The Homegrown Helpers

This episode I'm joined by Chris who is from Maine but currently in Hawaii on a work-cation and it's 5 am there when we record. After covering his history which includes several deployments with the Navy, Chris goes into great detail on how he built his grow room to suit, but also on a budget.

After covering the details and why he set his room up the way he did, we then dig into his tips on what new growers should avoid doing in the grow room. We finish this episode up with why Chris thinks that keeping a consistent journal is critical for increasing yields in your cannabis garden.

Chris joins us for a second part next week to cover all the mistakes he's made in the garden. Be sure to tune in so you can learn more of what NOT TO DO in the garden!

We're looking for guests! If you're a homegrower with a story, advice, tips, tricks or a new process to share I want to talk to you! Apply to be on the show at thehomegrownhelpers.com/apply

Check out our latest giveaway with Trim Bag! growcastpodcast.com/giveaway or find the linktr.ee/growcast in our Instagram bio!

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Rooted Lyfe and their premium CBD products. This woman founded and led company delivers quality and consistency in their triple lab-tested CBD products like a tincture, cooling pain gel, a salve or facemasks, they have a product that will help ease your ailments. Grab 10% off at RootedLyfe.com, or save 20% as a member at MyGrowPass.com.

You should also be using Fish Shit in your garden, from our partner Fish Head Farms. Aquaponics in a bottle, a complete ecosystem brought indoors for your plants. Use from seedling through flower for increased potency and smell. Use code GROWCAST at checkout at fishheadfarms.com to save 10% on all orders...just don't blame us for the smell.

Fairly new grower Rick joins me from his home in Michigan where he's eager to share his learnings from a few years of growing for himself. After learning how important and versatile cannabis is, Rick converted into a cannabis consumer, grower, and advocate.

Rick takes the time to share advice on what it's like starting from bag seed and building into a successful grow while staying within a budget. We also get into his plant training tips, and a solid discussion on photoperiod versus autoflowers and why one is more suited to beginner growers.

Sometimes taking on a new task, like growing cannabis, can be daunting because you want to be the best that you can be at it, naturally. When learning about growing, you see these fancy setups that cost a lot of money and you get intimidated. Well, Rick is here to tell you that the fancy equipment is not that important to growing quality cannabis. Sure it helps, but you can grow quality cannabis while staying under your budget, no matter what it is.

We're working our way through all of our previous interviews and are going to be scheduling new interviews by month's end, so if you want your opportunity to be featured as a Homegrown Helper, please apply at thehomegrownhelpers.com/apply and I'll be in touch soon

This episode is brought to you by two of our partners at MyGrowPass.com. We may not be allowing new members to join right now, but we always have the option of a 7-day trial to check out a few of the benefits that we offer our members.

Sohum Soils created the most complete organic soil that is the easiest solution for new growers to use. Simply add water...nothing more, nothing less. You don't' even need to pH that water before you add it. Clones and seedlings will need a less active soil, and be sure to give your plant enough soil to get through to harvest - and you will enjoy every last second of growing with Sohum Soils! Grab 10% off all your bags at sohumsoils.com by using code GROWCAST10 at checkout.

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This was my first time having two guests on the show, but these two guys did great! Mr. Macblunts calling in from Spain, and Joaquin joining us from Southern California. This show took a bit to get scheduled, but I'm glad I did as this is some solid info delivered by these guys. There are some connection issues here, but it's worth sticking through.

After walking us through their history and current grow setups, we dive into their advice for starting a breeding project. Like we've heard before, planning for the end result is the first step in any successful venture. We then shift to talk on Korean Natural Farming and it's benefits for your plants and Mother Earth and how it translates into bigger yields when giving your plants exactly what it needs.

Ready to share some growing advice that you've learned in the garden? Hit up thehomegrownhelpers.com/apply and join us soon!

Don't forget, we appreciate all those ratings and reviews you leave for us! Subscribe to the show if you like what you hear!

This episode is brought to you by the best water only soil on the market, Sohum Living Soils. From personal experience, Sohum Living Soils is easy to use and with little effort will yield a great final product. No need to even pH your water, just make sure you have enough soil to get you through to harvest and you'll enjoy the results! Use GROWCAST10 at checkout to get 10% off your ready to use organic soil at SohumSoils.com.

Have you heard about Trim Bag? This is the easiest way to trim your entire harvest in a fraction of the time it used to take. I'm always amazed at how nice buds look coming out of the Trim Bag. You can trim up to 2 pounds in a few minutes of moving and shaking the bag back and forth. Grab $30 off along with free shipping by using code GROWCAST at TrimBag.com, while mygrowpass.com members get $50 off & free shipping.

Sam joins me from his home in South Africa to help you become a better cannabis gardener. Sam has practical grow tips from trial and error with indoor and outdoor gardens. Sharing his IPM protocols, how important grower ingenuity is and what it's like dealing with daily power outages he'll help you take several steps forward in your grow game.

Imagine getting a notice from your power company every day that your power will be going out at 4pm. Sometimes it's for 4 hours, sometimes it's for 8 hours, or 12, or longer. It doesn't always come back on when they say it's going to either. Growers in most places of the world don't know what it's like to be flexible with these types of situations. Some panic when the power goes out for 2 hours, but not the South African growers!

Ready to get your grow featured? Is it time for you to share your grow advice for others to learn from? Apply at thehomegrownhelpers.com/apply and we'll be in touch soon.

We're currently doing a giveaway for 5 - 250ml bottles of Fish Sh!t from Fish Head Farms. All you have to do to signup is head to linktr.ee/growcast or growcastpodcast.com/giveaway and enter your information. We draw on 5/5/2020.

This episode is brought to you by Buxton Hollow Farm, purveyors of premium organic gardening inputs. Grab a compost tea kit, supercharged biochar, and a bunch of other great products for home growers at buxtonhollowfarm.com and make sure you use code GCL10 to save 10% off your entire order!

Also, Diamond Cut Co who makes the world's leading cannabis trimming scissors. Made with long hours and your comfort in mind, experience the difference at diamondcutco.com and use code GROWCAST to get 15% off! Tired of the hand cramping, spring breaking, and constant dulling of your current scissors? Experience that best with Diamond Cut Co today!

Start a 7-day trial at MyGrowPass.com and see a sneak preview of all the benefits that we have to offer our members, including up to 25% off the sponsors of today's show.

**Join MyGrowPass.com by 4/15/20 and be entered into a special "New Member" drawing**

Nathan has been growing in the United Kingdom for 30 years, and has built a very intricate home grow box that includes a spectacular IPM set up that every home grower should want to emulate. With Nathan, he truly lives up to the "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" moniker investing time and effort into keeping problems out of his garden.

Nathan also shares stories from underground growing and the cannabis culture in the United Kingdom. There's also more grow advice around choosing the right products (don't go cheap) and some of the biggest mistakes he's made in the garden to help you to not make the same ones!

Are you ready for your interview? Apply at thehomegrownhelpers.com/apply and we'll be in touch soon!

Don't forget to rate, review, subscribe and share with your best growmie!

Today's MyGrowPass.com partners that make this show, Growcast and our membership program possible:

RootedLyfe.com carries some of the most trustworthy CBD products that are on the market today. With so many choices, you need one you can trust, and that's Rooted Lyfe. Created, owned, and led by women, Rooted Lyfe wants to help you feel better through these crazy times. Use code GROWCAST at RootedLyfe.com to save 10% on tinctures, balms, salves and more to help you find your Y!

Fish Head Farms and their ecosystem in a bottle called Fish Shit is exactly that, harvested from a tilapia farm in Massachusetts and bottled to bring you all the benefits of aquaponics without all the fish! Use Fish Shit to maximize terpene and cannabinoid production from seedling all the way up to harvest to maximize production across the board! Get 10% off at fishheadfarms.com by using code GROWCAST at checkout, while members save 25% every day!

Greg joins us from Michigan where he recounts the precarious start of his passion for growing cannabis with many stories from 50 years of being around cannabis gardens. Starting in 1969 through the midst of the drug war and now enjoying legalization, Greg shares some great tales!

While this episode doesn't get into deep detail on any particular gardening strategy or procedure, it has some amazing theoretical advice based on Greg's 50 years of experience, as he tries to help you avoid making the same mistakes he's made or seen many others make.

Don't forget to rate, review, subscribe and share if you like what you hear!

We're looking for new guests on the show! Ready to share your gardening tips and tricks? Hit up thehomegrownhelpers.com/apply to share your story!

This episode is brought to you by MyGrowPass.com partners Atlas Plant Trainer. With so much uncertainty in the world today, one thing that you can do for yourself is grow your own, and Atlas Plant Trainer is the device to help you maximize your yields in the garden. LIsteners can save 10% using code GROWCAST at checkout, while our members enjoy 25% off every order with Atlas Plant Trainer and up to 25% with many online retailers.

This episode is also brought to you by The Amazing Doctor Zymes and their two products - Multi Purpose Cleaner and The Eliminator. Many of our guests from around the world use The Eliminator for their ONLY IPM solution. You can use it on seedlings all the way through harvest without concern of it damaging your flowers. Eliminate soft-bodied insects, molds, and mildews and save 10% with code GROWCAST10 at doctorzymes.com, while MyGrowPass.com members get a code for 25% off all their orders!

Sativa Steve hops back on the phone to finish out our interview, and answer the questions I had lined up to ask him. In part 1 we chat and get off track, so we had to get together and provide more value for you.

We kick things off with a deep dive into troubleshooting nutrient deficiencies in an organic garden. When you try to add all your nutrients into the soil, it can be more complicated figuring out plant problems than when you add nutrients directly into your water. Steve created an amazing resource for you to download at thehomegrownhelpers.com/checklist

Steve also talks about planning for success and starting the plans for your grow with the result and working the plan backwards. This includes timing, desired yield, and space requirements in order to improve the efficiency of your grow and learning curve.

We finally dig into Steve's view on what's happening in the world of breeding as he's spent some time on a breeding project trying to develop stronger, more resilient strains.

We're looking for home growers that want to share details about their grow and advice they've learned from growing the cannabis plant. If that's you, apply at thehomegrownhelpers.com/apply

Check out our membership program, MyGrowPass.com, and sign up while you still can. We will stop accepting members in mid-April, so don't miss your chance at discounts, giveaways, AMAs, podcasts and so much more!

Today's MyGrowPass.com partners:

Atlas Plant Trainer is the solution to your plant training problems and will help you easily achieve bigger yields with each and every harvest. Steve gives a great testimonial from a true customer, long before our phone calls. Check the product out at atlasplanttrainer.com and if you decide it's for you use code GROWCAST to save 10%, or 25% as a member at mygrowpass.com.

Also, check out Diamond Cut Co for the premium trimming scissors for your cannabis trimming needs! They have a few different models to choose from, but Steve suggests the Artisan model. These scissors are designed by the cannabis trimmer, for the cannabis trimmer, and to be used for hours on end. Use code GROWCAST to save 15% at diamondcutco.com while our members save 25% on all their snips.

Steve joins me on the phone to share his journey with cannabis as it's transitioned from recreational marijuana usage to using none, and then fully transition to medical cannabis after a long stint in the military.

Steve is now fully involved with the cannabis industry, serving as an intern on a large breeding project and helping growers on Instagram improve their grows. Steve covers his current grow setup, his transition from organic soil to his new hydroponic setup, organic gardening tips and so much more. This episode is LOADED with practical, specific grow advice that's going to help growers at any stage.

Ready to be on the show and share your story and advice with growers from around the world? Apply at thehomegrownhelpers.com/apply

Check out our membership program at MyGrowPass.com where we give our members exclusive audio content, discounts with more than a dozen leading vendors and products, a quarterly $5,000 giveaway, a dynamic resource section and so much more! We are currently accepting new members for a few more weeks, and we're offering special pricing at 25% off if you sign up for a 3-month membership with us! Hit up MyGrowPass.com and sign up today!

This episode is brought to you by Buxton Hollow Farm and their amazing line of handcrafted organic inputs for your cannabis garden! Check them out at buxtonhollowfarm.com and scoop up a compost tea brew kit, bio-char and many other items that will help in your pursuit of the best organic medicine you can grow for yourself. While your there, use code GCL10 to save 10% off all of your purchases - but if you are a member at MyGrowPass.com you can save 20% off on all their products!

This show is also brought to you by the newest time-saving addition to your garden - the Trim Bag. Whether you have just a few plants or dozens, Trim Bag is going to help you save time on the most tedious of gardening tasks - trimming! Within minutes you can trim 2 pounds that will require very little touch-up work to look like it was all hand-trimmed to perfection. Use code GROWCAST at TrimBag.com to save $30 & free shipping while every one of our members gets their own code to save $50 & free shipping.

Manuel joins us from his home (and the roadside) in Hawaii as he prepares to go teach local school children about natural farming and plant biology. Manny shares his evolution to an organic gardener along with practical gardening tips to help you make that transition.

Manny goes on to share some of his biggest failures and how he learned from them and overcame them. He shares a familiar story to many outdoor growers of finding the first caterpillar in his outdoor garden. He quickly learned that butterflies are not the beautiful animal he once thought they were. He also shares his typical IPM protocols and how to keep these caterpillars off your plants in the future.

Ready for your feature? Want to share your gardening practices to help growers expedite their learning process? Apply to be on the show at thehomegrownhelpers.com/apply

Please take a moment to check out our membership program at MyGrowPass.com as the doors are open and we're accepting new members for the first time in months! We offer our members exclusive learning opportunities, chances to hang with the Growcast and HGH crew, exclusive discounts, a quarterly $5,000 giveaway (to members only) along with so MUCH MORE!

With everything happening in the world today, we decided to create a special 3-month package at a 25% discount from our normal pricing! Get 3 months of access for as low as $11/month and get all of our amazing resources and audio content to learn and perfect your skills with us! Check out all the perks and sign up at mygrowpass.com/sign-up

You should also check out The Amazing Doctor Zymes and their incredible IPM solution - The Eliminator! This takes care of soft-bodied insects, molds and mildews using all-natural OMRI certified products that are safe to use from seedling through harvest. Use code GROWCAST10 to save 10 at DoctorZymes.com and be sure to enter into their giveaway (http://growcastpodcast.com/giveaway) that ends 3/25 for a chance to win 1 of 4 quarts of Eliminator concentrate!

Please consider leaving a rating or review if you've been loving the show!

Brandon joins me on the phone from South Africa to share his personal experiences with the cannabis plant and growing his own under the hot sun in South Africa and dealing with the ambiguity of the laws in his home country as well.

We also discuss how Brandon planned out his entire garden and received only 2 freight shipments from a vendor Monster Gardens here in the states. We cover IPM in South Africa, and why Brandon chose to grow DWC style. You can find and follow Brandon @zimgro on Instagram to check out his grow and results.

I am personally fascinated when I speak to growers from around the world and learn their experience with cannabis and how it varies from my own. If you're interested in being featured and have a unique story or can help growers learn from your experiences, please apply at http://thehomegrownhelpers.com/apply

This episode is brought to you by two of our partners at MyGrowPass.com where membership opens again March 18th.

Head over to RootedLyfe.com and use code GROWCAST to save 10% on all of the amazing CBD products that are triple-tested for quality and consistency. This woman-owned and led business is changing moods and lives with their full-spectrum CBD products. RootedLyfe.com and use GROWCAST for 10% off. Our members receive 20% off as well as a chance at CBD products in our quarterly drawing for members only.

Also brought to you by Fish Head Farms and their premium aquaponics solution in a bottle Fish Shit. It's a complete microbial system in a bottle, harvested from a tilapia farm in New England. Use Fish Shit from seed to harvest to bring out the absolute best from your genetics. Use GROWCAST to save 10% off, while our MyGrowPass.com members save 25% every day.