Utopian Submarine - 2000W, Indoor, Perpetual

[Green Utopia]

Re: WP's philosophy on SCROG

Good stuff WP!

I'll be cutting and pasting that into my growing grow tips file. I was under the impression that you would weave the branches through the screen until it was about half full then 12/12 them and keep weaving as the plant goes thru stretch.

My biggest hold back was the hassle of trying to fix the screen over the tub when I like to move my tubs around. This grow I made some dollies for the tubs and I can just attach my frame for a screen to the dollie. I figure to make the screen 4-6" longer and wider than the tub and about 1 ft above the top. It will mean a different way to nute change but I'm not doing that anyhow so no big deal. lol

The old gears are spinning now. Thanks much for the great info. I'd rep ya but it won't let me so I'll have to spread the love and get back to you.

C'ya.

Awesome. Go to Munki's journal. He has awesome pics of his frame. He had netting that seems to work very well. Mine is nylon extruded clothesline. Sells for 5.95 for 50' at Ace hardware - no idea where for you. It was a perfect 50 feet each direction for my 30"x48" screen (approx. since one edge is not square) for a total of 100'. Total cost of PVC and clothesline was less than $25.It took about an hour to measure and cut all the pvc, a half hour to drill all the holes, about an hour and half to weave it - and that's it. Place it in. move plants under it as necessary.

Last bit of advice. Don't start your one plant in the middle. Start it near one end then grow it long. You could likely fill a 2 or 3' x whatever length scrog with one plant in no time.

 

[OldMedUser]

This has got to be done. I just measured a lid and a 2x2.5 ft screen would be perfect for a 400W HPS. 80W/ft^2 is plenty for great buds. I don't much care if I get one monster cola or not, it's pretty easy to see from that pic of yours that I could likely double my yields with less plants. I've got a small roll of sheep wire that should work ok and most of the rest of the stuff I need, so why the hell not eh.

 

[Green Utopia]

This has got to be done. I just measured a lid and a 2x2.5 ft screen would be perfect for a 400W HPS. 80W/ft^2 is plenty for great buds. I don't much care if I get one monster cola or not, it's pretty easy to see from that pic of yours that I could likely double my yields with less plants. I've got a small roll of sheep wire that should work ok and most of the rest of the stuff I need, so why the hell not eh.

Power to ya my brother!!

 

[Green Utopia]

Just a tiny update. Pics to come later. Got the first plant of the current batch of veg up to flower area.

I am a little bugged at myself right now for making a rookie mistake and not having the last bin and reservoir here yet. They will arrive 3 days after I would have like to have them. That's the one for the moms. And because its not here - the other is too crowded and with mixed age plants. So the nutes are a little strong for the smallest and a little weak for the biggest.

Also, I need to take clones from the three nicest NYCD before they get moved up to flower. And they will need to go where the Barney's seedlings are now. So, basically not having that other bin here is really screwing me for a few days. Not the end of the world, and theoretically it hits my 1 month schedule. The ones in veg were seeded the 11th.

I'm very much debating about whether the future cycles should be slowed to 6 weeks, allowing another two weeks of veg. I guess I'll have to wait and see what kind of yield I get from these little plants. If it looks like they're not gonna do it - then I'll veg longer, do more lst and or fim, and plan to scrog every grow. Basically I have the next 2-3 weeks to decide.

By Tuesday or Wednesday I should have all 5 zones going: Clones, Veg, Moms, Early Flower, Late Flower. Then the real fun starts of fine tuning everything. When I've smoked good clones of the Barney's seeds that are in there now - the entire cycle will be complete. If all goes well, this first cycle should be fine, but that second cycle should be awesome.

Just to clarify:
Cycle #1
Group #1 - 1xAK47, 1xKali-Mist, 1xDogHair - All Female
Group #1 Moms Taken - 1 of each - All Female
Group #2 - 2xAK47, 6xNYCD - Mixed Sex
Group #2 Moms Taken - 3 x NYCD (Mixed Sex-will toss any males)
Group #3 - 2xUtopiaHaze, 2xDogHair - All Female !
Group #3 Moms - 1 Utopia from seed to be mom - All Female
Cycle #2
Group #4 - 16 Seeds of 5 or 6 different strains (this batch is to keep the buckets full while the mothers mature). - Mixed Sex
Group #5 - 8 plants of whatever my favorite of Group#1- All Female!
Group #6 - 8 plants of whatever my fav of Group#1 or #2 - All Female!
Group #7 - 8 Utopia Haze - All Female!
Group #8 - 8 All Female!

We're very close to completing Cycle #1

 

[Grooster]

Just to clarify:
Cycle #1
Group #1 - 1xAK47, 1xKali-Mist, 1xDogHair - All Female
Group #1 Moms Taken - 1 of each - All Female
Group #2 - 2xAK47, 6xNYCD - Mixed Sex
Group #2 Moms Taken - 3 x NYCD (Mixed Sex-will toss any males)
Group #3 - 2xUtopiaHaze, 2xDogHair - All Female !
Group #3 Moms - 1 Utopia from seed to be mom - All Female
Cycle #2
Group #4 - 16 Seeds of 5 or 6 different strains (this batch is to keep the buckets full while the mothers mature). - Mixed Sex
Group #5 - 8 plants of whatever my favorite of Group#1- All Female!
Group #6 - 8 plants of whatever my fav of Group#1 or #2 - All Female!
Group #7 - 8 Utopia Haze - All Female!
Group #8 - 8 All Female!

We're very close to completing Cycle #1

Good summary here I was kinda lost with all your varieties and such. Five zones, man thats a handful to manage but then ADD to that your building a controller and writing code for it to boot! MY GOD MAN!!! HOW DO YOU DO IT!!?? ok, ok, I am calm now...(thanks bong-rip). But seriously, your awesome...love reading your journal its good shite!

L8ER

 

[Green Utopia]

Good summary here I was kinda lost with all your varieties and such. Five zones, man thats a handful to manage but then ADD to that your building a controller and writing code for it to boot! MY GOD MAN!!! HOW DO YOU DO IT!!?? ok, ok, I am calm now...(thanks bong-rip). But seriously, your awesome...love reading your journal its good shite!

L8ER

Thanks for poking in - I was getting the feeling I was losing some folks. That's WHY I'm building the controller. I am fortunate to have enough time right now to do the stuff. Hopefully the controller will help take some variables out of the equation so I can focus on the plants. I have to admit this now 5 month process of designing, building, furnishing, and testing this room and controller is getting long. Looking forward to just settling in and enjoying the plants. No more experiments for a while.

 

[Green Utopia]

Quick Morning Update - All's well in the Sub. Watering some of the buckets by hand the next few days while waiting on parts to fix plumbing and the new bin and res. So right now I have 3 zones at less than optimal(cause the clone area is filled w/seedlings til they move to the new bin).

All that having been said - I believe I'm dialing in on the nute schedule. I have started to see really good growth at all stages now. Basically I was about 100-200ppm low on the seedlings ppm, and about 200-400 low on the veg.

 

[halfbakedfarmer]

I'm here still watching, you didn't lose me. I want to see your controller in full action.

 

[Green Utopia]

I'm here still watching, you didn't lose me. I want to see your controller in full action.

Right On!

The parts arrived from Parallax last nite. I got the CO2 sensor on there - but I don't know what to make of the readings yet. There are no instructions for it anywhere to be had. The only schematics I've found were a guy posting incorrect ones looking for help. When I start it up - I know the element in it needs to heat up. But I don't know how long. I left it on for 45 minutes yesterday and the reading just kept getting higher. So I don't know if I need to reset it every so often, or wait, or add something else like and amplifier or comparator to smooth it out.

I think this sensor comes factory-calibrated, but if not - that could be another problem. Gonna get one of those $20 co2 test syringes with a few test tubes, and use that to calibrate it. Take a reading at room ppm with both mine and the kit, then pump a bunch of co2 in there and take a second reading with both. Although the response of the sensor is not quite linear, its close enough that I should be able to get good accuracy from that.

Anyways - I'll call tech support tomorrow - hopefully they can point me in the right direction.

Got the carbon filter in-line last nite.

Gonna get the RO back in-line this afternoon. Its an old one, and the filters need to be changed, but I still think I'll use it. I guess the wasted water is a small expense in the grand scheme of things.

Gonna finish the curtains hopefully today. They are light tight, but I need something to easily raise and lower them. Gonna put on my stoned thinking cap and jerry-rig something.

I got 3 more t33 Mogul sockets from the hydro store. They were from an old line of ballasts they no longer carry, so I got 3 nice sockets for less than $45 bucks. As soon as I can afford to throw some more bulbs up top, I will use those to fill in the couple of dimmer spots with cfls. I'll hang the fixtures today at least.

Gonna work on the Temp/Hum sensor today, and clean the room, and get some pics.

I already checked the nutes and water. The plants are good. Might go ahead and move another up to flower today. Its the one I FIM'd - its looking like it worked after my initial goof up. You will laugh when you see pics.

So it'll be an easy short day. All that should take about ten minutes I would think.

 

[Green Utopia]

snip

ok, I am calm now...(thanks bong-rip). But seriously, your awesome...love reading your journal its good shite!

L8ER

Thanks man. I really like the vibe and setup of yours as well. Your plants look soooooo nice. I can't seem to get that nice sheen on mine. We both have Kali-Mist - but yours look exotic and cool - mine looks like the other two plants in the scrog (aside from different size fan leaves). I was just thinking about that last nite. I guess I'll have to wait and see flowers.

 

[Green Utopia]

Taking quick bong hit break and figured I'd post 2 quick pics of the current state of the room.

Starting to Fill Up:

The glaring gap on the right for the Mom's Bin and Res:

That's it for now - back to work.

 

[The Butcher]

Taking quick bong hit break and figured I'd post 2 quick pics of the current state of the room.

Starting to Fill Up:

The glaring gap on the right for the Mom's Bin and Res:

That's it for now - back to work.

great work!!!

 

[Green Utopia]

Thanks, Butcher. It always makes me smile when you guys that have so many accomplished grows poke in and say hi.

 

[The Butcher]

well you got all the main ingredients to make a great growwer. Clean organized areas. Once you get these issues down your already to move to the next chapter.

 

[Green Utopia]

well you got all the main ingredients to make a great growwer. Clean organized areas. Once you get these issues down your already to move to the next chapter.

Man you nailed it. I am just now getting to the point where I feel like I understand the basics (that's all it takes to build a space) - but now I really want to learn to listen to the plants. Spot the small things for improvement.

That's what guys like you and Viper and farmer and Bong and Munki and Southern and LabRat to name a few off the top of my head are so good at.

 

[The Butcher]

Thanks man!! I'll tell you the number 1 mistake by newbies. NUTRIENTS..always over feeding them. start off slow then work your way up. You got the set up and disipline, just watch the nute burn.if you havent got a chance to check out 420fieds grow heres the link:
4inch pvc aero nft 4x5 scrog 1200watts.

He ran the nutes at 800ppm the whole time. And just look at his monster scrog. Unbelievable work to say the least.

 

[Green Utopia]

Thanks man!! I'll tell you the number 1 mistake by newbies. NUTRIENTS..always over feeding them. start off slow then work your way up. You got the set up and disipline, just watch the nute burn.if you havent got a chance to check out 420fieds grow heres the link:
4inch pvc aero nft 4x5 scrog 1200watts.

He ran the nutes at 800ppm the whole time. And just look at his monster scrog. Unbelievable work to say the least.

Just got done reading that journal. Zowza - nice controlled scrog. I didn't intend to scrog this one - was a reaction cause I let the dang plants get too tall, so I had to scrog. I may plan to scrog the next and really get her going.

He's got some good tips in that one on how to think about vert and horz growth.

Re the nutes... yubb - I have definitely been starting slow. In fact so slow that I have yet to use enough I think. I am being careful not to lose patience and just raise it too much. Been upping a little every few days, and liking the results.

Thanks for the link. I'll read anything you throw at me.

 

[Wingman420]

Amazing, simply amazing!

 

[Stakkur]

Looking real good there man, how's your controler comming along ?

 

[Steve McStoferson]

amazing grow so far man, I have to say I'm hooked. As a fellow programmer, I want to code up some sort of automated process when I build my hydro setup. What are you coding it in? I've seen a lot of home automation apps being written in flash and flex with the AIR libraries, but I would be more comfortable using a more stable platform (I have issues with flash crashing all the time if you're doing too much with it)