600W Dwc Discrete Cabinet Scrog - 2nd Run

well, this is a complete bust now. fuzzy mold all over in the drying rack. not sure what happened but this stuff is done.

bah. what a fucking waste. let's figure out wtf happened.

no worries, all the scruff is fine. it was only the big buds. (*&%$!!

there was a fan out in the dryer, so it wasnt getting much circulation.
more to the point i think i should have chopped the big buds down. i left them in all their huge glory to dry. bad idea.

okay i trimmed off about 5-6oz of all the best tops, including most of the big one. garbage, all of it. i was extremely aggressive removing anything around the moldy areas, plus anything that raised my aggro in any other way.
there is 21oz (semi-wet, trimmed and manicured, no stems) left. about half of that is scruff. there is maybe an oz of weed that i'd actually consider smoking. none of it is up to par, but the seed situation isn't as bad as i first thought. i think anyway.

now to rig a horizontal drying rack in here..

i think another factor in this is taking the grow a week to week or two too long. there was enough mold in that big bud that it must certainly have started before it was cut or very shortly after. maybe my mold situation in there was worse than anticipated.

learning lots of harsh lessons these last few weeks. ready for a win already. 3 or 4 more weeks on the sfv .. i'll be damned if we have a mold problem there.

update - the bud that was saved from the moldy stalks has come out pretty well. i left everything in smaller portions, in aluminum trays just sitting out in the room. lots of circulation in here now, just had to be careful to keep it dark. everything dried up nicely within 24 hours. the smaller stuff is ready for jars, giving the bigger ones another day.

quality all sucks, nothing that i'm happy with. might just end up hashing most of it, we'll see. vapes okay, smelling better by the day. maybe some cure time will help, but it's not ever going to be up to my par.

we did get some density though. one little victory!

final score: 9.7oz.

post mortem sometime soon.
hindu skunk in the chamber getting settled, grow journal when they become interesting.

thanks for the help everyone.

Even with all your best buds gone, 9oz of scruff ain't bad for a second attempt with a 600w. Did you use your ballast with a 400w bulb or did you dim it down to 400 when you did your 400w experiment?

im actually becoming more surprised every day with how well this stuff is drying out. even what i was figuring was pure scruff is densing up pretty good. will really see in another week or two. when experimenting for temperature i just dimmed the ballast down with the same bulb. the difference was negligible.

i'll get a gram per watt. you just watch ..
just might take me awhile yo.

Interesting read, sorry about the outcome. Sounds like your focus needs to be on humidity control and air flow next time around. Also, remember with nutes, keep it simple

Nice effort, just imagine your yield once you become problem free.

Better luck next time

if this is the worst i ever pull then life in the garden is excellent.

i really overstuffed it in there. with a scrog i have simply got to be far more aggressive in chopping out anything that isn't going to be a nice little cola. by leaving so much scruff in the underbrush it choked out anything that would have otherwise been viable down there. once those two plants gave up (which didn't take long), root problems were inevitable.

i am pretty sure the hardware will do what I want. i just need to be a better driver.

one thing i figured out last night, something i was definitely suspecting, running two lights through one exhaust circuit is driving up my temp in the cabinet by 3 - 5 degrees. will get the two light separated into distinct exhausts and i bet the average temp goes right back to where i want it in the upper 70s, low 80s.

humidity is something i've got next to zero control over in the current build. the one thing my environment has going for it is 40-50% humidity almost year round. it's usually right about 40%. the problem i ran into this round was not manually setting the cabinet exhaust to be constantly on during nighttime hours. i have found this is absolutely key when things are really crowded. i need to replace the sentinel evc-1 or otherwise get set up so that i can set different temps for day and night so i don't have to rely on myself for this. i might lose some plant-generated CO2 by venting during dark hours, but this is a fine tradeoff to ensure no moisture condenses, etc. vents on during dark is going to be standard procedure from now on. and if no joy it will be time to install a small humidifier in there. have had my eye on one for awhile now but would rather keep it simple if possible.

i am also wondering what role Overdrive played in this. i'm keeping it out of the sauce mix for awhile and i'll try it again later to see what happens. it encourages the plants to keep stacking buds after they've pretty much decided to quit. not only do i not like the shape of the buds after this happens (foxtails shooting out), but I wonder if this had any role in causing the plants to stress and grow nuts. could also be that overdrive has nothing to do with any of this and it was environment conditions causing this.

will be ready to go 12/12 on the hindu skunk in there, probably in about 2 or 3 weeks. starting with just two plants this time so will take extra time to veg and fill the screen up. aiming for 24 stalks from two plants, about half to a third of what i've been doing in there so far. just experimenting with different combinations to see what works out. so far, i can definitely say that 4 plants in the cabinet work out better than 6.

The high PPM's are locking you out dude, I think that has a lot to do with your problems, all synthetic nutes are bonded, so if your plants need N, but your N source is Sodium Nitrate, and your plants already have too much Sodium from 2000ppm, how are they going to take up that N without lock out or nute burn? More than likely lock-out. Your plants are less likely too get bugs and mold when they have everything available to them.

Dimming a 600w will usually produce more heat from the ballast, and if not it probably won't be much cooler, you really have to use a 400w with a 400w ballast, I think we should trade and you should try it. I really think it will help. I use a 400w in a similar space to yours, because 600w just gets to hot and too bright in there.

Nice yield! Looks like a perfect setup that anybody could put in their closet to pull out a good yield.
Keep it up

thanks. that's what it was basically meant to be. i really have no use for the stealth so it's now running on pure determination to make the concept as good as it can be.

i know we can pull 600g out of this. more experience and i'll be a better driver to pull it off. i love the scrog setup, and once i learn to fill the screen properly, timed correctly with the 12/12 stretch, we will see marked improvement.

on the 600w temps too -

these temps have been high because i have two lights running through one exhaust duct. once i clean up this ductwork and get the two setups exhausting seperately the temp should be respectable again. otherwise, this 600w is hardly being cooled at all. i think the saving factor at this point is CO2 enrichment letting me get away with temps in the low to mid 80s for most of lights on.

my room ventilation is also still not right. thought i had it, but i've neglected pulling in cooler fresh air. if i simply opened the outside door and popped a fan in it we'd have nighttime room temp of 68-75f. instead, we don't hit 75f until around midnight, even when it's chilly outside. means i don't have it right. yet. when i get it right, along with getting the ducting sorted and separated, i don't think we'll have any problem with temps in the cabinet until outside temp gets into the upper 90s+. once that happens .. well wtf is anyone supposed to do? gonna have to ride that out manually pretty much no matter what.

remember, first cycle in this thing i had no problem maintaining 75-78f for extended periods. it's a little different now with CO2 enhanced, but i'll get it. 600w in this is absolutely doable.

matter of fact, if i could fit the harvest master hood into the cabinet, i'm pretty sure 1000w would work too. it seems to run much cooler than the 600w in the tube, thinking because there is more circulation in the larger space behind the glass. coming first in the exhaust line also helps i'm sure, so we'll compare when the exhaust is separated.

i keep ballasts on the outside of both the cabinet and my tent. no need to have them inside heating things up when i can just run the cable in.

ha! found over an oz that i'd left in a tray stuck on a shelf. it's the best smelling smoke of the bunch now. certainly food for though as to how to dry and cure in this room. it's been sitting there for what a month now? no mold or other issues.

I love finding weed on the rack (my new grow partners use a rack, I don't) or in the closet weeks and weeks later and it is some how perfect! It's rare, but much appreciated. I might adopt my new grow partners drying rack, because the way they have it designed they can keep it at 50% (maybe even higher, actually) and temps at 58-62, and it dries sooo slow it is good to smoke right off the rack. And by good, I mean real good. It has sooo much air flow (indirect air flow) around the nugs it doesn't matter that they have high humidity and low temps, no mold or rot. They also trim and break their plants down into nugs at the same time as they crop, much different than I.

I will post picture of that rack later, and then show you your 2 GIANT BD's in my giant scrog I built today. You're gonna crap by the end of this grow, I guarantee it.


80-85f is actually the best temp to run with co2, more co2 is available at 85, or so I've been told many times before. I think I read something from Jorge Cervantes backing it up, but I don't remember. Night time temps are your only concern, and if they get down to 72 you are fine, my night time temps are usually 68-74, and I have no problems, and no co2, we used to, but we need to redo the whole thing, they were wasting hundreds of dollars worth of co2 in a month.

DO NOT PUT 1000W IN YOUR CAB. Think about it. That is all I have to say about that.

You SHOULD by another Yield Master II, or, actually, much better; a Daystar 6" from HydroFarm would suite your SCROG way better and give a much wider light foot print, despite it's smaller size. It gives a wider, but more shallow light footprint. Much wider than our Yield Master II's, I am about to switch actually. Because I need coverage, not penetration with my short plants. Me and my old grow partner used to cover a 3x3 foot print EASILY with only a 400w, it was actually more like 4x2 1/2, but whatever, we used a LED on the dim side, but we would pull crazy weight! That was just in our experimental box, he still has the hood, and my ballast, but I am actually about to take both back. Time for him to walk on his own. The hood, sadly, is going elsewhere, it isn't mine, it was being borrowed from another friend of mine who I taught how to grow his own medicine.

CO2 absolutely requires higher temps. If you enhance CO2 without raising the temp some it won't do much if anything for you. Humidity is also key. Even with higher temp and 1500ppm, too much humidity (60%+ if i remember right) or too little (<40%) and again, it's pointless. Nighttime temps have been in the high 70s. Definitely do not need CO2 at night. Most people don't CO2 during veg either but I'm doing it. I experimented a bit with it starting the next round of hindu skunk. The plants just exploded when I added the CO2 and bumped the temp up some. Very obvious, they grow faster with the CO2. Big surprise .. I don't have it in the veg cab, but anything vegging in the flower areas will be getting it. I flow about 700cfm into a T which splits into the tent and cab. Working fine so far.

I'm going to put 1000w in this cab just as soon as I can afford it now, just because you said that. HA! Bet it works fine once I get the ducting and fans straightened out. Again.

This orphan bud I found is actually, by far, the best tasting and smelling of the harvest. It's real blue dream, the rest is blue snooze. I have no doubt this is because it's been sitting out like it has. There's a mix of duffy buds and a couple of good ones too, all of it smells 100% better than even the best in the jars. No contest whatsoever. So next harvest I will experiment and again take a tray and leave it sitting in that same spot. maybe even hang a few buds for the initial day right in that same spot on a clothesline. Let's see how this compares.

Made some super-strength balls-the-walls Tea today, brewing it over night and diluting it tomorrow, but it's going in raw to all the larger plants; pure sauce.

The reason I say not to do 1000w is because it simply wouldn't benefit. The light footprint for 1k is 4x4-5x5 depending on your hood if you are using MH or HPS. You should keep the 1000w 18"-36" away from the tops, so it also restricts your height. If your plant's are only going to be 12-18" tall, what is the point of 42" of light penetration? I'm just thinking of your poor wallet when it see's the big bad electricity bill.

My things to do:
1) rewrap flower dungeon
2) punch fatty 6" hole in the wall for new fresh air intake
3) Redo the ventilation set up
4) CO2 like a mother fucker

Mold scares me though, so 60% humidity in veg, and 50% in flower with CO2. Benefit of CO2 is if you get mold you can bring your room up to 100 degrees for an hour and kill it without fucking your plant's day up.



Dry some buds your style, dry some my style, see what you like.

oh i'm not going to do it because it makes anything better. just going to do it because someone told me not to!

Haha, you're going to eat those words, my friend!

How much is this BD going to stretch? Between 1/3 of it's height and 3x it's height... I may want to beef my screen up from 3x3 to 3x4 or 4x4.

And when you SCROG do you weave or just keep it all under the screen, and keep pulling the tops through? It sounds like such a noob question, but I've never really had such a fantastic opportunity to SCROG.
I feel like weaving would be hard as fuck on my plants and tear them up, but it would create knots like Super Cropping, and create super tops rather than uniform tops. But keeping it under the screen sounds clean and easy.
As a lazy pot farmer I like clean and easy.

And why isn't my tea growing like crazy! It only went up 150 PPM over night. Fuck! I started with 4 gals of water, did your net pot lid idea with a stocking, and added the following: 3-4 cups of castings (sort of eye balled), 1 cup of Jamacian guano, 6-8oz of kelp extract (it was dark in the garage last night), almost 2 tbs of Molasses, and followed the recommendations for Aqua Shield, Liquid Karma, and mycorrhizae. And just for shits and giggles; I dumped in a bunch of my excess Big Bloom from Fox Farm I've had laying around since '09 or '10, which is basically their tea concentrate.

Maybe I'll throw some Vermiblend in there, get some more diversity. I saw a cool innoculant product at Ace's the other day, I can tell it is made by a local, but it's cheap and has a lot of different beneficial life in it. Only 10 bucks for a 10oz bottle, I believe. I can sport a buck an oz.

I also have my roots excelurator, but at 90 bucks a bottle I am hesitant to put it into the tea. This tea is for both indoor and outdoor plants, and I don't want to spend a lot of money on my apple trees. I am also starting a outdoor vegetable garden, so it'll be used in there. Grow season just started here in the mountains. Short season, but I don't want to tend to a bunch of giants either.