My first grow enters flower! Alive too! An early discussion of Grow #2

[WaltWhite]

Hello Everyone! So my 5 Amnesia Haze (Royal Queen Seeds) and 1 Blueberry Headband have, despite being cared for by a complete amateur, survived the vegetative phase.

Here are my victims! (Day 12 Flower)

As evident from the above images, my girls are out of space. The 4'x4' is filled to the inch. I will be purchasing another tent for my next grow and I'm curious if the community consensus is to provide more space with the purchase of a 5x5? All variables will be the same (Spydr 1200 LED light growing 4-6 Amnesia Haze and 1-2 plants of another hybrid strain) except I think I'll be upgrading all pots to 7 gal smart pots (two in this grow are in 5 gal pots)
I know a scrog is best for space optimization and I will be implementing a screen sometime in the future. With all this in mind, should I sacrifice the watt concentration for the leg room or can I get by with a nicely maintained scrog in a 4'x4'?

Thank you everyone! Wish them luck they might need it!

Oh and I know this is an unanswerable question but for sport throw out some dry weight estimates!

 

[Croatsan]

Hi WaltWhite

I'd say go for ScrOG. I'm growing AH ScrOG in 4x4 tent, just like you, but how come your plants show flowers after only 12 days in flowering? Mine are two weeks into it and no sign of it yet.

How long have you vegged them? Blueberry is on the far right, yes?

Oh, and I believe you have a slight nutrient burn, judging by the yellow tips.

As for the dry weight estimate, if everything goes without problems, I'd say somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 grams (14oz).

Also, I think it's about time you do some defoliation. It's getting pretty crowded in there

 

[Weaselcracker]

I agree with Croatsan about scrogging it. A scrog is very easy and saves a lot of stress as your plants outgrow the tent. Expanding to a 5x5 will only buy you about 5 minutes before they fill it.
Ditto the nute burn. Whatever feeding level you are at now - if it was me I would drop it by about 25% on average and then keep an eye on the plants from there. You can't afford as much to burn them later in flower - they don't bounce back so easily. They're looking good though- it's just minor burn.
I didn't 100% get the question about sacrificing watt concentration for leg room.

 

[WaltWhite]

Hello Croatsan! Thank you for the feedback!

Shoot man I'm not sure why they've yet to show flower. I find it disturbingly odd, as there were small clusters of tiny pistils formed by day 6. I didn't do anything special. No 24hr dark period or magic chemicals; on the 13th I just plugged the LED into an analog timer set to 12/12. Did your ladies achieve sexual maturity prior to the flip? After a 7 week veg stipules at the preflower sites were quite lengthy.

Yes that's the BH.

Yes sir I am well aware of the nutrient burn. Unfortunately I'm growing in subcool's supersoil and have never augmented the mix with any additional nutrients. Nothing but water from seed. Can't cut much back from nothing. Being that the burn is minor, perhaps things will even out. Darn it.

And finally Croatsan you realize you're asking me to cut my babies right!? I've had a hard time forcing myself to really get in there with the scissors; however I understand the importance of defoliation and I will get it done within the next few days.

Thank you for your time.

 

[WaltWhite]

Hey Weaselcracker thanks for the input!

I wish I could cut back on the nutes but the thing is I haven't used any from seed. These plants were grown in a supersoil mix and have never received anything except filtered water. Either the mix is too hot to be sustainable or maybe things will eventually even out. Fingers crossed.

Right so there is a very popular rule of thumb that's floated around many contemporary cannabis cultivation resources for years that states that you should aim for 50 watts of light dispersed per square foot (1000w / 16 sq.ft. = 63 watts per sq.ft). Google it, that number is tossed around a lot. If I increased my space to 25 sq ft my light would be more widely dispersed. I'm with you guys, I'm just going to scrog another 4x4.

Thank you bro

 

[Weaselcracker]

Oh I see- a soil mix. Well hopefully the nute burn issue is just a thing of the past then.
I run at around 55 watts hps per square foot. Two 600's for flowering. I've thought for years that it does seem a little dim around the edges, but the plants don't seem to have ever complained about it and I can't tell any difference from buds at the edge and ones near the centre.
I'm sort of moving away from scrogging a little and towards small plants that are grown untopped and unmolested. I have enough yield and don't really need maximum production, and it makes me happy to see some 'natural' plants in all their glory.
For the unscrogged tall skinny plants like that it's nice to have a little extra wattage to get in among those long stems.
For the scrogged plants I think I could stretch it slightly wider and have slightly more yield at something like 45 watts per square foot, if I was feeling greedy.

 

[Croatsan]

I've thought for years that it does seem a little dim around the edges, but the plants don't seem to have ever complained about it and I can't tell any difference from buds at the edge and ones near the centre.

Funny you've mentioned it. This got me a bit puzzled on my previous hydro grow. The buds around the edges have, actually, developed better than the ones in the middle. Slightly, but noticeably, though.

Using conventional wisdom, it makes little sense.

Then I'd try outside of the box kinda thinking, but came up empty as well

I'm still puzzled. And curious if on this grow the same is gonna happen.

EDIT: As a matter of fact, I do have one possible explanation, and it's the only one I could think of that, even remotely, makes sense - my walls were freshly painted matte white, and matte white is considered as one of the best reflective surfaces there is. I could see the buds around the edge brightly illuminated by the reflected light. Much better than with any mylar.

But that's the best (and only) explanation I was able to come up with, so far.

 

[Weaselcracker]

You are right! I didn't want to complicate the issue- but I could have mentioned that- and it's something that's puzzled me a little too. The buds on the outside edges are often slightly bigger even though they're twice as far away and it looks dimmer to the eye. My walls are painted white as well...