The Capn's Simple Hydroponics Cook Off - Goal: 1lb Indoors - Journal

[s1ingblade]

So I am back home now for a night and I will head back out and be there until we flip on Sunday. "Flip or Bust!"
The hardest thing I am dealing with now is the conditions in my area. We are on flash flood alert as the entire area is at full saturation. It is now taking me over 2 hours one way when it usually 75 mins
Somethings up with the servers cause for a while now I cant upload a single pic. Well I will show em later.
Two days got some good work done. Veg room is moved, army cots moved and the new room is getting close enough that soon I will do a ili touch up painting and hang the lamps.
I will finish updating later when I can upload pics again
Changed the 400 watt metal halide via mag ballast and installed my 1000 watt dimmable ballast in my "El Ocho" 8 inch xxxl magnum air cooled hood. Cant run it more than 50% right now but regardless this is the first time in my growing career that I am running more watts in the veg than the flower room. Reason being too many plants in veg compared to flowering. Sunday will resolve all that

 

[Skybound]

I know African Grower was also having issues uploading photos, so if you're geographically close it may be your local hub, but more likely it is the 420 server that is having the issue. Maybe wait a day to try and upload, and focus most, if not all of your attention to getting your flower room running full screw to give the Cap'n the competition of a lifetime. Which brings my next question, did you guys make a Champion belt or some kind of trophy that the winner can parade around till a challenger makes an effort to get it? I know the cook off is all fun and love amongst growers, and maybe that level of competition might be unstoner like, but was wondering how that would resonate? Happy building s1ing an best of luck on both you, and Cap'n's grows!!

 

[s1ingblade]

i feel like a winner already, much thanks and appreciation goes out to the cap'n as if it weren't for him i wouldn't be growing this way

 

[s1ingblade]

Im back at the cabin for what I am calling my "Flip or Bust" trip. I will stay as long as it takes to get the 4000 watts running correctly. Already wishing i took more time to really put my six by six screen on paper as i got a few parts missing that would make it So much easier. Only way im leaving is if i start leaking or theres a part i just have to have. That's one benefit from having junk laying around since 2004 lol, ill find something.
First known big oops: didnt take into account for the door that swings inside the room and the first or last lamp which ever youd like to call it won't fit in the center of the room, unless i dont mind crawling thru the window? nah got to be the KING of my cabin.
If the servers would allow uploads I'd show you my new partner, well call her the grodan girl lol, at least i hope shes female?

 

[s1ingblade]

Dont forget Sunday the 15th at ten pm PST is flip day 1, I'll have as close to live pics as possible. So people its about ready to get real interesting.
Left to complete needed tasks!
"I'll Be Back!"

 

[s1ingblade]

Dedication

Im telling ya this area is fully saturated. Now its all run off no absorption. Tonight is quickly coming to an end but will be back at it early tomorrow. Here is a pic of the cook off cap style plants two days before flip. I'd love it if we had another week lol

I want to intrude ya to Grodan my partner

Quick pic of the room getting close. I gotta touch up some paint, build three more tray stands and hang the lights and air cond, two wall mounts and its time to double check. My whole schedule. Is off this month but im hoping great things will come to those who wait?

Ill be here working thru Sunday maybe even monday to monitor. Ill be on and off tomorrow and will update later in the day.
Hope all yall had an awesome Friday night, Hawaiian style of course
Remember what Pinkman said "I'm the King!"

 

[SWvoodoo]

Love the lil grow buddy! That's it next insectivore I find is comin growin with me!
Looks like you're a very busy boy s1ing! Best of luck with it all.

 

[s1ingblade]

Very busy indeed, luckily Mrs. s1ingblade is understanding.
So i was able to test fire 3000 watts of Super HPS and wow is all i can say, couldn't see right for about five mins and i walked outside in the sunshine lol. Once the entry plant is moved i can take down the fourth ballast and put it in the new room where it belongs. So here's a behind the scenes look at my 9.5 by 19 foot flowering room.

Those are some of the clones i can choose from and load up that room. One thing that stumps me is if i want a harvest each 30 days but totally fill up the room now hows that going to work? Cant imagine enjoying a half filled room for 30 days and with the market about ready to be "Flooded" I need to be making wise choices. Please advise, anyone lol

 

[Skybound]

How would your room be half full every 30? I think you misplaced a figure b/c if you are harvesting every 30, then half the room is ready to harvest and the other half 30 days behind. That feeds your average 8 week flower cycle, no? Just have clones good and vegged for when the harvest occurs and immediately after harvest, move them into the vacant spots.

Awesome pics BTW, I wish I could grow in a place like that!

Someday Skybound, someday ...............

 

[s1ingblade]

How would your room be half full every 30? I think you misplaced a figure b/c if you are harvesting every 30, then half the room is ready to harvest and the other half 30 days behind. That feeds your average 8 week flower cycle, no? Just have clones good and vegged for when the harvest occurs and immediately after harvest, move them into the vacant spots.

Awesome pics BTW, I wish I could grow in a place like that!

Someday Skybound, someday ...............

I meant re the first load. Sorry, if i only load it halfway now and then the rest in thirty alls good, but if i load it all the way now and then in 63 days chop the whole room sometime im going to have to sit there with half the room empty to ever get that harvest each month or close to it. Theoretically I'd produce half room more if i stuck to full room harvests .. But only that one time. Sorry sky im confusing myself.. also sky it took me well over 13 years to get to this point, dont happen over night unless your names Rockefeller. Took me five years just to get the Ranch. Shoot its been since 2004 that i got the property. I've been putting the cabin together for well over two years. So yeah your right if you want it bad enough to sacrifice stuff like new play stations and fancy cars and clothes and if your patient then yes someday sky someday. Its worth the wait IMHO but it aint easy cause i too like stuff right now! Lol

So todays day one, well for me it will start tonight at ten pm. Stick around folks between what im doing and what the cap'n is doing its going to get real interesting. Im not sure about cap but im going to update once a week, it'll either be Sunday night but MIT have to wait till Monday.
Cant wait to see what you got going on cap'n.

 

[mcloadie]

here it is bro, fill the room...keep it full....you fill it the first time.....hopefully the plants finish a little ways apart....or you're there forever trimming. Just keep it in flower and never stop...........you may have it all come in at once....maybe not...just keep it full!

 

[TheCapn]

here it is bro, fill the room...keep it full....you fill it the first time.....hopefully the plants finish a little ways apart....or you're there forever trimming. Just keep it in flower and never stop...........you may have it all come in at once....maybe not...just keep it full!

+1

Empty floor space in the flower room = lost donations per minute.

 

[solocup]

Very busy indeed, luckily Mrs. s1ingblade is understanding.
So i was able to test fire 3000 watts of Super HPS and wow is all i can say, couldn't see right for about five mins and i walked outside in the sunshine lol. Once the entry plant is moved i can take down the fourth ballast and put it in the new room where it belongs. So here's a behind the scenes look at my 9.5 by 19 foot flowering room.

Those are some of the clones i can choose from and load up that room. One thing that stumps me is if i want a harvest each 30 days but totally fill up the room now hows that going to work? Cant imagine enjoying a half filled room for 30 days and with the market about ready to be "Flooded" I need to be making wise choices. Please advise, anyone lol

I run into that same problem everytime I think I can run a sog.Cant seem to leave half a room/tent empty its like a waist of space to me and it ends up being a bad idea because I have to wait 8 week over and over again.

 

[TheCapn]

>>>if i load it all the way now and then in 63 days chop the whole room sometime im going to have to sit there with half the room empty to ever get that harvest each month or close to it

Very true. I see what you're saying here. There will be empty floor space now or later either way. It's always hard changing schedules. It seems to always take me a few months to get in a rhythm.

 

[mcloadie]

>>>if i load it all the way now and then in 63 days chop the whole room sometime im going to have to sit there with half the room empty to ever get that harvest each month or close to it

Very true. I see what you're saying here. There will be empty floor space now or later either way. It's always hard changing schedules. It seems to always take me a few months to get in a rhythm.

The only empty floor space you should ever have is where the younger plants will fill in. I visited a huge gold mine in ca., the owners used to live there during the summer and the house (mansion) was in a pretty close proximity to the crusher. The crusher is noisy as hell as it consists of the huge steel rods that go up on a cam and drop sharply on the ore.....noisy at a half mile. I asked if the owners ever had any problems with the noise from this thing, the tour guide said this; " the only problem they had was when the noise stopped". I said; "because they had gotten used to the sound?". The tour guide said "no", it was because it wasn't making money when it wasn't running". Empire mine, grass valley, ca.. I predict that eventually you will be running fewer plants, but they will be larger.

 

[Skybound]

Assuming you have as many vegged to fill your flower, then fill your flower room to the hilt, take some clones (or have them growing already) and do your thing for 4 weeks. Take a mid point inventory, maybe there'll be half the room in flower that is doing absolutely fantastic, and the other half just really good. Take the ones doing really good and reveg them, slow them down, give them away, experiment in other ways whatever, and swap in the absolute best of your vegged plants that you want to bring into flower. Maybe this number is not exactly 50/50, it will be whatever you want it to be, but irregardless of what the solution to this dilemma is, positive use of time on all aspects of your grow will not be adverse to that objective.

 

[shottafire]

I like skybounds advice. Just make sure to try and take cuts everyvtwo weeks. Its better to throw them away then to not have them when you need em.

 

[TheCapn]

12 pages of chit chat and we're finally ready to flower.

For those people just joining us, I would like to do a "recap" of where we are now.

Purpose of this journal: S1ing and I hope to give a good show to our subscribers. This is a combined journal. Two growers, one plant each. The goal is 1lb (final dry yield) per plant. I will try to update every couple weeks for the next two months. In my updates, seasoned growers will see I tend to explain things thoroughly, as if I were talking to a beginner grower. I will also try to type clearly, proof-read, and keep this as easy to understand as possible.

This "cook off" is not a "contest" to see who can grow the biggest or most yield. S1ing and I are growing two completely different strains. If this were a real contest I'm sure s1ing would outgrow me in a minute. He has many more years of experience than I. This cook off is to demonstrate the simplicity of growing in rockwool, and the advantages to vegging longer, and growing fewer plants. ("vegging": The vegetative growth stage.) I have been using this method of growing for some time now and after trying DWC, ebb and flow, aero and a few other methods, I have found top feed rockwool to be the easiest (yes, easier than dirt) and most fool proof method for growing large one pound yield plants. This will be s1ing's first true grow in rockwool, so we will see how this grow goes for him, compared to his dirt grows. From his pics above, it's going outstanding so far!

What will be common on the two grows is this:

Grow method = Recirculating TOP FEED: one 5.8 super-roots airpot full of grodan grow-cubes, stoner dictionary: "croutons".
Lighting: 600-1000 watts
Both plants have been trained to grow horizontal during vegetative growth, instead of vertical (since this is an indoor grow).

Everything else is open game. I'll start by a recap of what I've done so far. I started from clone of TGA Orange. This particular pheno does not produce big colas, however it does produce very nice hard buds, and the smoke is premium. For vegetative growth, I have been growing it under a 400watt Metal halide, and I have been top feeding (to waste) once a day (twice a day for the last few weeks.) "To waste" means I do not re-use the water. I am using General Hydroponics 3 part nutrients, plus florablend, calimagic, and a dash of liquid seaweed. Also I am brewing heisenberg's tea recipe and adding tea once a week.

In order to prepare an indoor plant to grow a pound, there are many things that need to be done during vegetative growth. Read my "Bend and top your way to a monster" article for details. Bottom line.. before going to flower you should have at least 40 tops, 40+ smaller bud sites under the canopy, and your plant should be roughly a 36" ball (36" in diameter, 36" tall).

Enough talk, here are pictures. I am starting 12/12 light cycle today (stoner dictionary: FLIP).

The 6gal air pot is sitting directly on a 27gal tote, with 10 gallons of water in it. Water is pumped top feed, 4 times a day.

A week ago, I took about 1/2 dozen tiny branches off the bottom of the plant. I take them off because they will never get light. I have taken a dozen fan leaves off the bottom of the plant also. Over the next 2 weeks, I will monitor and remove a few leaves and tiny bud sites here and there that don't get light. I tend to error on the side of not taking enough off, rather than taking too much off.

As I lower the net down, I spread out branches and point them toward the outside, attempting to fill any blank spaces. I am also careful not to break any branches. In 24 hours, branches will turn up to the light and start growing thru the screen. As they stretch, I'll pull them back under, and point them to the next square in the net.

Notice how I've used the net simply to spread out the plant. By using the trellis this way, we get more light in the inside of the plant, and small sub branches will then get light and grow big buds. Later, the SCROG will serve the purpose of holding up branches so they do not fall under the weight of the buds.

That's all for me. I will see you in two weeks. I look forward to s1ing's pictures.

 

[Skybound]

You could probably make another feeder bar like pictured above with a funnel to be used for emergency hand feeding.

 

[shottafire]

Very nice capn. I am eager to see the orange girl go off. I have ran it before and liked it very much. Just popped a couple of them a couple weeks ago.

cheers everyone and sling nice room my friend.