Written by Ron Johnson on Jun 10, 2020
I missed my yield target. Here are 4 things to reevaluate before starting your next run.
Plant nutrition is just as paramount to healthy yields. When evaluating plant nutrition you have to assess whether your plant had the right blend of macronutrients (N-P-K), secondary nutrients (Ca-Mg) and micronutrients. While most nutrient plants like General Hydroponics or Heavy 16 have a feeding schedule that capture all the above nutrients it is still not completely sufficient sometimes to peak plant performance. Your plants can easily experience salt build up and “nutrient lock” by using a recommended feeding schedule without flushing. Using 50%-80% of the recommended amount and staggering nutrient feeds with fresh water and compost teas is a great way to prevent nutrient lock. Here is a schedule that may yield better results than previous methods.
* Subject to variables as it pertains to grow medium, genetics, and environment
Easily setup your feeding schedules and track in the history log of each plant in GroLens with a few clicks.
In efforts to maximize profits, it is understandable to stack more lights or more plants sometimes than necessary to drive big yields. When overdoing the lighting or plants per square footage as it pertains to spacing you can actually under perform instead.
Verify each 1000W (or equivalent) lighting fixture gets 20-25 sq ft of space. The plant only can photosynthesis so much light so be mindful of having too much or too little light intensity.
Make sure the canopy is full but not over crowded with plants. I like to ensure plants are close but 4-6 inches from touching. Overcrowding canopies can inhibit light penetration and accelerate the spread of pests.
In a perfect world your plants will never see a mite, aphid, white flies, or pm but we all all know the world can be less than perfect. It’s called Integrated Pests Management as opposed to Pests Extermination for a reason. From experience there isn’t one silver bullet when addressing pests. Two things to keep in mind is diversity and consistency.
Diversify the methods you use to fight pests. Alternating between 2 or 3 types of sprays will keep pests guessing and make it harder for them to build up a resistance. If your facility permits, beneficial insects are an awesome organic way to minimize unwanted intruders along with sticky traps. The key is not to rely on one method but employ multiple to keep your facility best free.
Consistency is everything. It doesn’t take long for pests to resurface so prevention is paramount. Whatever method you use, do it weekly at minimum.
You will always be in the know about what PM program was used on what batch with GroLens treatment log.
It’s pretty common to know that the optimal environment for most genetics is in the range of 70 – 75 degrees fahrenheit and 40 – 50% humidity based on growth phases. Looking at historical data to see if there are periods of time where the plants experienced extemporaneous conditions may provide insights into why yields fell short. Temperatures above 85 degrees or below 60 degrees for extended periods of time can easily stunt plant growth.
GroLens integrates with GrowLink sensors for you to map and track plant conditions by zone and genetic in real time.
Feel free to reach out the GroLens team or [email protected] with any questions. We are here to help!