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Easiest Way To Grow

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purklize Advanced Member

purklize

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Also I cannot emphasize enough how quickly root aphids will destroy a plant. They are hardier than any other pest - they make mites seem like a complete joke in comparison - and they will not only slow development of a plant, but will kill the roots and destroy the plant within a week or two of an established infestation being left unchecked. Transplanting will not solve the problem. They're extremely intelligent for such small buggers, can reproduce asexually (so only one is needed) or sexually, and can sprout wings to fly from one plant to another if one becomes overpopulated or is doused with pesticide. Beware... I know of no one who has actually defeated them. Currently I aspire to be the first... I believe switching to an entirely hydroponic grow is crucial. :thumbsu:

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purklize Advanced Member

purklize

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Yeah, I used happy frog... a fox farm soil. I have fought spider mites, fungus gnats, I think thrips, root aphids, and now some weird orange crap that makes young leaves shrivel and never grow much, these very tiny elongated orange specks that never move but look like maggots... As for fighting off root aphids... no one has ever succeeded. Ever. I cuoldn't find a single mention of success lasting more than a few weeks anywhere even with hours of searching and dozens of accounts of dedicated battles. Seriously if you find someone that has succeeded I will buy you the beer of your choice. I think I have the solution though... if I emerge victorious I will be selling an 8 page booklet for $199.95 on my secret NASA-developed method. :notfair:

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hofner67 Advanced Member

hofner67

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They go for the weakest of your plants. Best to get rid of the affected plants.

 

Also I cannot emphasize enough how quickly root aphids will destroy a plant. They are hardier than any other pest - they make mites seem like a complete joke in comparison - and they will not only slow development of a plant, but will kill the roots and destroy the plant within a week or two of an established infestation being left unchecked. Transplanting will not solve the problem. They're extremely intelligent for such small buggers, can reproduce asexually (so only one is needed) or sexually, and can sprout wings to fly from one plant to another if one becomes overpopulated or is doused with pesticide. Beware... I know of no one who has actually defeated them. Currently I aspire to be the first... I believe switching to an entirely hydroponic grow is crucial. :thumbsu:

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purklize Advanced Member

purklize

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I've grown plants indoors for 8 years (just not cannabis). I am far more careful about pest issues than i ever was before, and I have countless pest issues I never had before I used this soil... maaaaybe it's my doing, but it seems like a stretch considering the circumstances...

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MR WINTER Member

MR WINTER

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Yeah, I used happy frog... a fox farm soil. I have fought spider mites, fungus gnats, I think thrips, root aphids, and now some weird orange crap that makes young leaves shrivel and never grow much, these very tiny elongated orange specks that never move but look like maggots... As for fighting off root aphids... no one has ever succeeded. Ever. I cuoldn't find a single mention of success lasting more than a few weeks anywhere even with hours of searching and dozens of accounts of dedicated battles. Seriously if you find someone that has succeeded I will buy you the beer of your choice. I think I have the solution though... if I emerge victorious I will be selling an 8 page booklet for $199.95 on my secret NASA-developed method. :notfair:

I believe ive beaten the mighty root aphid! been three months and no signs of them but only time will tell for sure. heres what i did. took cuttings and removed them to a bug free area to root/veg. removed all grow related items that could harbor root aphids and trashed them. pots,dirt,stakes,gloves,boxes, pretty much everything got tossed. then a really good cleaning with bleach water,followed by bed bug bombs every three days for about a month, not just in grow room but the entire grow area. then i lined the entire inside of grow room with panda plastic,ceiling,walls,floor,all sealed together with white duct tape. hepa furnace filters on intake. Now you would think that would do it, but as anyone who has had these devils knows better safe than sorry. so its been about 4 weeks since taking cuttings and quarantine of plants and they are about 2 weeks from flower. I brought them back to grow area and watered them with the bayer tree and shrub insecticide(imidacloprid) to prevent any stragglers from entering the soil. imidacloprid is systemic and should only be used in veg. thats it! seems to have worked for me (fingers crossed while knocking on wood), so far so good. hope this helps, been fighting them for over a year prior to this. p.s....i switched to roots organic soil mixed with organic pro-mix and mesh air pots this grow. dont know if that has had any effect on them(root aphids) or not but no holes in bottom for them to crawl thru. also, organic pro-mix has crab meal in it which can contain a fungus(google met 52) that kills root aphids, and ive had some success using it by itself to controll them but did not eliminate them.

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The Digital Nomad Advanced Member

The Digital Nomad

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purklize - it is not about your growing skill, growing marijuana is a constant learning process.

 

I believe just like hofner just said, maybe something has changed in your grow that is stressing your plants. Pest supposedly 'smell a stressed plant'. PM is every where, but weak plants cannot fight it. Maybe if you are cloning, your mother is now sick? I worry about doing clones of clones, because one day I am going to be stuck with clones of a sick plant.

 

Then, it can be environmental - I have grown in several places, and some places were more 'lucky' than others for pest issues. Really, some places were just infested before I even got there. Lining the room, keeping it clean, and filtering the intake air is how you can have some sort of control over the plant environment where ever you build your grow.

 

I plan on getting seeds, so back to learning about seeds all over again. I plan on playing with soil mixes next year. Always something new.

 

DN

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Hawkind Advanced Member

Hawkind

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Does anyone have an opinion on doing a DWC / bubble grow with only a PH meter and without the use of a PPM / EC meter. A person would only rely on the manufacturers recommendations for nute / ppm levels but could maintain proper PH. Dyna grow for example lists 1/2 tsp. per gallon of water is 1500ppm.

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purklize Advanced Member

purklize

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They were very healthy until the root aphids struck. It's been a constant battle ever since. I've noticed root aphids don't live long outside of soil. If you try dunking a soil plant in soapy water it'll float pretty much forever, tehre will always be air pockets. There will always be stragglers that survive... it's so hard to eradicate them this way. In hydro, there's no air pockets, and when I dunk, they're GONE. I am now throwing t-shirts over the buckets too, aruond the stem and over the hydroton, to make it more difficult for them to get back in. I have heard of people cloning everything and killing all their current plants... but what I meant was eradicating them from living plants with developed roots. :thumbsu:

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pergamum362 Advanced Member

pergamum362

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Does anyone have an opinion on doing a DWC / bubble grow with only a PH meter and without the use of a PPM / EC meter. A person would only rely on the manufacturers recommendations for nute / ppm levels but could maintain proper PH. Dyna grow for example lists 1/2 tsp. per gallon of water is 1500ppm.

Its doable..I wouldnt follow there bottles to a T tho.I did my first bubble bucket ever without a ppm meter, i burnt them a lil bit but not to bad..its easiear to correct stuff like burn and def in them.
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purklize Advanced Member

purklize

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Anyway those who feel soil is easy, it's been less work for me with hydro even the soil problems aside... literally all I have is a bucket with water in it and an air stone bubbling air in it, a plant sitting in that water... that's it... once a week I change the bucket with a fresh nute solution, i just mix 80ml nute + 60ml ph up... I don't even bother checking the pH anymore, the plant loves it... it grows 3x faster and looks MUCH healthier than any plant I've seen in soil. Again though, emphasis on easy... it's barely any work to do DWC. Maybe 10 minutes a week. :thumbsu:

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The Digital Nomad Advanced Member

The Digital Nomad

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'on a budget first grow'

 

and many grows I have visited, they use soil. Hydroponics was always kept off to the side. Thats real world experience. For a first time grower, soil will be easier because they do not have to understand much about PH, nutes, water temp, PPM, etc.

 

A newbie can start out with a hydro grow, but what if he/she has no outside consult or club to work with? just a book? Just a forum? Again, think of the learning curve for that person.

 

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DN

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GanjaWarrior Advanced Member

GanjaWarrior

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I have to say....ive used happy frog, or a mix of happy frog n whatever for two years now. i had some bugs a couple times, no way to prove they didn't just fly in my room....or come from my clones.... but the soil rocks nothing i wasnt able to deal with. who knows maybe you got a bad batch, or maybe i got lucky....

 

 

to continue to say its easier to do hydro seems silly....now im not saying you would get the best results....but take a 5 gallon bucket of good dirt....put in clone veg for a month....bud...never do anything but water it....you could do it...ive done it outdoors even...in a grow bag....nothing but a drink now and then....can you do that with hydro....just fill it and come back when its done? again im not suggesting youd get the best results but lets be realistic.....Ive done dwc bubble totes per the guide on this site....fantastic results, and it wasnt all that hard ....but messing with all that water...emptying ur totes/buckets moving plants to a new one....filling...its just not EASIER.

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purklize Advanced Member

purklize

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I find the day to day maintenance easier. There's really no difference. Dump water in an empty bucket or dump water in a bucket of dirt. Then I don't even have to bother diagnosing deficiencies or anything - ever - if they appear, dump the bucket, load a new one, solved. I find it much, much easier. The greatest myth of hydro is that it's difficult to do. I continue to hammer this point home because I really wish I hadn't been deceived, I relaly should've just started with hydro.

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