thcrootz
- 10
- 3
Hey everyone - first let me say, I've visited a number of forums like this and, to my dismay, most seemed to be all about the expert growers flexing their muscles and showing off rather than helping and/or teaching the less experienced farmers. I hope ::fingers crossed::: that's not the case here, as I could really use actual, genuine help from humble, willing participants.
That being said, let me introduce myself. I go by Dipper (any Gravity Falls fans in here? lol) and I would rate myself as an advanced novice-intermediate grower. I've grown in both soil and hydroponically, my preference being soil (although I would like to try some soilless mixes at some point, like coco or Pro-Mix is it called?). I just like getting my hands dirty and feeling the "earth". I grow indoors, I'm in the NE part of the USA and my particular area happens to be rainy/humid. The bugs in the summer are the bane of my existence.
Here's some random questions I wanted to throw out there before I even bother telling you all more boring details about myself lol, so maybe I can catch someone's interest and don't lose everyone with my complete and total lack of brevity.
1. Up until this point, I've ONLY grown PhotoPeriod plants. I just started 5 Auto-flowering plants and - I'm not entirely sure how to go about feeding them. I just switched over my nutes to Advanced Nutrients, GMB 3-part base, with a few add-ons, like Big Bud, Sensisym, Overdrive, Voodoo Juice, Tarantula, and a Cal-Mag if needed. If anyone has any input regarding how to feed autoflowering vs. photo-period, I would love to hear it. Also, if anyone has specific details in regards to these particular nutrients, even better.
2. I have a tiny little tent as a "nursery", and a larger main grow tent 4x4x7. Recently, I invested in the ElectricSky 300 from The Green Sunshine Co. (It was a black Friday sale I couldn't look away lol), however currently, it's the only light in there. According to the website, if I'm reading it correctly, it suggests I should have another one for my size tent. Is that correct? I cannot afford another one of those just yet, so I was wondering if I could supplement with one or two of my previous lights (which are essentially brand new as well), the Philizon 600 Watt LED (however these glow pink, as opposed to the ElectricSky). Does anyone have any "thoughts" on this?
3. Furthermore, not so much a question - but just to give you an idea of what I'm working with, I have a 6" duct inline fan bringing fresh air into the tent, along with 2 clip-on fans inside the tent. I have a 4" extraction fan connected to a carbon filter that is filtering air out of the tent. I had found that I was having a humidity problem, so I bought a medium sized humidifier which blows all the time and keeps me at a steady 45-55% RH, is this correct?. My plants are in 3 or 5 gallon fabric smart pots, elevated inside a catch pan. Depending on how many plants I intend to grow and HOW I intend to grow them, I have a trellis net, or I use tomato steak rings for each individual plant. I find, for me it's a little easier on my back. Has anyone heard that slightly higher humidity helps produce females? I know there is a tremendous discussion over stress vs. genetics when it comes to feminized seeds going herm, my last crop I had two herms out of 4 feminized and I'm not sure if it was due to crowding (I had a much smaller tent then) or what, as the pH was always roughly around 6.2-7.0 which was amazing as I didn't really have a good pH reader for soil. Which brings me to another question: Does anyone know of a decent soil pH tester that won't break my bank account? Am I correct or incorrect in thinking that soil with liquid nutrients should stay in a range of about 6.2-7, depending - and as long as the plants look like they're thriving?
4. Finally, if I haven't exhausted all of you by now lol - does anyone top or FIM their auto-flowering plants? Also, I currently have my plants on an 18-6 light cycle. Then I read that automatics do better with 24 hour light. Can anyone shed some light on this for me (no pun intended). Once the auto-flowering plant begins to flower, it doesn't matter what the light cycle is, or is it still better to go 12/12 regardless? As you can see, I'm a little lost with the auto-flower stuff - but extremely interested, as it seems if you have a bunch of auto-flowers growing at once; should light cycle not be an issue, and everything else being the same, it is entirely possible to start plants 1, 2 or even 3 weeks apart (as long as you're strictly doing an auto-flower harvest)?
Dear Lord I hope that makes sense...lol
Thank you all for your patience. I am an avid reader and writer; soaking up information like a sponge. However, I promise my posts won't always be this long. lol
That being said, let me introduce myself. I go by Dipper (any Gravity Falls fans in here? lol) and I would rate myself as an advanced novice-intermediate grower. I've grown in both soil and hydroponically, my preference being soil (although I would like to try some soilless mixes at some point, like coco or Pro-Mix is it called?). I just like getting my hands dirty and feeling the "earth". I grow indoors, I'm in the NE part of the USA and my particular area happens to be rainy/humid. The bugs in the summer are the bane of my existence.
Here's some random questions I wanted to throw out there before I even bother telling you all more boring details about myself lol, so maybe I can catch someone's interest and don't lose everyone with my complete and total lack of brevity.
1. Up until this point, I've ONLY grown PhotoPeriod plants. I just started 5 Auto-flowering plants and - I'm not entirely sure how to go about feeding them. I just switched over my nutes to Advanced Nutrients, GMB 3-part base, with a few add-ons, like Big Bud, Sensisym, Overdrive, Voodoo Juice, Tarantula, and a Cal-Mag if needed. If anyone has any input regarding how to feed autoflowering vs. photo-period, I would love to hear it. Also, if anyone has specific details in regards to these particular nutrients, even better.
2. I have a tiny little tent as a "nursery", and a larger main grow tent 4x4x7. Recently, I invested in the ElectricSky 300 from The Green Sunshine Co. (It was a black Friday sale I couldn't look away lol), however currently, it's the only light in there. According to the website, if I'm reading it correctly, it suggests I should have another one for my size tent. Is that correct? I cannot afford another one of those just yet, so I was wondering if I could supplement with one or two of my previous lights (which are essentially brand new as well), the Philizon 600 Watt LED (however these glow pink, as opposed to the ElectricSky). Does anyone have any "thoughts" on this?
3. Furthermore, not so much a question - but just to give you an idea of what I'm working with, I have a 6" duct inline fan bringing fresh air into the tent, along with 2 clip-on fans inside the tent. I have a 4" extraction fan connected to a carbon filter that is filtering air out of the tent. I had found that I was having a humidity problem, so I bought a medium sized humidifier which blows all the time and keeps me at a steady 45-55% RH, is this correct?. My plants are in 3 or 5 gallon fabric smart pots, elevated inside a catch pan. Depending on how many plants I intend to grow and HOW I intend to grow them, I have a trellis net, or I use tomato steak rings for each individual plant. I find, for me it's a little easier on my back. Has anyone heard that slightly higher humidity helps produce females? I know there is a tremendous discussion over stress vs. genetics when it comes to feminized seeds going herm, my last crop I had two herms out of 4 feminized and I'm not sure if it was due to crowding (I had a much smaller tent then) or what, as the pH was always roughly around 6.2-7.0 which was amazing as I didn't really have a good pH reader for soil. Which brings me to another question: Does anyone know of a decent soil pH tester that won't break my bank account? Am I correct or incorrect in thinking that soil with liquid nutrients should stay in a range of about 6.2-7, depending - and as long as the plants look like they're thriving?
4. Finally, if I haven't exhausted all of you by now lol - does anyone top or FIM their auto-flowering plants? Also, I currently have my plants on an 18-6 light cycle. Then I read that automatics do better with 24 hour light. Can anyone shed some light on this for me (no pun intended). Once the auto-flowering plant begins to flower, it doesn't matter what the light cycle is, or is it still better to go 12/12 regardless? As you can see, I'm a little lost with the auto-flower stuff - but extremely interested, as it seems if you have a bunch of auto-flowers growing at once; should light cycle not be an issue, and everything else being the same, it is entirely possible to start plants 1, 2 or even 3 weeks apart (as long as you're strictly doing an auto-flower harvest)?
Dear Lord I hope that makes sense...lol
Thank you all for your patience. I am an avid reader and writer; soaking up information like a sponge. However, I promise my posts won't always be this long. lol