First PC Grow - Need your solid advice!

mewk69 said:

I say no to worrying. I get spots and burns on my leaves a lot, and it seems to me that it's just where there was a droplet of water that's magnified the heat on there and scorched her a little. Everything's looking lush and lovely, give yourself a pat on the back, dear fellow!

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Thanks Man .. the back is now patted!!

The FIM looks good to me. And lookin closer at the leaf shots, yeah, I really wouldn't worry about that... But then, I'm just not much of a worrier in general. I would begin a slow LST now, (if it were me), tho unless your gut says so, it might be worth waiting a while for some other input, as I'm far from an expert.

I am seriously intrigued by your watering method tho... If that's what the upturned bottles in the soil are.. Where'd you find that idea from?

What do you mean by slow LST? like bending her a little each day? If I do that I guess the shoots would grow towards the light right?

Those aren't upturned bottles, lol .. they're just bottles that are cut down with water in it, like a cut, for added humidity in the box ... lol.

Oh, gotcha. Yeh, I understand now.Yes, exactly that, with a slow LST. If you go and bend her to the max now, you could do some damage. I like to just ease her down a bit each day, until I'm where I wanna be. And in my experience, it doesn't matter how or where you bend her, give her a few hours of light, and everything'll be pointing back towards the lights.

Thanks mewk!
I notice you're more of a fan of scrog than lst - any reason why?

I'm a fan of both, to be honest.My first proper grow was in a much larger cab, it was a fully gutted chest of drawers. I had tons of room in there, a big fat HPS light, and a removable tray where I had the girls. I was growing two plants, and had some good headroom above them. I then put a SCRoG screen above them both, and it was just such a delight to gradually fill the whole screen. It was easy, it gave me a really regular level across the grid for the girls to grow from. So instead of two big colas, I ended up with around 50+.When I started on the PC grow, I was adamant that I'd use another scrog... But after some time tinkering with it, and some wise words from fellow RIUers, I was convinced to drop the scrog idea and go with LST. It has made life a lot simpler, with the confined space. If I'd gone with a scrog, I'd have lost much more space than I already have, and as far as I can make out, I'd have had a lot more hassle doing everything.Looking back now, I don't think it's possible to say which is better SCRoG vs LST... I think they both have their place, and it all depends entirely on your space, your grow room/box, and how much time and effort you're willing to put into the upkeep of it all.

Well thanks for the advice. I need to make some serious decisions soon. I'll need to get a bigger cabinet, so my construction skills are going to be put to use this weekend. The next decision will have to be lst or scrog. Oh my ... such decisions!

Ogonzo said:

Well thanks for the advice. I need to make some serious decisions soon. I'll need to get a bigger cabinet, so my construction skills are going to be put to use this weekend. The next decision will have to be lst or scrog. Oh my ... such decisions!

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If you're going bigger... Well, then I would say SCRoG all the way... I love LST, but for me it's all about making the most of a cramped space. The proof I say, is in the pudding.

Here's my old cab, it was just a regular chest-of-drawers (no idea what you call them in the States), we removed all the drawers, and took off their front panels. Except the bottom draw which had a scrog screen built on to it. All the other drawer fronts were then stuck to a panel, which fitted back on to make it look like the real deal.



And here's what a good screen, half an hour a day, a little tlc and two plants can do.

Damn sexy! Are those 5Gallon pots?
Just out of curiosity, what is the yield off of that?

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen:
Welcome to my little part of RIU and today's update!
Here are Betty and Mary-Jane



Betty on Day 9
I'm not sure if the FIM is working, it almost seems like the main stem is continuing to grow and the leaves are growing normally. Could it be the I F'ed up the FIM?
She's starting to get big, and I was thinking of building a larger box this weekend, should I wait until my larger box and transplant her into a larger container before I LST or SCROG?



Mary-Jane Day 9.
She's looking a little small compared to her sister.



The are both starting to smell nice - a grassy, piney, skunky smell almost.
I'm starting to see roots come out the bottom of each of the pots, not a lot but the tips are starting to poke through the drainage holes, not sure if it's something I should be concerned about. There seems to be lots of room for them to move horizontally.

Dude, I'm sorry it's always me replying... As my knowledge really isn't all that... But I seriously think, now you mention it, that those pots are WAY too small. I would transplant those babies into their final home as soon as possible. Otherwise you might get a bit of stunting as they try and live in the cramped spaces.

Also, with the FIM, what's your aim with that? Would you not be better just topping, and resulting in 4 main colas?

If you're seriously intent on upgrading the cab, then my first step would be to find two decent sized containers that will fit into the new space and maximise the amount of soil you can get under them. Then just rig up some contraption to keep them lit whilst you're DIYing the cab ready for them.

Now, assuming your bigger box can handle a scrog well, I would hold off doing any LST etc until you've got the screen sorted.

Sorry, I'm rambling, but you've just caught me after my morning coffee, so I have much to say, and many points to digress on... Try and follow me, I know it's a nightmare.

If you topped them both now, that would leave you with four new 'main stems' on each plant. Then transplant them to big containers that will fit snuggly into your new cab. They're still short enough that if you put the scrog screen about 6-10 inches above the soil, then they'd still have time to grow up to it, at which point you just start filling the scrog by daily checking anything above the screen and just dipping it back under. Then assuming you keep her in veg a while, you would be filling the screen with 4 main stems per plant, which would pack out in no time. Then by the time you go to flower, you've got a lovely bed of stems, which will all magically turn into budsites. Leaving you with a thick carpet of beautiful buds, rather than two big bushes of budsites at mixed hights, which I reckon is what you'd end up with if you LST them.

Also, if you do go scrog, I would recommend making the screen out of some nylon line, like the sort you use in those garden trimmers, as it's easy to work the plant around, it's also simple to remove come harvest, and it's not going to cut into the stem at any point as it's got a good bit of give.

Okay, ramble over, hope there's something helpful in there.

mewk.

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Ogonzo said:

Damn sexy! Are those 5Gallon pots?
Just out of curiosity, what is the yield off of that?

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I think they were 3gallon plant pots. Nothing special.

man .... Thanks for the great information and I don't mind the ramble at all!

That's exactly what I was going to do. I think I'm picking up a used dresser today, and get it set up this weekend.
I like your suggestion with wire to use, I'm definitely going to go that route.

Is it better to line the cabinet with the flat white paint or use mylar?

Most will probably say mylar.

But I would go the easy way.. A couple coats of white paint are zero hassle to put in, mylar just sounds like a PITA.. Plus I bet you've got a pot of paint lying around in the garage somewhere, so no need to go buy anything else.

Good luck with the cab building dude. Looking forward to seeing the results. What're you planning on lighting it with?

//edit//

and not 'wire', but the plastic strimmer line, like this stuff:

LOL .. truth is, I don't have any paint laying around the house, but that's not a huge expense. I coated my pc with mylar that I got from the local Dollar store, I just bought a sunshade (one of those silver things you put in your windshield in the summer to keep the sun out of your car) and taped it using aluminum tape - was way simple.

Lights, I was just going to stick with CFL for the time being. I'm trying to keep my expenses as low as possible for the time being so I think CFL is the way to stay for the time being. Besides, I like the way my plants are growing with them. I might make something to hold six or so lights that I can raise and lower in the cab, maybe something out of PVC pipe attached to a chain. I'm going to have to invest in some better fans for that box so I would rather stay with the CFL and spend some cash on fans and order control if I have to.

The carbon filter you build, do you think that would work for a dresser sized cabinet?

I can't see why it wouldn't work, maybe if you rigged it up to like a bathroom extractor fan. That should do the job.

I just painted the inside of my cabinet white with some Kilz latex primer, only took part of a 1quart container with lots of extra paint left for $8.

I'd also say get rid of those clear containers or cover the sides of them because the roots aren't supposed to see the light. Can't wait to see the cabinet you're getting!

Hey guys ... here is today's update!!
They smell nice ..



Mary-Jane



Betty

Looking good!! I'm subbed. Gotta see how these girls grow. Best of luck!

millerino said:

Looking good!! I'm subbed. Gotta see how these girls grow. Best of luck!

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Thanks man .. I'm loving it!!
I'm having so much fun with this.

Ogonzo, On my cabinet I'm going with the sunshades also, mainly because I don't want to wait while I order Mylar or panda film. I like my stuff right now lol.