Howdy, looks folks have been busy!
I know what you mean about assuming. Having done my due diligence and dead level best to do everything right, it now appears I have done most everything bassackwards from beginning to end. Must have RO water! pH must be 5.4! Must use FF soil! Must trim those pesky bottom leaves and branches! Must have 4megawatts of light per plant! Must chop at the 60 days it says on the seed banks website! Somehow, I always *knew* most of this was total horsepucky and Uncle Ben confirmed it. I have always loved gardening but I have also always had a totally brown thumb. I owe so much to Uncle Ben; I'm on the verge of starting this years grow. This info could not have come at a better time.
Yep, like I said in another thread, I've never seen a community that is so determined to make growing a weed so confusing, expensive, complicated and mysterious as this one. It doesn't have to be. I look at some of these rocket fuel threads and can only laugh.
You can get a cheap analog light meter that reads up to 10,000 lumens for like $30 (they have em at the nursery where I shop) and go outside on a bright sunny day and start measuring things like stand in the shade under a tree, check the bottom of a bush and then the middle and then the top. You will be amazed at what you find
Yep, that's the beauty of adding such a nice tool to your toolbox. Folks monitor everything but light. Makes me wonder why.
Yes I know the sun is more powerful than all of our indoor lights....
We need to clarify this. The sun has more penetrating power but it is not necessarily more "powerful" when it comes to lumens received. I'll post my meassurements once again.
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Footcandle light values are given for a 250W Phillips HPS and an Osram Super 600W HPS, both taken from the centerpoint of the bulb/bottom of a white enameled, horizontal Diamond Lights reflector having a typical gull wing insert.
DISTANCE FROM LIGHT........F.C. READING
........................250 Watt..................600 Watt
Within 6" of lamps (way over the 10K f.c. mark)
6".......................10,000.....................10K+
8".......................7,100.......................10K+
12"......................4,800......................8,700
18"......................2,800......................5,600
24"......................2,000......................4,200
30"......................1,400......................3,300
Frame of reference: sun = 9,000 - 10,000f.c. average, clear summer day at high noon
Regular Cool White shop fluor measured 2" from bulb = 1,200 f.c.
Enjoy,
Uncle Ben
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Hey UB..
Hope all is well. I've got some kinda leaf driller or disease working my plants here. I didn't think it looked like mites. Whatever it is, it seems to be focused on the veins.
It's gonna be one of two things - insect damage or stress reaction from your fertilizer. Check the underside of the leaves with a loupe.
I'm reading this from UB
"For me, a 9-3-6 and a 1-3-2 is all I need."
1-3-2 is the same ratio as Jack's Classic Bloom Booster
where does 9-3-6 come from? I'm looking at Jack's Classic All Purpose and it is 20-20-20. I mean can I use Jack's Classic stuff for Veg? Also, am I right to assume that 1-3-2 comes from using Classic Bloom Booster alone? (it is 1-3-2). I would have expected to see more N.
9-3-6 is a Dyna-Gro food, but that ratio is pretty standard in the industry. I buy a food that is a 18-4-9 for example. 1-3-2 is another standard NPK value for alot of bloom foods. If you want to be on the safe side then use a balanced food that is a 1-1-1.
Grow hard,
UB
They make their money on ink, but I did find a cheap work-around - Ebay. 
Welcome to the real world of gardening.
