First Legal Grow in Colorado

[Green Knight]

My suggestion on the trimming and training for scrog would be to check out Jon705's journal here

His current journal is excellent and coming near harvest but doesn't start as early as his second journal, so you may get a better step by step guide from the second, but the first still gives an excellent overview of his training technique.

I've taken a lot of advice from Jon too, so my current journal follows a similar technique to train and defoliate for a scrog.

Your plants are just the right size in my opinion to start the process but it does involve stressing the plants quite a bit (particularly if you want to defoliate too) so it could be worth waiting until the plants are 100% healthy before starting the process.

Essentially you're looking to supercrop or lst the plant horizontally so you start getting all of the side branches to grow upwards and develop into tops which will grow up into the screen, and then you can continue to train them across the screen before switching o 12/12.
If you want to bring defoliation in too then you'll be looking to strip the large fans a few times in veg so the plant gets used to it, ready to defoliate heavily around day 21 of flower.

As I've mentioned though, it does involve massively stressing the plant, so you want everything to be dialled in and 100% healthy. Some lst to start training the plant horizontally may be ok where you are now, but I wouldn't necessarily defoliate yet until the nute issue is fixed and the plants are fully healthy (not that I mean to say they're unhealthy as such, but you'll want bug and nute issues a memory, rather than something you're dealing with currently before stressing them more)

 

[Green Knight]

Thanks for the reps too btw, much appreciated mate

 

[RckyMtnHigh]

it does involve stressing the plants quite a bit (particularly if you want to defoliate too) so it could be worth waiting until the plants are 100% healthy before starting the process.

That's what we were thinking. Definitely want this stuff in the rear view mirror before we start doing too much, but its a good time to start researching it so I'll check out that thread. Thanks.

 

[OG1969]

My suggestion on the trimming and training for scrog would be to check out Jon705's journal here

His current journal is excellent and coming near harvest but doesn't start as early as his second journal, so you may get a better step by step guide from the second, but the first still gives an excellent overview of his training technique.

I've taken a lot of advice from Jon too, so my current journal follows a similar technique to train and defoliate for a scrog.

Your plants are just the right size in my opinion to start the process but it does involve stressing the plants quite a bit (particularly if you want to defoliate too) so it could be worth waiting until the plants are 100% healthy before starting the process.

Essentially you're looking to supercrop or lst the plant horizontally so you start getting all of the side branches to grow upwards and develop into tops which will grow up into the screen, and then you can continue to train them across the screen before switching o 12/12.
If you want to bring defoliation in too then you'll be looking to strip the large fans a few times in veg so the plant gets used to it, ready to defoliate heavily around day 21 of flower.

As I've mentioned though, it does involve massively stressing the plant, so you want everything to be dialled in and 100% healthy. Some lst to start training the plant horizontally may be ok where you are now, but I wouldn't necessarily defoliate yet until the nute issue is fixed and the plants are fully healthy (not that I mean to say they're unhealthy as such, but you'll want bug and nute issues a memory, rather than something you're dealing with currently before stressing them more)

Very good info my fellow grow master, I totally believe that when you say " you want them bug and nute issues in memory, rather than something you're dealing with currently before stressing them more."

Last few grows no problem, this one in the middle of winter in a detatched garage, 4x4x6 tent 600w HPS, Rh at 50, temp 70-75 lights on, went back to my BLUE PLANET NUTES, First grow rocked, thought I knew more than i do and bam very unhealthy plants, got them back and using BLUE PLANET NUTES, to get them through and into budding have never had any issue with these nutes in the past indoor or out, Love healthy plant, peace OG

 

[hank123]

care to share what company it was that you ordered seeds from? I ordered from a company not sponsored on this site and got my seeds in 5 to 7 days. And im in Colorado too.

 

[OG1969]

Check the sponsors my friend

 

[hank123]

Check the sponsors my friend

OK? Sponsors or not it would be nice to avoid bad companies.

note the company that is or was a sponsor and now/will be removed.

DutchSeedsShop vs. BuyDutchSeeds?

 

[RckyMtnHigh]

care to share what company it was that you ordered seeds from? I ordered from a company not sponsored on this site and got my seeds in 5 to 7 days. And im in Colorado too.

It was dutchseedsshop they ultimately did arrive but it just took a lot longer than what I was lead to expect based on their FAQ page. We actually dropped 4 seeds the other night so we'll see where it goes. If the strain is good enough i can forgive the delivery issues we had but only time will tell.

If your in colorado just find someone with a card and have them get you what you need through a dispensary. But make sure to watch them close for any bugs so you can catch them faster than we did.

 

[hank123]

dutchseedsshop ya they seemed to ripped someone else off on the web page. I saw this and posted a thread about it. Now you see the outcome.


I have my grow going now. I am looking forward to yours. Im not in the high country like you so I wonder if the thinner air will change anything.

If all goes well maybe we can trade a clone or 2.

 

[RckyMtnHigh]

dutchseedsshop ya they seemed to ripped someone else off on the web page.

I never said they ripped me off. All I said was the delivery was much slower than we'd expected, based on their FAQ page. I did get the seeds eventually and for all I know they'll grow the best strain I've ever seen in my life. I'd really rather not throw them under the bus just yet. The delay in delivery caused us to go a different route and buy clones, but that's hardly the end of the world. So, till I see the quality of the strain I purchased, I'd rather not pass judgment and I certainly don't feel like I've been 'ripped off'.

 

[RckyMtnHigh]

This morning everything looked good but just now I went back down and noticed some white spotting that has me concerned.

The y=leaf on the left is old damage but the new leaf on the right is just showing it today.

this shows old damage and some slight leaf browning at the very tip. I think this is a sign of a nute deficiency that yesterday's feeding should start addressing in the next day or two.

This plant has some fresh signs of spotting. I wish the focus was better.

More fresh spotting, old damage on the left leaf.

these plants are showing some nitrogen deficincy which is also present in the photo below.

We're not sure what this is and if there is anything we can do to reverse it. What do you guys think?

 

[canabinerd]

Are you feeding nutes? What kind of soil mix are you using? If you've been feeding them. The problem is not likely nitrogen deficiency. Could be pH, temperature overwatering or overfeeding causing nutrient lockout. Should be fairly easy to find out which and correct it. First of all, I've heard that the older General Hydroponics nutes tended to be rather high on thier mixing directions. So first off, I'd feed at 1/4 strength of that schedule and work up from there. pH your water, if your up in the mountains your water source could be either acidic or basic. Get a thermometer/hygrometer in your grow area, preferably one that shows the high and low temperature for the day. It's January in the high country and your pots are suspended on a rack in a bathroom. It could simply be your temps are dipping into the 50's at night and you don't know it. Also, with plants that size in three gallon pots, I would think you shouldn't be watering any more often than once every four or five days.

 

[RckyMtnHigh]

They're about 2 weeks old so I only did the first feeding yesterday and we're still in one gallon pots with a watering schedule of about every three days or so, depending on how dry they are. The soil mix is a brand which was recommended by a local grow shop along with a supplement he recommended. wish I had more info but I'm not at home right now.
Last night there was a power outage for a few hours and the temps dropped upstairs. The grow room has in-floor heating set at 65 so we don't see much in the way of temp swings but last night may have been an exception.

 

[canabinerd]

Is it an organic soil mix with nutes already in it? If so, it could be a little good old fashioned nute burn. Most of the organic mixes have enough nutes in em' to last at least 3-4 weeks.

 

[RckyMtnHigh]

Yesterday those spots showed up within a few hours but they haven't spread. Phew...
Keep in mind that I've only feed them once and it was a pretty light feeding at that.
I also tested the water this morning and its just under 7 ph. I'm really hoping that in a few days they'll be looking great.

 

[RckyMtnHigh]

Its been about 5 days since my last post so I thought I'd give you guys an update. The mites seem to be gone and the plants are looking great. I'll post some pics in a few days.
Yesterday we trimmed them and started some low-stress training by taping a leaf from each main branch down to the side of the pots. I saw this technique used in a youtube video and so far its seems to be working perfectly, plus it was very easy.
I've also given them a few feedings now and they seem to be responding very well to the nutes. The yellowing is gone as are the brown tips on the ends of the fan leaves. Our water from the tap is a little high at 8ph so we're taking some steps to address that with vinegar.

The next step (in my mind) would be to let them bounce back from the training and pruning then start shopping for bigger pots so we can transplant them in the next week or so. We first purchased the girls as teens (5 inches tall, pics are in my gallery) on the 26th of January so their now about 23 days old.

Looking to the future, we've also been germinating seeds for the past week or so. I'll get some pics of the babies if/when they sprout. Buying clones was the best thing we've done so far. Anyone looking to start a room should bypass the seeds all together for their first round as too many things can go wrong, delaying your progress for weeks or even months. Bottom line, if we were dependent on these seeds we'd still have nothing while the local dispensary has medical grade plants sitting on a shelf down the block. Once you have a good stock of plants going, then you can buy some seeds to try and improve your strain's quality in your second or third harvest. But, I'd search extensively, find the cannabis cup winning strains and pay top top dollar for 5 of them from a company you have zero questions about.

One more afterthought. The spotting we saw was most likely due to the chemical treatment we did on the mites and/or a combination of the plants needing nutes and the water being at 8 ph. Its always hard to say what really caused it but as long as we have it beat I'm happy.

The only debates we're having between my partner and I are 1) I say we transplant to 10 gallon asap, he says we can wait a week or two. 2) exactly how far should our lights be? He wants them maybe 2 inches from the top leaves whereas I was thinking some of the burning on the top leaves could have been due to the lights so I'd like to keep them about 8-10 inches above the plants. I know t5 florescents can get very close but these are 4 x 4 foot and very high-end from a grow shop. Its Envirogrow brand and I have some pics in my gallery.
What does the Jury think? It makes life easier for us when we have a neutral third party (who knows what they're talking about) to help mediate.
Thanks again.

 

[tribble94]

As for the transplanting you still can wait. Your plants are still not that big and the 10 gallon pots will provide a lot of extra room. Let the roots fill out a little more. To your lighting, you are using t5's or t8's correct? If so I put my t5 lights to about 2-3" above plants with no burning. You just have to check the height each day. I have only had issues when my mothers had a growth spurt and shot up a few inches over a couple of days and grew up into my lights. Only then did I get leaf burn. Having the lights closer will increase your light penetration and help to slow any stretching that might take place.

 

[RckyMtnHigh]

When I walk in the room now a wall of sweet sweet cannabis aroma hits me like a brick. The plants are taking to their training like ivy and are green and plush. I seriously need to get some pics up asap.

For all the help and advise you guys have given, our plants thank you. To reply to your answer to our questions, we lowered the lights and have decided to go with 5 gallon Air Pots with an individual scrog screen for each plant. This should give us more flexibility than trying to time out each strain's height and growth into a single, giant screen.

Either way, all's well in the 'high Country'. I hear we're opening our doors to the cannabis tourism industry so I hope y'all come on out and try a puff of our harvest this summer.

 

[RckyMtnHigh]

PICS!!!!!

 

[Green Knight]

Looking good!