FD's Guide to Growing Hefty Autos in Small Places.

Ok guys i have been dragging my knuckles on this for too long. This thread will be dedicated to my actual grow technique. I will have everything in here from the way i germ seeds to the way i harvest and everything in between.

ill cover my soil mixes, teas, water adjustments, feeding schedules as well as the recipes for the soil and teas that i use. My goal is to teach how to grow the bud lumps you see in the small pots i use. I feel if you use this you may have the same success that i do when it comes to autos in small places.

Bare with me as i will update this on the regular, but will be locking it to get it all organized.

 

[FullDuplex]

How are you going to source the slag now?

That part other than the web may be hard. I havent really looked here yet but im sure there has to be something
besides for the size i can grow now i wont be needing much till i get another house.

 

[FullDuplex]

So now that i covered every aspect of my grows let me ask you guys, what would you like me touch on.

 

[roadsidevendor1]

i am doing my current grow
using your methods and soil
mixture.
everything is just as expected
i chose the best male and best
female to use for seed production.
i understand,if all goes well,in 5 or 6
weeks i will have alot of seed to harvest.

any tricks of the trade on seed collection?
do you dry and handle a seeded bud any
different from others?
how soon after harvesting seed can i do
a germination test?

 

[FullDuplex]

hey Rsv,

I usually dry them the same as the rest of the bud. Once dry enough for the jars, i set the seeded bud aside and allow to dry for another day and then dismantle them.
collect the seed and then i place them in their own little Tupperware cups on top of the fridge for a week then i seal them in a test tube and into the fridge.

If i am saving any out for a germ test, i usually wait at least 2 weeks for a proper dry, but thats just me

 

[A-non]

Good guide FD I will be using some of your tips for sure

 

[jhnfrmrby420]

Ok, couple questions after reading the thread. First, Thank You So Very much for all the informative info!!! I grew one plant outside, just ordered seeds From Herbies, Im scared crapless about germing, if it was bag seed, ok, but being I paid almost $200 for these seeds, I can't afford for them to NOT sprout. I've tried everyway explained, soaking, paper towel, direct into soil. Out of 12 seeds tried I got 2 to sprout from bag seed.........

So what is a sure fire way for germing????? I don't think The CFL's I used On my first attempt gets warm enough for germing and my house is always chilly.

And with The oxygen Tabs in the water, what kind? How many per gallon?

Also, I bought this PH tester, no name off amazon. Its not calibrated unless my water is 14.5 coming from our well water.....lol

How do I calibrate this if I dont know the PH of the water is to begin with???????

I'll be growing with soil, nutes, your oxygen and bubbler PH'd water

Going to build a 3x3 by 7 box with 400watt HPS, 250CFM inline duct fan 250cfm Charcoal filter, a small window fan to circulate air, and before I read your thread, I bought 6 3gal smart pots. Also going to try your tiered method with the screen.

Also, should I make a hole somewhere in my box for fresh air intake?

Should I cover that hole with a filter or something so air is clean coming in??????

I bought my first seeds from Herbies. 5 of them were damaged due to the package getting stepped on or something, I just wrote them to see if they'll do anything. The stealth was very ingenious, but for obvious reasons I'm not saying what it was, very cool though. I bought like 15 seeds and got a total of 23 with freebies

 

[BOMBUDZ]

Hey FD I had this question for a long time I might of asked you but I dont think so..I have kelp but my kelp is pure dry powdered kelp which I use for clients for thyroid probs...so I was wondering if I could use this as a tea for the plants? if so how much if you know.? or mixed into the dirt..? Dont know if Ill use the kelp on this grow but would be good to know. Doing the tiered method and all is going good so far..I like the tiered..Thnx

 

[FullDuplex]

Ok, couple questions after reading the thread. First, Thank You So Very much for all the informative info!!! I grew one plant outside, just ordered seeds From Herbies, Im scared crapless about germing, if it was bag seed, ok, but being I paid almost $200 for these seeds, I can't afford for them to NOT sprout. I've tried everyway explained, soaking, paper towel, direct into soil. Out of 12 seeds tried I got 2 to sprout from bag seed.........

So what is a sure fire way for germing????? I don't think The CFL's I used On my first attempt gets warm enough for germing and my house is always chilly.

And with The oxygen Tabs in the water, what kind? How many per gallon?

Also, I bought this PH tester, no name off amazon. Its not calibrated unless my water is 14.5 coming from our well water.....lol

How do I calibrate this if I dont know the PH of the water is to begin with???????

I'll be growing with soil, nutes, your oxygen and bubbler PH'd water

Going to build a 3x3 by 7 box with 400watt HPS, 250CFM inline duct fan 250cfm Charcoal filter, a small window fan to circulate air, and before I read your thread, I bought 6 3gal smart pots. Also going to try your tiered method with the screen.

Also, should I make a hole somewhere in my box for fresh air intake?

Should I cover that hole with a filter or something so air is clean coming in??????

I bought my first seeds from Herbies. 5 of them were damaged due to the package getting stepped on or something, I just wrote them to see if they'll do anything. The stealth was very ingenious, but for obvious reasons I'm not saying what it was, very cool though. I bought like 15 seeds and got a total of 23 with freebies

As far as germination goes if your water is not pH perfect that is ok. At this point the plant is needing started. The only absorption going on at this point is to create life. However if you get a tail its time to get them in their correct environment. ie pH'ed water and soil but to start them plain water is OK.

Now as far as the water goes you need to get back on amazon and purchase some calibration soloutions, this is the only way to get the pH pen to work right. If not you are going to get readings like you have. Always have a fresh intake to the plants its good for them, cover the hole with a filter of some sort and you should be fine.

The tabs i used one a gallon, now as far as this it does not matter how many. Water has a saturation point with o2, so the colder the water the more o2 you can cram in there.

---------- Post added 12-03-2011 at 11:57 PM ----------

Hey FD I had this question for a long time I might of asked you but I dont think so..I have kelp but my kelp is pure dry powdered kelp which I use for clients for thyroid probs...so I was wondering if I could use this as a tea for the plants? if so how much if you know.? or mixed into the dirt..? Dont know if Ill use the kelp on this grow but would be good to know. Doing the tiered method and all is going good so far..I like the tiered..Thnx

personally i think it would do great in the tea. If i could have got my hands on some of that over the liquid i would have got it. I would start small as i do not know how concentrated it is to be honest. At first i would to like a table spoon or something small. kelp has amino acids and things like vitamins for the plant so there isnt really a chance to burn but to much im sure can be done.

 

[MrCaaks]

Hey FD I have read your thread and just love some of the ideas man. Thanks for sharing! On another note I am new to this community as well as new to growing. I am not in the position to try and mix my own organic soil at the moment, but I heard alot of good things about Ocean Forest. I was planning on using Botanicare's line of nutes including pro grow, pro bloom, cal-mag, liquid karma, super thrive and some blackstrap molasses. Maybe some bud candy as I heard the stuff is like steroids for plant. I was planning on putting the seeds right into the soil in 2 or 3 gal pots right after germination. Under a 400 watt mh/hps system how far/close would you keep the light from the soil? once it has a couple sets of leaves should I move the light closer? Also, I am a noob so bare with me, how long would you use the mh bulb before switching to the hps? I'm planning on growing nothing but autos, a variety of strains including pineapple express, easy ryder, mi5 and diesel ryder. Any tips or suggestions would be highly appreciated guys. I also plan to start a thread as soon as I get this thing started. Does anyone here lst train their autos? If so, any advice on that would great as well. Thanks to any and all reply's.

 

[UHF]

Just spent the last hour reading from page 1-15. All i can is WOW & THANK YOU FD. So many things to do on my next grow i cant wait. I have a couple of small blue himalaya that will finish around Christmas. Going to start and gather all the stuff i need for my next grow but i have one question. For the tea ingredients what is (Tablespoon of Slag (pH balance, has lime in it). Again thank you for the time you have put into this thread.