Jon's Sneak It In Auto Grow

[Jon]

Gorilla Zkittlez
Day 30

One month in! So what I often do is, as the colas get pulled out further and further, I remove the fans that block the new shoots. Almost always this includes the inner leaf of the pair atop each cola, which tends to stick straight up and is a pain in the ass. This allows max light to the new growth, which is what fills in the canopy. In theory, with a photo, and enough extra support, one could create a canopy a block wide if they wanted. Just keep going wide and exposing new growth to light. Sounds a bit easier than it is, you have to be reasonably careful to not take too many leaves, but as long as you’re still firmly in veg - leaves will grow back. Lol. I’ve never trained autos this way - ie, exactly like photos if I was going for a canopy. I’ve always been too paranoid that I’ll be in the thick of it and suddenly they flip and I’m left with a crap canopy. But this grow I know at least the six tent plants are all 30-40 veg day plants. That’s plenty of time. It’s the 22 day veg autos that screw you. Lmao. Limit you, to be more precise.

Veg time. That’s all I ask the Auto Gods for.

Here’s the GZ a month in, and you can see how sweetly the new growth is creating the actual full canopy you want. I expect to see pistils on her this week.

 

[Jon]

How the F—k you like me now?



One side finished. That took a bit of thought. I tried to position it where it would best affect the lower buds post stretch. Guessing to an extent. Not much room so had to get creative. This will have to do. The light is at 25%.

 

[NickHardy]

- can only do one.

Siiide lights hooo!



Nick

 

[Jon]

Done!
@ViparSpectra

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present my pair of ViparSpectra XS1500 Pros as our newest sidelight addition to the tent!

Valerie was psyched I found a way to incorporate them into the grow and thinks they’ll work well.

They are static unfortunately, but I believe they are fairly well positioned to illuminate the lowest part of the plant post stretch.

For the moment both lights are at 25%. Even with just that it’s way bright in here. I can’t really capture it in photos. It’s fricking bright. Lol!

And so we discover yet another awesome use for this highly portable, highly powerful light! Bravo ViparSpectra!

So now we watch. This ought to be fun.

Thanks Valerie for your input on this, and @Hafta as well.

 

[Jon]

L

 

[Kanno26]

Done!
@ViparSpectra

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present my pair of ViparSpectra XS1500 Pros as our newest sidelight addition to the tent!

Valerie was psyched I found a way to incorporate them into the grow and thinks they’ll work well.

They are static unfortunately, but I believe they are fairly well positioned to illuminate the lowest part of the plant post stretch.

For the moment both lights are at 25%. Even with just that it’s way bright in here. I can’t really capture it in photos. It’s fricking bright. Lol!

And so we discover yet another awesome use for this highly portable, highly powerful light! Bravo ViparSpectra!

So now we watch. This ought to be fun.

Thanks Valerie for your input on this, and @Hafta as well.

Hi @Jon, looks good nice job are you going to move the Skylight somehow or will they be in the same place the whole time?

 

[Jon]

Hi @Jon, looks good nice job are you going to move the Skylight somehow or will they be in the same place the whole time?

Hi @Kanno26 - nope. What you see is what they get. Nothing moves unless I need to raise the overhead light. The best part is, the @ViparSpectra 1500XS Pros are so good on heat dissipation that even with them running I’m maxed at 83 degrees in the hottest part of the day. Awesome.

 

[Jon]

Hi @Kanno26 - nope. What you see is what they get. Nothing moves unless I need to raise the overhead light. The best part is, the @ViparSpectra 1500XS Pros are so good on heat dissipation that even with them running I’m maxed at 83 degrees in the hottest part of the day. Awesome.

And if absolutely necessary, I actually can raise the side lights, by lifting up the horizontal bars on either side and providing support for the bases of those vertical poles. I retained flexibility.

 

[Jon]

Garden Looking Forward

These three are my first concern. As you can see, we are just about out of left to right space on this side. The canopies are beginning to more than touch. Even spreading them max wide, they’ll be too wide shortly for three across. I have the same issue on the other side but it’s controlled by the youth of the Apple Fritter and its smallness. But that’s going to present the same issue shortly. So once again I start thinking about arrangement. The only other option is to keep them as is and go tall. But then we get into unpredictable stretches due to extra long stems pre-stretch. If everyone is a wide, flat, low canopy, they will all stretch much more similarly, which is the idea, and best case scenario for effective light usage. Hmm….

 

[StoneOtter]

Nice work Jon! Couldn't do that with a light with a ballast attached! @ViparSpectra for the win!

 

[Jon]

Further Training and Defoliation

It’s a full time job in this scenario.

Here’s the back side, in order of
PMC #1
Gigantic Dos Si Dos
PMC #2

All tricked out. Look past the two large pairs of fans I kept for now.

 

[Jon]

Nice work Jon! Couldn't do that with a light with a ballast attached! @ViparSpectra for the win!

Thanks @StoneOtter! By ballast do you mean the drivers? I ask because I did not remove the drivers. They are what is sitting on the horizontal cross bars. I could have removed them but I found this easier.

 

[Jon]

Here’s a neat thing I’ve learned also works to train and control. Tuck branches under branches to aim them where you want. Here’s some examples. Hard to see but look closely.

 

[NickHardy]

Yep. Once I got over the the “gulp” factor twisting, rolling and bending the branches is easy.

For chumps like me that realise they’re 3 weeks behind training with no easy way to provide artificial supports its a boon - anything that offers some resistance, right?

With me recently with the sativas particularly its more often been the plants one or even two spots away providing that

Nick

 

[Jon]

Yep. Once I got over the the “gulp” factor twisting, rolling and bending the branches is easy.

For chumps like me that realise they’re 3 weeks behind training with no easy way to provide artificial supports its a boon - anything that offers some resistance, right?

With me recently with the sativas particularly its more often been the plants one or even two spots away providing that

Nick

That’s exactly it @NickHardy - you first gotta get over the “gulp” factor. It’s real. But once you realize how silly that gulp actually is you’re free to twist it like a pretzel. Whatever works. The plant will take it. And I would say everything is easier with sativas.

 

[Jon]

A little rearranging…

After 24 hours and the Apple Fritter ceasing to pray I realize that the side lights add up with the overhead to too much light for a plant its age and size. But the Gorilla Zkittlez is perfect for here. So now we will have the two smallest plants in the blurple closet and the more mature ones all here. Duh. I shouldn’t have taken 24 hours to realize that but hey, I have a life too. Lol!

Here’s the GZ and new look tent. Much better.

 

[Jon]

Blurple Closet

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

Must be nice to have a blurple closet!

I gave all mine away (my blurples not my closets) and now wish I hadn't because they can come in handy at times.

 

[Jon]

Must be nice to have a blurple closet!

I gave all mine away (my blurples not my closets) and now wish I hadn't because they can come in handy at times.

Yup. They work great for early veg when the light is relatively irrelevant.

 

[CaptainLucky]

Thanks @StoneOtter! By ballast do you mean the drivers? I ask because I did not remove the drivers. They are what is sitting on the horizontal cross bars. I could have removed them but I found this easier.

I seen the screws but how can you remove it without having a longer cord from the driver? CL Edit: The reason why I asked is I have a XS-1500 Pro also and thought about removing it.