Hi guys, il start by saying i have read hundreds of articles, over the past 18-24 months and watched countless documentaries. ive also grown 3 full cycle crops Soil / hydro + outdoor with several brands of nutrients. But i still dont know what it is that makes weed so potent? (apart from genetics) The reason i ask this is because out of my 3 full grows which where Super lemon haze + Big bang (el nino + skunk + NL) Auto Blueberry, Mazar + Sweet afghani delicious Blue cheese. Out of all the bud that i have harvested they were never nearly as potent as the stuff i smoked in amsterdam, and a few times locally have recieved some head fuck smoke that i end up laughing my head of constantly and completely monged. I mean, i would of expected to have grown the best herb i have ever smoked apart from amsterdam stuff which im not expecting to beat, just closely match. I gave my plants the right lighting(HPS), Nutes (general hydroponics) etc... Also about the genetics, ive heard super lemon haze is meant to be incredibly strong whereas mine was nice, but it just got me high, it didnt make my eyes all glued together and didnt really hit like a brick as i expected. Question Out of all your gained knowledge of growing, what changes you made increased the potency of the end product, How was your weed compared to Amsterdam etc?
sounds like you cut yours down too soon... if you cut too early it is mostly just a head high... if you wait as long as you can it make the high more of a body high... most weed is chopped as late as possible to get the highest yield possible and that is usually the high most look for anyway.... so this time use a scope on the trichomes get some good shots and compare the usual cut times with how the trichs look and figure out the best time to cut.... this should give you more of a desired smoke your looking to get do you have any pics of your previous grows? super close one's will help
dont get me wrong, the shit was dank as hell. Just definately not up there with the strongest, here some more specs of how i grew. Temps where a little on the high side, 80-85 Humdity - rarely above 25% normallly 15% not great i know Nutrients - Lucas formula 0-1-2 general hydroponics flora Hydroponics DWC system. there was a Magnesium deficiency
that does sounds about right to be honest, i was too eager to chop i guess. So is that really the only thing that could affect the high so much?
How long did you flower them for? Genetics can play a role, also like previous poster said if u chopped to early they hadnt reached their full potential, i also wanna say that ur drying n curing method can affect potency. I believe. . .
Damn enter key, when i say drying n curing process what i mean is if you hang your colas/buds up, keep em in a dark area as light degrades the THC.
^^^^^^WORD^^^^^^^ It's genetics and having your grow style dialed in, not the nutrient brand or additives. Wet
@a Square, I'm sorry, that you don't understand what I'm trying to say. If I were to explain it, then I would feel as slow as you appear to be. All I can say is, think real hard about it, and the answers will come to you.
Lower your temps to 70-74F. Veg with 50-60%, flower with 40-50%. Use a complete line of nutrients like Fox Farm or House & Garden, etc. Keep pH/PPM as perfect as you can with a good BlueLab meter. Feed them with the right EC/PPM/pH so deficiencies don't happen. Extra info: Harvest when trichs are 50/50 amber/cloudy white. Keep light sources as close as you can without burning the plants. Add more light if needed...maybe throw a decent flowering LED into the grow alongside your current lighting. To me a grow is 10% nutrients, 10% genetics and 80% environment.
[quote name='chittyAdvice']@a Square, I'm sorry, that you don't understand what I'm trying to say. If I were to explain it, then I would feel as slow as you appear to be. All I can say is, think real hard about it, and the answers will come to you. [/QUOTE haha ok, great advice u gave him. Subliminal much? Just as your name says, SHITTYadvice fits well
So have you tried organic? Stop paying for pre-mixed crap and mix it yourself. Good method I read about for a soil-less mix. Take some coco-coir and mix it with an equal amount of perlite/wormcasting all for water retention, oxygen to get to roots, and a basic nitrogen source for the entire grow. Mix in about 1 cup of psg (10-10-2) per 3 gallons of soil-less mix. Doesn't need to be perfect. Add some greensand, the breakdown process would allow sufficient potassium for the grow. Get it wet and let it break down for about 6 months. After it dries the first time, take a little bit of the soil out, get it wet, and pH test it. Some people suggest pH of around 5.8-6.8. Even if it's close to 6.8, try using dolomite lime or epsom salt to get it to exactly 6.8 because the plant needs the calcium and magnesium. You do this by dissolving it quickly in water then get the whole mix wet. Have to do that quickly because dolomite doesn't stay dissolved in the water for very long. If it's too close to 6.8 then you probably didn't add enough psg or added way too much greensand and may wanna increase the ammount of coco coir and psg to balance everything out. Greensand will raise pH but not nearly as quickly as dolomite or epsom. I suggest getting a large enough bin to keep a hefty supply. Since the nitrogen is of high levels you probably don't want to germinate in this mix. I'm still gonna try it when I decide to grow. I think the breakdown process would help prevent burn. During the breakdown you will smell ammonia, that just means it's doing it's job and breaking down. It will go away after you wet it and dry it a couple times. You just have to make sure you constantly mix it up with your hands, a shovel or give it airtubes(pvc pipe with a lot of holes drilled through it) in random locations in the soil from top to bottom. Also, I think the plant would be smart enough to know when to eat(they've done it for millions of years. Manure is what naturally stimulates most germination in nature. That's why the litfa method works, just plant the bean in the dirt and leave it the fuck alone from start to finish). When veg is done your soil should have a depleted npk supply but it won't go away entirely. When you start flower just use Indonesian bat guana(.5/12/.2) mixed with water and pH balanced as close to what your soil already is to prevent plant shock. If your plant shows signs of nitrogen deficiency just throw about a third of a tsp of psg into the water, but that could cause unwanted stretch.
Btw, my friend just got back from amsterdam. They said the smoke there doesn't have shit on pure organics.
If you flush when using inorganic nutes or use organic nutes, you can't even tell the difference. What makes their buds so good is the environment they grow the plants in and they're just masters of harvesting.
[quote name='"chittyAdvice"']Maybe you should stick to one grow method until you've perfected it.[/quote] And I would suggest soil op, it's very forgiving after a mistake is made.