Starting Fresh again, some questions:)

[Joel]

Hey guys, I haven't been online since 2007 haha! has been ages for me! Anyways I'm finally having a new room open up so I can have another great green garden. I will open up an official thread when I get all my bits and bobs together wich will take me approx 1 month to achieve funding.

Alright so lets get my basics up sha'll we ?

I want to achieve a constant supply of bud, and to do so I was thinking along the lines of having 1 healthy mother, clone her 5 to 6 times or as many as I can fit or without hurting her. With the clones let them root for two weeks in a 3gal pot and then force flower. I have a few questions if someone would be kind enough to answer for me!

-How many times can I clone my healthy grown girl without hurting her or stunting growth?
-How often would I have to grow another major mother plant?[This question only applys if the plant does stunt or get hurt in any way, in that case its self explanitory :P!]

Im going to be using a 96x48x78 [4x8 Feet] tent.
-How many clones [In 3gal pots] could I fit into this size of a tent without over crowding?

As for my lighting situation Im going to be using a 400w MH for my beautiful mother, 400w or 600w HPS for my flowering clones.

Im unsure about all of the nutrients, can anyone direct me to a very common store through out canada that would carry sufficient nutrients for flowering/vegging plants? ty

Ive picked out two strains in wich Id like to grow, both with the same flowering times so it doesn't become much of a waiting game.
-The first on my list is Nirvana's MasterKush, has anyone had any experience with nirvana seeds? If so I would highly appreciate your input!
-The second on my list seems to be a favourite through canada, White Widow!
Both of these plants have the same flowering time in weeks although it can vary, the same "medium" build wich will acustom my tent very well.

Ive been out of growing for a while so please people, speak up dont be shy, let me know what I dont know!

Joel Reviewed by Joel on 05-23-2009. Starting Fresh again, some questions:) Hey guys, I haven't been online since 2007 haha! has been ages for me! Anyways I'm finally having a new room open up so I can have another great green garden. I will open up an official thread when I get all my bits and bobs together wich will take me approx 1 month to achieve funding. Alright so lets get my basics up sha'll we ? I want to achieve a constant supply of bud, and to do so I was thinking along the lines of having 1 healthy mother, clone her 5 to 6 times or as many as I can Rating: 5

[Mr. Clandestine]

Hey Joel,

Thought I'd chime in with a few general suggestions.

As a general rule of thumb for SOG setups (which I'd definitely recommend for your tent), one plant per square foot is a pretty good measure. If you won't be spending much (or any) time vegging out the clones, then you could potentially cram 20-30 plants in there, depending on the size and shape of the pots. More than most would need for personal grows. :jointsmile:

How much you can cut the mother plant back is really up to you, and the plant. Be sure to take the cuttings right above the nodes, and the mother will continue to produce new shoots. Cannabis is an annual plant, but as long as you keep the lighting on 18/6-24/0, mother plants can be kept alive long past their prime. A 400W MH is a lot of light to devote to one mother, so as long as the roots have room to thrive, you can expect the mother to get pretty robust, and it'll stay that way as long as its needs are being met.

As for nutrients, I'm not sure what's going to be available near you, so I'll refer you to the forums to get some better ideas about that. Lots of people have lots of different opinions about what works the best. Your mother will need plenty of Nitrogen (fish emulsion and other organic fertilizers are great for this, if you can tolerate the smell), and your clones will be more thirsty for Phosphorus. I'm an organic nut, and will immediately recommend guano as a flowering fert, but others prefer the chemical based fertilizers and have equally as successful results. There aren't many wrong answers, so you'll just have to find what's available and what works best for your situation. There's a gazillion different products available at local nurseries, hydro stores, online, etc., so find something you can stick with grow after grow. Might also be a good idea to have an all-purpose fertilizer on hand, preferrably one with micronutrients, just in case.

I've personally grown the strains 'Bubblicious' and 'Papaya' from Nirvana, and was very happy with both of them. (Especially the seed prices! ) Neither of the strains were difficult to grow, both were easy to clone, and they both produced some good medicine in the end. White Widow is still almost at the top of my list of all-time favorite strains to grow and consume, both because of the relative ease of growing and the knock-out buzz. Go easy with that stuff in the beginning... she packs a punch. :stoned:

Take care and have fun. :thumbsup:

[Joel]

Awesome, thanks for your stellar reply man!
So I was doing some looking around my local area for garden shops and I only found one that carrys lights/nutrients/other plants and Im already purchasing my lights and nutrients there and I dont want her to become suspicious when i buy the potting soil there too. So what kind of soil mixture would be the best with micro nutrients? like a .1-.1-.1? Should I try and find a potting soil that is solely based off the tomato plant, as they do eat quite the same. Thanks!

[Mr. Clandestine]

You probably won't find a potting soil that comes preloaded with micro nutrients (you'll want to find a liquid fertilizer for that), but most soils will at least come prefertilized with the big three macronutrients - Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. As long as the soil brand doesn't state that it is a "light mix" or "peat-only" mix, it should have enough nutrients to feed the plant for at least the first 3-4 weeks. The "light mixes" are great for starting seedlings, but the nutrients are generally used up after the first week of use. Be wary if the bag states that it comes with time-released or slow-release fertilizers, since you'll have no control over when your plant can uptake the nutrients it needs.

And brands are going to differ depending on where you live, so you can look for a soil that is ideal for growing tomatoes, and also one that is preferably pH balanced, but don't buy liquid fertilizers which are made for tomatoes... they're too strong for cannabis. Whichever soil you buy should already have perlite added, but you can add a little more for better drainage if you think it needs it. I like my soil/perlite ratio to be about 4:1, but that's just me.

Take care. :jointsmile:

[Joel]

Thanks for your replys man. Stellar answers for sure. One last thing, I was going to order nutrients from Advanced Nutrients but they have so many products Im not sure what I should use for veg and then flower. If you wouldn't mind showing me some of the good stuff, where to get it, and show me a recommendation if you dont like AN.

[Mr. Clandestine]

Glad I could help. :jointsmile:

I've used "Big Bud" from Advanced Nutrients before, and was fairly impressed with the results I got. I'd definitely recommend some of that for bloom, but I've never used any of their stuff for veg so I can't give any opinion on it. Maybe someone who's used it will chime in about their experiences, and I'm sure you'll be able to find some good insight from reading past posts in the growing forums here. Another good product that I've heard a lot about (but rarely used) is the Fox Farm product line, so you might want to look into them too.

I'm a big fan of organic methods, so that's where most of my nutrient experience comes from. In case you wanted to read up on some good organic methods, you'll find a lot of useful information here. :thumbsup:

Edit: Also, whichever products you decide to go with, get on a regular feeding schedule and stick with it.

[frostedwonder]

Hey from my current test run I have really enjoyed using Fox Farm soil/nutes they can burn your girls for sure but everything in moderation works wonders. being that you have grown before what worked good for you then will prolly do the same now. indoor or outdoors i am sure there are some changes of needs but the basics are the same.