To Build Or Not To Build

[KatoRica]

I need to put a 4' x 4' enclosure in my garage for a small grow. I was thinking about using 4'x8' sheets of thermal roofing foam with reflective foil. They sell for $ 13.00 a peice at Home Depote. I figure with brackets and hinges for the door it'll run me around $ 75.00 to build.

My second option would be a 4x4 grow tent on ebay shipped cost $129.00.

Would the tent be wort the extra $$$$. Eventually I want a 4x4 veg set up in our computer room using a 454 watt T5HO and the flower W/ a T5 red spec or 600 watt HPS.

How many plants should I try to grow in a 4x4 area?

 

[BWC BayArea]

I'd say go with the tent because It's easy to set up. Most 4X4 tents are designed to be put together by one person. Get a cycle or 2 in (tent pays for itself in 1st successful cycle of use). Then If you with to have a flower and veg room U can move the tent to another location and build what u talked about in the first option and use it for a flower or veg room. I think it would be faster this way as opposed to doing the opposite, IMHO. It would also allow u time to perhaps save a little more money and buy the best materials to build with. Also time to research the best materials and best way to utilize your space.

 

[BWC BayArea]

How many plants should I try to grow in a 4x4 area?

This depends upon many things like: what method of growing do u intend to use? What strains? SOG, ScOG, LST big plants? What type of pots (round or square)? What type of light (wattage, LED, HPS, etc)? How early (in the vegetative cycle) do u plan to flower (age/height)?

Be a little more specific and I'll do my best to get back to you.

 

[KatoRica]

I have Mazar, Skywalker and Cheese Wreck clones. I was going to use 3 gal square rose buckets and put them into flower @ 24".

 

[BWC BayArea]

I have Mazar, Skywalker and Cheese Wreck clones. I was going to use 3 gal square rose buckets and put them into flower @ 24".

The mazar will probably stay short since this is an indica trait. Not to familiar with the other 2 strains. If they are sativa dominant, then I suggest giving a little more room for branching or maybe pruning or training branches. I would say U can get 9-12 in a 4X4 tent depending on how U space them. When using small spaces U can also double up the # of clones in the pot ans LST them away from ech other so they don't grow into each other and shade each other too badly. If you want to fit alot into a small space research some SOG (sea of green) threads. It much easier to do this with a homogeneous garden. With different strains you have to be aware of different flowering times and sensitivity to nutes, environment, etc... Hope this is answers ur question

 

[Weedpipe]

ok, heres a cheap easy way to build ur room, Celotex is very light weight, easy to cut and work with, and has a built in shinny side, also because it is so light weight u can duct tape it all together, the whole room. as for ur door, just over-lap 2 pieces of celotex about a foot or more into each other, 1 from each side, ur duct tape will be ur hinges, be sure and tape ur doors while their in the closed position. u might have to cut ur door tops an inch or so and run a 1ft strip of celotex across the top on the inside so ur doors arnt rubbing the ceiling, but it will still keep light out

 

[Weedpipe]

another way to build ur door:
take 1 piece and cut it in half, then tape each piece on 1 side (like old west saloon doors) then tape a 2ft strip on the outside of 1 of the sides so u have a 1ft overlap on the other side.

 

[KatoRica]

OK I built a 4x4 room using 1 1/4" PVC and thermal foam and milar reflective drapes. It cost me $75.00 to build. I started my first growtoday using a 454 watt T5HO light. I started 10 clones, 2 Mazar-I-Sharif, 2 Cheese Wreck and 6 AK47. I used 3.8 gal rose pots with Coco Fiber and FoxFarm Ocean forest soil. I watered them with a mixture of Mayco Madness and Sweet just after transplant. The ak47 were showing pre flowers I'm runing them on 18 hrs hoping they revert back to veg without problems.
I plan to veg them for 4 to 6 weeks then put them in my greenhouse for 8 to 10 weeks for flower. Hopefully by the first week of September. I will do a full cycle using the T5HO lights after that when it gets too cold. Should I do a journal of both? I was turned on to a free cheap Co2 emitter using a 1 gal brewer jug sugar and yeast. It cost $20.00 to make and last 6 months.

Heres some pics.

 

[BWC BayArea]

The ak47 were showing pre flowers I'm runing them on 18 hrs hoping they revert back to veg without problems

Take pics. Preflowers are indicators that a plant (mainly seedling) can be sexed and/or sent to flower. They're found at internodes along the main stem. Show up around week 4 of veg. What it sounds like happened is one of ur plants went into flower (the start of bud formation sounds like ur describing) and now u want it to revert to veg. If i am understanding u correctly, u can put them on a 24/7 light schedule next few weeks. That much light shouldn't harm the others. It will take longer for this particular on to veg again so u'll be taking the other out b4 it to flower or veg them all until it catches up. Let me know if I misunderstood u.

As for ur setup, . However, when U go into flower U will want to make sure ur room is "light tight", no light coming in and none going out (it can confuse ur plants like the problem that ur having now). U can seal them with white plastic, mylar, etc and tape or be resourceful and do what makes sense.
__________________

 

[KatoRica]

I will put them on 24/7 for two weeks to see what happens. I will have it light tight before I flower. One of the AK's looks like it was in early flower.It should revert back.Are there any nutes they will help promote flower other than nitro? Whats a good source of nitro that doesn't stink up the room?

 

[BWC BayArea]

ny nutes they will help promote flower other than nitro? Whats a good source of nitro that doesn't stink up the room?

Plenty, but plants use less nitrogen during flower. Wouldn't worry about that. They use more phosphorus and potassium. I'd like to suggest u do a little more reading so ur next grow will be an even bigger success than this venture. Search some threads, grab a few books, I personally like the authors Ed Rosenthal and Jorge Cervantes. Check out some of their titles. Ed Rosenthal is one of THE authorities on many things cannabis related including cultivation. Attended one of his lectures. He knows his shit, across the board.

I will put them on 24/7 for two weeks to see what happens. One of the AK's looks like it was in early flower.It should revert back.Are there a

I read of a grower whose photo period accidentally went 12/12 one night by mistake and it confused his plant. He put it back on an 18/6 light schedule, took 6 weeks to get back. All I'm sayin is not to expect a miracle in 2 weeks. I'm far from an expert just trying to be realistic.

 

[KatoRica]

I ment to say nutes that will help promote veg. 9 of the plants are in veg. I have 11 plants in my greenhouse that are in early flower. I'm feeding them Ginormous, Sweet, CalMag and added high phos bat guano. I'm feeding my new additions sweet and used some worm castings for nitro for now. I just dont want to add fish emulsion to my indoor plants because it will make my garage smell and wifey wont be happy.

 

[KatoRica]

It looks like more of my Trainwreck clones are going into flower even though
I have them under 18/6. Should I transplant them into smaller pots and put them outside and let them flower and cut my losses or let them go?

 

[BWC BayArea]

To cull or not to cull, that's the question

\Should I transplant them into smaller pots and put them outside and let them flower and cut my losses or let them go?

As far as the plants still flowering, check a few things. Check ur timer 1st make sure its set the way u intended 18/6. Was the person U got them from reputable? They may have mixed the strains up and gave an auto flower strain by mistake (pretty far fetched but possible). N E power outages recently? I had a 5 hour outage once. After that I had a big girl that went into flower and I couldn't figure out how to re veg fast enough (24/7 didn't look like it was helping pistils kept coming, but there were other factors involved as well and didn't want to wait so I sent her thru flower). I don't believe in tossing out a plant that has a chance. U spend $ on power, nutes, (maybe water), media, etc that all of ur plants use. Y let one go without giving her a chance to "pull her own weight"? I'd send em to flower if at all feasible (as far as space is concerned). As far as TP (transplanting) to smaller pots, I can't think of a reason y I'd TP anything to a smaller pot unless the medium is retaining to much moisture and the root system seem to be underdeveloped. What's the science behind wanting to TP to smaller pots? Hope this helps some

 

[KatoRica]

I just put them into soil friday. Roots haven't taken hold yet. Usually I don't start seeing noticeable growth from my transplanted clones for two to three weeks. Am I doing somthing wrong?

 

[BWC BayArea]

Abouting cutting ur losses

1) U can get rid of em and start over.
2)Transplant them and hope they catch on
3)or u can leave them alone and see what happens and get some new clones and try again. If the old ones pull through then U can to decide what to do with all the plants.

Just a thought. Roots normally shouldn't have a problem "catching". I can only think of 2 reasons this may have happened.
1)U planted them before roots were showing and the roots didn't develop during the rooting portion of cloning or
2)Roots were showing, but the clone was transplanted into a large container (which means lots of soil that holds lots of moisture) and the soil was over watered.

Roots grow in search of moisture. When first transplanted, the media should be lightly watered so there is enough water (nutes if ur in soiless medium) to sustain the plant and its developing root system, and so there is enough room for oxygen to surround the roots in an area call the rhizosphere (if I remember all of this correctly, I didn't realize I still remembered this.) When we heavily saturate the soil it adds weight which coupled with the flow of water shift and push the media particles together forcing oxygen out. This hinders root development. Roots are not supposed to sit in water constantly, ther'es not enough oxygen. This why in hydro the plants are flooded for a brief period and the tray is drained (ebb and flow) or in deep water culture (DWC) air pumps and airstones are in the rez to keep a constant supply of oxygen. Now I c why U asked about transplanting to a smaller pot. I didn't make the connection til I started typing. Also u don't want soggy soil. Gnats and fungi thrive in these conditions. Indoors (not sure about greenhouses) soggy soil raises humidity creating an environment conducive to reproduction and survival of the aforementioned. If the roots are under developed, they can only use as much water as the roots can handle. Now there is a large amount of H2O sitting in ur medium attracting pests and disease. U can also rot the roots b4 they get a good start. If the roots aren't white, even if they are darkening (still a little white) its already begun. WOW, that's alot. Sorry. Hope this is the answer u were looking for.

 

[KatoRica]

Here's the AK in early flower.

 

[BWC BayArea]

Sick AK Babies

Ur pics remind me of a problem I had a couple cycles ago. I had a 3' Deep Chunk x Strawberry Cough (aunt of the girls I have now) nice and healthy. I also had some purple kush (excellent medicinal strain). The PK was overun with mites (most of the plants in the rear of the grow). Any how the DC x SC was exposed, but the mites never seemed to gain a foothold to her. Instead of being over run it began to flower on its own. No others did this under the same conditions. I also had a 5 hour power outage around the same time (which didn't seem to affect the other plants). I've been thinking about this for months and this is my theory: I believe that when a cannabis (not sure if this is across the board) plant encounters environmental factors that adversely affect it to the point of threatening its survival, the plant will flower signaling the end of its life cycle. The same happens when the seasons change, the change in the light cycle is telling the plant to "flower so we can reproduce b4 we die". Obviously every plant dosn't have this characteristic. I believe that it is possible that a genetic mutation may have occurred somewhere in the lineage and this trait was passed on, triggered by certain factors under specific conditions. Doesn't seem to far fetched to me, since I've been told by a few pros and an expert that mites can develop resistance to pyrithium. Cannabis is an annual plant which is only genetically programmed to live naturally for as season (to my understanding). So to tie this into ur post and garden. I think something may be killing ur plants. I would like to ask u to help me test this theory simply by keeping us posted with detail info until it dies or recovers. I can see what ur talking about too, does look like premature/early flower. Lemme know what U think.

 

[PotPie]

I just put them into soil friday. Roots haven't taken hold yet. Usually I don't start seeing noticeable growth from my transplanted clones for two to three weeks. Am I doing somthing wrong?

You aren't doing anything wrong. I think everyone's clones take 2-3 weeks to root and show new foliage. I only have experience with soil but I have read here the same applies for for hydro/rockwool and aeroponic grows.

 

[BWC BayArea]

Oops

I saw it. My bad. Dunno how I missed it