With the recent successful harvest of my first grow, it's time to start anew with the Pimpass Mini-Scrogâ„¢ (thanks to A Man named Jed for the idea to name this journal!). For those who are yet unbelievers in the Aerogarden for growing a small and manageable amount of herbs, please read my past journal, and try it yourself. Now, on with the show -- first the preliminaries: Aerogarden Veggie Pro Unit (3 CFL bulbs, 27W actual each) Store bought water (particulate/carbon/RO-DI/UV filtered) General Hydroponics FloraNova Grow and Bloom nutrients 4" airstone and small external generic air pump plastic coated wire rack 24/0 lighting for until sexed, then 18/6 until harvest The set-up has been gone over several times in several other threads, so I won't go over that all again. The big differences in this grow and my previous is that this time I will be growing only one plant, and will be attempting the Pimpass Mini-Scrogâ„¢. The key is the cabinet wire shelf assembly - it's plastic coated wire, quite sturdy and fits on top of the Aerogarden perfectly. I will 4-way LST the LR#2 and train the girl so tips fill the area of the screen and maximize the lighting potential. Currently, the system is set up and bubbling, and the single pod is getting hydrated and awaiting the single femmed Lowryder #2 seed. After you look at the pictures, I think it will be clear what my intent is with this grow out -- scrogging a tiny LR #2 bush, to maximize the effects of the stock lighting on the Aerogarden, and hopefully getting a good yield. Should this grow work out well, I will then add a timer to the system, and start trying out other non-autoflowering femmed seeds, and seeing what this little unit can do! Anyhow, thanks for dropping by -- enjoy the pics. Peace!
Just a quick update. The LR2 seed I placed in the 'pod' has sprouted. I have a nice little rootlet, and the baby is starting to reach upwards. I'll be starting the 24/0 lighting schedule as soon as the seed case has popped off, and the cotyledons are visible. Grow #2 is started!
Being that I think a grow is defined by the day the first set of true leaves are visible, today is..... Day 0 The single seed rooted and shot a stalk up in short order -- the cotyledons haven't completely unfurled, but the first set of true leaves is visible. 24/0 light, no nutes and fan is blowing on her. I have no idea what to expect from LR2, but I am really hoping that with a ferocious and verdant veggie stage, my PMSâ„¢ will yield a nice little bed of buds! Anyone having growing experience with LR2, please chime on on what I can expect -- being an autoflowering strain, I'm hoping the girl gets enough length on her to reach the screen before she starts flowering hard, but this is just an experiment. Of course, now I'm even pondering going with a single femmed non-auto seed stock and just controlling vegging and starting timed flowering with this current set up. Got nothing to lose! The way I see it, I have the AG, I have plenty of beans to play with, and even a modest yield meets my medical needs. Anyhow, thanks for coming by -- peace!
Heya Jed Day 11 I probably got a little over enthusiastic on Wednesday, as I deemed the plant ready for 1/4th strength nutes. I've got some burn going on, but I'm not worrying about it! Very rapid growth at this point, and I'm hoping she'll get tall enough to actually take advantage of the screen/rack while vegging out. Regardless, I know the grow will be explosive when the AF genes take over and start her flowering -- the screen may or may not have positive use. It's all an experiment anyhow, and I already decided next time to go with a stock femmed seed and control the lighting cycle manually. This will allow me to grow out with 24/7 until the Pimpass Mini-Scrogâ„¢ is packed with growing points and then I'll drop her to 12/12. I think on a time basis, this LR2 is growing much faster than the Auto Hindu Kush did -- we'll see how things progress. I'll post pics when she's grown out and I start using the Pimpass Mini-Scrogâ„¢ technique
Just wanted to say great thread Zombo, I've got an Aerogarden Veggie Pro as well as an Aerogarden Space Saver 6, and I'm following your posts with a lot of excitment! The AG is a great all-in-one growing package and I'm having a ton of fun growing lettuce and herbs...looking forward to learning from your experiences when my current lettuce crop is done in a month or two and I can get started on my auto Blueberry! Keep it up man!
Day 14 Got over the tiny bit of nute burn, and now she's hauling ass! Still debating doing a 4-way LST vs. just the standard scrogging techniques. My little LR2 has got her 4th set of leaves popping now, so time to make this decision is now. My thinking is that with an autoflowering strain like this, just relying on the standard scrog method would not maximize the amount of growing tips popping above the screen due to those going into flowering so soon, where as 4-way LST snipping might result in at least an inital higher number of branches to work with during the short vegetative period. Anyone with insight or comments on my though process, please chime in! Finally, this grow is photo worthy -- enjoy. Peace.
Just fyi, I used the scrog and the lst. It worked great. Either method will help maximize your space. Be prepared to leave some room above the screen for the flowering stretch. Stay green my farming friend. -Jed
Day 20 I am so incredibly excited by the growth this LR2 has exhibited, I couldn't wait to take some photos and share them with you. I am still on weekly feedings of 1/4 strength nutes, and since, as my signature quotes, "We are not growing cows.", I plan on staying with that feeding schedule as it's one less variable to take into account as far as the mini-scrog works out (or doesn't). I pinched off the 5th node, and have the expected pair of new heads growing out. I was fearing at first that this plant wouldn't grow tall enough to use the screen, but now I'm wondering if the screen is too low...I'm banking on her hitting flowering just at the time when the screen is fully packed with tips. I finally chopped my basil out of my AG SpaceSaver 6 and have all the fixings ready to grow something new. I might use it to start the last 4 Auto Hindu Kush seeds about 3 weeks before harvest on this LR2. So I'd have a jump on the next grow (with or without the mini-scrog device), and if I have a male and female in the 6, I can just put it in my bedroom closet and let it go to seed Also, I've been following feverishly Rumpleforeskin's LED Grow, and I think there is enough evidence to support the use of an LED setup on the AG for use in grows with autoflowering dwarf species - I might pull the trigger on the 63w system, and at minimum, get a spectral improvement over the stock (I think 6500k) CFLs in the AG. this might be the next evolution towards me becoming more versed in using the AG for small one-person grows, and maximizing yield from one of these units. You;ll note in the pictures the tape rule - the screen unit is one foot wide and is 6 inches off the surface of the AG. You can see also the fantastic root growth. Really, anyone with experience on growing out LR2, phenotypes, anything, I'd like to know. Anyhow, I blather on...here's today's pics. Peace.
Yeah, she's quite the looker so far! Well, thanks for the input -- as I'm in the process of testing the AG, I'd rather only muck about with one (or two at the most) variable at a time. After this grow, depending on how it works out, I will either do another LR2 with the screen and the recently purchased 63w Penetrator LED fixture or I will do a femmed non-auto seed and see what transpires. I'm not going to fart around with foil/mylar or any of that crap until I build a cabinet of my own. Also, as the bulk of the AG's lighting is pretty much directed straight down, I think the effort in lining the unit and cabinet with reflective material wouldn't result in a significant improvement. I feel that is more useful for people using free form CFL setups.
Day 25 I'm still amazed by the LR2 strain. The 5th node pinch did amazing things and as the vegetation continues to fill out, it is easy to visualize how scrogging works. Honestly, anyone growing stealthily and one plant at a time should look at this option -- it's easier to just do than to try to describe how to do (shades of "The way that can be described is not the way"). I did pull the trigger on a 63w LED array from Hydrogrow LED and will be trying it out over the AG (I haven't decided which unit, perhaps the SpaceSaver6, as even in raw wattage the LED's are supreme) - that's for another thread however. Anyhow, you'll note the spotting on the leaves, that was me just over nuting a hair, the new growth is looking nice and healthy, IMHO. Even if this one turns out to not be auto-flowering, I have a timer ready to go! Enjoy the pix and have a great weekend!
lookin good is that ag as easy as 123 like everyone say is it good for starting clones too if u wanted to
Yes. With a little reading and some practice, I feel the AeroGarden is perfectly plausible as a small sized/stealth/dwarf plant growing system. I think different lighting, either by some enterprising user retrofitting his AG hood or a commercial company developing a kit/replacement would be the bomb for this.