Indoor LED SCRoG grow - Blue Dream + Hindu Kush x Shiva Skunk

[slimm]

This is a legal Medical Marijuana grow. I have grown many plants over the years and recently started growing cannabis although I have not yet documented a grow through an on-line grow journal. Since there is currently a lot of community interest in LED technology I figured others may be want to accompany me on this grow as I try to determine the effectiveness of these LED lights for flowering cannabis plants. I had not planned to journal this grow and about half way through the grow I was noticing how well it is going so I decided to journal it. I will post a few pics to get everyone caught up with the progress made to date and then continue with regular updates.

Whenever embarking on a multi strain SCRoG, if the plants are not chosen carefully things can get interesting. Some plants SCRoG well while others require more work. It all depends on how tall the strain gets, how fast it grows / finishes and how close together the internodes form. Comparing the two strains chosen for this grow: BD tends to spread out a bit more than the HKxSS. This requires a bit more training on the BD side of the screen and a bit more patience on the HKxSS. The internode structure of the plants are not too different although the HKxSS is a bit tighter. So far the two strains growth habit seems close enough that I think it will work out with out too much trouble. Although I am unsure of how well matched the flowering times of the two strains are - this may add some complication to the end game.

Details
Strains: Blue Dream, Hindu Kush x Shiva Skunk
Number of plants: 10 clones (five of each strain)
Medium: Soil - Fox Farm Ocean Forest
Grow Room: 5x5x6 enclosed tent
Containers: Smart Pots #3 (3 gallon air pruning pots)
Nutrients: Pure Vida Grow, Pure Vida Bloom, Bloom Ultra (stretch control), Bloom Phat (flower enhancement), Root Organics Oregonism XL (I plan to use organic compounds for nutrients and pest / disease control)
Water: Tap water filtered with a refrigerator filter (ph of ~7.5 will be adjusted as needed)
Temperature: 70 - 90 degrees fahrenheit
Lights: (3) 126W Hydro Grow LED
Screen: 4'x4' with 2" holes (I only plan to use 3'x4' of this screen)

Progress to Date
10/25/2009 1 Planted clones in FFOF in 4 inch pots. Soaked in vita grow + roots organic organism XL + rootone
11/04/2009 9 Soaked in the remaining mix from above
11/07/2009 12 Topped all plants at around the 4th - 5th internode
11/14/2009 19 Transplanted to 3 gallon Smart Pots and installed screen at approx 6" above soil.
11/20/2009 25 Fertilized with 1/4 strength mix of vita grow + bloom + organism (brewed with bubbler over night)
11/24/2009 29 FIM'ed a few of the plants to fill in the screen. Plants are beginning to become fragrant.
11/27/2009 32 Observed aphids on blue dream in back left corner - applied Dr. DoRight's spray
11/28/2009 33 Switched lights to 12/12 (9am to 9pm)
11/30/2009 35 Applied Dr. DoRight's spray
12/03/2009 38 Applied Pure Vita bloom / grow in flowering proportions, organism XL and Bloom Ultra.
12/03/2009 38 Took clones from some of the small branches beneath the screen.
12/08/2009 43 Applied AziMax (Neem oil derivative) to control aphids.

 

[flowerofpower]

Can't wait to see some pics! Count me in on this one.

 

[slimm]

Clones in 4" pots

Transplanted to #3 Smart Pots

Screen Deployed

 

[HealingKronic]

ill be watching this one! very interested in LED's

 

[slimm]

Blue Dream under the Left 2/3 of the screen

Hindu Kush x Shiva Skunk under the right 1/3 of the screen

Other Angles

 

[slimm]

Vegging Nicely

 

[slimm]

More vegetative growth. I am keeping everything under the screen.

 

[slimm]

End of first week of 12/12.

 

[slimm]

We are 10 days into flowering. There are very few holes in the screen without a flower or two poking through. There are a lot of smaller bud sites below the screen that will begin to push through soon and fill in those holes. The key to managing these, as I understand it, is not to allow any of the shoots to move much beyond the screen, keeping all growth at the same height. This causes the auxins to spread evenly through out the plant allowing even growth. I may use some wire to elevate a few of these sites to get them to accelerate their growth.

Up until now the goal has been to keep the growth even and beneath the screen. When I switched the lights to 12/12 I supplemented with the Bloom Ultra to minimize stretch and help with uniform flower development throughout the plant. As some of the smaller bud sites begin to catch up with the others I will stop pushing things under the screen.

I actually have no idea what to expect in terms of vertical growth. I have about two feet of headroom and if I use it up I will be supercropping the buds above the screen. The screen sits about 6 - 8 inches off of the soil. Keep in mind that I have made one application of the Bloom Ultra - I am willing to hit them once more this week if it seems it will be needed to minimize the stretch. Anyone with experience on either of these strains please tell us what kind of growth you expect above the screen.

Today I sprayed with a natural insecticide derived from the Neem tree (AziMax) to combat the aphids. There are not many but one is more than I want to see. Another application or two will be required as AziMax does not kill them, it makes them forget to eat and they starve to death. However there may be some more hatching out and these will need treatment too. Working with this type of product is not as fast as working with synthetics but its safer and with a little patience results are achieved.

Humidity is an issue. I am only watering once a week but at times the humidity climbs to as high as 90%. That's probably ok for now but as the buds get bigger mold will be an issue at these rates. The dehumidifier is on order - should arrive in the next day or two.

I recently installed a carbon filter to deal with the odor. Given the heritage of these strains there are bound to be some pretty strong odors coming out of this garden.

 

[DroJo]

Nice.. they look very very healthy

 

[slimm]

DroJo, HealingKronic and flowerofpower thanks for stopping by, we skipped right past the largely uneventful vegetative stage and on to the more interesting flowering stage! From here on out this journal is in real time.

DroJo, I attribute the health of these ladies to the soil and roots. For the first half of the grow I focused heavily on building out strong, healthy roots with no dead spots. Good soil, air pruning pots, the right nutes and beneficial bugs / fungus and a good PH meter (and a bottle of down) made sure we ended up with a healthy root system.

 

[Raisin J]

Hey what kinda bulbs are in those lights, like the colors and ratio?
Plants look great.

 

[slimm]

Thanks for stopping by Raisin J. The lights have a mix of LEDs that output what the manufacturer believes are the key points in the spectrum that cannabis needs to thrive and flower. Plants definitely thrive under these lights - what remains to be seen is how well the plants flower.

 

[DroJo]

DroJo, I attribute the health of these ladies to the soil and roots. For the first half of the grow I focused heavily on building out strong, healthy roots with no dead spots. Good soil, air pruning pots, the right nutes and beneficial bugs / fungus and a good PH meter (and a bottle of down) made sure we ended up with a healthy root system.

Yup yup.. more healthy & developed roots = better yield

 

[Screwnuts33]

Very nice. I will be watching. I like all the LED grows that have started up. Maybe adding some to my next effort. Do you have a fan in your room? May help with humidity.

 

[Eagle1]

sweet..waitin on a 126 and 63...very impatentiently i might add...any day now i guess. The UPS tracker doesn 't tell me squat except they got the electronic billing.

Thanks for letting me follow along and learn!

 

[slimm]

Welcome Eagle1 and Screwnuts33 - nice to have you join us.

In answer to your question Screwnuts33 - I have three small fans in the tent to keep air flowing around the plants. I also have an inline fan that pumps air out of the tent through a carbon scrubber. The scrubber dumps the air out into the larger room which was not ventilated well. I am going to open a window to the outside to help with a little fresh air exchange. I think the dehumidifier will fix up the humidity problems - we shall see...

Status today is a little less upbeat than last time I posted. Apparently I have am not reading these Smart Pots right. When they begin to get dry they dry out quickly. I noticed they needed watering yesterday evening but decided with the high humidity I would wait until this morning to water (hoping the dehumidifier will show up today). This morning I awoke to some wilting on the BD; one was hit particularly hard.

Notice how the vegetation in the back corner of the screen is lower than the rest. I think they will all recover - I hope the roots were not damaged at all. Anyone know what action to take to nurture them back to health? I turned off the lights for a half hour and sprayed the leaves with fresh water after flushing the plants with about 12 gallons of fresh 6.8 ph water.

I also note a significant amount of downward curl to the leaves on the BD. My guess is that this is from nutrient overdose. I had increased the amount of nutrients used last time I watered; from 1/4 the recommended amount to 1/2.

The HKxSS seems much less sensitive to all of this then the BD.

Both strains are showing about 25% of their pistils browning - I'm not sure if this is normal or not.

What do you guys think about the tips of those pistils - is that browning normal for this stage of growth or could it be that the nutes / lack of water have hurt them?

 

[Scooby_Snacks]

You've got me on all counts. LED, Smartpots and the same size tent. I'm switching to #3 smart pots next run. Already glad you mentioned the watering of the pots. If you can I'd be interested in seeing the ventilation you described for the tent. That's next on my list of things to do. +reps if I can

 

[slimm]

Hey Scooby_Snacks - sounds like a great setup, I like the way you think

My ventilation system is not too complex. I put the ventilation outside the tent so the air is pushed into the filter rather than sucked out through it. I did this because I did not want to take up space inside the tent for the filter and I have a lot of room outside the tent and its easier to hang it there than inside the tent. I am pulling air and venting back into the room the tent is in. I have a sky light in the room I can open if it gets too hot or I see a need for more fresh air.

A 6" blower adapter is mounted near the top of my DIY tent (where the warmer air is). I placed an air inlet on the opposite wall at the base of the tent (to bring in cooler air). Attached to the blower adapter is a 6" in-line fan connected to a 6"x16" carbon filter via a few inches of flexible ventilation ducting. The whole thing is suspended from the ceiling outside the tent with rubber bungies for vibration dampening. The in-line fan is plugged into a router controller so I can dial in the amount of power used to drive the fan. At about half speed it sucks the panda film walls in a bit when the tent door is zipped closed.

Blower Adapter Inside the Tent

Fan / Filter Assembly Outside the Tent

 

[Slowpuffer]

That filter is just like mine and it won't work as installed. And there's more than enough room inside the tent . And you need to pull the air through the filter, not push it through !! Good luck !!