Ben Baker, East Coast Growing Solutions

Ben Baker joins me from the one and only Nova Scotia, Canada where he’s responsible for East Coast Growing Solutions where he’s grown for just over 4 years with a wide array of mediums, setups, styles and so on. Now that Canada is legal for most citizens to grow 4 plants at home, he found a niche in the market that was unfulfilled by helping people learn to grow their own cannabis at home. Ben’s currently growing  a few different strains under a 630w Ceramic Metal Halide, in ProMix HP  (my preferred media) with Mantis nutrients. The reason he likes Mantis is because it’s one bottle to provide your plant what it needs. With 5ml per liter of water, it’s ph buffered so you don’t have to check the PH levels of your feeding program. This is a huge benefit and reduces the work that a grower has to do each and every watering. Ben states that feeding and nutrient regimen is the thing growers must focus on when concerned with overall plant health. You need to ensure that your plants are getting the right nutrients when they need it. Genetics are also a huge part to Ben’s success, as they are the foundation of a good grow. What’s Ben looking for when selecting the right strain to grow? As a rosin producer and consumer, he looks for trichome production. He likes the super frosty type of cannabis to ensure he’s getting good yields from the rosin pressing. Healthy plants, with vigorous growth is important and he strongly believes in quality over quantity. Ben discusses his particular feeding schedule for Mantis, and his time before. Listen in before the 10 minute mark to listen to his theories on feeding, flushing and when the appropriate time to do both is. How do you increase yield on an individual plant? He suggests it’s not all about the amount of plants you cram into a space, but it’s all about the microclimate that you create for your plants. Aside from genetics, upgrading your lights is important as well, without overdoing it with the heat that the lights that create. He also talks a bit (at 15 minutes) about proper training and creating a screen of green for your plants to ensure your maximizing that light increase. Stressing your plant is important to trichome production. In Ben’s experience, not all stressing techniques are successful in producing more trichomes, flavonoids, and overall cannabinoids – but his tip that he delivers right around 18:45 is to switch up your light spectrum. He prefers to go from an HPS light to a CMH light right around the last 2 weeks of flower to bring out the best trichome production. Around the 19:45 mark he talks about how to grow some purple cannabis, which is some of the most desirable colors to pull out of your plants. He talks about why it’s important to lower your temperatures at night over the last couple of weeks. What type of characteristins make the most successful grower? PASSION is the most important thing to Ben, or else he knows growers will just half-ass the process and not grow great cannabis. He also looks for like minded people to teach, and we can’t agree with that more at The Homegrown Helpers. Matching you up with the right teacher for your personality is critical to your success. Ben also gives one more tip at 21:30, so tune in and listen up for the last type of characteristic that he looks for. Everyone has to start somewhere. It’s a fun hobby, it will consume your time, and people may judge you so be careful. That’s Ben’s last bit of advice for all the growers listening right now. Connect with this week’s guest at @weedkid902 on Instagram or email him at [email protected] if you like what he was about today. If you liked this interview, and want to hear more from this week's Homegrown Helper please head over to http://thehomegrownhelpers.com/bonus and download the rest of the show! Ready to hire on a consultant to help you take your grow to the next level? Just need a bit of help, or maybe some vacation coverage? Reach out to us here at [email protected] and we can ensure you get the best Homegrown Helper for your needs! We’ll work to match you up with the consultant that is right for your job, your personality and your location – in that order! Learn from someone you can relate to that has the skills to help. Email us today to get started! Thank you to our MyGrowPass.com partners for this episode: Dealzer.com is a hydroponics superstore with over 20,000 indoor gardening products. If you are looking to grow your own, Dealzer is your 1 stop shop for all your product needs from LED grow lights, grow tents, nutrients, soil, Co2 & much more. Visit Dealzer Hydroponics at Dealzer.com or visit their Paducah, KY brick & mortar store. Use code PodCast10 for 10% off the entire order at Dealzer.com, where they also offer free shipping on most products. 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