Biggest Hurdles and Potential Game Changers

[SimpleJak]

I hope to spark up an interesting thread.

If you could imagine some of the biggest hurdles and problems you've come across in your growing experience (new and old) what were they, what was a solution, or what would be a potential solution. Even if you do not have a solution or potential, just expressing a pain point could help others. You could even suggest something that hasn't been created yet but might be a cool solution to a problem you don't have personally but know about. Anything goes!

 

[Fiddler's Green]

My last three seasons have been weak sauce, with the last two beeing total losses.

The dry and pests (nibbling rodents) are my biggest hurdles. I managed to solve the pest problem with a temporary fence and elevating the plants off the ground but weak plants from not being in direct sunlight are still a dilemma.

My possible solutions for the upcoming season are better locations and I'm going to add a silica amendment of some sort to help strengthen the plants.

 

[Old ST1R]

Not too many newbs around here, but one of the biggest hurdles in the beginning is learning to NOT do too much to the plants, killing then with kindness so to speak.

One of our members who’s not been around in a while said “Let the plant be a plant”. That’s good advice.

 

[treefarmercharlie]

Not too many newbs around here, but one of the biggest hurdles in the beginning is learning to NOT do too much to the plants, killing then with kindness so to speak.

One of our members who’s not been around in a while said “Let the plant be a plant”. That’s good advice.

Yup! Most beginners tend to their plants so much that they grow like shit.

 

[H.A.F.]

Spend more time with your plants than mixing and adjusting your chemicals.

 

[SimpleJak]

My last three seasons have been weak sauce, with the last two beeing total losses.

The dry and pests (nibbling rodents) are my biggest hurdles. I managed to solve the pest problem with a temporary fence and elevating the plants off the ground but weak plants from not being in direct sunlight are still a dilemma.

My possible solutions for the upcoming season are better locations and I'm going to add a silica amendment of some sort to help strengthen the plants.

Damn I am sorry to hear that. Its good you are already considering remedies. I just got to adding some soluble Silica to my plants this grow. Its not a straight up silica amendment. I decided to give Stash Blend a go instead of my Recharge, since it has the silica in it. One favorite quote of mine is "Indoors you get to play God, Outdoors you have to play with God". I always have a lot of respect for outdoor grows. I seriously hope next year is a win for you!

Not too many newbs around here, but one of the biggest hurdles in the beginning is learning to NOT do too much to the plants, killing then with kindness so to speak.

One of our members who’s not been around in a while said “Let the plant be a plant”. That’s good advice.

Yup! Most beginners tend to their plants so much that they grow like shit.

Spend more time with your plants than mixing and adjusting your chemicals.

This is great advice, It's so true. I think a lot of newer growers will come to this site and this will be one of the biggest pieces of advice they will hear (or need to hear). It's a great lesson for life in general.

 

[H.A.F.]

My BEST advice is to buy a good pack of seeds to start with. Most people start with a bagseed, then move on to some white-label Spanish bulk seeds sold by all the Euro seedbanks (ILGM and such) and they grow mids if they get a successful grow.

Seeds from KNOWN good genetics made by a legit seed-maker (or breeder) will give you fire even when you fuck the grow up. As long as it finishes you should have decent smoke. I may have been the "let the plant do it's thing" guy mentioned earlier, but that only works if the genetics potential is there.

I have great luck with well amended soil (all the minerals the plant could want are in there), fresh compost and worm castings, and various homemade brews and concoctions to water plants with during the grow. I feed my worm army specifically to put out canna-compost if that's a thing. lots of recycled plant parts and the best fruit and veggie scraps. The main thing is it's all stuff you can do without going to the hydro store or buying nutes on amazon. I think the bottled nute recipes tend to make all weed have a certain profile after a while. I think us telling the plant what to do when is probably not the best idea - we're stoners!

I have zero deficiencies showing up on plants, they are healthy until harvest, and I have zero bugs above my mulch layer. The good ones stau in the soil, and kick the ass of any lone-wolf bad guy that try to make a home. I'm doing less and getting a better end product. BUT if I was dropping ILGM seeds my end product at it's highest potential would still be mids.

It's all about the genetics!

 

[H.A.F.]

The down-side is to do all that stuff you need space and time. And if you tried doing production that way it would take more space and more time. Lots of people don't have either.

 

[Old ST1R]

My BEST advice is to buy a good pack of seeds to start with. Most people start with a bagseed, then move on to some white-label Spanish bulk seeds sold by all the Euro seedbanks (ILGM and such) and they grow mids if they get a successful grow.

Seeds from KNOWN good genetics made by a legit seed-maker (or breeder) will give you fire even when you fuck the grow up. As long as it finishes you should have decent smoke. I may have been the "let the plant do it's thing" guy mentioned earlier, but that only works if the genetics potential is there.

I have great luck with well amended soil (all the minerals the plant could want are in there), fresh compost and worm castings, and various homemade brews and concoctions to water plants with during the grow. I feed my worm army specifically to put out canna-compost if that's a thing. lots of recycled plant parts and the best fruit and veggie scraps. The main thing is it's all stuff you can do without going to the hydro store or buying nutes on amazon. I think the bottled nute recipes tend to make all weed have a certain profile after a while. I think us telling the plant what to do when is probably not the best idea - we're stoners!

I have zero deficiencies showing up on plants, they are healthy until harvest, and I have zero bugs above my mulch layer. The good ones stau in the soil, and kick the ass of any lone-wolf bad guy that try to make a home. I'm doing less and getting a better end product. BUT if I was dropping ILGM seeds my end product at it's highest potential would still be mids.

It's all about the genetics!

I agree with most of this. I think it’s more important to be successful and get through at least one grow regardless of the genetics.

Remember that one guy on here who had never grown before and bought all the latest equipment and pretty much all of Heisen’s offerings at the time? He started like a hundred plants, all hydro, but had no idea what he was doing, got off to a really rocky start, and eventually everything succumbed to powdery mildew. He did all that without ever having got to harvest one plant.

I’ll also endorse doing your first grow or two in good, nutrient rich soil, even the stuff designed for weed, fox farm etc., so you don’t really need to bottle feed or pH or anything. It would be Pretty hard to kill the plant if you’re in good soil and not doing too many other things, even excluding low or high stress training - let the plant be a plant and get to harvest a couple of times before you really start to experiment.

 

[H.A.F.]

Remember that one guy on here who had never grown before and bought all the latest equipment and pretty much all of Heisen’s offerings at the time? He started like a hundred plants, all hydro, but had no idea what he was doing, got off to a really rocky start, and eventually everything succumbed to powdery mildew. He did all that without ever having got to harvest one plant.

Not specifically because I tend not to follow the hydro growers. It keeps me out of arguments But that's a crazy over-reach you don't usually see from a newb grower. That's the shit you see from a Green Rush wanna be millionaire. Jumping in with both feet and no parachute. Most first time growers aren't getting past buying a good weed specific sack of soil and trying maybe a whole pack of beans, but more likely 4 or less. And the obligatory 3-pack of Fox Farms nutes. And a pH meter, and the storage slution and the calibration solution, and the calmag, and the, and the, and the...

Buy or make a worm bin, have worms and biology in your soil. At a minimum keep a mulch layer of something on top (I use rice hulls) but better if you can have a cover crop. Toss in some lettuce or herbs or whatever por get a canna-specific cover crop blend if you are buying something for that anyway. That little micro-biome in the pot does wonders for keeping an indoor grow gnat free.

You can get creative from there all with stuff around the house or at the grocery store with the KNF or JADAM concepts. Grow an aloe plant. All potentially free or low cost rabbit holes to go down that don't make nute companies rich, but feeding the plant can be as simple as tossing some worm castings in a bucket and stirring it up well. If they look like they need a boost put a leaf of aloe in a blender and throw that in the bucket too.

It's a concept the apartment dweller might have to downsize just based on space. Maybe no more space than shelves of chemicals and reserviors and such, but the end product will make you want to make the space.

 

[H.A.F.]

That fuckers high

 

[Heisen]

I hope to spark up an interesting thread.

If you could imagine some of the biggest hurdles and problems you've come across in your growing experience (new and old) what were they, what was a solution, or what would be a potential solution. Even if you do not have a solution or potential, just expressing a pain point could help others. You could even suggest something that hasn't been created yet but might be a cool solution to a problem you don't have personally but know about. Anything goes!

Dude, I could write you a fukin book.

 

[SimpleJak]

Dude, I could write you a fukin book.

I'd be the first to buy it! You probably should haha. Call it "Breaking Beans"

 

[Deleted member 2835]

Hmm let's see never front any product and genetics, genetics, and finally genetics. There is a ton of ways to grow this plant you just have to figure out which one works the best for you.

 

[SimpleJak]

Hmm let's see never front any product and genetics, genetics, and finally genetics. There is a ton of ways to grow this plant you just have to figure out which one works the best for you.

I agree with this! When first getting started its quite amazing to see how different so many grow styles, mediums, lights, watering, nutes, etc that each grower uses. It can be overwhelming when you just want a place to start. But at the heart of this plant is it just wants to grow like Heisen always says. So many ways to do it and each one can be just as viable. Find what your comfortable with and work with it.

 

[Deleted member 2835]

That's honestly been my biggest hurdle is deciding which kind of system I want to stick with. Seems like I'll run a system for 2-3 times and move on to the next one.

 

[SimpleJak]

That's honestly been my biggest hurdle is deciding which kind of system I want to stick with. Seems like I'll run a system for 2-3 times and move on to the next one.

Interesting! Is it the challenge of a new system and then you get bored of it? And when you say system, do you mean a particular Brand's set up or do you mean the general categories of soil, hydro, etc?

 

[Deleted member 2835]

Yeah pretty much. Yes I mean the general categories.

 

[H.A.F.]

Thinking of the apartment dwelling version of living soil, the only thing needed really is room for a stack of those rubbermade totes and a worm bin. One of the totes can be the worm bin.

EVERY growing style is gonna have rabbit holes of extra things. Whether it's a PK boost product, flavor enhancers, ripeners like Winterfrost, whatever a stoner can think of and put in a bottle - you can buy. The thing about living soil concepts is that those rabbit holes are mostly DIY, and can be made to fit whatever space you have.

I think there are a few reputable companies selling "living soil" that would be a good starting point so you don't have to buy bails of components and have to cover your living room in a tarp to get it all mixed up. You get that and add worms and you're growing. The thing about this system is that the soil grows as you amend it, and it gets better with age as long as you use it.

Amending means compost (your worm bin) then a few totes to keep fresh peat, pumice, a top-dress mulch (like rice hulls) It can all be done with a stack of totes beside the tent, including the worm bit if you make one out of a tote. I also get a brick of coco every once in a while to add to the worm bedding.

You can also still do it in pots (5g works) if you are not counting on replanting in the same pot after harvest. the soil is de-mineralized at that point and needs to be ammended and rest a bit. So there's another tote for "extra" interim soil as the system grows. There's not a wrong way as long as the soil has a good mix of minerals to start each grow. In a large bed you are counting on continuous top-dressing to keep that going in a sort of "no till" concept. Large beds and apartments don't seem a good option.

 

[wierdly]

I switched to living soil two years ago and am sold on the process. Then I hit a few snags,.... Springtails? I never heard of those. I 1st thought they were thrips. On a good note the fungas gnats were far and few between for the 1st three runs. But Springtails, they say they are harmless and even beneficial they don't look beneficial when they are all over the place. I never saw any springtails on the plants. B4 the springtails I had some plants act up in my 1st batch of Living Soil. These were all grown from seeds, I couldn't figure out what it was, but looking back it may have been the dreaded HLV. I dumped all that soil and put together a 2x4 bed of Coots mix and had a great run on some genetics from a member here that I knew had not been around the tainted stuff from Cali. Literally zero problems, I thought I had cracked the code. I top dressed every week and added worm castings to the top with cover crop. Then I had a round of clones 1 out of the 8 strains were questionable. I should have trashed it but aero cloned them all together. They all "dudded" out on me. Then I had this happen on the next few grows including some C99s that were HLV tested. They were doing great in veg up til mid flower then just stopped growing and faded with the little nugs that had formed by week 4. They never got any bigger. The strange thing is I had ran Autos in the bed along side of the C99 while it was vegging and the Autos did alright other than a infestation of fugas gnats. I got some decent yielding terpy buds off of the autos. Are Autos immune to HLV? Were the fungas gnats eating the roots on the vegging C99s? I had been chop n dropping everything into the mulch layer and composting all the leaves into the worm bin. Did I F over my whole living soil bed and worm bin?
I wasn't sure if the bed was infected so I dumped the 70 gallons of soil, the worm bin, threw away 4 oz of larfy weed with no tricomes from the "dudded" clones and another 3 or 4 oz of larfy C99. My point being it can be a pretty deep rabbit hole. I dont know for sure what happened and I didn't do any HLV or soil test. Maybe time to look into that a little more. It leaves me with more questions than answers and makes it hard to wait another 8 weeks to see what happens next. I just got some more soil and will try again. If I mess it up this time its on me!