adding density without adding light...

[chiefMOJOrisin]

I've been growing for 2 years and slowly upgraded my lighting to what i have now. 2, 175w MH and 306 total watts of CFL. Total 656w. Under the lights are 6 plants at day 13 of 12/12. I give them Age Old organics Bloom 5-10-5 every 2 weeks. Today being the first application. And i gave them age old's "grow" 12-6-3 during veg. I have a fan on the plants and another on the ballasts. The grow room is in my closet and I have about a 6x4x2' space to work with.

Over the grows I experimented with topping, FIM technique, SOG and LST techniques to maximize yeild. All had results but not all had what I was looking for. I did realize that a larger number of smaller plants is both easier and quicker. In addition i noticed that leaving the plants main cola, as opposed to topping, gives a better yeild with less plants. I guess because the weight of the biggest cola is more than the smaller ones formed from topping.

So now I am looking to get these buds really dense and fat. The main reason I grow bud is to save $$ and smoke for almost free. Having said that... At this point in time I have no money to better my grow room with stronger lights or CO2 makers or anything like that. Or any cash to get more nutes. Although i have enough nutes for this grow.

Does anyone know any ways to increase the density of my buds using perhaps household items, or easy DIY methods?? I usually keep them under 12/12 until the tichs are 50% opaque and 50% amber. Usually a little more toward the amber side. Would waiting longer sacrifice potency and my preferred high for bud weight??

I plan to try some half-*** CO2 ideas soon. Such as yeast and sugar in a soda bottle. I also heard that foliar feeding with seltzer helps boost CO2.
ANY feedback is greatly appreciated.

 

[chiefMOJOrisin]

also..what would the result be if I left them under 12/12 until ALL the trichomes were amber??

 

[Mr.Wakenbake]

Hmm... well for one with organics you can probably be feeding almost every watering in flower. Without doing anything other than just keeping them as healthy as possible there really is much more than you can do.

Keep the temps low, keep the humidity down, keep the lights close, and keep the plants healthy.Most people don't know how much a reduced yeild can come from a simple defficiency or a over nute problem. Over Fertilization at any point in the plants life can reduce yeild by 50%.

The only way that you can get the most out of your plants is to keep them as healthy as possible, the rest is up to genetics and of course your setup.

There really isn't much more that i can offer you man...

 

[Bubby]

You could maybe improve your bud by homing in on your harvest dates. Check out this article: http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1938

Even if you had the money, I'd recommend staying away from CO2. Way too much hassle.

 

[bombbudpuffa]

Try Top Maxx, it's an organic supplement. I use it every watering in flower with great results so far!

 

[schlendrake]

You gotta watch, from what I've read, about dense buds. From what I know they are succeptible to bud mold if everything isn't kept in check.

 

[Hugh]

High Times Q&A

heh, sorry. Just reread the title.

 

[Kindbud]

I dont get this CO2 thing can someone explain???