2nd Grow, it’s coming along!

[Mandomatt]

Hi folks. I’m Matt and I love growing weed. I’ve been reading this forum a lot and learning from it so I figured I’d share mine. My first grow was textbook: got my lights from Amazon, used miracle grow, too small pot, etc. But after a year of coaxing it along and learning along the way I managed to get an ounce of very good flower. So invested in one of the spider-farmer grow tent kits, with the sf2000 ligh, 2x4 feet. Got some seeds, and planted them, and here I am now at 35 days. Sour diesel, Amnesia, Purple Kush left to right.

The plants are doing great, but it’s been some learning. My first grow got long and leggy really fast (given the span of a year), so I ended up bending it over like a candy cane, which surprisingly had the same effect as fimming, with lots of main branches growing out. So I wanted to keep these plants shorter. When the seedlings were ready for the tent I used the sf2000 dimmed to its lowest setting and it did a great job.

After they grew some more I wasn’t sure what to do about the brightness of the light. I didn’t want to hang it at 24 inches because I didn’t want things to get long too fast. So I kept it low, and I got a photone light meter app. I got set up with that and it said I needed a diffuser. I set up the diffuser and noticed that without the diffuser I was getting PPFD readings around 400 and 500, but as soon as I diffused the light I would get a reading like 1000 or 1100 or even higher. So I assumed the un diffused was correct since it seemed more in line with what I was expecting. So I went with that and my plants grew great, wide with big leaves but not real tall.

So for the last week I’ve been wondering why these plants don’t seem to be growing up, only wider. So I started thinking about it and the only thing I could think of is too much light too close. So I did another reading with the meter and went with the diffused reading which indicated that I was giving them “way too much light.” So I backed it off to the recommended range of around 500 PPFD with the lights around 24 inches now. That means the sf2000 is dimmed to around 40%. I topped them two days ago and pruned all the big leaves, they were the size of my hand. Everybody seems happy and the leaves are reaching a bit towards the light. Right now the main stalk of each is larger than a pencil, closer to two for the purple kush, and they are only around ten inches tall.

Sour Diesel

Amnesia Lemon

Purple kush.

The bottom branches of the kush are almost as high as the main stem now topped).

My plan is to get a scrog net over them in the next week after they have gotten a bit taller. And hopefully flip to 12/12 around mid-May. The lighting issue is perplexing me because that sf2000 is really bright. Literally figuring out how to dial it in has been a bit of a challenge. Don’t know if anyone else has experience with them.

Well, thanks for looking. I’ll keep posting. Right now I am finding the hardest thing to do is leave them alone. But I certainly welcome insight.

[BobbyDigital]

Looking good! Very nice node spacing. Looks like the light is right where it needs to be.

[Otis]

Looking good. I think I’ll tag along for this one

[IKnowURider]

I’ve struggled with topped girls turning hermie. Keep a close eye out. Following along!

[BobbyDigital]

That sounds like genetics. I’ve topped every plant I’ve grown except 1 and have had maybe 2 plants give up a seed or two.

[Mandomatt]

I got my new pot trays and with those in place I put the scrog net in. The pot trays are 17” and the pots sit on 2” risers to keep them out of the run off. The trays are an awkward fit with the trellis frame, but I wanted them large to make sopping up run off easy. I may forego the frame in the future. The day I made it, I read about elastic ones that clip on. Go figure.

The plants are definitely responding well to the change in lighting. It turns out that there is a bug in the photone app I am using. When I told support about the widely different readings I was getting with and without the diffuser, they took notice. I guess there is an algorithm that keeps the readings close. But I feel like I have got the light sorted. It is at 24 inches and set to about 40%. Gives me around 490 PPFD at the top of the net, read with the diffuser in place. It is about 1/3 of the light they we’re getting. Now at least I can crank them up when they start flowering.

[BobbyDigital]

You can turn it up around 10-20% each week. You’re looking to get to around 700 ppfd by the time you’re in mid-veg to hit your DLI. That is if you’re on 16/8 light schedule.

[Mandomatt]

Will do! Thanks very much.

[fast-grow]

Looking good so far. I never used a scrog net before but I think you might be a touch premature on using it yet. By the time you flip to 12/12 and deal with the stretch you will need a second net if you leave that one where it is. Not sure about amnesia lemon but I grew am. haze and it is a tall plant by nature. Very stretchy, at least the Haze version is…Good luck and I’ll be watching.

[Mandomatt]

Hey fast-grow! Yeah I was thinking just that this morning, and I moved it up so that it is higher than the nodes where I topped them. It occurred to me that those new shoots need to grow out a bit before I’m able to bend them over. Thanks very much for watching!!

[Mandomatt]

I have a question. All of the top leaves have 7 fronds (I guess that’s what you call them) and it looks like the kush is going to have 9. I’ve never seen more than five. It’s that genetics? Stress? Normal? Abnormal? I assume it’s not bad because things otherwise seem to be going well.

[fast-grow]

My strawberry Kush puts out 11 petal leaves when it is growing happy, Genetics at work and also good health. Everyone here has your back. Nobody wants to see fellow growers fail here. It is why I like it here so much.

[TReynolds17]

More fingers on the fans just show the plant maturing well and enjoying themselves… I’ve got 4 orange crush plants all popping out 11s with a few 13s they are the size of your whole face lol but it’s not a problem til flower then they gotta go to open up the light penetration. But looking good so far, can probably put the net back up in a week or two, depending on your veg cycle length you’d prefer.

[Mandomatt]

So here we are day 41. I raised the trellis back to its original height to allow the plants to grow up against it. They seem to have dealt with the topping just fine. The lower branches have really pushed out, on the Sour diesel they are as tall as the main shoot. Each plant is developing its own characteristic look now. The lemon amnesia is beautiful! Tomorrow morning they get a good healthy drink, about 3/4 gallon of water with a dose of Cali-mag. They seem to be drinking up about 3/4 gallon every 4-5 days. The next water I’ll give a good feed and then water maybe till I switch. We’ll see what they want. They are beautiful!

Amnesia Lemon

Sour Diesel

Purple Kush

All three.

[Mandomatt]

Well here we are on the first of May, eight days after topping. Plants are doing great. I lowered the net down onto them because I found I was having to do some LST in any case case. Just the two top branches of the Amnesia, and everything on the Sour Diesel. It is a wild plant, and as soon as I topped it all the other branches started scrambling to be the tallest, and blocking the light from all the other grow spots. So even though the net is in place and the other two plants are pushing through, I’ve still got the diesel tied down all over. Just want to make sure to get a nice even canop6, and eve if it is low now it will grow up to the net in a few days.
From a lot of what I have been reading, I assumed that the main reason you topped was to get two main colas. I don’t think that’s exactly right. yeah, the main branch splits in two, but from what I am seeing here the really important thing is that it forces the lower branches to reach high making for more viable big colas. In any case I am very happy with the results and can’t imagine a situation in which I wouldn’t top a plant. I any case here we are, the three of them, and a pic of my full tent set up. Just added a second fan today.

[Mandomatt]

I didn’t think they were growing much and I took this pic just now, six days later. I’m planning to switch to 12/12 in another week. I probably could go longer but I need to get them up by August. The Sour Diesel is a bit unruly and not filling the net like the others. I imagine that after I start it flowering it will stretch quite a bit.

[Mandomatt]

I’m at 60 days now and I flipped to 12/12 last night after four days @15/9 to smooth the transition from 18/6. Scrog net has pretty much filled in except for a few spots. I’m a bit concerned about the stretch—where’s it all gonna go. That said, I think two plants in five gallon pots is probably a better fit for a 2x4 tent. I was noticing that with the 4” fan that came with the Spider Farmer kit I wasn’t able to exchange enough air to keep the humidity down; even though I can keep the room the tent is in as low as 35% - 40% humidity, I couldn’t get the tent below 55%. So I swapped out the 4” inch fan for a 6” AC Infinity, which will probably collapse the tent if I set it at level 10. I also put in a passive duct from the upper left hole down to the bottom of the tent and it empties right in front of my lower circulation fan. If I set the fan @ level 5 (6 overnight), I get excellent negative pressure, and am able to get the humidity in the tent pretty close to the room’s rh. I’m concerned about excess humidity during flowering, esp with three plants, and I believe the new set up will allow much better control.

[Mandomatt]

Well they are definitely stretching. I am doing lots of pruning everyday and everyday it just keeps coming back. I’ve been bending the branches back away from the center of the plant which has left something of an undeveloped area right in the middle of the Sour Diesel. There are viable bud sites there and the challenge is making sure they get enough light to fill in. I did a big flush before switching over to 12/12, about a gallon and a half for each plant to get substantial run off and to make sure I am going into flower with the soil in good shape. I really didn’t feed much through the veg, only three times in the last couple of weeks as the soil (FFOF) seemed pretty rich to me. I’m starting now slowly with every other watering, about a half dose each of FF Grow Big, Tiger Bloom, and some Calmag, around 800 ppm.

I’m learning things. Tucking and bending wasn’t really working, the branches are just too stout. So I have been using plant ties. Lesson 1, don’t attach the branches too tight. The purple kush actually broke a branch on its on cause I didn’t leave space for it to move. And yeah, two plants max for the scrog in a 2x4x6 tent from now on. Lesson 2. I screwed up and bought the Infinity T6 with the (not so) smart controller. I’m more than a little annoyed because the description they provide is misleading and now I’m looking at another $50 to get the 67 controller that sounds like it will work responsively. I won’t be recommending this fan, which is nice but not worth the money esp, with a controller that is junk.

I have a question and I’ll ask here before starting a new thread: at what point do you say flowering has begun (for the purpose of trying to approximate when they’re going to be ready). When you switch to 12/12? When they stop stretching? When the first pistils start to show?

In any case, I am having a great time with these. I just put a couple of autoflower seeds in paper towels—I just want to grow more. Though I am going to have to find a good recipe for tinctures as I’m going to have to curb my smoking considerably now on account of having a heart attack last week. Jeez, 60 years old in great physical condition. Go figure.

[Mandomatt]

Hi folks. I was wondering if I could get a little advice here since I’ve never scrogged before and I like it and want to learn from my mistakes. I switched to 12/12 two weeks ago, and the plants have been stretching since. For the first 10 days I continued to fold the branches down and keep the pretty much within two inches or so of the net. But as the net got full I thought it would be ok to let them continue to grow higher since I’ve been able to keep the canopy pretty much at the same level. Right now the canopy is about six inches above the top of the net, it’s nice and even most of the way across. But I’m wondering is this the right way to do it? The plants are really healthy, and am beginning to see preflowers all over the place. My plan is to give them another week for the buds to start developing and do a major pruning of the fan leaves to expose the bud sites to more light. I removed a lot of green two weeks ago and it filled right back in. I have also ordered another elastic trellis net which I plan to put in place when the buds start getting some weight. Does this all seem right to folks? I would appreciate any tips and suggestions. Thanks very much!!

[Mandomatt]

Here we are today, about two weeks since they began to flower. I’ve been pretty aggressive with trimming leaves and skimpy little branches because with three plants in a tent this size I’m finding it difficult to control the humidity, especially with the warm and muggy weather we’re having these days. I’m running a dehumidifier pretty much all day long, and that helps, and I leave the tent open when I’m home with a large floor fan blowing on it to keep air circulating as much as possible.I put a second trellis net on it because it is helping to keep things separated a bit more. Starting to feed more with the bloom formula. I’m getting some yellow tips on some of the leaves which I initially attributed to too much light, but the light is dialed in just fine. So I am thinking that because I did a big flush right before flipping and I have only fed once or twice since (can’t recall, need to look thru the journal I have at home) and those with very low ppm (the last being 650) I’m figuring they are wanting some more nutes. Gonna start feeding weekly now for the next five weeks, and then see where we stand. The leaves are starting to get frosty and the stuff I am cutting off is pretty sticky. Smell is not too bad yet. Actually I like it quite a bit.