Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - 800W CAB SCROG

Hello!

Why is this grow going to be harder, better, faster, stronger? Because I'm going to take the knowledge gained (aka mistakes) of my last grow and outperform in this identical run. My first crop with this set-up is still drying so I don't know what the benchmark will be in terms of yield but I should know in a few days. I also haven't grown in 7-8 years so I was a little rusty. My first run is here: https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/558029-bcnl-producer-meets-scrog-meets.html

Freshly clipped bud from my last harvest. Grape Krush by DJ Short


I also made a list of everything I learned in my last grow that I will implement in this grow. Details here: https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/558029-bcnl-producer-meets-scrog-meets-11.html#post8327195


I'm using the BC Northern Lights Producer as my main veg and flower chamber. I also have a really small tent (1x1x2) that houses my mother plants. I built a screen that seems to work well and I will definitely use that again as I will be in every grow for the rest of my life, love the scrog.


I cut some clones just as my last run was finishing. I couldn't put them in the producer so I improvised a device for the mother tent.

1. Put clone in plastic cup



2. Put a second cup on the first and tape shut


3. Stuff 8 of them in 1 sqaure foot of space along with two mother plants



It isn't pretty but it works well enough for a week.

After I chopped my flowering plants I put the clones in a proper dome inside the box under 125 watt CFL


Right now I'm waiting on the first signs of roots. That's where we are at, stay tuned!

Subbed. I'm all in.

Thanks for the support in this grow and my last one!

I checked this morning and still no signs of roots poking out of the rockwool. I also spent 2 hours cleaning the Producer as directed in the manual. I've got the hydroton soaking in H2O2 as we speak. It wasn't too bad of a process and the machine is spotless now. Ready to rock a bumper crop.

I feel like I've been neglecting my journal but for two good reasons;
1. I got sick for 10 days. I just had my ass kicked by a cold and didn't want to move (or post to this journal).
2. The roots took FOREVER to show.

I'm not sure what happened. The first time I cloned this strain, it took less than 2 weeks. This time it took 3-3.5 weeks! I think my upside down cup technique isn't as great as I thought it was. I thiought it would save me time but it hasn't. Back to the drawing board on that one.

I actually cut new clones just before the first batch showed roots because I thought they were all dead. I cut them from the same mother plant as the first batch, which then died from the shock. Not unexpected as I'd taken 80% of the plant for cuttings. She was sacrificed as I needed new clones more than I needed the mother plant. I'll take a new mother from my new batch of clones.

So, a bit of a bumpy beginning to this grow but I've now got some small plants pumping out new growth and things are looking good.

glad your feeling better. so how many clones do you have alive right now. why is this your last grow?

This is not my last grow! Not even close. I must have miscommunicated something in a previous post. I've mentally scheduled my next grow to start the day after I chop this one down.

I think I've got six that showed roots and are in net pots. I'll verify that when the lights go back on. I'm going to pick the best 2-4 and kill the rest. I wish I could let my clones know my plans. A competitive death battle with your plant siblings has to be good for growth rate.

The ladies are coming along.





I have 7 of them going but the time has come to thin the herd.

I picked the two smallest ones and yanked them. I'm going with 5 plans this run.

I judge you...... DEAD


I also judge you... DEAD


So, I present to you the Fine Five.


I'd also like to thank Susan Boyle for helping protect a young plant that was getting too much air blasted at it.

Hmmmm. In my last journal I said that "kill the runt" was something I'd learned from that grow. I've got one plant that just isn't up to snuff. Two weeks ago it was the biggest, now the other have blasted past it in growth and general health. This one has minimal branching and is spindly. I'm putting it on one week notice and then terminating it with extreme prejudice.

What is learning and experience if you don't act on it? It has the same result as ignorance. In my last grow I gave a runt plant a shot at the big leagues and the result was a small section of my canopy that under-performed. I've been delaying killing my current runt for some reason but last night I finally dropped the hammer and yanked it. Take a guess at which plant I killed?



A few short weeks ago that plant was towering over the others. Now it won't have time to catch up as the rest of the plants are 1-2 inches from the screen.

Oh so clean...love that cabinet there!
how much do they cost?

I spent $5,000 for this cabinet, a dryer, a year of nutes, extra bulbs, charcoal filters, and pump as well as a ph pen and tds pen. After receiving it I spent another $500 for various things like a CO2 tank, materials to build my PVC screen, ph down, calmag and miscellaneous other stuff.

I also had to purchase a small tent to house my mothers.

The girls are big enough for a screen. Here they are in all their glory.





I've been changed the res every two weeks, as opposed to one, and I haven't noticed any ill effects. I've been monitoring the PPM an they weren't joking when they described Grape Krush as a light feeder.

You can see in the last photo that they had a slight mag deficiency after I experimented with reducing how much they received. I'm back to full strength now and they're doing great.

Good to know about the grape krush. What's your ppm? Do you think it will be overkill if you had 18 grape krush in your producer and if you flowered early(still scrog) do you think you could get a better yield?

Around 500 PPM

You could do 18 plants in a SCROG but I don't think it would add to yield in this set-up. The canopy was really dense on the last one.

It would make the veg time shorter but it would also make it harder to work and clean up under the canopy.

I've been fighting ph pretty hard on this grow and I'm experiencing a bit of lock-out. Mg deficiency due to lock-out is the verdict. I posted a thread about it in the Plant Problem sub-forum. That place is a god-send when your plans are stressed. Overcoming deficiency problems 15 years ago would have been so much more problematic.

My solution is to adjust ph twice a day and aim to have it bottom out at 5.5. When I use more volumes of nutes in flower the ph stabilizes. It's just in veg that I have this problem. I floated the idea of a $500 ph controller to my girlfriend tonight. She likes that I won't have to run downstairs constantly to check ph but doesn't like the price tag. That's pretty much the way I view it as well.

Here is a pic of the most damaged leaf.

As I was checking my ph at 6:30 am this morning, my girlfriend walked in the room and said "just buy the controller".

I turned on my T5 underlighting and by morning there were burn marks on every leaf and branch that were touching it. My current solution is to put a chicken wire shell over the entire length of each T5. It anybody has a better solution, please let me know!