GreenThumb J's Perpetual Multi-Strain Journal!

[Greenthumb J]

I notice they don't even have aquashield listed on their site anymore theres a new product called hydroguard
at least for hydro

Hey Cronic! hope the new year is going well for you!


As a matter of fact, its the same thing. Botanicare changed the name and improved the formula a bit. Aquashield uses a wide range of bacillus subtillis bacteria, whereas Hydroguard uses, Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens, which is classified as a separate species of Bacillius bacteria, but just more effective!

Its used in the exact same fashion! And i highly suggest it for soil as well!!

 

[Greenthumb J]

What are trichoderma?

Good Question Ranger, and the detailed answer to that would confuse pretty much everyone on this website that didn't take a botany or hoticulture course in post secondary, which i myself didn't, but i've done enough research to understand what these bacteria do!

So i will explain the best i can so people following along can understand.

Trichoderma is a genus of fungi that is found in all soils. Many, if not most species of Trichoderma are extremely beneficial to plants, and form a mutually beneficial symbiosis with vascular plants, such as cannabis.

Trichoderma is also extremely effective in the control of fungal disease in cannabis plants. The most common species used in cannabis cultivation (from my research) is Trichoderma harzianum.

Trichoderma harzianum is a fungus which is also used as a fungicide. Its also used as a foliar application, seed treatment and a soil treatment for the prevention of many disease causing fungal pathogens.

Trichoderma attack, parasitize and basically gain nutrition from other fungi, but not the fungi thats beneficial to cannabis plants.

Trichoderma readily colonizes plants roots and some strains of Trichoderma are actually Rhizosphere competent, which means that they can grow on roots as they develop

It actually gets muc more complex than that when you get into the production of Chitinase and other fungal activity, but i wont get into it!


Regardless, Trichoderma is a key part to a healthy root system and warding off fungal disease from your plants.

I have never had to transplant a plant up a container size in less than 21 days, but since using the Subculture-B, i am transplanting all my plants today at 13 days since last transplant! I think those results speak for themselves.

My new method of root maintenance is so much easier, and less time consuming, as well, it produces much better results that i'm never going back to brewing tea!

I hope that wasn't too confusing for people!

 

[shanker65]

Sup GTJ I have some questions if you don't mind! Keep your root pics commin in Great Journal! AquaShield is getting tough to find and who knows how old some of it is that's out there. Also seems tough to find hydrogaurd in Canada.

Sorry in advance for the questions... I have subculture M and have been using it happily in H.Tea for a while now. Based on your info I think I'll pick up the B portion to replace AquaShield as well.

- Approx. many Litres of subculture tea did you pour on each of your plants?

- How often are you going to inoculate going back and fourth between the two subcultures?

- Why not just mix the SubCulture B and M into the same 4gal bucket and do weekly or bi-weekly inoculations?

- Are you going to be trying SubCulture-B or M directly in your reservoirs (mainly B)... Also, were you using AquaShield directly in your res? Not sure if this really even necessary when applying subculture tea as often as you are?

- Ancient Forest is the only thing you havn't replaced... (possibly I missed something) Have you thought about pre-brewing a bit of Earth Worm Castings to get some nematodes into your subculture tea or is are they already present?

- Are you using a source of humic acid?

Talk to ya later... Thanks! Keep it Green.

 

[CronicHempHog]

Aqushield has been discontinued the product is now called hydroguard

 

[Greenthumb J]

Hey Shanker, let me answer those questions for ya!

>>> Approx. many Litres of subculture tea did you pour on each of your plants?

I pour approx. 500ml on plants in under 1gal containers, 1L onto my plants that are in 1-3.5gal containers and 2+litres on plants in 5gal airpots and bigger. Depends on the size really.

>>> How often are you going to inoculate going back and fourth between the two subcultures?

Each day in veg (M one day and B the next day) , and then 1 time each of M and B a week in flower, up until i flush for harvest.

>>> Why not just mix the SubCulture B and M into the same 4gal bucket and do weekly or bi-weekly inoculations?

I'm not sure this is suggested. I would have to contact GH directly as i cant find the answer to this question. I'm lead to believe they are meant to be used together, just not mixed together, you know? Inoculate with one one day (or week) and the other the next day (or week). By using them both on alternating days, i can almost see my plants growing when i look at them, and i sure can see them swell after each feeding they get in the morning. The bacteria and fungi help the roots absorb the nutrients at much faster rates and helps increase water uptake. I NEED to water everyday, or i can noticeably feel the pots get light by the end of their day.

I can safely say that because of using these products STRICTLY as root drenches, that my roots are healthier and more vigorous than i've ever seen. My plants growth in veg is fantastic, and since the roots are so healthy, they grow so much that within 14 days of transplanting my plants into 1gal containers, they are pretty much root bound already!

>>> Are you going to be trying SubCulture-B or M directly in your reservoirs (mainly B)...

The only thing i put into my reservoirs is nutrient solution, or pH balanced water. While Subculture-B has a food source for the microbes in it already, i dont think it would be as beneficial by putting it directly into your reservoir as it would be if used as a root drench.

>>> Also, were you using AquaShield directly in your res?

When i first had an outbreak of pythium, i put aquashield directly into my res at full strength and it saved the plants that weren't too infected. Since i've been growing in a top feed system, which was bascially after my first documented grow, i stopped using it in my res and used it in my brewed tea. I actually stopped brewing tea and i use Aquashield as a foliar spray, which i actually haven't done in about a week now that i think about it.

>>> Ancient Forest is the only thing you havn't replaced

I have replaced it actually.. With Subculture-M and Floralicious Plus. Subculture-M contains 39% humic acid and Floralicious plus 2%. I also added Floralicious plus to my tea cause it was derived from Ascophyllum Nodosum, which is also known as Sea kelp. Upon reading my label again on the Subculture-M, it also contains 33% sea kelp derived from Ascophyllum Nodosum. In my research into beneficial bacteria and their uses, i found that sea kelp is extremely beneficial in structural growth, as well as amino acid and protein development, as well it contains all the essential macro and micronutrients needed for plant growth..

>>> Have you thought about pre-brewing a bit of Earth Worm Castings to get some nematodes into your subculture tea or is are they already present?

I'm not sure how effective, or what exactly the purpose of beneficial nematodes would be for rockwool grow cubes with no insects or pest infestations. With the amount of different fungi and bacteria i am putting into my plant, the amount of Chitinase produced from the trichoderma in the Subculture formulas helps ward off insects; an insects exoskeleton is made of Chitin and Chintinase dissolves Chitin, so wouldn't be too smart for insects to be hanging around.. i actually saw a fungus gnat about a month ago, before i started using the added trichoderma of the Subculture-B, and now i have zero issues with those buggers.

>>> Are you using a source of humic acid?

Read above.

Thanks for the questions brother!

 

[Skybound]

Holy shit snacks Greenthumb! I found your other journal on MrRobert's and when trying to catch up on it, you dropped a link to this one. At least I'm now current on the latter, and will catch up on the first today. Anyways, sorry for the tardiness on both, but I'm here now.

So an 8' wide single plant? Is it also going 8' in the other axis? What I initially thought of when first reading (or viewing) mention of an 8' indoor plant was a very wide Flux styled plant, but that would need an extended veg period, plus also what would be the height of the supporting skeleton as you only have 6.5', and after being taxed height in fixture standoff, res height and pot height, the space goes quick.

I'm mostly with you on using another inoculate other than tea. Last I spoke with the Capn he mentioned his confidence in a new [fast brew] root inoculate product that diminishes the need to brew a 2 day tea. Me personally have turned off my air pumps in my veg closet due to noise emissions in my building. If I can hear them, others can too. I will still have to bite the bullet till I find a new product to go with, but my days of using tea are limited. Also, when doing some research on the differences between Hydroguard and Aqua Shield, I was led to believe that the bacillus amy......, (haven't yet remembered that one), that is used in Hydroguard has proved to the Botanicare squints (geeks in lab coats) to be the most dominant of all bennies that are traditionally used in other products. I don't have a specific link to this info, but I think it was a youtube vid, and if pressed to prove, I could likely relocate that information and it's source, I would just need time as I have a lot going on in my quest. However, with that said, I suspect that just because bacillus amy may be the most dominant benny, does not mean that other bennies don't also serve a beneficial function in our root zones. So the separation of the 2 subculture products may be a prerequisite to their combined success. Also, use of the heisenberg tea as per the Capn's blog entry (when it was on 420) suggested that only 8 ounces of tea liquid be applied. My concern is that in this method, there's no way in hell 8 ounces will drench the entire media and be applied to every root which IMO can be counter productive so I am in search of a product(s) that will be used to drench the media.

For the RDWC, what pump size is that? Perhaps down sizing the pump and/or circulate the water every other segment on a timer? I assume you also used air stones in every bucket? I would think this to be enough DO and nute mixture to accommodate being DWC and all. If regular DWC can be successful with only an air stone and no circulation, 12 hours per day of increased nutrient movement can only make things better, no?

K, time to go finish your other journal. Glad to be aboard your ships sailing on the green seas!

 

[CCOiler]

>>>>>

Hey Shanker, let me answer those questions for ya!<<<<<

Great write up GT, yet another post added to my favorites list.

Did you say you add Subculture B & M just after your feeding or am I wrong?

 

[shanker65]

Thanks for the reply GT

Sure would save a lot of time for you to mix the two subcultures in the same bucket! Might be worth looking into, but I would try it on my own plants if I were in your shoes.

I thought that the nematodes found in Ancient Forest is what we were trying to feed/reproduce by brewing for 48hrs.... Seemed important when I was reading it at the time in the Heisenberg thread on RIU anyway.

60Cal, I'm sure GT will say the same thing; But you should wait a few hours after your normal irrigation time before applying Tea... The beneficials dislike the high PPM nutrients. I think GT irrigates like 5x a day or something kinda nuts though.

PEACE!

 

[Greenthumb J]

Just washing the dishes guys and smoking some Pink kush kief and then i'll come and reply!

Great to have you guys along!

Oh.. btw.. TheCapn is butthurt with me lately apparently. I made a video as per 60cals request on setting up a recirculating top feed system.. Well apparently TheCapn thinks he invented this and is now ignoring me like a 16yo girl because i didn't mention him or give him credit for something he never created. Not too worried since the guy told me to read my pH pen wrong the whole time haha.. super smart? sort of!

 

[Dusty Kiefers]

What happen to the capn?

 

[Greenthumb J]

Okay.. i have since talked to TheCapn.. bout an hour ago.. seems his flattery that i enjoy growing with his method so much wasn't noticed at first and i guess he was a little miffed that i gave him no credit for it, when in actuality, all i do is give him credit for stuff! And i'm going even bigger doing Capn-style top feed (2+ month veg, top and bend, top feed, scrog and beneficials) than i could growin any other method for sure.

TheCapn left 420 for a variety of reasons, but its not my place to talk about the reasons. Nonetheless, he's still doing all his awesome blog stuff over at dudegrows(dot)com and still growing some kick ass plants!

Capn-Style 2.0 was being mentioned before he left and basically the idea was smaller airpot and more irrigations i think.. 4 times a day if i remember the blog post correctly. Turns out it was a huge success, he pulled 20 or 22zips from the one plant, i cant remember the exact number, i'd have to check my email.

He's since changed things, but ever so slightly, and i'm actually going to try the same thing in my own side by side experiment, once my OG's are harvested and i have 2 lights free. I'll keep you all posted on that..

Once i get back from buying some bagels i promise to reply to Sky and Shanker!

 

[HunterHunt]

GreenThumbJ, Im really loving the root growth you are getting from the Subculture-M and B. Would it be good to use these two products in my soil grows as well? If so how do you recommend using it and in what dose?

 

[Greenthumb J]

I would highly suggest it in soil grows actually..

Use 2 tablespoons per 2 cu.ft of soil of Subculture-M and 1 tablespoon per 2 cu.ft of soil for Subculture-B.



Okay sandwiches are eaten. i'm going to reply to Sky's questions

 

[Greenthumb J]

I have a couple root shots after 2 weeks of being in 1gal containers.

Please excuse the off colour white.. i forgot to water them yesterday haha..

That being said.. When growing in rockwool grow cubes and feeding via top feed, as long as you water each and everyday, your roots stay blast white!

Miss one day of watering and they look like this:

This is my Nirvana Seeds Papaya, the only one i kept, because i successfully FIM'd it and it grew 4 perfect tops, which i have since tipped. Will be getting a transplant tonight!

I will date and label the pot it goes into, a 2gal nursery pot, and i wanna see just how long it takes for the roots to be as thick as the ones above


Dont worry sky, i'm replying to your message right now too, just thought i should show people what good results i get using Subculture-M and B

 

[Greenthumb J]

Hey Sky brother, i'm gona do my best to answer your questions!


>>> Is it also going 8' in the other axis?

I'm going to do my best to make the plant approximately 4'x8'

>>> a very wide Flux styled plant, but that would need an extended veg period

Whenever you "flux" a plant as its being called, you're already adding a ridiculous amount of time onto the veg by constantly defoliating and bending branches almost to the point of breaking. its a High stress technique that definitely adds a lot of time on to your grow. Personally i dont have that kind of time just to train a plant to grow in a shape, thats what i use a scrog for.

>>> plus also what would be the height of the supporting skeleton as you only have 6.5', and after being taxed height in fixture standoff, res height and pot height, the space goes quick.

The plant wont be tall that's for sure.. I'm still working out the design of the plant container/reservoir setup to allow me to have at least 12gals of water in my res for the plant, but still allow me to have some headspace to work with. My reflectors only take away 6-7" at best, and i could even get them closer to the ceiling of the tent if i tried, but i'm not too concerned with where they are positioned, as long as i maintain the canopy of my plants, nothing gets close to the CoolTubes..

>>> new [fast brew] root inoculate product

Its called Recharge. And it has replaced tea for him.. Hell even my root drenches with Subculture-M and B have replaced brewing tea for me. I cant get recharge here in Canada, just like i cant get Plant Success' Great White or General Organics Ancient Forest. At least not directly from the places that manufacture these products. Although i haven't seen Great White in any online hydroponic site thats Canadian based.

>>> Me personally have turned off my air pumps in my veg closet due to noise emissions in my building. If I can hear them, others can too

Dont you have exhaust fans? a 6" inline fan runs 100x louder than my Gen Hydro Dual Diaphragm air pump that i used for brewing tea with. i now use the air pump for my DWC plants that i have.

>>> I was led to believe that the bacillus amy......, (haven't yet remembered that one), that is used in Hydroguard has proved to the Botanicare squints (geeks in lab coats) to be the most dominant of all bennies that are traditionally used in other products.

When i did my research into the formula change of Hydroguard, i found that Botanicare selected the strain Bacillus Amyloliqufaciens not because it was more dominant, but simply more effective than the regular Bacillus Subtillus that was being used in Aquashield.

>>> I suspect that just because bacillus amy may be the most dominant benny, does not mean that other bennies don't also serve a beneficial function in our root zones. So the separation of the 2 subculture products may be a prerequisite to their combined success.

I agree with you that other fungi and bacteria serve beneficial purposes to the cannabis plant are just as important. The Subculture-B does not actually contain any Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens, but a wide range of other subspecies. The Subculture-M contains mostly Glomus fungi which are arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi. I think that when used separately, the results are amazing.. when used together, the results are mind blowing. The root growth i posted in the picture blew me away..

>>> there's no way in hell 8 ounces will drench the entire media and be applied to every root which IMO can be counter productive so I am in search of a product(s) that will be used to drench the media.

TheCapns measurements are based on the size of the plant.. he says he uses 8oz on his large plants in veg and flower. I'm not sure he uses just 1cup of Recharge on his plants.. If anyone knows your conversions, 8oz of water equals 1 cup. Dont believe me? Google it! or heres a picture to show you

Personally, i give at least 3-4 cups to my plants that are in containers less than 3.5gals and about 2L on plants that are in larger containers. I usually can see the tiniest bit of run off, which shows to me that the root drench got all around the pot and around all the roots.

>>> For the RDWC, what pump size is that?

The pump i am using for the 5gal RDWC that i HAD in the flower tent was a Mag Drive 7 pump. I have since taken it out and its in my veg tent being used as a DWC.. no water movement from the pump. My guess is, the pump is overkill.. I want to run the pump constantly, but i know for that i would need a chiller.. which i wouldn't mind getting, but at the same time, I grew all last year without a water chiller and i managed just fine. I wanted to stay away from DWC, but the recirculation part of the RDWC is what keeps me interested. I DO KNOW that all i need to do is transfer the water between buckets a couple times a day to be sufficient.

The pump i plan to use for my HUGE RDWC system is a mag drive 12 pump.. 1200GPH, but i'm sure it runs hottern than hell. I dont care cause i plan to buy a chiller and use it for that grow.. Planning on pulling in a 3lb harvest from the Big RDWC, when i have it set up and going.

>>> 12 hours per day of increased nutrient movement can only make things better, no?

This is my reasoning behind trying the RDWC. I am like TheCapn, i want to try everything to absorb the knowledge of each method, and take the best bits of it out and make it work to my advantage. He's done everything, and has tried to convince me otherwise to do this RDWC, but i told him i need to succeed (or fail) on my own to take any lessons out of the experience. If its a success, why is it a success, and can i apply it to other methods.. Or did it fail, and why did it fail? And how can i prevent this again on the next run.

My experiments with DWC led me to believe that in order to maintain good healthy white roots, the nutrient solution needed more than an airstone for water movement. Heavier metals in the nutrients will sink to the bottom making it more concentrated near the bottom if you have a bucket of water sitting not moving for a week. Growing Capn-style has shown me the benefits of not having the roots suspended in water.. One is you dont need an airstone or an airpump in the reservoir. I think for you, this could be a big benefit if you dont like running your air pump. (if you have aerated reservoirs even!)

>>> I am in search of a product(s) that will be used to drench the media.

If you're in the States like it looks like, get your hands on some Plant Success Great White and mix it up and use it as a Root Drench. It has all the same stuff as Subculture M and B, but in one container. Not sure the price difference tho.

If not, i'm sure you can find some Subculture-M and B and use it the same way i do!

Cheers brother!

 

[Skybound]

I do have a 440 CFM fan and also just got the matching carbon filter, but while at this location, I am attempting to not use those at all unless absolutely necessary, and then only in extreme moderation. Tomorrow in the mail, I'm getting 2 inline duct boosters that have "more powerful motors" that is currently being used in my veg room on the 400. I am pretty impressed with it's performance for only $45 USD. I expect a video update up on my journal by Wednesday and the fan will be in it. It can move minimally restricted air like a champ and I'm very confident each can cool one or two 600s if the ducting is relatively straight.

For your 4x8 plant, have you considered using this as your RDWC experiment? You'd instantly gain about a foot or more by storing your root zone in your res, plus if you can maximize the benefits of the DWC, I bet you'll get the most out of veg growth. I wasn't suggesting to flux, only that this is what I pictured when first reading that. After my first grow, I have evolved into one that never defoliates unless exigent circumstances warrant that. Keeping the canopy clean and defoliating IMO are two different things.

 

[Greenthumb J]

I'll come check it out on your journal.

>>> have you considered using this as your RDWC experiment

I have actually, but my RDWC is already built and sized up to sit in a 4x8 space, and have a plant in each 4x4 space on the one side of the tent. now that i'm thinking about it some more, i'm thinking that a 4x8 space might be too small for the size of plants that i'm thinking this system will grow. I'm going to do a test run with it as soon as i can afford a good water chiller, that isn't like $500 or more!

I realize the amount of vertical space i would have if grown in a RDWC rather than a container on top of a reservoir, but when i was finished harvesting my White Widow in a 5gal DWC, i told myself i wouldn't go back to DWC unless it was recirculating. People growing in DWC always freak out about their roots.. The tiniest bit of brown or something that isn't white in the reservoir, they lose their shit. After moving my roots out of the water and into grow cubes, i can see the benefit of white healthy roots that aren't dead or dying in spots because of poor root zone health. I also grew the clones of the DWC plant in a Capn-style top feed and the quality of the bud was exponentially better. Although growing in this manner, i feel that i dont get as fast vegetative growth, which is key to getting big chongers ready for flower!

>>> I have evolved into one that never defoliates unless exigent circumstances warrant that

I feel you brother.. i keep looking at posts and articles about defoliation and why people think its good. Let me explain a few reasons why its just plain silly.

MrRobert and I ( i think it was him lol) were talking about defoliation and nature the other day and it really got me thinking about why defoliation is not a good idea.

In nature, cannabis plants dont do defoliation sessions.. you dont see a cannabis plant growing naturally in the wild one day, then the next day its been stripped of half its leaves, by some magical defoliation fairy. The reason i'm getting that people defoliate is to open up the "lower buds" to the light and grow them bigger. And thats all fine and dandy, but let me tell you why thats a waste of your efforts.

In nature, Male cannabis plants grow tall and lanky very quickly once they mature, because their duty is to spread their pollen and carry on its genetic make up. Now, I'm not saying this is the sole reason, but think about what i just said, and now think about why the top main cola on a female plant is always so big? To catch the pollen! The bigger the bud, the more pollen it can catch, and thus produce more seeds. Now a female cannabis plant seems programmed to grow buds to reproduce. It needs to focus a lot of energy to grow a nice big bud up top to catch as much pollen as it can before the season is over, which means, that its already hardly putting any energy into growing those lower dinky buds.

**Edit** This is where auxin comes into play. Auxin is derived from the Greek word Auxein, which means to grow or to increase, which as i'm sure you know is the hormone in plants that are responsible for vertical growth, and pretty much most processes of structural growth in plants as well as embryo development in seeds. There are hardly any auxins way down on these low branches already, so removing them would force whatever Auxin production that was happening down there to relocate itself to the branches higher up, which will only benefit you from being able to grow monster colas! **

This is where proper defoliation should take place. TheCapn would say "remove anything that you deem wont make it to the screen" meaning the canopy where the majority, if not all of the light absorption will take place.

What he means is branches.. not leaves. take off dinky branches down low, early on, so that when in flower, the plant can focus all its energy on growing those big ass buds we all want. What people mistake this concept for is that those lower branches need light in order to grow properly. And they're right to a degree, but they need to realise that the plant isn't putting its energy into growing popcorn, and you shouldn't be either so they take just the fan leaves off, and stunt the plant while it heals up the wounds where you took leaves from... take that popcorn branch shit off only and focus on growing arm-sized colas!

Plus who wants popcorn buds anyways?

keeping the canopy clean is simple, maintain a good balance of nutrients so you have no lock outs or deficiencies, and if the leaves start to crowd the plant, tuck them away! Defoliating is just plain nuts, and it drives me nuts actually..


My biggest thing i hate the most is when people show a picture of their plant before its defoliated, then they show the after picture right? Then they always show you like the "2 week later" photo with some dumb comment like, " in just 12 days, look at how much they bounced back"

Lets analyze that statement quickly cause i've heard it way too many times..

First, "Bounce Back" whats it bouncing back from? If the leaves were never taken off, it wouldn't have to "bounce back"

Second, "12 days later". What this is really saying and people need to understand this, is it took 12 days to get up to a size that would have only taken 7 days if you left the damn leaves on!

People think that because you defoliated and got a bigger yield, that its because you defoliated. What do we know about defoliation, it slows down growth, stalls it out completely sometimes. What this does is prolong the veg time.. Longer veg time equals (usually) a plant that yields more at harvest.

I've heard that defoliation helps the plant "breathe" but in fact it uses its leaves to "breathe" by intaking cO2 in through the stomata.


If you take off the shitty branches that wont grow good buds, and leave the leaves on, tuck em away if you need to, you will get the best and biggest yields. Look at TheCapn.. He pulled an average of 18zips from his plants in 2014 by not defoliating. Whos pulling in bigger yields than him around here who rapes their plants? no one!

 

[CCOiler]

Hey GT, glad to hear all's good with The Capn. I think this is the second time I blogged a post from you regarding defoliation. Great job Sir.

 

[HunterHunt]

Awesome information GreenThumbJ!

I'm looking back through my journal where you posted the basics to the growing method you use. I'm liking this method and wanting to try it in the near future. I would love to know a little more about it and how you go about things. Do you have a guide and setup to the growing method you use?

Im curious at the type of rockwool you use, irrigation times and lengths, how the water drains back to the tote, how you set up your system, and the size of pot you would use to flower for a 2x4 scrogged plant. Very sorry if you have already covered this and would love the link to where you have covered it.

Thanks so much GreenThumbJ!

 

[Skybound]

Hi Hunter, I also am growing the same style as GTJ, Capn style! From GTJ's pics, I can see he uses Grow Chunks which are about 1" cubes. I am currently using a combo of Chunks and Cubes as the cubes measure 1cm cubed, but I am no longer buying the chunks so am reverting to the cubes only.

So to summarize the method before GTJ signs in and lays it all out for you (and I know he's gonna) We start by germing the seeds with the paper towel method, transplanting to a rockwool (RW) starter cube till the roots come out the bottom and enter veg. From this point, The Capn would focus mainly on 2 things, developing the roots and developing the canopy. For the roots, he uses weekly beneficial bacteria inoculates. Also to build the root mass, he waits till just before being root bound and transplants up a size. He tries to do this as often as the grow will allow for, so if the roots are goon enough to transplant, he does, if not, back into the same pot for a bit more. To develop the canopy, he teaches topping/tipping which essentially are the same things. By topping, we force the plant to redistribute the auxins (plant growth hormones) and the topped branch then becomes 2 branches. Once she recovers from the topping, then he tops again, and again and again for as long as is needed to build her out the way he wants her to be when entering into flower. The extended veg period really pays off at harvest time.

His recipes also have a big part in the success of Capn style, but not as much as those 2 factors I just briefly outlined. I persoanlly use the GH recipe as Capn shared it and am yet to branch out to try other nutes. Many other Capn growers don't use the GH line and still kill it come chop time.