Many marijuana growers take time off from growing during summer, for family vacations, and other reasons.
The data in this article is for any cannabis grower who has taken a break from growing, but it’s also applicable if you’ve been growing all along without any interruption. Here are some tips…
• Do a playback of your last grow op.
It’s easier if you keep a grow diary so you have a record of the details of every crop.
When you think back on cannabis strains you grew, how your hydroponics equipment and nutrients worked, whether there were any problems with pests and/or diseases, you’ll recognize things you want to do differently in your next grow season.
• Road test all your marijuana growing equipment and supplies.
This means you turn on your grow lights, ballasts, pumps, timers, monitors, fans, chillers, C02 generator, light movers and any other infrastructure that could be defective or failing.
Also take a look at your hydroponics nutrients, root zone media, fertilizers, reverse osmosis filters, and other materials and structures that influence your root zone and how you feed your cannabis plants.
• Clean your grow space. A thorough cleaning of your marijuana grow space always benefit your garden, but don’t do it when your plants are in your grow space.
It’s especially important to clean your irrigation/feed systems whether they’re deep water culture, aeroponics, ebb and flow, or drip irrigation.
If you grow in soil or you hand water, clean your pots.
The best cleaner is Physan 20, which is a virucide, bactericide, and fungicide.
Let’s take a look at how this start-up checklist works to assist marijuana growers…
My friend Jay has a four light set-up and uses deep water culture.
He took the summer off from growing cannabis because he wanted to save money on electricity and also wanted to travel.
When he followed the marijuana grow room start-up checklist, he recalled that at the end of last season one of his bulbs had started to flicker.
He fired up that bulb and it was still flickering, so he replaced it
When the new bulb had the same problem, he replaced the digital ballast that was driving it. The problem disappeared.
He ran his hydroponics HID lights for a full 24-hour period and discovered that one of his timers was malfunctioning, so he replaced it.
As he tested his deep water culture system, he found a couple of minor leaks and fixed them.
His pH/ppm meter was defective so he replaced it.
Also, he discovered that his General Hydroponics FloraGrow (part of a three-part hydroponics base nutrients formula) had gone bad, with precipitates visible.
He threw out his old three-part hydroponics nutrients and got Sensi Grow and Sensi Bloom base nutrients.
By examining his grow op ahead of his new crop, and fixing problems, he prevented grow room disasters and increased the productivity and health of his marijuana plants.
Whether you’ve taken a break from growing marijuana and are doing a re-start of your grow op, or you’ve been growing all along without interruption, you always have more peace of mind and grow room efficiency when you take a close look at all the systems, equipment, and cleanliness factors in your marijuana grow space.
