Uncle Ben's gardening tweeks and pointers

Uncle Ben · #1 11-07-2009, 06:58 AM

I started this draft and then quit after finding out I can't edit what I start. I need the flexibility to make future additions and revisions, which is not granted to the thread starter here at RIU. So for what it's worth, here are a few tidbits written about 6 months ago.

Enjoy,
Uncle Ben

************************************************** *************************************

Uncle Ben's Gardening Tweeks

After 40 years of gardening experience, a ton of applied book learning, and a whole lot of research and personal experience I thought I'd share some pointers or tweeks. Feel free to comment. This will be a work in progress as I recall “gems” I might have inadvertently left out.

Light - Plants needs a rest. Recommend 20/4 for veg. Plants do better (produce more carbos) with less light over a longer period of time than alot of light for a shorter period of time. There is a point of light saturation where more light will work against you by bleaching out the lifeblood of the plant - chlorophyll. Learn to "read your plants" and keep those leaves healthy and green until harvest. Also, contrary to forum paradigms, in general you want to give your plants more light during veg and less during flowering, think nature. The flowering response is not the time to bleach out the leaves with high light intensities (and high P foods). Ultra low levels of N found in bloom foods will generally not support leaf health.

Temperature and the importance of day/night differential - In general, a 85/70F (32/16C) day/night temp is best for most hybrids for maximum carbo production. What's really important is a good drop in temperature at night, of at least 15F/4C. If night temps are too high, the plant will use up the carbos manufactured during the day to the process of respiration as opposed to plant cell division/elongation (tissue production).

Watering technique - contrary to popular belief, wet/dry cycles are NOT good, especially for organic growers. Keep the soil medium moist but not saturated to the point where air is excluded. When you water, don’t be shy. Water until there is a good runoff. The issue is not overwatering, it's watering to the point of the exclusion of air.

Fertilizers - I don’t use “cannabis specific” plant foods for many reasons. If you do, make sure you’re able to find the NPK and micro values and understand the relationship between those elements. An overage of one element over another will create an antagonistic affect. For example, too much K tends to create a deficiency of N, Ca, and Mg.

Foliage production - Grow for the most amount of foliage you can going into the flowering response. Maintain those leaves in a green and healthy condition up until harvest, even if it means switching fertilizer to a high N value, like a 9-3-6.

Upcanning (repotting) - Score the rootball - pop the ball out and using a razor blade or sharp knife insert it about ½" into the rootball at the top and slice thru the exposed roots from top to bottom concentrating on any root spinout at the bottom. Rotate the rootball and do this about 4 times. Bury the “trunk” as deep as you can even if it means pulling off some of the lower leafsets. This will induce root output all along the buried trunk.

ghostsamurai25 · #2 11-07-2009, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Ben

I started this draft and then quit after finding out I can't edit what I start. I need the flexibility to make future additions and revisions, which is not granted to the thread starter here at RIU. So for what it's worth, here are a few tidbits written about 6 months ago.

Enjoy,
Uncle Ben

************************************************** *************************************

Uncle Ben's Gardening Tweeks

After 40 years of gardening experience, a ton of applied book learning, and a whole lot of research and personal experience I thought I'd share some pointers or tweeks. Feel free to comment. This will be a work in progress as I recall “gems” I might have inadvertently left out.

Light - Plants needs a rest. Recommend 20/4 for veg. Plants do better (produce more carbos) with less light over a longer period of time than alot of light for a shorter period of time. There is a point of light saturation where more light will work against you by bleaching out the lifeblood of the plant - chlorophyll. Learn to "read your plants" and keep those leaves healthy and green until harvest. Also, contrary to forum paradigms, in general you want to give your plants more light during veg and less during flowering, think nature. The flowering response is not the time to bleach out the leaves with high light intensities (and high P foods). Ultra low levels of N found in bloom foods will generally not support leaf health.

Temperature and the importance of day/night differential - In general, a 85/70F (32/16C) day/night temp is best for most hybrids for maximum carbo production. What's really important is a good drop in temperature at night, of at least 15F/4C. If night temps are too high, the plant will use up the carbos manufactured during the day to the process of respiration as opposed to plant cell division/elongation (tissue production).

Watering technique - contrary to popular belief, wet/dry cycles are NOT good, especially for organic growers. Keep the soil medium moist but not saturated to the point where air is excluded. When you water, don’t be shy. Water until there is a good runoff. The issue is not overwatering, it's watering to the point of the exclusion of air.

Fertilizers - I don’t use “cannabis specific” plant foods for many reasons. If you do, make sure you’re able to find the NPK and micro values and understand the relationship between those elements. An overage of one element over another will create an antagonistic affect. For example, too much K tends to create a deficiency of N, Ca, and Mg.

Foliage production - Grow for the most amount of foliage you can going into the flowering response. Maintain those leaves in a green and healthy condition up until harvest, even if it means switching fertilizer to a high N value, like a 9-3-6.

Upcanning (repotting) - Score the rootball - pop the ball out and using a razor blade or sharp knife insert it about ½" into the rootball at the top and slice thru the exposed roots from top to bottom concentrating on any root spinout at the bottom. Rotate the rootball and do this about 4 times. Bury the “trunk” as deep as you can even if it means pulling off some of the lower leafsets. This will induce root output all along the buried trunk.

K.I.S.S
I love this, its simple yet full of gems.
Some of the best info Ive read on this site in a while.
UB, can you please elaborate on why we need to keep our soil moist in organic grows. Ive seen that Ive always had problems with my organic grows and I know its due to letting the soil dry out then watering, on this grow I kept it moist and the plants look beautiful. My ? is why though, what effect does this have on the soil and plants?
Thanks Dude!

Dr. Indica · #3 11-07-2009, 07:39 AM

Good little read

Maybe talk a little about different kinds of fertilizers and the ingredients used in them.....like WSN (N) and WIN (N)

southern homegrower · #4 11-07-2009, 08:46 AM

i use pureblend pro from botanicare and the flower nutes are 2-3-5 and the veg nutes are3-2-4. would i be better off using 3/4 bloom nutes and 1/2 veg nutes. im growing hydro. when i use to grow outside my leafs staid nice and lush green right up to harvest time. now that i switched to hydro my leafs start looking kinda bad yellowing about the 5th week of flower . im growing a pure indica strain. and what books would you recomend on growing

dakin3d · #5 11-07-2009, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Ben

I started this draft and then quit after finding out I can't edit what I start. I need the flexibility to make future additions and revisions, which is not granted to the thread starter here at RIU. So for what it's worth, here are a few tidbits written about 6 months ago.

Enjoy,
Uncle Ben

************************************************** *************************************

Uncle Ben's Gardening Tweeks

After 40 years of gardening experience, a ton of applied book learning, and a whole lot of research and personal experience I thought I'd share some pointers or tweeks. Feel free to comment. This will be a work in progress as I recall “gems” I might have inadvertently left out.

Light - Plants needs a rest. Recommend 20/4 for veg. Plants do better (produce more carbos) with less light over a longer period of time than alot of light for a shorter period of time. There is a point of light saturation where more light will work against you by bleaching out the lifeblood of the plant - chlorophyll. Learn to "read your plants" and keep those leaves healthy and green until harvest. Also, contrary to forum paradigms, in general you want to give your plants more light during veg and less during flowering, think nature. The flowering response is not the time to bleach out the leaves with high light intensities (and high P foods). Ultra low levels of N found in bloom foods will generally not support leaf health.

Temperature and the importance of day/night differential - In general, a 85/70F (32/16C) day/night temp is best for most hybrids for maximum carbo production. What's really important is a good drop in temperature at night, of at least 15F/4C. If night temps are too high, the plant will use up the carbos manufactured during the day to the process of respiration as opposed to plant cell division/elongation (tissue production).

Watering technique - contrary to popular belief, wet/dry cycles are NOT good, especially for organic growers. Keep the soil medium moist but not saturated to the point where air is excluded. When you water, don’t be shy. Water until there is a good runoff. The issue is not overwatering, it's watering to the point of the exclusion of air.

Fertilizers - I don’t use “cannabis specific” plant foods for many reasons. If you do, make sure you’re able to find the NPK and micro values and understand the relationship between those elements. An overage of one element over another will create an antagonistic affect. For example, too much K tends to create a deficiency of N, Ca, and Mg.

Foliage production - Grow for the most amount of foliage you can going into the flowering response. Maintain those leaves in a green and healthy condition up until harvest, even if it means switching fertilizer to a high N value, like a 9-3-6.

Upcanning (repotting) - Score the rootball - pop the ball out and using a razor blade or sharp knife insert it about ½" into the rootball at the top and slice thru the exposed roots from top to bottom concentrating on any root spinout at the bottom. Rotate the rootball and do this about 4 times. Bury the “trunk” as deep as you can even if it means pulling off some of the lower leafsets. This will induce root output all along the buried trunk.

Uncle Ben, sweet ass thread! Good basic information that very few individuals either know, or fail to mention. I know it takes time to post this info, and answer questions consistently... so, thank you for your generosity.

My first questions refer to light intensity: Do you have a recommendation of a good reference that would answer these basic questions? How is light intensity measured and what are the units used? What type of meter is used that can measure intensity reliably without spending a lot of $$$? What is appropriate intensity for our specific plant in general, or will this vary on strain like many variables? When considering a 400W hortilux bulb, how capable am I of providing too much light to say 18 plants w/in a confined space (ie, 4x3')? *Btw, ever since I switched from 24/0 to 20/4, the plants indeed, seem to be 'happier'.

I'm also interested in hearing why keeping the plants moist, but not dry before watering, is ideal.

When discussing your up-canning method, I just want to clarify whether you mean cutting into the soil .5" as if it were a 'piece of pie', for lack of a better analogy (ie, 'freeing up the roots')... Or if you mean, actually shaving a .5" circumference around the outer edge of the entire side soil layer after removing from the pot (ie, shortening the roots).

Last, I remember your post on pH, so I have an inclination of how you feel about it. However, I have to ask, do you pH your water? Nutrients? If so, what do you use to increase/decrease your pH? Can you use acetic acid (specifically white distilled vinegar) to decrease? Can you use a sodium bicarbonate solution (baking soda) to increase?... Or do these leave unwanted byproducts. Thanks, man.

Thank you.

robert 14617 · #6 11-07-2009, 10:12 AM

+ rep thank you UB ...rob

Bob Smith · #7 11-07-2009, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dakin3d

Uncle Ben, sweet ass thread! Good basic information that very few individuals either know, or fail to mention. I know it takes time to post this info, and answer questions consistently... so, thank you for your generosity.

My first questions refer to light intensity: Do you have a recommendation of a good reference that would answer these basic questions? How is light intensity measured and what are the units used? What type of meter is used that can measure intensity reliably without spending a lot of $$$? What is appropriate intensity for our specific plant in general, or will this vary on strain like many variables? When considering a 400W hortilux bulb, how capable am I of providing too much light to say 18 plants w/in a confined space (ie, 4x3')? *Btw, ever since I switched from 24/0 to 20/4, the plants indeed, seem to be 'happier'.

I'm also interested in hearing why keeping the plants moist, but not dry before watering, is ideal.

When discussing your up-canning method, I just want to clarify whether you mean cutting into the soil .5" as if it were a 'piece of pie', for lack of a better analogy (ie, 'freeing up the roots')... Or if you mean, actually shaving a .5" circumference around the outer edge of the entire side soil layer after removing from the pot (ie, shortening the roots).

Last, I remember your post on pH, so I have an inclination of how you feel about it. However, I have to ask, do you pH your water? Nutrients? If so, what do you use to increase/decrease your pH? Can you use acetic acid (specifically white distilled vinegar) to decrease? Can you use a sodium bicarbonate solution (baking soda) to increase?... Or do these leave unwanted byproducts. Thanks, man.

Thank you.

Light's measured using a light meter.

Hydrofarm makes (used to ten years ago when I bought it) a cheapo guy for $20-$30 that'll do what you need it to.

Uncle Ben, could you expound a touch on why you think that a vegging plant benefits from a dark period? I know everyone's got their own theories on 18/6 vs. 24/0, was just curious what yours was.

Also, have you ever run a controlled experiment with 24/0 vs. 20/4?

Thanks for your time, I (and most others, methinks) appreciate the effort you put into trying to help others.

Bob Smith · #8 11-07-2009, 10:24 AM

http://www.hydrofarm.com/pb_detail.php?itemid=3087

Works fine, I used it setting up a room ten years ago to make sure the light was in the proper place for maximum efficiency.

merahoon · #9 11-07-2009, 10:53 AM

Thanks UB for your knowledge! My only question regards to applying nutes in flowering. You stated that if its necessary to keep your leaves green, give them a 9-3-6. Won't your plants produce smaller flowers if your giving that much nitrogen in flowering? Or will it only do that when your adding N once the leaves are already green enough?