80 is usually my target but if it climbs a little higher no biggie.
Hyena's Never-Ending Adventures In Growing
- Thread starter Hyena Merica
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #1,482
Happy Saturday!
How about a weekend HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update?
This morning I got up at 5 am and buzzed up to the Grow House. I could wait no longer to see if everything is running just right and after three days we had to find out! The three-hour drive went by fast, as usual filled with dark visions of 55 gallons of smelly mess all over the place, dead plants, maybe fire.
I walked in and it was just as I had hoped. Everything looks fantastic!
Woo Hoo!!
I might turn out to be a decent grower after all...!
Only 5 or 6 leaves showed any real color effects from the week without light...
But 99% of everything seems totally normal and green. Growing nicely, even only three days showed noticeable growth which indicates they have taken to the environs. I've never had any root rot and the higher reservoir temps for the first 10 days worries me a bit since I haven't really studied the symptoms of it yet, but I'm looking at these girls and they seem okay to me so far. My res temps in the attic lab had to be pretty high at times, I never monitored that aspect much since I wasn't going to have a cooler. But now it matters too much if I screw it up, so we have to get these res temps down. Which is why I added this little gem:
This 1/4 HP chiller hooked up pretty easily and I had about 20 minutes with it running before I had to leave 3 days ago. Now I look at the display and it says 68...awesome! It works! And no leaks, so yay.
I am pleased it can handle the load, this 50 gallons of fluid was at 80 degrees 3 days prior and after 14 hours LIGHTS ON it still sits at 68. Even better, the unit wasn't running which means it isn't having to stay on all the time. That's great news. It even adds extra oxygenation with the constant splash of the fluid from the return line which runs 24/7. It's a lot of stuff running and I am far away so forgive the nerves but I'm anxious about all this, it's added up to a lot of work at this point and the chiller working is just about the last detail.
Soon I will be willing to tell myself- Relax, dude, we have a fully-functional grow!
I decided to make it even easier for the chiller to chill out. Picked up a "water heater insulating blanket", really just a rectangular sheet of standard 2" house insulation. After a bit of tugging it fit our reservoir like a glove.
With that, PHd and topped off the reservoir and zipped up the amazing tent. For the first time I felt like I had it right. Truly confident I mean. Okay I could come back to destruction anything can always happen but for now, best as I can see...Success!!
Looking good. So turning to Phase Two...
The second tent took a lot less time. Just as difficult, but I learned some tricks the first time. Still nobody can believe one person unassisted can put one of these up. I even went to HTG Supply about an hour from the Grow House where I bought them from and they were surprised. But here it is, and with zero rips!
Got the finishing touches on the exhaust system as well. It is mighty, these Vortex 8" fans are freaking beasts.
And that's where we left it. It's kind of strange to drive three hours and only stay an hour then drive three hours back but that's the drill and honestly I am so relieved to be where I'm at...I know until I go back up Wednesday I can actually relax about it all. Ahhhhh.
I feel like a Ganja gangsta.
Fire one up Mon. Tonight I'm gonna drop some beans in some water...
Peace, Hyena
How about a weekend HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update?
This morning I got up at 5 am and buzzed up to the Grow House. I could wait no longer to see if everything is running just right and after three days we had to find out! The three-hour drive went by fast, as usual filled with dark visions of 55 gallons of smelly mess all over the place, dead plants, maybe fire.
I walked in and it was just as I had hoped. Everything looks fantastic!
Woo Hoo!!I might turn out to be a decent grower after all...!
Only 5 or 6 leaves showed any real color effects from the week without light...
But 99% of everything seems totally normal and green. Growing nicely, even only three days showed noticeable growth which indicates they have taken to the environs. I've never had any root rot and the higher reservoir temps for the first 10 days worries me a bit since I haven't really studied the symptoms of it yet, but I'm looking at these girls and they seem okay to me so far. My res temps in the attic lab had to be pretty high at times, I never monitored that aspect much since I wasn't going to have a cooler. But now it matters too much if I screw it up, so we have to get these res temps down. Which is why I added this little gem:
This 1/4 HP chiller hooked up pretty easily and I had about 20 minutes with it running before I had to leave 3 days ago. Now I look at the display and it says 68...awesome! It works! And no leaks, so yay.
I am pleased it can handle the load, this 50 gallons of fluid was at 80 degrees 3 days prior and after 14 hours LIGHTS ON it still sits at 68. Even better, the unit wasn't running which means it isn't having to stay on all the time. That's great news. It even adds extra oxygenation with the constant splash of the fluid from the return line which runs 24/7. It's a lot of stuff running and I am far away so forgive the nerves but I'm anxious about all this, it's added up to a lot of work at this point and the chiller working is just about the last detail.
Soon I will be willing to tell myself- Relax, dude, we have a fully-functional grow!
I decided to make it even easier for the chiller to chill out. Picked up a "water heater insulating blanket", really just a rectangular sheet of standard 2" house insulation. After a bit of tugging it fit our reservoir like a glove.
With that, PHd and topped off the reservoir and zipped up the amazing tent. For the first time I felt like I had it right. Truly confident I mean. Okay I could come back to destruction anything can always happen but for now, best as I can see...Success!!
Looking good. So turning to Phase Two...
The second tent took a lot less time. Just as difficult, but I learned some tricks the first time. Still nobody can believe one person unassisted can put one of these up. I even went to HTG Supply about an hour from the Grow House where I bought them from and they were surprised. But here it is, and with zero rips!
Got the finishing touches on the exhaust system as well. It is mighty, these Vortex 8" fans are freaking beasts.
And that's where we left it. It's kind of strange to drive three hours and only stay an hour then drive three hours back but that's the drill and honestly I am so relieved to be where I'm at...I know until I go back up Wednesday I can actually relax about it all. Ahhhhh.
I feel like a Ganja gangsta.
Fire one up Mon. Tonight I'm gonna drop some beans in some water...
Peace, Hyena
Always a good feeling when everything is going right, sleep easy man.
- Thread starter
- #1,484
It's Tuesday so why not a small
HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!
Phase 2. I haven't been quite sure when to start them because I don't know how long I will veg Phase 1...so I'm guessing about now. Let's go!
I have not been impressed (so far at least) by one of my three selections for Phase 1 which is Big Bud Bling Tings. All four of them are much smaller than the other two varieties (Super Bud and White Widow) and while they may catch up I'm not liking them much yet. So, since I have to make the call, I'm replacing them with Blueberry which should flower in about the same time and is a very good variety for a host of reasons. So here's the next generation:
The other night 16 seeds went into water in the pill pack...Phase 2 is on!
Within 24 hours after going into water, all 6 Super Bud had tails, all 5 White Widow had tails, and one Blueberry but they all look like they're about to pop. So, in the attic lab we planted the next generation in their little rooter plugs.
It's like baking a little cake. Yum!
As of this morning already one poking above ground...yesss.
Back to the Grow House.
Tomorrow I will journey back up to the HGH and check on everything. Then, I need to create a SCROG for this oddly-shaped area. And I've been doing what I always do when I need to engineer something...I get really high, walk around in Home Depot and look at pieces until an idea comes to me. Works every time...
It took an hour but I think I figured it out! Einstein would love my solution.
He was quite a stoner, in theory.
So today I bought pieces and tomorrow I'll build it and then Thursday I'll post pictures and you can tell me if you think it's a sweet solution or not. No clues except I think you're going to love this.
Toking on a bowl of Blue Dream...sure love that strain especially when the nugs simply stink they're so sweet and fresh. Soon, dreams of rooms full of giant fragrant colas are filling my normally empty head...
Just my nuggy fantasy. But if you can dream it, you can do it.
Talk to ya Thursday!
Peace, Hyena
HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!
Phase 2. I haven't been quite sure when to start them because I don't know how long I will veg Phase 1...so I'm guessing about now. Let's go!
I have not been impressed (so far at least) by one of my three selections for Phase 1 which is Big Bud Bling Tings. All four of them are much smaller than the other two varieties (Super Bud and White Widow) and while they may catch up I'm not liking them much yet. So, since I have to make the call, I'm replacing them with Blueberry which should flower in about the same time and is a very good variety for a host of reasons. So here's the next generation:
The other night 16 seeds went into water in the pill pack...Phase 2 is on!
Within 24 hours after going into water, all 6 Super Bud had tails, all 5 White Widow had tails, and one Blueberry but they all look like they're about to pop. So, in the attic lab we planted the next generation in their little rooter plugs.
It's like baking a little cake. Yum!
As of this morning already one poking above ground...yesss.Back to the Grow House.
Tomorrow I will journey back up to the HGH and check on everything. Then, I need to create a SCROG for this oddly-shaped area. And I've been doing what I always do when I need to engineer something...I get really high, walk around in Home Depot and look at pieces until an idea comes to me. Works every time...
It took an hour but I think I figured it out! Einstein would love my solution.
He was quite a stoner, in theory.
So today I bought pieces and tomorrow I'll build it and then Thursday I'll post pictures and you can tell me if you think it's a sweet solution or not. No clues except I think you're going to love this.
Toking on a bowl of Blue Dream...sure love that strain especially when the nugs simply stink they're so sweet and fresh. Soon, dreams of rooms full of giant fragrant colas are filling my normally empty head...
Just my nuggy fantasy. But if you can dream it, you can do it.
Talk to ya Thursday!
Peace, Hyena
425jesse
Well-Known Member
I’m stoked to see your new scrog, guess I might have to copy you some more, Hyena Master
- Thread starter
- #1,486
Happy Thursday!
As promised, here's a HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!
Oh baby are we looking good!
Got this thing going now I think. Perfect temps, perfect tips...
It's interesting that the BIG BUD BLING TINGS by Dr. Krippling Seeds are so tiny...3 out of 4 are the smallest in the grow by far. I'm not going to wait on them to flip the crop, I'll base that decision on total biomass and if they're still small, they'll just be small. Maybe they will catch up, some do. But so far they do seem scrawny and the leaf structure is kind of skinny too...
So now that everything is popping it's time to make the SCROG.
My stoned wandering through hardware stores always pays off. The answer was Polyvinyl Chloride...good ol' PVC!
Once I thought of using it the design came together in my head. Some cutting...some sanding...
Then some gluing...and drying all the pieces.
After mowing the lawn, I eagerly came back in to put this together. It went in in about 5 minutes! As designed!
Now I just attached a pre-made nylon SCROG net which came in a 4x16-foot piece. The only risk was if I got it tangled which it really wanted to do, it would be impossible to untangle. It snapped back a couple times and ten minutes of trying to get it straight again but I finally got it attached and stretched nice and tight. Woo Hoo! A SCROG for the ages!
Seriously, I don't know if others have done a similar thing (I'm confident many probably have, my ideas can't be that good) but either way it makes it possible to build a custom SCROG frame like this for any large grow area rather easily.
All those childhood hours playing with Tinkertoys and Lego have paid off once again.
And just in time...now the clock is ticking for the Phase Two build to be finished because these new babies are all showing their little faces for the first time...
Yes, we see much vigor and already twelve seedlings so here we go! I still have to wire in the power cables for the lights and build the ebb-and-flow system plus about twenty other things...in three weeks. I feel like I'm ahead but we are going to the far-Nothern command post for five days over the Fourth so not much time. Some golf for the next few days then the big finish on the build!
It's a pretty thing, this grow house. Coming together like clockwork. Wonder how I thought of all this...
Nah, couldn't be that.
Peace, Hyena
As promised, here's a HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!
Oh baby are we looking good!
Got this thing going now I think. Perfect temps, perfect tips...
It's interesting that the BIG BUD BLING TINGS by Dr. Krippling Seeds are so tiny...3 out of 4 are the smallest in the grow by far. I'm not going to wait on them to flip the crop, I'll base that decision on total biomass and if they're still small, they'll just be small. Maybe they will catch up, some do. But so far they do seem scrawny and the leaf structure is kind of skinny too...
So now that everything is popping it's time to make the SCROG.
My stoned wandering through hardware stores always pays off. The answer was Polyvinyl Chloride...good ol' PVC!
Once I thought of using it the design came together in my head. Some cutting...some sanding...
Then some gluing...and drying all the pieces.
After mowing the lawn, I eagerly came back in to put this together. It went in in about 5 minutes! As designed!
Now I just attached a pre-made nylon SCROG net which came in a 4x16-foot piece. The only risk was if I got it tangled which it really wanted to do, it would be impossible to untangle. It snapped back a couple times and ten minutes of trying to get it straight again but I finally got it attached and stretched nice and tight. Woo Hoo! A SCROG for the ages!
Seriously, I don't know if others have done a similar thing (I'm confident many probably have, my ideas can't be that good) but either way it makes it possible to build a custom SCROG frame like this for any large grow area rather easily.
All those childhood hours playing with Tinkertoys and Lego have paid off once again.
And just in time...now the clock is ticking for the Phase Two build to be finished because these new babies are all showing their little faces for the first time...
Yes, we see much vigor and already twelve seedlings so here we go! I still have to wire in the power cables for the lights and build the ebb-and-flow system plus about twenty other things...in three weeks. I feel like I'm ahead but we are going to the far-Nothern command post for five days over the Fourth so not much time. Some golf for the next few days then the big finish on the build!
It's a pretty thing, this grow house. Coming together like clockwork. Wonder how I thought of all this...
Nah, couldn't be that.
Peace, Hyena
Coming together, can’t wait to see it in bloom.
Highya HM,
Phase one plants are exploding!! They look so full!! Well done, HM. I love the scrog design. I've discovered that if you get stoned enough and dwell on a design question for a little while, later on the answer will pop into your head big and bold. I've had that happen quite a few times. I love it!!
Looks you're recreating a grow similar to your attic grows of days past. So, 2 grow rooms (and probably a 3rd in the planning stage already) of bud. Brings to mind the phrase "And visions of sugarplums danced in their head". Are you trimming all yourself?!? Cheers
Phase one plants are exploding!! They look so full!! Well done, HM. I love the scrog design. I've discovered that if you get stoned enough and dwell on a design question for a little while, later on the answer will pop into your head big and bold. I've had that happen quite a few times. I love it!!
Looks you're recreating a grow similar to your attic grows of days past. So, 2 grow rooms (and probably a 3rd in the planning stage already) of bud. Brings to mind the phrase "And visions of sugarplums danced in their head". Are you trimming all yourself?!? Cheers
- Thread starter
- #1,489
Brother, I'm not sure how big a task that is going to be...I hope it's too big for me!!
Peace, Hyena
- Thread starter
- #1,490
A beautiful Sunday and once again here's a
HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!
I'm sitting here having my Denver Breakfast...
Strong Arabica coffee and some shit labeled Citrus Glue. Aptly named...I simply pulled a chunk out of a pound bag and it's pretty sticky. I'm sure it's actually a popular West Coast strain called Citrus Sap (Tangie x Gorilla Glue #4) but who really cares about names when the smoke is bewitching, the taste is delicious and the high is extraordinary? Ahhhhh, the wonderful world of weed!
Now one week into the Phase Two generation. First let me salute Seedsman yet again. I'm no genius but I got sixteen out of sixteen healthy sprouts from their seeds in 48 hours. Their Blueberry seeds I have had for almost 2 years...still 5 for 5.
So the "transplant" to 1-gallon pots. Not really a transplant the way I do it, more of a three-step system of adding more medium with no disturbance to existing growth. And fantastically easy now that I've done it once and sort of streamlined the process. It takes about 3 minutes per plant to add a paint strainer to a bucket, fill it with Perlite, immerse the whole thing in water to de-dust the Perlite and wet the medium to make it workable, then plant the rooter plug with the baby into the Perlite.
Halfway done...
The working time for the Perlite is about 3 minutes during which you can create a void for the plug and it stays open, making it a snap to set the plug exactly the depth it needs to be then just push down on the surrounding medium and it fills in gently from the sides. I've done a lot of different methods in soil and hydro and this is the simplest, and produces zero damage to the delicate little root systems.
It's so easy a caveman could do it.
Everybody in place and the supply lines adjusted...now for 3 weeks or so they will just grow and grow. Four 5-minute waterings every day, all fully automatic.
I love automatic. Up at the Grow House I'm confident everybody is happy and healthy, probably all of them touching the SCROG screen by now. I will have to get up there probably Wednesday and work with a lot of branches. How fun! Then begin the build of the next ebb-and-flow system. The first one works flawlessly so far, way beyond my expectations and I have great confidence the second will, too.
I was disappointed the Niell COB light I had in there failed after a week and I removed it early last run. But I happened to stick it's still-plugged-in power cord into another light and it didn't work either...even though I had just unplugged it. Huh? Yep. The failure was the freaking power cord, not the light!! Obviously I have no idea how a simple six-foot power cable can go bad but a different one had that Neill COB light working again! Now my babies have all the light they can eat. So if you cancelled a multi-thousand-dollar order with them recently you can reinstate it with confidence.
Things are going right along and I'll report back from the GH probably Thursday. Whomever is out there reading my rambling reports, thanks for being here and get ready for the first flip within the next couple weeks and the primordial forest of fun it will produce. I have a feeling we will amuse.
This project is really evolving.
I wish all mankind would.
Peace, Hyena
HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!
I'm sitting here having my Denver Breakfast...
Strong Arabica coffee and some shit labeled Citrus Glue. Aptly named...I simply pulled a chunk out of a pound bag and it's pretty sticky. I'm sure it's actually a popular West Coast strain called Citrus Sap (Tangie x Gorilla Glue #4) but who really cares about names when the smoke is bewitching, the taste is delicious and the high is extraordinary? Ahhhhh, the wonderful world of weed!
Now one week into the Phase Two generation. First let me salute Seedsman yet again. I'm no genius but I got sixteen out of sixteen healthy sprouts from their seeds in 48 hours. Their Blueberry seeds I have had for almost 2 years...still 5 for 5.
So the "transplant" to 1-gallon pots. Not really a transplant the way I do it, more of a three-step system of adding more medium with no disturbance to existing growth. And fantastically easy now that I've done it once and sort of streamlined the process. It takes about 3 minutes per plant to add a paint strainer to a bucket, fill it with Perlite, immerse the whole thing in water to de-dust the Perlite and wet the medium to make it workable, then plant the rooter plug with the baby into the Perlite.
Halfway done...
The working time for the Perlite is about 3 minutes during which you can create a void for the plug and it stays open, making it a snap to set the plug exactly the depth it needs to be then just push down on the surrounding medium and it fills in gently from the sides. I've done a lot of different methods in soil and hydro and this is the simplest, and produces zero damage to the delicate little root systems.
It's so easy a caveman could do it.
Everybody in place and the supply lines adjusted...now for 3 weeks or so they will just grow and grow. Four 5-minute waterings every day, all fully automatic.
I love automatic. Up at the Grow House I'm confident everybody is happy and healthy, probably all of them touching the SCROG screen by now. I will have to get up there probably Wednesday and work with a lot of branches. How fun! Then begin the build of the next ebb-and-flow system. The first one works flawlessly so far, way beyond my expectations and I have great confidence the second will, too.
I was disappointed the Niell COB light I had in there failed after a week and I removed it early last run. But I happened to stick it's still-plugged-in power cord into another light and it didn't work either...even though I had just unplugged it. Huh? Yep. The failure was the freaking power cord, not the light!! Obviously I have no idea how a simple six-foot power cable can go bad but a different one had that Neill COB light working again! Now my babies have all the light they can eat. So if you cancelled a multi-thousand-dollar order with them recently you can reinstate it with confidence.
Things are going right along and I'll report back from the GH probably Thursday. Whomever is out there reading my rambling reports, thanks for being here and get ready for the first flip within the next couple weeks and the primordial forest of fun it will produce. I have a feeling we will amuse.
This project is really evolving.
I wish all mankind would.
Peace, Hyena
Next generation is coming along.
MagicJim
Creme de la Creme Photos: Sept 2016
Smeegol
Well-Known Member
And here I was freezing my bollocks off this am and seeing the new borns has warmed the old clinker up no end mr.Hyena.... You certainly have cracked on in the last week and a bit, blooming marvelous effort so far brother.
- Thread starter
- #1,494
Good eye amigo...I started 5 seeds of 3 different varieties with the aim of 12 total seedlings...of course I was high when I did it and it was late so the next morning I notice there were actually 6 Super Bud seeds...oh well, no matter since they all sprouted!
Yay Seedsman! Your products are bomb.
So since I only have 15 slots I doubled one up.
Then when I transplanted them I culled (sadly) the smaller one.
In my next post look at how big everybody is after only 1 week from seed...amazing.
Stay tuned Jim...gonna be spectacular!
Peace, Hyena
- Thread starter
- #1,495
Smeeg, I really appreciate that and if you like bud porn you're going to have a great August on my journal! Next post you won't even believe how much they grew in 1 week!
Going to be a forest man...
Peace, Hyena
Smeegol
Well-Known Member
Show me someone who doesn't dig some good ol bud porn mr.Hyena.. 
- Thread starter
- #1,497
Hey hey it's Thursday!
Here's a mid-week HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update.
Just got up to the GH yesterday and saw how everything is operating after a full week away...
It's operating.
Every leaf is deep green and perfect down to the molecules in the tips. I've never had such robust plants. That's saying something.
Everyone looks healthy and beautiful to my relief. Almost too perfect...then I thought about it and I guess I've never had even close to perfect conditions in the attic lab. I was always fighting extremes of temperature, both ambient and reservoir. Now I've got them in a near-flawless environment...averaging 80 degrees, with great food, a gentle breeze and more light than the law should allow. I think I'm finally seeing all the cannabis plant can be. And it's awesome.
So the first real SCROGGING. Turns out even as small as they still are it took 2 hours of careful work to get the bulk of the grow spread out under the screen and remove about a hundred huge fan leaves. Here's how it looked when it was finished...
I am salivating to see what another week of dynamic growth looks like. I have no idea when I should flip, since I want maximum density and yet I don't know how much these will stretch and they could get away vertically. I don't know how close to these lights the tips can get, either...I am getting this amazing growth with the lights all at maximum height. Every foot they grow they get that much more light and if it's doing this much for them way down there I can't imagine the cola density this might produce but at what point do they start to fry? My insurance policy is each light has a dimmer and I can dial them down to 50% if necessary but I doubt that will be necessary. So far so good.
So I worked for several more hours to run the wiring for Phase Two, then the obligatory yard work that I have to do every visit. I waited the same as last time for the 6:00 pm automatic startup of the fill pump for the first of the four daily 11-minute fill cycles. I piddled until after 6:11 and then realized the fill pump was still running...huh? Great, a new anomaly when I thought I'd got everything perfect. Thought about it for a minute then realized it could only be an error in the event programming on the timer. Checked and sure enough, one teensy, weensy mistake...the OFF for event 1 was...6:11 AM.
All this means is every day for a week the system flooded continuously for 12 hours. Every day the roots were fully immersed for 12 hours...plus an additional flood and drain cycle at 11:00 am!
Okay at this point I'm no longer surprised when I make a mistake. I'm just trying to survive my own control of this project long enough to get it going.
But it might explain the explosive growth and perfect condition. Hmmmmmmm... Now I'll be thinking about extending the soak time since 12 1/2 hours of immersion per day didn't seem to hurt a thing. Is it a way to get more growth though? I doesn't know but it's a new thing to play with grow by grow. I imagine this is kind of like how it feels going from high school football coach to the major college ranks...I've always thought I could do this on a larger scale but to actually be coaching my first game at this level so to speak is both thrilling and intimidating. The price of a mistake that ruins this grow is probably about ten grand so I don't want to make that fatal error, and I've basically tried. They have been in total darkness for a week and also been flooded for a week and still seem fine. So if we have survived until now and we're still looking this good I feel we might be out of the woods. Hope so!
Because the next generation is coming...
Ten days from seed, these are looking exactly the way I like them...three inches wide and an inch tall. Strong start=strong life.
So I have 20 days at the most to finish Phase Two. Maybe less. I'm still waiting on delivery of my new lights so I'm kind of hostage to that since I prefer to hang the lights before I build the bucket system. The lights are surprisingly heavy and I don't want to be dancing around in the middle of all those tubes and buckets. I plan to go back Sunday. Hopefully I get the lights by then.
The fantasy of a 5-pound harvest fills my dreams ...
Ya never know. On we roll.
Peace, Hyena
Here's a mid-week HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update.
Just got up to the GH yesterday and saw how everything is operating after a full week away...
It's operating.
Every leaf is deep green and perfect down to the molecules in the tips. I've never had such robust plants. That's saying something.
Everyone looks healthy and beautiful to my relief. Almost too perfect...then I thought about it and I guess I've never had even close to perfect conditions in the attic lab. I was always fighting extremes of temperature, both ambient and reservoir. Now I've got them in a near-flawless environment...averaging 80 degrees, with great food, a gentle breeze and more light than the law should allow. I think I'm finally seeing all the cannabis plant can be. And it's awesome.
So the first real SCROGGING. Turns out even as small as they still are it took 2 hours of careful work to get the bulk of the grow spread out under the screen and remove about a hundred huge fan leaves. Here's how it looked when it was finished...
I am salivating to see what another week of dynamic growth looks like. I have no idea when I should flip, since I want maximum density and yet I don't know how much these will stretch and they could get away vertically. I don't know how close to these lights the tips can get, either...I am getting this amazing growth with the lights all at maximum height. Every foot they grow they get that much more light and if it's doing this much for them way down there I can't imagine the cola density this might produce but at what point do they start to fry? My insurance policy is each light has a dimmer and I can dial them down to 50% if necessary but I doubt that will be necessary. So far so good.
So I worked for several more hours to run the wiring for Phase Two, then the obligatory yard work that I have to do every visit. I waited the same as last time for the 6:00 pm automatic startup of the fill pump for the first of the four daily 11-minute fill cycles. I piddled until after 6:11 and then realized the fill pump was still running...huh? Great, a new anomaly when I thought I'd got everything perfect. Thought about it for a minute then realized it could only be an error in the event programming on the timer. Checked and sure enough, one teensy, weensy mistake...the OFF for event 1 was...6:11 AM.
All this means is every day for a week the system flooded continuously for 12 hours. Every day the roots were fully immersed for 12 hours...plus an additional flood and drain cycle at 11:00 am!
Okay at this point I'm no longer surprised when I make a mistake. I'm just trying to survive my own control of this project long enough to get it going.
But it might explain the explosive growth and perfect condition. Hmmmmmmm... Now I'll be thinking about extending the soak time since 12 1/2 hours of immersion per day didn't seem to hurt a thing. Is it a way to get more growth though? I doesn't know but it's a new thing to play with grow by grow. I imagine this is kind of like how it feels going from high school football coach to the major college ranks...I've always thought I could do this on a larger scale but to actually be coaching my first game at this level so to speak is both thrilling and intimidating. The price of a mistake that ruins this grow is probably about ten grand so I don't want to make that fatal error, and I've basically tried. They have been in total darkness for a week and also been flooded for a week and still seem fine. So if we have survived until now and we're still looking this good I feel we might be out of the woods. Hope so!
Because the next generation is coming...
Ten days from seed, these are looking exactly the way I like them...three inches wide and an inch tall. Strong start=strong life.
So I have 20 days at the most to finish Phase Two. Maybe less. I'm still waiting on delivery of my new lights so I'm kind of hostage to that since I prefer to hang the lights before I build the bucket system. The lights are surprisingly heavy and I don't want to be dancing around in the middle of all those tubes and buckets. I plan to go back Sunday. Hopefully I get the lights by then.
The fantasy of a 5-pound harvest fills my dreams ...
Ya never know. On we roll.
Peace, Hyena
Highya HM,
Most awesome update. The first grow house ladies are looking very nice. I remember the scroggs you used to do in the attic. Looks like this one has them beat! Do you think 5 lbs is a high enough estimate? I know you're not pushing the envelope with estimating. Even with the little snafoos, you're looking like you'll beat your last grow! And then, you have round 2 coming. Will be most awesome with 2 rooms running wide open.
So, are you going to buy another growhouse next year?!? Someone needs to put insane ideas in your head! Cheers
Most awesome update. The first grow house ladies are looking very nice. I remember the scroggs you used to do in the attic. Looks like this one has them beat! Do you think 5 lbs is a high enough estimate? I know you're not pushing the envelope with estimating. Even with the little snafoos, you're looking like you'll beat your last grow! And then, you have round 2 coming. Will be most awesome with 2 rooms running wide open.
So, are you going to buy another growhouse next year?!? Someone needs to put insane ideas in your head! Cheers
Latitude17
Well-Known Member
Some notes when I switched to flood/drain:
- more feeding (flooding) cycles will push your RH up. Not a bad thing, but needs to be accounted for
- I've done everything from 2x per 24hrs to 1x every 2hrs on cycles times. For the current run, I've settled at 15 minute flood/drain cycle every 2hrs, 24/7, and my plants love it. This works well for an all-hydroton setup, with perlite retaining much more moisture over time ... less is more.
- lots of supporting reading done on feeding just after lights on and just before lights off, will be doing exactly that on this next run and noting the differences in growth if any. That will be the last of my 24 clones, so from a scientific standpoint - my last chance at comparing different conditions on the genetically same plant.
- Thread starter
- #1,500
Love your updates still HM - you've directly had an impact on my growing, and now I'm eyeing a dedicated facility for ... "research". Have you considered using a cloner instead of popping seeds all the time?
Thanks Lat, I have considered clones but (A) I live in Ohio and I wouldn't know where to get them and (B) Seeds don't come with mites, fungi, diseases, and other stuff I don't want or need. Plus I get awesome results with seeds so I guess the bottom line is there are many equally valid ways to skin a cat.
I also want to know where that expression came from. We don't eat cats so why would we skin them?
Peace, Hyena