Prairie's Trying Again - SCROG

[PrairiePoet]

Hello everyone...

This is my fifth grow attempt, and after reading on this forum for several months I thought I would do a journal. One reason is to help me remember what I'm doing (old age sucks) and to get any help I can.

My first attempt was good, I harvested about 1.5 ounces from bag seeds off of three plants. I thought, "WOW, this isn't too hard to do", it was better than the swag I was normally buying. The second grow was almost not worth it, but I did learn some things and adjusted my grow room. The third attempt I used clones from a AK47-Blueberry-Hawaiian blend I got from a friend. Not too bad of harvest, I got a little over 2 ounces, again from three plants. A nice sweet taste and a decent high. On my fourth try, I ended up with root rot and had to dump the whole thing. That is when I started searching on the net for help and found this site. Again was given a plant to clone from, this time a CG chocolate (??) from the same friend. My wife really liked this breed in helping her chrons.

Strain: CG Chocolate (??)
Lights: 4 Sunlite 85 watt 65K, 2 Sunlite 85 watt 30K (homemade reflector hood)
Grow System: Deep Water Culture system with Hydroton with looped tubing over the pots.
Nutrients: Fox Farm series
Water: Tap
Venting: two bathroom vent fans 250 CFM each
Air Temp: Day 70-78 Night 68-72
Water Temp: 70-76
Humidity: 40-70
pH: between 5.5 to 6.2

I've got four plants going, though that might be too many for this small closet. My grow room is a closet in the basement, about two feet deep and five feet wide. I don't have a lot of money, so everything is on the cheap. Which you can see when I post pictures. But it does work, if everything is right. Might not be the best, but then that's why I'm here posting. Hoping for some good suggestions from all of you. With the exception of the lights, original Deep Water Culture tub and pump, and pH meter, everything was picked up at salvage, yard sales or hand made. To try and get a better yield, I've setup a SCROG setup this time. I'm at week four, and it is looking like it will.

I am using CFL's, mainly because I have no where to dump the heat from HID's. I've tried pushing out the chimney, but each time I kill the pilot light on the water heater. I've thought about under the house in the crawl space, but I would have to bust through cinder blocks to get to it. I'm fairly certain the root rot was from adding the three more lights, raising the temps in the room. So this time, I have the tub sitting directly on the basement floor, added another fan, and changed the design on my reflector hood. This has helped a lot, and so far, I don't have root rot (crossing fingers and toes).

I'll get pics up as soon as I can. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

PrairiePoet

 

[PrairiePoet]

Here are some pictures of my grow closet....

Prairie

 

[PrairiePoet]

Wow looks like a nice setup. How did you make those holders for the CFL's? Good luck to you.

Hi Cheese,

Thanks for stopping by and for the compliment.

My reflector is made from 1.5 inch PVC, and some light sockets I picked up at the salvage yard. I fit some rubber O-rings around the sockets and that keeps them stuck in the T's very well. If needed I can gently pull the sockets out, being careful not to pull the wiring with it. The wiring all runs on the inside the PVC and I cut a hole on one corner for the plug. I should have drilled a hole and put a grommet there, but oh well. They do droop a bit, so after this grow I'll pull it apart and use some silicone caulk, which should hold the sockets in better.

It is a bit heavier than I had wanted, but it works very well. After several grows I've noticed the PVC is turning a light brown where the bulbs are closes to it. But I checked and I can scrub it off, so it isn't the PVC burning. So I don't know exactly what that is. Most likely pollen from the flowers gets stuck on it, then the heat from the lights browns it. shrug

Prairie

 

[Lebowskii]

First off, welcome to the forums!!

Never heard of that stain, but sounds tasty!
Nice setup! looking good so far! Ill be sure to check back in, you came to the right place for grow help cheers!

~L~

 

[ItsChrome]

Sneaky, Sneaky grow spot you got there. I like your set up alot. Very stealth, Very well designed, very nice! I'm in!

 

[PrairiePoet]

First off, welcome to the forums!!

Never heard of that stain, but sounds tasty!
Nice setup! looking good so far! Ill be sure to check back in, you came to the right place for grow help cheers!

~L~

Thanks for checking my journal out.

I was over to visit my source and he corrected me, the strain is OG Chocolate. He has been very pleased with it, and so have I when I've been able to.

I'm not sure if it is the best strain for my small closet though. I'm hoping the screen will help out. I also have access to some Sensi Star, but from watching it grow, I think it would out grow the space.

Prairie

 

[SanibelGreen]

Great looking setup! Welcome to the boards and I am in love with that CFL hood!

SG

 

[PrairiePoet]

Sneaky, Sneaky grow spot you got there. I like your set up alot. Very stealth, Very well designed, very nice! I'm in!

Thank you. Stealth has been a major part of my design. Though I'm always looking for more ideals.

You can't see in the images, but my air pumps are in there too. I've tried many ways to quiet them down as much as possible. Hanging them from cords, bungie cords, in a muffled box (over heats if you forget air holes), all kinds of things. But no what as the pumps start to age, they start humming louder and louder.

A solution (as it happens a lot) came about on accident. On the left side of the closet I've built some shelves. The middle one holds my humidifier, which blows across the top of the screen. Below that I put a small tub, I thought I might try for a passive cooling system. during the setup for this grow, I put my two air pumps on top of the tub. One of the pumps had been getting louder, so I figured the valves were wearing out. But now I couldn't hear it at all. I'm thinking that the tub lid is able to give just enough and absorb the vibrations. Sort of like a large drum, the frequency is high enough, but the wave size is small, so no noticeable vibration sound.

Though I need to keep an eye on that pump and switch out soon. Does anyone rebuild your pumps, or just buy new ones, or is there a good high quality pump that last more than a year? Or is there a better way to get lots of air into the tub? I've bought used pumps at yard sales, then replaced the valves. Just not sure if that is cost effective over the long run.

Prairie

 

[ItsChrome]

I have yet to run a hydro system, how ever I use to keep aquariums. I never had a problem with pump noise. a quality tank pump runs pretty quite. the tetra whisper runing nice and quite.

 

[Green Utopia]

I love it!

The CFL rig is slick as hell - gonna copy that. +Reps.

Its pretty hard to tell from the pics, but I think you may want to re-think the scrog placement and if that's 1" chicken wire, you're gonna want something with bigger holes. There's still plenty of time to adjust, and I think if you use a larger hole size, and lower your scrog a few inches, it will allow you to take advantage of the lower branches sooner. Shortens the time.

Unless you're married to a wire screen, I suggest using that same frame you have and make a screen of Extruded Nylon clothesline. $6 for 50' at Ace Hardware. I need 100' for a 2'x4' scrog with 2"-2.5" size holes. I know it sucks to take out that work, but I promise you if you do it you will be happier with the results. Either way its a scrog and that will help your yield every time!

 

[PrairiePoet]

I love it!

The CFL rig is slick as hell - gonna copy that. +Reps.

Its pretty hard to tell from the pics, but I think you may want to re-think the scrog placement and if that's 1" chicken wire, you're gonna want something with bigger holes. There's still plenty of time to adjust, and I think if you use a larger hole size, and lower your scrog a few inches, it will allow you to take advantage of the lower branches sooner. Shortens the time.

Unless you're married to a wire screen, I suggest using that same frame you have and make a screen of Extruded Nylon clothesline. $6 for 50' at Ace Hardware. I need 100' for a 2'x4' scrog with 2"-2.5" size holes. I know it sucks to take out that work, but I promise you if you do it you will be happier with the results. Either way its a scrog and that will help your yield every time!

Hey thanks Papa for looking.

I think you are right about having larger holes. The screen had been designed to be lower. But after the last grow, I dropped the last shelf out. I wanted the tub directly on the floor, to help keep it cool.

On taking it out now, well..... I think you are right that I could, I just tied down the main branches and some of the larger ones yesterday. I'm torn, but I don't really want to mess with it. Next revision I'll do it that way.

I've also read through parts of your first journal. I was very interested in your controller design and setup. You're doing it very methodically, very cool. I haven't finished reading it all, but will get to it. I might have some thoughts on some of it, I work in the IT industry.

Prairie

 

[Green Utopia]

Right on. Its gonna be glorious I'm sure.

My controller has kinda been put on the back shelf temporarily. Just too many fires to put out lately. Just warning you so you don't fight your way through the whole journal to be disappointed. There are some others here who are adept at that kinda stuff as well. Perhaps we should start a DIY thread.

What kind of IT do you do?

 

[PrairiePoet]

Over the weekend, I went to 12/12 on the lights. I did have them in total darkness for 36 hours first. The last week, I've been pulling and pushing bad sites into the holes on the screen, trying to get as many as I can up from underneath. I figure I have maybe two more weeks of trying this, then I'll just have to sit back and watch.

The screen should of been lower. The original plans had it lower, but I made design changes trying to lower the tub water temp. And didn't adjust the screen. I'll loose maybe ten percent of the lower branches. But this is ok, for now. In the past with out the screen, I would get maybe three or four good branches with lots of buds. While the rest was popcorn sized if that big.

So, while I could of done better, I'm feeling like I'll be very happy with this grow.

Pic from last night:

You can see the buds sites, though no buds showing yet.

Prairie

 

[SanibelGreen]

Looking great sir! The screen will soon be full of green

SG

 

[PrairiePoet]

Hey Sanibel,

Thanks for stopping by. If you see anything I'm doing that you question, please let me know. I'll take any help I can.

Prairie

 

[myxedup]

keep your res temp below 70 65 66 67 is ideal and very important

 

[PrairiePoet]

Thanks for stopping by myxedup.

I agree my temps are too high. So far no root rot, but I am working on a way to lower the temps. Hopefully this weekend.

I'm not posting as much as I would like, but I'll try harder to keep up. The ladies are looking very good, I've been doing lots of weaving through the screen. I'll post pics tomorrow or so.

Need water, and a drain when working with hydro (D'uh). You can carry gallons around, or run the water into the area where you are growing. My closet is in the wash room. You know, where the washer and dryer are kept. Living out here on the prairie, our wash room is in the basement. Not sure why, that is just where they put them. Drainage out of the house is by city sewer, and the pipe entering the house is about mid way up the wall. This means any water you want to get rid of has to be pushed (pumped) up to the pipe. Most houses like this have what is called a sump, and inside of that is a sump pump. Pumps the water up and out. The washer uses this.

So, a good place to hide a stealthy grow closet. Still being a bit lazy, I decided I wanted both water and drain inside the closet. For getting the source, I put a T on the cold side of the washer, routed that into the closet with some garden hose. Now for drainage, I had first thought about getting some PVC and fab up something. Instead while digging through the wifes tool drawer, I noticed an old peri-jet that is used to drain water beds. So from the closet at the source, I added a Y connector with shut off valves. One side gives me water, the other runs to the sump, connects to the peri-jet. The suction side of the peri-jet runs back into the closet to a hose.

This system works very well for me, I can sit in front of the closet and fill / drain all I need to. No hauling tubs/buckets or whatever full of water.

well off to dreamland....
Prairie

 

[PrairiePoet]

Well a little farther down the road. Lots of stuff happened in the last 48 hours.

I finally have been able to lower the temps in the tub. It is now reading 68F, done twice a day, noon and around 6. What I did was place a small fan on the top of the tub, blowing down on to the tub. Not sure why that is doing it, it might be the humidifiers air is getting sucked down through the canopy. Being colder air heavy with moisture. Just don't know, but it is working.

I've got pics, but now my phone won't connect over bluetooth. grrrrrrr, I'll have to stop at work over Saturday and grab the cable.

I'm just over a week into flowering, and most of the branches coming out of the screen are around two to three inches high.

The biggest news happened last night. My BFF (Breeder Friend Forever) had a problem with someone. Because of that he is shutting down. I could of walked out with about 20 clones and several mothers. But I don't have the space, nor the money to supporta grow that large.

I did bring home four OG Chocolate's clones, sisters to the mother I have. And one real nice Sensi Star clone. The OG's are about eight inches tall, and thin. The Sensi Star is squat and bushy. Two of the OG's I'm going to try and covert over to a bubbler. If they take, I'll kill off the other two. If they don't take, I'll cut clones from the two I'll leave in dirt. The Star, I'll hold onto a then cut clones from her right after the existing grow is finished.

The Star should do well in my environment, being mostly indica. While the OG only so so, being mostly sativa.

I also got a large cola from one of the remaining OG chocolate's he is going to finish off. It's about two to three weeks too early to harvest, but I wasn't sure if he was going to wait with it or not. shrug

I'll have pics tomorrow. Have a nice weekend folks,
Prairie

 

[PrairiePoet]

Got up this morning ready to get to work. Have a lot to do today, clean out a new closet, spray it for nasties, get a tub ready with the Deep Water Culture system, build a new light box, get it hung and ready, arrange the new closet for a bubbler and two to three dirt pots.... Oh and go to a picnic tonight with my wife. Busy day.....

I've uploaded the pics from yesterday.
Here are the four OG clones

Here is the Sensi Star

The Cola I got to bring home. Needs some trimming, then into the drying hamper.

The ladies are looking good, popping right up

The new closet before....

I'll try to remember to post some shots after the closet is ready. now off to work....

Prairie

 

[SanibelGreen]

Looking great all around man, all these scrog grows are making me want to try it

SG