What The Good Growers Already Know: Top 5 Lessons For New Growers

[Aelool]

I just wanted to add my 2 cents on this thread and talk a bit about noise control.

One of the most frequent complaints I have seen while lurking around the 'nets is fan noise, and it is probably one of the more basic problems to overcome. A cheap grow room can be a very noisy grow room, and noise control goes hand in hand with odor control. Of course, buying a good fan in the first place goes a long way, but short of replacing the fan you already bought, what can you do??

Noise in your fan and ventilation system is caused by vibration from many sources. A metal fan has a natural harmonic vibration that it creates simply by running. Metal ducting can easily vibrate in an air flow and being stiff sets up eddy currents and points of resistance in the air ducting that make more noise. The flow of air in a duct makes noise, but you can do things to reduce it.

Quieting a fan can be tricky, but with a bit of work you will be amazed at what you can do with some basic materials and a little time.

The Navy has been quieting submarines for decades by using some complex but basic techniques. Machinery inside the hull that makes noise is mounted on "rafts" with large rubber bearing mounts that prevent vibration from being carried to the hull. The outside of a submarine is covered with "anechoic tiles" that are basically special rubber tiles that are glued over the entire hull to prevent vibrations being transmitted into the water. That technology is not difficult to mimic.

My local hardware store sells heavy rubber sheet in different thicknesses by the pound. They are reinforced rubber sheet trimmings from different places, but they all make outstanding vibration and sound isolation mounts.

Simply, take a properly sized heavy rubber strap, 1/4" or so thick depending on what you can find, and mount your fan to it, and then mount the strap to your support framing in the grow room. The rubber will not transmit any vibration, and it will cut down the noise significantly all by itself. People already do a version of this by using bungee cords to hang the fan. This technique is more permanent and much more secure.

Next, take some of that same rubber material, 1/4" thick, and cut pieces that are shaped to fit together on your fan, and use contact cement to glue them tightly to the entire outside of the fan housing. The rubber will absorb most, if not all, of the natural vibration the fan creates while running, and thereby reduces the sound as well. You can even add a layer of fiberglass over the top and tape it on with duct tape. Leave the electrical box accessible, but otherwise, cocoon the entire fan. (Fans are air-cooled from the inside)

Metal ducting should be insulated, but it is still quite noisy no matter what you do to it. Better yet, use insulated, plastic lined residential air conditioning duct. It comes in various lengths and is designed to provide a smooth passage for air and reduce the flow noise in home air recirculating systems as much as possible.

CAUTION: DO NOT CONNECT PLASTIC DUCTING DIRECTLY TO YOUR GROW LIGHTS!!! IT WILL CATCH FIRE!!

Lastly, plain old Pink Panther insulation in the walls, under the floor, and in the ceiling of your grow room will go a long way toward controlling the noise your grow emits as well as the temperature inside.

Keep in mind that there are people in your neighborhood who would complain if you hung 'em with a new rope, so anything you can do to keep them from sticking their nose in your business is a good thing. Noise complaints will get you busted as fast as an uncontrolled grow room aroma, so it is worth your while to do whatever you can to reduce your risks.

I do understand doing things on the cheap, but for those who have a noise problem a bit of work to improve what you already have can go a long, long way. If you are in a residential neighborhood, the less noise your grow makes, the better.

Be careful out there.

 

[Grow home]

Great advice can"t beat keeping it simple

 

[buddman52]

My little grow book for marijuana - 2nd Draft

Things you will need to grow your meds.
1 light
2 seeds
3 soil
4 nutrients
5 ventilation
6 PH
7 water
Seeds or clones are the one most important thing you don't skimp on.
I have been growing for over 17 years, and at first I could not find much on growing.
That was before the Internet, and there was not that much info to be found. Now, it's everywhere ... but what I did find was hard to understand. This little book has all you need to start and finish a nice garden in the privacy of your own home.
What I did find out through trial and error, was that I made all the mistakes you could imagine ... from not going 12/12 to flower (I did not no that was how you make them bud!) I started with a Phototron - the one you see in HighTimes - and bag of seeds. Boy, did have a lot to learn!

The first thing i learned about was lighting. I had bought two fluorescent shop lights to start ... they worked to veg my babies, but still some thing was missing ... looked like charley brown x mess trees. What was I doing wrong ? I knew I needed more light. Then, I read about high pressure sodium lights ... bingo! that's what I was missing: a good lamp just for growing. So I made a little grow box in the closet four by four by five foot high. The plants started to veg and got two feet tall. But still I did not understand how 12 hour of dark was so important to the budding. I was letting in light during the day so thay could get fresh air. Big mistake! My plants were getting light when they should have been getting 12 hours of dark: that means no light what so ever pich black. That's when I first got my plants to bud. The garden was small and so was the yield. That was my first attempt at growing.

Out doors was my second attempt at growing. I finally got a book and moved my motorhome to a friend's property by the river. I had lots of seeds from a friend, a place to grow and all the time in the world . This time I was going to have a good garden - I had about 100 seeds - I had babies all over the place in paper cups. I took the best babies and planted them in the ground - 60 or so. The soil was very good - there had been a veg garden in this place before so the soil was very fertile and the plants were growing like crazy. Now it was time to sex the plants - I found 26 girls. And boy was I happy I did not use any nutrients in this garden ... the weed was amazing: so tasty and a very good high. I was a happy camper! I only got 6 pounds, but it was of some of the best weed I ever smoked!

Next, I bought four 430-watt high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps and went hydro. Aeroponics was the next step I had read a lot about growing by this time and was ready to try my hand at hydroponics so I made an aero ponic system 6feet by 10 feet with 80 grow sites. This time I hade some good genetics: Silver Pearl from Sensi Seed Bank in Amsterdam. I vegged them out and cloned them - I started with 100 clones - wow did thay take off! I was on my way to becoming a farmer. I played with hydro for a few years but some thing was on organically so I went back to soil in 5 gallon pots. I used Black Gold soil from the hydro store .
I got a 1000-watt lamp with a light mover and four 430-watt HPS lamps and started 40 plants. I had changed my strain to White Rhino, and my grow room was 11 buy 12 feet. I grow some very good weed there.
Then a friend gave me some clones and one strain was called Lambsbread. She was a clone and I wanted to keep the strain going, so I crossed her with Trainwreck. She kept the lambsbreed genes - it is a nice cross, and I grow her outdoors now. She is a big yelder and easy to grow. The high will kick your ass! This Lambsbread is not the strain that Bob Marley made famous. She was a beautiful indica clone from a friend. Hard to say the genes originated - you know how names go, so I call her Lambs Wreck.

Okay, it's time to grow!
First thing you need is a small grow room and a 400-watt HPS lamp. You can grow 4 to 6 plants under this lamp every 90days - more if you have a veg room. The veg room does not have be that big and you can use fluorescent lamps for vegging, the 400-watt to flower, and never have to by weed again

Ok now it's time to grow let's start with the grow room You can make a small grow room out of black and white plastic - you can get it at any hydro store cheap. Hang the black and white plastic up, with black side out. The white side is a good reflector. Hang your 400W light in your grow room. Now you need air flow to exhaust the heat from the room. This room needs to be light tight when you go 12/12, but you can leave it open when the light is on .

Okay- so you have some good seeds. Now, its time to germinate the seeds. You can do this by soaking your seeds in a little water and then place them in a wet paper towel. Put them in a warm place and let them germinate for two days. When you check on them, you should see the seed split, and a little tall pop out. You can use a plastic cup for this - fill the cup with potting soil, wet the soil and place the seed tail down in the soil. Cover the root with about 1/4 inch of soil, keeping the soil moist. Don't let it dry out or the seedling will die. When the first leaf appears put them under the fluorescent light, about two inches above the seedling.
Let them grow for two weeks, then transplant them into one gallon pots and put them under the 400W lamp. Keep the light 18 inches away from the babies, enough distance so they don't burn. Let them grow until they are 1 to 2 feet tall, then switch the light to 12 hours ON and 12 hours OFF, to trigger the plants to start flowering. The plants will continue to grow, and will finish flowering at 2to 3 tall. You will need a gallon of soil for each foot of growth.

Nutrients.
I like to use Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil because it has all the amendments, which makes it very simple. For nutrients, I use Grow Big for the veg stage and Tiger Bloom and Big Bloom for the flowering stage. You can get these at any hydro store .
It is important that you have the right pH in your water. You will need a pH meter for this step. I like to keep my pH at 6.4 in soil (lower for hydro). It is very important to keep the pH low, as the nutrients will get locked out if pH is above 7.

Watering the temp should be in the low 70's, as water holds more oxygen at this temperature.
Too cold and you risk shocking them too hot and you risk damaging the roots. Don't over water your plants or you will drown them. Roots need oxygen to grow - they don't like to be soggy. Keep the soil moist - not wet. You can check the moistness of the soil with your finger. You can also check the pots by weight -lift them to see if are light or heavy. You will get the hang of it in no time at all.
I like to let a little water drain off when I water my plants. If you have good soil you should not have to worry about over watering. Some people let 10% more run off when they water. Let the soil dry out a little before you water again .

When you feed your plants start low about 300 ppm for the first few weeks then bump it up to 600 ppm when in full veg. By now your plants are 12 to 18 inches tall and are ready to trans plant into 5 gal pots to flower. Put them on a 12/12 cycle to bud, and they will start to flower in about two weeks. Change your nutrients to budding. The plants will continue to flower for 7 to 11 weeks,
depending on the strain, indica or sativa. Indica strains typically will finish in about 8 weeks or so - longer for sativa. Usually, the buds are at their peak when 60 to 70% of the hairs turn brown. When the glands (called trichomes) go from clear to milky (some amber), they are full of THC (the stuff that gets you high) and ready to harvest. That's when you know they are finished.

Identifying males and females is a little tricky when the plant is only a foot or so tall. The female has two little hairs that will develop at the branch next to the main stem, while the boys will grow little balls.
It's best to sex them before you trans plant them into 5 gallon pots. It's hard to sex them when they are that small. Cut the lights back to 12/12 and in two weeks it will be easy to tell the male from the female. When you find a male cut him down, as only the female has THC. If you don't get the males out of the garden you will end up with seeded buds
Male plants are only good for breeding, as they have little no THC.

Ok your plants are ready to harvest. Take a few branches off and trim off all the leaves. Hang them up on a string to dry harvest the whole plant. Let them dry for a week in a cool, dark room with fan to keep the air circulating. You will know when the bud is dry when you snap a stem. When the bud is dry place the buds in a mason jar to keep them fresh.
I like to keep my weed in the fridge.



Sent from my iPad

 

[Lgormley]

This should be a sticky!!!

 

[paw-paw]

Amen!

 

[Lemonflex]

Really good post, appreciated

 

[Perfect Sun LED]

Although really general information, it's worth a like and 4 stars just because they are points all beginners should know.

 

[bozzo420]

my next buy will be a new camera......nothing like growing great buds only to find out your new camera does not have a micro setting for closeups lol going with the sony nex -3 I think

 

[Perfect Sun LED]

use a magnifying glass or hand heald microscope in front of camera lense

 

[paw-paw]

does that work?

 

[AlphaPrime]

This should be a sticky!!!

+1 - Just refreshed a lot of knowledge i read in hundreds of threads in a sizeable and easy to read summary ! Wish i started my research with this post !

 

[neenopacino]

THANKS FOR THE TIPS

 

[goathead]

Thanks for the information..... I spend alot of time conversing with the ladies in the room and so far they seem to be responding. But then again I did it last year outside and did the same except I laid in dirt with them for hours on end talking. i was repeatedly asked what in the hell I was doin' layin in the dirt , was I allright.? I was not supposed to succeed since I was green and new. A fellow culivator told me about some alternative options in gardening. Like talkin' to the ladies while I was allowed to spend time with them. Thanks for the post now I know I am not crazy! It works for me as you put! THANKS!

 

[paw-paw]

whatever works for ya', bud.

 

[mississippi]

Those are some of the best lessons to be had. Call me crazy but if my girls are happy they also put out a beautiful frequency and aura.

 

[stealthgrow]

thanks for the great info

 

[Stormycirca65]

Such a big reminder to remember and stick to the basics is a big heads up to all of us, seasoned grower or newb, and an excellent article. Thanks for this!

 

[JamesTheGreen]

You Are Absolutely 100% Correct Goathead, Plants Love Music, To Be Sung And Talked To, And They Really Enjoy A Good Dose Of Nutrients, At Least Once A Week As WELL, Plenty Of Water To, Amount Depending On Your Container Size, Growing In Or Out, It Makes A Hell Of A Difference. Always Water First, Then Fertilize Well. The More Nutrients And Light, Plus The Size Of Your Containers Makes For A Much Higher Yield. I Use 100 gallon Containers, And The Least I Usually Get Is About3.5 LBs, Not Wet, But After The Trimming Process When They Are Dried And Cured Properly.And You Are All Right, Plants That Are Cared For, In Such A Way That You Are Treating Them Like Children, Always Do Best, Unless Of Course Your Using Poor Soil,Under Feeding And Under Watering. Another Thing A Lot Of Growers Do Not Know About Is That The Plants Should ONLY Be Watered And Fed, When You Can Tell They Are Dry Enough Water(DROOPY PLANTS AND Leaves) Should Let You Know This, Also,Stick Your Finger In The Dirt To Ascertain How Dry The Containers Are. It Is Not Scary Or Anything, Just Keep A Good Eye On Them!!!Then You Will Get Maximum Growth, Because As The Water Evaporates, It Allows The Roots To Breath, And Believe Me, That Is One Of The Most Important Things That A Lot Of Growers Ignore(TO THEIR ULTIMATE DISMAY), The Need For A Wet And Dry Period.

For Instance When I Went To Work On My Trees, I Always Check To Make Sure They Were Watered Enough, Give Them Some Water If Needed, Then Fertilize Them, Only After Watering, Because You Can Burn Your Plants Up, If You Do Not Water First And Then Fertilize. Trust Me On This One, I Implore You, And You'll See That Without Watering The Plants, They Will Begin To Burn, Not Always(ESPECIALLY) If The Fertilizer Mix Is Really Weak, Which I See No Point In Making Stronger Especially If Your Going To Feed First, It Must Be SMALL And I Mean REALLY SMALL, Of An Admixture Of Nutes. I Cannot Express This Enough Goathead, Always Flush At Least 3 Weeks Before Harvest(IF YOU CAN,MEANING) You Do Not Have To Argue With People About The Logic Of It All!!!Listen To SER DONPAULP, He Will Not Steer You Wrong, Nore Will I. There is Such A Negligible Amount(OR JUST PLAIN FALSE INFO) On This Site, That You Must Be Careful!!! Take It All With A Grain Of Salt, You Can Trust SER JAGA,SER BUCK,SER FISH,SER RICORICO,SER OG69, DOC SATIVA HAZE,SER SPIMP,SER McLoadie, And Our Newest Anointed Knight SER CHOP-BRO!!!

So Do It How You Want, But Remember A Wise Man Learns From The Mistakes Of His Friends, And His Self , A Fool Just Keeps Repeating The Same Tribulations And F>>K UPS And Never Learn. If Someone Tells You Something That Works Great For Them, Heed Their Advice(OR A FOOL YOU WILL BE!!!), I Write This From The Position To Being A FOOL, Until I Noticed My Friends Plants, I Did not Belive Him, Now Do And Could Never Thank Him Enough!!! So Give It Another Whirl, And I Can Almost Guarantee You If You Listen To People, That OBVIOUSLY Know What They Were Doing, It Should Only Steer You In The Right Direction. If You Have Doubts About Me Being Some Crack Pot Or Something, Hit The Link At The Bottom Of My Page, That says "It Is Far Better To Die On Ones Feet, Than To Serve On Ones Knees" Hit The Statement And It Will Take You To My 2013 Journal, And Better Yet, Go To My Journal In The Completed Journal Section And Check Out"This Years Outdoor 2012 Garden Diary By JTG And Wife. And You'll See, The Proof Is In The Pudding!!!I Hope All Found This Read Interesting, And If There Are Any New Growers That NEED To Ask A Question, No Matter How Trivial It Mat Seem , Please Ask,Because The Dumbest Question, Was One That Was NEVER ASKED. Take Care Subjects Of The 420 Kingdom I Must Mount Up On My Destrier And See What Other Business Is Afoot In The Realm, Like If Invaders, Or Dragons,The Helpless, Basically I Ride Forth To KEEP THE PEACE!!! SINCERELY, SER JAMESTHEGREEN!!!

 

[Dyold]

Great Post

More people should read this first it contains some good Growing Life lessons.

 

[Humannail]

boy is this so dead on, as a new grower, I had the one hit wonder with all the wrong stuff. then second grow wrong stuff equaled dying plants. thanks to the peeps on here and some really good advice that I used and took a step further and I am a happy camper.