When it comes to cultivating efficiently and intelligently, simply following conventional methods isn’t enough. With years of experience between France and California, I’ve perfected the ultimate setup, designed to maximize quality, accelerate growth cycles, and optimize every square meter.
This setup increases the number of harvests per year without consuming more electricity, while maintaining complete control over the environment. The system is based on several key pillars:
1. Optimized light spectrum
2. A pre-flowering chamber to speed up rotations
3. Living soil for sustainable substrate management
4. Total climate control
5. A semi-automatic irrigation system
With this strategy, you’ll achieve more frequent harvests, exceptional product quality, and optimized cultivation management.
1️⃣ Mixing Spectrums: HPS + LED + Under Canopy
Why mix HPS and LED?
Each type of lighting has its pros and cons:
• HPS lights provide strong penetration, illuminating the deeper parts of the plant.
• Modern LEDs offer a better spectrum, less heat, and higher energy efficiency.
By combining HPS and LED, you get a more complete spectrum, which enhances trichome production, yield, and final flower quality.
Why add LED under the canopy?
LEDs emit directional light that doesn’t penetrate well through the canopy. This is where Under Canopy LEDs come in:
• They illuminate the lower parts of the plants, ensuring that lower buds develop properly.
• They prevent popcorn buds, guaranteeing uniform production from top to bottom.
Far Red Light: A Natural Flowering Accelerator
By incorporating far-red LEDs (10% of the total spectrum), we can influence the flowering cycle.
• These LEDs should be activated 8 to 15 minutes after lights-off.
• They allow plants to enter flowering faster, reducing total flowering time by about 1 week.
2️⃣ The Ultimate Rotation: A Pre-Flowering Chamber to Save Time
One of the biggest game changers in this setup is optimizing growth cycles using a pre-flowering chamber.
Traditionally, once a plant finishes its vegetative stage, it is moved to the flowering room, where it spends its entire flowering cycle (about 8 weeks).
The trick? Using the veg room for pre-flowering.
How does it work?
1. Plants start growing normally in the veg room.
2. Once they reach the right size, they enter pre-flowering directly in this same room by switching the light cycle to 12/12.
3. During these two weeks of pre-flowering, they stretch significantly, gaining height and vigor.
4. Once the flowering chamber is available, the plants are moved in to finish their flowering cycle.
✅ Key Takeaways:
• Stretching begins as soon as the light cycle switches to 12/12, not when the plant enters the flowering chamber.
• In the first 15 days of flowering, plants stretch aggressively before slowing down.
• This entire stretch period happens in the pre-flowering chamber, freeing up the flowering chamber earlier for the next cycle.
Why is this a game changer?
• The flowering room is freed up earlier, allowing faster cycle rotations.
• Pre-flowering plants take up less space, meaning more plants per m² at this stage.
• Vegetative chambers have no surface area limits, unlike flowering rooms, creating a legal loophole for maximizing production.
✅ Total time saved per cycle: 3 weeks
• 1 week saved thanks to far-red LEDs.
• 2 weeks saved by pre-flowering in the veg chamber.
Transporting Plants: Handle with Care!
When moving plants from the pre-flowering chamber to the flowering chamber, extreme caution is required.
🚨 Why?
• After 2 weeks of stretching, plants are taller and more fragile.
• Their branches are more flexible, making them more prone to damage.
• Improper handling can break stems or stress the plants.
✅ Solution: Move plants carefully and avoid any rough handling.
3️⃣ Living Soil: A Reusable, Cost-Effective Substrate
Using living soil is a sustainable and highly effective solution.
✅ Benefits of Living Soil:
• Reusable each cycle with just simple amendments, eliminating the need for transporting tons of soil.
• Naturally stabilizes pH → No need to adjust water pH.
• Enhances nutrient absorption and promotes beneficial microbial life.
4️⃣ Total Climate Control & Biological Prevention
Optimizing climate conditions is essential for consistent, high-quality harvests.
🌡️ 24/7 Climate Control
• AC and heating to maintain stable temperatures.
• Dehumidifiers & humidifiers for precise humidity control.
• Automated climate controllers to fine-tune every parameter.
🌿 Biological Prevention: Stopping Problems Before They Start
• Neem oil & essential oils (lavender, rosemary, tea tree) for natural pest protection.
• Regular applications to prevent infestations before they start.
🚨 Odor Filtration with Ozone:
• High-performance carbon filters & air extractors.
• Ozone generators to neutralize smells (⚠️ Use outside grow areas!).
5️⃣ Semi-Automatic Irrigation: Simplicity & Precision
A drip system with manual activation, preventing overwatering while saving time.
✅ Benefits:
• Uniform, controlled watering.
• Ability to disable certain lines if some plants don’t need water.
• Saves time and effort without the complexity of fully automated irrigation.
🎯 Conclusion: The Ultimate Setup to Dominate the Market
By combining all these techniques, you create an elite cultivation system that:
• Multiplies harvests
• Maximizes quality
• Optimizes efficiency
🔥 Pair this with Botafarm genetics and proper pheno-hunting, and you’ve got a setup built to dominate the market.
📩 Need personalized coaching? Contact us! 🚀
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