Blackskull Pepperjack Haze 16 week DWC SCROG

Hello all,

So I recently finished up my 4th grow. I grew this same strain, Blackskull Pepperjack Haze (feminized) from dope-seeds. It was my first attempt at both scrogging and at hydro, and I really did a pretty half assed job. I had high temps, my pH was all screwed up, had a few bug issues, and terrible smell issues....all due mostly to a lack of funding on my behalf to make a proper grow room. But I still managed to yield just over 4 ounces off of my last plant, and that was after harvesting two weeks early, so this go around I'm hoping to get over 6 oz and possibly even chase the 1/2 lb. mark....but thats all in time. I have the funding to do this grow right this time and I will have my pH in check, my temps in check, better nutrient schedule, better water quality, and a grow tent that will be both light and smell proof

If you are interested in seeing my previous grow the link is here...600watt PJHAZE SCROG

Once again on this new go around I have only planted a single feminized seed, which I will be scrogging to fit my grow tent (approximately 4'w x 2'd or 8 square feet of canopy). I plan on trading out the 600 watt HPS for a new 400 watt cooltube HPS during flower to keep temps in check. I started the seed in a jiffy peet pellet, then transferred into a Waterfarm from GH where the plant will spend its life. This is my first go at DWC and so far I have never had an easier time getting my plant to look healthy. With the DWC method I can measure my pH with much more accuracy and my plant is loving it. For nutes I am using the general hydroponics flora line of nutrients as well as pH up/down, blackstrap molasses, and Hydrogen Peroxide from time to time....
- GH Flora Micro
- GH Flora Grow
- GH Flora Bloom
- GH Liquid KoolBloom
- EarthJuice pH up/down
- Brer Rabbit Blackstrap molasses

Currently the plant is 4 weeks from seed and is beginning to really grow like...well a weed.

I plan on vegging for two more weeks then flipping to 12/12. I will begin the scrogging process this week and continue to scrog through the first 3-4 weeks of flowering or till the stretch is done. I'm going to give the plant a full 10 weeks in flowering this go around, as last time I only was able to go for 8 weeks and the bud was a bit fluffier than I would have liked.

Here are the pics of the new baby....and by the way, she showed her first preflowers today....and its a GIRL!!! I have always been skeptical about feminized seeds and these bskulls are the first experience I have had with feminized seeds, but they have lived up to their promise so far, and if my last plant can go through the shitty conditions I gave it without going hermie then this plant should have no issues.



-PEACE-

Hey Richard I'm also thinking about getting one of those waterfarms from GH. Are you using the included air pump or did you buy a bigger one? I was thinking about going with a bigger (slightly overkill) 40 gl pump to increase bubbles. And if you don't mind asking , how long before you started nuts on her after she was placed in the WF?

nice start fosho sub'd!!!!!

looking good

AWnox said:

Hey Richard I'm also thinking about getting one of those waterfarms from GH. Are you using the included air pump or did you buy a bigger one? I was thinking about going with a bigger (slightly overkill) 40 gl pump to increase bubbles. And if you don't mind asking , how long before you started nuts on her after she was placed in the WF?

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Whats up AW, thanks for stopping by... I am currently using the standard pump that is included, but I've been looking around online and everyone seems to claim that root production nearly doubles with the addition of an extra air stone or by increasing the pump strength, so my plan is to add an additional air stone to the bottom of the res sometime this week. I'll let you know what I end up doing and where I purchased it/cost and what not. As to nutes, I started my seed in a peat pellet until the plant put out its first set of true leaves (not the round cotyledons) and then put into the waterfarm with the recommended nutes for the seedling stage from the GH feeding chart. I got some very slight nute burn on the first and second sets of leaves, just on the tips, so maybe no nutes for a week would be better, but after one week I changed the nute solution and increased the feeding from seedling strength to mild growth strength with no problems and since then I've just been following the GH feedchart with awesome results. (You can see in the 3rd picture I posted that I had to cut off the tips of some of the lower fan leaves where they got burned)

BUT.....here is my real answer to you.....Proper nutrient levels can vary from plant to plant and its really up to you to figure out what sort of nutrient levels your strain can handle. Some strains are very sensitive to nutes and even a light feeding during the first weeks could spell trouble, while other strains may start to show a deficiency if they are not fed within the first week....so there's really no good answer to your nute question, but I would say better safe than sorry and would recommend no nutes during the first week...you can always feed a hungry plant, but you can't unfeed an overfed plant

FLA TOKIN said:

nice start fosho sub'd!!!!!

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Thanks TOKIN!....Welcome aboard

Hey everyone, sorry if this is off topic but I saw theses days a thread that had a link to a PDF that explained in more detail the SCOTTYBALLS grow and how he did it. Anyone have this link?

@Richard4vt : Thanks for your reply my friend. Your girl looks super sexy Keep it green!

AWnox said:

Hey everyone, sorry if this is off topic but I saw theses days a thread that had a link to a PDF that explained in more detail the SCOTTYBALLS grow and how he did it. Anyone have this link?

@Richard4vt : Thanks for your reply my friend. Your girl looks super sexy Keep it green!

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Ah yes...the Scottyballs grow...I read through that whole thing before I started my last scrog...unfortunately I don't know what link your referring to

Richard4vt said:

Ah yes...the Scottyballs grow...I read through that whole thing before I started my last scrog...unfortunately I don't know what link your referring to

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Darn. Well thanks anyway for your reply. I had it the other day and I was just about to print it out so I can have it as reading material while I work on my precious. It's easier than reading a thread on a laptop. I'll post it here if and when I find it.

In another matter... What are you using for veg at seedling CFLs? And after?

I started the plant under a 4ft T5 CFL shoplight (2 32 watt bulbs for 64 watts).

I have this theory that I sort of developed on my last scrog that using a HPS for the last 2-3 weeks of veg may be beneficial to a scrog of only one plant. Heres why...the HPS does not have the proper spectrum and causes the plant to stretch more than a CFL or MH would. During these 3 weeks under the HPS I top the plant so that it doesn't stretch in height, but instead just branches like a mofo. It really helps in the process of filling the screen in to get a little extra stretch on the branches without stretching the height of the plant.

In a normal SCROG you would have multiple plants and filling the screen is quicker and easier, but with one plant I need a nice long veg and some solid stretch during the transition stage in order to fill my screen and maximize yield. So with that in mind at 4 weeks old (yesterday) I placed the plant under my 150w sunsystem HPS which I will use until I switch to 12/12 in 2-3 weeks, at which point I will be installing my new 400 watt cooltube HPS and new carbon filter to finish up

Richard4vt said:

I started the plant under a 4ft T5 CFL shoplight (2 32 watt bulbs for 64 watts).

I have this theory that I sort of developed on my last scrog that using a HPS for the last 2-3 weeks of veg may be beneficial to a scrog of only one plant. Heres why...the HPS does not have the proper spectrum and causes the plant to stretch more than a CFL or MH would. During these 3 weeks under the HPS I top the plant so that it doesn't stretch in height, but instead just branches like a mofo. It really helps in the process of filling the screen in to get a little extra stretch on the branches without stretching the height of the plant.

In a normal SCROG you would have multiple plants and filling the screen is quicker and easier, but with one plant I need a nice long veg and some solid stretch during the transition stage in order to fill my screen and maximize yield. So with that in mind at 4 weeks old (yesterday) I placed the plant under my 150w sunsystem HPS which I will use until I switch to 12/12 in 2-3 weeks, at which point I will be installing my new 400 watt cooltube HPS and new carbon filter to finish up

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Spoken like a pro. Thanks for the reply friend. Have you considered going "duo" HPS and MH in veg? I heard this would be the ideal for veg growth and then only HPS when flowering. In a small space with one plant I am thinking going with a 150 or 250 duo HPS /MH air cooled, but start of with 100W CFL x2 till about first week or so...what do you think? Oh and of course using the WF.

AWnox said:

Spoken like a pro. Thanks for the reply friend. Have you considered going "duo" HPS and MH in veg? I heard this would be the ideal for veg growth and then only HPS when flowering. In a small space with one plant I am thinking going with a 150 or 250 duo HPS /MH air cooled, but start of with 100W CFL x2 till about first week or so...what do you think? Oh and of course using the WF.

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I have considered that and would like to, but I just ordered the 400 watt MH/HPS ballast and cooltube the other day so I don't have any MH lamps other than my open air 600watt MH which is just too hot for the waterfarm and I'm afraid it would cause some res issues. You want to keep your res temps fairly cool in order to avoid the build up of pathogens around the root mass. But ideally I would like to run my 400 watt cooltube with the metal halide for the first 3 weeks, then add in my 150 HPS for a week or two, then switch the cooltube to the 400 watt HPS a week before flipping to 12/12 and use that through. If I ever get a larger grow area I would actually buy a cooltube for my 600 watter and run a 600 MH with a 400 HPS for veg and then switch the 600 watt MH out for a 600 HPS during flower. So basically 1000watts mixed for veg and 1000watts HPS for flowering. But sadly that is not the case so for now I'm just using CFL for 3 weeks then the 150 till the 400w comes in.

AWnox said:

Spoken like a pro. Thanks for the reply friend. Have you considered going "duo" HPS and MH in veg? I heard this would be the ideal for veg growth and then only HPS when flowering. In a small space with one plant I am thinking going with a 150 or 250 duo HPS /MH air cooled, but start of with 100W CFL x2 till about first week or so...what do you think? Oh and of course using the WF.

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Your setup sounds pretty much perfect for one plant. Anything more than 400 watts is kind of overkill, unless you actually manage to pull off some massive close to 1 lb yield . And the extra wattage will just cause heat issues, believe me that was my mistake last go around. I had major temp issues because I bought a non air cooled 600 watt light and it was overkill, but for only 40 dollars more I couldn't resist the 600 watter....I hear they are the most efficient size HPS light??? but I don't know if that is true or not. Anyways with only one plant their is no need for it, so I'm buying a 400 watter and this time, grabbin the cooltube as well. Its really a must have in a small tent.

Richard4vt said:

Your setup sounds pretty much perfect for one plant. Anything more than 400 watts is kind of overkill, unless you actually manage to pull off some massive close to 1 lb yield . And the extra wattage will just cause heat issues, believe me that was my mistake last go around. I had major temp issues because I bought a non air cooled 600 watt light and it was overkill, but for only 40 dollars more I couldn't resist the 600 watter....I hear they are the most efficient size HPS light??? but I don't know if that is true or not. Anyways with only one plant their is no need for it, so I'm buying a 400 watter and this time, grabbin the cooltube as well. Its really a must have in a small tent.

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Hey Richard, thanks for your reply. I see some pretty good deals over at Amazon, like this 250W MH /HPS Digital Air Cooled with timer and yoyos for $160...not bad hu? That should be enough for one plant in the WF right? Oh and a 40 gal extra air pump

AWnox said:

Hey Richard, thanks for your reply. I see some pretty good deals over at Amazon, like this 250W MH /HPS Digital Air Cooled with timer and yoyos for $160...not bad hu? That should be enough for one plant in the WF right? Oh and a 40 gal extra air pump

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Hell yeah amazon is the shit. Thats where I ordered my 600 and my 400. I'm a student so I get free Prime membership with free shipping...love that site

250 is plenty for one plant, perfect actually in my opinion

Richard4vt said:

Hell yeah amazon is the shit. Thats where I ordered my 600 and my 400. I'm a student so I get free Prime membership with free shipping...love that site

250 is plenty for one plant, perfect actually in my opinion

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and THAT is very good to hear friend. Yeah I thought that was a bargain.... bought it! I got Prime too second day shipping free is insane, that can go up to $200 in most cases for next day air for example. Very worth it even if your not a student, it's like $70 a year. If you order a lot or expensive stuff then it's definitely worth it.

Hello all,

So today is technically Wednesday which would make the girl 30 days old from seed....looking at about 19 more days of vegging to fill in the screen...should be a fun process. I love growing only a single plant as I have the time to give her my full attention and I enjoy being able to control exactly where my branches will grow with the scrog. Its also nice to know that I only have one plant to worry about in terms of legality as well...more plants = more sketch in my book, so this method works great. Really cuts down on nutes having only one plant as well.

But anyways, I made the screen using 3/4'' pvc piping so I was able to attach the frame of the screen directly into my tent. I then drilled a bunch of holes 1.5 inches apart into the pvc tubing and ran string through the holes to create the screen. The total screen area is about 2 ft x 3.5 ft or about 7 square ft of canopy.

On another less happy note, in the process of putting the screen in I dropped the screen onto one of my branches and actually lost one of my main stalks. I had topped about 8 days ago and one of the two new main branches snapped off. I was pissed but the plant seemed to really not mind to much and continued its rapid growth like nothing happened. Plus with the scrog method the term "main cola" pretty much goes out the window as almost every branch puts out nugs of the same size anyway...so I'm over it. I highlighted the area where the branch broke off in the third picture.

Here are some pictures with screen in...30 days old




-PEACE-

....and if you're curious about the splotches on the leaves its from a neem oil spray that I apply throughout my grow as a natural preventative against bugs and pests. I learned real quick on my first couple grows that bugs are easier to avoid than they are to get rid of, so from week 3 till about the middle of flowering I apply a dosing of neem oil to the foliage once a week. Great shit if you are worried about bugs and need a cheap way to prevent them (and it smells great too) I think the bottle of neem concentrate that I bough at home depot was less than ten bucks, and it last for a while. I mix a quarter gallon of distilled water with a half tbsp of neem concentrate and a few drops of soap. I mix it well and spray the plant once a week. That 1/4 gal will last for about 3 weeks, so one bottle of that neem concentrate is good for almost 100 applications.

AWnox said:

Hey Richard I'm also thinking about getting one of those waterfarms from GH. Are you using the included air pump or did you buy a bigger one? I was thinking about going with a bigger (slightly overkill) 40 gl pump to increase bubbles. And if you don't mind asking , how long before you started nuts on her after she was placed in the WF?

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So I went to Petsmart today and picke up a 40 gallon air pump to replace the shitty one that comes with the waterfarm. I can't actually see the difference because with the screen in I can no longer open up the reservoir, but it sure does make the reservoir sound like its bubbling harder and I think the plant will really like it.

On another note the plant is really taking off now, each of the branches grew nearly an inch in the last 12 hours....I might not need a full 3 more weeks to fill the screen if it keeps growing like this

Looking great Richard! I will say DO NOT USE MOLASSES IN A WATERFARM.

I have found that adding molasses to a Waterfarm system results in massive bacterial growth in the system, and a resulting destructive shift in pH... It will kill your plants! Molasses is a SOIL supplement only IMHO. I almost completely destroyed my current grow (only my 2nd) when I switched to flower and began the addition of 1 Tbs/gallon blackstrap molasses... 2 days later the plant was drooping and dying, and the pH was all jacked up. I seriously thought that all hope was lost... When I drained the Waterfarm, the fluid was very murky/cloudy, and I had to flush intensively to revive the plant. Fortunately, she recovered, but I did lose 2 of the major branches off the main stem... probably about 1/3 of my yield...