Czar's Indoor SCROG grow

[caesar537]

Hey all, it's starting to cool down around my area so I decided now's a good time as any to go ahead and start my indoor scrog grow! Here's some details:

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Medium: Soil
Lights: 4 x 13W CFL (24-0 cycle)
Number of Plants: 4 (keeping the best 2)
Nutes: Miracle-Gro (24-18-6), Schulz Bloom Builder (10-54-10)
Box Dimensions: (L) 2.5" (W) 2" (H) 2.5"
Date Planted: Sept. 01, 2009

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With that out of the way, I'll give you guys a refresher so you know where I'm at right now. I've been watering the babies every 2 days and today I topped 2 of the 4 reason being I want them to branch off as soon as possible, so I figured I'd give it a shot and see how they do, I still have 2 back-ups! The rest can be explained with photos, readyyyyyy GO!

The grow box, hidden and inside.

Plant Growth:

September 06

LEFT: Plants 1&2 | RIGHT: Plants 3&4

September 09

LEFT: Plants 1&2 | RIGHT: Plants 3&4

September 11

LEFT: Plants 1&2 | RIGHT: Plants 3&4

LEFT: Plant 2 topped | RIGHT: Plant 3 topped

The screen is not put in yet but that's only because the light isn't in its final position and the plants need to grow to the screen's height anyway. I will start with nutes probably within this next week and they will be used every 2nd or 3rd feeding depending on how they react after the first or second feedings. I will only be giving nutes to 2 of the plants, I will decide exactly which 2 later, we will see how they take to being topped so young. Alright guys, you're up to date, tune in for more details and feel free to ask questions or make suggestions!!!

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[caesar537]

also, one plant from each pot will either be pulled or transplanted so I can get the full possible size out of 2 of them.

 

[caesar537]

Updates: The 2 plants which I topped are starting to branch out now and the other 2 are growing like crazy! I'll probably start nutes today or tomorrow, depending on how they look, lemme know what you guys think!

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[jcool09]

Looks good. It's a little early yet but you might want to plan to add some reflective material to the sides of your grow box or build panels out of cardboard to maximze the impact of your lighting. Mylar is ideal if you can get it and are willing to spend the $$. Flat white paint is a viable low-cost alternative.

JC

 

[caesar537]

Thanks for the advice JC, I totally forgot to put my reflective material up, and I've done what I did last time which was put up white bristo board on the inside to reflect the light, held up by thumbtacks, It seems to hold pretty well actually considering its not 100% pure wood which I built the box out of, so that helps. Anyways, here's some updated pics:

All Plants with Bristo board up

Plants 1 & 2

Plants 3 & 4

Anyways, do you guys think I could get away with growing 2 per pot? Or should I pull or transplant one out of each pot so the biggest plants can utilize the most space? Let me know what you guys think, thanks! More updates to come in the next few days!!!

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[Sonzor]

Looks like you have nice start going there. If I could make one suggestion to you is split up those plants that are in the same pots. Its only going to cause you issues in near future. If you really want to save space next time start the plants off in there own cups. They are small and don't take up much room and if you decide to get rid of one or two for any reason you wont have any issues with the root being tangled. Just a thought. + rep for the start of the journal and cant wait to see how it all turns out... Good luck

P.S. Nice Willie Nelson Quote, I am pretty sure I have seen that somewhere before LOL

 

[caesar537]

thanks a lot for the tip son, i was definitely going to either take the two smaller plants out of the pot and just pull them or transplant them into their own pots, still unsure yet whether or not I'll have enough room for 4. I think I should probably just pull 2 of them and let the other 2 grow, what do you guys think? Lemme know, thanks!

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[Sonzor]

thanks a lot for the tip son, i was definitely going to either take the two smaller plants out of the pot and just pull them or transplant them into their own pots, still unsure yet whether or not I'll have enough room for 4. I think I should probably just pull 2 of them and let the other 2 grow, what do you guys think? Lemme know, thanks!

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I think you should add another light set up like you have already and transplant the two into their own pots. I think you have plenty of room. Just need more light. I think the lack of hight issues in your grow box is going to be one you are going to have to deal with. I think you have plenty of room to grow out but are going to have an issue when they grow upwards. I would also rig your lights so you can raise and lower them. It looks like your plants are stretching towards the lights. If you lowered them to about 4" above the plant it will encourage outward growth instead of stretching towards the lights and doing so will also make you plants grow faster and encourage more veg growth. Only a thought and good luck..

Another thought. Cant tell from the pictures but it would help if you put some mylar or painted all four walls and even the floor a white to get the most out of the light you have..

 

[BUD08]

thanks a lot for the tip son, i was definitely going to either take the two smaller plants out of the pot and just pull them or transplant them into their own pots, still unsure yet whether or not I'll have enough room for 4. I think I should probably just pull 2 of them and let the other 2 grow, what do you guys think? Lemme know, thanks!

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Im not sure what your using for seeds but you might want to think about keeping all 4 if there bag seed. You never know if your going to have a girl or a boy and it would be a shame to pull the wrong ones to early. Like the set up though good looking girls.

I topped mine early as well and have been having great resoults. Looks like you did it alot sooner then me though. If done at the wrong time the plants can take alot longer to grow. How tall do you plan to get them? How many tops (bud spots) are you going for?

I wish you luck and im in to watch this one!

 

[caesar537]

I think you should add another light set up like you have already and transplant the two into their own pots. I think you have plenty of room. Just need more light. I think the lack of hight issues in your grow box is going to be one you are going to have to deal with. I think you have plenty of room to grow out but are going to have an issue when they grow upwards.

I would also rig your lights so you can raise and lower them. It looks like your plants are stretching towards the lights. If you lowered them to about 4" above the plant it will encourage outward growth instead of stretching towards the lights and doing so will also make you plants grow faster and encourage more veg growth. Only a thought and good luck..

Another thought. Cant tell from the pictures but it would help if you put some mylar or painted all four walls and even the floor a white to get the most out of the light you have..

sonzor: I was thinking about an extra lighting set up last night actually but I think I'm going to just stick with the one for now (I'm not paying the electric bill so I have to be careful) at the same time. I have about 2.5 feet to work with, the pictures you see look like I don't have much to work with because they're sitting on books and shit right now. Hopefully that'll be enough room!

My lights will be adjustable but I find it easier to leave them in place and adjust the height of my pots themselves considering I can just add a book or whatever, but they're pretty close to the light already, most of the stretching was from the crucial first days of growth, they sat a little too far which is why I added extra soil to strengthen them. I also did put up the flat white bristo board on the walls, I just have to go get one more sheet to put on the floor. Thanks for all your input son (+reps!), hopefully this gave you a little more insight as far as what I'm working with, thanks!

Im not sure what your using for seeds but you might want to think about keeping all 4 if there bag seed. You never know if your going to have a girl or a boy and it would be a shame to pull the wrong ones to early. Like the set up though good looking girls.

I topped mine early as well and have been having great results. Looks like you did it alot sooner then me though. If done at the wrong time the plants can take alot longer to grow. How tall do you plan to get them? How many tops (bud spots) are you going for?

BUD08: Great idea, I totally overlooked that fact, I probably will transplant the ones I topped since they will already be starting off smaller and then go from there, you're right, that would be a shame!

I topped mine about a week in, after I had an established first set of leaves. As far as height goes, my grow box goes to about 2.5 feet, and I'm putting a screen in at about 2 feet high or so and I'll grow them right to the screen, and as far as bud sites go, I'm not really too stuck on a number, my plan is to grow them right to the side walls of the box, so I may put a screen in front of the door so when I close it I don't catch any leaves or branches when I close it. I'm basically attempting to grow them right to the screen and fill the grow box right up. I appreciate all your advice (+reps)!


My other question, do you guys think I'm better off training my plants to keep them lower and promote branching, should I top them or should I use a combination of both techniques? I'll try to post updated pics today after I transplant my 2 plants, if not it won't be until Monday, I leave for the weekend tonight so I'll see what I can do, thanks for all the help and advice guys!!!

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[caesar537]

Alright, a lot has happened today as far as improvements and the like. I went and checked out my other babies from my previous grow and I was taking a sniff of one of them and it smelled like some recent kush I had, so I decided to give cloning it a try, even though it's flowering. I also transplanted the two plants I topped into a pot together, seeing as I don't have enough pots to plant them separately. The light has been fixed too so it can be adjusted and I organized the growbox a little bit. I'll explain more with the pics:

Growbox setup, from here you can see the adjusted light and the 4 plants with the clone in a dome

Group Shot and a shot of the 2 topped plants (plants 2 & 3) as you can see, plants 2 & 3 didn't like missing their watering for a few days

Clone in and out of dome

Plant 1

Plant 4 clearly didn't like missing the watering either since the lower leaves are kind of turned up and a bit dry

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I should be starting my nutes this week, I want to see how they recover after being watered today and how the 2 other plants do after being transplanted. The clone being taken from a plant in flower may end up taking a little while longer to root and start sustaining itself, but we'll see how it goes. I'll also be picking up a 24-hour timer for the lights and a small fan for inside the box shortly. Does anyone know of an adapter or anything I can plug a case fan into to convert it into an AC plug rather than a cable from a power supply? Or should I just plug a power supply into the wall and run a case fan or two off of there? Suggestions would be appreciated, thanks!!!

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[Sonzor]

Plants look like they are a little on the depressed side. I am sure you have that all taken care of and they will recover soon. I think you changes to the box will help out a lot with your grow. About the fan stuff, I am not sure I understand the question but I am sure someone in here that know a lot more than I can help you out. Sorry and good luck with the grow you are doing a great job...

 

[BUD08]

Hey man, girls are looking good for the most part and good luck on the clones. I was reading every thing that has been posted about your set up and figured i would come and answer a bit .

Lights: what you have should work for now but you might want to think about doing another set of lights like you have now when you get the money. I have had great resoults with CFL's just need to use the right lights at the right time. Cool white for veg and then for flowering you will want to get some higher watt bulbs and some thing around 6500k.

The set up you have with the 2 girls per pot should be fine for the space that you have. I would think about flowering around a foot or so because of the space that you have. Marijuana like most flowering plants in that they do alot of there growing in the flowering stage of life. If your plants are 1 foot tall expect the worst and think they could grow to 3 feet but most likely they will be around 2 feet. That doest leave alot of room for lights and air flow.

Fan: i would look into a normal 10" house fan to get the job done. You will want a whole twords the top to allow for the hot air that will rise to escape the box. The fan can simply be placed in a corner on oscolate. A fan is also a good idea to help with a stronger stem. The wind will help the girls to get used to having to hold them selves up to keep from falling over.

Hope all this helps and the ladies are looking great!!! Can't wait for the next update.

 

[caesar537]

Fan: i would look into a normal 10" house fan to get the job done. You will want a whole towards the top to allow for the hot air that will rise to escape the box. The fan can simply be placed in a corner on oscillate.

BUD08: Thanks for the help and advice, there is already a decent hole in the top to allow ventilation and if the light(s) need to be moved up a little higher. I will be flowering around a foot, foot and a half, because you have to remember I'll be training and topping as I go to keep the plants more bushy.

I was also thinking about picking up a pack of 23W CFL's since they put out around 1200 lumens each, as opposed to my 13W CFL's I have in there right now. Anyways, any advice about the clone? I think it'll do okay it just depends on how long it takes to root, and if I cut the clone properly, remember, it's my first attempt! As for my fan question, the basic question was this, can I plug a cpu fan into an adapter that lets me plug it right into the wall? Or would I need to run it straight off of a power supply? The pictures below should help explain:

Shows you the end I'd be working with if I went with a CPU fan. The red circle shows the end which I would need an adapter to plug into AC. Or should I just say fuck it and get a small fan? Let me know guys!


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[DankBoy101]

hey czar nice lookin box. My buddy just finished one very similar to your with the pc fans. They will work well if you get a strong one. put one on the bottom and the other blowing out the top. Should work well.

what nutrients are you using? fox farm works very well with soil

 

[Tead]

You can run the fans off of pretty much any small power supply. I use an old cell phone charger. Much easier than the fat power supply. Those babies pump out oodles of watts... your fan uses WAY less. I'm running 2 fans just fine off the cell phone power supply.

Cheers!

 

[Tead]

Shoulda mentioned.... Those fans will kill any stealth aspect. They're pretty loud.

Cheers!

 

[caesar537]

perfect tead, that's exactly what i wanted to know! +reps for the quick response! Looks like I'll just have to go cop a fan from wal-mart and go from there, thanks!

 

[Sonzor]

You can buy 12v computer fan adapters on the internet or maybe even at Radio shack. I took a 12v plug I had lying around I think it was for a cell phone charger or something like that. i cut off the end for the cell phone and cut off the end of the fan plug and attached the two ends with electrical tape. It seemed to work just fine. I think the main thing is make sure the plug you are using is not over the 12v. Or like I said you can buy the adapters online. Good luck. Or an even easier solution is go out and buy a fan. They are all on sale this time of year and you could pick a couple up pretty cheap. Hope this helps and good luck...

 

[jcool09]

As for my fan question, the basic question was this, can I plug a cpu fan into an adapter that lets me plug it right into the wall? Or would I need to run it straight off of a power supply?

Caesar, I had this same question a couple of days ago. You can see in the picture that there are three wires - black, red, and yellow (I have another fan that has black, red, and blue. The black and red seem to be consistant). What you need is an old power adapter from anything that used 9-12V of DC power. Look on the back of the adapter to check the voltage. This one was from the base of an old cordless phone. Strip the wires and connect one of the leads to the red and one to the black. If it does not work then reverse the wires, it will only work one way. An interesting side note is that if the yellow wire (or blue on other fan) is connected instead of the red (I think it was red) then the fan spins at 1/2 speed which creates less noise.

I hope this helps.

How I hooked up my CPU fan