JoJo's Hempy SOG 'n SCROG - LED - C99 - Northern Lights - NL99

[rhetorrikz]

Yeah im having second thaughts about my reveg attemp now ...
Hey jojo you might be able to help with my question in faq "is this a nanner" cheers.!

 

[jojo677]

Update (29 days flower, 71 days old):

A quick update tonight. I fed again at 1100 PPM and they're still growing strong. The NL99 plants are getting week 5 nutes, and the C99 are getting week 4. These NL99 plants are getting pretty stinky too. Not overwhelming, but the NL seriously has no odor. This isn't like the previous NL plants, which had some odor. This one has none. It is really tiny though, so it's line probably won't live long.

I defoliated the C99 plants a few days ago. 1 plant got a lot of defoliation, and 2 more got less defoliation. 2 were also left untouched. Growth doesn't seem to be slowing for them either..

The veg chamber is looking good too. I gave it a makeover, so all the lights hang from above. I staped up some wire mesh (2" x 4") to the ceiling, and just use chains to hang the lights. Soo much better now. I also used this same material for my mini-SCROG.

I've got a few of the clones starting to root, so I'll have the next round in pots soon. The 4 vegging NLs in pots are starting to look better too. I fed and flushed them out more and I'll put them into flower as soon as the recover.

Later!

 

[Weaselcracker]

Hey JoJo. Looks bloody awesome! I was going to say you'd reached perfection, then I scrolled down and saw you had double posted the whole update. Ha ha. I guess nobody's perfect after all... but still an A+. Nice job

 

[Amadeus Forzin]

I love your space. Ladies look really well too. My comparison DD came up yesterday.

 

[jojo677]

Hey JoJo. Looks bloody awesome! I was going to say you'd reached perfection, then I scrolled down and saw you had double posted the whole update. Ha ha. I guess nobody's perfect after all... but still an A+. Nice job

Hah. I can always count on you for a good laugh, Weasel! I'm not perfect by far. Camera angles are everything. Things do seem to be going surprisingly well. I'm just waiting for some issue to pop up..

I love your space. Ladies look really well too. My comparison DD came up yesterday.

Thanks Am4zin! It'll be good having several people doing these comparisons. Weasel will be comparing with/without silicon too, and personally, I think we (and many others) can learn a lot from these silly little experiments!

I got some clones put into shorter containers yesterday, but I ran out of 2L bottles. The short containers I made were 2L by volume, but I have been using mostly 2.5L bottles for the SOG plants. I'll make another round of containers this weekend, probably. I think you may have better luck with your medium, unless I cover my perlite (maybe Panda film?).

 

[jojo677]

Update (34 days flower, 76 days old):

Time for another update. The plants are all still looking great, and I got some more plants shuffled around. 4 of the NL99 clones went to the flower chamber, and I put a bunch more rooted clones put into containers yesterday. All these pictures are from last night, but it took longer than I thought it would to water all of them, so I didn't have time to post.

I'm really running out of room, but in the next few days I'll move all the plants in containers to the flower chamber and flip on the 2nd light. Temperature and humidity have been really good/consistent lately too. I might as well lead with a 4 day comparison. To me it looks like they're still building buds, but the resin is starting to pack on too. The fan leaves are getting nice and frosty.

Mmmmm.... Frosty!

4 of these girls just went into the flower room 2 days ago. They're growing!

Vege time. This is a weird lighting setup since I have hardly any room and the plants are all different sizes... I stapled wire mesh to the ceiling the other day, and it makes it much easier to hang lights wherever I want them.

Here you can see the difference in container shape. These are both about 2L of volume (pop bottle was 2.5L minus the top I cut off).

The mini-SCROG is looking great too. I'll put it into flower with the rest of the clones when they get established.

Take care guys!

 

[Amadeus Forzin]

Nice frosty ladies you have jojo. All look happy and healthy.
I have a question, how often do you have to water your girls? I'm under the impression that the hempy mix will dry out fairly quick. It something I'm interested in but when I travel (4 holidays per year)my feeding buddy can only visit every 3 days.

 

[jojo677]

That's a good question! I typically water every 2-3 days. I could probably go up to 4 days on some of the larger potted SOG plants. My NL99 plants in 2L bottles need to be watered every 3 days max, but my 2 gallon bucket Hempy could get by with 1/week right now. My last 5 gallon Hempy needed watering every 3 days during peak flowering.

So it be a pain to water so much, but I'm going to have to rig up some automatic watering system pretty soon, for when I take vacations like you.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Do you still have vermiculite in there, and if so do you think that affects the watering schedule?

 

[Tead]

I'm on a 3 day schedule. I have heat issues, so between the heat and my perlite only pots, my babies are pretty dry at 4 days and I might see drooped plants at 5.

 

[Amadeus Forzin]

Automatic watering system you say? How did I not think of this before?

 

[jojo677]

Do you still have vermiculite in there, and if so do you think that affects the watering schedule?

Nope, I rid myself of that stinky vermiculite a few rounds ago. After I tried re-using it with nasty results, I decided I'd give straight perlite a try, and am enjoying it so far. I'll be sure to report back on how they compare, but overall I don't see much of a need for the vermiculite. It seems to hold water through the medium more uniformly, but perlite wicks it up just fine too. Uh oh... Am I going to have to do another comparison!?

I'm on a 3 day schedule. I have heat issues, so between the heat and my perlite only pots, my babies are pretty dry at 4 days and I might see drooped plants at 5.

What size containers are you using? 3.5 or 5 gallon buckets, right?

Honestly, the plants that need the most frequent watering are my plants in tiny perlite containers and the NL99 plants in 2L bottles which vegged for too long... I think I could get by with 3-4 day waterings if I flowered things at the right time!

Automatic watering system you say? How did I not think of this before?

Wouldn't it be nice? I plan on getting around to making it one of these days, as the off-the-shelf models are pretty pricey. I'd rather not have mine timed either. I want to look at my plants through a webcam and give them a watering with the push of a button. That's the plan anyway... I'll also hook up temperature and RH sensors for veg and flower, and possibly control the exhaust fan too.

Of course all of these "nice to have" features cause my plans to become overwhelming and I end up putting them off. Maybe once I grow & smoke Weasel's recommended Mama Thai, I'll have the motivation to get off my butt and make the thing!

 

[Tead]

3.5 or 5 gallon buckets, right?

hehe.... both actually. My 3.5s and 5s seem to dry out similarly. When the plant in the 5gal gets larger, it will be interesting to see how it works out.
I wonder if a larger res (higher hole in the side) would edit your water time in the 2L jugs. Perhaps with smaller containers one should use a larger res.

I toyed with auto-watering ideas, but never implemented any. Auto drain from the drip trays on the other hand......

 

[jojo677]

I've wondered about the res size for Hempys. In my 5 gallon grow, I used Hempy's recommended 2" (I think) from the bottom. Same for my 3.5 gallon. For the 2L I used koolkat's 2.25" from the bottom. On the 2.5L bottles, I went with 2.5" and they seem to go longer between waterings. Maybe that's another experiment for the future..

I've really been meaning to get some type of drain system in place. Right now I take ALL the plants out to water in totes to collect the water, then return them to their home. I just need to slant the floor of the grow room to one corner and waterproof it. That would make a huge difference! Then maybe put in a watering system. It's the little things..

 

[Tead]

I've got my eye out for some sort of tray that will fit perfectly in the bottom of my veg tent. Someday one will fall into my world.

 

[jojo677]

Update (37 days flower, 79 days old):

I've been out of town for a few days, and I've been worried about my girls. I really only worried about the ProMix mothers, with good reason. Most plants went 3-4 days without waterings, and were completely fine. They probably could have gone a bit longer. The ProMix plants, on the other hand, were pretty sad looking! (see below)

I decided to move the round of veg plants to the flower chamber. It filled in nicely, but it sure does suck individually watering each pot. I need to find a liner or waterproof it sometime soon. The plants are looking luscious though. It's interesting seeing how the different phenotypes grow and how different the buds look. I tried to show this in 2 of the following NL99 bud shots. One is more of a denser tear drop shaped bud, and the other is super hairy and longer. The hairs/pistols are also thicker and on one pheno than the other.

I also haven't mentioned much about the smell these beautiful plants are giving off. The C99 smells like very sugary, ripe pineapple or mango. It's mild though, so not very much odor at all. In veg, it is almost undetectable. The NL99 shares 60% of the smell of the C99 plant, just STRONGER and a little funkier. Maybe slightly rotten pineapple? Then there's the sneaky Northern Lights plant. It is tiny, as are its buds, but this specific plant has 0 odor. I couldn't smell it in veg, and I can't smell it now. I rubbed my fingers on the leaves and got my nose as close to the bud as possible and nada. If these buds are even worthwhile, I may keep this plant around. It's always good to have some indica around.

Le vege. I walked in to see this:

They started bouncing back surprisingly quick though. This was about 45 mins later.

I'll give an update in the next few days, and I realized I didn't get any close-ups of the C99. Next time!

 

[rhetorrikz]

Woohoo full flower room both lights running

 

[Ruthy]

The flower chamber looks great!
I hope the others have came back since they were watered, maybe next time your gone just have those in a tray of water

I like the idea of the slanted floor for drainage.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Wow, those were a bit wilted weren't they? Caught in the nick of time I'd say.
I trust that with your skills you'll have no problem figuring out the drainage issue. In order to make gravity work for you in this case though, it seems like you'll have to lose at least a couple inches of vertical room in there. Can you spare it?

 

[jojo677]

Woohoo full flower room both lights running

Yes sir! Things just got a lot brighter! Everything gets a pretty even distribution of light, so I'm happy with how it turned out. The lights are staying very cool too.

The flower chamber looks great!
I hope the others have came back since they were watered, maybe next time your gone just have those in a tray of water

I like the idea of the slanted floor for drainage.

Bad news on the upcoming update Ruthy - they didn't all bounce back. But I realized that I have lots of clones, so no big deal! I was wondering what would be the best way to keep them watered. Do you think they would get enough oxygen if they sit in a tray of water? I was thinking maybe put them in a container filled with perlite, and keep the perlite moist, so they soak it up? Kinda like Weasel's cloning technique, which I've never done, but it seems like a brilliant idea! He puts clones in rockwool cubes, then buries the rockwool in a container of moist coco.

Wow, those were a bit wilted weren't they? Caught in the nick of time I'd say.
I trust that with your skills you'll have no problem figuring out the drainage issue. In order to make gravity work for you in this case though, it seems like you'll have to lose at least a couple inches of vertical room in there. Can you spare it?

I kind of wanted to test how far I could push these plants, but I wish they would have survived. The more I think about it, I think you're right. I'll probably have to build a raised floor and slant it into a reservoir which I can pump empty. That seems like it may be the best design. I may not do the best design though. I'll be thinking about it. I think I can spare a few inches, as the SOG plants could be a little closer to the lights, and I'm going to be doing more mini-SCROGs in the near future, which are even shorter.