Wow what a learning curve

[Sancheh]

Hi ..
As a newbie and only 5 grows under belt I've had my fair share of issues at one time or another ..
I foolishly thought I could buy tent lights exc and get copious ammount of high quality budthis was not the case..
But through it all ive persisted adjusted learnt occasionally banged head against wall then cried...and then taking all the best bits from each grow changing certain bits of equipment I am finally dialing it in and growing dank bud..still along way to go but I've got all the big errors out of the way
Does anyone else have a chuckle at there first grows??

 

[Rexer]

Mine was a failure and it's high stakes for me (pun fully intended!) as it's for pain management.
But the key is persistence, and I'm one stubborn MOFO who doesn't give up.

Everyone makes mistakes, how they deal with them and carry on is a testament of who they are.

Lol sorry - that's my little rant I tell myself over and over.

 

[multiVortex]

Persistence, definitely.

First and foremost though, and this seems to be skipped over by 99% of new growers, is research!

Read, read, read, and read some more. Learn about what you want to do before spending a dime. Learn about lighting, ventilation, how the plant grows, what/when/how to feed, what/how to grow.

Bookmark your findings and other things of interest so you can come back to it.


It's kind of sad how many new growers just try to wing it and throw up a couple "light bulbs" and expect top shelf. Then wonder why their shit won't grow or flower.

So many, many issues would be thwarted with some good old fashioned leg work beforehand. It would also save people a lot of money in the long run too.

I've went from pretty much a space bucket type grow in a closet, up to running two 4x4 tents (main grows) and one 4x3 tent (supplemental for seedlings, etc.) I also have a 4x2 that I use for drying. All of that still keeps me within my legal limit for number of plants, and I could technically fire off one more 4x4 to put me at max capacity. (Or upgrade one tent to a 6x4 or 6x6, or something.)

Every grower had to start somewhere. We've all been there. But even with my little space bucket stuff I still looked everything up and did a ton of homework on it. It worked, but wasn't super over the top. Bud was good, but there just isn't much you can get from a bucket grow. and plant training in those is... fun.

Definitely a super short veg period.


When I went to expand as things became legal here, I did a ton of homework on setups, styles, and rigs. Did weeks and weeks of reading on lighting. HID, LED, the whole shebang. Just the reading on lighting saved me a lot in both time, resources, and money. Once you learn the dirty secret of the crap lights on amazon and that for a tent you really need good lighting, and that lighting isn't going to happen for $80, you really start to bring it all together.

Even with all my research, I busted a build pretty good initially. I was building an RDWC rig. Found a style I liked, tweaked the shit out of it, and came up with what I (thought) I was after. While building it all out and plumbing it, I ran into a tiny issue. I had planned for the return line to come out from the bucket and to the center of the tent and join into a main line. That main line then exits to the res. No big deal. Standard stuff. However, I didn't measure as well as I should have for the valve between the bucket and the main line. No biggie right? I just turned the buckets 90* and put a tee fitting, then into the valve, and into the main line. (The tee out of the bucket was to be able to split buckets for isolation.)

Well, there went that. It made sense at the time, but when I went further with it I came to the conclusion that it was going to be a pinch point for roots, and easily clogged. That would be bad. Like flood bad.

So I ended up scrapping the whole thing (to the tune of several hundred dollars in parts) and building a basic RDWC from scratch. It worked out pretty well, but needs just a few minor tweaks to be super.


So I guess the biggest thing I've learned is to NOT fly off on a whim without thinking things through. Even if it seems like a simple change, it can really screw you up.

I'm a firm believer in there being a few key areas where you just don't cut corners. Lighting, genetics, pumps (air or water), bulkheads, research, and patience.

 

[Rexer]

@multiVortex, that was an extremely well written peice of advice. I managed to get through about half of one of your journals and...dude your schematics and building skills are impressive, let alone growing skills!

@Sancheh - how's everything going with your current grow?

 

[CO Finest]

First big mistake for me was back in the 80's I grew two plants in a 55 gallon trash can that I strapped to a moving dolly. Now that might seem strange but let me explain. Back then if caught you were going to get a extended stay at the local brick house with the crappiest eggs and fake powder milk you can find and get a matching pair of flip flops. So my setup was movable straight up Cheech and Chong kind of shit lol. My plants were just going into flower at this time had just watered a day before so heavy as hell. I was sitting outside relaxing then heard a fight going on next door then you guessed it the sound of sirens started coming. My backyard fence had a gate in the very back to have access to a walking path that went down into the canyon, you had to go out the gate a turn right away or you were going down the hill the fast way. I jumped up when I heard the sirens coming up to my area opened the gate and then ran over to the canna trash can. I barely got the pot off the ground with the dolly it was heavy as hell !! and started to roll it as fast as I could. Just as I was coming up to the gate I thought oh shit I am going to fast. There was no way I was stopping it or turning so either I bailed out or went with it off the hill. I bailed and watched the canna can fly. lesson learned Cannabis does not fly well. Funny now but sucked back then.

 

[Sancheh]

Yes thanks vortex totally agree great advice...also experience seems to be the final piece to the jigsaw puzzle !!
For me tent growing in the loft took some time to get used to. I wasn't far off regarding equipment for instance I started with vipaspectra 600 leds which were ok did the job as a light source and were a blessing in the summer heat wise but when it was bitter cold didnt add anything to climate in tent ..i wasnt prepared to run a heater constantly for fear of fire plus it didn't seem cost effective so I upgraded to a dimmible 600 hps this coupled with a upgraded 4 to six inch ducting and controlable fan and and air cooled hood gave me the tools to control climate in different ways in summer and winter and on a daily basis
These combined additions addressed issues I could of only known through my experience of loft growing ..the curve was massive and great fun..
Consequently I run one vipaspectra in veg tent along with 600hps and other vipaspectra as supplementary source in flowering tent the 4 inch fan that wasnt enough for extraction is now used for intake so nothing goes to waste..
My tip for loft growing is to house a 1kg powder cannister automatic fire extinguisher which sets off at 68 degrees this gives u peace of mind..
Got alot still to learn rexer but enjoying the challenge ..a couple of photos from latest grow 25 days in

 

[multiVortex]

@multiVortex, that was an extremely well written peice of advice. I managed to get through about half of one of your journals and...dude your schematics and building skills are impressive, let alone growing skills!

Thanks.

I try, at least.

 

[TurboBucket]

Persistence, definitely.

First and foremost though, and this seems to be skipped over by 99% of new growers, is research!

Read, read, read, and read some more. Learn about what you want to do before spending a dime. Learn about lighting, ventilation, how the plant grows, what/when/how to feed, what/how to grow.

Bookmark your findings and other things of interest so you can come back to it.


It's kind of sad how many new growers just try to wing it and throw up a couple "light bulbs" and expect top shelf. Then wonder why their shit won't grow or flower.

So many, many issues would be thwarted with some good old fashioned leg work beforehand. It would also save people a lot of money in the long run too.

I've went from pretty much a space bucket type grow in a closet, up to running two 4x4 tents (main grows) and one 4x3 tent (supplemental for seedlings, etc.) I also have a 4x2 that I use for drying. All of that still keeps me within my legal limit for number of plants, and I could technically fire off one more 4x4 to put me at max capacity. (Or upgrade one tent to a 6x4 or 6x6, or something.)

Every grower had to start somewhere. We've all been there. But even with my little space bucket stuff I still looked everything up and did a ton of homework on it. It worked, but wasn't super over the top. Bud was good, but there just isn't much you can get from a bucket grow. and plant training in those is... fun.

Definitely a super short veg period.


When I went to expand as things became legal here, I did a ton of homework on setups, styles, and rigs. Did weeks and weeks of reading on lighting. HID, LED, the whole shebang. Just the reading on lighting saved me a lot in both time, resources, and money. Once you learn the dirty secret of the crap lights on amazon and that for a tent you really need good lighting, and that lighting isn't going to happen for $80, you really start to bring it all together.

Even with all my research, I busted a build pretty good initially. I was building an RDWC rig. Found a style I liked, tweaked the shit out of it, and came up with what I (thought) I was after. While building it all out and plumbing it, I ran into a tiny issue. I had planned for the return line to come out from the bucket and to the center of the tent and join into a main line. That main line then exits to the res. No big deal. Standard stuff. However, I didn't measure as well as I should have for the valve between the bucket and the main line. No biggie right? I just turned the buckets 90* and put a tee fitting, then into the valve, and into the main line. (The tee out of the bucket was to be able to split buckets for isolation.)

Well, there went that. It made sense at the time, but when I went further with it I came to the conclusion that it was going to be a pinch point for roots, and easily clogged. That would be bad. Like flood bad.

So I ended up scrapping the whole thing (to the tune of several hundred dollars in parts) and building a basic RDWC from scratch. It worked out pretty well, but needs just a few minor tweaks to be super.


So I guess the biggest thing I've learned is to NOT fly off on a whim without thinking things through. Even if it seems like a simple change, it can really screw you up.

I'm a firm believer in there being a few key areas where you just don't cut corners. Lighting, genetics, pumps (air or water), bulkheads, research, and patience.

That's almost my grow story to a T as well. Read a ton, started in buckets with good success, slowly added more and more stuff to get where I'm at now, two 4*4s, a veg closet and a transition/drying tent. Except my rdwc never made it off paper before I scrapped it for DTW.

I think a good environment is number one. Great lights in a shit environment still grows shit weed. How many people burn their plants with (insert light type of your choosing) while countless others grow topshelf buds with them. A good environment protects from bugs and mold spores. Even cheap lights can make nice buds if you play to the lights strengths and cover for it's weaknesses. Hyena merica is a great example of that, he's grown a ton of nice plants under lighting that others turn their noses up at.

Genetics are right behind environment and lights. The best plants are basically athletes. Any one can workout and eat well, some folks are genetically predisposed to be exceptional. Inexpensive genetics are great to start with. There's so much to learn and having stable strains to work with makes a big difference. But when it's time to go to the big leagues having killer genetics can make all the difference from a good harvest to a great harvest.

It's definitely important to remember where you came from and what the journey was like to get there.

 

[skirk]

The school of hard knocks, becoming the school of hard nugs. It's the best teacher. Along with the folks on this website of course.