My 1st Grow Ever - Incredible Bulk

[HunterHunt]

Your net is only suppose to be filled to about 75% and the switch to flower and tuck for the two week stretch which will fill the remaining 25%. It looks as if your net is already full. You need to switch to flower NOW. You may already be to late and might run out of room... Also like sky said the bunched up plant like that will lead to mold and no air circulation.

 

[KingJohnC]

Thanks for the info Skybound!

Will be taking out the twine as soon as the branches and leaves grow a bit more. I did this because the branches were growing sidewards and out of the trellis space. Sort of training them to grow upwards and when the branches hit to the net, I'll be taking the twine out. Hopefully, the branches stay on the net and eventually grow towards the light.

Regarding the feed chart, there is a transition feed (or pre-flowering) to flower which I followed but only on the last res change. Do I need to use that formula for a couple of res changes or can i proceed to the flowering formula?

Thanks again for the info!

A SCroG screen is based on spreading out the branches and trying to maximize bud site growth along the branches at the nodes allowing the buds to grow at the same rate and large harvest per square foot. When your SCroG screen is 60% full you should switch to flower and continue weaving and growing the branches through the SCroG screen throughout the stretch phase of flower. I would spread out the branches further along your SCroG screen, defoliate the lower growth growth under your SCroG screen and Defoliate any fan leaf that blocks a bud site. I would switch to 12/12 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness flower in 7 days after defoliation to allow your plants sufficient time to recover from defoliation.

 

[Skybound]

A SCroG screen is based on spreading out the branches and trying to maximize bud site growth along the branches at the nodes allowing the buds to grow at the same rate and large harvest per square foot. When your SCroG screen is 60% full you should switch to flower and continue weaving and growing the branches through the SCroG screen throughout the stretch phase of flower. I would spread out the branches further along your SCroG screen, defoliate the lower growth growth under your SCroG screen and Defoliate any fan leaf that blocks a bud site. I would switch to 12/12 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness flower in 7 days after defoliation to allow your plants sufficient time to recover from defoliation.

Very good advice! Follow to the letter and be successful.

 

[timrey08]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the help and advise. Its my first time to grow anything so I'm really appreciative to all who's been helping out.

I think I'm a few days late compared to all the advise that I gathered. I already switched to flowering when all the ladies hit the net. Also, I'm only starting to weave the plants into the net now and since its my first time, I'm not sure if I'm placing the leaves in the right position. I also do not know what a flowering bud (that's starting) looks like. I just try to distribute the leaves into the net evenly so that the can at least grow all at the same time. I'm only on the 3rd day of flowering and the ladies are not slowing down! Also been tucking the leaves that grow out of the side onto the net so they can continuously grow upward instead of sidewards. I also took out the garden twine as per advise.

Been adding nuted water in the morning as PPM's usually go down. Still maintaining PPM to around 700 and pH to 5.8 to 6.0. Planning to change the water again in a couple of days. So far, the roots look healthy. I just noticed that some leaves are starting to wilt. Most of them though are under the net trellis and are most likely not getting enough light. So, I cleaned it up a little by tugging the leaves a little and taking out dead stems.

The canopy is filled up. Ladies 1 & 2 really exploded and have taken up 60 to 70% of the net trellis. The other 30 to 40% are taken by the the other two that are still growing. I took a picture of the box side view to show how much space I have left. I really hope I have enough.

This is all for now. Again, big thanks to everyone helping out. Your comments & likes mean a lot.

Pics below! Looking forward to more guidance.

Peace y'all!


Side View

Canopy prior to weaving

Took out the twine; Cleaned & light trimmed the ladies

The dead leaves & stems

After trimming & cleaning

Canopy after weaving & tucking in on top & sides

My readings

 

[Skybound]

The defoliation may slow the initial stretching some, but don't worry about that. You'll start to see white hairs at about 10 days into flower, and they will start at the tips of each site and just keeping growing more and more and more. If either turns out male, you'll see the tell tale cluster of tiny balls. I have a Cherry Bomb that has been in flower since I think Jan/21 and has only started to grow her pistils within the last 2 days, which for me is roughly 21 days of no bud production. There are many factors that can slow the process and I don't completely understand them individually, but anything stressful can slow that process down.

 

[CronicHempHog]

you still have a lot of green at the bottom that's not gonna receive enough light to really go anywhere probably better to clean it up now instead of stressing it with heavy defol 2 times

 

[timrey08]

Hi everyone!

Thanks for the tips guys! Cleaned up the bottom a little more as advised!

I think things are looking good! Ladies are steadily growing. Got surprised how fast they grow. They are now out of the net and reaching towards the light. I only have approx 8-10 inches before they hit the light. Pulled up the light to its max height already. I don't think I have enough space so I ordered a grow tent and hopefully it arrives before ladies hit the light and get burned(?). Tent is approx 6-7 feet so I know I have space when it arrives. But for now, I have to live with weaving the leaves and branches in an attempt to keep the canopy even and somehow slowdown the growth. Any tips on what I can do?

This is my 7th day of flowering and been keeping the PPM's to 800+ and pH range between 5.5 to 6.0. After cleaning up the bottom a little, I installed another fan under the canopy in addition to the fan above. Hopefully this will help in air circulation. Also changed the water in the res last night and upped the nuted water to 900+. I plan to maintain the PPM's below 1000 in the next few weeks.

Pics below! Again, advise is most appreciated!

Thanks again! Til the next one!

Peace!


Before the light clean up:

Side view before raising the lights and some weaving:

Roots are looking healthy:

Dried leaves and stems:

After clean up with the new fan directed towards the bottom of the net:

Side view after clean up and raising lights to max height:

Readings:

 

[CronicHempHog]

you can also do some super cropping to control height a bit

 

[Skybound]

Added defol will slow her down a bit as well, but I like Chronic's suggestion of super cropping better.

Just curious, what temp is your res and how much air are you feeding it? It looks like you have a but ton of roots in that pic and I didn't see a single air bubble in the pic.

Also, when your tent arrives, will you still use your LED or is another light optional?

 

[timrey08]

Thanks for the tips Chronic & Skybound! Will be super cropping later!

My res is constantly within 16-18C (60-64F). I have a water chiller installed that maintains it at that range. After I took the pic, I also noticed that there were no bubbles. Upon checking, I saw that the air stone was engulfed in the roots! Had no choice but to slowly force its ways out of the roots while trying not to tear any of them. Re-placed both air stones accordingly Not sure how to answer feeding them with air...I just open the box during lights ON a couple of times aside from having 2 internal fans.

I will also be transferring the LED from the box to the tent. I will just use the box for drying and/or germinating purposes. The tent's size is 4 feet wide and 2 feet deep (8sq.feet) while the box is 2 feet wide and 2 feet deep (4sq.feet). According to the specs of the LED's, foot print is 6 sq.feet so its just right about in the middle. Does this make sense? Or do I need new LED's? I'm also planning to take one of the exhaust fans from the box and transfer it to the tent. This way the box and the tent can have 1 carbon filter each (110CFM per fan). I just need a way to connect a flexible exhaust hose from the filter to the holes in the tent. Not sure if what I'm planning is ok. Advise would be most welcome.

Thanks again for dropping by!

 

[Skybound]

When I said letting air in, I meant when growing in croutons/Capn style. If it's within your ability, consider getting a larger air pump as a redundancy in case your chiller fails, but realistically, colder water holds more O2 which is a good thing so long as it stays cold.

Would it be possible for you to use both the cabinet and tent so you can shorten your waiting periods between harvests? If I were you, I'd use the cabinet for propagation and veg, then put them into flower under your LED You'll have about a 2 month turn around if you have 8 week finishers, that's 6 harvests per year, twice that if you do 2 plants at alternating schedules in the flower room.

Next time, if you have an extra air stone, just drop in a new line to keep from accidentally damaging roots.

I don't know about or use LEDs so I really can't comment about how good yours is.

 

[timrey08]

I think the chiller is really worth the investment. It can circulate up to 30 gallons of water and maintain the designated temp. Our tap here is kinda warm and I do not want any problems with the roots so I figured the chiller is a must for me.

Thank you for your wonderful suggestions Skybound! The more harvests the better! Much appreciated!

 

[timrey08]

Hello everyone,

Time for a quick update:

A few days ago upon checking on the cabinet, I was really surprised on how fast the ladies have grown. The leaves on the tallest plant is 2-3 inches from the light so I decided to take out one of the exhaust fans, adjusted the cables on the LED's and put the lights above the exhaust fans. That gave me another 12inches of room. The good news is, the tent is here and ill be setting that up real soon!

Its my 17th day (2.5 weeks) of flowering and Ive been maintaining the PPM's to around 1000 and pH to 5.7-6.0 range. My humidity increased a bit to around 54-55% maybe because I took out of the exhaust fans, although I did add another fan at the bottom directed towards the canopy hoping to circulate airflow more.

I also bended some the tall branches. Unfortunately, I think I bent some too much and a some died. Need to be more careful next time.

Again, advise is most welcome. Will be updating again as soon as tent is set up!

Pics below!

Cheers!


Side view after taking out one of the exhaust fans

Under the canopy

Close up of the ladies

Readings

 

[BrixKlinger]

looking good.

at this point an agressive pruning would help.

your foliage is so thick that air can't move properly and every branch and sucker and leaf is fighting each other for space.

where will the buds go?!

 

[Skybound]

If you want her to stop stretching, then commence taking out the suckers on the bottom that you know will never produce anything worth keeping and "some" leaves elsewhere, but if you want her to stretch a bit more wait another week, but she may make your life hell if you let her stretch more in that closet.

Also, you should let your PH swing from 5.9-6.3 favoring the higher end of the scale so she can have good availability to Phosphorus and Magnesium. Because your roots are in the drink, you'll need to ensure your pH stays in range so a few readings each day may be needed.

 

[BrixKlinger]

it will stop stretching the next week or 10 days anyway, its ramping up hormones for bud productions, but until there are budsites for that energy, stretch happens the first 2-4 weeks of flower.

 

[timrey08]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the tips guys! Followed advise. Big update ahead:

When I checked on the ladies, I was surprised to see the top bud site touching the LEDs!

So, I set up the newly acquired tent....

I then took out the res & trellis from the cabinet & did some major snipping as advised!

Until the bottom of the canopy looked like this...

I then transferred the res & trellis inside the tent, transferred the lights, exhaust fan, pumps, gauges and fan inside the tent ...

Top view of the canopy

Inside the room beside the cabinet

Readings

Ill be keeping the PPMs around 1000. As per advise, will try to keep pH in 5.9 to 6.3 range. Changed the res with nuted water as well. Using approx 50-60% of nute recommended values. I'm also having humidity issues in the tent probably bec I only have one exhaust fan so I put in additional disposable dehumidifiers to hopefully keep humidity within range. Planning on transferring the other exhaust fan to the tent as well but I'm also planning to use the cabinet for drying (aside from propagation & veg) and Im sure I need an exhaust fan there. Or should I just use the tent to dry? What do you guys think? Humidity was at 62% when I left the ladies.

I really hope I'm doing the right things. Getting quite excited as I'm seeing a lot of bud sites. Just hoping they swell and that I dont encounter any more issues.

Again, advise is most welcome. Thanks to Skybound and BrixKlinger for dropping by.

Til next time! Peace!

 

[Skybound]

Keep a few gallons of RO water on standby and watch for beginning signs of burning. If the leaves show burn you can top up the res with RO and drop the PPM accordingly to get to a lower number. From watching other DWC journals, I am learning that plants in those systems can handle higher concentrations than in the croutons, so I'm expecting that 1000 ppm will do just fine. Great lookin girls man!

 

[CronicHempHog]

how far above the tops is the light?

 

[timrey08]

RO's always ready Skybound! Thanks!

The LED's approx 1 1/2 to 2 feet away from the tops. Is this too far?