I think you may have taken what I said a little out of context. Nice plant in a starter pot though. Im fairly confident that I could have done the same thing if I let the plant veg long enough, but that wasnt the point of the experiment. Had nothing to do with lights, nutes, or any of the other things you mentioned. There are things that newer growers can learn from old school growers, and vice versa. To say theres nothing new you can learn is just a closed minded way of thinking. No one is ever good enough at anything to where they cant learn something new. I do however agree with all the unnecessary things people do today, but that doesnt mean they dont work. What works for one grow may noy work for another.
I suppose I did take your post out of context. There are different type of "Old School Growers". Some will never change their ways and will continue to do and believe what they always have. Then there are others that basically stay with what they've been doing but still experiment with new things and use them if they notice a change for the better. Your father in law is the former but some like me are the latter. Root mass does play a big part in plant size so yes pot size does matter. Just because some can grow a plant to a huge size in a small pot doesn't negate pot size and root mass for bigger plants. And no it didn't hermie. It flowered for 20 weeks and was still kicking out new pistils when I chopped it.
I'm constantly learning. I research all the new stuff. Most I just toss aside as unneeded and hyped up because that's what it is. Cannabis isn't the latest laptop that just keeps getting more powerful as new technology is developed. You are never going to get exponential growth or yields like you do with something technology based. Cannabis is a plant. Moore's law does not apply. There are only so many new tricks out there for growing cannabis.
The most significant new things out there for growing cannabis is going to be LED lighting. Some neat stuff out there and it's still has a lot of room to improve. The new trick nutrients are no better than nutrients that have been used for years. In fact they're the same stuff just packaged different and marketed with shiny bottles and cool sounding names to draw in those that don't understand plant nutrition.
If you've ever read my posts you'd see that I usually have done my research and while doing that research I learn. I'm also an IT guy and am constantly learning to stay up to date. So no close mindedness here. It's just that the old dog new tricks goes both ways. Sometimes the old tricks are better than the new ones but the young timers are only interested in the latest new shiny thing even though it's no better. It's all marketing. There is an entire new generation of cannabis growers that have never grown another plant and think they need all the products in magazines like High Times or Maximum yield. There is so much overpriced crap being sold to grow cannabis it's ridiculous.
Good soil, the sun, water. That's all that's needed to grow cannabis. It may be old school but it works. So many new growers make things so complicated that it's no surprise so many have so many problems growing such an easy plant. $600 for a 6 site DWC system that is just some buckets, hose, and pumps. $700 for 500 watts of LED lighting. $20 a liter for a dozen different bottles of nutrients and additives. And half have crappy grows despite all these new tricks. I'm going to keep growing the same way I have for years. If new things come along I use them if they are worthwhile. If not I'm not going to waste my time.
I can tell your intelligent and respectful and I appreciate that. Some of us old farts get crotchety at times. Aches and pains all over, etc...
But I'm always still ready to hit the water behind a boat and get the crap beat out of me wakeboarding. I guess I'm not really that old. Yet
Good luck with your grow.
