Growing on little to no money

[Franknstrain]

What can one do when one wants to grow their own medical marijuana and is strapped for cash?

Can one use basic household items/food to grow their own medicine and not spend a crap load of money on it and it still be quality? Do you have to buy all those name brand nutes with all those amendments?

I say no you dont have to buy all those expensive name brand nutes and amendments. I say yes.You can make you own. I make my own nutes. I have several different recipes that I use but when I am strapped for cash I will use this method. I dont like to spend a crap load of money on stuff that isnt necessary. So when I dont have alot of money I know I can always fall back on stuff that we usually buy everyday at the grocery store and my plants will be fine and will produce quite nicely.

Heres a couple of examples.

Vegging..I have a fish tank that when I clean it out I save several gallons of that water and I feed each of my plants a cup a week straight on the blocks or right around the main stalk. The plants love this.. Now This is really all I need to make my plants grow in veg but... I like to add other things also to kinda speed up the process. Like coffee. There is sonthing in the caffine that the plants thrive off of. Now you have other issues that may arise.. but there are other household foods/items you can use to combat these issues like maybe a cal/mag problem or what ever the case may be. I am leaving that part open for others to put their input on to what they think may work.

Flower... Juices work well to push flowers and flower weight... Now I have been known to use this stuff called Knutsens Just Blueberry 100% organic. or change the flavors up depending on the strains. There are other items people can use to help the plant along. What items/foods do you think can work for flowering? I will be adding more to this part as people chime in.

Now I have a step I like to use the last 3 weeks {I call this the fruiting process}where I cut out the so called nutes and go with wanting to produce the oils and get the bud to dense up so I will use stuff like 1 cup potatoe skins and 1 whole banana I will puree this up add a cup of water now you have what humbolt county likes to call deuce deuce. I will also add one tablespoon of Karos light corn syrup and 1 tablespoon of grandmas old fashioned molasses for my sweet plus it packs on the crystals.

The one problem I have found out using this method is that if you make any quantity of this stuff it has a shelf life so you better make sure you use it.

So I want to know what all of you think you can use??

 

[Captain Kronic]

What a cool post... +rep!
I have not gotten to where you are w/all of this but I am 100% in agreement w/you on the whole point of the post.

I find things all over the place but, I have yet the metal to try them... I'm such a n00b
Like your fish tank water, aren't you worried about it going anaerobic or do you use it immediately upon taking it out of the tank?

However, I do collect things to fall back on if need be, I will put something here to help get this thread started:
Lemon juice and vinegar both lower pH, as they are acidic. Baking soda will raise pH.

Epsom salts adds magnesium and sulfur, but you only need to use it you're showing signs of deficiency.

And as above said, molasses. The carbohydrates in molasses feed the microbes in your soil, and there is phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, manganese. copper, iron, selenium, calcium and B vitamins in molasses.

For me... the cheapest way to go is to start w/the best soil you can put out. Makes my job a lot easier!

 

[Franknstrain]

I use my fish tank water right away. I will fill up a 2 and a half gallon jug with this fish water. Since I use it every week I have not had a problem of it going bad on me. I usually go through a jug within 60 days. My plants would show me pretty much right away if the water went bad. Thank you for your input.

 

[Icemud]

What can one do when one wants to grow their own medical marijuana and is strapped for cash?

Can one use basic household items/food to grow their own medicine and not spend a crap load of money on it and it still be quality? Do you have to buy all those name brand nutes with all those amendments?

I say no you dont have to buy all those expensive name brand nutes and amendments. I say yes.You can make you own. I make my own nutes. I have several different recipes that I use but when I am strapped for cash I will use this method. I dont like to spend a crap load of money on stuff that isnt necessary. So when I dont have alot of money I know I can always fall back on stuff that we usually buy everyday at the grocery store and my plants will be fine and will produce quite nicely.

Heres a couple of examples.

Vegging..I have a fish tank that when I clean it out I save several gallons of that water and I feed each of my plants a cup a week straight on the blocks or right around the main stalk. The plants love this.. Now This is really all I need to make my plants grow in veg but... I like to add other things also to kinda speed up the process. Like coffee. There is sonthing in the caffine that the plants thrive off of. Now you have other issues that may arise.. but there are other household foods/items you can use to combat these issues like maybe a cal/mag problem or what ever the case may be. I am leaving that part open for others to put their input on to what they think may work.

Flower... Juices work well to push flowers and flower weight... Now I have been known to use this stuff called Knutsens Just Blueberry 100% organic. or change the flavors up depending on the strains. There are other items people can use to help the plant along. What items/foods do you think can work for flowering? I will be adding more to this part as people chime in.

Now I have a step I like to use the last 3 weeks {I call this the fruiting process}where I cut out the so called nutes and go with wanting to produce the oils and get the bud to dense up so I will use stuff like 1 cup potatoe skins and 1 whole banana I will puree this up add a cup of water now you have what humbolt county likes to call deuce deuce. I will also add one tablespoon of Karos light corn syrup and 1 tablespoon of grandmas old fashioned molasses for my sweet plus it packs on the crystals.

The one problem I have found out using this method is that if you make any quantity of this stuff it has a shelf life so you better make sure you use it.

So I want to know what all of you think you can use??

This a great post and I'm kind of bummed that not many people had feedback on this...I too have been looking for household additives that may help my plants grow well and I have been looking around quite a bit for information, but I find there is not much posted on these so called "secret ingredients"

I have been using a few things on my first grow that I have researched quite a bit and so far have not seen any negative results, now I do not have a controll group or placebo to compare to, however, my plants do seem to like what I have been feeding them.

I do use the full Earthjuice line as well as a few extra additives, but I also have been adding some additional things to my nutrient mixes as well.

Coconut water/milk...I have been adding this to my nutrient feedings, about 1 oz of coconut water for 2 gallons of distilled water. The ppm of coconut water was higher than 2000ppm so thats why I dilluted it so much....I found out coconut water has tons of macro and micronutrients in it, especially potassium. It also houses lots of cytokins (growth hormones for plants) and has a lot of plant sugars (fructose) which from what I have read does not need to be broken down before the plants can use it....

Naked brand fruit smoothys...I have been adding approx 30ml of the green machine, and the blue machine fruit smoothies.... after doing a lot of research about plants and what they like to grow....it seems that these natural fruit smoothies have many benificials that the plants can use. For example, blue green algae.. so far I have not notice any ill effects of these additives and have been using them thru my veg and now into my flowering cycle....

Spiralina pills...these "superfoods" for humans have lots of beneficials that plants love.....macro and micro nutrients, photochemicals, hormones, vitamins, amino acids.... been adding a 500mg spiralina pill to my feedings and so far only healthy growth....

A new one I tried this watering was a all natural multivitamin by the brand Alive....now I am not one to just add things and hope it works so I decided to poke around the internet looking for others that used multivitamins...and didn't find too much, other than people wanting to use synthetic ones like centrums and things.... since this was all plant based and natural...I decided it cant hurt. Upon further research into cannabis plants and there needs, I found they need a lot of L based amino acids to produce well and live healthy which this product also has. It also has many of the chelated minerals and vitamins that plants use so I really think this may show some excellent results. Since the human dose is 3 of these pills I decided to crush 1 and use only half of it in 2 1/2 gallons of water. Just added it today and haven't fed the plants yet so not sure what effects it will have...hope i found the fountain of youth!!! lol....wish me luck...

I also use blackstrap molassass which over and over has credible evidence that this is very beneficial for plants, soil microbes and nutrients....

My plants also seem to love my organic teas in which I fill a bucket of distilled water, take a old nylon stocking and fill it with Happy frog potting soil, organic compost, bat and seabird guanos, and hang it in the water with a airstone for a day or 2...until a sweet soil smell is lingering...but be careful a day or 2 more will result in a sewage smelling mix....I wouldn't use it then...

I would love to hear others comments about things they are using around the house......or even comments on things that I have used....

I too now use baking soda as a PH up, no more GH ph up which was killing my micro herds...

Ive also read about people adding urine to there nutrients...however never done this before...I would be careful with this because urine has a lot of salts in it...I couldn't see this being very good for plants...better sources of N available....

I have also heard of people using beer to add to there nutrients....never done this but just looking at this bottle of sierra nevada ale, the ingredients include (malted barley, whole hops, brewers yeast) which I have seen on some organic nutrients available....anyone tried this???

Great post and I am excited to see what people have used with success!!!

Nature's Way Alive!® Multi-Vitamin No Iron Added -- 180 Tablets - Vitacost

 

[Captain Kronic]

Hell yeah, we need more info in this thread, I know there are others here who are way more educated in this than I... come on guys, kick out the seeks!

If you can't find black strap... there is a granular that a friend of mine uses, it's called Sucanat (a contraction of "Sucre de canne naturel", which was introduced by Pronatec in 1978) is a brand name for a variety of whole cane sugar. Unlike refined and processed white cane sugar and brown cane sugar, Sucanat retains its molasses content; it is essentially pure dried sugar cane juice. The juice is extracted by mechanical processes, heated, and cooled, forming small brown grainy crystals. It is usually produced and sold as an organic sugar.

 

[Icemud]

I definitely agree!!! We need to tap into those "family heirlooms" and find those winning combo's... lol...

Here are some articles that helped me decide to experiment with the fruit smoothies and multi's...

The reason why fruit sugar (fructose) is beneficial in flowering

Some info on coconut water
African Journal of Plant Science

Effects of spiralina on plants
https://idosi.org/ajps/3(4)10/5.pdf

Here is some interesting posts on a forum about orchid growers..about using coconut water and other additives...also from reading this, seems like others are using banana extract and pineapple juice as well...

Fish emulsion and coconut water as orchid fertilizer. - Orchid Forum Orchid Care

Here is another study done on Date Palm extract, but also has supporting evidence leading to positive growth traits when using different fruit extracts..

Information on L-Amino acids and plant benefits...this is part of why I added the Alive Whole Food energy tablet to my nutrients..google alive whole food energy, and look at the natural ingredients label...almost all of these amino acids are in these natural pills..

These are just some of the many different things I have found that people use effectively but are not widely used...or maybe they are and I just revealed a trade secret...who knows...??? lol...

Anyone who would like to add some other "secret" household goldmines...post away...I'd love to hear from the ones that have been doing this for years..!!



Effect Of Amino Acids On Plants

 

[Franknstrain]

Very cool replies guys. Props to all that have replied so far.

 

[Icemud]

Wow...nobody else has any suggestions????

Great post!!

 

[uknoob]

I can't afford any ph down and noticed apple & pear barley water is really acidly so could I use this as a ph down looked everywhere but can't find nothing about it

 

[GreatLife4All]

The amino acids mentioned above all come from hydrolyzed whey powder... that is the secret ingredient behind things like Big Bud.

 

[uknoob]

Does that mean I can't use it or will it be ok still not sure

 

[GreatLife4All]

It needs to be stabilized with a preservative... or used within 3 days in a drain-to-waste type of system.

Not the best "raw" for DWC - should be fine for soil though.

 

[uknoob]

They are in soil it's just the water I've got is about 7.5 and noticed with a little barley water it drops quite a bit so if this is ok as ph down I can't wait to taste them with the added flavour thank you for advice couldn't find anything online about it just lowering ph in ponds with barley straw so thank you again

 

[Rx-420dank]

 

[Conradino23]

Guys, does beer & coconut water really work? Well, just thinking if someone really got into it and produced any life-changing results? Also, does anyone can present cheaper alternative to Azomite? I was looking at it, but I'm not convinced if it's worthy to spend this money on an outdoor grow.

 

[sapperman420]

i use a reduced water and rosemary mix as my organic bug spray. i took about 2 gallons of water added a palm full to 2 palm fulls of rosemary and simmered on low/med in a big pot on the stove. it reduced down to about a 1/4 gallon and turned purplish (almost looks like tea) now i mix that a tablespoon to a spray bottle of water and spray away!!!! i had a bad bug and nutrient problem and i used this stuff and my bug problem was gaun before my nutrient problem. hope everyone enjoys this!!!!!!!!!

PS CHECK OUT MY GROW
Sapperman's First Grow New M3 Soil Organic Only Water Silver Pearl - 2014

 

[Smelly Joe]

This is why I'm glad I joined the forum. Brother thank you for sharing your ideas and findings. I'm also a huge fan of making my own things.

Currently I'm using an Organic Seabird Guano which smells like ass but the plants seem to love it. I'm only using homemade pesticides and am currently stuck on the garlic based sprays to which I can just add a pepper reduction and things ger heated. LoL. But I try never to use anything that can harm the benificial insects. At this point I have left all and any Dandelions as is in my garden which attracted lots of ladybugs which sorted out my white fly problem which was very cool to watch. I had a huge problem with leaf minors and they fucked up my plant leafs. But for some reason they are gone. Don't know why, don't care !!!

+Rep brother

Love and Light

 

[ProperGreen]

Epsom Salts

Epsom salts (also known as hydrated magnesium sulfate, MgSO4 + 7H2O) have been used for centuries to treat human ailments, as well as providing a reliable, traditional tool for gardeners experiencing magnesium deficiencies. The salts were discovered imbuing the spring waters of Epsom, England, and are often used by gardeners as a folk-wisdom plant remedy.
As Cannabis is indeed a plant, and plants require nutrients, one common scourge of growers is the constant necessity of purchasing, using and dispensing of gallons of nutrient solutions. Various macro- and micro-nutrients can be provided in a myriad of forms; however, these days, much more emphasis is being placed upon keeping Cannabis gardens as organic as possible. Well-maintained, clean, organic grow rooms and gardens tend to produce the best-tasting, highest quality buds, which are also safer for medical patients to consume.
Epsom salts provide both magnesium (Mg) and sulfate (SO4, an ester or salt of sulfuric acid) in a gentle form that is easy for Cannabis plants to process - one that does not build up in soil over time. This home remedy is also simple to use, inexpensive and a highly-soluble supplement for organic Cannabis growers. However, Epsom salts are usually only applied to plants that are visibly lacking in magnesium, or strains that are typically magnesium-deficient.
Why do Cannabis plants need magnesium? Magnesium allows plants to uptake phosphorous (P), nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) from soil. Plants that are deficient tend to show yellowing leaves, which may remain green at the leaf veins. Magnesium deficiencies cause a different yellowing effect than nitrogen shortages or spider mite damage; be certain to correctly diagnose excesses and deficiencies in your plants before adjusting your nutrients, or you may burn the plants while worsening whatever deficiency ails them.

Yellowing leaves with green veins may be a sign that your plants are magnesium-deficient.

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Magnesium facilitates the creation of chlorophyll and is thus critical for photosynthesis. The element also strengthens cell walls, assisting the plant in maintaining its structure and vitality. If you notice slow growth, a slight curling of the leaves and a yellowing of the leaf color (typically beginning towards the bottom of the plant), there is a good chance that your plants are magnesium-deficient. These plant symptoms are often referred to within the growing community as 'praying for magnesium'. Begin with small doses to test the results, which you should see in about four days.
Concerning Cannabis flowers - and potentially seeds - magnesium is essential to a healthy yield. Those growing either for or from seed should note that magnesium also plays a vital role in both seed production and germination.
Why is sulfur necessary for weed plants? In combination with magnesium, sulfur forms a sort of 'multi-vitamin' for plants, allowing for increased uptake and impact of nutrients and minerals, and acting as a general prophylactic for your plants. Sulfur binds with the soil to increase the availability of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) to the plant's roots, thus enhancing the capability of soil and added nutrients. The plant's production of amino acids, enzymes and vitamins are all affected by sulfur levels, making the element essential to plant growth and development.

Rarely deficient in most modern Cannabis nutrients, sulfur also assists in chlorophyll production, helping gardeners to keep their plants green, vibrant and healthy. This and the aforementioned benefits are especially important for long-life plants, such as mothers or outdoor strains with a slow finish, as sulfur helps to sustain longevity and over-all plant health while protecting against environmental stress.
Technical growers should note that reverse-osmosis (RO), ion exchange or distilled watering systems will effectively remove most sulfate from drinking water, which can easily be replaced with Epsom salts, if necessary. (Growers in areas known for 'hard' water will often give their plants extra magnesium.)
How to Use Epsom Salts to Supplement Soil: Whether growing in pots or beds, Epsom salts are an effective way to supplement your soil before you have even begun growing any plants; that is, if you are not already using dolomite lime as a magnesium source. Soil that measures a pH above '7' - or one that is high in potassium (K) and/or calcium (Ca), which compete with magnesium for uptake by the plant - can be replenished via applications of the salts. Such soil may not react as well to a direct granular or dissolved application; plants grown in this soil tend to respond much better to a foliar spray or full watering with Epsom salts.
Large-scale outdoor growers in the Pacific Northwest (and gardeners in the Southeast) often struggle with depleted local soil that must be turned and treated before cuttings or seeds can be planted. Prepare your substrate by mixing in one teaspoon of salts per gallon of soil, then planting seeds, seedlings or clones - magnesium sulfate can account for faster germination. If you prefer, you can wait until your seedlings are a few inches tall, then water them all with a highly-diluted Epsom salt solution. Cuttings - which can be notoriously difficult to root in their new environment, depending upon strain and clone health - may potentially take hold more quickly and experience less shock as a result of this soil treatment.

Epsom salts provide both magnesium and sulfur to deficient Cannabis plants.

Dosage for Dissolving Epsom Salts in Water: Smaller-scale and indoor growers benefit more readily and consistently from dissolving the salts into water rather than soil. In a watering can or barrel, combine up to two tablespoons per gallon of water - first mixing the salts with a bit of warm water to thoroughly dissolve them. This can be given to the plants every four to six weeks, if necessary.
To apply a foliar spray, dissolve up to one tablespoon per gallon of water and spray Cannabis plants at the beginning of each cycle or when needed, focusing the majority of the fine mist upon the underside of the leaves. Avoid spraying your plants past the first few weeks of flowering, or while the lights are on; if you must spray them during the 'daylight' cycle, allow the plant to cool down before and after - and dry off - before turning the lamps back on. It is more effective, however, to spray the plants when both they and the room are cooler in temperature.
Epsom Salts to Revive Mothers or Root-Bound Plants: When plants remain for too long in the same pot, they can suffer from salt buildup and become nutrient-locked and/or pot-bound. An easy and gentle Epsom salt solution will dissolve the accumulated salts and allow the plant to regain healthy circulation by unclogging its root cells. This is especially effective in plants that require direct sunlight - a category in which Cannabis is firmly listed - due to the importance of magnesium sulfate in photosynthesis.

*original source - Epsom salts treat minor magnesium and sulfur deficiencies in Cannabis plants

 

[DrRosko]

+Rep for the Epsom Salt overview. I have used it successfully on my own accord on pot-bound plants shortly before transplant.

 

[WreckNRoll]

I've been inspired by my brother to go with organic and vegan growing techniques. I read up on this as "veganic". I want to grow without using chemicals or animal matter for the sole benefit of getting the purest medicine possible for myself. Not sure if it's the best technique to go for or if it will make a difference but I'm all for natural and healthy ways of doing things which is why I chose to grow my own plants in the first place. Some people have been known to use nutes/etc. that were never intended for human consumption and the fact that many have knowingly done this is crazy. I'm just glad I found this webpage with so many knowledgeable people willing to take time out of their day to help others. It's a beautiful thing. Thumbs up to all Great thread BTW