Mewk's Tiny PC Grow / 69w CFL / 12-12FS / Soil

SnotBoogie said:

Beautiful SCROG Mewk! I thought this was your first "Real" grow....

Really nice canopy control, makes me want to throw a screen in...

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Thanks man. No, it's my first PC/CFL grow though. I've still got the cab above, but no room to get her up and running. It's a shame cause looking back at those pics... My mouth is watering.

That cab grow was actually my first ever grow, but I've always had pretty green fingers, and it was fun to do. Was so chuffed with the way it filled the screen, it even turned a longterm grower friend of mine onto SCRoG, after years of swearing by basic LST.

Hey all... I could do with a bit of seasoned advice.

First up tho, some pics from today, Day 20.

This is how she was lookin, after a couple weeks of pretty full on LST


Things were gettin a bit messy in there, with all the cable... So I untied her.


Now after a bit of a stretch, she's back under some slightly tidier LST


So, now for the bit where I'm fishing for some knowledgeable advice.

I've been tryina figure out the next step from here... and I've been considering 3 main options.

1) Leave her be and LST
Just keep training her along, and keep tying that main cola back down. The downside to this seems to be that I'm gonna fill up the main cola side of the tub way faster than the other side. Plus having to keep pulling her top back down and working that around the free space.

2) FIM
I had this in the back of my mind as the main plan... But now I'm thinking that it'd be even worse for my situation than option 1, it just means i've got four main colas to attend to and keep locked down.

3) Off with her head!
Now, at first I would never have considered this option. But the more I think about it, the more sense it makes, all things considered. I'm thinking of chopping off the top of the plant, about of third of the way from the node beneath it. The way I figure this, it'd mean the main growth would stop being pushed to the top of the plant, therefore sending all the energy to the few branches that are remaining, but in a more equal amount. These branches would be easier to keep low and to evenly fill the space I have for my grow.

So normally, I'd think fuckit, and just go with option 3 as I reckon that makes the most sense... But I've held back to see if I can grab some advice from those in the know.

I can't seem to get great pics of her with this camera... but here's a half-decent closeup of her stem, as it is today.


Ohhh... and HOW MUCH have i missed that smell of a growing mj plant. Not the sticky weed smell, but that distinctive 'veg' grow smell. *Gorgeous*

I cant really vouch for anything but I know that what I'm trying to mimick is Penyajo's papaya strain pc grow. Im sure youll find it with a quick search around here. Youre right about having an uneven distribution between your tub and colas but in his grow he made it work. Also came in with I think about 28g dry with the way he lst'ed her.

You could LST the main cola in one direction and the side branching in the other. I tend to find this happens naturally, though.

Nothing wrong with topping, either.

n0tmycupoftea said:

I cant really vouch for anything but I know that what I'm trying to mimick is Penyajo's papaya strain pc grow. Im sure youll find it with a quick search around here. Youre right about having an uneven distribution between your tub and colas but in his grow he made it work. Also came in with I think about 28g dry with the way he lst'ed her.

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Thanks for the headsup on Panyjo's thread. I've just started reading it through from the beginning, really good lil grow. Plus if I could find a way to score 25g+ off a pcgrow, it'd be amazing.

SnotBoogie said:

You could LST the main cola in one direction and the side branching in the other. I tend to find this happens naturally, though.Nothing wrong with topping, either.

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I could do Snot, but I feel like I'm forever gonna have everything else chasing behind the main cola, if I get rid of it, everything else is in a pretty even race.Assuming I decide to top her, any recommendations on how many nodes to let her grow before the beheading?

To an extent thats true, but i tend to find by a couple weeks into flower everything is pretty much even, especially if you are tieing her down good.

If you top i would probably do it now personally, though topping is not something i use in my own garden.

SnotBoogie said:

To an extent thats true, but i tend to find by a couple weeks into flower everything is pretty much even, especially if you are tieing her down good.

If you top i would probably do it now personally, though topping is not something i use in my own garden.

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I agree snot. Before I flowered everything wasn't necessarily even, but after 2 weeks everything evened out and a had a flat canopy.

Man, your grow looks amazing. Best of lucks with that...

I'm using an almost identical sized case, I'm subbed.

allahdamnit said:

Man, your grow looks amazing. Best of lucks with that...

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Thanks man, yeh I'm pretty happy with how everything's going at the minute.

fresh2fourty said:

I'm using an almost identical sized case, I'm subbed.

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Haha, I just subbed to your thread man. Always glad to have company in the micro-pc-grow world. Welcome aboard.

@Snot & @mad
I think I'm gonna go with your advice then, I'll keep everythin the same for the moment, and only consider topping if it looks like I'm gonna get into trouble. Thanks for the feedback!

Subbed as well ...I have a new thread going as well ...check it out ...

Just a quick update for the subs to this thread.

Sorry no pics, it's been a busy old week... Just mastered baking bread... My first homebrew's just coming outa the fermenter... and the sun's been shining like crazy, so there's been BBQ's to contend with too... Oh, and a mate just lent me his copy of Dark Souls, which I'm already realising is likely to suck every minute of my evenings.

Anyway, back to my girl. I had to bite the bullet yesterday and top her, I didn't feel good about it, but she's already showing a good few whispy hairs, and one side of the tray is still empty. So hopefully topping her will push a bit more energy to the side branches I have pointing towards the empty space. Out of interest, how much growth is she likely to show after showing her first hairs? Is that it now, or have I still got a week or two of growth? Remember she's been under 12/12 from seed. Out of interest, how much growth is she likely to show after showing her first hairs? Is that it now, or have I still got a week or two of growth? Remember she's been under 12/12 from seed.

All still seems great at the moment tho, it's a bit messy in there with my LSTing, but I've found that I can get away with about a week of heavy LSTing, then I need to remove it all and start from fresh. So I'll try and get some pics up from when I get around to that.

I am realising day by day tho, that after all the advice that I've been turning down and shunning from RIU... I might have to detach those lights and rack them sideways, purely to get me that extra couple inches of headroom inside the box. I'm not enjoying the idea of dismantling and refixing it all, so I'mna just keep putting that off until I've got a good bit of spare time to deal with it.

Right, back to it, loadsa shit to sort out today before I can start doin the stuff I wanna do.

Okay, I managed to get round to it earlier than I expected. So here's some pics. She is looking a bit of a mess at the moment, working inside this PC is not my proudest moment.

After a week of hardcore LST:


Removed all the wire, and let her breath for a moment or two:


Now a couple attempts at closeups on the budsites, tho they are a bit bleached. I think the brown mark on one of the pics is where I topped her yesterday:


Then back into bondage she goes:

hey mewk69, great grow and love the lst.
i know what you say about the veg grow smell, it promises sooo much.
wish i`d put mine into flower sooner now.
i`m sure you said, but what type of mj is that?
another uk grower here. sshh dont tell any1
happy growing

emannn2010 said:

hey mewk69, great grow and love the lst.
i know what you say about the veg grow smell, it promises sooo much.
wish i`d put mine into flower sooner now.
i`m sure you said, but what type of mj is that?
another uk grower here. sshh dont tell any1
happy growing

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Your secret is safe with me.

Tis Shiva Skunk, from the Sensi Seeds Seedbank.
On paper it's perfect for this kinda grow.

Awesome update mewk. I think she may still grow the next couple weeks and thereafter just concentrate on bud formation. Sorry to hear about the top, I may be reaching that point real soon but will refrain for as long as I can.

Nice looking plant, nice job on the LST as well.

mewk69 said:

Out of interest, how much growth is she likely to show after showing her first hairs? Is that it now, or have I still got a week or two of growth? Remember she's been under 12/12 from seed.

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General rule of thumb, seems to be that the plant doubles in size once the lights get flipped...altho I don't know how that adapts to something that has had 12/12 since seed, now that I read your whole question...doh! If I had to guess I would think that you won't see any more new nodes, just the existing ones starting to fatten up.

Looking great so far Mewk, keep up the good gardening!

I've found that after I've trained a plant for a while, the only thing that needs to still be tied down is the top, the rest of the plant should have already adjusted to the training. Unless you tie/rearrange branches for more even coverage, that's a different situation.

Dragon311 said:

Unless you tie/rearrange branches for more even coverage, that's a different situation.

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Yeh, that's the general plan Dragon. Most of the plant stays perfectly flat now, but a few of the smaller branches are popping skywards, so when I do my LST cleanup sessions I try and grab them and bring em back down to earth at the same time.

reku said:

Nice looking plant, nice job on the LST as well.

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Cheers reku... Tho I'm not that proud of it really, if I'd had a bit more space, maybe she'd look a little more comfortable. Also, I wish I'd started her on one side of the pot and just LSTd her over to the other side, rather than tryina split both ways like I am.

n0tmycupoftea said:

Awesome update mewk. I think she may still grow the next couple weeks and thereafter just concentrate on bud formation. Sorry to hear about the top, I may be reaching that point real soon but will refrain for as long as I can.

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Thanks cuppa. I'm certainly hoping she keeps growing a bit, the left side of the pot is still bare, so it'd really be appreciated. I'm not too bothered about the top, it just feels inhumane But I think it's the right move in the long run, as she was still kicking out new nodes every couple of days, and at that rate it woulda been way too crowded up one end.

Looking good Mewk's. I would agree with you about planting on one side of the pot, but you now know for next time. pc grows are a bit of a live and learn experience. Your home brew sounds interesting is it tin-o-lager or can-na-ale, I wonder? keep up the good work and may the sun continue to shine for you.