Okay so once you have a basic set-up, good lighting -HPS/MH, proper ventilation -inline fan, and your basic N-P-K nutes, what are some other things to look at/improve on... Pro-Mix Soil, Lucas Formula for Nutrients, Ample amount of Wattage (HPS), Temperatures at steady 26/18 (day/night), 50-60%RH, Fan to circulate air inside, inline for air movement pulling air out, measured PH and PPM. Not looking for CO2 currently, what else is available? RO system is a possible thing. other opinions?
Sounds like you've done some research. That's good. Have you considered mixing your own organic soil instead of using chemical fertilizers? http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/1116550-easy-organic-soil-mix-beginners.html
have to agree with the person above me. i built some crazy equipment to run hydro and i enjoyed every minute of it, i'm a mechanical nut so it fit right in for me. then i got bored and figured i would give organics a whirl, well i haven't looked back and never had such an easy time growing great herb before in my life. i also make aerated compost tea now as well and feed it to everything as well as using it as a natural fungicide on the leaves. i built it because i needed something to build and screw around with, you know what i mean. made a vortex 5 gallon tea machine and it works well. seriously, organics is the way to go if you need a challenge at something new.
same here amigo, i really enjoyed that crazy ass show, seems a pity they could only squeeze 3 seasons out of it especially when you see the horse shit they're putting on the tube these days.
These gentlemen speak the truth once you dial in a good super soil and ur teas, compost, and botanicals. You will never look at a bottle again, worry bout phing water or really payattention to npk or feeding in general. As the saying goes feed the soil and it feeds the plant.
It sounds like you have what every grower is working toward! What do you think is missing? If you've got your nutrients and environment dialed, I would suggest experimenting with night time temps (try 20 degrees colder than what you flower in), and defoliation. Try some different techniques to see what works better for you. This is the fun part of growing, and this is the key to learning what works best for you and the place you grow in. I have a nice RO unit, but have found that my tap water is excellent. Plus I don't have to use any pH up/down when I use tap to mix nutrients. You may wish to try one, but unless your water is a problem, it probably won't make a huge difference. If you're using Lucas formula (excellent choice by the way), you may wish to experiment with other growing methods, like a Hempy bucket, or in coco, or a DWC bubble bucket. Etc... Those are easy enough to do one plant in along side your normal grow. Finally, something else to consider is the use of adding a mycorrhizae fungus, and/or beneficial bacterias to your nutrient solution. Otherwise, congrats on learning to grow well!
I would say you could start working toards 3 things, one would be yield, increasing your yield along with quality should be important to you also, increasing the scale of the grow say now your doing 10 5 gallon pots try increasing your grow scale and yield by increasing to maybe (20) 20 gallon smart pots, also getting a high top shelf medical grade of cannabis would be a good goal to work towards you could do this by changing up your strains to newer hybrids that will give you weight of quality bud. Maybe something like a Platinum Bubba Kush or Cherry Pie, Maybe blue dream or even perfecting the ones you have now. You could also start a breeding a few strains and make your own cross if your getting really bored
Hey 5cooby Doo, I agree with others above. Have you grown in coco coir ? Its superior to peat moss. Remember to add cal/mag mycorrhizae. Fabric pots will increase air to root zone = bigger healthier plants. Definitely get a RO filter. Ebay have decent one's at $75 bucks. If you want to grow fast monster plant DWC is hard to beat. I like to use Rubber maid 28 gallon commercial square brute containers for dwc. They have it at Lowes.
How is coir superior to peat moss in a hand crafted soil? No need to add cal/mag in a hand crafted soil. I love fabric pots! Organic hand crafted soil with Noob's SmartPot SIP setup can't be beat! http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/1151159-noobwannbs-self-wicking-smartpot-ghetto-setup.html I grow in hand crafted soil. My well water tests at 8.1 pH and 320 ppm. I stopped using my RO filter and pH adjusting my water about 1 1/2 years ago. My plants and the soil microbes thanked me. Unless your water is really bad, RO filters are a waste of $. And they waste a lot of water too. I wish I had spent that $ on earth worm castings! Who needs DWC when you've got the option of utilizing Noob's SmartPot SIP setup? No energy needed to run pumps, nothing to fail if the power goes out. Why automate if you don't have too?
You can't compare the growth rate soil to dwc(dwc will grow 2x as fast and finish faster). If your worried about power going out you can simply hook up a back up battery for the air pump. That's like 3 watts. One plant dwc clone pre-vegged 2 weeks Vegged a month will yield a pound. Soil can't do that indoors. Peat moss takes 200 years to replenish. Coconut 10 years. http://youtu.be/qiCBKb6SknQ Check out hygro's videos 1 plant 600w over 1 pound consistently. http://youtu.be/GKB1pFsIQCU If you guys have good success growing in soil great.
How about 7 plus pounds per plantoutdoors with no electrical costs. yup mother nature wins. I hate hydro just too much work and too much can go wrong. Pointlesstome in Nor Cal where I cangrow 12 foot tall trees legally inmy yard. One plantmore then takes care of my yearly medicinal needs haha.
Plus outdoor under the Cali sun can never be beat by artificial lighting. The sun just provides for a more complete andnatural product.