1st Grow - Soil - Apollo 600W HPS/MH - 4x4 Tent

[thenewgrower]

thanks for the Kind words glimmergrass, it has been super exciting and fun so far. I cannot thank 420 mag, and members of 420 mag enough. If these kind people did not take the time to make these journals, or follow others grows giving tips and advice, I don't think I would be this far along.

here is a pic, also from today, can see how much more bushy they got.

 

[thenewgrower]

little update, no pics but I have started cleaning up the very bottoms of the plants. some leaves laying on the soil so I have been taking a leaf or 2 from each plant and also clipped the yellow leaves that have been there since the beginning. I also topped another Bianca and started stress training on them, along with getting the last 2 plants in the 1 gallon smart pots up potted to the 3 gallon pots. I will check back with pics in a few days.

 

[smokers420]

Looking forward to seeing your photo's of your girls bud!

 

[smokers420]

Hey bud where you at. I have been looking for your updates but have not seen you on here. Hope all is well with you and your girls.

 

[thenewgrower]

quick update, have been super busy lately sorry for the lack of updates. I don't know if I am just getting antsy or what but I think its getting pretty close to time to flip? I was going to build a Scrog tonight and debate the flip this weekend. tallest plant is about 10inches give or take. lmk what ya think i will be on tonight with a better update of each plant

 

[MaxHeadroom]

Looking good. If all plants at least double in size once flipped you should easily fill a SCRoG screen. I'm a few weeks off that point with my grow and will be watching with interest.

I was speaking to someone recently who wishes he'd ran the strings through alternate hooks so he started off with 2" squares, but later on just cutting the alternate string would open them up to 4" squares. I thought it was a good idea.

 

[thenewgrower]

that is an interesting way to do it, I was planning on doing 4x4 but may just have to look more in to that method before I make any final decisions. I have been planning for my plants to triple in size to be on the safe side which is kind of why I am getting excited I think lol. if anyone has any tips or advice on weather I should clean up these plants and get rid of some of the little stuff laying on the ground or leafs blocking lots of light, I am all ears (or maybe eyes in this case lol). I did clean up a few smaller leafs that were laying on top of the soil but have not cut any big leafs off yet. All plants are topped other than the Amnesia Trance, she don't like getting cut so I am going to let her have her way and just grow where she pleases.

 

[smokers420]

Good evening Newgrower. I would suggest cutting the big fan leaves off, just a few at a time every week off each plant. That will let more light in when you do get them under your scrog. When you do get them under your scrog you can bend your branches down or monster crop them like i did. I would get your scrog installed a week or so before you flip the switch on them. Your garden is looking lovely man, keep up the great job!!

 

[Terrnamaste]

I'm in for this ride! I'd definitely to take some advice from smokers, he's doing a very nice scrog right now as well.
Everything looks good, I can't wait to see your progress grow!

 

[thenewgrower]

well I want to add a few things I meant to add last update. I watered my WW 2 days ago and this time I went the longest in between watering (7days) and the plants seemed to love it! I also have not used any nutes thus far. I wished I would of just bought the nutes for flowering. (I plan on getting the three Fox Farm nutes mentioned by OlderGrower on the 1st or 2nd pg of the journal) I was also nervous about cutting the big fan leaves off so now that I got the re insurance to go for it, I went ahead and chopped 2-3 fan leaves off of each plant (other than the Amnesia Trance) and the plants seem fine today, no signs of being stressed out


I also take back what I said about flipping them, I am going to wait a bit linger since I want to chop them a bit more before I put scrog on them

Glad to have you along for the ride Terrnamaste! I couldn't agree with you more when you say "take advice from smokers420" his Scrog is beautiful and the reason why I have decided to give it a whirl! I will be sure to poke in a check out you're garden!

thanks you to the people interacting with my journal and taking the time to read through it!

 

[thenewgrower]

I wont leave ya hanging without a pic or 2 after chopping them.

 

[smokers420]

Looking lovely man. Was wondering are you going to monster crop them or just bend your branches down when you get your scrog on them? If your going to monster crop them i would start that method now, if not just bend your branches down when you throw the scrog down on them. One thing nice about monster cropping is that it will increase your yield and even make the potency better. Bad thing is it will slow the growth maybe a week or two., but in the end it's well worth it.

 

[thenewgrower]

hey smokers420, glad to hear from you. I actually looked in to monster cropping a little over a week ago and it had me intrigued. I started bending branches over about a week ago and squeezing them until a "crunch" noise/feel is made. I was nervous doing it for my first time so I think I was to nice to the branches because they have grown back to where they were originally. I am going to give it another try but will go a little further with the "snap" in the branches. Please feel free to throw tips or advice on monster cropping this way.


PS: potency is my main goal lol. quantity is just a huge bonus.

 

[smokers420]

Good day to you Newgrower. Here is a great how to MC tut that may help you out, the main thing is don't brake the outer skin of the branches when Monster cropping. If you do snap a branch to much you can always use tape or a band-aid and they will heal as they grow just fine. I have snapped them in previous grows and put tape or a band - aid around the section where the snap was and they was fine. You just have to take your time with them when doing this method, squeeze the branch with your fingers until you feel it starting to soften some then start making your bend as your squeezing the branch. Not always do you feel or hear the snap. Here is what i go by.

Always wash your hands before handling your plants!

STEP ONE: Choose the branches you would like to Monster-crop.

Monster-cropping is best done during the vegetative stage, once the plant has grown many healthy branches and is growing vigorously, but before she is full into the flowering stage.

For monster-cropping, you want to choose parts of the plant that are old, but still pliable (sometimes called ‘bendy’). The parts you use this technique on should still be green, and not wood-like the bottom of the main stalk.
If your plant has multiple colas, you should monster-crop the same location on multiple colas. When there's only one main cola, you monster crop the pliable greener growth towards the top.
Basically you're trying to create a flat canopy at the top, without any stems sticking up taller than the rest.


STEP TWO: Squeeze and bend branches

The idea is to damage the inner tissue of the plant without causing damage to the outside 'skin.' This makes the stem super pliable so it can easily be bent in the direction that you would like for it to grow.

Grab the branch and squeeze with firm pressure between your thumb and forefinger. This helps "loosen" the joint you are about to make. You know you've succeeded when this part of the stem feels a little crushed.
The branch should feel pliable at the joint you just made. Slowly and gently bend over stem towards the direction you want.

For extra strong stems, you may need to maintain pressure at the joint while you slowly bend the branch back until you hear a or feel a slight snap. Then you can continue to step 3 if needed.

If you go overboard.

STEP THREE: Fixing any tears in the outside stem

In the best case scenario, you don't even need tape, because the outside of the plant is still whole.

If you've gone a bit overboard, you may need to use a band-aid (or another strong tape) to reinforce the plant so she can heal properly, especially if you can see a open slit or crack on the outside of the stem.
Regardless, the place that you originally bent will grow a big knot or a knuckle. It's like a permanent band-aid, which can transport more water, nutrients, and other good stuff compared to before to your plants.



STEP FOUR: Removing ‘band aid’ or tape

Wait about one week before removing any tape. It's normal for the tissues to have discoloration at the healing sites.
If the site is still grey and appears totally wounded, just put the tape back on until she has grown her protective knuckle.

Until then, she'll be able to transport nutrients and maintain all normal processes as long as she has the tape to reinforce her.

If plant tries to straighten any branches, just tie them down (using Low Stress Training techniques). Stems will easily give in to your will after being monster cropped.

Hope this helps you out bud, i think you will like the outcome of this method, i know i have for years and hopefully years to come.. Good Luck and Happy Growing!

 

[thenewgrower]

Hope this helps you out bud, i think you will like the outcome of this method, i know i have for years and hopefully years to come.. Good Luck and Happy Growing!

this helps a lot! thank you very much. I did a lot of cutting and bending today. When I finished I looked at my pile of leaves, looked at the 2 stems I crushed a little to much and started to worry lol. I think I should of maybe did half of what I did today. Hopefully the WWX stays strong. Also looks like I get to practice step 3 and 4 a little more than I would like to

I also took all the plants out of the room and washed the walls and floor, I felt like it was getting kind dirty and I suppose I just wanted some excuse to spend some time with my girls


I got around to watering all 3 biancas and Amnesia Trance today as well (went 9 days in between watering the Biancas this time around). I will post some pics of the plants after the chopping and bending, then I don't plant to update for a few days. I am just going to sit back and watch the show. (and get caught up on some peoples journals I have been thinking about)

 

[thenewgrower]

sorry if some of you get bored of veg pics, I am new to this so every bit of new growth is exciting to me lol. here are the pics of after the chop and start of monster cropping.

this is one of the branches I split when I was monster cropping (currently has electrical tape on it)

and a bong later with music giving me good vibes, I realized I did a lot of cutting lol

 

[OEF Vet 11B]

Just read over from beginning. Sub'd!

 

[OEF Vet 11B]

added a intake vent to pull cold air from floor

Is this effective as an intake for cool air? Obviously an inline would be better but does this work better than just a passive intake?

 

[thenewgrower]

thanks for taking the time to look through my journal Legalize! As for the intake fan and vent, this has been working great for me. it pulls a lot cooler air in the tent. It works good for my situation because of the rooms temperature situation is odd. this room I am using tends to be pretty cool (63-68 degrees F) but it can be up to 10 degrees different from one spot to another (very short duct run to the furnace so it comes out really hot out of the register). I run the vent to the coldest part of the room (gives me a more stable temp in my tent. before I did that my temps were averging between 78-83 degrees F, after I set it up I can keep the room between 72-77 degrees, which I like a lot more. lots of good info out here, I love helping any way I can so feel free to ask me whatever. If I can help I will!

 

[thenewgrower]

with forcing that much more air in the tent it also helped out with my tent walls getting sucked in from having such a negative pressure in the tent. with exhaust fan pulling so much air out of the tent the walls pulled inwards towards each other and it was reducing my grow space.