OC Kush, ScroG, 2 X 125W CFL, Ebb and Flow Cabinet Grow

[SunnyJim]

I like to flood my soil when I water. Its used FFOF with 40% perlite added (it was like mud after the first grow poor drainage) ff liquid fert trio. now my drainage is great I just pull her out saturate every bit of soil, let her drain 15-20 min then back in with a towel under her till next day. So with her tucked in a screen I couldnt move her.(meaning future grows)

I get it. So a workaround could be to build a small frame and attach it to the plant pot. The top part of the frame would be used to hold the screen, and the four legs of the frame would be duct taped (or whatever) to the pot. The plant would grow into the screen which is attached the frame, which is attached to the plant pot.

That way, the plant, pot, frame, and screen are all one moveable item which can be carried in and out of your grow space, rather than fixing the screen to the sides of your grow box. Like you said, that would mean the plant would be stuck in the box (like mine is) until it's cut out at harvest.

 

[skinnysmoke]

I get it. So a workaround could be to build a small frame and attach it to the plant pot. The top part of the frame would be used to hold the screen, and the four legs of the frame would be duct taped (or whatever) to the pot. The plant would grow into the screen which is attached the frame, which is attached to the plant pot.

That way, the plant, pot, frame, and screen are all one moveable item which can be carried in and out of your grow space, rather than fixing the screen to the sides of your grow box. Like you said, that would mean the plant would be stuck in the box (like mine is) until it's cut out at harvest.

Thats an idea!! Will keep that in mind for the future.

 

[joebowler]

sorry sunny I didn't wanna get on joe's thread like that. Thought i was on your thread

Yep thats what I was thinking once screen up cant fully saturate with out it getting messy.

Not a problem. I am a noob as well and even if it is different than mine in some ways it is still knowledge that may come in handy someday.

 

[joebowler]

She looks great now, man.

When to flip the switch is a judgement call, but from my experience, it's much better to flip it too soon than too late. There's nothing worse than having a plant in flower outgrow her box, because as a grower you're helpless to correct it at that point.

The best solution, imho, is to flip it sooner rather than later. If at the end of your grow, you see that your plant could've been a few inches bigger because there was still room in your cabinet, you'll know that during your next grow, you can probably let it veg for longer than you vegged this one. Does that make sense?

All that said, most strains/phenotypes behave differently, so this plant might not be a 'stretcher' but your next one might. Keeping the plants on the slightly smaller side allows to you keep in control of your grow, and means you have a slightly faster turnaround with your grows because you're vegging for less time than you had originally planned.

As for tucking above or under the screen, that's up to you as well. I only tuck under, not over and under, and I only usually tie the main top down to the screen because the stem is at it's thickest point and usually needs to be anchored to something to keep it in place below the screen. I suspect if your plant looks like it might stretch more than you had planned, tucking over and under the screen will shrink the final total height of your plant by a couple inches more than if you had just tucked under the screen (you're using more of the stem to go over and under than just under).

I keep tucking the main top until all the other side growth reaches the screen. Once all the 'side tops' are at the same level as the main top, I usually let them all grow through the screen at that point. All the tops that have made it to the screen ideally should grow another 3-5 inches above the screen and hopefully stop stretching at that point. What you're left with is 10-20 main tops, all about 5 inches high through the screen at a consistent height and evenly spaced out.

I hope all that makes sense.

Jim

Yep, that makes sense. Thanks again.
Jack

 

[joebowler]

Totally, Jack would totally lose his shit if he saw you posting questions on his thread. Just kidding!! I'm sure he won't mind a small thread hijack so other members can share information. Fire away.

That's what I like about this forum, most people are just too stoned to get all tweaked out.

LOL
Jack

 

[joebowler]

Check out my grow in my sig. i flipped as they were poking through the screen and now they are taller then I want. I tried to keep an even canopy but these 2 girls just keeps growing and growing... Like SunnyJim said, flip sooner then later.. adn keep the blue spectrum the first 2-3 weeks to minimize stretching

Good luck brotha

I took a look at yours and I see what you mean. I am going to mix up my flower nutrients and get my timer changed today. Thanks for the input everyone, it is very much appreciated.

Jack

 

[joebowler]

Hey Jim or ????
When you go to 12/12 do you change when you flood? Should all of the feeding be done when the lights are on or just leave it the way they are, because the way it is now the last feeding will be 3 hours after the lights go out. Lastly, this cabinet is in my kitchen. The cabinet is not completely light proof. Does it matter if a little light gets in after my main lights go off? I can make some covers for the fans and seal the door up better if it is really important.

Thanks,
Jack

Thanks,
Jack

 

[SunnyJim]

Hey Jim or ????
When you go to 12/12 do you change when you flood? Should all of the feeding be done when the lights are on or just leave it the way they are, because the way it is now the last feeding will be 3 hours after the lights go out. Lastly, this cabinet is in my kitchen. The cabinet is not completely light proof. Does it matter if a little light gets in after my main lights go off? I can make some covers for the fans and seal the door up better if it is really important.

Thanks,
Jack

Thanks,
Jack

Yeah, I changed the flood schedule. I always flood for 15 mins, three times a day when the lights are on. I'm not sure how important it is to feed when lights are on, but that's what I read when I was researching my first grow, so I'm sticking to it until someone convinces me to do things differently.

Light leaks are a touchy subject. I don't believe that it needs to be an absolute blackout inside the box during lights-off as I've seen suggested, but I also think that it's better to keep things as consistent and stable as possible for the plant inside the box. That includes at least trying to prevent light from entering the grow environment at random intervals. I have little black filters covering my PC fans, and some foam sticky strip stuff around the inside perimeter of the door which forms a seal when the door is shut. I think it's meant to be used to seal gaps in old window frames or something.

Bottom line, try to keep things as dark as possible during lights-off without being too anal about it, or too sloppy for that matter. You know the drill.

 

[SunnyJim]

How's it looking, dude?

 

[joebowler]

How's it looking, dude?

Sorry about the delay, been a little busy around here. So, things are looking real nice as you can see! Today was my last day of adjusting my lady around the screen. I really like how it has come out but I was kinda scared at first. It took a while for it to all make sense but now I should have a nice even canopy. I went to 12/12 on the 22nd so it has taken about 13 days for the bottom to catch up to the top so to speak.

This is from the 21,21,22,22,23,23,



Then the 24,24,25,25,



Almost up to the screen and looking good, drinking about 1/2 gallon of water per day. Back later with a further update. Any comments are welcome.

Party on,
Jack

 

[joebowler]

Okay, lets post some more pics. Finally starting to poke through the screen! She's drinking about a half gallon of water a day and looking real nice. These are from the 26th, 26,27,27,28,28,28.



At this point I wasn't quite sure which way to go with the training of the longest growth. I got better as I went along and I am looking forward to training my other cabinet grow I have going right now. It should be hitting the screen in a day or so.

These are from the 1st,1st,2nd,2nd,4th,4th and the 5th.



And finally the last two days with detailed shots from today to compare to when I am done.

First we have the 6th, then 5 from today, the 7th,



Then today. From this point on it should be just a matter of keeping the lights adjusted, watch for pest and keep up on the nutrient schedule.


Question for anyone, do you clean out the bottom of your plants once it has hit the screen? This is what mine looks like and I have seen guys really go to town on removing quite a lot of the lowest and smallest leaves. What do you guys think?

Party on,
Jack

 

[z666ne]

lookin good! +rep

 

[SunnyJim]

Wow, man! She looks fantastic.

It's great that you have two staggered grows in separate boxes, so you know what kind of behaviour to expect in your second cabinet during flower.

She sure is bushy! You'll notice that in a couple weeks, a lot of the foliage below the screen will start to whither and die due to the lack of light penetration through the canopy. I tend to pluck the lower fan leaves off when they start to shrivel. Other growers are far more aggressive with their defoliating, and essentially strip the lower branches (anything below the screen) bare. They argue that in increases airflow below the canopy, which promotes healthy growing, and they say that most of the growth below the screen won't receive much light and is therefore redundant. By removing the lower growth, the plant supposedly pushes energy into the remaining 'exposed' upper buds. It would be interesting to be aggressive in defoliating with one of your two grows and comparing results with the other.

I'm not a massive fan of aggressively pruning the plant. I usually just remove most of the stuff at the base of the plant, and routinely plunk shrivelling fan leaves once a week.

Great stuff so far.

 

[joebowler]

lookin good! +rep

Thanks for taking a look and thanks for the rep!

 

[joebowler]

Wow, man! She looks fantastic. Thanks so much Jim, I give a lot of credit to you and your grows that I have been able to refer back to!

It's great that you have two staggered grows in separate boxes, so you know what kind of behavior to expect in your second cabinet during flower. Oh yeah, although the WW is catching up with the Kush. I don't know if that is because of the issue at the beginning or just a trait, or maybe the top feed DWC, I have heard of guys saying they see growth of a couple of inches a day and my friend was going through over a gallon a day in feeding, but, yeah, I am getting much more comfortable as time goes on.

She sure is bushy! You'll notice that in a couple weeks, a lot of the foliage below the screen will start to whither and die due to the lack of light penetration through the canopy. I tend to pluck the lower fan leaves off when they start to shrivel. Other growers are far more aggressive with their defoliating, and essentially strip the lower branches (anything below the screen) bare. They argue that in increases airflow below the canopy, which promotes healthy growing, and they say that most of the growth below the screen won't receive much light and is therefore redundant. By removing the lower growth, the plant supposedly pushes energy into the remaining 'exposed' upper buds. It would be interesting to be aggressive in defoliating with one of your two grows and comparing results with the other. I am leaning towards it being the Kush. The HPS has better penetration so I would think it would benefit the most by leaving lower leaves on. I am not going to go crazy though. Maybe on a later grow.

I'm not a massive fan of aggressively pruning the plant. I usually just remove most of the stuff at the base of the plant, and routinely plunk shriveling fan leaves once a week. Yep, that is what I have been doing so far.

Great stuff so far. Thanks again. I wonder if I just am getting lucky or if I actually learned something from all the hours I have spent on this and other sites. With the exception of the problem of getting it to switch back to veg( and my friend told me that the time mine took to switch is pretty normal for this strain) I have been catastrophe free so far, knock on wood. LOL. Here's hoping that continues.

Party on,
Jack

 

[joebowler]

Well looks like its time for an update. Everything is going well and looking real nice. Depending on how it goes over the next month I am thinking I may have flipped to soon. I am not seeing as much stretch as I thought I would, maybe it will keep growing. Anyways here are some pics to check out. The first one is from March 12,13,13,13,13,13.



Then the 16th,16,16,17,17,17,17



Slowly but surely it is starting to produce some buds, hopefully I will see some nice big buds soon.

Later,
Jack

 

[SunnyJim]

Can't give you any more rep, dude. This is a terrific first run.

 

[Dabolili]

so much frost already ... nom nom nom nom you two are rocking this setup kiss-ass
SunnyJim can't , but I can +rep

 

[skinnysmoke]

looking great so far.... sucks can't rep ya again

 

[joebowler]

so much frost already ... nom nom nom nom you two are rocking this setup kiss-ass
SunnyJim can't , but I can +rep

Thanks for the rep and having a look at my grow. SunnyJim gets the credit for the base setup as mine was built almost exactly like his, and of course all the helpful post on here and other sites, plus I tend to be a perfectionist and I am on my plants multiple times per day. I was reading some guys thread and he said he checked on his grow and it was dying. He said he hadn't checked on his grow in 4 days and he had ran his reservoir completely dry???? How can you go 4 days with out tending to these lovely ladies. This is my new hobby and I am dedicated. I just cleaned out my garage and and am going to build a 6 foot X 10 foot grow room. I will have 2 600 w HPS in the grow room and probably CFL's for the cloning room. Should be able to grow some truly epic buds in that room, but that is a lot of money and I keep referring people to these CFL threads to show you don't have to dedicate a ton of room or money to grow some excellent weed. I mean the footprint of this cabinet is about 2foot X 2foot. Who can't find that much space in a house or apt. Plus I am going to try a true micro grow with my old computer case. I am thinking of a building a cool tube in the top with a 70W HPS. The bulb and ballast is only $30 since I have most everything else That should be all I spend. Just food for thought.

Party on,
Jack