Well hell, if you get yours growing that way then what the hell.. why not.
BTW Im working off this guide would you or anybody mind taking a look at it and tell me if the information givin is valid and would infact help me achive success???
Germination
Seeds: Use dark brown, (some)gray or stripped seeds, white/light yellow ones are not mature enough.
- At germination the plant enters into a vegetative state and will be able to use all the continuous light you can give it. Once the plant is 12-18" tall, weather permitting, it can be forced to start flowering by placing it outside in the Spring or Fall.
- When plant is moved from continuous indoor light to 10-13 hours a day outside with uninterrupted darkness (no bright lights nearby) will force the plant to flower in anticipation of winter. It will ripen and be 2-3' when harvesting.
- You can germinate seeds using a paperdoll, its easy to ruin roots if they dry out, or are planted to late after germinating. Place the paper towel in a bowl, saturated with weak nutrient solution (NOT TO MUCH) and cover with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out Put bowl in a warm area and cover with black paper to keep out the light. Check every 12h and plant germinating seed with the grow tip up (IF POSSIBLE) in a growing medium as soon as the root coming out of the seed is 1/16 or longer. Use tweezers, dont touch the root tip.
Planting and Time Periods
- Usually, 1/2 gallon per foot of plant is sufficient. A six foot plant would require a minimum of a 3 gallon pot.
- Keep in mind the "man" will be looking for plants in the Sept/Oct/Nov time-frame.
- Play it smart, make your big harvest in May not October.
Nutrients
- Dog Hair
- Food Waste
- Lawn Clippings
- Leaves
- Urine
- Manure
- Bat Guano
- Chicken Manure
- Worm Castings
- Sea Weed
- Manures can burn, so they should be composted with the soil first, before planting, over several weeks.
- Use P4 water crystals in the soil to give the plants a few days worth of emergency water reserves
Lighting
- Indoors, 2000 lumens per square foot, is about as low as you want to go indoors.
- 2500 lumens psf should be a good target, and 3000 is optimal if your going to inject or enrich C02 levels
- High Intensity Discharge lamps are the best solution for most indoor growers. HID lamps come in 3 basic flavors: High Pressure Sodium (HPS), Metal Halide (MH) and Mercury Vapor. Metal Halide is an improved spectrum, high intensity Mercury Vapor design. HPS is a yellowish sort of light, maybe a bit pink or orange.
- HPS lamps can be used to grow a crop from start to finish. Tests show that the HPS crop will mature 1 week later than a similar crop under MH, but it will be a bigger yield so its better to wait the extra week.
- Horizontal mounting of any HID is a good idea, as this will boost the amount of light that actually reaches the plants by 30%. Most HID's sold for indoor garden use these days are of this horizontal mounting arrangement.
Lamp Type Watts Lumens per bulb Total effeciency
Fluorescent Bulb 40 3000 400 watts = 30k lumens
Mercury Vapor 175 8000 400 watts = 20k lumens
Metal Halide 400 36000 400 watts = 36k lumens
High P. Sodium 400 45000 400 watts = 45k lumens
~ HPS 400 $219 $40 18k hours 50k
~ MH 400 $175 37$ 10k hours 36k
~ Son Agro400 $235 $55 15k hours 53k
~ Super MG400 $190 $45 ?? 40k
~ MH 250 $149 $32 ?? 21k
~ HPS 250 $165 $36 ?? 27k
~ HPS agro250 $180 $53 ?? 30k
~ MH 150 $139 $25 ?? 14k
~ HPS 175 $150 $30 ?? 17k
I see alot of questions about electrical usage, and how to cut corners.
I have a simple technique for you.
Most lights are rated for 110/240 if yours is one of those lights....
Use the 240 instead of the 110 and you will save 50% on your bill.
800 watts @ 120 volts uses 6.7 amps
800 watts @ 240 volts is only 3.3 amps
240 will make the meter spin slower...
you can safely use up to 80% of the circuit breaker.
Venting
- You have to vent a lot with a HID lamp, but not as much with fluorescents
- Humidity build up requires that you vent at least 2 times per day. A room with a hot lamp that builds up heat quickly, the best vent would be one that cleared the room in 5 minutes, then would stop for 25 minutes before venting again, or similarly, vent 3 minutes, shut off 12 minutes, etc. The trick is to find a timer that will do this sort of thing. Once you need to regulate CO2 on and off inversely with the fan, your looking at $100 climate controller.
- The best grow rooms have the most internal air circulation.
PH and Fertilizers
- PH can make or break your nutrient solution. 6.7-6.2 is best to ensure there is no nutrient lock-up occurring. Hydroponics requires the solution to be PH corrected for the medium before exposing to the plants. Phosphoresic acid can make the PH go down; lime or potash can take it up when it gets too acid. Buy a PH meter for $10 and use it in soil, water, and hydroponic medium to make sure your not going alkaline or acid over time. Most neutral mediums can use a little vinegar to make them just this side of 7 ph to 6.5 or so.
- Most fertilizers cause a ph change in the soil. Adding fertilizer to the soil almost always results in a more acidic ph.
- As time goes on, the amount of salts produced by the breakdown of fertilizers in the soil causes the soil to become increasingly acidic and eventually the concentration of these salts in the soil will stunt the plant and cause browning out of the foliage. Also, as the plant gets older its roots become less effective in bringing food to the leaves. To avoid the accumulation of these salts in your soil and to ensure that your plant is getting all of the food it needs you can begin leaf feeding your plant at the age of about 1.5 months. Dissolve the fertilizer in worm water and spray the mixture directly onto the foliage. The leaves absorb the fertilizer into their veins. If you want to continue to put fertilizer into the soil as well as leaf feeding, be sure not to overdose your plants.
Pests
- If fungus is found on your plant remove it IMMEDIATLY
- Some grows will remove just the section of the bud that is infected whereas other growers will remove the entire branch. Removal of entire brach better insures that the fungus is totally removed, and also enabled the grower to sample the crop a few weeks ahead of time.
- Fungus is another obstacle in the path of a successful growing seaons. When the flowers are roughly half developed they become susceptible to a fungus or bud rot. It appears that growing conditions for the fungus are best when temperatures are between 60 and 80 degrees and the humidity is high. The fungus is very destructive and spears quickly.
- Fungi can wipe your crop quick, so invest in some SAFE fungicide and spray down the plants just before flowering if you fungus is may be a problem. DONT spray the plants if you have never had problems with fungus before. Keep humidity down, curculate air like crazy in the grow space and keep unquarantined outdoor plants out of the indoor space. Don't wait untill after flowering, since its not a good idea to apply the fungicide directly to the flowers. Instead, flowers must be cut off when they are infected.
Once a plant has been taken outside, leave it outside.
Plants that are brought from outside into an inside area could infect the whole area with spider mites which is the most common weed plant bug problem.
