Mikedin
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The marijuana bible, awesome book I’m on my 3rd copy haha, I’ve bought it for Christmas for friends and family over the years as well
My first grow ever !!!! Is there a Cannabis for Dummies book?
My first grow ever !!!! Is there a Cannabis for Dummies book?
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HerbalEdu
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not a book but a website:
www.growweedeasy.com
has many basics and more advanced tutorial and articles.
same most breeders official web sites have blogs and tutorials
Grow Weed Easy - Learn How to Grow Cannabis with Simple Tutorials
Growing weed can be easy, though some marijuana grow tutorials make it seem like you need a degree in horticulture. Learn how to plant a seed & start growing with as little time and effort as possible, or read our advanced tutorials for monstrous yields!
www.growweedeasy.com
has many basics and more advanced tutorial and articles.
same most breeders official web sites have blogs and tutorials
Mikedin
Living Soil Student
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Book covers every aspect of growing harvesting , making hash, etc etc. excellent starts bookto get a grasp on things. I suggest it highly, it’s not an end all book, it’s also a bit older, but techniques it shows are still currently used, but for a beginner it’ll be a great lesson all around. Once you find something you like then you can research it deeper. Hell I still pull this book out and read it, it’s always on my nightstand
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VEN0M
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Their is a book called the cannabis grow Bible by Greg Green it's a good read.
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Captspaulding
What’s the matter? Don’t like clowns? 🤡
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There’s nothing wrong with that size of a light relative to your grow area. OK you gotta understand that with these lights, it doesn’t matter whether or not you’re running a SF 1000 or an SE 7000 all right the end product will always be the same. It’s not about Power. It’s about the amount of lumen spread (footprint) and the size of the light in general that has any real bearing on your grow not the wattage.
So really that what you have is perfect for your size of grow area you’d be surprised what you can make happen with those even in small spaces you just have to learn how to keep your output. Percentage low enough that the heat and amount of light to the plant Isn’t going to damage anything that’s the game not the size of your light
It looks to me like your issue is airflow, coupled with light proximity, and output percentage. It was too high, and it was also a little bit warm for the plant. You can always tell the difference between a nutrient burn and light burn by which direction your leaf tips have turned Heat light damage will cause the tips of your leaves to curl upwards towards the light nutrient damage generally will cause the tips of your leaves to turn downward, but you can see plain is day that this is a heat stress situation need to work on your circulation and ventilation and dialing in your lamp. More so than your lights size.
Captspaulding
What’s the matter? Don’t like clowns? 🤡
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That particular parchment has been on my bedside table for a couple decades.
Its still applies in every way, sure the gear is old in some of the pics, but fundamentally its dead on and a killer investment
cpurola
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This needs to go on a poster. In the grow room.
R
RangerZ21
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Thank you for your response and info.... I have followed the SF1000 light distance and power recommendations that were provided from Spider Farmer. I think your comments on the "footprint" of the lighting is more of my issue here... I am beginning to understand that more and more as the plants grew taller and it took some adjusting... I think I made the mistake of trying to grow 2 plants at once and that was probably not a good idea for a first timer. Although they both germinated and seemed to sprout relatively close together, one plant was just a bit behind as far as growth compared to the other. The closet I am set up in may also not be reflective enough also, I will correct that as much as possible for next time as well.
I am currently in the 8th week since sprouting and I'd say about a good 4 weeks since I really noticed flower development. The buds are filling out a bit better than they were when I first posted this thread, so I am thankful for that. Just trying to absorb all of the collective info from you and the others that have responded... I'm learning alot and am sure I will get things more dialed in during future grows.... Thanks again !!!
HeadHunterpipes
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That is one the books I have, helpful at first but switched to looking stuff up online .
HeadHunterpipes
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Rule of thumb is 30 watts of quality LED lighting per square foot of grow space ,, that is the minimum wattage for LED lighting.
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D
Dawgg
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Your grow looks great for a first try \o/ - those flowers are now where near ready yet they will bulk up last few weeks as they increase water intake naturally you willl notice they get fatter - when the trichomes turn white on tips ( use smartphone to zoom in ) then its ready if you like more sleepy varitey let them turn part amber in color - indoors I myself use cloud coir as a medium and water it with nutrients like you would do a hydro setup it is easy - mix nutrients into water can one at a time starting with cal mag first- then rinse teaspoon and add next one - repeat and rinse teaspoon after each addition as if not it causes nutrient lock and you do not want that I learned over the years this is simplest way to avoid it - general hydroponics makes flora series and is what I use for years - get a good light and the space you have is great - happy farming you only get better with experience wtg btw
PooToe
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Some good info on soil and pot size choice along with watering practices and some of the processes happening under the soil line. I am not the author.
This will be a long read based on my personal knowledge, opinions, research and others work to consolidate information for our members. I'm not presenting my opinions as facts so take from this what you like. I will be putting it in subsection format for easy reference.
First I want to make an important point to take into consideration before reading. The tap root will grow directly downwards to the bottom of the container before spreading out.
PERCHED WATER TABLE
What is it?
The perched water table is basically the height of the saturation zone where capillary action and gravity cancel eachother out. This area will be saturated with water and will be responsible most growers issues with watering practices especially in soil grows.
WHAT IS CAPILLARY ACTION
CAPILLARY action is is the combination of the cohesive and adhesive properties of water.
In short adhesion is water clinging to the media (think of it like wicking or soaking up)
Cohesion is where the water clings to itself.
So as the water is wicked up (adhesion) it pulls more water with it through Cohesion and at the point gravity and these properties cancel eachother out is the perched water table.
This perched water table will always remain the SAME HEIGHT and will always stay saturated unless taken up by the plants or evaporates when the pot dries out. No matter the container height, depth or volume of media. So if a tall skinny container had a perched water table of 1" then a short wide one of the same media will also have a perched water table of 1". Which means the ratio of water to air in a wide pot will be higher than a tall skinny pot which will have a higher air to water ratio... keep this in mind as we get further.
Different media's have different perched water tables. A more absorbent media will have a higher perched water table than a less absorbent media... REMEMBER THIS as it makes a big difference on pot selection for your media.
DIFFERENT MEDIA
Water holding capacity is directly related to the height of the perched water table so soils with more clay or silt and less sand will have a higher perched water table than those with more sand because sand is a larger particle.
The larger the overall particles of the media the lower the perched water table and better the drainage.
By adding things like perlite or vermiculite (while vermiculite is good at absorbing water it also improves drainage so its helpful in keeping a more even level of moisture throughout the media while increasing drainage due to its size) we can lower the perched water table by reducing the wicking (adhesion) ability and creating more space between particles overall reducing the cohesion effect and inturn the height of the perched water table.
Media like peat based or coco have a much higher drainage and lower perched water table than soil and are therefore less susceptible to over watering but will require more frequent watering due to the lower water holding capacity.
Adding things like perlite or hydroton to the bottom of the pots will NOT reduce the water table but instead raise it. This is because as I said the height of the water table will not change for a given media. So if you add things like that to the bottom you are essentially just moving the water table up.
Basically the larger the particles IN the media the better drainage and lower the water table.
If you want to see the height of your perched water table use a clear cup with drain holes fill with media and saturate it. Wait a few hrs for drainage and then come back and look. You can see the difference in the varying media's if you want to experiment.
If you feel you have over watered or your perched water table height is too high you can simply tilt your pot on a 45 degree angle and release more water from the media as runoff. To help visualize think of it this way if you have a perched water table of 2”. You can draw an imaginary horizontal line at that height, when you tilt the pot you have less media below that line and therefore you will have less water in the pot after tilting it.
POT SIZE
I have already covered this a bit but my opinion is if you are using a media with a higher water table you will benefit from taller narrower pots and if using a media with a lower perched water table the shorter wider ones may benefit you depending on your watering practices.
I prefer the taller over wider no matter the media as I choose to water often and have a higher air holding capacity and lower water table but that can work against you if you can't water as frequently and as plants grow it can greatly increase the frequency required as the roots will be pulling the water out of that saturation zone quickly. So you may want to use taller pots for small plants and transplant into a wider one as they grow.
You also don't want a pot that's too tall and the top portion of the media is drying out to fast while the bottom is wet.
Let's use seedlings as an example take a solo cup or a large container... the water table will be the same height in either. I see sooo often ppl trying to water a tiny bit in circles or mist the surface and for lack of other words IT DEIVES ME NUTS. Why because the roots are so shallow they are not at risk of being over watered. Remember though tap roots grow straight down so we to be mindful as they grow depending on the gas exchange of the media that the majority of roots are not sitting in the saturated zone with poor gas exchange because this will cause lack of oxygen that we incorrectly refer to as overwatering which is actually the cause not the symptom.
It's important to fill containers to the top to give us a good amount of space above the perched water table that high in o2. If you fill a solo cup halfway with soil it's likely to be sitting in the saturation zone and will not do well.
Also going to make the point that plants will be most susceptible to overwatering when the roots first hit the bottom and spread out until they fill the bottom and start moving back up out of the saturation zone. So, again, it may be more beneficial to use a taller narrow pot for the early stages of growth (2-4 weeks depending on growth) and transplant into a wider pot as you go. After the transplant almost all of the roots will be above the saturation zone and it becomes much harder to over water. New roots will again work their way down into the saturation zone but you will have plenty above so it's less likely to over water and why uppotting as you go I see as a benefit instead of starting in a large wide container.
POT MATERIAL
Some prefer plastic others fabric, air pots etc.
This can affect the perched water table by evaporation as the lager the exposed surface area the more evaporation that occurs from the media in say fabric pots. This imo has a few benefits.... slightly reducing the perched water table but more so the exposure for gas exchange that's happening and that's a good thing for o2 levels in the root zone that I feel are directly related to growth rates and I'll explain why going a bit off topic for a second.
It's no coincidence that the fastest growing media's have the highest amounts of o2 and gas exchange.... for eg aeroponics have unlimited to rich o2 and water. Hydro similar with slightly less o2, soilless media's such as coco and I would possible include peat and last soil. If you notice they are in order of growth rates and its not hard to see the difference in their air holding capacity in that order. And the fact that larger particles also have a better gas exchange rate. This is important because the plants take in oxygen and expel co2 in the rootzone as do the microbes on top of that so good gas exchange is important for both.
Just a note... air pruning has nothing to do with the benefits of fabric pots all it does is signal the roots to grow in a different direction.
But let's get back on topic of watering and how it's affected.
TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY
The warmer the temps the more evaporation occurs.
The lower your humidity the more evaporation occurs
The more surface area exposed to air movement (wind) the more evaporation.
Think those don't need an explanation. But the difference in pot material coupled with these environmental factors will have an impact on your watering needs.
The temperature of the media not only affects evaporation but also directly affect the temperature of the plant and leaf temps. This has a large impact on nutrient uptake and transportation.
First let me say that this next part is opinion and I will gives my reasoning for my opinions. With the exception of hydro (leaving this part out as this post is about watering not hydro) roots like to be about the same temperature as the leaves contrary to what's talked about from many prominent growers in the industry but not all like Dr.Bruce Bugbee. IMO ideal root temps are the same as ideal leaf temps and overall plant temps especially since the root temps have a large impact on the plant and leaf temps. What are ideal temps imo and many studies show that leaf temps (NOT AIR TEMPS) of around 77f are most efficient. So how does a cool rootzone impact the plants negatively? Well it's 2 fold because of the cool temps the viscosity (Measurment of flow rate) of the sap will decrease so its harder for the plant to move the nutrients through the plant. The other is absorption and one fact is that in a cooler rootzone the concentration of nutrients is higher (but aqua you just said it slows absorption) well it does as the nutrients build up in the roots it can absorb less and this has a direct impact negatively on the plant. It may appear to be overwatered because the plant is now struggling to take up and use oxygen. Add that to the slowed transpiration rates and you have the same symptom many refer to overwatering which again is lack of o2. Now take a cold rootzone where the plants slow water uptake and then add the saturation zone to it and you can see the road to correction and recover is a long one and can have huge impact on growth and yields.
So get your pots up off the floor
WET AND DRY CYCLES
in soil and peat with higher water tables or with wider pots or combination of wet and dry cycles are important. This is to allow the dry back (including the uptake of water from the saturation zone) to prevent symptoms of over watering and help with o2 levels. Remember the majority of roots will end up in the saturation zone with these media's or with wider pots. Which can become depleted of o2 quickly as gas exchange is lower in water and media made up of smaller particles. This is where pot size and shape are important for the size of plant. You have a small plant in large container and there is no way it can take up enough of the water in the saturation zone fast enough to get air exposure in a media that has low gas exchange and majority of the roots. So it's important to choose a pot size that will allow for this. It's also why using the finger method to gage watering is poor and lifting the pots is much better... when they are light you know they have taken up a good portion of the saturation zone and are ready to be watered again.
This is much less of an issue when using soilless like coco or peat/perlite.
This will be a long read based on my personal knowledge, opinions, research and others work to consolidate information for our members. I'm not presenting my opinions as facts so take from this what you like. I will be putting it in subsection format for easy reference.
First I want to make an important point to take into consideration before reading. The tap root will grow directly downwards to the bottom of the container before spreading out.
PERCHED WATER TABLE
What is it?
The perched water table is basically the height of the saturation zone where capillary action and gravity cancel eachother out. This area will be saturated with water and will be responsible most growers issues with watering practices especially in soil grows.
WHAT IS CAPILLARY ACTION
CAPILLARY action is is the combination of the cohesive and adhesive properties of water.
In short adhesion is water clinging to the media (think of it like wicking or soaking up)
Cohesion is where the water clings to itself.
So as the water is wicked up (adhesion) it pulls more water with it through Cohesion and at the point gravity and these properties cancel eachother out is the perched water table.
This perched water table will always remain the SAME HEIGHT and will always stay saturated unless taken up by the plants or evaporates when the pot dries out. No matter the container height, depth or volume of media. So if a tall skinny container had a perched water table of 1" then a short wide one of the same media will also have a perched water table of 1". Which means the ratio of water to air in a wide pot will be higher than a tall skinny pot which will have a higher air to water ratio... keep this in mind as we get further.
Different media's have different perched water tables. A more absorbent media will have a higher perched water table than a less absorbent media... REMEMBER THIS as it makes a big difference on pot selection for your media.
DIFFERENT MEDIA
Water holding capacity is directly related to the height of the perched water table so soils with more clay or silt and less sand will have a higher perched water table than those with more sand because sand is a larger particle.
The larger the overall particles of the media the lower the perched water table and better the drainage.
By adding things like perlite or vermiculite (while vermiculite is good at absorbing water it also improves drainage so its helpful in keeping a more even level of moisture throughout the media while increasing drainage due to its size) we can lower the perched water table by reducing the wicking (adhesion) ability and creating more space between particles overall reducing the cohesion effect and inturn the height of the perched water table.
Media like peat based or coco have a much higher drainage and lower perched water table than soil and are therefore less susceptible to over watering but will require more frequent watering due to the lower water holding capacity.
Adding things like perlite or hydroton to the bottom of the pots will NOT reduce the water table but instead raise it. This is because as I said the height of the water table will not change for a given media. So if you add things like that to the bottom you are essentially just moving the water table up.
Basically the larger the particles IN the media the better drainage and lower the water table.
If you want to see the height of your perched water table use a clear cup with drain holes fill with media and saturate it. Wait a few hrs for drainage and then come back and look. You can see the difference in the varying media's if you want to experiment.
If you feel you have over watered or your perched water table height is too high you can simply tilt your pot on a 45 degree angle and release more water from the media as runoff. To help visualize think of it this way if you have a perched water table of 2”. You can draw an imaginary horizontal line at that height, when you tilt the pot you have less media below that line and therefore you will have less water in the pot after tilting it.
POT SIZE
I have already covered this a bit but my opinion is if you are using a media with a higher water table you will benefit from taller narrower pots and if using a media with a lower perched water table the shorter wider ones may benefit you depending on your watering practices.
I prefer the taller over wider no matter the media as I choose to water often and have a higher air holding capacity and lower water table but that can work against you if you can't water as frequently and as plants grow it can greatly increase the frequency required as the roots will be pulling the water out of that saturation zone quickly. So you may want to use taller pots for small plants and transplant into a wider one as they grow.
You also don't want a pot that's too tall and the top portion of the media is drying out to fast while the bottom is wet.
Let's use seedlings as an example take a solo cup or a large container... the water table will be the same height in either. I see sooo often ppl trying to water a tiny bit in circles or mist the surface and for lack of other words IT DEIVES ME NUTS. Why because the roots are so shallow they are not at risk of being over watered. Remember though tap roots grow straight down so we to be mindful as they grow depending on the gas exchange of the media that the majority of roots are not sitting in the saturated zone with poor gas exchange because this will cause lack of oxygen that we incorrectly refer to as overwatering which is actually the cause not the symptom.
It's important to fill containers to the top to give us a good amount of space above the perched water table that high in o2. If you fill a solo cup halfway with soil it's likely to be sitting in the saturation zone and will not do well.
Also going to make the point that plants will be most susceptible to overwatering when the roots first hit the bottom and spread out until they fill the bottom and start moving back up out of the saturation zone. So, again, it may be more beneficial to use a taller narrow pot for the early stages of growth (2-4 weeks depending on growth) and transplant into a wider pot as you go. After the transplant almost all of the roots will be above the saturation zone and it becomes much harder to over water. New roots will again work their way down into the saturation zone but you will have plenty above so it's less likely to over water and why uppotting as you go I see as a benefit instead of starting in a large wide container.
POT MATERIAL
Some prefer plastic others fabric, air pots etc.
This can affect the perched water table by evaporation as the lager the exposed surface area the more evaporation that occurs from the media in say fabric pots. This imo has a few benefits.... slightly reducing the perched water table but more so the exposure for gas exchange that's happening and that's a good thing for o2 levels in the root zone that I feel are directly related to growth rates and I'll explain why going a bit off topic for a second.
It's no coincidence that the fastest growing media's have the highest amounts of o2 and gas exchange.... for eg aeroponics have unlimited to rich o2 and water. Hydro similar with slightly less o2, soilless media's such as coco and I would possible include peat and last soil. If you notice they are in order of growth rates and its not hard to see the difference in their air holding capacity in that order. And the fact that larger particles also have a better gas exchange rate. This is important because the plants take in oxygen and expel co2 in the rootzone as do the microbes on top of that so good gas exchange is important for both.
Just a note... air pruning has nothing to do with the benefits of fabric pots all it does is signal the roots to grow in a different direction.
But let's get back on topic of watering and how it's affected.
TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY
The warmer the temps the more evaporation occurs.
The lower your humidity the more evaporation occurs
The more surface area exposed to air movement (wind) the more evaporation.
Think those don't need an explanation. But the difference in pot material coupled with these environmental factors will have an impact on your watering needs.
The temperature of the media not only affects evaporation but also directly affect the temperature of the plant and leaf temps. This has a large impact on nutrient uptake and transportation.
First let me say that this next part is opinion and I will gives my reasoning for my opinions. With the exception of hydro (leaving this part out as this post is about watering not hydro) roots like to be about the same temperature as the leaves contrary to what's talked about from many prominent growers in the industry but not all like Dr.Bruce Bugbee. IMO ideal root temps are the same as ideal leaf temps and overall plant temps especially since the root temps have a large impact on the plant and leaf temps. What are ideal temps imo and many studies show that leaf temps (NOT AIR TEMPS) of around 77f are most efficient. So how does a cool rootzone impact the plants negatively? Well it's 2 fold because of the cool temps the viscosity (Measurment of flow rate) of the sap will decrease so its harder for the plant to move the nutrients through the plant. The other is absorption and one fact is that in a cooler rootzone the concentration of nutrients is higher (but aqua you just said it slows absorption) well it does as the nutrients build up in the roots it can absorb less and this has a direct impact negatively on the plant. It may appear to be overwatered because the plant is now struggling to take up and use oxygen. Add that to the slowed transpiration rates and you have the same symptom many refer to overwatering which again is lack of o2. Now take a cold rootzone where the plants slow water uptake and then add the saturation zone to it and you can see the road to correction and recover is a long one and can have huge impact on growth and yields.
So get your pots up off the floor
WET AND DRY CYCLES
in soil and peat with higher water tables or with wider pots or combination of wet and dry cycles are important. This is to allow the dry back (including the uptake of water from the saturation zone) to prevent symptoms of over watering and help with o2 levels. Remember the majority of roots will end up in the saturation zone with these media's or with wider pots. Which can become depleted of o2 quickly as gas exchange is lower in water and media made up of smaller particles. This is where pot size and shape are important for the size of plant. You have a small plant in large container and there is no way it can take up enough of the water in the saturation zone fast enough to get air exposure in a media that has low gas exchange and majority of the roots. So it's important to choose a pot size that will allow for this. It's also why using the finger method to gage watering is poor and lifting the pots is much better... when they are light you know they have taken up a good portion of the saturation zone and are ready to be watered again.
This is much less of an issue when using soilless like coco or peat/perlite.
orggrwr
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Always take the breeders flowering time with a grain of salt. They almost always claim shorter times than happen in real life. I don't really pay attention to breeders estimates anymore, they finish when they finish. It's not anything you're doing wrong.
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Replies 21–33 of 33