Tips for SOG, best strain, # veg weeks, etc

Are you going to be growing from seed or clone? It sounded like you planned on growing out a mom, then cloning her?

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I think I can squeeze about 18, 1 gallon pots in a 2x4. Not all pots are created equal though, so yours may vary. But you can definitely forget about anything 3 gallon or larger.

If you’re going to clone here’s what I’d do. I’d probably start with about 30 clones, you’ll lose a few. After they root, I’d throw them in as many 1 gallon pots you can fit in your tent, and cull the weakest looking. Keep them vegging so roots can establish, and flip them about the time the plant gets as wide as the pot. 12/12 from rooting is fine, but I think you’ll have a better experience giving them a little time in veg after potting. Maybe 10-20 days or so. If you’re going this route, don’t be jacking with them lol. Topping, fimming, bending or any other training will stunt them at least a little.

Ideally you want a strain that has about an 8 week flowering time, probably an indica or indica dominant hybrid. I’m not sure what the auto talk was all about, but that’s the last thing you want for this style of grow. Starting them in a small home and getting that transplant in will help a lot. It will stall the root growth temporarily, and should let you get to the end without any major problems. But you definitely don’t want to use a long flowering strain. And you’ll want to hold off on using very much or any root enhancer too.

Need to know what you’re using for light to predict yield. But it can be competitive with any other method of filling a tent. And really your lights will probably determine how much pruning and stuff to do. You’ll want to ditch the stuff under canopy little by little. But if you have good light intensity it could create some pretty solid secondary buds as well. It really all depends on how they are when you flip, how they transition, and the strain. Every grow and grow room is a little different.

I don’t have any recommendations outside of checking descriptions, and that looks like the super skunk or og kush would be the best. Although if you want to think outside of the box, here’s some food for thought… my favorite strain for sog style grows was always Cinderella 99. I believe jack herer was one of the original strains to parent her. I believe ilgm was said to have some very good jack herer phenos, so that could be an option if you’re not looking for the heavy indica strains.

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Yep, cloning from a mother.

Thanks, lots of good stuff there! Yeah, see I was thinking of not overcrowding, but that makes sense to start big and then “thin the herd.” I might try one week veg, or heck, I’ll probably just leave it in the cloning chamber for a full 2 weeks. If they root at 7-10 days, that’ll give a few days of veg. Latewood stressed the importance of using clones to keep the canopy even, so I guess I won’t experiment with pot size, I’ll want everything the same. May be easiest to just use 1-gal grow bags.

I’ve seen Cinderella in dispensaries, but never tried it. I’m familiar with Jack Herer, heard it’s REALLY potent, haven’t tried it yet. I had OG Kush once, and it knocked me out! :wink:

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The c99 is good based on how it grows, but it’s a good smoke too. The jack herer normally wouldn’t fit in the category of ideal for an sog grow, but if you wanted something different I think it would be ok.

Latewood is absolutely correct. You really don’t want to risk your grow with different strains, pot size, or even different phenos. If you want to be successful, the more you can keep the same will be better.

The idea isn’t really to thin the heard. It’s to make sure you have enough clones. You don’t want to take just enough in case a couple fail to root, it happens. You would rather have more than enough, and just toss the weakest looking ones that won’t fit.

I’m not exactly sure why you’d be worried about overcrowding? That’s kind of the idea behind an sog grow. Fill it wall to wall with plants, with no dead space. It’s more like you’re trying to overcrowded them. If you have dead space, you wasted what could’ve fit another plant or 2.

Is your veg area the exact same size as your flower area? I’m not entirely sure you understood what I was saying. Once you get to final pot, veg until the plant is about the size of the pot in diameter. By the time they transition you should have a nice relatively even blanket of foliage, ensuring you’ll be in a position to maximize the production of each plant. You absolutely do not want a lot of space between plants. It should look just like a scrog, but without the net.

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Amen you said it

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Ash, thanks, yeah, I rarely get things the first time! That makes sense. I do NOT have equal veg and flower areas. I’m probably going to still keep it kinda small. I may even pick up another 135W LED and get a separate 2x2 tent for full time SOG.

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Grow it out however you feel best. The context clues suggest your dedicated “veg” area wouldn’t hold a full 4x4 worth after transplant. I just figured it would be easier to make the transplant to final pot and move to your flower area. But have your flower area running a veg light cycle for a couple of weeks to fill out a little better.

A 2x2 sog is a lot more manageable, and probably a much better place to start. If you’re going to buy a dedicated light for that kind of grow, get a large square fixture that pulls around 200 watts from the wall. The idea is to be able to run it low and still have the footprint to cover the area relatively even. 2 small rectangular fixtures could be a good option too. Whatever fits your budget.

Good luck with the grow!

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