabis.
Miracle Gro fertilizer is complete except for Mg, at least the last time I checked.
UB
Uncle Ben
Well-Known Member
Hey birdbrain, that's actually a compliment. Sounds like someone needs get into a few pages of MJ Botany by Clarke.
UB
dopedeeii
Well-Known Member
My first grow was early 2010 and I learned law enforcement in l.a do not respect our rights as mmj card holders they where looking for some Guy he must have ran thru my yard but anyway they stumbled across my shed didn't find the Guy but decided to confiscate my 10 plants left my 30g barrow and took all my gear that was running but decided to leave my co2 canister they said I could keep that because it might explode in they're trunk Lmao now but then I was angry as shit I vegged 2 mths for nothing so I guess I learned one of the most important parts of growing ur own.location, location, location btfu.nice thread
Sunbiz1
Well-Known Member
Someone posted this here a while back, and it rings true. No matter what lights/nutes I use, if the genetics of a particular strain say it is 15% there is nothing I can do to increase potency. Yield obviously can be increased, but not THC %.
I tried everything, including Mozart CD's...but still 15%!.
I tried everything, including Mozart CD's...but still 15%!.
SliverMeMembers
Active Member
Very nice thread.
Hmmm... things I've learned since I started growing my own since '08....
1. Cannabis is very easy to grow, but you have to be on top of her life support system and keep everything tip-top (hydro). That also means be clean!
2. HPS sodium bulbs don't last forever (no shit). My never burn out (analogue ballast) but slowly lose luminosity over time. When I have a dud grow I have learned that since I'm on top of everything else, it's usually the bulb.
3. I'm pleasantly surprised how low prices for 400W HPS bulbs have become (< $20), so there's now no reason not to replace them more often.
4. A cheap 2-prong Ph/Luminosity meter works great to determine how fast your bulb is dimming... the one I just replaced read 800 at the plant tops and the new one was over 1200 at the same place. Plants have quickly responded to the increased light output!
5. I have learned that over-watering or feeding your plants (especially perpetual plants, like mothers) WILL eventually result in a fungus gnat invasion.
6. And I have learned that fungus gnats are harder to kill than vampires. I can knock them down but have yet to get completely rid of them... they always come back! Gnatrol, Mosquito Dunks, Pyrethrin bombs and spray, Azatrol, a few days later I always see a fresh corpse in the sticky trap. Then two, five, etc.... Rinse and repeat.
7. I have learned that I can save a LOT of money by NOT replacing my entire reservoir every 1-2 weeks like so many recommend (esp. nutrient companies and magazine writers). Your reservoir will eventually become unbalanced, but it takes a long time. I have gone 3-4 months only topping off with water and the right ratio of nutes to keep my PPMs on target (900 for veg). I don't recommend going THAT long as it had a bunch of algae and crap in it after all the time, but the plants themselves were just fine.
8. I learned the Lucas Method can be improved upon, especially for veg (CFL's). I add more N and less K but keep the PPM at 900. The ratios I use (GH 3-part) is 5-5-5. This gives me bigger stems and leaves and an overall healthier appearance than the original method's 0-5-10. I then move rooted cuttings over to the flower room for a 2-3 veg period prior to flipping (400W HPS and 8 T8 CFL's), moving the ratio to 8-8-8 and moving the PPM at 1300. When I flip I change out the entire reservoir and go to the standard method's 0-8-16 ratio resulting in approximately the same PPM. I don't change it out again until I flush, just top it off with H2O and keep the PPMs at 1300-1400.
9. If you're growing indoor hydro, RO water is a must. It's the only way to know what your PPM reading really means. Yes, you can grow in tap water or well water, but you then HAVE to replace the entire reservoir every week or two. Costs too much $$$.
10. Most of the seeds I have bought from various breeder are actually quite shitty to mediocre. And yes, I have had these let-downs with big-name seeds in breeder packs from reputable sellers. It's either that other people are quite happy with the taste and high of pot that I'm not, or I did not find the right phenotype that everyone raves about, or the seeds sold to me were counterfeited by the breeder or the seller. And I'll say right away I don't think anyone was counterfeiting anything, because I have found a very few GREAT strains, sometimes from the same breeder or seller I received crap from. Go figure.
11. I have found only 2 great strains so far (great to ME, that is), Kali Mist and Jilly Bean. Am looking for more great ones. When you find a great plant, keep a mother of it! It could be you can crack another seed and find another one right away, OR you could have that one-in-a-million pheno. Keep it alive.
12. SuperThrive is your friend. 1 drop per gallon at the start of flower gives the root system a nice kick-start! I've heard that getting carried away with this stuff can cause stretching, so go easy.
Again, nice thread.
Sliv
Hmmm... things I've learned since I started growing my own since '08....
1. Cannabis is very easy to grow, but you have to be on top of her life support system and keep everything tip-top (hydro). That also means be clean!
2. HPS sodium bulbs don't last forever (no shit). My never burn out (analogue ballast) but slowly lose luminosity over time. When I have a dud grow I have learned that since I'm on top of everything else, it's usually the bulb.
3. I'm pleasantly surprised how low prices for 400W HPS bulbs have become (< $20), so there's now no reason not to replace them more often.
4. A cheap 2-prong Ph/Luminosity meter works great to determine how fast your bulb is dimming... the one I just replaced read 800 at the plant tops and the new one was over 1200 at the same place. Plants have quickly responded to the increased light output!
5. I have learned that over-watering or feeding your plants (especially perpetual plants, like mothers) WILL eventually result in a fungus gnat invasion.
6. And I have learned that fungus gnats are harder to kill than vampires. I can knock them down but have yet to get completely rid of them... they always come back! Gnatrol, Mosquito Dunks, Pyrethrin bombs and spray, Azatrol, a few days later I always see a fresh corpse in the sticky trap. Then two, five, etc.... Rinse and repeat.
7. I have learned that I can save a LOT of money by NOT replacing my entire reservoir every 1-2 weeks like so many recommend (esp. nutrient companies and magazine writers). Your reservoir will eventually become unbalanced, but it takes a long time. I have gone 3-4 months only topping off with water and the right ratio of nutes to keep my PPMs on target (900 for veg). I don't recommend going THAT long as it had a bunch of algae and crap in it after all the time, but the plants themselves were just fine.
8. I learned the Lucas Method can be improved upon, especially for veg (CFL's). I add more N and less K but keep the PPM at 900. The ratios I use (GH 3-part) is 5-5-5. This gives me bigger stems and leaves and an overall healthier appearance than the original method's 0-5-10. I then move rooted cuttings over to the flower room for a 2-3 veg period prior to flipping (400W HPS and 8 T8 CFL's), moving the ratio to 8-8-8 and moving the PPM at 1300. When I flip I change out the entire reservoir and go to the standard method's 0-8-16 ratio resulting in approximately the same PPM. I don't change it out again until I flush, just top it off with H2O and keep the PPMs at 1300-1400.
9. If you're growing indoor hydro, RO water is a must. It's the only way to know what your PPM reading really means. Yes, you can grow in tap water or well water, but you then HAVE to replace the entire reservoir every week or two. Costs too much $$$.
10. Most of the seeds I have bought from various breeder are actually quite shitty to mediocre. And yes, I have had these let-downs with big-name seeds in breeder packs from reputable sellers. It's either that other people are quite happy with the taste and high of pot that I'm not, or I did not find the right phenotype that everyone raves about, or the seeds sold to me were counterfeited by the breeder or the seller. And I'll say right away I don't think anyone was counterfeiting anything, because I have found a very few GREAT strains, sometimes from the same breeder or seller I received crap from. Go figure.
11. I have found only 2 great strains so far (great to ME, that is), Kali Mist and Jilly Bean. Am looking for more great ones. When you find a great plant, keep a mother of it! It could be you can crack another seed and find another one right away, OR you could have that one-in-a-million pheno. Keep it alive.
12. SuperThrive is your friend. 1 drop per gallon at the start of flower gives the root system a nice kick-start! I've heard that getting carried away with this stuff can cause stretching, so go easy.
Again, nice thread.
Sliv
FootballFirst
Well-Known Member
i've learned that if you have fungus gnats and are using soil, you should put up fly traps to catch the live ones, then kill the larvae and eggs by mixing in neem oil at 2 tbsp per gallon for the next 2 waterings then, on every 3rd watering for prevention.