I still can't make quality product after three grows. I just don't get it!

[ActivatedAlmonds52]

So far I've grown Gorilla Glue, Sour Durban and I just put Shiva Skunk in jars a few days ago. They all SUCK. The smell is unpleasant and differs a lot from the sweet, intoxicating smell of quality weed. It's hard to describe. The high is very tiring (not in a good way) and makes me feel irritable and not much else.

I'm saying I don't get it because we're talking about three different strains that somehow all wound up the same. I've read plenty of guides and tips and my setup is fairly decent. I don't think I made any mistakes during my last grow: 250W MH air-cooled lamp (switched to HPS bulb for flower) at 16/8h and then 12/12, mylar foil, big carbon filter + inline fan, big fabric pots, everyday watering with NPK, CalMag etc. I topped and manifolded them ASAP.

What am I doing wrong? Could fertilizers be the culprit? I use BioBizz because it's cheap, but I'll definitely try another brand just to be sure. It's so frustrating, man. All this work and I don't even feel like taking two hits from a vaporizer.

 

[John Kramer]

did u JUST watering it last 2-3 weeks befor harvest ? or did u feed her ?

 

[Oscarzuma]

First thoughts:
Soil, what medium are you using?
Genetics, are you getting seed from a trusted source?
Lighting, 16 hours seems a little low for veg, most seem to use 18-24 hours on
Drying and curing, you didn't mention but are vital for taste, especially, and buzz.

 

[WeedHopper]

Yeah that ^^^^

 

[Hippie420]

Maybe you're letting them go too long? Too much amber? Maybe even an improper cure? Seems weird that three different strains are having the same results.

 

[WeedHopper]

Besides strain,,,if it's not cured properly it can definitely make a difference in taste and smell. Curing properly is very important.

 

[KGB]

So far I've grown Gorilla Glue, Sour Durban and I just put Shiva Skunk in jars a few days ago. They all SUCK. The smell is unpleasant and differs a lot from the sweet, intoxicating smell of quality weed. It's hard to describe. The high is very tiring (not in a good way) and makes me feel irritable and not much else.

I'm saying I don't get it because we're talking about three different strains that somehow all wound up the same. I've read plenty of guides and tips and my setup is fairly decent. I don't think I made any mistakes during my last grow: 250W MH air-cooled lamp (switched to HPS bulb for flower) at 16/8h and then 12/12, mylar foil, big carbon filter + inline fan, big fabric pots, everyday watering with NPK, CalMag etc. I topped and manifolded them ASAP.

What am I doing wrong? Could fertilizers be the culprit? I use BioBizz because it's cheap, but I'll definitely try another brand just to be sure. It's so frustrating, man. All this work and I don't even feel like taking two hits from a vaporizer.

Was the smell unpleasant before you dried them?

 

[Growdude]

depending on the size of your grow area 250 mh wont cut it.
any pictures?

 

[Witchking]

Could be a variety of factors. Biggest are:

Low Light levels
Pulling the weed way too early
Not having quality or at least trustworthy genetics
Improper drying and curing.

Plus Biobizz is organics, organics can be tricky until you really get a feel for using them, I gave up on organics years ago, probably just me, but I could not ever get them nailed and my crops often suffered. Now I grow in coco and use Advanced Nutes and have never looked back, result are like night and day.

By your description, it sounds like a combo of weak lighting and pulling stuff too early, with suck a weak light that stuff will take a long time to mature. Also stuff that is dried too quickly tends to taste like crap and not get you very high.

Start with getting a bigger light, I think you'll be very pleased.

 

[MariJan]

Could be a variety of factors. Biggest are:

Low Light levels
Pulling the weed way too early
Not having quality or at least trustworthy genetics
Improper drying and curing.

Plus Biobizz is organics, organics can be tricky until you really get a feel for using them, I gave up on organics years ago, probably just me, but I could not ever get them nailed and my crops often suffered. Now I grow in coco and use Advanced Nutes and have never looked back, result are like night and day.

By your description, it sounds like a combo of weak lighting and pulling stuff too early, with suck a weak light that stuff will take a long time to mature. Also stuff that is dried too quickly tends to taste like crap and not get you very high.

Start with getting a bigger light, I think you'll be very pleased.

Yep that is what is so sweet about Jacks. No brainer 1/4 tsp per gallon of water at every watering.

 

[MariJan]

Yep that is what is do sweet about Jacks. No brainer 1/4 tsp per gallon of water at every watering.

No ph-ing

 

[greenmobster440]

All great advice in here.

 

[Lady Zandra]

You

everyday watering with NPK, CalMag etc.

1st--I agree with the others on how you are drying and curing...but also, how long are you letting them flower?
If cut too soon, they are grassy, harsh, and have fewer trichomes and terpenes.
Also- you are probably not watering/ferting correctly!
You use nutes 1x a week and only water (pH adjusted) in between as needed...everyday means you probably had a nutrient lockout. And each strain uses different amounts of nutes-- Gorilla Glue uses way more than Shiva Skunk!
Next grow, start over as if you'd never done it before.
Read up on different grow methods, soils/coco, what to add to the nutrients you use etc... and make sure the pH is spot on for the type of medium you use!
And remember-- just because the breeder says they are ready in 60/70 days, doesn't mean they always are!
Things can stunt their progress...so check the trichomes!! If they aren't all cloudy, and maybe a few amber (if you like it more couch-locked) then they aren't ready!

Good luck on your next go... it takes practice- but you got this!
Best to cure the bud as best you can, then make hash or butter!

 

[greenmobster440]

You

1st--I agree with the others on how you are drying and curing...but also, how long are you letting them flower?
If cut too soon, they are grassy, harsh, and have fewer trichomes and terpenes.
Also- you are probably not watering/ferting correctly!
You use nutes 1x a week and only water (pH adjusted) in between as needed...everyday means you probably had a nutrient lockout. And each strain uses different amounts of nutes-- Gorilla Glue uses way more than Shiva Skunk!
Next grow, start over as if you'd never done it before.
Read up on different grow methods, soils/coco, what to add to the nutrients you use etc... and make sure the pH is spot on for the type of medium you use!
And remember-- just because the breeder says they are ready in 60/70 days, doesn't mean they always are!
Things can stunt their progress...so check the trichomes!! If they aren't all cloudy, and maybe a few amber (if you like it more couch-locked) then they aren't ready!

Good luck on your next go... it takes practice- but you got this!
Best to cure the bud as best you can, then make hash or butter!

Nice reply. I like the way you think Z and agree on a few things.

I have pretty good success with Jack's in peat. I use tap water and never meter anything. To top it off I feed every time I water. From seedling to harvest. Same amounts just the formula changes.

And I'm not alone here......

 

[WeedHopper]

Lots of good information here that's for sure.
Got to find what works for you. It's called trial and error.
I feed once a week on all plants including my veggies. The rest of the time plain water unless the plant tells me it needs more nutrients.
I use to not worry with PH but I learned my lesson and also seen the difference when I made sure my PH was correct.
Lots of nutrients will change your waters pH when mixed so you might want to at least check it every once in awhile to see what's going on. My tap water comes out at 7.5 so I have to pH to get the best results.
I have one brand of nutrients that I use just for tomatoes when they have fruit.
It takes my ph after mixing down to 3.5,,,so if I didn't check my ph I would fk my tomatoe plants up. But phed my tomatoe plants put out lots of fruit and are still growing strong and that's unheard of in Texas. Normally the heat kills them by September.
So to each his own. Trial and error and read read read.

 

[ActivatedAlmonds52]

did u JUST watering it last 2-3 weeks befor harvest ? or did u feed her ?

Yeah, I stopped adding anything to the water for a few weeks before cutting.

First thoughts:
Soil, what medium are you using?
Genetics, are you getting seed from a trusted source?
Lighting, 16 hours seems a little low for veg, most seem to use 18-24 hours on
Drying and curing, you didn't mention but are vital for taste, especially, and buzz.

I used Biobizz Light Mix for the first two grows and Canna Terra Professional for the last one.
All seeds were bought. I can't remember the brands, unfortunately.
Lighting - well, 16 is what everyone recommends for beginners, so I didn't experiment with that.
The last grow was drying for about 10 days in the dark until the smaller colas would snap off fairly easily. They're now in jars at ~60% humidity and I burp them daily.

The thing is that the plant already smelled like it does now when it was about two weeks in veg.

 

[ActivatedAlmonds52]

Maybe you're letting them go too long? Too much amber? Maybe even an improper cure? Seems weird that three different strains are having the same results.

Last grow was reeeally long (15 weeks in flower), BUT it's only because I was meticulously inspecting trichomes all the time and they just wouldn't get milky. So at some point I just said "**** it". I barely saw any ambers.

Was the smell unpleasant before you dried them?

Yes, long before that. Again, it's hard to describe. It's definitely more synthetic than natural.

depending on the size of your grow area 250 mh wont cut it.
any pictures?

I didn't experience any problems. I'm also OK with the amount I got from a single plant. Manifold is king! Here's some pictures.

https://www.marijuanapassion.com/threads/should-i-top-those-already-pics.83132/page-3

Biobizz is organics, organics can be tricky until you really get a feel for using them, I gave up on organics years ago, probably just me, but I could not ever get them nailed and my crops often suffered. Now I grow in coco and use Advanced Nutes and have never looked back, result are like night and day.

By your description, it sounds like a combo of weak lighting and pulling stuff too early, with suck a weak light that stuff will take a long time to mature. Also stuff that is dried too quickly tends to taste like crap and not get you very high.

Start with getting a bigger light, I think you'll be very pleased.

I'll definitely try something very different next time. Like you said - a combination of coco + mineral based fertilizers sounds interesting. I assume that's what Advanced Nutrients makes. I'll try to keep the plant as close to the lamp as possible by spreading it even more. Maybe I'll consider getting a 500W ballast and bulbs next year.

Also- you are probably not watering/ferting correctly!
You use nutes 1x a week and only water (pH adjusted) in between as needed...everyday means you probably had a nutrient lockout.

I used nutes daily, but in small amounts and as per manufacturer's instructions. Although it's probably better to use as little of them as possible and up the dosage upon seeing symptoms of deficiency (spot on leaves etc.)

I use to not worry with PH but I learned my lesson and also seen the difference when I made sure my PH was correct.
Lots of nutrients will change your waters pH when mixed so you might want to at least check it every once in awhile to see what's going on. My tap water comes out at 7.5 so I have to pH to get the best results.
I have one brand of nutrients that I use just for tomatoes when they have fruit.
It takes my ph after mixing down to 3.5,,,so if I didn't check my ph I would fk my tomatoe plants up.

Yeah, I will admit I didn't check pH this time at all. Tap water in my city has neutral pH, but adding all those nutrients every day probably screws it up. This ACTUALLY could be the main reason why I'm failing. Too many nutrients and inappropriate pH. You don't need to tell me about trial and error, I've learned a lot from those three grows. All I can say is "next one will be better".

 

[Hippie420]

That's the proper attitude to have.

 

[WeedHopper]

Most nutrients will change the pH in the water as you mix it. You might be surprised just how much it can change. If I were you I would get a good ph pen and check your pH before and after mixing nutrients.
If your in soil you need to be around 6.5 to 6.8

 

[MariJan]

You

1st--I agree with the others on how you are drying and curing...but also, how long are you letting them flower?
If cut too soon, they are grassy, harsh, and have fewer trichomes and terpenes.
Also- you are probably not watering/ferting correctly!
You use nutes 1x a week and only water (pH adjusted) in between as needed...everyday means you probably had a nutrient lockout. And each strain uses different amounts of nutes-- Gorilla Glue uses way more than Shiva Skunk!
Next grow, start over as if you'd never done it before.
Read up on different grow methods, soils/coco, what to add to the nutrients you use etc... and make sure the pH is spot on for the type of medium you use!
And remember-- just because the breeder says they are ready in 60/70 days, doesn't mean they always are!
Things can stunt their progress...so check the trichomes!! If they aren't all cloudy, and maybe a few amber (if you like it more couch-locked) then they aren't ready!

Good luck on your next go... it takes practice- but you got this!
Best to cure the bud as best you can, then make hash or butter!

Yep perfect example here. These are Acapulco gold. Planted the same time but look at the difference. I told it if it didn't start growing I was going to cull it. There is new growth today. Might have just been the whiteflies. Something was snacking on them