Volksball's First Grow: White Widow Feminized Grow Journal 2018

[volksball]

I tend to not top the 4 main kolas and bend them down instead... you will understand later in flower when you see how big those 4 will get... it would be a shame to subdivide them.

Perfect. Thanks. I'm slightly concerned with the potential height of these girls come flower. They're already climbing reaching for the light. I have about 5" of room to raise the light before it's as high as it'll get. The more I consider it, the better scrogging sounds. Should I be looking into adding a scrog net now? During flower? Or is there a better way to control height? I picked up some pipe cleaners to bend the kolas and pin them.to the bag, as I've seen some people do, but havent done yet. Tonight may be the night for that.

 

[volksball]

I tend to not top the 4 main kolas and bend them down instead... you will understand later in flower when you see how big those 4 will get... it would be a shame to subdivide them.

Also, should I not be topping those main kolas at all? I've snipped their new growth tips as I have to many of the other tops around the plant. I didnt know I should be completely leaving those alone.

 

[Emilya Green]

There really are no rules about all of this, so you have not hurt anything by topping the 4 mains, but you will see later in my grow why it is that we will know that they are the "mains" ... they get big. No harm done with topping them though, you will get several nice tops out of it anyway... but next time experiment a bit to see what I am talking about.
Regarding scrog, I am thinking too that this will be my plan next time... I have no idea what height is going to do to me under these new LED lights, but I know I can maximize the effectiveness of the LEDs if I can maintain a strict height like a screen would allow. Next time... 2 plants instead of 6 in my 2x4... and a scrog... and I bet I beat production this time.

 

[volksball]

There really are no rules about all of this, so you have not hurt anything by topping the 4 mains, but you will see later in my grow why it is that we will know that they are the "mains" ... they get big. No harm done with topping them though, you will get several nice tops out of it anyway... but next time experiment a bit to see what I am talking about.
Regarding scrog, I am thinking too that this will be my plan next time... I have no idea what height is going to do to me under these new LED lights, but I know I can maximize the effectiveness of the LEDs if I can maintain a strict height like a screen would allow. Next time... 2 plants instead of 6 in my 2x4... and a scrog... and I bet I beat production this time.

Right. I think the same. I think I'll have to scrog soon, or risk plants getting too close to the sun. I read that a scrog net should be applied after flower begins, but I'm thinking the sooner the better. When would you do it?

And darn it, I'd have liked to see a big fat main kola on each plant like you see sometimes. They are just so impressive. Hopefully I didn't stop that from happening.

 

[Emilya Green]

Right. I think the same. I think I'll have to scrog soon, or risk plants getting too close to the sun. I read that a scrog net should be applied after flower begins, but I'm thinking the sooner the better. When would you do it?

And darn it, I'd have liked to see a big fat main kola on each plant like you see sometimes. They are just so impressive. Hopefully I didn't stop that from happening.

Maybe you did... time will tell. Regarding the scrog... you really have to not believe everything you read. Scrog is properly set up 10" above the level of the soil. 10 inches is not a lot of room, especially when our 2 month old plants are approaching 2 feet in height normally, while still in veg. Veg is the time to set up the screen, and then you veg until half of the screen has been filled by your growing plant. When the screen is half full, it is time to switch to flower, when the stretch will fill out the rest of the screen. I also considered doing it now... but realized that this is not how I want to do it, and that I really need to see what the LEDs do as far as height and penetration goes on a regular vertical grow. I used to scrog under 500w of t5 HO light, keeping the lights 4 inches from the top of the canopy. SCROG ruled in that situation and I am sure it will again in LED.

 

[volksball]

Maybe you did... time will tell. Regarding the scrog... you really have to not believe everything you read. Scrog is properly set up 10" above the level of the soil. 10 inches is not a lot of room, especially when our 2 month old plants are approaching 2 feet in height normally, while still in veg. Veg is the time to set up the screen, and then you veg until half of the screen has been filled by your growing plant. When the screen is half full, it is time to switch to flower, when the stretch will fill out the rest of the screen. I also considered doing it now... but realized that this is not how I want to do it, and that I really need to see what the LEDs do as far as height and penetration goes on a regular vertical grow. I used to scrog under 500w of t5 HO light, keeping the lights 4 inches from the top of the canopy. SCROG ruled in that situation and I am sure it will again in LED.

Ok. Thank you. I'll grab a scrog net this week and apply it. Now I have to figure out how to use it! As in tie down my branches. No clue, but I'm sure I can figure it out. When you say 'half full', if I were to scrog now, the net would look half full, I think. I'm assuming when the net is half full as in branches tied to more than half of the net?

 

[Emilya Green]

yes, and i suggest steel wire 1-2" gap fencing for your scrog rather than twine... it is damn near impossible to harvest cleanly off of string... hard enough off of wire. Think more about tucking under the screen rather than attaching somehow to the top of the screen. Expect to spend an hour a day in late veg and stretch, tucking leaves under the screen and directing new growth to the unused parts of the screen. It can get quite complicated under there.

 

[volksball]

yes, and i suggest steel wire 1-2" gap fencing for your scrog rather than twine... it is damn near impossible to harvest cleanly off of string... hard enough off of wire. Think more about tucking under the screen rather than attaching somehow to the top of the screen. Expect to spend an hour a day in late veg and stretch, tucking leaves under the screen and directing new growth to the unused parts of the screen. It can get quite complicated under there.

Ok. Thanks for all the help and I venture into this next stage. I'll post pics once I've installed the scrog. I'll likely have alot of question as I get closer to flower.

I know you said that the scrog should be 10" above the top of the soil, but as you've seen, the girls have exceed that already. Would you then just apply the scrog net where the top of the canopy is now to inhibit further upward growth?

Thx and sorry for all of the questions.

 

[Emilya Green]

I would gently lower the scrog screen onto the plants, bending them to fit under the screen. You may not be able to get all the way down to 10", but the further the better. You need to actively turn this into a horizontal grow rather than vertical. A screen applied at today's height is not a scrog, it is a trellis.

 

[volksball]

Ah... makes sense. Thanks for clarifying that. So, apply the scrog below the canopy height and gently train them under it. They girls are still fairly flexible, so I think it can be done. Much longer and maybe not so easily.

Thanks for the help this morning. You've answered many of my questions, as you so often do.

 

[volksball]

Does anyone have experience with defoliation or lollipopping? I'm a week or two from switching to flower and I think it may be time to thin them out a bit to get light in deep. I was going to train them outward tonight while still looking into a scrog, but I'm also very interested properly defoliating or lollipopping. When and how, I think would be a good place to start.

Thx.

 

[Pennywise]

I usually wait until around 21 days after I flip. Then I remove any branches that don’t reach the canopy. Look at the plant from above. Only remove fan leaves that are blocking light from Bud sights

 

[volksball]

I usually wait until around 21 days after I flip. Then I remove any branches that don’t reach the canopy. Look at the plant from above. Only remove fan leaves that are blocking light from Bud sights

Oh! Interesting. I would thought that lollipopping and defoliation would stress a flowering plant. You say 3 weeks after the flip. I trust what you say based on your experience, but now obviously is less effective? Pre flip?

 

[Pennywise]

Remember those fan leaves are making all the food for the plant. Defoliate after stretch stops and only remove what’s necessary

 

[volksball]

Ah right. Thank you. It's funny how many conflicting stories you read, but that made sense to me. I always thought the leaves are crucial now, why clip em?

 

[Pennywise]

Just do it once and where it needs it.

 

[volksball]

Just do it once and where it needs it.

Sorry, just defoliate once, 3 weeks into flower and where it needs it? Then not again?

 

[Pennywise]

I just defol that one time.

 

[volksball]

I just defol that one time.

Gotcha. Thanks.

 

[volksball]

So, in the interim while I figure out scrogging, I've LST'd the ladies and opened up their middles.

Simple pipe cleaners and safety pins did the job. The pictures don't completely tell the story, but the kolas are splayed out wide and the interiors are exposed.

Thanks again for all the help today. If you guys see anything of concern, please let me know.

Day 57.