what was going wrong?

[robbiegy2k]

'ello all

Just wondering if you could help out a bloke thats blazed too much in the last 5 yrs since my last grow and forgotten a few bits :huh:

Plus I hoped you could point out how I could get denser buds cos I kinda put it down to the fact I was doing 4-5 plants with a 400w hps (whole grow).

my last set up (in a airy garage) was a mdf custom jobby about 5ft wide x 4 x 10, using a 250m3 in-line fan, bog standard vent for intake, soil, 10L pots, bio bizz nutrs, and some cheap'ish seeds (£12 for 10 - 5yrs ago) oh 'n a 400W HPS phillips Son-T.

I was getting about 3/4 oz dry (but 'looked' more than an Oz) from each but the buds weren't 'that' dense, a bit loose other than the main cola's but even they weren't THICK. I think I did 12/12 to 24 if memory serves me right. Basically from what I can see I did most things right (temps/water etc).

With a 400w hps I used the rule of thumb that you use the back of your hand and just where it starts to get warm thats where you want the top of the plants to be - never had any sort of burn problems. I veged them straight in the big pot the light at the start was maybe 18/20" from the soil but i read somewhere a bloke who uses a 600w 4" from the top of his new sprouts. Im not using fan cooled lights and he didn't suggest he was, other than keeping an eye on temps you'd be fine....Thoughts? Just wondering if thats where I was going wrong, didn't get much streching and they finished about 5ft (understand the lower branches didn't yield much cos of the 400w).

Well thanks for any pointers and maybe confirming it was all just not enuff light for the ladies.

Well if your still reading (sorry 4 the long post) the next set up is going to be in a small'ish room in a house (Im told the room would be good for 10 but gotta keep elec down a bit) hopefully with a half decent venting system, soil 15L pots etc. So im hoping i can get away with a 600 hps for the whole thing or if i can sort the cabling out maybe a 250w mh for early days then adding a 600w hps next to it (850w total is most i wanna go to) And then pretty much use my knowledge of what i've used before... One day I hope to tackle the ol SOG for mucho's bud bud.

Thoughts.......? :joint:

Thanks again for helping out an ageing novice getting his thumbs green again :hubba:

I'll let you's know how I get on :farm:

 

[420benny]

Welcome robbie! What kind of soil do you use? I think it is one of the most important things involved with our hobby. Most people buy whatever is handy, or cheap and I feel that really hurts everything from yield to leaf issues, slow growth, etc.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Well, IMO, it is mostly strain related. I can veg and flower several different strains under identical conditions and have way different results. I just harvested a nice compact little Speed Queen with incredibly hard dense nugs. I anticipate a little better than 1-1/2 ozs off a plant less than a foot tall. I have a Shiva in the same closet that is still 4 weeks off, but I can tell already that she is going to have lighter, airier buds than the SQ.

 

[robbiegy2k]

Thanks Benny/Hemp Goddess

For soil I used normal potting from local garden store and added 50% pearlite to the mix. Then I used the grow nutrients after whenever it said they run out on the bag (a few weeks i think). They seemed to grow quite happily 'n were looked after with a lot of tlc (never missed a water etc)

Well I think it was a combination of what you said goddess, I grew it too high for a start and then got what I paid for with cheap strain seeds but I think the bud issue was the light cos the smoke on the white widowTM (NOT!) was headbendtastic, well better than anything you buy so couldn't complain with that bag of 10 for £12 and got 4 females in the end.

Well next grow I'll keep em shorter, maybe start flowering at a shorter height? don't suppose you have tips for for keeping them low? is topping the same as pruning? that 1 'n half (of nugs) you got off the SC sounds sweet enough to me to aim for.

Do you mind me asking goddess how many you were growing, know you said set-up similar to mine but is that doing 7-8 at a time?

Thanks for stopping by 'n for the welcome

p.s just looked thru some of your posts HG, excuse me for not kneeling down to you earlier in the post!! :angrywife:

And Benny, congrats on that sativa grow its a nice treat to get a good headsmoke from time time, bet that was a nice blaze.

 

[420benny]

Thanks! I am enjoying a fat j of it right now. HG, I get what you are saying. I have had excellent and lousy results with the same strain side by side in identical soil. My point was that if you start any grow with better soil, the results are a lot more likely to be good.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Thanks Benny/Hemp Goddess

For soil I used normal potting from local garden store and added 50% pearlite to the mix. Then I used the grow nutrients after whenever it said they run out on the bag (a few weeks i think). They seemed to grow quite happily 'n were looked after with a lot of tlc (never missed a water etc)

Well I think it was a combination of what you said goddess, I grew it too high for a start and then got what I paid for with cheap strain seeds but I think the bud issue was the light cos the smoke on the white widowTM (NOT!) was headbendtastic, well better than anything you buy so couldn't complain with that bag of 10 for £12 and got 4 females in the end.

Well next grow I'll keep em shorter, maybe start flowering at a shorter height? don't suppose you have tips for for keeping them low? is topping the same as pruning? that 1 'n half (of nugs) you got off the SC sounds sweet enough to me to aim for.

Do you mind me asking goddess how many you were growing, know you said set-up similar to mine but is that doing 7-8 at a time?

Thanks for stopping by 'n for the welcome

p.s just looked thru some of your posts HG, excuse me for not kneeling down to you earlier in the post!! :angrywife:

And Benny, congrats on that sativa grow its a nice treat to get a good headsmoke from time time, bet that was a nice blaze.

LOL--I do a perpetual harvest, so have plants of different sizes in the flowering closet at one time. I like to keep between 4-6 plants flowering at a time. If the girls are small, I will sometimes have more. I have a flowering closet that is 3 x 6.5 x 7.5 with a 1000W HPS and a vegging closet that is 2 x 4 x 4 with a 4' T5. I usually don't have the closet full full.

With a 400W, you will most likely get a better yield keeping your plants a little shorter. If you are going to order some seeds, check out Mandala's Speed Queen.

 

[robbiegy2k]

Thanks again for your posts, I found a bit more in that we're going to be using a 600w hps, so i'll look to keep them short and make some kind of area once I do the maths! hopefully look to do between 6-8 plants and without a doubt i wont be skimping on things like the soil and even the seeds but i think i've got somewhere to get decent cuttings now so as for strain we'll have to wait 'n see.

Mind me asking a silly question: Can I start 8 clones off under a 600w hps?