Low Yield

[miked76]

Hey 420 Crew!

I am fairly new at growing but I feel like I have a really good understanding and handle on growing in soil now. I have harvested a total of 4 plants and currently have a room with 4 growing (including the one I just harvested).

I harvested 1 of 4 plants this week. It looked healthy, full of bud, everything went right with this grow. It only yielded 61g dry.

I did let it dry 2 days too long so it lost some of the weight in moisture but still. Way too much work for just over 2 oz.

The MH/HPS Grow is about 1/2 oz more than the LED grow I did last year.The bud looks and smells fantastic and is covered in resin, so it's good smoke just very low yield. I've now harvested 4 of this strain since I've been growing and I only get on average 1.5 oz per plant.

I either have to figure this out or find another strain. Or maybe my expectations are too high based off of everything I read. See Grow details below. Thanks for the feedback.


Strain: Harlequin (feminized)

Grow Tent: 4.5x4.5x7, 3 x 450cfm inline fans (one in, one out w/filter, one for the light hood). Two Hirricane oscillating fans. Room has stand alone A/C with heater.

Light: 450w HPS 19" above top of tallest cola.

Temp: 74-77 during the day and 65-68 during the night.

Humidity is 50-55% at this stage.

Water: Soft, ppm = 0 add 5-10 mm of calmag and pH to 6.5 in.

Nutes: FF trio slightly lower than FF feeding levels.

 

[Autogrower18]

Personally I would say that's an OK yield per plant.
I average around 2 a plant

The only thing I would say is get a bigger light it may improve weights slightly or grow more plants lol .

 

[Imhigh85]

Honestly I think you could use better nutrients you may also want to add a bloom booster which will help you out on a lot of weight and quit not to mention lots of resin I don't think it's your strain but you can easily go and look it up and see what the yield supposed to be

 

[Mike Wright]

What size pots are you using? Unless you are growing 6 foot monsters in there 2 oz off an untopped plant under a 450 HPS sounds pretty reasonable to me.

 

[Imhigh85]

I would be a little upset if I got to ounces off of any of my plants regardless of the size the littlest I have hit here recently with a single plant was 159 G

 

[Chris Scorpio]

I agree that's about normal

I have a 600w in my tent, similar size, more light may help. I used FF nutes for awhile, worked well also

Pot size can help a lot too, biggest yields I had where in 5gal pots, so bet 7gal is even better

Remember what u grow is most likely much better than anything you buy, that's a great strain, yer doing great

 

[The Germinator]

I would be a little upset if I got to ounces off of any of my plants regardless of the size the littlest I have hit here recently with a single plant was 159 G

He's in soil. Aren't you running hydro?

 

[Dwight Monk]

As you have only grown that strain it could just be the strain as don't have any comparisons. Volume comes over time as your skills increase, IMHO too many folks see what others get and just expect to pull a 1/2 pound or more per plant on their first grow by just popping a seed, there are so many variables along with so many strains that can't really be comparing apples to oranges so to speak. As someone said I always look at it like "I know what is in what I grew as stuff you buy elsewhere (street or dispensary) you really have no idea what they are using", so to me it's worth it whatever I get out of it. Maybe it is possible but if anyone says they pulled a pound off their first plant (or first few tries), more than likely I'm not going to believe them I won't call them out and say "BS" but I will probably still think it though .

That said it isn't for everyone, if it is causing you stress or you feel you are wasting your time/money then might be better off just buying it, as stress/worrying kinda defeat the whole purpose of the Cannabis as spoils the freaking high

 

[Planter420]

I don't see the correlation, but I agree with a bigger pot size, bloom boosters and a bigger light will all help. There are some high yielding strains, you should look into some. Blue dream for example, had a very large yield. Also, look into some low stress training techniques, they can greatly increase your yield.

 

[Imhigh85]

you were real close I run nothing but Coco I don't really like Hydroponics as much as my wife does

And ask for skill level skill level has a lot to do with it I have been doing this for 13 years now I run a dispensary we are pretty transparent about what we put in everything by law says we have to produce are production paperwork if we are at this will include all the stuff that we get tested for as of mold mildew e-coli Etc they also test for nutrients and pesticides which I will not use pesticides ladybugs and other predatory bugs are better option for pests

As for getting a pound off of a plant with some strings like big bud it is very easy to accomplish this as for with both strains it's not going to happen

As for stress growing should be a stress relief a hobby not a stressor because if you're going to stress no matter what you do you're going to feel like you can do better and you're going to drive yourself nuts but I hope the information that everybody provides will help you increase more then just your yield

 

[TheFertilizer]

Imhigh85, so you can get 159g off a plant using a 450 W light in a 4x4 and in soil?

To the OP, sounds about right given my yields and similar growing setup. I've had my larger yields when in larger pots using the same lighting. Don't invest too much time/thought into nutrients, they're all the same elements to the plant. If you want to throw money at it, buy a bigger light; if you want to throw hard work at it, use 7 gallon pots. You can also just veg and train longer for larger plants, but it might not increase your yield enough to make up for the extra time. You can also go nuts trying to find a "strain" that produces more, when really it's more likely that your pot size and light intensity are the determining factors. Some strains yield big because people are growing them outdoors or under very powerful lighting only.

Anyway, I understand the frustration, but my other piece of advice would be not to pay much attention to people who brag about how much they yield. There's usually some kind of difference in equipment and/or skill level and so it just serves to give you unrealistic expectations. Whoever came up with the 1 gram per watt idea ought to be tarred and feathered.

 

[Planter420]

It's all about wangs per Gerbil anyway.....

 

[Imhigh85]

My 4 by 4 is set up a little bit differently I have a thousand watt high pressure sodium air cool with a 12-inch oscillation fan and 3 vent fans

But it's not all about the wattage once you learn your system you can actually continue to improve once you know the inside and out of your system and how it produces

 

[Imhigh85]

More weight equals more fruit
One common way to boost your root growth is mycorrhizal inoculants, which utilizes a simplistic association between a fungus and the roots of the cannabis plant. The fungus stimulates root growth and increases the roots ability to take up nutrients from the medium you choose

 

[MickFoster]

Assuming you're keeping your plants in good health, your problem is not enough light. You have 20sf of grow space, so your 450w HPS is only providing 22.5 watts per sf - that's less than half of what it should be. The rule of thumb is 50w per sf with HPS and 40w per sf with LED. With 20sf of grow space you should have 1000w of light for the best results. I usually yield between 6 - 8 oz. per plant in a 4x4 with a 650 actual watt LED.

 

[miked76]

Wow! Thanks to everyone that replied. A lot of helpful tips. I am using 7 gallon air pots for those that asked.

I feel much better now. I think I had unrealistic expectations based off of what others said.

This is a very relaxing hobby. I thought I put in a lot of time and hard work and was still failing but it sounds like I'm doing fine. I will continue to try and get better for sure but feel relieved thanks to all the comments.

I do have some Big Bud fem seeds that I'm gonna try soon.

Recommended nutes? Should I try hydro?

Cheers

 

[MickFoster]

If you want to try hydro, I suggest you start with either hempy or coco. By the way if you decide to go hydro you won't need 7 gallon containers - I use 2.5 gallon air pots with coco. Good luck.

 

[EastCoastGhost]

I agree, you can get great yields with 2-3 gallon pot using CoCo. Coco is a type of a hydroponic growing style and can yield huge once dialed in. ..️

 

[Imhigh85]

Glad to see that you got what everybody was saying even with me running a dispensary I don't pull down as much as people think I do anymore after quality than I am quantity I have a few tent an inside room and a greenhouse

As for big bud seeds you can actually get quite a bit very easily it's just not a very toxic strain has been used for many years commercially to produce High quantities very fast depending on who you got yours from is depending on what it's been crossed with what the majority of them or sativa dominant I have found very few that are Indica dominant my big bud comes from BC bud

 

[EastCoastGhost]

I think I am gonna try hempy also, I've seen great results with hempy. ..️