First Grow - Scrog - CFL - Hydro Top Feed

[OlderGrower]

Howdy Dzordz,
I may be mistaken, but when I am looking at your pictures it appears to my that you have a 4 lamp t-5 ho light set up, but what I am seeing is 3 veg lamps and 1 bloom lamp. In bloom the first few weeks your plant is going to stretch and some plants will stretch well beyond 2 weeks, check out Riflemans BK. So you will want some blue in with the red but Red is what is going to be used to build bud sites and push the plant into bloom. I would be running at least 2 reds with 2 blues till she started to slow down the stretching then go 3 red and 1 blue. Just my opinion though. I am sure some of the guys on here that grow with T-5's would know more about the actual specifics of ratios.

Also not sure how heavy your SCROG net is, but the branches of the plants are surprisingly strong. One of my plants would literally move the end of my scrog over every day because it was stretching for the light. I would slide it back into position, come back and it would be where the plant wanted it.
not sure how long into flower you are but so far your plants look nice and healthy

 

[Dzordz]

Thanks OlderGrower.

It is an autoflower so have no idea how long into flowering I am It should be 10 weeks full cycle and I am now on day 31 (from seed in the ground) so not yet half way. I have the bloom bulbs and for sure don't mind changing them it is just a question of knowing when?

So auto masters if reading does anyone know when to change? My original plan was to increase 1 bloom lamp in each bank each week so start of week 5 it would be 2 veg 2 bloom, start of week 6: 1 veg 3 bloom and from start of week 7 all bloom.

And thanks for the scrog weight question, it is extremely light and that is a very good point. It seems to be bending quite well so control is there for now

If you spot anything additionally please do let me know!

 

[Kirupiru]

Nice grow man. Your setup looks really good. Reminds me of commercial tomato setup. I first planned to do somewhat same kind of system. Only using rock wool on top and perlite on the bottom. On last minute I changed my mind and went the soil route. It is easier to destroy your plants in hydro if you don't know what your are doing.

I'm afraid that your plant is a hermie. I have read that some people plug off those balls and keeps on growing a fixed girl. I might try it first before throwing it out. But still it's better to lose 50% of your crop than 100%.

How much are your plants smelling now? I was wondering how affective that kind of filtering is? If it works well I might be stealing your idea some day. I have filter in my grow space but it is blowing air out of my grow space not recycling it like yours.

 

[BCrisis420]

Im gonna sub because I thoroughly enjoy reading first grower journals! Good luck with the bubblegum! Neat set up u got there too!

 

[Dzordz]

@Kirupiru
Thank you for joining. The smell is still quite faint so can't comment on the effectiveness of the filter, will keep you up to date as it starts flowering and smelling up the space.

@BCrisis420
Welcome and thank you hope you enjoy the ride




Unfortunately this looks like a ball

I think I am going to try and save it, operation "ball exterminator is set for tonight". There is only maybe 10 or so of these and they are all from the original growth so no new ones are appearing.

Sent also the email to Pyramid Seeds to confirm

 

[Rifleman]

That's a ball sac for sure.

 

[Mello136]

@Kirupiru
Thank you for joining. The smell is still quite faint so can't comment on the effectiveness of the filter, will keep you up to date as it starts flowering and smelling up the space.

@BCrisis420
Welcome and thank you hope you enjoy the ride




Unfortunately this looks like a ball

I think I am going to try and save it, operation "ball exterminator is set for tonight". There is only maybe 10 or so of these and they are all from the original growth so no new ones are appearing.

Sent also the email to Pyramid Seeds to confirm

Ooooh. Definitely a male. Cull him, use him for teas.

 

[Dzordz]

Thanks for the help guys.

I picked off all the ball sacs. Will be inspecting daily, but as I said all of these are the old ones that appeared a "long" time ago and no new ones have shown. Just about 8-10 of them were there.


A couple of pictures of the buds generation (or I guess so)
32. day from seed in ground.

 

[arteekay]

Love your signature by the way. Considered changing mine to "Work in progress. Not all work is progress" or something like that.

SO much different than I'd originally planned.

 

[Dzordz]

Thanks Arteekay. It does keep changing my understanding of what I should be doing. As the grow proceeds I use what I read on the forum to try and make it a bit better. I am sure the 2nd one is going to be a bit easier with all the things that happened on the first one

At the moment Purple is adapting very well to the scrog it has continued growing and pistils are everywhere as could be seen on the previous picture. Nutrient solution consumption has gone up significantly, I estimate that they are now drinking about 4l a day (1/3 more then previous week).

With Bubblegum being a bit behind in maturity I am not sure when to switch to bloom nutrients I might take a step in between the formulas so that the next batch which I will need to do on the weekend is just about more bloom then now but still not full bloom (if you know what I mean)

Today I am definitely planning to add 1 more bulb for bloom to Purple so it will be 50/50 bloom/veg bulbs and I will leave Bubblegum with 25/75 bloom/veg bulbs as it has started finally stretching out a bit

Also today finally my measuring system is coming, it won't have the EC sensor on as the guys are working on developing that module it is taking a bit longer then expected, let's see when it comes how good it is. Also got a microscope 60-100x Carson MicroBrite plus, works like a charm. Originally when going to my grow shop close by I took some crappy one for like 10euro and it just didn't make sens, couldn't see anything. This was 20e but you can see a significant difference in quality.

Pictures to follow probably during day after some work has been done.

 

[Dzordz]

Won't be changing the lights after all today. Gave them a refill and ph is stable
Per l of water:
1.5ml grow (previously 2ml)
1.5ml bloom (previously 1ml)
1ml micro
1ml enzymes
1ml growth/bloom accelerator

Did some work on the scrog this morning and the buds turn to the light very quickly. Lesson learned to start training early. Anyways hoping to do a photo cbd kush or cbd skunkhaze from dutch passion for which I already have the seeds and probably will try a monster scrog 1.2 x 0.8 (4ft by 3.5ft).

 

[Dzordz]

Hello

Well been a little slow on the updates I guess for the last couple of days, quite a full schedule at home at work
Today is day 37.

So for a picture of the ladies. Managed to move the bottom down almost 20cm and raised the top so gained probably about 40cm in available height for future growth they can now go up to 115cm per my calculations (just under 4 feet)

Bubblegum started stretching finally. It is slowly catching up, still with 3/4 of 6400K lights.

The scrog with Purple is getting quite full, I think thinning out of the leaves is in order. I will also have to send some pictures of the buds and ask what is "popcorn" and should be cut and what should be groomed.

 

[arteekay]

Very nice looking plants.

Looks like you've already removed most of what would become popcorn buds when you lolipopped. My understanding is popcorn is the airy small buds from the bottom 1/3 to 1/4 of the plant, as compared to top colas. It's a pain in the ass to trim at harvest and wouldn't be worth much on the market because of it's lack of visual appeal. But it's still weed.

 

[Dzordz]

Refilled yesterday. The speed at which they drink is increasing, haven't measured the last batch.
The blue bottle is 1.5l Bubblegum finally started stretching as you can perhaps see.
Day 40

The scrog was released while moving lights.

One of the colas on the purple. Progressing quite well if I have to guess. On both plants now 50/50 veg and bloom lights. 4 banks used now and it is already 400w so reconsidering should I be at one moment pushing forward to a LED light on the next batch.

 

[Dzordz]

The grow is progressing, nothing revolutionary happening It is day 42 or 6 full weeks since seed in ground. 4 more weeks left per schedule but I will probably give them more time as I have seen that others with autos get great fattening up in the last couple of weeks or the couple extra weeks they give them.

Both plants are now under 2 x 4x24w lights with 50/50 of 6400k and 2700k.
Started training bubblegum via scrog, taking it in stride up to now.

One of the colas on the Purple, there is now even visible to the naked eye postules so it means it is in production Quite happy that it is moving closer.

A closeup of one of the bud sites of Purple.

 

[Dzordz]

On top of that I am definitely considering LED for the next grow. When I compare my results with other people using HID lights or LED it is not so bad but due to the fact that you need to keep FL/CFL so close it takes away time and effort to keep readjusting them. I am already at about 400w now of consumption so it wouldn't increase my electricity bill and don't think the temperature would rise. I could keep them at 20'' and not worry everyday am I burning my plants

 

[arteekay]

On top of that I am definitely considering LED for the next grow. When I compare my results with other people using HID lights or LED it is not so bad but due to the fact that you need to keep FL/CFL so close it takes away time and effort to keep readjusting them. I am already at about 400w now of consumption so it wouldn't increase my electricity bill and don't think the temperature would rise. I could keep them at 20'' and not worry everyday am I burning my plants

Depending on 3w vs 5w panels, your temp might drop. But if you're like me, and I'd like to think I'm not in the minority, you'll still end up readjusting lights or plants for height every day.

 

[Dzordz]

Hehehehe yeah most probably but I won't be hurting the plants as much and hopefully a bit more penetration.
Not that I am unhappy with the growth up to now, but as I mentioned once, I have a tendency to never stop thinking about improvements.

Edit: Refilled with bloom nutes (over 5l a day consumed) so ...
Per l of water:
1ml grow (previously 1.5ml)
2ml bloom (previously 1.5ml)
1ml micro
1ml enzymes
1ml growth/bloom accelerator

Bubble gum is still with 50/50 lights but purple now under full 2700K lights.

 

[arteekay]

I have a tendency to never stop thinking about improvements.

You too eh? It just never stops.

I gotta start thinking about what i'll need for harvest next month, that'll undoubtedly cause another round of reconfiguration.

 

[Dzordz]

I have been trying to estimate weekly average cost of this whole thing and I see I made a finger in the air judgment on nutrient consumption.

Fault #1: My tank is 25l and not 30l, I have been putting 30l worth of nutrients though without ill effect. PH is a tad higher but growth is good, will leave as is.
Fault #2: They don't seem to be drinking 5l a day as I blurted off the last time, I see that between the two last waterings (11th Dec and 21st Dec) was 10 days with 25l tank that is half or 2.5l a day. Maybe even a bit less as there is about 4-5 l left when I change the tank (which I later added to the new solution)

@arteekay
Yeah I am already reading on drying and curing as time passes so fast 6.5 weeks already gone. Into the last third for the hockey fans, coming close to the last quarter or just about at the 7th inning for the baseball fans

Definitely considering LEDs now, just have to ask the Santa if she approves