I kind of combined all advice and between raising the light and spreading things out multiple times a day and defoliating just a little, I think I’m seeing differences in both plants, especially the NftG. On the defoliating, I couldn’t bring myself to do much because they’re still way too dense for me to get a clear picture of their overall structures. Honestly, I’m starting to think scrog will never happen for these 2. If that’s the case, at some point, I’ll prune some stuff out to reduce density, stick with just lst, and accept that I’m only going to get what I get off of them.
Let’s talk nutes
All 4 started in the same tent, under the same light, so I think from a growth standpoint, Heavy16 and Mills are the clear winners in my experiment. I moved them because they were twice as big as the others. An even wider gap now. Much wider. Bummer, since they’re too expensive. If I hadn’t been given sample sets, I’d have never paid what they cost. Bases on both are par for the course, but the supplementals on H16 are straight up ridiculous $$$. Mills, not as bad, but significantly more expensive than Nectar. I really hoped for more out of the Nectar. With it being organic, it was the most appealing to me on paper.
Disclaimer - the experiment wasn’t truly scientifically controlled because I started from seed. Controlled would have been clones from the same mommy. I tried cloning when I topped - fail! Lol
I feel like it’s been forever since I updated. Business closure is freaking time consuming. I got a new job lined up that I’ll be starting on the 19th. In the meantime, the current employer is squeezing the 30 of us left really hard to get it all closed down ourselves.
Anyway…
The 2 small ladies in the 3x3 finally started growing again and have given me just enough height to make it feasible to scrog now. We’ll be building the frame and net and installing tonight. I’m going to give them another week of veg though. I’d go 2 more weeks, but I think they’re just not going to get a whole lot bigger, no matter what. Also, while there aren’t a ton of bud sites, the ones that are there are ready. I’m going to scrog it, weave and tuck for a week, and just pull the damn trigger already. I’ll get what I get out of them.
The 2 big ladies are blowing up their scrog. I’m at 50% full and counting. I know some people go 75% before the flip, but again… they’re ready. So tomorrow, lights and nutes will change. I think I could have easily put a 3rd plant in there. It would have required yet another light, but I think that’s exactly what I’ll do next time, assuming I have 3 with similar canopy heights. I’ll be doing all with Mills nutrients from now on (not NftG as I originally said), but I also plan on going for a variety of strains. Can’t do anything the “easy” way.
I’d hoped to flip both tents at the same time, but it’s just not going to work out that way. I’m thankful I at least have 2 spaces to deal with the problem.
Got the scrog set in this tent. I did some light defoliation and brought the 1500w back in. A lot of change and stress, but they’re already bouncing back and happier for it.
I’ve read and watched so much material on why to defoliate and why not to. On my last grow, I did not scrog or defoliate and ended up with a ton of bs buds. I’m scrogging this time and it’s giving me a way better picture of what’s where, but I felt like the density of the leaves was still blocking off the light to the inner/lower parts of the canopies. So I’m giving it a whirl, full well knowing the risks. I’m home for a few days, so I’ve been watching environments and leaf health closely. We’ll see what happens. I’ll update with pictures every day of the upcoming cycle starting tomorrow so we can watch them thrive or die.
Hey I defoliate all the way through the grow. There’s this place called grow weed easy dot com and they have a tutorial with pictures of one plant with and one without andnit was a side by side comparison. I say go for it and she/they will thank you for it later.
@Dieselgrower I don’t really follow and hard rules for defoliation. I only do it a few times. Once late-mid veg. I make sure there’s 10-14 days of veg left for them to recover. I do it again beginning of week 2 or 3 of flower. After that, just a leaf or 2 here and there. Depends on the layout, leaf density, bud density, etc. I only take leaves with stems at least 2” and only where they’re blocking light to lower stuff. I try to leave a few at the very top to keep collecting light and at the bottom to watch for nute deficiency. It’s important to note that this is all risky. It absolutely does shock the plants. If you go too far they will die. If they don’t die, you have to let them bounce back before making any other significant changes. Also when to do it and how much to do are just based on instinct. Similar to lst - you just kinda go with your gut on how far to go… and sometimes you lose.
Oh yeah. Most would say not to, but I’m a firm believer of pushing thw plants limits. For me i usually do it 2 or 3 times. Depending on the size if the plant and how their structure is. I eas just wondering. Thanks for sharing
I had to defoliate my ATF. She was super bushy and didn’t stretch like I thought she would. I’ve defoliated her 3 times but now it’s just the leaves blocking light from getting down to the lower canopy. I don’t think people should knock it, unless they have tried it! (Not saying anyone was)
