Humidity and Temp
as we discovered in the class/game, are very important as is the heat index, as the proper combination helps with fast transpiration (wicking). I will briefly touch on the humidity for veggin should be 50 to 60%, think april showers bring may flowers. For Clones & seedlings should be 70 to 80% cause they need more moisture in the air till good roots develope and for flowering should be in the low 30's to prevent mold as for temp MJ is temp tolorant from 50F to 90F but what you want during flower is a fall like temp with a heat index that does not exceed 78F (remember mine was 76.5) this is why I gave you the link to the heat index calculator. You want your humidity and temp combos to have a heat index just a few points above your actual temp to achieve fast easy (no stress to plant) transpiration. doing this will create the perfect enviroment for your girls and they will love you for it, by giving you big buds.
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Circulation
is also important as we discussed in class and can assist in maintaining your humidity and temp. no need to go into detail here as there were several good methods for measuring it in the thread. Also no need to go into CO2 here we covered that as well, just know that if you were to go commercial, that the addition of CO2 allows you to raise all the numbers and make things happen faster. Also and this is very important, your plants want space between them. I see so many growers cramming plants into thier garden which goes against ALL known gardening facts. Your pots should have at least a foot between them and a foot and a half is better. This aids in circulation and light penetration and gives your plant the space it NEEDS to flourish.
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Keepin em green, is not only a mantra, but a way of growing. It allows you to harvest the good (big) tops and then lower the lights and finish the lower buds (increasing your yields) and allows you to put her back in veg and go again with the same plant, just remember to leave the fan leaves on when you harvest the lower buds. It also allows you to flower longer and get those those huge donkey dick buds everybody drools over. as long as your plant is healthy and happy there is no reason for her to die. The saying "Patience is a virtue" is completely true. So many new growers are in such a hurry to harvest that they chop early. The reality is you should chop when the buds are ripe (and huge) and the breeders estimations of grow times are crap, the plant is done when it is done. My advice to you is this, grow more than one plant and when you think it might be done, only harvest one of them so you have some smoke and let the others go to see what they do, My other mantra do it, watch em and learn. This way you will learn what ripe is for you and the for you part is all that matters it's your smoke/medicine.
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Water
There are so many theories on what kind of water to use. As you know I run regular tap water thru a brita filter I do this because it comes out 6.8 ph and filters out the crap that MIGHT be there (I'm not gonna pay to have it tested). I DO NOT let it set out to vape chlorine and I do not let it reach room temp. Let me share some more common sense with ya. All over the USA folks are watering thier lawns, trees, shrubs, bushes and flowers with city water from a hose or sprinkler system. NONE of them are dying, there are lush, green, pretty yards all over the place, so I'm pretty sure tap water is ok though it is true that there are areas that commonly have hard water (discussed in the Insiders Guide book, no reason to repeat, you should have purchased that book). Also I have, many times stood outside while it was raining and it is always COLD, plus I have experimented with it. Silly idea I had about how the cold would shock the plant and how the ground is warm from the sun, so I started with room temp water and gradually made it colder to see what would happen. Guess what it slowed transpiration down and she did not droop. So when you make it rain just use regular cold tap water, filter it, if you like and know that her drooping is a good thing!
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Lights
We pretty much covered this in class, you know that I prefer CMH. WHY? Closest spectrum to the sun there is from ANY bulb. Less heat to deal with. Can be used for both veg & flower (since it has both spectrums) and has UVB to make more resin. Only available up to 400 watt and requires an older type magnetic ballast is why commercial growers don't like em. But for personal medical grows this light is the bomb, period! I have proven you can grow big buds with a small light, that was my intent in doing so (and let's be honest it's why your here cause it got your attention) I have shown you that not everything you read/hear about lights is true.
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Summary, I have given you all the info I know, (and broken many of the myths) I have shown you with pics that I am not full of crap, don't know what I'm talking about Blah Blah Blah. I have proven that the Sum of ALL parts is what makes your grow successful by growing Matilda under one cfl (light is just one of the parts , that is most misunderstood) And Lastly I have had a BLAST doing it! Now get your grow on and good luck.
* things like what I have done to change the article, I'm just saying formating would help especially if you want ot make it a sticky so if someone like me wanted to go back to it it would be easier to look up a certain part