If you got a recipe or recipes I’m all ears and eyes. Open mind like a sponge and love learning new ways.
2 Likes
I think from the description of the products you’re using and your light and what not you’re pretty much doing everything right it sounds like you’re doing everything all right. I’m on my fourth indoor grow and I have improved from 1.7 ounces per plant up to 8 oz per plant and I’m shooting for 16 on this grow. So it comes with experience you learn how to organically make the crop that you’re growing better for you. You also have to stick around and take the advice of the people on this form they have improved my odds of making my goal immensely so just read and learn and stick around it’ll help your grow organically produce more
2 Likes
One recipe for tea I have learned on this site which worked for my plant if you get a zinc deficiency I took one pound of strawberries clipped the top off with the greens seep it for 20 minutes in 1qt of water on a low boil. and then cool it and water the plant with it and it took care of the zinc deficiency right off and you get to eat the strawberries when you’re done
3 Likes
Sounds like a plan to me. From what I have gathered here so far is all the experts are all in one convenient place, friendly, and willing to spread/share their knowledge. I so look forward to when hemps big brother becomes legal here.
Till then it’s hemp for me.
3 Likes
I get my ingredients from buid a soil or make my own.
For flowering tea. 3 gallons water
1c pinto bean compost
1c flower builder (replace with worm castings for veg)
1/4c craft blend
1/2tsp dried molasses
Piece of fresh ale vera
Place in brew bag and put into water, turn on air pump for 48hr min.
24hrs and it is bacterial dominated(best for vegging) at 48hrs it becomes more fungal dominated (better for flowering).
Here are a few pics. I built the airlift to better oxygenate it.
3 Likes
@Farmboy1978 so for yield other than genetics and nutrition the biggest factors are lighting and environment.
To get the best yields indoor first you need to create the “perfect” controlled environment. Try to keep temperature around 70 f and rh between 50-60% for veg and 30-40% for flower. This has the biggest impact on indoor yields because even with a great light if your environment isn’t good they won’t grow or yield much.
Second is the light. To get the best bang for your buck and significantly increase yields you want a light capable of up to 1000 ppfd and keep the ppfd at the canopy between 500 and 700 for veg and between 700 and 900 for flower. Any more light than that without added C02 will be a waste of power. You want a spectrum designed for your space. Short spaces you want enough blue to keep them stout and bushy and enough red to get those flowers going. As far as spectrum for hemp you want blues between 400 and 520 nnm reds between 660-665 nnm and IR between 730 and 760 nnm with some added UV-a. UVB can help hemp produce resin too and increase the terpene profile but it doesn’t really increase CBD levels like it does THC levels and you should only use uvb supplementally for an hour or two a day. UV-B with UV-A significantly increases biomass and density so the flowers will have more weight to them even if the size doesn’t increase significantly.
As far as nutrition in a soil based grow the most important things for flowering with both hemp and cannabis are proper PH levels for nutrient absorption. I aim for the sweet spot at 6.5 myself usually but the best nutrient uptake happens between 6.2 and 6.8 ph. After ph the best thing during flower is to make sure you have a healthy microbiome by using enzyme boosters, inoculates for mychorrizae and beneficial bacteria, and things like liquid kelp and molasses to feed them so they keep nutrients available in a more bioavailable form for the plant to take up.
Last, but definitely not least, the proper balance of P-K for the cultivar. Each cultivar has its own needs during flower and will want varying amounts of P-K. Phosphorus is easier to keep in balance but potassium is the finicky one in my experience.
If you keep all of this dialed in (some trial and error required) you will experience much higher yields and more potent plants with better terpene profiles.
It helps if you work with one cultivar at a time to dial in the needs of the individual plants as well.
4 Likes
@Rye build a soil is great man. I get most of my amendments from them too.
@Farmboy1978 I forgot to add that I use molasses and liquid kelp with every single watering and feeding through the entire grow. It helps a lot. Enzyme boosters and calmag or micro boosters every other feeding. During flower I increase the amount of molasses and liquid kelp to compensate for sugar loss during exudation during the dark period. I also top feed with a mix of bat guano, worm castings, and veggie compost during flower every week to two weeks and do my last top dress around week 6 on an 8 week plant. Week 8 on a 10 week, etc…
Teas work great too if you need an immediate boost since they are available faster than top dressing. Teas are the quick fix/booster and work amazing between top dressings.
1 Like
What do you mean by top dressing and top feeding?
1 Like
@dmtscravey top feeding and top dressing are terms for the same thing. It’s when you take a mix of dry amendments or compost and put a layer on top of your soil and lightly work it in with your fingers. As you water it will draw nutrients into the soil and allow the microbes to break it down.
2 Likes
Got it thank you for the explanation
2 Likes
I get my soil from a local farmer who uses horse manure as one of the ingredients in his soil mix. The results are amazing. Super size green crack, same results on every strain i grow. 9 finger enormous leaves. Picture of Green Crack at 8 weeks old.
2 Likes
Horse manure is just as good as steer manure.
3 Likes
If you can find rabbit manure try it. It makes other manure look like shit (pun intended). I prefer rabbit, goat, horse, or chicken, in that order. Not all manure are created equally.
2 Likes
I live near horse farms and have a friend who has donated much manure to my efforts. I do find that horse can be hotter than steer and becasue I use it in my veggy garden, I compost for 6-9 mos first. She also gives me chicken manure which I also have to compost.
Today I found a worm farmer just a few blocks away. He is selling worms (RED WIGGLERS (red worm, brandling worm, tiger worm, striped worm) - STRIPELESS RED WORMS (compost worm) - AFRICAN NIGHT CRAWLERS … and WORM CASTINGS. His prices are decent
RED WIGGLERS / STRIPELESS RED WORMS:
1/8 pound (2 ounces) - $5
1/4 pound (4 ounces) - $9
1/2 pound (8 ounces) - $16
1 pound (16 ounces) - $30
AFRICAN NIGHT CRAWLERS:
1/8 pound (2 ounces) - $8
1/4 pound (4 ounces) - $15
1/2 pound (8 ounces) - $28
1 pound (16 ounces) - $50
BASIC COMPOST WORM DESCRIPTIONS:
- RED WIGGLERS may grow to 2"-3", and make great bait for pan fish.
- STRIPELESS RED WORMS may grow to 3"-4", give off a slight odor which fish love, stays on the hook better, and are hardier and livelier than Red Wigglers. They look like non-striped Red Wigglers, require the same care as Red Wigglers, and are great bait for pan fish and larger.
- AFRICAN NIGHT CRAWLERS may grow to 10"-12", give off a purplish sheen, and are voracious eaters.
- Since these are all compost worms, they may be kept and grown in the same worm bin/container.
WORM CASTINGS (may contain worms & worm eggs) are filled with microbes that are great for your plants - promotes health, faster growth, and water retention without chemicals - $10 for 2 gallons (approx. 10 lbs.)
I may go after the CASTINGS. ANy words of caution?
1 Like
@Mrb53004 for using worm castings or using compost worms? I prefer getting worms myself and making my own vermicompost so I know what’s in it. As far as buying vermicast and using it I generally look into what scraps/vegetation they fed the worms and ask if it’s just pure vermicast/vermicompost or if they mixed it with any extra amendments or additives.
Some companies will add chicken manure or other manures to spread out the vermicast and charge the same price as others selling pure vermicast. Some will be honest and tell you everything they added right away. Some won’t tell you a thing because they have no clue so you have to hunt down the ingredients if unlisted and find the soil test results (required for omri status). I won’t use anything that isn’t certified organic, omri listed, or that I didn’t make myself.
1 Like
Our worms have been fed only food scraps - NO Manure! without chemicals
What can I ask them to better qualify their product? I would get some worms for my compost pile but wondered about the WORM CASTINGS to add to my containers for both topping and to incorporate into my foundation medium
2 Likes
@Mrb53004 I would ask them if they fed on a regiment and if so what was the regiment, what greens were they fed (grass, leaves, fruits, veggies, etc…), and I would ask them what browns the were fed (paper, cardboard, etc…), and I would ask if they used any meat dairy or processed foods/items or if they were fed any ag waste or cattle manure.
Whatever was used to process what was fed to the worms will be in the compost too so I try to make sure if I buy castings that they only used organic products.
3 Likes
I am planting in pots. Start inside and then in to glass and wood glass room which is outside on my deck. I use horse manure as the soil. It varies from 6 months to a 2 years old. Does that sound okay? Also, if the plant pots contain earthworms will they hurt the roots? Thank you.
It looks good… as far as more trich production, Id say more intense lights would be my first upgrade. Assuming you started with good genes. Spider Farmer are great budget lights and the plants love them but maybe make them a little to comfy… That will be your biggest gains… forget about all the tea and nutrient tricks. Just use a good living soil packed with everything they need. Intense piercing lights with good controllable spectrum… I literally have 1000’s of dollars of budget lights sitting in storage that my wife doesn’t even use for vegetables anymore that id be happy to sell and get rid of.
After that it is really just strain related. I tend to like to grow strains that are wet greasy and covered in snow and even the fans getting frosty.
Of course I grow all my autos in earth boxes but I always have 1-2 plants in the group that I take over 120grams off. I never did that with autos until I switched my lights.