200w+ CFL scrog in the attic

ditrtyone said:

man i have super silver on 12/12 mode as we speak get ready for the stretch also from what i have experienced this strain might need minimal watering, also if you dont have patience (i lack in that dept.) the throw her out and get something else. it is a slow sob to flower at day 32 in flower and it looks like an indica on day 10 of flower.. i will get a smoke report on this strain in about 8 more weeks lol. also that grow room/tent might not be tall enough for this strain.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback and tips! I realized going in that this would be a long time flowering, but I really love sativas so I think it'll be worth the wait. I'm planning to switch to 12/12 as soon as I take a couple clones, so hopefully it won't outgrow my box/tent. Also, I'm planning to scrog her pretty aggressively, so she won't be going vertical until she's filled the whole screen with nodes.

Do you have any pics?

How could I NOT post on 4/20, right? lol...

I finally got my temp/humidity sensor today, along with 10 mylar emergency blankets. I'm not feeling up to putting up the mylar (no need yet really anyhow), but I did set up the sensor. It's got two parts:





The first one is the sensor itself, which transmits its readings via RF, and the second one is the "monitoring" unit, which receives that signal. The "OUT" readings are from the grow box, and it logs the maximum and minimum readings for both temps and relative humidity (I plan to type them into a spreadsheet and clear them daily or at least weekly). So far my temperatures seem to be steady between 77 and 81, but I'll be curious to see what the max is on a hot day. Humidity is also pretty steady between 40 and 42%, but I wonder how much that will spike when the lights go off for 4 hours tonight.

This is where I have the sensor connected, roughly at the maximum height I hope the canopy to be for my scrog:



I still haven't done much with getting the screen installed on the scrog setup, but I anticipate I'll do that by the end of the weekend. That'll be my next update, for real this time.

Just a quick update...

First, I've got the screen installed on the recycling bin I'm using as my final grow container:





As you can see, I cut a hole so I could access under the screen once the plant grows into it, and I secured the screen to the bin using these holes that for some unknown reason the bin already had drilled (and they were spaced perfectly for this screen by a miraculous coincidence):



I'll be transplanting the SS girl as soon as I take a couple cuttings and root them. Speaking of the plant, here she is:



I'm hoping her heat stress days are over, now that I can more closely monitor temps and humidity. Since installing the sensor, the hottest it's gotten was 84, and the coldest was 64.

Until next time.....

ourkansaw said:

Just a quick update...

First, I've got the screen installed on the recycling bin I'm using as my final grow container:

View attachment 2133206

View attachment 2133208

As you can see, I cut a hole so I could access under the screen once the plant grows into it, and I secured the screen to the bin using these holes that for some unknown reason the bin already had drilled (and they were spaced perfectly for this screen by a miraculous coincidence):

View attachment 2133210

I'll be transplanting the SS girl as soon as I take a couple cuttings and root them. Speaking of the plant, here she is:

View attachment 2133212

I'm hoping her heat stress days are over, now that I can more closely monitor temps and humidity. Since installing the sensor, the hottest it's gotten was 84, and the coldest was 64.

Until next time.....

Click to expand...

Very nice container idea. I love the size of the screen area you have. This will be a nice scrog to watch. Subbed and +rep man!

Lookin' good. Subscr1be!

subbed sir! got some seedlings growing myself at the moment. I'm reeeallly interested on your FIMming of the seedling.. I can't quite tell which point you did it at in your seedling's life. Either way, they look healthy! Excited to see what you do with the scrog. I just started training one of my slower plants

Thanks to everyone for stopping by! I'm trying to limit my update frequency so you're not bombarded with posts to keep up with.

oOrtclOud said:

subbed sir! got some seedlings growing myself at the moment. I'm reeeallly interested on your FIMming of the seedling.. I can't quite tell which point you did it at in your seedling's life. Either way, they look healthy! Excited to see what you do with the scrog. I just started training one of my slower plants

Click to expand...

I fimmed right after the third node (counting only the true leaves as nodes). In other words, at that time there were the first "false" leaves (cotyledon), then the first, second, and third pair of true leaves. The little grow tip between the third pair was what I removed. Here's a photo I took a day or two after fimming, which should give you an idea of how far along the plant was in its life:



While we're on the subject of the fimming, here's a photo taken today of the place where I removed the grow tip just about one week ago exactly:



It's hard to photograph effectively, but the fimming resulted in all six potential nodes producing fairly viable branches, though the top two nodes (4 branches) are the sturdiest and fastest-growing. Here's another shot of one of the 2nd node branches:



I've decided I'll probably remove the lowest two branches to be my clones, since they are somewhat starved for light anyhow. Then, the 4 main branches will be trained into the scrog screen.

In other news, I put up some mylar yesterday, though I might have to rip it down and try a better method of attaching it. I just taped the corners and occasionally rolled up some tape in the middle somewhere to hold that in place. It crinkles pretty noisily due to the box fan. Here's a photo showing the mylar:



You can probably see from that photo that I've also increased the number of CFLs over the plant, while backing them up a little bit. Here's a shot of the 4 bulbs in action:



In the back are two 23w 5000k bulbs, and the two front ones are each 42w, one at 2700k and the other at 6500k, for a total of 130w. In terms of lumens, the 23w's are rated at 1570 apiece, while the 42w's are 2800 apiece, for a total of 8740.

That's it for now, the next update will probably be showing the taking of the two clones. I plan to root them in a mix that's 90% perlite and 10% organic potting soil, with a rooting powder.

I'll leave you with this, your moment of zen (latest photo of the plant, just taken, day 20 from seed):

I've got a couple quick updates, decided not to hold off on them. First, here's the plant this evening:



The daily growth rate is getting impressive, and I decided it was time to take a couple clones from the lowest branches, which are scrawnier than the others. So I mixed perlite with my organic potting soil at a 9:1 ratio, with the goal of retaining a little water and providing some more trace nutrients. I am using 18 oz party cups (with drainage holes drilled), which I've placed in yogurt tubs to slow down the rate they dry out:



I clipped the two branches right near the main stem and removed the leaves from the first node up. Here's one of them:



Then I misted them and dipped them in this stuff, shaking off the extra powder:



After that, into the cups, in holes I poked with a chop stick:





I then put an upside-down tupperware container over one of them (but not the other), just to see which one roots better/faster:



In other news, since my temp/humidity monitor logs the high and low, I've been logging those each day and resetting it. Here are the charts showing my minimum and maximum of each for the last few days:





The temps are a little lower than ideal, maybe, but not too bad. Humidity could be a tad higher (on the low end at least), but seems to be okay so far.

Unless something goes wrong with the clones, the next update will be when I transplant the main plant into its scrog container, probably tomorrow night or Sunday morning, depending on my energy level after work tomorrow...

Legit!

I'm lovin' what you're doin'. I really think we're on a similar page with our journeys here And thanks for the FIM info! I may do it on one of my newer seedlings. You've seem to got a super indica growin', I ended up with some very sativa-y varieties in the batch of seeds that I popped and those are progressing significantly slower than the indica phenos, predictably.

Keep killin' it

oOrtclOud said:

Legit!

I'm lovin' what you're doin'. I really think we're on a similar page with our journeys here And thanks for the FIM info! I may do it on one of my newer seedlings. You've seem to got a super indica growin', I ended up with some very sativa-y varieties in the batch of seeds that I popped and those are progressing significantly slower than the indica phenos, predictably.

Click to expand...

Funny you say that, this is a Dinafem Super Silver seedling, which is at least theoretically 90% sativa and only 10% indica. I was also thinking how her leaves looked mighty wide and thick for a sativa, but perhaps they'll thin out more once she grows up a little more.

So I stayed home from work today (touch o' the flu) and managed to get the lovely lady transplanted into her final grow container:



I'm up to 6 bulbs now:



Here's the breakdown of bulb types and lumen ratings:

1 x 42w 6500k (2800 lumens)
1 x 42w 2700k (2800 lumens)
1 x 32w 2700k (2200 lumens)
3 x 23w 5000k (1570 lumens apiece, 4710 total)

Total: 185w (12,510 lumens)

The bulbs are further from the plant than they have been at any point so far, but I'm actually hoping that'll cause a little stretching so I can start training the branches onto the screen. Here's a shot showing the vertical distance pretty well:



And, finally, a closeup of the plant:



It's pretty mind-boggling that this plant is only 23 days from seed, right?? Seems like just yesterday. How time flies!

As always, feedback is welcome!

Now the fun part, training and flowering. How far are you going to fill? I'm tryin to figure out how long to veg my next grow. Current grow I flipped when the tip broke the screen, next time I'm thinking about 40% full then flip and fill with flower stretch. What do you think?

The best photos are the ones with the tiny seedlings looking for the light and the big buds. Period

Alright, time for an update! I'll start by answering stoneslacker's question:

stoneslacker said:

Now the fun part, training and flowering. How far are you going to fill? I'm tryin to figure out how long to veg my next grow. Current grow I flipped when the tip broke the screen, next time I'm thinking about 40% full then flip and fill with flower stretch. What do you think?

Click to expand...

The tips started to break the screen yesterday, and I'm flipping to 12/12 starting tomorrow. If this were an indica strain I'd probably wait for about 25% screen coverage at least, but since it's a sativa I'm expecting quite a bit of growth after the 12/12 flip. Since this is a CFL grow, I'd rather risk under-producing rather than getting too tall for my lights to penetrate properly.

Here are a couple photos of my little bush (first unmolested, second one after I twisted her around a bit to better show the branching):





Remember, this is now 25 days from seed!

I was a little worried that she seemed overly indica for a strain that's supposedly 90% sativa, but some the newest leaves look a lot more sativa-ish (though still not quite what I was expecting):



As a final update on the success of the FIM, here is a closeup of the location where I FIM'd her:



You can see the dried out cotyledons, the nubs where I removed the lowest two branches to be clones, and the four successful branches that resulted from the FIM. Speaking of the clones, they're doing okay, hopefully there are some roots forming below! I've moved them into their own box, a converted dog crate, in anticipation of switching the main box to 12/12:




After taking that photo I covered the crate with black plastic to make it a more self-contained grow area (and minimize the light that might seep out the attic windows). I'll be adding a humidity/temp probe and a fan as soon as they arrive in the mail. Hopefully the clones don't die in the meantime, but if they do I won't be too heartbroken yet. There's still time to take moer clones before flowering kicks in full-steam! Oh, and speaking of temp/humidity monitoring, here are a couple charts showing the high and low temp and humidity since I installed the probe over a week ago:




That's all for now, folks... as always, comments are welcome!

DIY guys, check this out

[video=youtube;NFzIP_TN75A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFzIP_TN75A&list=PL8AC4FFCA00BEBFCD&index= 3&feature=plpp_video[/video]

Ccoastal

Thanks for sharing! that sort of thing would probably work pretty well for a ScrOG, where you want pretty tight light density.

Just a quick photo update, shorter than usual. First, a photo I took this evening right after the lights came on after the first 12-hour dark period:



So we'll call that Day 1 of flowering, Day 26 from seed. And here's a photo from above the canopy:



I also switched around the bulbs a bit. I was having problems with one of the clamp lights slowly falling into the screen, so I decided to reduce the number of bulbs until I can figure out a better lighting fixture. In addition, I wanted to swap out for more 2700k bulbs now that I'm flowering. So here's the breakdown of bulbs now:

42w@6500k (2800 lumens)
42w@2700k (2800)
32w@2700k (2200)
26w@2700k (1700)

Total: 148w (9500 lumens)

That's all for now, I'll provide another update either when pre-flowers start to show or when I cobble together a more efficient light fixture.

Looks great. I am wanting to scrog a couple of sativas for my next grow, so I am going to anxiously watch your screens fill.

stoneslacker said:

Looks great. I am wanting to scrog a couple of sativas for my next grow, so I am going to anxiously watch your screens fill.

Click to expand...

Won't be half as anxiously as me!

So I was very unhappy with the "veg box" I tried to make out of a dog crate, mostly because it was proving very difficult to make airtight and to keep insulated from the hot attic. Also, it was just too big for my purposes (rooting clones then vegging those clones for like one week before they move to the flower box). So, I was sitting on my back porch pondering a solution when I spotted this styrofoam cooler that some Omaha Steaks came in (a gift from relatives):



I did a few quick off-the-cuff measurements and decided it was just the right size for my purposes, and obviously it would be very well insulated from the attic heat, so long as I can get the air conditioned air as the intake (that's the next project).

So, I turned the cooler sideways, cut a large hole in the new "top" (formerly the side) for a reflector, another small square hole near the top for a PC fan, and two passive intake holes along the bottom. Here's a photo showing some of the holes while I was still in the middle of the process of making the box:



The reason I lined the inside of the box with mylar (and reflective tape on the "ceiling") is to minimize the possibility that the styrofoam might produce undesirable fumes. The mylar should protect the styrofoam from much of the heat, as well as being a physical barrier to fumes getting in the box.

A couple hours later, here's the finished product, with my two clones in it:



And here it is with the door closed (I still need to get a strap to put around it to keep the lid completely tight):



I'm surprised how much light passes through not only the mylar but then a few inches of styrofoam. But that's no consequence since I'll be putting it in the attic where hopefully no one will see it.

My only complaint is the PC fan I had laying around is reallllly noisy. I'll probably order a quieter fan that's the same size at some point.

And I couldn't have an update without a picture of the bush (Day 2 flowering, Day 27 from seed):

Great idea with the cooler man. Necessity is really the mother of invention and some of the DIY ideas I have seen from growers are outstanding. Nice job and props man.