ok. what i think is most important is being able to feed maximum nutrients But not overdose. so u want a plant that eats like cannabis does.

second most important is steady water flow. to know That u need two sub-skills, one is knowing how much the plant uses and the other is what kind of air u have down in that soil. because too little air means drowning/disease but too little water is lack of maximum nutrients.

so u water according to Exactly how much the plant uses and how much the soil can take. You build a soil that can take the most of all.

tomatoes grow at same rate and end up approx same mass of foliage so is good comparison. tomatoes also eat about as much as cannabis.

so, u will be studying how to maintain water flow plus food.

now, they are only the most important for this reason. if u do not give max input then u do not get max output, yes, but it is Constant input output that avoids problems.

like, flooding then dry, that can give you disease on the foliage because plant gets dehydrated and disease enters leaves. but lack of food can make weak tissue too. so it is constant u are aiming for but also amount.

how can u tell if max production And quality is reached? by comparison grows.

like, plants to test on. it can tell u if nutrient strength is too strong or too weak because leaves will show show signs of deficiency or overdose. also the Fruit of the tomato will indicate things. is it cracked on top? then too little water flow or too little magnesium. is the bottom of fruit have a black rotten spot dead center? then too little constant water and or calcium deficiency. now obviously cannabis does not have tomatoes so the signs on cannabis would be different but both magnesium and calcium are very important to cannabis. the other two nutrients u hear about with cannabis is nitrogen and phosphorus and tomatoes Do give a way to practice with them as well.

i recommend using a fertilizer at full strength BUT also do a few plants at half strength and of pure water. so then also go in opposite direction, like do one of full strength plus 20%. then one full strength plus 40%. up to point where plant(s) get overdose.

ideal regime is usually plain water at first due to seed comes with own reserve. but then working up to full strength nutrient over time. like 2 weeks from time of first moisture hitting seed until full strength nutrients.

now, when I mean ‘full strength’ it is likely to be different from what the fertilizer company calls ‘full strength’. but not always. depends on the company And on the strain of plant that you grow. and no one but the pros will know the difference and that is because they test the boundries.

Generally, in MY book, for cannabis, then full strength is, about 1500 PPM. and tomatoes can take that too. but some growers like to keep it under 1000 PPM and it is a matter of strain plus growing technique.

to see what PPM ur fertilizer works out to, u can consult online “PPM fertilizer calculator”(s).

Ratio of nutrients. now, here is about nitrogen and phosphorus. both cannabis and tomato like to switch from nitrogen to phosphorus at flowering time and if they do not get to switch, then they will make more leaves then they would otherwise. nitrogen is for leaf making. but phosphorus is for flowers/fruiting stage.

if u have excess N compared to P in flower then u will have much green leaves on tomato but less fruit compared to control plant.

now. if u were growing Indica, it is ok to run out of N completely because plant can rob fan leaves for the N it needs. fan leaves will become yellow and then dead. But if growing Sativa then u need a little N during flower Just because she will be budding up to 14 weeks as compared to the 6wk of indica..she doesn’t have enough fan leaves to cover that time period.

so, if u want to practice on tomatoes then i would say what u are looking for is to maintain max fruit production by not giving Too much N, but at same time give enough N that no bottom leaves get yellow.

it is hard as heck to actually get No yellow leaves but you can do pretty well. Uh, small tomato fact u need for this, tomatoes come in different kinds just like cannabis. so it is “indeterminate” tomato that is giving extended flowering like sativa but it is “determinate” tomatoes that give crop all at once (good for experiment with letting run out of nitrogen).

now, to grow a tomato OR herb to Full size requires the max nutrients like we were discussing but to be Able to take-in max means u need max Root mass. to get max root mass u need adequate room down in root area. just like a fish will only grow as big as it’s tank, so it is with plants.

i seriously suggest for Outdoor plants, they get 3 feet wide hole and half that deep as a Minimum. but they Will send out hugely long runners underground if able so hole sides should not be un-porous.

inside hole should be porous as possible due to that flow and air issue not to