When I first started growing maybe 6 years ago, I read a couple of grow guides and jumped in headfirst. I was living in a country where I didn’t exactly speak the language and I couldn’t find any bud. Buying equipment was difficult, not speaking the language, but CFLs were quite easy to find and seeds were sold as novelty items in just about every “head shop”.
Anyway, here are some things I learned the hard way. I don’t claim to be an expert but have never screwed up so bad that I couldn’t recover enough to get something to smoke.
In no particular order:
Staff at hydro stores are not experts and probably know less than many people here. Twice I have been sold incomplete nute packages by sales personal at two different stores. First time, I bought some Fox Farm and the sales person told me that Grow Big and Big Bloom were a complete set. Even the back of the bottles said to go from Grow Big to Big Bloom for stunning results. Turns out Big Bloom is a supplement used throughout the entire grow cycle can I needed a third (Tiger Bloom) to complete the set. Wasn’t told that by the sales staff nor was I offered a feeding schedule. Next time it happened, sales person tried to sell me Canna Veg A and B and told me A is for veg and B is for bloom. Boy, was I mislead! Good thing I bought some PK 13/14 so I could fake some bloom nutes by mixing it half strength with Aqua Vega A (until I can buy Aqua Bloom ASAP). (mind you this was after I moved back to the States)
In Hydroponics, when they say to make your reservoir is light proof, they don’t mean kinda, sorta. They mean, hold it up to your light and make sure you cannot see any light at all! That includes the bottom. I know it is probably logical to most of you, but I wrapped my reservoirs up with duct tape and left the bottom figuring it wouldn’t need to be covered. Man I had some serious pH problems and algae!
Speaking of hydro, passive growing can be done the exact same way as a soil grow, just watered (with nutes) more often. Simply fill the same pot with some medium like perlite (a mixture of perlite and vermiculite are probably the best) and feed and water regularly. But the results are significantly different! I really do not understand why people insist on growing in dirt! J
Lumen for lumen a complete HPS system (glass, vents, etc.) are not significantly hotter than CFL and cost only slightly more. Remember, you’ll need two sets of CFLs (one for Veg and one for Bloom). I use a 150 watt enclosed, all-in-one HPS with a duct sticking out of my grow box. With no fans at all, the temp went down in my cab then when I was using 16K lumens of CFLs (closer to 200 watts of CFLs). Not too mention, the long run costs. CFLs are expensive to replace and those monster CFLs are quite fragile! The bulb for my HPS is like $10 a year and my utility bills went down.
The best pesticide I ever found was completely natural and harmless to people. Killed an infestation that chemical pesticides didn't. I don't recall the name right now and will add it later but it is made up of cinnamon and rose oil and can literallty be drank with no ill effects and kills bugs dead. Now I am not recommending you do drink it, but just saying it won't harm your plants no matter what stage they are in and can be used hours before harvest.
Last, MJ is hard to screw up. Any idiot with enough lights and dirt can grow a halfway decent grow. It is really one of the most resilient plants in the world and can grow almost anywhere! Less attention is usually better than more!
I know a lot of this information is pretty obvious to anyone who has grown more than once, and probably everything I said has been said before, just not in one easy to find place! I hope someone finds this useful! Please add any newbie mistakes (or some not so newbie ones!) you have made!
Anyway, here are some things I learned the hard way. I don’t claim to be an expert but have never screwed up so bad that I couldn’t recover enough to get something to smoke.
In no particular order:
Staff at hydro stores are not experts and probably know less than many people here. Twice I have been sold incomplete nute packages by sales personal at two different stores. First time, I bought some Fox Farm and the sales person told me that Grow Big and Big Bloom were a complete set. Even the back of the bottles said to go from Grow Big to Big Bloom for stunning results. Turns out Big Bloom is a supplement used throughout the entire grow cycle can I needed a third (Tiger Bloom) to complete the set. Wasn’t told that by the sales staff nor was I offered a feeding schedule. Next time it happened, sales person tried to sell me Canna Veg A and B and told me A is for veg and B is for bloom. Boy, was I mislead! Good thing I bought some PK 13/14 so I could fake some bloom nutes by mixing it half strength with Aqua Vega A (until I can buy Aqua Bloom ASAP). (mind you this was after I moved back to the States)
In Hydroponics, when they say to make your reservoir is light proof, they don’t mean kinda, sorta. They mean, hold it up to your light and make sure you cannot see any light at all! That includes the bottom. I know it is probably logical to most of you, but I wrapped my reservoirs up with duct tape and left the bottom figuring it wouldn’t need to be covered. Man I had some serious pH problems and algae!
Speaking of hydro, passive growing can be done the exact same way as a soil grow, just watered (with nutes) more often. Simply fill the same pot with some medium like perlite (a mixture of perlite and vermiculite are probably the best) and feed and water regularly. But the results are significantly different! I really do not understand why people insist on growing in dirt! J
Lumen for lumen a complete HPS system (glass, vents, etc.) are not significantly hotter than CFL and cost only slightly more. Remember, you’ll need two sets of CFLs (one for Veg and one for Bloom). I use a 150 watt enclosed, all-in-one HPS with a duct sticking out of my grow box. With no fans at all, the temp went down in my cab then when I was using 16K lumens of CFLs (closer to 200 watts of CFLs). Not too mention, the long run costs. CFLs are expensive to replace and those monster CFLs are quite fragile! The bulb for my HPS is like $10 a year and my utility bills went down.
The best pesticide I ever found was completely natural and harmless to people. Killed an infestation that chemical pesticides didn't. I don't recall the name right now and will add it later but it is made up of cinnamon and rose oil and can literallty be drank with no ill effects and kills bugs dead. Now I am not recommending you do drink it, but just saying it won't harm your plants no matter what stage they are in and can be used hours before harvest.
Last, MJ is hard to screw up. Any idiot with enough lights and dirt can grow a halfway decent grow. It is really one of the most resilient plants in the world and can grow almost anywhere! Less attention is usually better than more!
I know a lot of this information is pretty obvious to anyone who has grown more than once, and probably everything I said has been said before, just not in one easy to find place! I hope someone finds this useful! Please add any newbie mistakes (or some not so newbie ones!) you have made!
