Lee McCall talks about increasing yields with trellis systems and super-cropping and preventative pest control maintenance without toxic pesticides or poisons

Increasing the yield is always the key goal at the end of the day in any type of crop production. I always try and explain this in terms of space when gardening under lights, as opposed to talking about how many plants you can fit in the garden. Basically, understanding how to efficiently produce the optimum amount of fresh weight per square foot of surface area under each light will allow you to achieve the maximum possible yield and production. For example, when you grow a plant outdoors there isn’t really any space restriction because the plant has virtually unlimited root space and equal light penetration from the sun throughout the day. This allows a plant to grow full and thick, without the sparse wispy straggler growth resulting from lack of light or restricted root development that you might see in an indoor plant

eceiving only overhead light from reflectors. Under normal circumstances, this wispy growth is always underdeveloped come harvest time and should be removed prior to initiating the flowering cycle—if not, the result is wasted time and plant energy that would have been better utilized in the primary tops, fruit or blooms on the plant. Indoors, using artificial lighting, a single lamp can cover only so much available surface area effectively—opposed to the sun, which covers the entire circumference of an outdoor plant. My personal translation of this logic is that outside plants can most definitely reach their maximum possible yield without pruning, trellising or training if they are given a sunny location and adequate water and nutrients and protected from things like pests and mold. Indoors, though, each grow lamp can only cover ‘X’ amount of surface area, most commonly on a horizontal platform; it’s up to us as growers to determine the most efficient way to produce a full canopy under this available surface area and turn wispy growth into primary growth.

Trellising techniques and super-cropping can really benefit the grower in terms of maximizing production surface area with fewer plants. Trellising utilizes a nylon or plastic monofilament grid sectioned out in specific increments of length and width. These nets—comprised of multiple squares—will allow you to train a plant from having what were once only a few tops (primary shoots) into dozens of tops, each one occupying an individual square in the trellis net. Common trellising techniques might include wooden or PVC custom frames that serve to hold and spread the trellis flat or parallel with the canopy. Trellis systems are usually applied to mature vegetative crops prior to the flowering cycle, so that each plant has enough time to train itself into the grids of the trellis. You should build your trellis supports in ways that will allow you to maximize the footprint of your available light. Traditionally, the common understanding is that a 1,000 watt light will support approximately a 16 square foot footprint; with a trellis this might be increased up to double the size, as long as there is enough plant mass to sufficiently fill in the surface area of the trellis. This technique will also encourage shorter finishing heights, as the plants will grow out horizontally instead of vertically. Currently, this is definitely the most popular way of maximizing yield without increasing the number of plants in the garden. This kind of trellising—sometimes called SCROG or ‘screen of green’—might be conducted with many plants or few. Personally, I feel that fewer are generally better; otherwise, what is the point of the trellis? A downside to this technique is that longer vegetative growth periods are required in order to grow a larger plant capable of filling in a big trellis grid, but at least you’ll only have one plant to tend, as opposed to the many single plants you would need to produce the same yield. Outdoors—and in indoor grows that utilize vertical lighting—trellises can also be spread vertically to function as sturdy supports for tall, longer-season varieties.

Super-cropping is not a new technique, but it has continued to be a popular solution as the gardening industry has evolved. Super-cropping involves taking primary branches of a plant and creasing or bending them in such a way that it not only shortens the plant, but promotes a denser canopy over a larger surface area. Rather than having several tall primary tops on a plant, these are creased over to the side between the nodes of the plant and either tied down, trellised or left to heal as is. Over time, the crease will form a thick, callused, elbow-like knot and permanently fix the branch in place without the need of bamboo or twist-ties. This super-cropping technique works well on most types of soft-stem plants that have a tendency to grow tall—you can employ it in any situation where trellis grids are not available and plant training is required. Tomatoes, basil and pepper plants are all great candidates for the use of super-cropping strategies to increase yields.

In order to increase yields and benefit from trellising and super-cropping, plant health must be also be carefully maintained. Bugs always seem to be a big problem for most gardeners across the board, no matter what their level of expertise might be. This is a part of gardening that I always recommend approaching with extreme caution, though, as many products use harmful ingredients and plants usually don’t respond in a positive manner to them. For example, Abamectin is a systemic insecticide that many commercial or large-scale growers have used in their rooms in an attempt to control infestations of spider mites, thrips or whiteflies. This scheduled group six insecticide is extremely toxic to humans, animals and the environment and should be reserved for use only on ornamental and non-consumable crops. The extreme danger associated with this product is enough for me to never recommend it for use to anyone!

Imidacloprid is another pesticide ingredient that is beginning to gain some popularity among those who run into root-dwelling insect infestations. Root aphids, thrips and fungus gnats stand absolutely no chance against this systemic toxin and even though it is registered for use on vegetable crops I would still caution against it. Many countries have banned this product due to the huge numbers of native insects it has killed off.

Although not ‘kill-on-contact’ effective, ladybugs are an excellent preventative measure that will work full time in your garden so you won’t have to. Ladybugs are predatory in nature and their favorite foods are plant-dwelling insects—including spider mites, aphids, whiteflies, fungus gnats and thrips. Ladybugs are most effective once their breeding colonies start to flourish—the larvae will feast on smaller pests like mites while adults prefer fat juicy aphids. By no means are ladybugs the cure to a major pest problem in the garden, however—if you are struck by a serious infestation you’ll need to employ a spray that will kill bugs on contact in order to effectively reduce their population. The reason for this is that plant-sucking pests breed much faster than most beneficial insects, so trying to curb large infestations with ladybugs will usually prove ineffective. They’re more of a maintenance measure—you can put ladybugs in vegetative rooms and clones to ensure clean, pest-free starts and they will even burrow down into the growing medium in order to retrieve tasty root aphids and fungus gnats.

Try using these tactics to improve your crop production. For me, gardening is all about trial and error—in order to become better, you must first fail. Trellising and super-cropping are grower-devised techniques used to improve crop yields by manipulation of plant growth patterns. Some failures are inevitable in order to achieve success using these techniques—don’t freak out if you break a branch off your first time trying to super-crop your plant. As with anything, practice makes perfect, so throw up a grid and get started—soon you’ll begin to see maximized yields in your own garden.

Growing in soil doesn’t need to be complicated—Lee McCall shares his favorite ways to set up a basic soil-based garden.

Soil gardening is one of my favorite methods for producing flavors, aromatics, essential oils, terpenes or resins from fruiting, flowering or blooming plants or trees. Growing in a healthy organic soil mix helps eliminate some of the hassles or problems that finicky or oversensitive plant varietals might run into in certain hydroculture systems. A quality organic potting soil provides ease of adaptation to plant-specific needs in terms of nutritional uptake, beneficial microbial colonization, moisture retention and available oxygen for the root system, with little room left for error. These important factors can be controlled and influenced according to individual style—and every gardener will re-invent the wheel, so to speak, in order to come up with a system that works to his or her satisfaction.

The first step I focus on is developing a mix that is just right for me. Everyone has different opinions about what the ideal soil mix is comprised of—for example, is a soil that holds more water or less water more effective and what are the pros and cons of each formulation? My personal preference is a denser soil mix that holds more water weight and tends to take longer to dry up. Coco and forest humus—I prefer Alaskan—possess exceptional water-retention properties and provide an ideal refuge for beneficial microbes. Along with a high-quality peat, these are the three primary ingredients that comprise the base foundation for what, in my opinion, is the ideal soil mix. White sphagnum peat moss has decent capillary action and tends to hold less water than coconut coir, but increases the cation exchange capacity of nutrients. Currently, I favor an equal 50/50 ratio of Alaskan humus to high-quality coconut coir—the darker the better. Once this is thoroughly and evenly mixed, I take two parts of it and cut in one part peat and perlite at a 60/40 ratio. Perlite increases drainage properties and aeration in any soil or soilless mix. A chunkier grade is preferred nowadays, it seems—compared to the traditional BB-sized stuff that used to be found in many cheap potting mixes. Finally, 10 per cent high-quality worm castings should be added to the total volume of the mix. Castings are a readily available source of plant nutrients that will stimulate growth and enrich the overall body of your soil mix.

Soil amendments are available by the boatload and more appear on the market every day. Worm castings, bat and seabird guanos, kelp or seaweed meals, oyster shell, azomite, crab meal, poultry litter, pyrophyllite clay, bone and fishbone meals—these are just a few of the many popular natural and organic amendments that will enrich the soil and provide complete nutrition in a time-released formula that is fully customizable to the grower’s preference. The more dry amendments that are available in the soil mix, the fewer liquid concentrated nutrients you’ll need to add, so long as the necessary elements are available to the plant. However, before you go and dump boxes of additives into your fresh new soil base, research what they will do for your crop and in what increments. I use two separate mixes—one designed to stimulate lush, green, leafy structural growth in plants that are in a vegetative stage and the other containing higher amounts of phosphorous and potassium, designed to encourage healthy fruit set and flowering development in blooming crops. Transplanting from the vegetative mix into the flowering one allows the crop an easier transition from one stage of growth into the next with less overall stress and provides the required nutrients in satisfactory ratios. Used in combination with certain liquid supplements or compost teas, peak growth potential is achievable at all stages with most plant varieties with these two formulations.

Once your ‘super soil mix’ is complete you can either let it sit so it can compost or pot it up and use it right away. Obviously space is a factor if a composting stage is in your plans, as the soil mix will need a place to sit for somewhere between 45 to 90 days. Composting will break down many of the dry fertilizer elements into plant-available forms ready for absorption, but if this stage is skipped it isn’t the end of the world—the addition of enzymes and microbial inoculants will help make the non-available nutrient elements in the soil mix available to your plants. You may also reuse old soil if you wish, from the previous harvest. This can be labor-intensive but it also helps reduce overall waste from the garden. I would avoid reusing soils that were exposed to root rot, mildews or root parasites for obvious reasons. Also, a good soil mix should maintain a spongy consistency throughout its growth cycle—a healthy rhizosphere and soil mix when fed properly will have immense amounts of fungal activity, causing the soil to stay spongy and absorbent.

Before potting up any containers, try lining the bottom of your containers with LECA (light expanded clay aggregate) or diatomite to cover up the drainage holes and prevent soil from falling out. This will enhance oxygen supply to the roots and the drainage properties of the soil mix and increase feeder root production. Lately, air-pruning containers, both fabric and injection molded, are my primary choice for both soil and soilless gardening—both root growth response and uptake of water seem to benefit from the air-pruning technology the containers impose. You’ll also eliminate the hassle of root circling and becoming root bound too quickly by implementing these types of containers in the grow room. Wick systems are also advantageous as they require less watering maintenance. I definitely favor the kind of root development that wick systems create due to the constant capillary action in the root system—these roots are ductile but thick and usually fill up any available space in and around the growing medium. I assume that because the capillary action initiates the uptake of the proper amount of oxygen and water, the plant is able to produce the exact root system it needs for constant feeding and ideal elemental absorption.

Watering your soil is a topic that everyone seems to have different opinions about. How much water should go into each container? How often should I water? Should I fertilize with every watering? This is an issue that is often made to seem more complex than it really is—you should water the soil based on the types of plants being grown. For example, fast-growing annuals that develop vigorous root and shoot growth in order to produce a fruit, flower or seed at the end of their cycle might consume larger volumes of water than cacti, succulents or plants like orchids that absorb water and nutrients through foliage and aerial roots. Water uptake and consumption will also depend on the size of the plant and pot, as well as on temperature and humidity. A simple rule of thumb is to ensure that the temperature remains around 75°F when the lights are on and that there is anywhere from 30 to 50 per cent relative humidity in the garden. This type of atmosphere will promote healthy water uptake by the plants along with a dense and vigorous root system so long as harmful pathogens are not introduced. Water every plant only when it needs it, judging by weight. This can be tedious work for larger gardens, but it will ensure that every plant gets touched at least one time in the grow room. I feel a plant is ready for water when I can pick it up easily, despite its overall mass. A gallon of water weighs roughly eight pounds without any elements added into it, so once fertilizer is added to the mixture and given to the plant there is a noticeable weight gain. I feel that providing water to the plant approximately six to 12 hours before it can show any signs of wilt is ideal, if possible. If you’re using liquid fertilizers or supplements, I recommend consistent usage as opposed to alternating feedings with water—use lower nutrient concentrations more often and it should provide the intended results.

These guidelines are my recommended ‘basic building blocks’ any time I am gardening in soil. You’ll likely want to change a few things in your garden, but that’s okay—this guide is intended to be for reference only, not a set of immutable rules that will apply in the same manner to every soil-based garden. Every grower faces a different situation and every garden reflects the grower’s individual style.

Lee McCall walks us through the set-up for a comprehensive new growing system that he thinks just might be the start of something big in the grow biz.