Every issue we track down an experienced indoor gardener and ask them a question. If it’s the right question, it gets them talking, and we listen. If what they say makes a modicum of sense, you end up reading it. So here we are! Being talkative this time is Chris Sanderson from Chico, California. Chris has an 8-light sealed room, cooled with regular AC and supplemented with CO2. He’s only been growing for five years but he’s already known as ‘the doc’ to his friends. But how will he stand up to a grilling from the UGM team?

UGM: Chris, when you open the door to your indoor garden, what do you do?

Chris: {chuckles} That’s a deceptively simple sounding question! I guess I can sum it up like this: I keep my eyes open! I’m a plant lover first and foremost. So it shouldn’t take a genius to figure out that my plants are the first thing I look at! I check over the entire room and look for any obvious irregularities / inconsistencies. Are some plants looking limp, or are some doing better than others? The best growers are always super observant, some would say a little ‘anal.’ The best growers are definitely attentive and good at problem solving.

UGM: What kind of problems?

Chris: Oh we’ll get to that. I just don’t want anybody out there to think they won’t encounter problems as an indoor gardener, or that problems are a bad thing. They are just inevitable. With experience your problems don’t necessarily decrease either. You just get better at spotting them!

UGM: ‘Ignorance is bliss’ sorta thing?

Chris: For sure. Look, I don’t mean to brag but … I know what I’m doing. Lots of growers think they know what they are doing too. But it’s only when you see a room that’s really cranking, with beautifully uniform canopies and replete with fruits and flowers in every square foot then you realize you still have a lot to learn. It’s great to visit other indoor gardens – I know, I know, it’s a bit like comparing the size of your schlong at the urinal. Only in this scenario you’re not necessarily stuck with a weaner all your life! It’s not that you need to go out and buy the most expensive gear either. A good grower is simply adept at spotting problems and knowing how to deal with them. Bad growers don’t even know they have problems! This is a really important point to grasp. Bad growers, more often than not, don’t know they are bad growers.

UGM: Okay how about you give us an example of a problem you’ve spotted and solved?

Chris: I could give you hundreds.

UGM: Just one will do …

Chris: Don’t rush me for soundbites dude. There’s far more to being a good grower than simply knowing a whole list of values, whether it’s for pH, solution strength, temperature, humidity and CO2, although knowing this is invaluable and the basis of your understanding, but every room is different – and referring to guide books (or dare I say it, magazines) as if they were religious texts will turn you into a Philistine.

UGM: Philistine?

Chris: I call them “repeater growers.” Growers that think that just because they’ve scanned the forums, read a bunch of books, digested some feed charts, and bought a shed load of bottles, that suddenly they’re God’s gift to botany. They do the same sh*t over and over, like a robot. Week 1: This and that.  Week 2: A bit more of this, less of that. Week 3 …. well you get the picture. Don’t get me wrong. A good grower has a solid base knowledge of how plants work and what they want at different stages, that’s for sure. But that’s just the beginning. It’s far more important to develop your skills of observation; to tap into your inner perfectionist, and really look after your plants. They’re your babies after all! Don’t neglect them. It really does make a difference! Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can sort out today. Don’t fall into the ‘Oh they still look fine” syndrome. It’s easy to fool yourself and become complacent.

UGM: Examples …. please.

Chris: Alright, alright! An experienced grower will open the door to their room and instantly feel if the environment is at least close to perfect. You know, I think my skin is the best environmental monitor on the market. Make sure you use yours! Your skin will instantly communicate a world of environmental information to you. Here’s a good rule of thumb. If working in your indoor garden gets you all hot, sweaty and bothered, your plants are probably not doing too much better either. If you’re taking your t-shirt off, it’s too damn hot in there. Period. Every visit to your garden should involve checking your Min/Max thermometer and hygrometer. Check what your nighttime temperatures are dropping to when your lights are off. Check that your humidity isn’t going through the roof when your lights are out too. I use digital and analog hygrometer  and compare readings. I know from experience that some digital humidity meters can be out by as much a 10%. Next I check the CO2 controller to make sure the room is at the correct parts per million. Next I scan the room to see if any equipment has failed, if there are any leaks or puddles of water on the floor, fans not working, bulbs that are off, ducting that may have come lose. I check my res (which I keep outside of the room to keep nice and cool) and check the amount of solution left. I take a reading of the pH, EC and temperature of the nutrient solution. I write it all down too! I keep track of my readings on a white board calendar hung above my res. I check how much propane my CO2 burner has. I verify that the pumps that power my irrigation are all coming on when they should. When they do, I check to see how much run-off nutrient solution is generated. I collect some in a jug and measure the pH, EC and temperature of the run off – noting this on my white board. All this stuff should be second nature. You should be doing all of this at the very minimum, every time you are with your plants. Yes, it’s repetitive and it’s easy to just be yeah-yeah about it but like, I told you, good growers are anal creatures!

UGM: So you’ve checked your meters, noted down your readings, then what …

Chris: I go back into the room and really get in among my plants. I take a real close look at them, looking for any changes since my last visit. The more often you look – I mean really look at your plants – the more you see. Check for any imperfections and signs of under or over fertilization. Check for any plants growing too close to lamps! Never let the tops of your plants become heat stressed! It will hit your yields hard. If possible, rearrange your plants so that there is always a slightly concave shaped canopy beneath each lamp. Always keep an eye out for mildew too – a fine white powdery substance on your leaves. Pull plants aside and look deeper into the canopy, turning leaves and checking closely for any signs of bugs. Keep your plants tidy. Your hands should constantly be picking off any dead leaves and gathering them in a bag, to be removed from the room. If you naturally go through these checks when you enter your indoor garden, chances are already you are well on your way to becoming a better grower. Either your heart’s in it, or it’s not. By naturally checking these things every day or at least every time you have a chance to go into your garden, you quickly become more in tune with your room and plants, noticing subtle changes for the better or worse. I like to think of this process as the marriage of observation and monitoring. They are kind of symbiotic when you think about it. And it’s the only way you are going to improve. Note any changes in your garden’s environment. Keep track of any alterations you make to your nutrient recipe or watering schedule. Then it becomes far easier to match symptoms with causes and you’ll recognize problems much earlier.

UGM: So, let’s say you noticed some plants are looking unhappy and …

Chris: If I start to see imperfections, I try and decide what caused them. I think back to what I did last – what’s changed? This is such an important question to ask yourself whenever you spot a problem. What’s changed? Chances are it is something I did in the last day or maybe week. Or the plant may have moved into a new phase of growth and require a slightly different nutrient ratio or strength. By noting down when I see these kinds of nutrient related issues and correcting them or at least trying to, and then watching the outcome of my actions, I can learn for my next crop. Trying to solve each problem as it arises and only changing a few factors at a time will allow you to methodically determine what factor is causing the problem and soon enough you will be able to recognize a problem as soon as it begins and be able to fix it before it has done any or much permanent damage.

UGM: Sounds like you are always tweaking something Chris!

Chris: I have to admit. I’m obsessed with growing. Completely and utterly obsessed! I’m always thinking about my plants, so there is always something to tweak. Chances are, your indoor garden will need dialing in over a crop or three, evolving into a room that performs efficiently in the space provided, with the chosen system and for the plant grown. Don’t just focus your inspections to one area of the room – perhaps the part that’s easiest to access. You can’t have enough Min/Max thermometers in your room. They will indicate if there are any ‘micro-climates’ going on and may help you to understand why some areas are performing better, or worse than others. You should constantly be thinking about how you can improve things.

UGM: Like … how?

Chris: Well, maybe you could raise up the plants around the edge of the room to utilize side lighting? Maybe the watering system could be improved by having a larger diameter manifold that splits off and reduces to each table resulting in a more even distribution of water to each plant? Could it be that your reservoir needs more movement i.e. an airstone or could it be larger to help keep it cool and stay oxygenated, warding off the dreaded pythium.

UGM: So you spot problems and fix them. Is this how you became known as the ‘doc’?

Chris: Yeah, it’s just a nickname that’s stuck. It started when one of my buddies saw the success I was enjoying whereas he was getting by with just above average results. He invited me over for some advice. It took him a while to swallow his pride and ask, I might add! Anyway, as soon as I walked into his garden I could tell the environment was pretty good – damn near perfect actually. A quick look at his meters and sure enough it was. As I looked around I could see that his lights were very slightly too close and the plants right under them were showing signs of being a little nitrogen deficient, meanwhile those plants that were further away from the lights were not. A closer inspection revealed that the plants right under the lights were clearly heat stressed. Simply by placing my hand level with the tops of the plants and feeling the instant radiant heat from the lamps was enough. I also noticed that some plants in one corner were far less developed than the rest. Now, as I said, his lights were only slightly too close yet his plants were clearly quite unhappy about being right under the lights. The temperature of the room was perfect so what was causing this? Then I noticed that he only had two oscillating fans and neither blowing across the top of the canopy removing the heat from between the bulb and canopy. That’s so important! You’ve gotta move the air between the top of the plants and the lamps. Next I slid my way through to the back of the room where his worst plants were and soon felt cold air. Sure enough there was the end of a piece of ducting pointing down at the plants blowing in cold winter air. I told him the plants were simply getting chilled by the air and he should run the ducting around the edge of the room high up and the pierce some holes in it to distribute the cold air evenly across the room. This example shows that something that started out as heat stress can be fixed in more than one way, raising the lights far more than was needed or only raising them slightly but also adding some oscillating fans blowing across the canopy, allowing for the lights to be slightly closer without causing a problem. And also something as simple as distributing your cold intake air more evenly and not directing it at your plants can boost your yields well into the doing great category.

UGM: What about that nitrogen deficiency in certain plants?

Chris: Oh that’s because the plants directly under the grow lights were receiving more light, growing faster, and therefore had a greater need for nutrients. Deficiencies commonly show up first in plants that are situated directly under grow lights. I think I even read that in UGM a while ago!

UGM: Well of course! Do you have any other tips for our readers?

Chris: How long have you got? The big point I’d like to make is that environment is everything. Temperature and humidity should be kept constantly in check. If your garden temperatures are too high and there’s nothing else you can do to address it, turn off some lights! I know it seems a bit harsh, but it’s better to simulate a ‘cloudy day’ than a scorching desert. Plants don’t die on cloudy days. Don’t make the mistake of letting your nighttime temperatures get too low. Your plants won’t appreciate it, and the extra humidity caused by a large drop in temperature is a sure way to establish a nasty attack of mildew. I know I’m repeating myself but it’s a fact worth emphasizing! Keep an eye on those nighttime temperatures folks! Use a thermostatically controlled heater to keep nighttime temperatures in the low 70s. And consider running a dehumdifier at night, especially if you are growing fruits and flowers that are prone to molds. Oh, there’s one more thing that really bugs me – if I may get it off my chest…

UGM: Consider us your therapist, Chris …

Chris: Thanks. If you run into problems, don’t instantly blame your friggin’ nutrients! I know it’s easier on the ego to blame a bottle, but cummon, do you really think that a nutrient company hasn’t done their homework on what your plants need? 99 times out of 100, you’re the problem! Your plant problems are merely a response to environmental problems. So constant measuring and monitoring is an absolute must. If you don’t know your facts and figures, what basis do you have to solve any problem in your indoor garden. Get scientific – even if you don’t consider yourself a “scientist.”
Finally, if you’re a beginner – a word of golden advice: start small! See how you get on with just one or two low wattage grow lights – I’m talking 250 or 400 watts. I liken it to your first car. Did your dad give you a Pagani Zonda to pootle around in? No sir. You probably wouldn’t still be alive if he had. The same goes with grow lights and, for that matter, systems. Don’t shoot for the latest aeroponic or DWC system unless you feel confident enough to handle it. Try your luck with some soil or soil-less mix in large pots or beds first. These are much more forgiving! Walk before you run.

UGM: Thanks Chris.

Chris: Oh you’re welcome Urban Garden dudes! One love and all that

Want to talk to us about your grow? Email us at rant@urbangardenmagazine.com