What would you do?

[robbiegy2k]

'ello

Quick run down of the set up - a 4ft x 4ft (6 high) tent, most likely a 600w HPS (still thinking this one over), a 250cfm/carbon filter extraction system, growing from cuttings in soil. The question is regarding using a 10 pot wilma drip system which i've had to buy as visting the growroom will be a bit intermittent. This measures a touch under 4ft long by 2ft wide with 2 banks of 5 x 6.5ltr pots. I intend to place this in the middle which leaves about 30cm free each side so what i was thinking is buying the yield shelf for the tent and doing half a sog. As in train them to grow outwards first maybe even top them once during this and then when they reach the edge let them grow upwards.

If I top them quite early I'll let 1 main stem grow straight and train the other main stem along the sog, but so that this inner stem isn't higher than the outside of the canopy i'll pinch it from time to time to keep it's height in line with the rest of the canopy - I think it'll have a 2 week headstart before the outer parts are ready to start growing vertically.

So thats my plan.....Just wondering if it sounds okay and if you would do anything different. Im new'ish to all this so always looking for ways to improve - thus the semi-sog sog idea!

p.s adding more plants isn't an option - 10 is personal - more is likely to lead to a more severe slap on the wrists!

Cheers all

 

[dirtyolsouth]

Hello from across the pond, mate!

That sounds like a great setup. My first grow was a remote location 30 miles away in a friend's spare bedroom that he rented me for my hobby years ago and I grew in hydro there for years all automated so I get your drift... Your plan sounds pretty good but that's a lot of plants for a 4 x 4 area so keep them small. I have a 2 x 4 x 8 closet and prefer to do 2-3 plants at a time under a 1K but different strokes for different folks, right? Since you'll have that many plants you'll need to worry more about an even canopy... You must mean a SCROG (SCreen Of Green), not SOG (Sea Of Green), right? I know... I used to get them mixed up all the time... lol... I did a little reading on what a 'yield shelf' is... and it sounds like something that has a screen of sorts to train the plants under?

A good plan might be to top the plants when they are very small... when there are maybe 8-10 developing branches coming out of nodes. You can remove the bottom 2-4 branches depending on how low the first 2-4 branches are... you need to have some room between your grow medium and the bottom of the canopy for good air movement to battle bugs and pathogens from developing in your medium. After you remove the bottom 2-4 branches (you can use them for clones) keep the next 4 branches going up and then top it above the 4th 'keeper' branch node. After they recover for a few days and the four grow tips start to grow vigorously again, put them under your SCROG and as the branches grow toward the light you'll need to train them to grow along the underside of the screen. When the screen is close to full flip your lights to 12/12... Sometimes twist ties are helpful to hold branches in a desired position under the screen.

It's good that you're starting with clones as you'll want to flower them relatively small to fit under your SCROG... How much room to you have below the 'screen?'

Happy Growing!

 

[robbiegy2k]

:goodposting:

lol 'sup dude

You hit the nail on the head! Mines far from home as you said and I can get there when need be.

yep.. SCROG is what I meant, yep definetly a scrog! It's odd because your post and suggestions is a much better description for what im actually aiming for i.e topping early, removing lower branches etc. Thanks for the twist ties idea, i've be having trouble working out what would be best to use, I take it as the stem thickens the tie will loosen enough so not to strangle the poor thing?!

Oh and the yield shelf is the screen but it's designed for the tent it goes in so it can be adjusted. Would of been easier if I just said the screen

Thanks for the tips and really easy to follow guide for the scrogging and when to top, as its my first go at doing a scrog I appreciate the sound advice :aok:

Oh and yeah with the 6.5 litre pots I don't imagine growing them anymore than 3ft if there were straight up, more like 2 to 2.5ft. I was thinking of doing the 8 pot system with 11ltr pots but just thought with a 600w im not going to be growing them that big anyway, not a fan of the little fluffy buds low down! aprt from that the other options didn't fit my grow room although im guessing you would of gone down the 4 pot (11ltr) route?

I think the 11 ltr pots are the same dimensions just deeper and can buy them seperatly so I could still try less plants in the future, especially if I get overcrowding issues. I've asked a question over in the lighting threads about possibly using a 1000w cool tube in this tent but don't worry if you don't fancy reading that one. Just if I was to do 4 big uns then I'd love to use a 1k'er

Thanks again mate, i'll let you know I get on.

p.s I've forgotten how to thank someone for their post, i thought their was a link with a thumbs up to say thanks? can't see it anywhere..

 

[dirtyolsouth]

Hi,

Glad to help, bud... What I found in my hydro experience is that it comes down to how much cloning and propogation you want to deal with. It's going to take a pretty constant cloning/vegging regiment to keep plants developing for your next grow and the more plant sites the more cloning you'll have to do. It's not difficult, just more of it. The yield ends up being about the same ime whether you use more plants and less vegging or less plants and more vegging. It's really up to what kind of style you desire. Maybe just topping these would be enough and have two main colas per plant... It's going to take a grow for you to see how much or little your plants will need to spread out. Then you'll be able to decide on how many branches to develop based on the results in your space with your gear.

If you decide to go without a screen you can do the same style of pruning that I detailed above and grow them without a screen... It's referred to as 'lollipopping.' The difference in doing it without a screen is that as the developing 4 main growing tips/branches grow you'll want to remove the lower branches emerging on the mainstems but be careful to keep the leaves next to the branches emerging from the nodes your remove for your plants energy powerhouse. If you do what I call a 'hardcore' lollipop pruning you'll continue to remove lower branches, always keeping 4 or more growing nodes at the main stem's tip, until week 2 or so into 12/12. This will force the plant to create a single large cola at the tip of each main stem. This is great for eye candy and everyone loves a big bud but it can also be an invitation for bud rot in your grow too if your humidity is too high and/or your air exchange and movement is inadequate. Don't forget to keep lots of air movement going in your garden.

Another variation on the Lollipopping is what I call the 'lazy lollipop.' You do the same pruning and start by being strict with a lot of lower growth but you pick a few lower emerging branches to develop as well. I have two plants now that I lazy lollipopped down to 4 branches. I then tied them down to holes drilled in the edge of my pots to spread open the branches and lower the profile of the plant. The grow tips developed into medium/large colas at the corners of the canopy and the lower nodes that I let develop became nice bud sites throughout the middle of the canopy. If you had a 4 site setup this would be a great method to use but with small pots I'd probably be pretty hardcore about removing lower branches...

So... if you have indica dom plants plan on them roughly doubling during flower and if it's sativa it's often 3x or more... so start 12/12 when your plants are 1/3 to 1/2 the height you'd like them to finish at. I'd shoot for a 3-4 foot max height if I were you. You can always lower the light but you can't raise da roof!

Yup... if you tie anything to the screen with ties, do it really loose or come back and adjust it periodically. I usually leave plenty of slack...


Happy Growing!

 

[robbiegy2k]

Cheers mate, well luckily i've got a constant supply of cuttings whenever I need them so im not going to go down the cloning root for now, they come ready to drop in but not sure what height/age they'll be.

Thanks for all your suggestions and tips, problem i've had is all day i've been thinking about it and im seriously considering a 1000w in a cool tube with adequate venting. I guess yield will be important as i've only got a couple of cycles and then im out of there so hoping to put some in storage for a rainy day! With the 1000 light though im thinking maybe i'd be better of doing 6-8 (most likely 6) but in the bigger 11ltr pots - problem is means i've gotta do some 'returns shopping' but it's worth the hassle - don't see the point in scrogging 10x 3 footers if i've got that extra light penetration. I'd still like to do the scrog route to make use of the space either side of the potting system and as I only have 4ft in growth height to play with I can't grow them through the roof either.

If you don't mind me asking, what would you go for with the same set up? 1 huge mamma? :hubba: Im hoping to get away with another 250cfm fan to keep the cool tube cool enough, as the room air it's sucking in will be around 40 deg F maybe even colder!

As for the lollipopping idea, i've often seen pics of people that have done this but never given it a try - I guess with my canopy being a possible issue it seems the smart way to go. Just i've never looked into exactly how to do it (didn't want to just start chopping off branches that maybe I shouldn't be!) Thanks again for the easy to follow guide. :aok:

Like you said though my first grow will give me an indication of how much they'll want to fill out etc... hmmm the choices eh? it's all part of the fun though! Thing is i've got 2 days left to make my mind up as i'll have 1 last trip to the shop before I go and set it up and it's a bit of a distance so hope to get all my equipment needs sorted by then.

Well i'll let you know what I end up going for and how I get on, thanks again for all your help.

Sorry just re-read your first post and noticed you said your growing under a 1k light in a similar size tent - any tips on controlling the temps? mind me asking what size fan you using (xx cfm) and I take it your using a cool tube or cooled hood? just using a cooled light system is new to me so want to try and get it near enough right first time.