Our well water is poor quality and the previous homeowners put in an RO system that I am able to get 5 gallons out of easy enough so I just switched from using the untreated well water of close to 330ppm on a tds-3 tds/temp meter. After the RO it is 9 ppm. The ph at both the well water and the RO unit is close to the same at 6.5, After adding foxfarm recommended nutes for either the vegging ladies or the flowering ones the ph drops to 4.5 so I am just now starting to add ph with a GH kit to see if that has been the culprit to poor harvest in my last crop. I am a relatively new indoor grower and have much to learn. I previously grew in just the summer months in ground inside a greenhouse. Should I always correct the ph last? I am growing from well established clones all in foxfarm with a bit of perlite added to lighten the soil up for drainage. 1000 watt MH veg room on a mover and a 1000 watt hps and 600hps/400mh combination hood are both in the 8x12 flowering room on a mover as well, I just recently added the extra 1000 watt hps as I did not think the plants were getting adequate light with the combo light/hood traveling 10' back and fourth. That I'd what I attributed to the buds just not really filling out and thriving on my previous grow. I do have a co2 tank from an older kegerator that I am considering getting a regulator for if I cannot fix the problem by monitoring the water quality and available nutes. I'm confident lighting is no longer the issue. I have great ventilation and a good constant 80 degrees in the finishing room and approx 15 degrees cooler in the veg room that is my next project to raise the temp for vegging. They still seem to thrive so I have not made it top priority. I am sure I have a couple other questions but wanted to get some input on where I am at to see if something jumps out at someone that could be an issue? I am having some concerns with the next two plants that are a few weeks from harvest (sage) with some white spots on the leaves that do not appear to be big related after much looking around with a magnifying glass. I've never once had a issue with insects except for gnats around the soil? I keep a bug zapper going on the timer to run during the day. I'm running 24 on for vegging but considering cutting back to 20/4. I'm at 12/12 on flower. I recently noticed the timer on my flower room had got bumped and was running 13.5 on and 10.5 off instead of the 12/12 so that may have been an issue with poor bud size development and taking forever for buds to finish maturing? I just corrected that error. I would certainly appreciate any thoughts, comments and advise on my grow. Will get some pics of the white spots when doing today's chores. I plan on trimming up the undergrowth on a couple plants to see if that helps the main buds fully develop on the main colas. One last question is I have been making a decent semi potent canna butter out of the trimmings but want to add 1/2 cured buds to it on this time of making butter and wondered if anyone has a ratio of each in grams to add per stick of butter for a good potent butter? Thanks and have a great day!
I hit send before finishing my post. I just use medibles out of butter and do not smoke at all. I do not particularly care for the high that most seek. I am using the medibles to help when my narcotic pain meds do not control my back and neck pain. The remainder of my grow will get made into cannibus oil for cancer patients. I am also experimenting with different strains to find one that will help with ongoing depression. Does anyone have success with any medibles working for depression? Thanks again!
For the simplest, and in my opinion (lol) the very best way to grow cannabis, try gardening organically. This might solve your issues. It did for me. We add all nutrition directly into our soil mixes, relying on bacteria in worm castings and co post to break down the organic matter into usable plant food. Your well water has a high PPM due to minerals in your water. These minerals are generally beneficial in an organic garden. I use straight well water with outstanding results. You won't need to check ppm or pH anymore - you really only need to keep your soil moist with straight water in an organic garden without the need for any additional bottled nutrients. Once you get further into it you could learn to make your own organic teas. Nothing different needs to be done from your veg stage through flowering - pure simplicity. Here are two threads to read that you might find will help you in your quest to grow the finest cannabis out there. Good luck. http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/1116550-easy-organic-soil-mix-beginners.html http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-m...door-gardening-without-bottled-nutrients.html J
Keeping your water ph in line is really important. I ran into ph issues and it leads to lockouts and stunted growth so try to keep an eye on them. I prefer my temps to stay around 75 but that's just what I find works best for me and the strains I work with. For depression you might want to stick with sativa dominant strains. Only issue there is they tend to yield a little less per. Sq ft but that can be remedied with a little training like let. I'm a fan of Shaman by Dutch passion, great stuff and a really resilient plant. Never had issues with bugs or mold or disease only when I created a nuttrient lockout due to watering with a really high ph