First time grower on third cycle seeking wisdom and guidance!!!!!

Hey there fellow gardeners! Here is where i am at. i am in my third grow. i have so far had very quality buds and happy healthy plants. the quality of my product is not a worry to me, i am working to quantity, which has been alright, but no where near where i would like or need... i currently use:
Tuper organic coca coir, in 5 gallon buckets. under two 1000 watt HPS on the outside and a 1000 watt MH in the middle. i run a drain to waste with HEAVY 16 products. i use VEG A and VEG B and compost tea in veg. and BUD A, BUD B, HEAVY PRIME, HEAVY FIRE, and compost tea for flower. 18/6 veg 12/12 flower the room has the lights aircooled,two heavy duty fans. stays between 75 and 81 most of the time. i open the door and put a fan there sometimes to circulate air. i only got a pound from 17 plants and that doesnt make me very happy after all this time and money. what can i do?! im totally open to learn any advice would be greatly appriciated!

Sounds over complicated. I use Pro-Mix HP+Myco. I mix it 60% with 20% Kellogg Patio Plus (potting mix) and 20% Perlite. In your case, using HID, I might use Pro-Mix BX instead for the vermiculite which would help prevent the soil from drying too quickly under the radiant heat of your HIDs. (I use LED and it dries in 2-3 days with HP). I add 1 to 1.5 Tbsp/gal dolomite (Fertilome Hy-Yield Agricultural Lime).

As far as nutrients, I use Grow More Sea Grow because it has organic components and seems slow-acting (doesn't burn, just salt buildup if overfed). I mix it (All Purpose, Flower & Bloom, Hawaiin B&B, and some ordinary potassium sulfate purchased from Alpha Int'l on eBay).

I use this spreadsheet to mix the nutrients to my own custom ratios. I shoot for 1.5-1-1.5 in veg, 1-2-1.5 in late flower. (I play around. Sometimes 2-1-2 in veg. Sometimes 1-3-1 in flower.). I've gotten as much as 220g from a plant grown in a 2x2 by 4' tall space.

You could plug your multi-bottle "boutique lineup" into that spreadsheet to decode what you're actually feeding and do something *much* simpler. At least you'd know where your ratios stand (I assume you don't know).

I'm growing a plant right now with MiracleGro Tomato food. I expect it will do well. I just want to do it so I can say I've done it. I want to do another where I mix MG All Purpose, Tomato and Bloom Booster to get the ratios I like. (Again, just to see how it works, be able to say I've doe it. Basically to prove the point: you don't need exotic "boutique" nutrient "lineups." This isn't fantasy football. It's just NPK.).

I think side-lighting is one of the most productive things I've found. Instead of a strong single point, I like distributing the sources to *bathe* the plant in light. It's labor intensive. But, I get very good results with very low watts per sq ft. I've done very good at 22w/sq ft using Cree lightbulbs sold at Home Depot.

squidanddestroy said:

Hey there fellow gardeners! Here is where i am at. i am in my third grow. i have so far had very quality buds and happy healthy plants. the quality of my product is not a worry to me, i am working to quantity, which has been alright, but no where near where i would like or need... i currently use:
Tuper organic coca coir, in 5 gallon buckets. under two 1000 watt HPS on the outside and a 1000 watt MH in the middle. i run a drain to waste with HEAVY 16 products. i use VEG A and VEG B and compost tea in veg. and BUD A, BUD B, HEAVY PRIME, HEAVY FIRE, and compost tea for flower. 18/6 veg 12/12 flower the room has the lights aircooled,two heavy duty fans. stays between 75 and 81 most of the time. i open the door and put a fan there sometimes to circulate air. i only got a pound from 17 plants and that doesnt make me very happy after all this time and money. what can i do?! im totally open to learn any advice would be greatly appriciated!

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Your'e doing OK, but by what you say you need volume

I'd do a side by side grow using organic soils as

coco is a tricky medium even for a first timer

DWC(and Coco) are well known for volume not quality

and lack of air seems to be the issue with these guys ..or over nuting

either way ..look to to your strain selection next grow

and have some mix and match

good luck

I use a 20 gallon container for each plant in canna coco I get 18.6oz off each pot with a lower yielding strain..I use Canna coco which has excellent aeration might I add .... http://www.cannagardening.com/coco_50l_bags ..
Always keep air circulating.. feed to 30 percent runoff ... If my plants r at a comfortable e.c of 1.8 I feed that for 4 days the 5th day I bring the e.c down to 1.2 I pump my medium to get 90 to 100 percent runoff then I let the medium go almost completely dry be careful not to go totally dry but almost about 10 15 percent moisture content I test this with moisture meters ..after the medium drys to this point I begin to feed again at e.c 1.8 pH 5.8 with only 30 percent runoff again..run off is key don't underestimate the little stuff k.. water temp at 72 degree s Celsius 71.6 I find is optimal .. please read my posts in these 2 threads
https://www.rollitup.org/t/i-need-help-with-flushing.890863/
https://www.rollitup.org/t/someone-help.891430/page-2#post-12110744
Most of all after u have everything In cheque know ur genetics know ur genetics!.. I know my w.widow likes 5.9 to 6.0 in flowering and I know day 28 I want to pound my pot with 90 percent runoff and then on day 35 I pump the e.c up with only 30 percent runoff..document what u do on what day ..plan ahead I have day 1 to day 65 completely projected on paper for my indicated. .ya it might not work out exactly that way but it's a guideline.. if ur coco is garbage for aeration add perlite accordingly if u wanna learn more p.m me..peace and respect bro

Compare your yield to how many watts of light you're using rather than how many plants, the number of plants is not important (I know you said 3000w, just saying). You want a semetrical #of plants, 16 would be perfect, 4 under each light. Sounds like temps are a little high, not to bad but bringing it down will definitely help. You just have to dial in everything, light distance, light footprint, temps, RH, nutrients and so fourth. Search what is optimal for all these and more

J Bleezy said:

Compare your yield to how many watts of light you're using rather than how many plants, the number of plants is not important (I know you said 3000w, just saying). You want a semetrical #of plants, 16 would be perfect, 4 under each light. Sounds like temps are a little high, not to bad but bringing it down will definitely help. You just have to dial in everything, light distance, light footprint, temps, RH, nutrients and so fourth. Search what is optimal for all these and more

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Excellent points added with all this information at hand ur gunna learn how to reach ur goal quicker then u think

Really depends on strain and what size you are growing them to and training technique to tell what yield you should comfortably pull..imo your lighting is overkill and costing money you won't get a return on. My last grow was 14 assorted strains under one 1000de hps in a 5'9"square tent. It was a bit tight I let them get too large about 3ft little less when I flipped them. I averaged about 2.5 ounces per plant over about 115 days. In my case my yields would have been better if I had flowered them about two weeks earlier so bigger isn't better always. One plant yielded over three ounces while a RP og 18 yielded only about an ounce of absolute fire. So strain matters, size matters, and you need to keep that temperature under eighty. Mine were lst trained and my profile pic, avatar, whatever, is from that grow. I've also always had success by staying to the basics, I've not evolved my game much beyond gimmes, switch to air pots, add microbials, changed up my nutes to experiment. Haven't tried anything but soil, haven't tried co2 yet, etc. And by sticking to just keeping my environment perfect and watering and feeding right I've been able to increase my yields from my first grow. I as well am still not where I'd like to be. I think you can benefit from dialing the light back, making sure your temps are good your humidity above 50 I stick to 55 water right free right give them space keep an indirect fan moving things around.. And just keep trying and paying attention to what a plant likes! My last couple I did a pineapple chunk under a little 400 an amnesia auto and a bgum auto just because I had them so I threw em in late with the pineapple which was a monster lsted crazy style.. That put out over 3 the gum was about 1 and a half little less and the amnesia was about a zip even, all under a 400 130 days seed to weed.. If I had the option I'd be running mother plants to shrink that time frame but I think that's a good idea of what can be accomplished without so many grows under your belt. That's just general guidelines More info or pictures needed to pinpoint exactly why you're under a zip a plant under 3k though...

thanks for all the advice, so far ive dialed my nutes back 40% raised my lights. ive noticed rooting problems this round in the coca. going to get some soil. i heard lots of you say stuff about strain choice, which got me thinking. looking at my seedlings, actually thinking about it i can see some strains are much happier in the coca than the other strain which i got from a friend, and happen to know was a soil strain. the lights raised have pulled the temp back to 72-75..
az220 i really liked that spread sheet but had a hard time trying to use it could you explain it a little bit more please? thanks again everyone

Is be weary of using pure coco until you have alot of exp.. You will likely benefit from using a soiless mix instead

What's the square footage? Crowded plants don't yield their full potential.

my square footage is in a 4x8 drain table in a 16 by 20 room. with 12 foot cealings

i forgot to add, my mix is tuper organic coca coir, with perlite 60,40 and for my seedlings next round i got some soil and am doing a side by side.... also i kept an eye on which strains are the happiest in coca. interesting to say the least

I'm guessing you have your table in the middle of the room. Light containment is a huge thing that often gets overlooked, and can really be a big factor. That is why I have all my planters on one side of the room with two lights, one 1000w and one 600w (9' wide) with white walls. I use a piece of detachable panda plastic 2'-3' tall stretched across the open side to keep all the light contained. I grow with Roots Organics soil in Earthboxes and simply use organic granular fertilizer and water with plain water from start to finish, only once every three days or so. Last harvest was 2lb., 3 oz. Quality is AMAZING as well. IT DOES NOT GET ANY EASIER. This run I am in the process of tracking all my work hours to illustrate this. People talk about gram/watt but dont think about gram/hour.

Don't understand what the benefit is of moving your light off from the center if someone plans on using one light.. For more reflection off the wall? I think it's better to not put your plants against the wall at all and r the light in the center ?!

kermit2692 said:

Don't understand what the benefit is of moving your light off from the center if someone plans on using one light.. For more reflection off the wall? I think it's better to not put your plants against the wall at all and r the light in the center ?!

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You could also keep the table in the middle of the room and hang something lightweight to reflect the light in. As long as your lights are centered over the canopy it doesn't matter where they are as long as the light is contained... All I know is my yield went up a lot after moving to one side of the room vs. the center

i have it offset in the room to the side but not to close to the wall. i have nothing reflecting. shiny stuff or white paint. just concrete. after the flush and nute dial back they have picked up growth rate filling out and all. im doing a side by side this next round with. my coca. dialed back 40% to start. dirt from the veggy garden outside, and i think il pick up some michigan made mix organic soil. my seedlings. i did no clones for round four. are split between coca, and outside dirt, and rockwool cubes under a T5. soprano, alien og, louie from the 313 and blueberry! soprano likes coca more so far so does alien and louie. blueberry wasnt doing well in the coca but since i put in in soil it has recuparated.

heres my sopranos in the coca.