Marijuana Horticulture Fundamentals. K of Trichome Technologies
A more ambitious grow system is nominally more expensive to set up, but offers better nutrition, CO2, light, and root O2, and ultimately, a better yield.
A larger investment for a complex grow system includes features that offer the best nutrition, CO2, light, and root O2, resulting in maximum harvests.
Simple, Hand-Fed, Soilless Water System
This is another example of a small, simple system. Rooted clones are placed into three-inch Grodan rockwool cubes and hand-watered every day. The rockwool cubes here are sitting on an egg crate light diffuser atop a common 12-gallon plastic bin, placed to catch runoff water. The bin is emptied after every watering. The plants were allowed to grow for seven days like this under constant fluorescent lighting. After seven days the plants were transferred from the closet to the main bedroom where they were placed in 2-gallon containers and topped off with a soil / perlite / vermiculite mix of media. The plants were then placed on an elevated grow table under a 1,000-watt Halide (HID) light on an 18 hours on / 6 hours off light cycle. The plants will grow like this for 14 days and then the lights will be changed to a 12 on / 12 off cycle. At this point the plants will only require hand watering every three days.
The air conditioner in this photo keeps the room at a perfect 75°F. In the upper right of this photo is a completely blacked-out window (to prevent light-leaks). The garbage can in the photo is used to mix water and nutrients; fresh air enters the room from the open bedroom door. An oscillating fan keeps the air in the room constantly circulating.
This is a simple, hand-fed rockwool system.
Photos: K
Note the air conditioner for temperature control and the garbage can is used to mix nutrients and water for hand watering.
Soon there will be buds. After 21 days of vegetative growth the plants required approximately 60 days of flowering growth; 81 days (roughly) total, from root to clone. This is an easy garden to construct and maintain, and best of all, it’s inexpensive. Before you buy complicated, expensive pre-built systems you might want to try something basic and straightforward such as this, so that you have a positive first-time growing experience.
This system is as simple as it gets, yet it produced an incredible crop! Plywood tables were constructed with 2 × 4 boards on the sides, to contain runoff water. Again, the table is slightly sloped at one end so that water drains off of it. Clear plastic is placed on top of the table so that water won’t absorb into the wood. The runoff water is simply collected at the end of the table in a reservoir and disposed of using a basic water pump. The runoff water is only used once, not recycled.
The 2 × 4s have holes drilled into the end, which will hold stakes that act as plant supports when the cannabis moves into the flowering stage; the boards are joined together so that they won’t fall over. The plants are in 3-inch Grodan rockwool cubes and the cubes are in 4-inch cups. The plants were hand-watered 3 times a day using General Hydroponics Flora Series nutrients (as well as additives and amendments). The plants were kept in the vegetative stage (18 on / 6 off) for 14 days, at which time the light schedule was changed to 12 on / 12 off for flowering.
Hand-water rockwool system.
Photos: K
Harvest Eight Weeks Later
The plants matured approximately eight weeks later and produced an excellent crop—the buds were rock hard, dense, sticky, and the size of a Coke can. The aroma and flavor was incredible. These photos were taken the day of harvest and, because the medium was flushed three days prior to harvest, some of the large fan leaves had begun to yellow and die (due to a lack of available nutrients).
Eight weeks later, the plants are ready for harvest from the hand-water rockwool system.
A few or many plants can be produced using this method. The choice is yours. The question is: how many plants can you hand water three times a day, every day? If this is too time-consuming for you, then another system is probably best suited for you. This system just shows how simple it can be.
Cube system gardens are another form of run-to-waste system.
Photos: K
Hand-water Rockwool Cube System—Run to Waste
This is another run-to-waste system. “Run-to-waste” means that the system does not recirculate or reuse nutrients or water. This system comprises four-inch rockwool cubes placed on a table on top of corrugated plastic sheets, to enable water drainage. The corrugated plastic directs runoff water to a water-collection reservoir at one end, the contents to be disposed of using a common water pump. As this is only a mother room the plants require hand watering just twice a day; the plants are not allowed to flower or grow because there are clones constantly being taken off them.
Soilless drip system utilizing ⅓ each of vermiculite, perlite, and potting soil.
Soilless Drip System—Run to Waste
This system uses a soilless medium (a 50/50 mix of vermiculite and perlite). The pots are ¾-gallon and the plants are watered and fed using a time-drip emitter system. The plants are automatically watered every day at the same time (first thing in the morning) and the water / nutrient comes from a reservoir under the table with help from a water pump, which pumps water to the drippers and waters the plants. Runoff water drains off the end of the table into a separate water reservoir and is disposed of using another pump.
This system is simple and dependable, as well as fairly inexpensive. You can make it as big or small as you need, and can place new plants on the table as you remove mature plants. It can produce an excellent crop with minimal expended labor or clean up.
Here is a basic drip system utilizing a ¼-inch drip line. Whenever