Canopy Managment 101

subcool · #1 09-07-2008, 08:50 AM

I see many grow rooms in my travels and I also see lots of bad practices and nasty looking canopies. I thought I would try and shed some light on the problems I see popping up the most.

#1. Improper use of lights!

It is common for growers to want to group all there plants under the hoods but this can cause a few problems. Many Sativa varieties will fox tail and form dready buds if the light intensity is to high.

Your wasting space if your not covering 6x6 with a 1000 watt hood!

Indoor Theory

Lighting

Lets discuss a few ways to construct a indoor grow room. According to your local laws, each state has a different limit of plants that can be grown in a space. I find it best to always have less plants budding than allowed so we will be learning to keep our plants in the vegetive state longer than normal all the while training and shaping the plants for maximum production indoors. In my youth we would run as many as 40 plants under 1000 watts in a 6x6 area. Now we design bud rooms to run between 4-6 plants in the same area with the same wattage lights. The yield is very similar and the main difference is the amount of time the plant is grown under an 18/6 lighting schedule. The plants are topped and shaped to form a wide bush that will finish with multi-headed and at a height of around 5-6 feet. Think of each area covered by a 1000 watt light as a 6x6x6 Cube that you are going to fill with Cannabis. By using 3 separate areas designated as Cloning area, Vegetive area, and Budding area, you can continually harvest medicine every 60 days.

We are going to use some firm measurements in this teaching example but almost any configuration will work that allows the three areas to be constructed. Every light/bulb has a foot print. This means the area that can properly be covered for maximum production.
They are as follows
1000 Watt Hoods…………6x6
600 Watt Hoods………….5x5
400 Watt Hoods………….4x4
250 Watt Hoods………….3x3

The design we will be teaching is a 12x6 Budding room with 2000 Watts of HPS lighting. The vegetive area is 6x6 with 1000 Watts of MH lighting, and a starting area 4x4. I also use a small shelf with fluorescents for cloning.

Top Plants early!

Transplant your plants early!

Do not start plants in small ass cups and then leave them untill there root bound and legged out.

Pictures are of proper applied methods.

Seamaiden · #2 09-07-2008, 11:27 AM

This should prove to be quite helpful, but I do have a couple of questions if I may.

First, what do you mean, specifically, when you speak of canopy management? At first I was thinking the canopy formed by the plants, but now I'm not so sure after reading this.

Second, you say to top early--how early? (Nodes' worth of growth, or how do you gauge this?)

Third, your wattage and coverage "chart" there, is that something that applies to any/all HID lighting, or is it specific to HPS or MH lighting?

Fourth, I can't draw for shit (what was I thinking going for a graphic arts major?), but have you got any type of drawing to help visualize how you've coordinated and designed your different areas? Are they completely physically separated from each other?

Fifth, you mentioned fluoros for the clones, are you very particular in terms of wattage, output (lumens) or color temperature (in the Kelvin scale as oppposed to the Color Rendering Index provided by some manufacturers)?

Seamaiden · #3 09-07-2008, 11:32 AM

Oh! Another question; Recommended reading. What would you recommend? I can tell you're not just reading books about growing Mary, you're reading a lot of other stuff, too. Right now my expertise in gardening is limited to Sunset Western Garden book.

subcool · #4 09-07-2008, 12:35 PM

I am just starting this thread and I hope when done you all will have a etter understanding.

This should prove to be quite helpful, but I do have a couple of questions if I may.

First, what do you mean, specifically, when you speak of canopy management? At first I was thinking the canopy formed by the plants, but now I'm not so sure after reading this.

Canopy is your crop when I speak of it. When set it should look like you can walk across the buds without touching the floor.

Second, you say to top early--how early? (Nodes' worth of growth, or how do you gauge this?)

I top extremly early notice the pics

Third, your wattage and coverage "chart" there, is that something that applies to any/all HID lighting, or is it specific to HPS or MH lighting?
It applies to All HID lighting

Fourth, I can't draw for shit (what was I thinking going for a graphic arts major?), but have you got any type of drawing to help visualize how you've coordinated and designed your different areas? Are they completely physically separated from each other?

Fifth, you mentioned fluoros for the clones, are you very particular in terms of wattage, output (lumens) or color temperature (in the Kelvin scale as oppposed to the Color Rendering Index provided by some manufacturers)?

No my clones only stay under flos long enough to root so I am not so concerned about spectrum. As soon as plants are old enough to place under HID I recommend doing so.

Sub

subcool · #5 09-07-2008, 12:39 PM

To get a good start on this style it’s important to top the plants early. As soon as my clones have rooted well and have started to grow I chop out the meristem causing the plant to divide into 2 growing shots. If this is performed low enough the plant will actually develop 3 heads just leave 3 nodes

You can see how the plants respond to intense light and early topping nice even growth and nice short spacing. This is maximizing lumens and canopy management at its max.

subcool · #6 09-07-2008, 01:38 PM

Ok so as far as grow books I can't really recommend any because its rare that a person is a good writer and a GREAT grower.
I can recommend you read every single post in this forum

TGA Online Growguide - BreedBay

Its my online grow school
I am slowly building it over here IE like this post I am doing now to teach you guys some yielding and quality secrets.

OK so now lets talk about transplanting ok?

If you have seen the outdoor gardens I cover online have seen the tremendous plants he grows in the ground.
One of the keys to this is some of the roots grow some 30 feet across the garden bed before the plants do any visible growing at all.

So lets apply this to an indoor garden and how most people grow that i see.
You may not be able to apply the concepts here if your on a small scale but at least work towards them ok..

The biggest mistake I see indoors is to small a container combined with letting the plant get root bound.

If your using a 16 ounce cup stop!
At minimum you want to start your baby plants (seeds and clones) in 1 gallon nursery pots.

This is good for about untill the plant gets established but as soon as the plant starts showing roots in the bottom holes of this pot its time to transplant again.

This is how it works I believe. As long as the plant has room it will continue to establish its rooting network to accommodate a plant of that size. Transplanting before the plant is root bound fools the plant into thinking its been in a bigger pot all along similar to in the ground. I use 7 and 10 gallon pots for this reason AND so I only have to water every 4 days in the hottest parts of my season.

The plant will build a large root system and then once budded (12/12) the plant will then grow into a large bush. This is not how most people grow and why not 2 hours ago I had someone tell me the most he ever yielded was 4 ounces in soil. We get twice that on Space Queen with my methods.

So Don't let your plants get root bound.
Don't sit on ya butts playing video games or with a hangover or any other excuse when its time to transplant you do its that simple. I see so many procrastinators when I travel from garden to garden and I can't criticize them directly I just come off like an asshole if I attack your garden and your method when you invite me over dig?

I am hoping by teaching my method in detail I can start seeing some people get better results.

Clones and new seeds are always placed into 1 gallon nursery pots without any Super soil or added nutrients Use only a good balanced potting soil that won’t burn your baby plants. They will only stay in these smaller pots for a few weeks while the roots get established and you shape and top them. Its very important to not procrastinate when it is time to transplant out of these smaller containers. If you get lazy and let your small plants sit around in their starter containers, it will slow the transition process after transplanting. I have seen first hand the huge difference when I gave some clones to a card holder. The day I transplanted I had 4 extra clones that I passed to him. Instead of transplanting right away he waited until they were root bound and looking poorly. I was able to harvest 30 days before him and the quality and quantity difference was hard to believe. My method is not for the lazy or procrastinating type, the more on top of each technique you become the better each harvest will become as well.
When I am ready to transplant into the final pots. I use #10 nursery pots now that will hold a full 7 gallons of liquid. Seven may not sound much bigger than a 5 but let me tell you these slanted #10 pots hold a bunch of soil! Make sure to lift properly using your legs and not your back when moving one that’s just been watered.
I fill each pot ¾ full with the super soil. I then fill the top half with plain potting soil. This buffers the roots and gives the plants time to get used to the hot soil I use.
Lets set up our pots on our trusty tarp the same one I used in mixing this soil. We line all the pots up and place between ½ and 2/3rds of a container of concentrate into the bottom of each container. Stains that have heavy nutrient requirements get more and short slow Indicas that require less food get less concentrate. Remember its better to under feed and fade a bit to early than to over feed and burn your plants up. Plants grown in this organic soil that fade early produce amazingly potent, smooth and tasty buds and the loss of yield is small. Some strains can grow fast and have such heavy nutrient requirements. For these plants top dressing half way through the flowering phase can be beneficial. We will discuss this more later in the book.

After the first step then layer some plain commercial potting soil on top of the concentrate, about 2" worth. Use your hand or a small trowel to lightly mix the two layers. This allows the plant to be buffered as it hits the hot soil on bottom. Make sure the roots do not touch direct super soil use your hand to mix the plain potting soil around with the super soil. Then go ahead and fill the container with plain potting soil leaving a small hole in the center.

It’s important to water the plants well before transplanting. This helps prevent shock a nice damp root ball will make a happy plant. Gently flip the plant upside down. Wack the bottom with palm of hand to loosen the root ball. Support the plant by placing hand on pot allowing stem to protrude though fingers. Remove from pot and support the base. Flip upright and place in hole made into the soil making sure the root ball is even with the top of the soil. Gently pack the soil level and don’t forget your label.

subcool · #7 09-07-2008, 01:40 PM

If your wondering How I figured all this out its simple.
I have been growing successive crops for 20 years over and over and over again.
As I told Ed if you do it 24/7 you learn things

Before I continue please ask any questions regarding the information so far.

I will be

Hayduke · #8 09-07-2008, 02:21 PM

Wow! I am new and in a small space for personal meds. I have already made a lot of mistakes, but learning from them.

No questions now, only absorbing your (free!

)knowledge.

Thanks!

subcool · #9 09-07-2008, 02:29 PM

Hayduke,
no worries bro its all about people helping each other and healing ourselves.
I am a caregiver for 3 others and myself and we grow a 100% legal set up and even stay under guide lines and except no consideration for our work (free meds to our patients)
My methods do not cover DWC or any simple hydroponic methods and I apologize Its just not my specialty and I believe the best medicines are produced naturally without chemicals and it mother earth albeit enhanced a bit

Hayduke · #10 09-07-2008, 02:37 PM

I agree, I am using soil and all organic.Totally legal here though the county does not like the law, and I am not fortunate enough (yet) to be away from the city.

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