Usul's Grow 2.1: Red Cherry Berry, Indoor 250W MH/HPS, 2'x2' ScrOG in soil

[usul]

Hey TorturedSoul, very happy to have you aboard! Thanks so much for your comments and insights!! I've tried most of the noise supression techniques you've mentioned and they have not cleared the bar. I am incredibly picky about noise so rater than muffling the noise I am working to build something that produces no noise or odor whatsoever - even when all other things in the house are silent. We're getting close...

About my ScrOG technique, I'm definiately a newbie at this and am learning every day. It's a great tool for growing in small spaces and something I will put to good use in my next grow: Brainstorm Haze, a rather tall sativa.

About my DWC Hydro failure - every nute-filled res ended up growing huge amounts of bacterial slime. First it was the red stuff then the jelly-like ooze took over. What a mess. I was changing the res every 3 days, hauling around a ton of water, pH was jumping up way too high every three or four hours and I just couldn't keep up with it all. Growing in soil has been a joy. Everything goes nice and slow and I just get to sit back and watch good things happen.

Got a few good bud shots to share - took them just as the lights were coming on...

Things are progressing nicely - here's hopng I'll be able to avoid any stupid mistakes between now and the final harvest.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Should have called it Red and WHITE Cherry Berry!

Congratulations (and good night).

 

[ultrasonic]

Things are progressing nicely - here's hopng I'll be able to avoid any stupid mistakes between now and the final harvest.

Now just what is that supposed to mean?!

lmao

Those girls are lookin frosty! How many weeks for that strain? 8?

 

[Stealthy1]

Hi Stealthy, thanks for stopping by! I assume you're asking about the filter in the drying cabinet - I thought you'd appreciate that. It was inspired by the DIY filter you made for your grow: take a round thing, drill holes in it, cover with nylon stocking, fill with activated carbon then pull air through it.

My filter is made from 2" PVC pipe. Drill lots of holes in the pipe, push them in to a T connector, cover 'em with panyhose, secure pantyhose with joint clamps and fill 'er up with carbon. The trickiest part was fabricating a fitting for attachment to the fan. I crafted it out of 1/8" hardboard and used epoxy to attach it to the PVC T connector. After that it was just a matter of drilling some holes and fastening everything together.

My favorite part is the 80mm 12v DC fan with speed controller. When running at the 9V or 6V settings - which will be most of the time (may have to go to 12V for a while when the cabinet gets filled with fresh buds) you'd have to get your ear within 6" of the thing to hear any noise at all. Something I know you'd appreciate

I'm planning to upgrade my entire circulation and exhaust system with these little fans (using the 120mm versions for heavier tasks) as my next step toward a completely silent and odor free operation.

Thanks for asking brother grower.

Very nice looks professional. I was waiting for you to tell us about it but I couldnt wait anymore lol.

 

[usul]

Now just what is that supposed to mean?!

lmao

Those girls are lookin frosty! How many weeks for that strain? 8?

Doh! I didn't even think! Sorry man It's been my mantra lately... I keep getting all these interesting ideas then - head slap! - "don't do anything stupid, don't do anything stupid..." The temptation to twiddle is almost irresistable.

This is a really boring part of the grow - not much dramatic vertical growth, no new screens to build or training to do, just buds plumping...

I'm guessing an 8 week flowering period (Barney's Farm says the flowering period is "medium") - we're just wrapping up the fifth week so, three or so left to go. Things are starting to get interesting.

I'm going to get one of those handheld microscopes so I can get a good close look at the trichomes. Current plan is to do an early harvest (trics clear to milky) and a late harvest (most trics turning amber), then do a smoke report to see if I can tell the difference. That should be interesting too

p.s. My tripod fell apart a few days ago (it was only 30 years old) so no more closeups until the replacement unit arrives.

 

[usul]

Very nice looks professional. I was waiting for you to tell us about it but I couldnt wait anymore lol.

High praise coming from you! Thanks for asking

If you could look closer at some of the cuts and joints you'd definitely know it was put together by someone who doesn't have a decent shop (maybe some day) but the drying cabinet is getting the job done. I'm testing it with trimmings and find it's easy to adjust drying time by changing fan speed. And now that the plants are getting really stinky it's great to have such a nice spot to put the cuttings. Looking forward to the real test when I fill the thing with freshly chopped nugs.

 

[usul]

Just got a chance to pop my head in the tent as the lights were coming on and grabbed these shots. Here is the canopy at 80 days old, day 34 flower:

... and the best bud:

Two of the plants needed water tonight so they got a full strength dose of nutes. This time, I measured the TDS and when given the FF dosage and it came in at 850ppm. They took at 1200ppm dose last time and didn't blink, so this time I tweaked the nutes with an additional 5ml of Tiger Bloom and brought the ppms up to 1100. Watered two of the plants with that. The third plant has a day or so more to go before it needs water. Interestingly, that plant is putting out the nicest buds.

 

[DroJo]

Just got a chance to pop my head in the tent as the lights were coming on and grabbed these shots. Here is the canopy at 80 days old, day 34 flower:

... and the best bud:

Lookin nice and glittery usul


dro

 

[Tiger Balm]

Looooooooove the second pic - that is a work of art.

 

[OldMedUser]

That's some sweet, sweet buddage going on there Usul!

That little drying cab of yours is the bomb! Or maybe it's the odor control set-up that's the bomb! Whatever it is there's a bomb in there somewhere. Many kudos and +Reps for it all!

I was going to ask for details about your filter but you answered them already so thanks for that too. Sometimes procrastination works!

I'm looking at doing something similar only without the odor control or the hanging strings, just racks. I've tried almost all methods of drying and trimming plants over the decades. Starting with hanging the whole plant upside down so the THC could run down to the buds back in the '70s. LOL. Hanging like most folks seem to do and the way I like best. I like to do my trimming right away after chopping off a big bowl-o-buds. The extra turgidity of the freshly cut colas seem to make it easier and there is less damage to the trichs. Plus you get lots of nice fresh scissor hash!

I've got some of those wire racks like you see holding parts at the hardware store so I figured I could cut them down to size to fit whatever cab I get. Then put a humidistat in the cab hooked up to a fan like yours with a speed control. I can always line the racks with plastic mosquito netting.

You got some great stuff going on there! Keep up the !

C'ya

 

[TorturedSoul]

I couldn't resist (apologies):

Or maybe it's the odor control set-up that's the bomb!

Think that's known as defusing the bomb. (Or was that diffusing the bomb? LOL)

hanging the whole plant upside down so the THC could run down to the buds back in the '70s. LOL.

LOL. Once had someone tell me that I was wasting potency by chopping/hanging. "Dude! All the extra THC in the stalk has no way to get to the buds now." (Should have known, if the first word out of someone's mouth is "dude" that there will be nothing intelligent to follow, lol. Wish there'd been a 420Magazine site to send him to at the time...)

That Red (and white!) Cherry Berry looks like it's going to be your favorite dessert!

 

[kailpot]

Plants are looking healthy. Mr Frosty is coming out to play too! Nice pics as well.

 

[Tiger Balm]

Gadzooks, man, you are an excellent photographer, too. I just learned half the buttons on my camera, now i'm aspiring to a tripod - this is just as addictive as growing is.

 

[onlyhuman]

Can't wait to see your yield! I just spent the last hour reading your both grow journals and. I must say you've come long way. I gotta admit I am looking into dwc but your first grow has me a little weary. This is going to be my first grow. My setup is the same as yours 2'×2'×5'3" grow tent and 250w HPS I I'm going to go with a T5 instead of MH just be because of heat issues. I don't want to go soil but. I don't want any goo Showing up in my res. Also looking in to coco coir. If you don't mind I like to PM you and get some advice.

I can't wait to see those pics. Things are looking good.

 

[ultrasonic]

Can't wait to see your yield! I just spent the last hour reading your both grow journals and. I must say you've come long way. I gotta admit I am looking into dwc but your first grow has me a little weary. This is going to be my first grow. My setup is the same as yours 2'×2'×5'3" grow tent and 250w HPS I I'm going to go with a T5 instead of MH just be because of heat issues. I don't want to go soil but. I don't want any goo Showing up in my res. Also looking in to coco coir. If you don't mind I like to PM you and get some advice.

I can't wait to see those pics. Things are looking good.

The goo is such a strange thing... I wish that we knew more of it's origin! When I think about usul's old slime, it makes me think how clean it was, lol. So white!

Perhaps if you do decide to do a simple dwc setup, invest in a product called physan 20. If you ever experience the slime, it can be used to clean equipment as well as added to the res (it's extremely cheap and concentrated) I have a feeling after reading some more here that the issue came from using something that was contaminated with the spores over and over. It could have been the bin, airstones, hydroton. The spores also could have come from your hydro shop, in your rockwool. Apparently once their around, it can be difficult to get rid of them. From what i've read, h202 and bleach do nothing to destroy these very tough spores. The P20 does some... interesting things.

I have also just recently discoverd manual mode in my camera, I only wish I had the patience for a tripod and everything else. I understand some basic photography about depth of field, etc, but obviously nothing like you do usul. Those shots are gonna look nicer and nicer as time goes by!

 

[onlyhuman]

I did some more reseach and I think Coco Coir 3 gallon blocks are the best for my situation. Do want to have to mix bags of soil or haul a res tanks in my apt.

 

[usul]

Plants are looking healthy. Mr Frosty is coming out to play too! Nice pics as well.

Thanks Kali! I got one of those pocket-sized microscopes from Radio Shack yesterday and have had fun looking at the trichomes at 60x to 100x. Very cool. Most trichomes are clear but a few are starting to turn milky. Should be fun to watch.

Gadzooks, man, you are an excellent photographer, too. I just learned half the buttons on my camera, now i'm aspiring to a tripod - this is just as addictive as growing is.

Thank you Tiger I'm really not that good and there are a lot of botched shots but once in a while I get a good one. And then there's Photoshop. I used Photoshop full time when I was a web designer so you can be sure every one of my images is manipulated to some degree.

Can't wait to see your yield! I just spent the last hour reading your both grow journals and. I must say you've come long way. I gotta admit I am looking into dwc but your first grow has me a little weary. This is going to be my first grow. My setup is the same as yours 2'×2'×5'3" grow tent and 250w HPS I I'm going to go with a T5 instead of MH just be because of heat issues. I don't want to go soil but. I don't want any goo Showing up in my res. Also looking in to coco coir. If you don't mind I like to PM you and get some advice.

I can't wait to see those pics. Things are looking good.

Thanks for stopping by my journal onlyhuman, and welcome to the 420 community! There's a really good vibe around here.

I am looking forward to seeing what I get for a yield - estimating 4 ounces, maybe 5? That'd be half a gram per watt... we shall see!

Sounds like our setups (other than growing medium) may be quite similar. Good to hear you've decided against DWC. When it works it can work very well but, bacterial slime aside, doing it in a 2x2 tent is problematic. Going with coco coir sounds like a great idea - I hope you'll start a journal so I can watch and learn.

And I'd be happy to try and help with any questions you may have about growing in small spaces. Ventilation, odor control, noise, temp/humidity maintenance, are all more difficult in a very small enclosure. Regarding the type of light to use, I veg under a 100W T5 arrary for the first few weeks then switch to HID. The MH bulb really does burn hot so for my next grow I may switch to a full-spectrum HPS bulb (Eye Hortilux or similar) and use it for the whole grow once I'm done with the T5s.

Only thing I've read about coco coir is that it's really good at holding on to unwanted salts so either plan to flush often or go 100% organic. Ha ha! You could be growing marijuana using worm poop and bat sh*t.

The goo is such a strange thing... I wish that we knew more of it's origin! When I think about usul's old slime, it makes me think how clean it was, lol. So white!

Always good to hear from you Ultra! No way to tell where the bacteria came from but its presence could not be overlooked. I am happy the soil thing has worked out so well. Gotta say it's a much more relaxing experience that hydroponics.

The light comes on in a couple hours so I'll see if I can get some shots of the plants. The new tripod has yet to arrive so I'll be freehanding it and hoping for the best.

 

[usul]

Got a chance to get a few pics. Not much new to see - the buds are plumping nicely but it's hard to see much change in these pictures (sorry about the small image size - something's funny with the photo gallery functions...)

Here's a pic of the girls at 83 days old, day 36 flower:

And some buds...

So here's what I'm wondering about at the moment: Should I feed or flush at the next watering? Given that some trichomes are starting to turn milky and some pistles are starting to turn color I'm thinking harvest at 8 weeks is about right. That means I'll have three more waterings to do. The last will be a clear water flush. I've added nutes to the last two waterings so, should I flush next then feed one more time before the final flush, or should I keep laying on the nutes until final flush? The plants look super healthy and there is perhaps just the slightest indication of nute burn on one leaf of one plant.

 

[TorturedSoul]

How long was the stretch?

 

[DroJo]

Got a chance to get a few pics. Not much new to see - the buds are plumping nicely but it's hard to see much change in these pictures (sorry about the small image size - something's funny with the photo gallery functions...)

Here's a pic of the girls at 83 days old, day 36 flower:

And some buds...

So here's what I'm wondering about at the moment: Should I feed or flush at the next watering? Given that some trichomes are starting to turn milky and some pistles are starting to turn color I'm thinking harvest at 8 weeks is about right. That means I'll have three more waterings to do. The last will be a clear water flush. I've added nutes to the last two waterings so, should I flush next then feed one more time before the final flush, or should I keep laying on the nutes until final flush? The plants look super healthy and there is perhaps just the slightest indication of nute burn on one leaf of one plant.

wowz usul.. those buds are great lookin.. i would actually run water for the last 3 feedings if it was me. But honestly it really is grower preference.. maybe you can run a control

very nice