Why don't regular farmers have problems like we do?

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Jimster

Jimster

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How in hell do regular farmers grow crops like they do? I have never seen one pre-soak seeds in coconut water tea, shave off the point of their seeds, or feed and water 5x a day... how in hell do they do it? I also wonder where they hide the tanks and silos full of specialized "Giant Kernel" nutes. I have no idea when they sneak out to measure the PPM and Ph of the soil every other day or inspect every leaf daily for signs of something that could maybe, possibly go wrong.
Obviously I am being sarcastic, but most new growers approach growing like putting a man on Mars, with technology being the only thing making it possible. The manufacturers of the nutes and equipment have brainwashed generations of growers, making them think that it is impossible to grow unless you use every potion and powder known to man, daily and twice on weekends. When the soil gets overloaded with nutrients and plants suffer, the recommended treatment is usually to add more stuff to an already semi-toxic mix.
I'm making this rant so hopefully some newer growers will elax a little and grow things with a lot less technology or additives. Farmers use moderation but also try to make sure their fields are properly prepared before planting, and don't usually fertilize again after their initial planting. Take a few pointers from them as they have managed to grow their crops for centuries without more additives than soil. Relax and enjoy your grow... leave the worrying and big Canna growing to the factories that have only profit in mind. Like tomatoes, the really good kinds are the ones that you don't see in supermarkets. Don't be afraid to experiment and try growing with a minimum of additives. Some nutrition is necessary, but a bucket full for a plant is overkill, IMHO. Sorry if I offended anyone, it just bugs me that the majority of new growers think you need a laboratory to grow a plant.
What are your thoughts?
 
RippedTorn

RippedTorn

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Container growing is its own ballgame. Farmers ph once a year, and their container is 8000 miles deep. So relatively they ph more often than pot growers.

Plus food has been a lot more important and profitable than pot so a lot of research is done. Farmers don't have to pretend they are scientists, they acknowledge scientists exist who aren't farmers. How many pot growers get regular soil analysis done by a soil specialist? I doubt 99% of pot grower have ever contacted county extension. Jacks of all master of none = most pot growers.
 
Jimster

Jimster

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How many pot growers get regular soil analysis done by a soil specialist? I doubt 99% of pot grower have ever contacted county extension. Jacks of all master of none = most pot growers.
That is my point exactly. Newer growers lack the experience to get a feel or their plant's health, unlike a seasoned farmer who can often glance at their crops and know what they need or don't need. Without experience, most newer growers get their knowledge from reading labels and looking at the promises of gardens of Eden plastered on their containers. I think this leads to a lot of problems down the road. Commercial growers are a different animal and for the sake of this post, I'm not considering their methods since they are obviously more experienced and probably have had soil analysis done... I couldn't imagine a commercial op going on but not knowing what the hell they are growing in... this post was for the moe novice growers who rely on advertisments for their information.
Like many Christmas toys that you got when you were a kid... the commercials made it look great and fun. When you got it home, you discovered that it wasn't anything like you saw in the advertisment. Hungry Hungry Hippos is fun for about the first 4 or 5 times, then it gets pretty lame. It looked like a ball of fun on the box, but in reality, the truth was different than the advertising would lead you to believe.
At least that is my take on it.
 
chemistry

chemistry

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Farmers hire soil techs to do the soil tests for them, then they're supplied seed to suit the soil they have, they know by GPS how big the fields are, so know just how much fertiliser to use per acre. Also, most cereal seeds have a coating on them to deter pests and moulds, the only advantage we have over farmers is controlled light. Seed I just plant, I don't do the paper towel thing, or torture them or feed them any thing but water, and they pop, just done it live on my grow diary a month ago. So like you Jim, I'm mystified. lol But if it works.
 
Jimster

Jimster

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Farmers hire soil techs to do the soil tests for them, then they're supplied seed to suit the soil they have, they know by GPS how big the fields are, so know just how much fertiliser to use per acre. Also, most cereal seeds have a coating on them to deter pests and moulds, the only advantage we have over farmers is controlled light. Seed I just plant, I don't do the paper towel thing, or torture them or feed them any thing but water, and they pop, just done it live on my grow diary a month ago. So like you Jim, I'm mystified. lol But if it works.
Farmers, thru the help and agencies available, have an idea of what their soil needs. Imagine an inner city guy suddenly landing on a farm and having to make a go of it. Admittedly he would be clueless. I guess it is just the advertisments and big money that is infiltrating what used to be a sort of mutual help network. I guess this is how the Amish feel when they see the Monsanto signs in the cornfields next to theirs, then being sued by Monsanto for using their genetics which traveled on the wind and mixed with their corn. This pasttime has changed from something backwoods to something mainstream, like moonshine. It seems once money gets involved, things seldom change for the better except for those controlling the supply line.
 
visajoe1

visajoe1

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I think the answer to the title question is simple and complex at the same time. Why do farmers not have the same problems? Probably because most are professionals. Most cannabis growers are not. Thats the simple part. Why/how they are better is the complex part.

Most cannabis growers problems are self inflicted.

Experienced farmers generally dont inflict damage on themselves, but they do need to navigate weather, labor costs, regulations, and an ever changing market. Mo money mo problems.
 
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MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

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This thread is just not true. Small and especially organic locally “branded” farmers use all kinds of tricks and myth. Every apple or hard around here is “scrogged” differently. Yes scrogged with nets.

Go on a general gardening website. All the same misinformation exists. And nute ads.

And the farmers have problems and ruin crops in addition to bugs and weather problems. But the government pays them for bad seasons.

If we are comparing large commercial field grows the cannabis industry is heading there now. Just look at hemp production.

And the wild nute systems came from indoor tomato production recipies originally.

All hobbies have much more of this kind of thing we see here.

The silly crap the guitarists talk about doing to make their guitars sound better is like that on their forums.

I think the problem is people dont read books written by professionals anymore. Just blogs and articles online.

I learned to do this from books primarily. And everytime i strayed from common sense and tried a forum hobby technique my grow went south. Never better.

Now where is my fucking cal mag!?!?!!
 
Animal Chin

Animal Chin

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It would be funny to drive by a farm and see four large water tank like structures with two being marked A Grow & B Grow and the other two marked A Bloom & B Bloom with a 5th marked Kernel Max 420 Corn Supplement 😋

I get what you're saying though. Sometimes a plant really is just a plant but marketing and really dealer hype adds to myth. If I had a dollar for every sack I bought back in the day with a dealer hyping it because it was "dro" I'd be very very rich right now.

All that being said though, I visited a hydro food farm's state fair expo last year and found them to be into some shit I'd never use for my weed but sure would love to give it a test drive with some ganja

IMG 0036


IMG 0029


IMG 0027


IMG 0032
 
teejacks

teejacks

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for a new grower i could see it being kind of intimidating because there is a lot of information out there and a lot of liquid fertilizers you could spend your money on. but,

cannabis really is just like any other plant. sun, water, good soil. everything a plant needs. mix soil with green, and brown together or whatver. one thing that most farmers have in common is natural animal waste on site. the best fertilizer in the world right beside them. i just picked up some from my neighbour and man is it a beautiful colour. he collects in cow shit with dirt and mulch and lets it sit forever. in an outdoor setting starting last year, im trying my best, no till, lasagna garden beds. just like nature intended. while only feeding sprouted corn and mung beans and compost teas. so we will see...

I would think it may be harder for indoor growers figuring out the right nutes, seeing as they dont have some of the cushions you may have in outdoor soil. having difficulty growing cannabis could just be new people nowadays maybe just dont have a green thumb. growing cannabis requires a little bit of general plant education which needs to be incorporated more with the young!
 
R

redshift75

Guest
depends what you mean by commercial farmer. Are you talking about national/international subsidized farmers that are slaves to Big corporate AG?

People think way too big and try way tooo hard.
if one breaks it down to the science. I get a soil sample. Then i take that soil sample i bring it to my seed dealer he tells me what seeds are good to grow and what i need to amend my fields with and how much based on my original soil sample. I then take that and my seed im planting to my fertilizer dealer. I now tell him what i need for my field. Heck my seed dealer may even be selling me the fertilizer i need on my soil sample. If i was under contract this would all be done by my dealer and taken out my tiny profits at the end of the season. I then keep my soil sample after i have it tested. I then wait for my harvest to fail below what my expected yield was suppose to be. I then apply for disaster relief/subsidies/crop insurance. They then give me a check for XXXX dollars saying i have stipulations for next year but it barely covers this year.

I then at the same time as i was waiting for my failed crops have to harvest the massive fields of half or 3/4 yield crops. I now have to pay to have them transported, then pay to have them dried to lower the moisture. I now find out there is a trade war and the guaranteed buyer i had at the beginning of the season is no longer allowed to buy at the end of the season. I then have to sell it for 1/4 my promised price subsidized offset by a relief check. which circles back to that relief check i applied for. Which could be from flood damage or something else.

in a nutshell that was my first year of farming. That whole time i was being goaded by corporate dealers to sign my soul away and id have less losses. all the while you can just be realistic and just read yield forecasts and assume +/- 10%. then is the whole paradigm where your best year ever, may be the lowest prices ever because everyone had the best year ever. which isnt even me getting into GMO which is a grow chart. Just keep spraying the next load they drop off.


Lots of people see big fields and think"OMG" its so easy. But reality is we are probably screaming our yield is less than your bud crop yield. When you get to corporate farms with large acre pools they are at the top of the lottery because they are bigger... thus cant fail... so they get first round draft pick essentially from buyers all the way down. The whole quality and bushels per acre is easily offset when your pool is 10,000 acres vs 200. So of course you score higher. its the law of averages.

If anyone ever wanted to get into farming... id be like - dont do it. Go modern high precision high yield where less is definitely more. (which is my new farm)


For me personally this year has been a struggle beyond all struggles. beyond the state getting closed, needing parts for equipment that failed. No joke the part i needed hasnt been in stock for a year set to be in, in june. I found it in good ole canada on a dealers shelf for triple the price. Seeds were sold out from most my dealers. Then i couldnt pick up most my amendments as they werent allowed to be open. You know all my neighbors walk around are like "oh it looks so great" "you are doing so good" and inside im just like this is all terrible. I was out working today and i can hear everyone partying. At one point i stopped to finally drink some water and smoke a bowl and I had to start giving myself the pep talk to find the drive to keep going.



This may sound terrible. Been a long day and month of struggling. But its not as easy as it seems. thus why the grass is greener on the other side. Our bad years are always paired with just as many good years. But as farming has gone more and more corporate the good years for the independents get harder and harder to keep up. im the last in 5 generations of dairy farmers to still be attempting to farm(although i wont go dairy... because its all corporate). All of them lost their farms when they couldnt keep up. But lesson learned is to not go corporate or USDA from that tale. But thats for another time. Now its time to open a fresh jar from the cure cupboard and enjoy some lasagna!
 
BogartAmungus

BogartAmungus

807
143
How in hell do regular farmers grow crops like they do? I have never seen one pre-soak seeds in coconut water tea, shave off the point of their seeds, or feed and water 5x a day... how in hell do they do it? I also wonder where they hide the tanks and silos full of specialized "Giant Kernel" nutes. I have no idea when they sneak out to measure the PPM and Ph of the soil every other day or inspect every leaf daily for signs of something that could maybe, possibly go wrong.
Obviously I am being sarcastic, but most new growers approach growing like putting a man on Mars, with technology being the only thing making it possible. The manufacturers of the nutes and equipment have brainwashed generations of growers, making them think that it is impossible to grow unless you use every potion and powder known to man, daily and twice on weekends. When the soil gets overloaded with nutrients and plants suffer, the recommended treatment is usually to add more stuff to an already semi-toxic mix.
I'm making this rant so hopefully some newer growers will elax a little and grow things with a lot less technology or additives. Farmers use moderation but also try to make sure their fields are properly prepared before planting, and don't usually fertilize again after their initial planting. Take a few pointers from them as they have managed to grow their crops for centuries without more additives than soil. Relax and enjoy your grow... leave the worrying and big Canna growing to the factories that have only profit in mind. Like tomatoes, the really good kinds are the ones that you don't see in supermarkets. Don't be afraid to experiment and try growing with a minimum of additives. Some nutrition is necessary, but a bucket full for a plant is overkill, IMHO. Sorry if I offended anyone, it just bugs me that the majority of new growers think you need a laboratory to grow a plant.
What are your thoughts?
TBH that is why I opted for Earth dust and only because I bought their lights for my first grow. I still have to finish reading on down but RipTorn has a great point as well. Today's farmers have degree's or course's in horticulture. I think as much as these sites help some are confused and see so many bad ass results they want to achieve such results...me being one of them HA so true. Luckily I have some experience growing things and forced myself to ease into the hobby. I LOVE IT! I cant get enough of watching my crop produce bud sites and colas. Im in week 3.5 of flower and now is when I really start thinking I hope I don't Fk up and overdo the TLC.
 
BogartAmungus

BogartAmungus

807
143
Farmers hire soil techs to do the soil tests for them, then they're supplied seed to suit the soil they have, they know by GPS how big the fields are, so know just how much fertiliser to use per acre. Also, most cereal seeds have a coating on them to deter pests and moulds, the only advantage we have over farmers is controlled light. Seed I just plant, I don't do the paper towel thing, or torture them or feed them any thing but water, and they pop, just done it live on my grow diary a month ago. So like you Jim, I'm mystified. lol But if it works.
Haha I was going to do the towel technique. After researching the matter I soaked in an H2O2 solution for 24 hrs and popped em in the solo cup. I was like WTF I never do this with anything else. Mother nature came knows what she's doing lol
This thread is just not true. Small and especially organic locally “branded” farmers use all kinds of tricks and myth. Every apple or hard around here is “scrogged” differently. Yes scrogged with nets.

Go on a general gardening website. All the same misinformation exists. And nute ads.

And the farmers have problems and ruin crops in addition to bugs and weather problems. But the government pays them for bad seasons.

If we are comparing large commercial field grows the cannabis industry is heading there now. Just look at hemp production.

And the wild nute systems came from indoor tomato production recipies originally.

All hobbies have much more of this kind of thing we see here.

The silly crap the guitarists talk about doing to make their guitars sound better is like that on their forums.

I think the problem is people dont read books written by professionals anymore. Just blogs and articles online.

I learned to do this from books primarily. And everytime i strayed from common sense and tried a forum hobby technique my grow went south. Never better.

Now where is my fucking cal mag!?!?!!
I gotta admit that before the smart phone I wasn't as successful with my endeavors before Google and YouTube. That TBH is when I really started to have more success gardening and growing flowers. Now I am growing my favorite flower HA! Yeah and this site and Buzzer777 has really helped me out. 👍
 
BogartAmungus

BogartAmungus

807
143
It would be funny to drive by a farm and see four large water tank like structures with two being marked A Grow & B Grow and the other two marked A Bloom & B Bloom with a 5th marked Kernel Max 420 Corn Supplement 😋

I get what you're saying though. Sometimes a plant really is just a plant but marketing and really dealer hype adds to myth. If I had a dollar for every sack I bought back in the day with a dealer hyping it because it was "dro" I'd be very very rich right now.

All that being said though, I visited a hydro food farm's state fair expo last year and found them to be into some shit I'd never use for my weed but sure would love to give it a test drive with some ganja

View attachment 976685

View attachment 976683

View attachment 976682

View attachment 976684
God damn give those cucumbers some cal mag hahaha. Easy on the Nitrogen! HeHeHe.
 
BogartAmungus

BogartAmungus

807
143
for a new grower i could see it being kind of intimidating because there is a lot of information out there and a lot of liquid fertilizers you could spend your money on. but,

cannabis really is just like any other plant. sun, water, good soil. everything a plant needs. mix soil with green, and brown together or whatver. one thing that most farmers have in common is natural animal waste on site. the best fertilizer in the world right beside them. i just picked up some from my neighbour and man is it a beautiful colour. he collects in cow shit with dirt and mulch and lets it sit forever. in an outdoor setting starting last year, im trying my best, no till, lasagna garden beds. just like nature intended. while only feeding sprouted corn and mung beans and compost teas. so we will see...

I would think it may be harder for indoor growers figuring out the right nutes, seeing as they dont have some of the cushions you may have in outdoor soil. having difficulty growing cannabis could just be new people nowadays maybe just dont have a green thumb. growing cannabis requires a little bit of general plant education which needs to be incorporated more with the young!
I really contemplated incorporating some rabbit manure in my pots when I charged them with earth dust but was afraid of excess N.
 
R

redshift75

Guest
God damn give those cucumbers some cal mag hahaha. Easy on the Nitrogen! HeHeHe.
last year i grew boston pickler variety. I was so confused when they ended up massive like a zuchini or something. I was doubting all year what i had planted. they were boston picklers and made amazing "giant pickles"(if you like pickles they were amazing). I actually turned lots of them into a Relish+ghost pepper. But what it was, was all the run off from the poo we compost. That leach really made a difference with standard dyna grow. Guess that variety can really veg out and take some nutes like a champ. or be picked way sooner. Either way highly recommend boston pickler variety from rare seeds.
 
BogartAmungus

BogartAmungus

807
143
last year i grew boston pickler variety. I was so confused when they ended up massive like a zuchini or something. I was doubting all year what i had planted. they were boston picklers and made amazing "giant pickles"(if you like pickles they were amazing). I actually turned lots of them into a Relish+ghost pepper. But what it was, was all the run off from the poo we compost. That leach really made a difference with standard dyna grow. Guess that variety can really veg out and take some nutes like a champ. or be picked way sooner. Either way highly recommend boston pickler variety from rare seeds.
Haha yeah I did that before. If you leave them on the vine too long they balloon up. I never really made a dill pickle I liked. IDK if I didn't salt and ice them enough??? I did however make a bad ass bread n butter with onions and jalapeno peppers that was awesome. If you like that type. Damn cucumber Beatles and squash bugs were so bad last few years I decided to skip with the vines this year. 😡
 
R

redshift75

Guest
Haha yeah I did that before. If you leave them on the vine too long they balloon up. I never really made a dill pickle I liked. IDK if I didn't salt and ice them enough??? I did however make a bad ass bread n butter with onions and jalapeno peppers that was awesome. If you like that type. Damn cucumber Beatles and squash bugs were so bad last few years I decided to skip with the vines this year. 😡
see thats my jam. I love to do lots of canning as much as i can each year. Im more limited by the amount of time i have then how much i can do. Ive learned to really be selective and pick the best. Thats the kind of stuff i love to make at random for different selections/variety. helps keep with same old same competition in farmers markets.... without having to church it up


How my competitions labels make me feel:
Sprout relish made from premier select cut 1st select reserve using the 17 day select onion blooms the reddest peppers our spectromagiccolorwondersherwinwillinsdoodad collar matcher could identify. Only making a small batch reserve of 11 jars
 
R

redshift75

Guest
Only making a small batch reserve of 11 jars
which ive also learned is code for "my garden didnt give me that much. So.... I just decided to throw everything i had in a blender and only ended up with 11 jars"
 
BogartAmungus

BogartAmungus

807
143
see thats my jam. I love to do lots of canning as much as i can each year. Im more limited by the amount of time i have then how much i can do. Ive learned to really be selective and pick the best. Thats the kind of stuff i love to make at random for different selections/variety. helps keep with same old same competition in farmers markets.... without having to church it up


How my competitions labels make me feel:
Sprout relish made from premier select cut 1st select reserve using the 17 day select onion blooms the reddest peppers our spectromagiccolorwondersherwinwillinsdoodad collar matcher could identify. Only making a small batch reserve of 11 jars
LOL I thought you were saying they were supercalafragulisticexpēaladocious!
 
BogartAmungus

BogartAmungus

807
143
which ive also learned is code for "my garden didnt give me that much. So.... I just decided to throw everything i had in a blender and only ended up with 11 jars"
Last year I canned some strawberry preserves and Blackberry jam. I got into pickling a while back and kinda faded away from it. I don't do pressure canning.
 

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