4x4' Tent - Canna Coco - 400W HPS - Vertical Grow With Screens

[gr865]

Well I designed my Blumat layout, ordered the parts and got them today. Also picked up my tent, light, vertical cord, fan speed controller and got some 4" ducting. Four hours later, I have my closet disassembled and the tent installed.
Getting room ready, got to remove that shelf.

Got that done and lined the floor with plastic.

Getting the tent ready

Putting it all together, one person, should be a two person job. But damn Gorilla tape works great.

Ok, lets get this done

Let's see how the screens fit. Oh yea!

More screen shots

A look inside

A little advertising

Damn near filled my closet

A look thru one of the two windows

GR

 

[gr865]

Beans are one week old from sprout.

Question

Should I grow in the solo's till good root system then plant into one gallon pots or just go from solo's to my final pot size of 2 gallon smart pots?
GR

 

[OldMedUser]

Cool setup gr865!

I'd get them well rooted in the solo cups then go straight into the final pots myself. You're going to want to top them fairly early then again to have at least 4 grow tips on each to be able to fill those screens. I'd also cut off any stringy roots when you repot so the roots can branch out to fill the new pots. I would do a system like that with 5 plants in a RubberMaid tub in the center to get much faster veg growth and fill the screens quicker. DWC would rock in there.

Access to the plants isn't going to be easy with having to get in through the one side unless you have a plan that isn't obvious to me. A large Lazy-Susan comes to mind to be able to rotate the whole thing. For my DWC ScroGs I have the tub on a wheeled dollie so I can sit on a 5gal pail and rotate the whole thing rather than bend over to reach which totally screws up my bad back. Cement floor in my grow room helps with that.

Good luck with it!

 

[gr865]

Cool setup gr865!

I'd get them well rooted in the solo cups then go straight into the final pots myself. You're going to want to top them fairly early then again to have at least 4 grow tips on each to be able to fill those screens. I'd also cut off any stringy roots when you repot so the roots can branch out to fill the new pots. I would do a system like that with 5 plants in a RubberMaid tub in the center to get much faster veg growth and fill the screens quicker. DWC would rock in there.

Access to the plants isn't going to be easy with having to get in through the one side unless you have a plan that isn't obvious to me. A large Lazy-Susan comes to mind to be able to rotate the whole thing. For my DWC ScroGs I have the tub on a wheeled dollie so I can sit on a 5gal pail and rotate the whole thing rather than bend over to reach which totally screws up my bad back. Cement floor in my grow room helps with that.

Good luck with it!

Hey OMU,

I do not plan on topping as both strains report heavy side branching and both are medium height.
Doesn't cutting roots really set the plants back, I hope to go straight from the solo's to the pots as I have made provisions for doing so. I have placed empty solo's in the final pots so I can just pull one and replace it with the root ball.

in this pic you can see the empty solo's, those will be pulled, I will remove the plants from the cup they are gowing in and just fit it right into place. Does that clear it up

As far as access to the plants, each plant will have it's own screen, so each can be removed separately. I am using Blumats and the setup will be a wrap around main line with quick disconnects at each plant, there will also be a quick disconnect on the mainline to get it out of the way so the plants and screens can be removed as one.
It will be similar to this drawing, it is the one on the bottom.

The difference will be that in the middle of the main line where the shut off is, that is a drain, the will be a quick disconnect with stop to prevent losing all the liquid in the line. It will be hung up and out of the way. Then at each pot and carrot there I will be a quick disconnect so I can remove each plant separately. The carrot stays with the pot
Sure hope that made sense.

I tried planting 5 plants in a 9x21' tub, did not work for me, that was a horizonal grow with a lazy susan. Had to abandon that as I could not lift the tub to get it out of the cabinet. About broke my back, LOL.

GR

 

[OldMedUser]

That clears a lot up.

Cutting off the stringy roots doesn't seem to set the plants back at all and I've been doing it for years. Just yesterday I repotted my sprouts from their tiny pots into 1L pots and pinched off the roots that had started to coil at the bottom. Lots of gardening sites recommend the same practice with tomatoes etc. If anything I see more vigorous growth almost right away but there's lots of ways to skin a cat and they all end up with a naked cat.

I transplant from say a 1gal to a 4gal much like you have your pots set up. Fill the larger pot up so the smaller one will be the right height then set an empty pot in and fill the sides. Water it in good then gently twist the empty pot out and drop the plant in the hole. Perfect fit every time.

Interesting method you have going on and I'll be interested to see how it works out.

 

[gr865]

Ok, planted the ladies in the final home on Saturday. beans soaked for 24 hrs+ then planted in coco solo's on 6/24.
Transplanted into their final home, 2 gallon smart pots on 7/9, about a week behind as I did not pay much attention to them the first week and did not begin feeding until 7/4, but they are all doing well now.


Setup:
4x4x6'7" Gorilla Grow Lite Tent
400W Eye Hortilux Super HPS
6" Max Fan, three speed with fan speed reducer, max air exchange is 420 cfm, so that should do well with my 106 CF tent.
Straight Canna Coco 2 gallon Smart Pots
FloraMicro & Bloom, h3ads formula for coco, Minor change going w/4ml Micro, 6ml Bloom plus epsom. 500 to 650 ppm @ 5.8 pH.
Have not set them up yet I will be using Blumats, 5 carrots setup to be removed from the loop to work on them as needed.
Growing vertical 5 plants, 3 Big Buddha Blue Cheese, 2 Barneys Farm Critical Kush.
That's all I got for now. Here are a few pics.

Critical Kush 2 showed a little Mag deficancy on the first two main leaves, but all is good now.

I think the tent is getting a bit to warm, when I pulled them out of the tent to move outside for the day, the leaves had a slight heat hook to them, but after being outside for a bit they reached for the sky.

Question and especially comments are always welcome!


GR

 

[gr865]

Day 40 since planted in coco solo's, 25 days in veg!

GR

 

[OldMedUser]

Those are lookin' good gr865!

I can't see the top of the screen to see how much room you have for stretch.
Any ideas about when to flip them?

 

[gr865]

Those are lookin' good gr865!

I can't see the top of the screen to see how much room you have for stretch.
Any ideas about when to flip them?

OMU,
The total height of the screen is 40", the CK's are around 22" and the BC's are around 19".
I am at 45 days from sprout as of today. I am thinking another week to 10 days to pull the trigger.
I would like the BC's to give me some growth but it looks like I might get only a couple more inches out the them.
I want to flip the CK's at 24" so what ever the BC's are at that time will have to do.

I am very pleased with the grow so far, even with the worm attack they are doing ok. What I like best is the stable color of the plants, no tip burn, and a good mild green color. Running at around 500 ppm @ 6.0 pH, they seem to be loving it.
Have a bit of an issue in my rez, something is forming on the bottom, not sure what it is. I am adding a secondary rez below the main and will pump to the main rez to keep it at a constant level, plus am going to aerate the water in the lower rez the keep a high O2 level in the tank.
I think I have the Blumats dialed in, so I say, LOL, I am constantly monitoring them so far a fairly constant drip with no leakage into the catch tray. Have had only the one runaway but caught it early, so no mess incurred.
Stay tuned,
GR

 

[OldMedUser]

That stuff on the bottom could be some bio-film forming or nutrient salts precipitating out of sol'n and settling on the bottom. Neither are of much concern and increasing the O2 levels often keeps the bio-film down or eliminates it. A lower pH also keeps that down or can dissolve the precipitates back into sol'n.

I'm at my mom's in BC now helping her move so not able to get on the computer much. Way better lifestyle and hot babes on the beach!

Sounds like a good plan for the flowering. I tend to veg too long and end up with everything leaning against the wall. lol

 

[gr865]

Ok went to 12/12 last night, let's see how they look in approx 8 to 10 weeks.
Will be hooking up my second rez to feed the upper rez, have fitting pipe, pumps air and water, and the air stones.
I want to keep the upper rez level at about 7 to 8 gallons in the 10 gallon rez, plan on running the air and water pumps every hour at 30 minute intervals. 1st start time, 8:30 to 9:00 pm, 10:00 to 10:30, 11:30 to 12:00 AM, and so on.
Any suggestions will be helpful.
GR

 

[gr865]

Just a little update, had to build some stands as the plants were growing at different rates,(hights)
So to even things out I built 4 stands, two at 6", one at 8" and one at 10". Got all plants level, I did not realize that BC1 had grown so much in the past two days, oh well the others will catch up soon.

This is day 8 of 12/12, stretching a lot but don't think I will fully fill the screens.

I will be doing a minor defo at day 20 of 12/12, mainly larf and some fans, not many fans though.

GR

 

[gr865]

Ok you experienced people, during stretch I know to keep the HPS where the base of the lamp is just below the tops of the plants. But when they have finished stretch, say at day 20 to 25 where should I place the lamp. I know you lower it but how far below the tops of the plant. I am only running one lamp so need to make the best of it.

Thanks

GR

 

[photos]

subbed ,excellent grow so far ive done a few runs of vert like your doing now mate , great for gpw yield , i have the bulb in the 3/4 position after stretch ,just play with it watch the light distribution into the plant very carefully as you move the bulb up and down to find your position , for me this is the spot where the canopy is recieving the best coverage .

really excited to see you flower this bad ass yield machine out mate.
ive done diff grows always to try new things what im onto now is back to my lst and hst then add a scrog net in flower to support buds etc and its good i grew this ripper of a plant 3x600 long 3m 2 m wide haha this monster (pics in sig) but still still i miss running vert just something about it , gotta love the great top to bottom coverage you get that also transfers to great gpw yields to ,hey i wonder if theres a led vert light ? led growers love thier gpw and this is a great way to get that gpw with hps so with led i imagine it would be insanely high gpw ,hmmmm going to have to investigate then try that as a grow a led vert haha.

again ,kicking ass man and looks like you know your shiz , but if you ever have any Qs just ask maybe i can help , also im pretty pumped about finding your j and i think all the growers i know would be very interested so please feel welcome to post a link to your j in my j, ok , thats if you like mate.

peace and trichromes
cheers brother

 

[gr865]

subbed ,excellent grow so far ive done a few runs of vert like your doing now mate , great for gpw yield , i have the bulb in the 3/4 position after stretch ,just play with it watch the light distribution into the plant very carefully as you move the bulb up and down to find your position , for me this is the spot where the canopy is recieving the best coverage .

really excited to see you flower this bad ass yield machine out mate.
ive done diff grows always to try new things what im onto now is back to my lst and hst then add a scrog net in flower to support buds etc and its good i grew this ripper of a plant 3x600 long 3m 2 m wide haha this monster (pics in sig) but still still i miss running vert just something about it , gotta love the great top to bottom coverage you get that also transfers to great gpw yields to ,hey i wonder if theres a led vert light ? led growers love thier gpw and this is a great way to get that gpw with hps so with led i imagine it would be insanely high gpw ,hmmmm going to have to investigate then try that as a grow a led vert haha.

again ,kicking ass man and looks like you know your shiz , but if you ever have any Qs just ask maybe i can help , also im pretty pumped about finding your j and i think all the growers i know would be very interested so please feel welcome to post a link to your j in my j, ok , thats if you like mate.

peace and trichromes
cheers brother

Thanks bud,
I don't have a journal, unless this could be considered one. should I just post the link to my grow.
I would love to get some feedback from experienced growers. I planned this grow only after months of research into vert growing. And so much is new to me, I have been growing in Coco/Growstone Hempys for yrs. Straight coco, in 2 gal smart pots, with blumats and low feed rates are all new so yes I could surely use some advice from pro growers.
Can I make a journal out of this thread?
I am not much up on LED's but I do believe they make a LED light that works for vert, it is called a Cob or Cobb.

Thanks for all the kind words and offer to help, it is much appreciated!

GR

 

[photos]

Thanks bud,
I don't have a journal, unless this could be considered one. should I just post the link to my grow.
I would love to get some feedback from experienced growers. I planned this grow only after months of research into vert growing. And so much is new to me, I have been growing in Coco/Growstone Hempys for yrs. Straight coco, in 2 gal smart pots, with blumats and low feed rates are all new so yes I could surely use some advice from pro growers.
Can I make a journal out of this thread?
I am not much up on LED's but I do believe they make a LED light that works for vert, it is called a Cob or Cobb.

Thanks for all the kind words and offer to help, it is much appreciated!

GR

Yeah this is your journal, and it's a good one post a link in my j, theres a lot of people growers come through.

Kicking Ass man

 

[Billyjack]

This is really nice work. I am not experienced enough to provide any advice but I am experienced enough to recognize quality work. Well done.

I would like your opinion on how this stacks up against your Hempy grows. I assume it is better but more work but would like to now your thoughts.

Subscribed

 

[gr865]

This is really nice work. I am not experienced enough to provide any advice but I am experienced enough to recognize quality work. Well done.

I would like your opinion on how this stacks up against your Hempy grows. I assume it is better but more work but would like to now your thoughts.

Subscribed

Thanks dude,

Well this is my first Vert grow so will be tough to compare.
I hand watered all my Hempys, did 6 or 8 runs, from 3 plants in 5 gallon Hempys to 12 one gallon hempys in a sort of a SOG. They are a lot of work and you can't be away from them any given period of time.
Yes these are a lot of work, but this is a new style for me so there is a learning curve. I am going to like this for when I want to get away for a few days. The next grow will be easier because it will be in the fall/winter, heat and humidity issue's will be less. Now I am having to stick fairly close, I don't have a chiller and I am adding frozen water bottles to the rez to keep the temp of the nute mix down.
I do like the way things are growing though, have one issue at present. Will show that in my next post.
Glad you here and comments are always welcome.

GR

 

[gr865]

Sorry see post below!

 

[gr865]

Ok I have an issue with one plant, BC1 is acting like it has a N toxicity or pH problem.
Maybe you guys/girls can help!

All plants have been receiving the same nutes through the Blumats and rez. They are all the same distance from the light, they are all in the same Canna coco that was mixed in a large container at the start of the grow and the only thing added was Mycorrhiza and it was blended well.
This just started a couple of days ago, I record the info on my mixes every time a make a new mix. The ppm's have been running 550 to 600, it vary's a bit with each new mix. The same with the pH it has been running 5.87 to 6.1
I have just switched my mix up was using 4ml Micro, 6ml Bloom, 1 gram Epsom, 8ml Cannazym, 2 to 3 ml SM90 and .4ml Drip Clean. As of Saturday I changed to 3ml Micro, 8ml Bloom, 1 gram Epsom, and the additives have remained the same. At these rates I am getting 578 ppm and a 5.91 pH.

When I removed them from the tent today to pluck some of the fans that I had tucked behind the screen and pull some new large fan through to the back of the screen. I did notice she was lite but not dry by any means. When I put her back in the tent I opened the Blumat some to a constant drip rate higher than it was. When i add to the rez tonight I am going to adjust the ppm to 550 and the pH to 5.8. that has been my zone for this grow. I will adjust the rez pH as needed to get my desired target.

Here are the other ladies taken today! DAy 15 of 12/12
Group Shot

GR

Here is a little unintentional Super Cropping, was trying to control a big stretch.
I was wondering if you can use SC in a vert grow, guess I am going to find out.

CK2