Solo Cup: 2 Different, Unknown Strains

[Groundtop]

Flipped the babies this morn. Noticed one of them is very droopy after topping, other is fine.

Should I feed the maxibloom today since I did change the light cycle? Or should I just do straight water for now?

Two days ago they were fed maxigrow for veg.

 

[Weaselcracker]

I googled Maxibloom. Looks like pretty strong stuff. Start out with light feedings. If you see burned leaf tips then back off a little. I can’t really advise on how often you should be feeding. I saw that it says you can feed ‘once or twice a week’ with that stuff, but it also does say to give plain water in between. If you’re feeding twice a week then definitely feed more lightly. Overfeeding is a very common problem and is hard to come back from (leaves don’t recover). Underfeeding is more easily fixed.

You don’t need to switch fertilizers now just because you switched the light. I don’t usually switch to flowering nutrients for a week or two after switching the lights. The plant itself won’t start flowering right away either. Sometimes I use half veg/half bloom nutes for week two. It’s pretty flexible what you can do and get away with.

 

[Groundtop]

Update on the plants:

Woke up this morning at 5am, and after a few bowls and cups of coffee, I put the babies to sleep.

Seemed to be a little droopy and light, so I gave them a good heaping of just pH'd water.
6am:


Twelve hours later here they are at 1800hrs:


What do you guys think?

 

[StonerWunSimba]

Man I'm still blown away at that fact this is a solo cup!!!

 

[Groundtop]

Man I'm still blown away at that fact this is a solo cup!!!

Stick around man, maybe we will get some fat, dense nugs.

 

[StonerWunSimba]

I'm def tuned in to this grow!!

 

[Fastass419]

They are looking good. I would maybe feed twice a week light. They are going to get where you have to water every day. You do know they make a bigger solo cup so you could start in small one then uppot to the big one just an idea. Good luck and I'm in for the road

 

[Groundtop]

Fed last night, praying to the light gods this morning.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

So I was wondering, if a person uses a solo cup but puts it into a Kratky setup is it still considered a solo cup grow? I use plastic 1 liter peanut butter or mayo jars for the res, (I cut the top threads off to make it fit). This method gives you drainage, a reservoir and a lot more room for roots... which can easily be trimmed.

Cheating or not?

 

[Weaselcracker]

What we decided when we did it was something like ‘all roots shall be contained within an container of no more than 18 oz.’. I think.

 

[Groundtop]

So I was wondering, if a person uses a solo cup but puts it into a Kratky setup is it still considered a solo cup grow? I use plastic 1 liter peanut butter or mayo jars for the res, (I cut the top threads off to make it fit). This method gives you drainage, a reservoir and a lot more room for roots... which can easily be trimmed.

Cheating or not?

Don't see why not!

I've always wondered about growing a full plant Kratky style. Do you keep trimming the roots down and just add new water?

Would love to see photos.

 

[Groundtop]

They just woke up.

You can see the side growth taking off.

What do you think?

Topping the small side chutes would cause them to split off the like main branch did? I'm not going to do it, just wondering if it behaves the same way.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Don't see why not!

I've always wondered about growing a full plant Kratky style. Do you keep trimming the roots down and just add new water?

Would love to see photos.

I do my clones Kratky style in solo cups, seems to work great. They don't last long enough as I transplant them when my flower room is ready. I've torn off some pretty big rootballs getting them out of the cup though. I'm not qualified to give advice on trimming roots... suppose I should give it a try someday on something like a mother plant.

FYI 2 different size tobacco cans make a great Kratky as well. A jigsaw held in a vise to cut the hole in the lid of the big can and a few wraps of tape on top of the small can to keep it from sliding down through that hole.

Oh yea I water every 2 - 4 days depending on the size of the plant. Even a week when rooting, the res underneath keeps the cup moist.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Topping the small side chutes would cause them to split off the like main branch did?

Yes the node below where you cut will grow two shoots. Assuming there’s light

 

[Groundtop]

I just changed the water in my aquarium, pH'd it to 7 and water the babies really well.

They just woke up at 1800hrs, and felt kind of light. Snapped a few pics.

 

[Groundtop]

Hello to all out there following my solo cup progress! Quick question:

I feel like the fan leaves are blocking a lot of the light down below. Space is a concern, which is one of the reason I am doing a micro grow.

Do you think it would be beneficial to cut off SOME of the fan blades blocking, or would it be more beneficial to LST them in order for the light to reach?

Either way, they are very healthy!

 

[Weaselcracker]

Everyone has different opinions- so I guess there’s no ‘one answer’.
From the pics I don’t see any reason to remove any leaves.

It depends what you’re trying to achieve.

Lower growth is most often shaded. It’s just how plants are. The majority of the action is always at the top- the most foliage, and the best buds. Especially indoors-‘with overhead light sources. It’s the way of things. The plant isn’t ‘growing wrong’ and forming leaves in the wrong spots. Plants know their business.
If you want more branches to form up from down lower (?) my first preference would be to supercrop (squeeze to soften) the stem above the level you want these branches to form- and then bend the main stalk sideways. This will let more light down as well as lowering the top. The plant will then put more focus into the new plane of growth, treating it all as the new top, basically.

Another option is to put lighting down below. But again- down below isn’t where the main action is really meant to happen, IMO.

 

[Groundtop]

@Weaselcracker I agree with you. Nature does know better than me! I will let them go on their merry way and continue their journey. I did fold down some of the top fan leaves just a bit, so the two main spots where I topped could get full light. Seems like it literally grows over night!

Thank you so much for the guidance! Have a great friday.

 

[Groundtop]

@Weaselcracker noticed this just now when the babies woke up. Little bit of yellow on bottom node growth. Other than that she looks good.

Any idea what it might be?

Nutrient deficiency?

 

[Weaselcracker]

Hmmm. The times I’ve seen yellow tops it is usually from rapid growth. Bright yellow can mean iron deficiency- but that would usually be at the top of the plant, I think. Iron def would normally be caused by ph being too high, I believe.
I’d just keep an eye on it. If it was all the upper growth it would be more worrisome. Not sure what medium you’re in or if it’s its one where you need to pay attention to PH (?)