Happy Monday!
Here's an update on the Scrogathon...
I seem to have found that sweet spot between the nute blend and the temperature because these chicks are growing over an inch a day and I'm Scrogging and weaving as frantically as I can and still losing the battle.
This shot from a few days ago
This shot today...unbelievable!
I do have them on 24/0 and IMHO that adds 20% growth or something like that.
There's a point you reach with any Scrog grow where the actual canopy mass is above the Scrog screen/net/whatever and that's good and bad. The good part about that is you have a zillion new branches all appearing and it's just about time to flip and get some buds going. The bad part is a canopy in my view NEVER looks developed enough to flip when it's actually time to flip. Only speaking for myself here but others have agreed, one's tendency is always to wait until it really looks packed to flip, and then by the time the stretch is finished everything is basically a little (or a lot) too high. No matter how many times I do this I always end a grow thinking I could have flipped a little earlier and had a little less supercropping to do late in the game.
That's why I am very close to flipping. Upon examination this morning I feel the growing area is pretty much filled. My goal regardless of whether I have six plants or twelve is to evenly fill the growing area (basically defined by the Scrog net and frame) keeping the biomass as low as possible until this horizontal filling is completed, then let the entire thing just rise.
The technique of weaving and shaping a canopy is now becoming second nature to me. I have become bolder in my manipulation (and sometimes borderline abuse) of the growing branches, knowing now that they will all keep growing and filling in no matter what I do to them if they have the perfect light, nutrient mix and temperature.
Many who read this are probably a lot more experienced than me. I ask your indulgence when I go into instructional mode which I am about to for a little bit because I want to pass what I know about this to others who are learning how we do this, that's a big reason I got on here to begin with.
Here are some thoughts on getting the variables right.
You will notice every leaf looks about perfect. Not a single yellow leaf in sight nor a single discolored leaf tip anywhere.
Leaves don't lie. That's the only way you really know you have everything within the ideal range. Of course 100% green leaves can really only be achieved during the veg stage because once we switch to flower we are deliberately aging the plant but the difference between perfect and almost-perfect makes a huge difference in overall metabolic rate and maximum rate of growth during this crucial stage. I also believe from my own experience that a small but crucial imbalance anywhere can set the plant back quite a bit everywhere. However, if they are getting everything they need, (meaning light, nutrients and temperature/humidity all consistently within the good zone), they can spend all their energy just growing like insane maniacs and that ability when fully functional is astounding.
I always talk in terms of a "zone" and here's why. I don't think this is an exact science. I don't think it should be. I believe it is better for the big 3 things (light, nutrients, and temperature) to stay within a certain range, rather than to be an exact number. For example, ideal PH for hydro is 5.8. I know my nutrient solution PH varies weekly from 5.5 up to 6.2. I think that is better. Why? As the plants use the solution, it gradually concentrates the nutrients and the PH gradually drops. When I need to replenish I add fresh dechlorinated water to bring the level of the reservoir back up. The higher-PH fresh water brings the PH back up well above 6 but I don't adjust it down to 5.8 because it is better in some ways for the PH to be at 6.2 for a couple days, then 5.8 for awhile, then drop to 5.5 or so, all within about a weeks time
because some important nutrients are better absorbed at the higher PH range and some others at a lower range.
So, since math says a controlled but regular fluctuation in PH should allow a greater opportunity for adequate overall nutrient absorption, I believe my plants are more reliably getting everything they need (and thus healthier) by having the PH vary widely but regularly. I measure and keep aware of the whole cycle every week. I never let it above 6.3 or below 5.5. But I would go nuts trying to keep a 40-gallon bucket of water at one PH number, it is a lot of unnecessary time and effort IMHO. As always, judge everything I say by my how plants look. Plus I'm a hobby grower, if I was responsible for a giant commercial grow I would of course be much more attentive to exact numbers but nobody is paying me...
yet.
I only change the reservoir twice during an entire 16-week grow. I reboot the thing at the flip and then sort of dilute it down the last several weeks (not a true flush but does enough). When I top off each week I don't add very much new nutes, because most of what I added initially is still in there (the plants uptake only what they need and that isn't much). A lot of hydro problems come from gradually overconcentrating the nutes because the assumption is that the same amount of nutrients proportionally are absorbed as the water used and that isn't so. I just make sure I add a little cal/mag to new water by volume.
I don't measure the nutrients anymore either (after the first carefully-measured amounts when I start a completely fresh reservoir), I just add a little of this one and a little of that one as we go to keep things in the zone of concentration where I know it should be. Perfectly perfect-looking leaves are the only true measure of these things and my leaves are telling me my judgment is sound. I just emphasize more of the grow nutes during veg and more of the bloom nutes during the late stages.
I use the basic 3 GH nute blends plus CalMagic and I think that's fine. Is adding all the other things folks use, especially late, any better? I don't really know because the branches on my plants usually couldn't hold fatter buds if they had them. Again, there's a million ways to do this but the trick, for me anyway, is to find the zone and keep things simple, not be too much of an independent thinker. I see a lot of people getting 25%-75% of potential out of their plants and that's often the result of way too much messing and feeding and stuff when they really would do much better if they just worried about really providing a lot of light, simplifying the feeding, and leaving them alone. Once you find a way to get solid results you are better to stick with that and get really good at it rather than chase that phantom "extra ten percent" that we all talk about but usually results in doing more harm than good. If your plant is simply allowed to flourish with minimum required nutrition without a bunch of unnecessary bullshit the results are always going to be great.
I grow hydro but I have a lot of soil grows behind me, and soil is even easier to manage
as long as you start correctly. A healthy plant with perfect leaf tips everywhere is telling you it has what it needs and that's easiest if it's done right from the beginning.
So remember:
-Keep light, nutes and temp within a good range but don't sweat exact numbers.
-Judge everything you do by the health of newer growth leaves...they don't lie.
-It is often 10 times more difficult to remedy a problem, than to prevent it.
Hope that helps some newer people. That is how it is intended. Have a great day.
Peace, Hyena
Blue Hyena Gen 3 sounds delish. I just harvested my first BD and I'm lovin' it. Your crosses sound so much better.
But I feel your pain...Ive caught myself looking at shipping containers for sale and wondering how I can bury one 
Peace, Hyena
it was a pleasure to read your spy story
