By request

I've been asked by a couple to provide pics of my results so far.

I have major issues with holding cameras steady enough to get a decent pic, so what I have here are my Orange Kushes and a Dutch Treat (his paired clone hasn't started filling out yet, but he came off this guy, so no surprise, 24 hours in the dirt, so far).

Still growing very close together, as they haven't bushed enough yet to be spread farther from one another:

That's a Dutch Treat #5 2 weeks in soil from minimal clone (single node clone)

Orange Kushes, 5 of the 7 growing shown, two have JUST made it to soil (yesterday) having been taken from the healthiest originals. 2 weeks from going into soil from clone.


Focused shot on one of the Orange Kushes, 2 weeks from moving from cloner to soil.
 
 
Tent's a 5 by 10 by 10 Gorilla, 2 X 1,000 watt HID (had to raise hoods for pics), 1 X CLW Solar Flare 400, 80 watts reptile bulb (desert intensities) bolted directly to the HID hood with machine screws, 4 times corner mounted 26 watt LED spots, 2 windking 8" 745 CFM fans (one per hood), not in use during season, since heat issues are not a problem...I'm having a quite happy cycle of 60-80 degrees on a 22/2 light cycle without them.


If you can't tell, I don't bother with a grow journal. Good memory, for the most part, so anything I do differently than last time that results in negative responses from plants, I remember, and don't do again, I know my hardware, so feel no need to keep records on THAT, having an attitude of "do everything I can to mimic prime outdoor grow conditions"


There;s a pair of Catatonic Kushes in there, too, but I got them in pretty sickly condition with a single 14" cola, no side branches, in Solo cups in Miracle Grow soil, so I transplanted them into good soil, gave them a week to take (watch for shock), then cut them just above the second node, to start branching/bushing...they're not much to look at, yet.

 

Danke.

See the size of those sun leaves? I can't wait until the newer clones have sprouted to something near matching those ladies, so I can start encouraging the whole group to go nuts.

Soil level is 2 inches below rim in those 6 gallon painter's buckets, so EXACTLY 12 inches off ground. Counting space for hoods and fans, that means I should be able to stretch them to 5 feet tall before flowering, possibly 6. Being indica heavy strains for the most part (Catatonic and Orange), and DT#5 (not an autoflower version) being "balanced" only SLIGHTLY in favor of sativa, that's almost full mature growth.

With light-meter-tested light intensity at the level I have it when the hoods are hung as absolutely close to the ceiling as possible from the point receiving the least direct light on the floor, I anticipate a pretty damn high yield. Pro grow guides say by these strains, if they went to full mature sizes, I could count on 200-300 grams per square meter of plant...due to constraints, I'm expecting more in the neighborhood of 100-150 if I do everything else ideally...550-750 grams, total, maybe, or 1.23 to 1.67 pounds...on the other hand, if the "4 to 6 ounce per plant" estimates end up working, it's closer to 2.5 to 3.75 pounds.

I think the reason I went with the lower estimate is clear...less chance of being disappointed, and if I'm wrong, I'm elated.

Downside to this is I'm vegging out until April (so external cold at night doesn't impact flowering, and I don't have to fight fungals on flowers themselves as much), so will be dried/cured around mid June. But my next crop will have gone in-ground at the beginning of June, and be dried/cured around mid-Feb (again, doing my best to simulate outdoor conditions and seasons).

The old 4 by 4 is getting its extensions put back on, and new lighting, come Feb, to start cross-cropping a SCROG to fund 2 more 10 by 5 by 10 setups, so I can pull 3 crops of the size I get out of this one every 8 months, staggered. Situation being what it is, I'm allowed 15 plants personal, and, as a recognized part of a legal co-op, I can get rights signed by another patient to grow HIS, which allows me to be in possession of 30 plants at a time. A constant 8 month cycle, staggered, running 10 plants a shot, is a LOT of plants...much more than he and I can use...which means our dispensary's patients get a better stable supply of a given group of strains.

 

$4.73/2 sq ft bag at Home Depot, straight organic growing soil.
Works out to about 2.5 buckets to the bag with slight tamping (so watering doesn't pack it as much) in a 6 gallon bucket filled to 2 inches from rim (a 12" by 12" cylinder of actual soil).

I don't do cloning due to being new-ish, but because one experience with a shall-not-be-named seed bank delivered an unstable strain of plants that DIDN'T herm...were just more male seeds than female, so it took 4 generations of hand pollinating to stabilize (wasn't my grow, just one I was helping with while learning hands-on).

Get a clone from a plant that delivered good bud, every clone IS that plant. You always get the same results from the same conditions.

But it is also easier, and nobody can accuse me of not taking a shortcut that's just as effective, if I can get away with it. I was a grunt in the Army...ain't nothin' like a grunt for finding creative ways to dodge "real work". <grin>

 

Yup, happy. I could swear I heard party buzzers and poppers going off last night in a "welcome" party for the last two clones to hit soil.
 
 
It's now 6 orange kush, 2 critical kush, 2 dutch treat #5. They'll be a tiny bit crowded in a 5 by 10, only given 2.5 feet on a side er plant, rather than 3, but since I'm still space limited to flowering when the plant is 5, maybe 6 feet over the lip of the bucket, and will be safer to flower when the tallest plant is around 54 inches, they're still not going to be "full maturity". So it should be workable without harming yield.
 
10 feet of height. BEST case scenario, bulb to floor is 9 feet, pots 1 foot from floor to soil surface, so 8 feet to grow in, if it's OK with me to have flowers almost touching the bottom of the hood towards the end. Plants grow up to 50% again when flowering. Flower at 5 foot, I end up with tallest flowers only 6 inches from bulb. Flower at 4'6", they reach around 6'9", and I have 15 inches space for the closest flower to the bulb...survivable.

If I don't get into my habit of manicuring plants that I do for short grows, they should fit just fine, and yield respectable amounts.

 

View attachment 149642
View attachment 149644
 
 
The 15th. Had a slight issue with a fungal attempting to start, treatment of which drive pH up a bit, plus the resultant cal/mag deficiencies. Fixed now, but that's why 3 plants are too pale, and two showed some "ribbing"


Well that, and that's dark cycle under a phone cam flash...lol

 

Yes...ALWAYS.
From the beginning, I was taught they need at least 5 gallons of soil or solution for full root growth on a longer veg, and good roots are VERY important to good weed.

I know you can grow faster cycle flowers, or smaller plants in smaller containers...but, as you said, the 5 gallons are cheaper...and they're only 12 inches diameter, so they're really "skinnier" than your plants will most likely be. So if you got room for the ladies, you got room for the buckets, you know?

 

Just make sure to drill your drainage holes...lol. I do 1/4 inchers, two on the bottom of the bucket, and 4 at cardinal points on the sides, about a half inch to an inch above the bottom.

 

Subbed...been following it without subbing, anyhow <grin>

Like to see people who put what they learn to work quickly and well. Plus *I* learn from them, that way.

 

Actually, did double topping...once when the larger ladies hit their third node, to get the last three clones from (taken as single nodes), then again to somewhat match heights after the single noders topped 10 inches.

Aside from that, minimal LST/tying off just to keep them from flopping over under their own weight until taller branches develop the thickness to hold their branchings, and lattice wire and stakes to allow them to climb. Experiment for me, doing a minimal interference grow to about 4.5 feet above the bucket, and triggering flower.

Next run, same tent, another experiment...going to screen them 24 inches above soil (individually), and expand them to 18 inch square "blocks", then LITFA until the new branchings climb another 18 inches, and do a suspended screen, and a final suspended screen  24 inches above that for them to extend colas through as they flower. I realize that this means everything under the first screen will die and be discarded rapidly as the screened canopy thickens, and same with that first canopy as the second is woven thick...but a canopy set up like that SHOULD have a flowering plant mass that's pretty close to being outright ridiculous in scale <grin>

 

Danke.

Topping is easy, just don't do too much of it. You simply pick a few taller colas that have large enough fan leaves they're blocking light from getting deeper in, and clip them just above a node, about 2-3 nodes down. The result is both the undeveloped nodes at the joint between freshly clipped stem and the leaves left in place will sprout, and you'll get two colas...while allowing enough light for other colas that were being light-choked to develop. End effect is usually 3-5 functional colas for each one you nip (the two from nipping and 1 to 3 able to climb to the canopy when opened to light).

However, be relatively careful, as over-topping leaves you with way too much plant mass, and the side buds and deeper buds get insufficient light to develop properly, plus all the "new" branchings are much thinner and weaker than an untouched stem, and will need support at some point.


LST is simplicity itself, really. No chance at all of damaging your plant, minimal chance of reducing yield. It's a way of maximizing light penetration and light coverage of productive plant matter, without stressing or damaging the plant, AND allowing the branches to develop naturally in such a way they can best support their own weight. Which translates into: if you get it even half right, chances are you increased yield and potency.