A New Grower's Guide - Scrog - Soil - HPS - Air Pots - White Rhino

[hodder356]

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A New Grower's Guide to Scrogging!

Hello everybody! welcome all, especially all of you new growers. This is a journal where I will attempt to help new growers avoid some of the problems that usually plague newbies. The goal will be to show simple indoor soil growing while using the Scrog (Screen of Green) method. Here is what we are working with:

Strain: Nirvana Seeds' White Rhino
Soil: Fox Farms Ocean Forest
Container: Super Roots Air Pots
Light: One 2' T5 Fluorescent for Veg, Two 150 watt HPS lamps (1 for veg, 2 for Flower)
Nutrients: Fox Farms Trio
Also:
2'x2' grow tent
4'' inline exhuast fan
small criculating clip fan

So seeing as how we have decided to grow indoors (very wise of you), it is time to begin. First remember to read everything you can in the Grow Room here on the site. Next, it is time to acquire seeds. You might try one of the sponsors here on 420, they work great. I chose White Rhino from Nirvana, feminized, for the best chances of a female plant. The strain has great Indica genetics and is potent, great for small indoor growing, which is what we are doing. To obtain all the equipment listed above, you will have to invest a little cash, but as you know already, it will be well worth it! I will be explaining step by step how I achieve great indoor success for a small scale grower. So sit back, and let's watch over the next two month while this pretty White Rhino lady puts on a show!

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[hodder356]

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Step 1: Germination

So once you get your hands on some great seeds, its time to germ. First I shook my seed inside a rolled up piece of sand-paper to make the seed more able to absorb water. I like to soak my seed in water for 12 hours, in darkness, before planting in the soil. My Soil is mostly Fox Farms with 10% added perlite and 10% added peat moss. After soaking, plant the seed in lightly damp soil, just barely below the surface.

I am using this cool fixture for the seedling phase of things. Flouro's will keep your area cool and the plant short and bushy. I am using this plastic tub with vent holes for early vegetative growth. it is painted white to reflect light.

Keep the soil moist but not drenched until the seedling breaks the surface. I keep the lights on 24 hours for Veg. A humidity dome will keep the area like an Amazon paradise for the young seed.

Once she breaks free, keep a gentle fan going to strengthen the stem. Keep the light close to induce bushing. Water when your pot feels light, dry-ish soil will keep roots going deep.

Keep the temps like a warm, sunny day.

This little plant is doing great, almost ready for some LST.

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[hodder356]

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Step 2: Vegetative Growth and LST

To keep the plant happy, water when the pot is light, and when you do water, give the plant a good soaking, until water runs out the bottom. No nutrients will be applied until flowering phase. We are keeping this grow simple, so if your humidity dips below the 40's, just spray the plant with a spray bottle to keep her moist. Remember, think rain forest climate lol. you will want the air drier when the flowering cycle comes around.

After a few weeks, or when the plant is about 5'' tall, it is time for Low Stress Training, or LST. The reason we are doing a scrog, is to maximize the amount of colas in a nice even canopy for even light dispersement. We will achieve this by having a VERY bushy, short plant. LST is when we tie down branches to keep the plant low, and encourage branching. I use mason string and duct tape to tie down using the rim of the pot.

The more branches you tie down, the bushier the plant will become.

After the plant is about twice the diameter of the pot, it is time to transplant. (You could always plant your seed in the final large pot for the entire veg phase and skip transplanting). As you can see the roots should be bright and healthy, I slice the roots a little with a knife to encourage spreading in the new pot.

We are using Super Roots Air Pots for this grow. there are great videos all over the web showing how these pots work. Basically they allow great air flow to the roots. If you have seen bubbling hydro setups, it is the same principle: air is good for your roots! Fox Farms soil comes already with some strong nutrients in it, so the plant is nice and healthy. After I transplant, I put white pebbles from the garden store to keep the soil moist at the surface, and to reflect light back up into the plant.

Over the next many weeks, we will continue to tie the branches down to spread them out. Also we will be cutting fan leaves away (defoliating), to encourage more branches to sprout out. I cut leaves away every couple week during the Veg phase.

After the plant gets bigger, I like to add one 150 watt HPS light along with the fluorescent. I feel like the HPS bulb is like a little sun in there, strong light = strong plant. when thinking how high to keep the light away from the plant, if you can hold the back of your hand under light, and it is warm and comfy, that is a good height.

Once your plant is pretty spread into the tent, it is time to think about a screen, its Scrog time!

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[hodder356]

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Step 3: Scrog

When your plant is almost touching the side of the tent, its time to place the screen just over the plant, fixed in place. My tent is 2' x 2', so this is also the size of the screen. The screen is made by stringing a wooden frame with the same mason string, nice and tight. since other growers suggest it, the grid is 2'' x 2''.

For a couple more weeks, keep tucking branches under the grid and cutting a few leaves away to allow shorter branches to reach the screen. We wait until almost the entire screen is full to switch to the 12/12 flowering light cycle.

As you can see the screen is just about full and I'm thinking it is time for flowering! This plant vegged for about two and a half months, hopefully it was worth such a long wait.

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[hodder356]

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Step 4: Flowering

Day 1 of 12/12

So after all that time vegging, it is finally time to flower and switch to 12 hours light and 12 hours dark. Before the cycle change, I left the plant in 36 hours of darkness to really kick start budding. For this phase we remove the fluorescent and add the second 150 watt HPS. 300 watts of HPS is pretty good for a small 2' x 2' tent, these are gonna make some sticky buds!

This inline fan has been in the tent the whole time gently sucking air out the top through some ducting. without this fan, growing indoors would be very hard. Fresh air is key to an enclosed small grow. There is a vent flap in the back of tent that passively lets fresh air in, the small circulating fan moves the air, and the in-line fan sucks the air out.

So now the plant is chilling under the two HPS lights, just waiting to explode with buds. It is officially day one of 12/12! We will add the first dose of Fox Farms nutrients this week.

This last pic shows how the screen is nice and full for flowering. Now the plant is going to stretch up towards the light considerably. for now we won't cut any leaves off for a couple weeks at least. We may still do a little moving of branches, but nothing major. The flowering phase is when the plant is a little more susceptible to stress, so keep her calm and happy lol. For now we will leave the lights a little high, and then drop them down after the big stretch.

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[hodder356]

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So there you have it everybody. Vegetative growth is done and now for the Flowering fun! This journal will be updated frequently with updates from the screen. New growers: please ask questions and post anything related to growing. Veteran growers: feel free to critique all you'd like, again this journal is for showing very simple indoor soil scrogging. Stay tuned for updates, happy growing y'all!

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[KingJohnC]

subscribed. good journal!

 

[hodder356]

subscribed. good journal!

Awesome! welcome aboard King! its nice to have some royalty here to class up the journal, lol. I can't wait to see how this new strain for me turns out. speaking of kings....don't forget to watch the season finale of Game of Thrones! gonna be EPIC!

Happy growing!

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[Spimp]

sub'd

 

[dutch dragon]

Nice little how to for beginners,
Id like to add that you can fill the screen in 4 weeks with 4 plants. Cant wait to see that big bad girl show off her stuff. subd and reps.

 

[hodder356]

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sub'd

Nice little how to for beginners,
Id like to add that you can fill the screen in 4 weeks with 4 plants. Cant wait to see that big bad girl show off her stuff. subd and reps.

Thanks for the great support guys! Yeah, I think Ill try two plants at once if I do another scrog Dutch. well I guess its time for a quick update.....

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[hodder356]

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Day 5 of 12/12

So welcome back everyone. My little learning scrog is progressing nicely. She is just starting to put out lots of the beautiful white pistils. one more week and we should really see some bud sites. She has been given the first week of Fox Farms Trio nutrients for flowering, at half strength. I always start the flowering phase with VERY light nutrients to avoid shocking the plant.

Lights on:

Lights off for better look:

Side view, In 16 days most of this under-growth will be removed for better cola production:

Just starting to show some skin lol:

And the filling canopy:

I can't wait for the big defoliation on day 21....Stay tuned everyone! Happy growing y'all!

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[Parkview]

Subscribed. I'm a noobie and appreciate the detailed step by step.
Looking forward to more.

 

[JB42]

Yo Hodder, subbed here man.

Love the detailed step by step journal. Good work! Cant wait to see how this turns out.

O yeah Gam3 of Thr0nes last episode was Epic! Khalise is about to kill it! Dragon time.......Next year....too long

 

[Lester Freeman]

Yeah I like your style, subbed, good use of space and LST/defol work.
Looks like it's going to be a nice bloom.

 

[hodder356]

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Subscribed. I'm a noobie and appreciate the detailed step by step.
Looking forward to more.

Yo Hodder, subbed here man.

Love the detailed step by step journal. Good work! Cant wait to see how this turns out.

O yeah Gam3 of Thr0nes last episode was Epic! Khalise is about to kill it! Dragon time.......Next year....too long

Yeah I like your style, subbed, good use of space and LST/defol work.
Looks like it's going to be a nice bloom.

Wow, thanks guys for that. I really just wanted to show how simple soil is to work with for new growers, very forgiving. I can't wait to see how this White Rhino turns out, its one of those old fabled stains that has a reputation for being potent, so I hope it turns out killer lol. Feel free to ask anything Parkview, welcome aboard everybody! Stay tuned for updates soon!

(Sooo long of a wait for Game of Thrones.....lol)

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[Harley001]

Very interested in your journal it has open up my mind to a different way to grow props man

 

[Backpackin420]

Followed your link when you posted in my log, Impressive Hodder!! Do you think something like this would be feasible with my setup? If so Should I start LST now?

 

[Parkview]

Is there some benefit to making a screen from string, as opposed to using a plastic or wire type of mesh or fencing material?

 

[hodder356]

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Very interested in your journal it has open up my mind to a different way to grow props man

Thanks man! I remember when I first saw a scrog, I thought: "I cannot wait to do that!!!" I really just want to find the easiest way to maximize yield in my little tent. Most would say a regular Sea of Green would be best but I'm way more comfortable with 1 plant, not 20 little ones lol.

Followed your link when you posted in my log, Impressive Hodder!! Do you think something like this would be feasible with my setup? If so Should I start LST now?

Well it never hurts to try things at least once lol. I would eventually like to try many different growing techniques, A huge 10' outdoor monster would be nice to grow someday...Also you can start LST as soon as the plant is a few inches tall, during Veg most plants are pretty resilient, a little smacking around won't hurt them lol.

Is there some benefit to making a screen from string, as opposed to using a plastic or wire type of mesh or fencing material?

I used string and wood because I could easily build a screen to my exact size, 2' x 2'. I have also seen great success with chicken wire and even wooden fencing. I think my mason string is nice and gentle on the plant, plus my grid is 2'' X 2'', I looked around a hardware store and didn't see anything that would match my specs lol. I would say, any way you can rig up a screen will probably work though.

Thanks so much for stopping by guys! happy growing y'all! Can't wait for the next update!

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