How to achieve higher yield

Hey guys,

I'm on my third grow and just upgraded to 4x4 from 3x3. I was really happy with my last round (4 plants, 240 grams), but reading some of the posts, it seems like I should be aiming for like a pound moving forward. I'm going to list my equipment, nutes, soil, and you guys tell me what you think can still be improved:
- mars hydro tsw 2000 led at least 12 inches away from plants. I struggled a bit with this despite bending and tying down during last round as plants got tall but shouldn't be an issue anymore with the taller tent.
- fox farm trio (looking into going organic, grow big burned one of my plants after first application, did get nice buds with the trio previously, though leaves always seem to turn yellow early in flowering, like week 4 or 5. I feed tiger Bloom, 2 tsp per gallon once a week and big Bloom 2 tsp per g once a week after 3 weeks of transplant into fresh soil, just ph adjusted water in between)
- fox farm happy Frog for veg, then ocean forest when transplanting into 5 gallons
- daily watering of about 1 gallon for 4 plants in 5 gallons, ph adjusted with ph down to 6.3 on average which is half a tsp of ph down per gallon of tap water for me. I also let the water run through a brita filter before using it.
- tie down plant for more even growth as well and trellis net during flower once plants start to touch each other
Defoliate frequently, especially big leaves so the light can get to the entire plant.
- temps were a bit high during summer, average of 85, which is not an issue with current cycle.
- bushdoctor at beginning of week 7. Heavy flush and then just water until harvest, 48 hours darkness before harvest.

Any tips let me know.
Thanks guys

Your light sucks, learn coco, Stop pulling leaves off, and stop thinking about flushing.

Peace.

Beehive said:

Your light sucks, learn coco, Stop pulling leaves off, and stop thinking about flushing.

Peace.

Click to expand...

but but but flushing.............................asking for a friend

Super soil users don't flush. The plants also get the same nitrogen till you cut it down.

Beehive said:

Your light sucks, learn coco, Stop pulling leaves off, and stop thinking about flushing.

Peace.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your kind words! Lol. What light do you suggest and what are your coco tips?

Sounds like you're on your way I would second the need for more light. I would look into building a strip light if you can diy, will save lots of money.
Instead of heavy defoliation, try using tie downs (string, wire, etc...) to spread open the plant. This will give you better air flow and light penetration. Tuck instead of trim if possible.
Thats all I got, im pretty new to all this. Its a learning process, find what works for you and hammer down

Maximize your yield, go hydroponic (DWC, RDWC, COCO, hempybucket, whatever) seal the room, add CO2 with a tank or burner, invest in a quality dual hose AC, upgrade your LED to something like a spiderfarmer sf4000 or better yet, a Geekbeast pro 630 W, dual trellis Scrog, and buy some top quality genetics. Boom, 2 lbs in a 4x4

Lets see some pics of your better efforts so we can see where we are starting.

Defoliation is something that many overdo. It could be a big part of why your yields are suffering. Maybe just try a run with no defoliation, I grew for the first two decades without any thought of defoliation.

Don't spread the light too thin, 30 - 35 watts per sqft of canopy area is where you wanna be with LED. The TS2000 is maxed out at a 3x3 area, so a stringer light is required to flower a 4x4, for veg it's enough but not for flower.

Another reason many have low yields is they harvest early. All the size of the buds is pretty much there after mid flower but it's during the late flower ripening that the buds gain mass/density. So make sure you are running them as long as they require. I haven't had but one strain that was truly finished before 70 days of 12/12.

Genetics, good genetics is the single biggest factor for yields.

Pic of last grow before harvest in 3x3 and current grow after 1 week of flower. I used clones last round, they were longer after only 5 weeks of vegging. Current grow is from seeds. They are shorter and bushier but after almost 3 months, I didn't want to wait any longer before switching to flower.

Grow311 said:

Pic of last grow before harvest in 3x3 and current grow after 1 week of flower. I used clones last round, they were longer after only 5 weeks of vegging. Current grow is from seeds. They are shorter and bushier but after almost 3 months, I didn't want to wait any longer before switching to flower.

Click to expand...

Looks great man! On your way
My reccomendation is to train with a net next time. Make it a "scrog" so your whole canopy is even, and the tent is full wall to wall like this


Then flower when the screen is just about full. This grow i posted above, I flower too early IMO. the net worked great, but my colas were pretty short. I pulled about 18 ounces, but could have been more.
Next round I'm filling the screen full, and allowing the stretch to happen without further training, so I have some 12" long colas, instead of the 4-6" colas I finnished with



In addition, do some more extensive lollipoping. The light will only penetrate probably 8-12" of canopy.
Thats why a scrog is so useful, it maximizes that canopy size for optimal light distribution.
That combined with lollipopping, makes for a very effecient plant. It does not waste energy on fluff at the bottom, no light is wasted by hitting the floor, and you have hundreds of top colas instead of maybe 10 or 20

And don't forget, that 4x4 needs more light.
Buy one more of what you got there, or upgrade to a spiderfarmer SF4000
Or even just go for the 1000hps if you can control the heat

I also wanted to maximize my yelid this next grow, so I have switched to doing the things I mentioned in my first reply.
I set up semi-autonomous RDWC system, bought a huge dual hose AC, sealed the room, and am using a CO2 tank to enrich the environment.
I plan on scrogging, then adding a second trellis to support the nugs during flower.

Renfro said:

I haven't had but one strain that was truly finished before 70 days of 12/12.

Click to expand...

^^^^
Truth.
It seems the longer you grow, the longer the plants take to "finish", but your quality goes through the roof.

No such thing as an "8 week strain".

Assuming you stay with soil, I highly reccomend amending your FF soil before use.
It really needs lots of perlite, maybe some peatmoss, dolomite lime, and I like to add Azos and Mycos for some extra microbial boost. (After mixing i let my soil "cook" for a few weeks in a barrel before using)
I think the transplant from FFHF to FFOF is one good way of balancing the strong nutes in OF, but myself, I prefer just to mix the two from start when I make my soil. I always did 3 parts FFOF to 1 part FFHG

ÒÒlegilizeitÒÒ said:

I also wanted to maximize my yelid this next grow, so I have switched to doing the things I mentioned in my first reply.
I set up semi-autonomous RDWC system, bought a huge dual hose AC, sealed the room, and am using a CO2 tank to enrich the environment.
I plan on scrogging, then adding a second trellis to support the nugs during flower.
View attachment 4787288
View attachment 4787292

Click to expand...

Wtf is happening with that fan in the second pic?

19-Sean-86 said:

Wtf is happening with that fan in the second pic?

Click to expand...

Lol panorama picture. Its an oscillating fan so it was moving haha

ÒÒlegilizeitÒÒ said:

Lol panorama picture. Its an oscillating fan so it was moving haha

Click to expand...

Haha yh I gathered that, does look crazy though.

ÒÒlegilizeitÒÒ said:

Lol panorama picture. Its an oscillating fan so it was moving haha

Click to expand...

Whew! For a minute there I thought the 80's were coming back to haunt me.