Uncle Ben's Gardening Tweeks and Pointers

thewhitelotus said:

UB, hope all is well. I asked you earlier about the Maxibloom that i foolishly purchased before reading your threads and you mentioned adding some nitrogen. Well, while i was at my local hydro shop yesterday I came across a small bottle of the Foliage Pro (9-3-6) they had on the discount shelf for 5$ so i picked it up. I am curious if i could run this alongside the maxibloom (5-15-14) to get a boost of N that the maxibloom is lacking. The Foliage Pro recommends 1tsp/gal and the maxibloom is 1tsp/gal. Would it be ok to run both at full strength or would i be better off running them at halfstrength together.

thanks in advance

Click to expand...

1/2 together. Your mileage may vary.

keifcake said:

There isn't much of anything but sand in my well water. With a ppm meter it checks in the range of distilled water which is 0-25, and it usually checks at about 6-13 ppm mark. Not sure what minerals are in it, but it can't be many of anything.

Click to expand...

Get an analysis done.

elkukupanda said:

Hey UB
I been wondering for a while... That pic of yours... If you remember... How big was the top cola?? How many grams you got out of it dry? Also, what strain, veg time?

Click to expand...

Main cola was as dense as a rock, Posi. Jack Herer. Didn't weigh it. 4 weeks veg.

4 weeks veg.. wow cool.
Hey UB, i got a question... here..I been noticing that when i SC (pinch the plants and stuff) the 4 cola plant lower shoots (that are a couple inches from the soil...) go up all the way to the highest part of the canopy, pretty much looks like stretching to the max.. to your opinion is this beneficial? or it just doesn't really change anything..
let me get some pics..

I would say its a stretch from bottom to top of about 10 inches.

yes they do that on some strains but I see it as a good thing...think you will as well in time

Could be strain related, or could be a hormonal thingie regarding the plant reaching for more light. I've grown pure Mex and they tend to follow a Xmas tree profile much like you described.

Yes, it's a white widow strain by Dutch passion. Yes, a hormonal thing.. I got three plants going on but the one with four colas had some space in the middle so lower shoots decided to come up all the way.. I'm just no t really sure if it will change the size of the bud since there are not many leaves yet in that shoot stem.

anyways, question...
double harvest.. worth it.. or better just start new plants... i only have one room

I always do a double harvest. Wouldn't you pick apples off a tree as they become ripe?

You said it man

Uncle Ben said:

I always do a double harvest. Wouldn't you pick apples off a tree as they become ripe?

Click to expand...

Depending on your end goal, a second harvest may not be worth it vs getting a 10 day head start on the next flowering cycle. Besides are we growing apples or bud here? You pick kiwi's months before they are ripe to eat, does that mean we should do it with bud too? Can't compare apples to oranges (or bud).

elkukupanda said:

anyways, question...
double harvest.. worth it.. or better just start new plants... i only have one room

Click to expand...

You gotta look at your plants and decide if the double harvest is worth it. I use a screen so my plants go horizontal a lot so the lower and upper branches are the same height and get the same light. Because of this when I harvest I will cut the top 10" or 1 foot off then have another foot below that half ripe but still lots of them so it is worth it for me. However if you flushed before first harvest and you lost lots of leaves or you harvested and only a little of the plant is left it might not be worth it. A friend of mine double harvests and his second harvest was better than his first this last time. My friends dad has a plant that is 8 YEARS old. He keeps it going all year long outdoor and when it flowers he just clips the bud off the plant leaving the leaves. That blows my mind and opens a whole new world of possibilities. Just won't flower from the same spot again usually so needs to veg more after.

thanks for the reply, yes deep down i know this but since is my first grow i'm looking for the mechanics (experiences) about certain ideas... I will certainly check em up when the time comes. Yes, thats the thing there are so many variables that is like a mind blowing thing... As for flushing... i don't flush.. i don't like holes in my buckets since it's like draining the nutrients you just fed... i'm just lower nutrients after the plant stop growing.. and probably last few waterings just with water..

Order of importance for the most part.. co2 (at regular or elevated levels. below 150 or half of normal and all plant growth stops), ambient temperature, big enough pot for roots, light, nutrients. Should also throw training in there somewhere. (ph and ppm go with nutrients). After that make sure there is air flow and I consider humidity with ambient temp. Keep all those in check and you will do great. Remember it's not about just what you feed it.. gotta teach your kids right from wrong and make sure they're clean right?

I can't agree more with you man, you said it.

here are my 3 girls... 4days from flower... Only one room right now but I might expand... I kind of enjoy this indoor project during winter

I know i been super questionish today.... but wtver...
regarding layering techniques... i have a yellow leave ( with three fingers ) at the bottom of my plant... is it beneficial if i raise a little bit more the soil level.. bury it before it completely dies so it doesn't go to a waste?

Rob0769 said:

Order of importance for the most part.. co2 (at regular or elevated levels. below 150 or half of normal and all plant growth stops), ambient temperature, big enough pot for roots, light, nutrients. Should also throw training in there somewhere. (ph and ppm go with nutrients). After that make sure there is air flow and I consider humidity with ambient temp. Keep all those in check and you will do great. Remember it's not about just what you feed it.. gotta teach your kids right from wrong and make sure they're clean right?

Click to expand...

I would have to disagree with your order.

1. Supplemental CO2 is not required to produce a large volume of quality buds.
2. You can grow a 6ft plant in a 6in pot if you want to water it several times a day. Pot size is more about water frequency and salt delivery than actual root space.
3. Temperature, lighting, and proper nutrition ( NO high P garbage. Feed it N like it wants) should be focused on first.

elkukupanda said:

I can't agree more with you man, you said it.

here are my 3 girls... 4days from flower... Only one room right now but I might expand... I kind of enjoy this indoor project during winter

Click to expand...

they look lush, n1

I saw the image on the side of the 5 gal. bucket, using small infants to fertilize. never thought of that lol

doogleef said:

I would have to disagree with your order.

1. Supplemental CO2 is not required to produce a large volume of quality buds.
2. You can grow a 6ft plant in a 6in pot if you want to water it several times a day. Pot size is more about water frequency and salt delivery than actual root space.
3. Temperature, lighting, and proper nutrition ( NO high P garbage. Feed it N like it wants) should be focused on first.

Click to expand...

Just wanted to clear up what I wrote so there is no confusion. I said co2 is most important. I didn't say supplemental co2. Just co2. I went on to further explain but I will a different way. If you have plants in a sealed room with no intake and the lights turn on what happens? The plants breathe in the co2 and create oxygen. Well depending on your room size and amount of plants I'd give it an hour to a few hours before the co2 reaches a ppm of 150 or less. At this point ALL growth will stop. So saying co2 isn't an important factor is like saying we need food more than we need oxygen. I wasn't saying getting extra co2 is important but it is the single most important because you can have everything perfect and the co2 not at ambient levels and you will end up with dead plants. I'm not sure if I agree that pot size is not important but we all have different techniques. My person experience from growing marijuana and also growing up with my dad selling all sorts of trees and fruiting bushes is that once the roots fill the pot they stop growing. There may be a way around this but my rule has always been healthy roots for a healthy plant. I agree that temp, lighting and nutrients is important but if there is one thing I could amend on my last post it is that there is no one factor that is more or less important than all the factors combined. For example: my last grow was 40-50% humidity, 600w HPS for a 2x2 area with co2 at 1500ppm and temps at 85 on the tops. RO water with new nutrients so they aren't old, PH never changed from 5.5-5.9 in hydro with correct ppms for the stage of the plant. Air circulation everywhere.. I even had a small 6" duct fact with panty hose on both ends in the middle of the mass just to be safe with air flow. How did that grow turn out? Everything but the tops were immaculate. The tops were fluffy. This is because the temp was 5 degrees higher than I have on this grow. Everything is the same this grow but max temp of 80 and the tops are perfect now as well. This could have easily been an issue with air flow.. not enough on the last grows tops? Or what if I didn't use co2 since I had a sealed room? Plants would have never grown. *sigh* I feel like it is hard to compare each different aspect and if you haven't been on a farm before with rows and rows of plants then it would be like someone telling me what it is like to be in a war. I'll never truly understand. But if you call a farm and ask them they will tell you that once the sun comes up co2 is important because all the plants will breathe it then suffocate without additional (or in smaller growers cases an intake giving the 300ppm ambient air to them) It is just like a building or a house we go in to. There is a maximum occupancy. That is not because everyone will step on one another. It is because that is all the air system can support. When I had a 20x10 garage I grew in.. I would always turn the co2 off because I was scared it would hurt me breathing in 1500ppm for a long period of time. My friend would be with me in there too. The levels would start at 300 but within a few minutes our working and breathing would bring the ppm's up to almost 1800.. again in a sealed room. Little factors matter and make a big difference. Therefore I stand by my statement and further press that a plant with no nutrients with regular air co2 will grow better than a plant with everything so amazingly perfect but no intake to replace co2.

Hey UB I have a question about double harvest. I am about to cut my ripe ones and I have talked to 2 people who both swear by double harvest. They differ on opinions though. One says they let theirs go for 3 weeks. The other says no more than a week or the second harvest will be fluffy. Do you have any information that would help ease my mind and help me avoid wasted time and effort?

watch the pistils for reddening, calyxes for swelling and trichome color to your preference just as you would the tops...the plants will tell you in this way when they are done...doesn't matter if on top or below....the fluffy thing seems ludicrous

slab, hahah your killing me man