Smallzz
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Hello all,
This is going to be my little "giving back" to the community that taught me everything that I know about growing outdoors.
1) Smart Pots- If you aren't using smart pots, you're not utilizing the greatest thing to hit outdoor growing since the invention of the sun. Smart pots, air pots, etc etc all do the same thing, air prune your roots as your plants grow bigger. One common mistake is to not use an appropriately large enough smart pot. I can't emphasize this enough, if you're growing with a plant count, then you should be using at least 100-150 gallon pots at a minimum. Cannabis plants will quickly utilize the provided soil, and you'll be wondering why you didn't go with a 2-300 gallon pot at the end of the season (so skip to it from the beginning and save yourself the headache!) Smart pots also lead directly into number two...
2) Drainage- Most people who grow on the forums place very little emphasis on proper drainage. If you look at the monster plants that humboldtlocal grew in 2010 in the above sticky, you'll notice that all of his plants are on sloped hills. This allows the runoff to do exactly as it sounds, run off somewhere else instead of drowning the roots at the bottom of your pots. People who use soil beds or excavate holes in the ground also run into problems with runoff because the ground naturally acts as a basin that catches the runoff water, so place your pots on a surface that will promote proper drainage. Speaking of drainage...
3) Soil Composition- Make sure to include a good mix of Perlite, Coco, or other amendments to your soil mixture that promote runoff. The goal is to feed the plant as often as possible without overfeeding or over watering, so buy a soil that has micro nutrients and amendments, underfeed, and water as frequently as your drainage allows. Always make sure to Ph your water if possible, something that is frequently done in the indoor section and frequently neglected in the outdoor section. Most quality soils like happy frog or Ocean Forest contain micro nutrients and amendments such as Perlite, but never enough as Perlite is expensive. You're not growing tomatoes, you're growing an extremely valuable medicine. Don't skimp on something as important as soil composition.
4) Heat- One problem that both smart pots and raised beds share is heat. Remember, the pots are where the roots are, so that's where the plant is. If you can buy a thermal sensor gun from a local auto parts store it will tell you wonders about how hot the outside edges of your pots or raised beds are, which you can avoid by wrapping full pots with a few layers of burlap. This prevents heat pruning, which is devastating in smaller pots (such as anything smaller than a 100 gal pot). Also consider where you'll be planting. Shade during the hottest part of the day keeps a Cannabis plant from exceeding 85* F, which is the point at which water transmission literally crawls to a halt. Check your main stalk temperature at the hottest part of the day. If it exceeds 85* F, you're starving your plant of water transmission from the roots. Consider positioning a mister or or fan emitter near the main stalk to help regulate temperature.
Pruning and Low Stress Training- Pruning the inner growth of the cannabis plant, especially in the vegetative stage, will help promote growth towards where we want it... the big baseball bat top colas! Lower growth typically yields what is referred to as larf, littles, shake, or what I just simply call unwanted growth. By LSTing an outdoor plant, usually with the aid of a trellis net (or many! Some creative individuals have even been known to use dog kennels ;) ), we increase the effective surface area of the plant in much the same way as the indoor grower does. This results in larger, more productive plants ( as long as the root system is able to sustain them), which should be the goal of anyone working under plant limitations. Pruning is especially helpful when utilizing LST outdoors because of the many unproductive inner branches that are created by manipulating the plant outdoors.
Well that's all, folks. I hope you enjoyed the read, and good luck in 2014! ;)
-Smallzz
This is going to be my little "giving back" to the community that taught me everything that I know about growing outdoors.
1) Smart Pots- If you aren't using smart pots, you're not utilizing the greatest thing to hit outdoor growing since the invention of the sun. Smart pots, air pots, etc etc all do the same thing, air prune your roots as your plants grow bigger. One common mistake is to not use an appropriately large enough smart pot. I can't emphasize this enough, if you're growing with a plant count, then you should be using at least 100-150 gallon pots at a minimum. Cannabis plants will quickly utilize the provided soil, and you'll be wondering why you didn't go with a 2-300 gallon pot at the end of the season (so skip to it from the beginning and save yourself the headache!) Smart pots also lead directly into number two...
2) Drainage- Most people who grow on the forums place very little emphasis on proper drainage. If you look at the monster plants that humboldtlocal grew in 2010 in the above sticky, you'll notice that all of his plants are on sloped hills. This allows the runoff to do exactly as it sounds, run off somewhere else instead of drowning the roots at the bottom of your pots. People who use soil beds or excavate holes in the ground also run into problems with runoff because the ground naturally acts as a basin that catches the runoff water, so place your pots on a surface that will promote proper drainage. Speaking of drainage...
3) Soil Composition- Make sure to include a good mix of Perlite, Coco, or other amendments to your soil mixture that promote runoff. The goal is to feed the plant as often as possible without overfeeding or over watering, so buy a soil that has micro nutrients and amendments, underfeed, and water as frequently as your drainage allows. Always make sure to Ph your water if possible, something that is frequently done in the indoor section and frequently neglected in the outdoor section. Most quality soils like happy frog or Ocean Forest contain micro nutrients and amendments such as Perlite, but never enough as Perlite is expensive. You're not growing tomatoes, you're growing an extremely valuable medicine. Don't skimp on something as important as soil composition.
4) Heat- One problem that both smart pots and raised beds share is heat. Remember, the pots are where the roots are, so that's where the plant is. If you can buy a thermal sensor gun from a local auto parts store it will tell you wonders about how hot the outside edges of your pots or raised beds are, which you can avoid by wrapping full pots with a few layers of burlap. This prevents heat pruning, which is devastating in smaller pots (such as anything smaller than a 100 gal pot). Also consider where you'll be planting. Shade during the hottest part of the day keeps a Cannabis plant from exceeding 85* F, which is the point at which water transmission literally crawls to a halt. Check your main stalk temperature at the hottest part of the day. If it exceeds 85* F, you're starving your plant of water transmission from the roots. Consider positioning a mister or or fan emitter near the main stalk to help regulate temperature.
Pruning and Low Stress Training- Pruning the inner growth of the cannabis plant, especially in the vegetative stage, will help promote growth towards where we want it... the big baseball bat top colas! Lower growth typically yields what is referred to as larf, littles, shake, or what I just simply call unwanted growth. By LSTing an outdoor plant, usually with the aid of a trellis net (or many! Some creative individuals have even been known to use dog kennels ;) ), we increase the effective surface area of the plant in much the same way as the indoor grower does. This results in larger, more productive plants ( as long as the root system is able to sustain them), which should be the goal of anyone working under plant limitations. Pruning is especially helpful when utilizing LST outdoors because of the many unproductive inner branches that are created by manipulating the plant outdoors.
Well that's all, folks. I hope you enjoyed the read, and good luck in 2014! ;)
-Smallzz
