Wow, you totally wasted the concept of even having a screen in there.. youre supposed to flower them just as they'e coming beneath the screen. You want your plants to "Crown Off" and be able to support big fat donkey dick buds.
The screen isn't a complete waste, probably not the best scrog job but I think I did pretty good for my first time. Only 1 of the 2 plants is through the screen, I broke one of them when it was growing under the screen so I had to remove the screen from it. The other plant that did go through the scrog is definitely going to yield more. While it was growing under the screen it grew 16 tops and all came through the screen at the same time. At this point I have 16 trees growing, buds from top to bottom on each one, it looks as though each of the 16 branches will be 1 big bud. Here's a pic of the scrogged plant coming through the screen. Jan 3/08 Jan 6/08 Jan 18/08: There not all the same height now but close. Jan 18/08: Bud Shot
what nutes you using? because you already have pistils turning brown, and it looks like your buds aren't nearly filled out enough. i used to do hydro but went back to soil lately, but anyways we used some major nutes the last four weeks to get some outrageous bud. Not trying to hate on you, because you did alot better than my first 3 hydro attempts, but the issue with height is killing your grow(i had same issues) rule of thumb, flower when plant is 1/3 of the height you want when done, or use LST method, which i think you said you just learned about. cant wait til next post to see what happens. oh yea are you starting a new thread for that from scratch grow box? let me know if you do!!! also check out my grow i just started. i have pretty much same setup as you. this will be my first grow in two years so getting back into things. anyways good luck, ill keep watching
Thanks guys and yeah this is my first time ever seeing buds on a plant so I'm doing good. On plant #1 I can already see an ounce easy and its only been 35 days into flowering still plenty of time to go. I'm using the Lucas formula for nutes, it uses general hydroponics flora micro and flora bloom. The nutes should be good, I've seen others use it on the forum with great success. I'm going to stick with it for a while because its easy and my plants do look very happy, especially #1, she's had a good life. I still have 3+ weeks to go so they should start to fatten up. Vertical growth has really slowed down now, almost halted on plant #1, #2 keeps going but should stop soon. I've been tying her down, its starting to look like a real mess, I hope she can handle the stress. If plant #2 was successful under the screen I would have had just enough room, plant #1 hasn't touched the light yet. What nutes did you use for hydro? My next grow should be much better, the new box will have a lot more room to work with. I will be starting a new thread on the other box once its ready to go, I'll post a link on this one when I do. I'm not sure what kind of wood I have, don't know my wood. Its basically that sawdust board, I'm sure its not the best but hopefully it will last a couple years. It cost $50 for a 4x8 sheet. I came across your grow box thread, but missed the journal one, all looks very good. I'll definitely be watching and good luck as well. I don't have any pics tonight, but here's a comparison chart I meant to post the other day.
an impressive first attempt at growing!!!...you certainly did your homework!!...ive been thinking of making a stealth grow box with a 250HPS so your thread has helped me learn heaps..cheers..g'luck with new design box..
Holy crap rob, that Dec7- Jan 4th difference is INSANE!!! I will definately be going hydro because of this! Please tell me more about your hydro supplies you use. I have some mandala seeds coming and may as well grow them hydro. Aside from the flora 3 and 2 part solutions, what else do you need to buy aside from a ph and tds meter?
Thanks grok, I certainly have done lots of reading on how to grow, don't think I've read any other subject more. I do look at this as my first grow but technically its my 3rd, the first 2 attempts went horribly wrong but they were with soil. I never even got to think about flowering, the plants were doomed the day I planted them. Glad to hear you were able to get a few tips from the thread, gotta love grasscity, I couldn't have even considered doing this without the help of all the great members on this site. Yeah those comparison pics are crazy, its amazing how fast it grows. I'm sticking with hydro for awhile thats for sure. I can't get over how people say its more difficult then soil, if you can follow instructions all should go well, at least with this method. I haven't had one issue on this grow other then my own mistakes, with soil its hard to know whats going on. You only need 2 of the 3 flora mixes, you don't need the FloraGro. Some ph up and down and the ph pen and tds meter is all you need. Here's a link to the Lucas formula. I'm blessed with having stable ph levels making it even easier, plant #1 is stuck at 5.6 and plant #2 is stuck at 5.8. I use to lower #2 to 5.6 every day but now I don't as it seems to do fine at 5.8 and goes back to that every day anyways. Best of luck with your mandala, be sure to keep a journal so we can watch. Here's my ladies tonight looking sexier then ever. Plant #1 Plant #2: Maybe not so sexy but I love her for what she is.
Rob, Is the screen working properly for plant #1 (I know #2 is not SCROG'ed)? I thought the plant was not suppose to penetrate and grow that much. Man I hope when I get the courage to do my first I can build such a great box and grow such nice plants. Is it normal for the lower leaves to be turning yellow/brown?
Today is day 39 of flowering so I'm guessing around 2 weeks, I still have to get a microscope to check the trichomes. I can't really answer if the screen was used properly, I know the way I'm doing it isn't the normal way, I'm doing it the same way rumpleforeskin does it. I think my screen could have been a few inches higher but I'm quite happy how plant #1 is growing. Everything I say here could be wrong but I think the idea is just to trick the plant into thinking it has more tops then it really does. All the screen does is spread the tops apart so each one grows up nice and tall away from the others so light can get at the whole top. I really believe if I had better conditions each one of my tops which are basically a stick now would be one full bud. I have a feeling my co2 levels are a bit low in the box and that 250w just isn't enough power. At this point I'm guessing #1 will yield double the amount #2 gets. My goal in 1 year is to get a pound off 2 plants, that is in one harvest. (this isn't wrong ) I think it is normal for the bottom leaves to turn yellow and die, they do that when there isn't enough light for them. The leaves above the screen that are yellow on plant #2 is because I have to shut the door on the plant. You can't tell from the pictures but plant #2 sticks out of the box about 6" when I open the door, I have to tuck it in when I close it up, this is one full box. I'm sure you'll do good if you do your research, you will run into problems as everyone does but stick with and it will all be worth it, I'm one happy camper right now. Picture time. The light is as high as I can get it now, but vertical growth has slowed down big time. Plant #1 Plant #2 Bud shot of the day from plant #1.
I wish I had 10 plants going and mylar is my favorite stuff. Today is day 42 of flowering, that's 6 weeks exactly. I'm very close to harvesting plant #1. I picked up a 100x handheld microscope to look at the trichomes and WOW what a surprise! There are so many and they are so tall, they look exactly like that harvest picture. Most of them are still clear but some look cloudy no amber ones yet. I'm planning on harvesting when there all cloudy which is suppose to give the better high. Plant #2 is really coming along now but the trichomes are just surface on it right now, nothing sticking out really. Now I'm hoping its good weed, it doesn't smell like weed at all, only smells green. I guess I'm lucky to have a low odor strain I just hope its not like it smells thats all. The odor sock is doing a pretty good job of keeping the green smell down, the only time I can smell it is after the light goes out, it seems to come out then. Other then that the sock does the job, when I open the cab it stinks but not before. And finally the pics. Plant #1 Bud shot of the day.
one suggestion yank all those yellow leaves out of there. i think i read somewhere that they can attract mold, which in many strains can happen in the last 2 weeks of flowering.
Just took the time to go through your entire journal. Nice man...it was like a good movie...happy, sad, happy, slightly aggro, happy. Nice man.
hey hows it goin? i actually have that same cab. it must have been on sale tho bcuz i got it for 50. n e wayz i was wonderin where u got the lock for it and what kind is it? mine didnt come with one. and i need it, or three(mid, top, bot) also i notice u have VERY little to no space between the doors. howd you get them like that? i need some kind of flap togo on the inside, sorta like what u got goin. thanx and the plants are lookin dam fine. good job. im gonna be startin on my first grow here when i can get all the essentials. ALSO www.highgrade-seeds.com i was lookin at their seeds and prices CANT BE BEAT PERIOD. n i actually jus found them today bcuz of GC. LOVE THIS PLACE