Don't Get Complacent!
When you're new to something, you make mistakes; it's a fact of life. You learn to write, you make a few spelling mistakes. You learn to drive, you dent a few bumpers.
When you're new to something, you make mistakes; it's a fact of life. You learn to write, you make a few spelling mistakes. You learn to drive, you dent a few bumpers.
When you’re new to something, you make mistakes; it’s a fact of life. You learn to write, you make a few spelling mistakes. You learn to drive, you dent a few bumpers. You learn to grow, you kill a few plants. We’ve all been there.
| Don’t neglect the basics – keep your pH and EC levels in check |
As you develop your skills, it’s easy to get complacent. You don’t check your spelling so much. You don’t check your mirrors as frequently. You don’t check the basics when you’re in your grow room. Be careful, because one day this over confidence will catch you out.
When you’ve been growing for a good few years, you’re likely to have your watering and feeding dialled in, you know how to deal with different kinds of pests and you can spot the signs of a micro-nutrient deficiency at twenty paces! But don’t forget the simple stuff. Here are a few tips that even the most experienced grower will do well to remember.
1. Check your levels
One of the biggest mistakes that an over confident grower will make is to stop checking their pH and nutrient strength levels, even when mixing up a fresh batch of nutrients. It’s easy to think that if you keep all variables the same for each grow; the room, lights, nutrient, media and strain, that there will be no fluctuations. However this overlooks two important factors. The first is that the pH and background EC of your tap water can change over time, so this needs to be measured and monitored. The second – and most important – is that plants are living things and are constantly changing and are therefore unpredictable.
On the subject of measuring, it’s important to clean and calibrate your meters frequently. Check the manufacturers’ recommendations on how often to calibrate your meters and which calibration solution to use. If you’re going to use a tool for a job, it might as well be working!
2. Upscale effectively
If you’ve been growing for a while, every now and then, you’ll be likely to upscale your operation; add an extra couple of lights (or an extra couple of rooms!) to get a bit of extra bud in the jars. The over confident grower can make the mistake of forgetting that increasing the size of your grow, means you increase the size of your workload. If you normally grow 25 plants and decide to start a 50 plant grow – aiming to get double the yield - you should expect to double the amount of time you spend maintaining your plants. If you don’t put the extra time in, then your plants won’t reach their full potential and you won’t get anywhere near the yield you’re looking for.
It’s certainly possible to reduce some of your workload when you upscale.For example, getting yourself a hydro system that keeps your plants watered for you, is much more time efficient than hand watering. But for most plant maintenance jobs; transplanting, topping, pruning and training, you need to be prepared to put in the extra graft.
3. Keep your equipment maintained
Remember the phrase ‘A good workman never blames his tools’? Keep it in mind when you’re performing your maintenance checks before starting a new grow. You don’t want to be the grower complaining about being down on yield because your bulbs were too old! Have a checklist in your head of what needs to be done before your plants go in and stick to it.
Replace your bulbs every other grow and don’t touch them with your skin, the oils can damage the glass. Polish your reflectors and keep them clean throughout the grow, this will ensure that they direct the maximum amount of light towards your plants. Don’t spray any liquids - pesticide or foliar feed - onto or around hot bulbs, it can weaken the glass and cause them to shatter.
Also, clean your filters; replace the dust sleeves after every grow. The cleaner the filter is, the less pressure it will put on your fan. It’s also a good idea to check that there are no leaks in your ventilation system and that all the joins are properly clamped or sealed up with tape.
4. Change one thing at a time
Whether you’re growing for yourself or to pay the bills, it’s always tempting to try something new in the pursuit of more yield or improved quality. Most good growshops hold an impressive display of products; nutrient ranges, growing media, lamps and reflectors. Most good growshop owners are enthusiastic about what they are selling and are happy to talk you through the details of how to use the products. It’s always good fun to return home with a new toy and try it out. Just keep one thing in mind; you can only properly evaluate the effect of changing one of the variables in your grow, if everything else stays the same.
Upscale your grow and reduce watering workloads – use a hydro system
For example; you buy some new lights and a new line of nutrients and get a better yield than with previous grows. Was it the light or the nutes? And are you going to swap one of them back to find out which one it was?
Lots of good growers get stuck using certain products because they don’t exactly know which product is helping them achieve their yields. Then they won’t try anything new because they don’t want to risk the yields that they’re achieving. Don’t get stuck in a rut!
5. Plan ahead
It’s important to think in advance and plan accordingly. How will the weather change throughout your grow? Will you be dealing with extra heat or falling temperatures? Factor this infrom the start.
Many growers will get started in September to ensure they get a nice crop in for Christmas, take some time off to visit family and friends and then start up again in the New Year. It’s not so simple to ask the neighbours to pop round and water your plants if you’re going away for a week!
Happy growing!
S
Soft Secrets
