Ou8aCracker2's 3x3x6 400w vert barebulb donut.

HEY all,new member here at RIU,member @ ICmag for several years now,OG before it got shut down.Si been growing now for a good 12-15 years now,started as a teenager with t12 fluoros and quickly worked up to a 400w HPS and been using them ever since.My current grow is a 3x3x6 Secret Jardin DR90II tent and I decided to give vertical a try so there is a 400w HPS hung bare bulb down the center of the tent and figured I'd try a donut.If it's alright with you guys,I'm just going to copy/paste my posts from my diary @ IC to get this up and going,and get ya'll caught up with how/what I'm doing....

So after weeks of looking through the vertical forum I've decided to take the jump and remove the A/C reflector and just bare bulb vertical with my 400w HPS.I just switched to vertical bare bulb two days ago.Also I just defoliated some of the large fan leaves from the main stem to open up all the new growth sights to light for more growth.With the A/C hood w/o glass or straight shot air-cooling but rather A/C'ng and ventilating temps at canopy were 10-12 degrees fahrenheit above ambient temps but now that I've gone bare bulb temps stay 7-10 degrees above ambient so there is a pro.

The area I am using is a Secret Jardin DR 90 3' x 3' x 6' tent have a 16" oscillating fan taken off it's stand blowing up at the bulb with eight plants in 1 gallon grow bags using FFOF no additions of perlite or anything, and GH Flora-Micro & Flora-Bloom and going Lucas.



I left the 4" 170cfm eco plus inline centrifugal on top of the tent where I originally placed it and just undid the ducting from the A/C hood and left it hanging still attached to the fan,I then rigged the ducting to sit right above the mogul socket and lamp sucking any heat away.The fan vents all hot air to an unused central A/C vent and I soon plan to cut a hole in the ceiling and just vent straight to the attic as I live in hot humid area so condensation is not a worry.

Fifteen bag seed were germinated paper towel method as usual and 13 cracked (87% germination rate ain't bad,I'll take it).Once 1/8" to 1/4" tap roots showed they were then placed into rapid rooter plugs as usual per my methods,and placed under a 4' two bulb T-12 fluoro untill their second/third set of leaves,then placed into the tent under the A/C 400w HPS in the DR-90.

After transplanting to 1 gallon grow bags filled with FFOF the plants took off.After a week of being transplanted I started feeding with the FM & FB @ 8ml/16ml as per Lucas method and to this day not a sign of nute burn or deficiency and these babies are a nice dark green looking healthy as ever.



I didn't have enough soil for the remaining five seedlings so they were gifted to a good friend in need.

Of the eight that remain 50% look to be clearly sativa/indica hybrid and lean more toward the sativa side of things as far as structure goes,the tallest of the bunch with a good bit of internodal spacing.Of the remaining 50%,25% seem well balanced hybrids,not very compact internodal spacing but not as spaced out as the more sativa leaning hybrids.The other 25% seem all indica as they are the shortest and bushiest and display very compact internodal spacing and the lowest branches are damn near reaching the top main growth shoot,good bush quality with these two plants IMO as far as structure is concerned.

After 38 days from cracking these seeds and a 24 hour photoperiod I have three confirmed females and one possible male,waiting a little longer for others to show and confirm sex before culling males.

None of the plants have been topped or really trained so far,just a bit of defoliation to make more light available to the growing side shoots.

Been busy looking for work but here is a long overdue update...

I flipped to 12/12 on the 11th this month and culled two males so I'm work with 5 females all on their 10th day of flower.A week before switching I transplanted from 1 gallon grow bags to 3 gallon planters of FFOF & have been feeding Lucas formula with GH flora series 8ml flora micro/16ml flora bloom per gallon of water every other watering.

still accepting tips from Heath,DHF, Mega Yields, Marlo,and the rest of you vert guys.

Snaped a quick pic this morning before the lights went out

I figured I'd add another nice young flower shot with a nice background

Quick little update from day 20 of flower.

Things are going pretty smooth although it's been a little warm last few days temperature is getting ready to drop in the next 2 days for the next week or so but so far it's been a really mild winter here in the southeast but at least I haven't needed to use the heater so far but probably gonna need to in the next few days as the temperatures are supposed to be in the high forties low to mid Fifty's for the lows.

Anyway, on to the pics

Figured I'd share a few pics of my mother/cloning area.

Just like I start my seeds in a paper towel and then once they sprout put in the rapid rooters, all cuts get put into field capacity ( dunk rapid rooters in water and then squeeze until only a few drops come out) rapid rooters & then place under a 7 inch humidity controlled dome until roots appear, then they get transplanted into little water bottles or coke bottles of FFOF soil.

Quick update from day 21 of flower.

Things are starting to get a little bit frosty in there :woohoo: wish I had a better camera than my cellphone cam so I could show you guys.Anyway on the pics...

Just an update from day 31 of flower.Things are frosty and only going to get frostier I am sure,should start swelling/fattening up over the next few weeks.Anways,here's to some bud porn...

Today is day 35 of flower for my little donut grow of assorted bagseed and things are going pretty smoothly but I am thinking about getting some liquid koolbloom and using that with the lucas formula that I am using (8ml micro/16ml bloom per gallon) to help fatten the buds,a little boost so to speak and help pump along what the plant usually does over the next few weeks...stack the calyxes,fill out and pump the weight on!

On to da pics...

Quick update from day 47 flower.Buds are starting to swell and tighten up,there's still a small amount of new growth and I'll probably be choppin a plant or two come day 60 or 65.

On to the porn...

Back with an update from day 50,and we seem to be nearing the home stretch here with a few gals,still thinking 60-65 days on most of these girls...I got my 60-100x scope on 'em.

The short squat Indica has surprised me,what started looking like really leafy and airy bud development has really thickened up and seem to be some very dense buds and I just so happen to have a few cuts of her and think she'd do good for a SoG grow as most of these plants seem actually,but the indica is a real slow vegger and left as a bush has very very little stretch.The plant in the left rear corner has some very dense/chunky buds with good resin output,I'm keeping a cut of it that I have because she has me interested in what she could do.The plant in the right back corner has good resin production and a sour smell with hint of lemon cleaner.The plant in the front right corner has good resin production and smells like some tropical fruity sweet goodness and sugar.The plant in the front left corner has a diesel/fruity/bubblegum smell.Very strange how these plants aromas have changed in the last few weeks,but I like it.

Still feeding with straight tap since day 45/47...anyhow on to the bud porn!

















That's it,all caught up for now & I'll be back tomorrow or the next day with a day 55/56 of Flower update.Till then any questions or comments are welcome.

Lookin great. Also looks like you might have found some winner plants in your bag seed.

Also it's common for plants to change their smells as they mature.

Thanks for the kind words OGEvilgenius.I've definitely found a keeper or two,quite possibly three but I think I'll be monocropping from here on out,running clones of one keeper per cycle.

I have plans to gather some close friends together and hold a blind taste test to find out who stays and who goes and who gets run first.The one in the back left corner has some chunky nugs,rock freaking hard and shows promise of good yield so she's an automatic keeper.The one in the front right corner smells oh so lovely and is purpling up (swear I smelt mixed berries tonight).The one in the right back corner smells like fruit and sugary sweet goodness.Front left smells like diesel/astringent,front and center is the only female Indica I got out of the random bagseeds,she started very airy and unimpressive but has astounded me with rock hard colas and she smells of coffee/hash vanilla.

Now I have thoughts on getting another DR90II & 400w HPS so I can do two vert grows flippin & floppin,either same strain 30-35 days apart or two seperate strains (one per tent) 30-35 days apart.The other thought I had was to build racks like Bobblehead over @ ICmag made and running an octagon vertical SoG (mono cropped,2x 400w HPS's stacked in a DR90II) and then possibly doing a 2nd like that flippin & floppin set 30-35 days apart...we'll see what happens over the next 6 months.

Here we go with a day 56 update.Got some small amounts of purpling on some plants.I suspect that the plant in the back left corner anf possibly the plant in the front left corner will be getting the chop next week on or around day 65 as well as the Indica but she's not looking as done as the other two but we'll see,I'll be scopin' again in four days on day 60 and be back with another update.

On to the porn...





















An up-skirt shot of some of the purpling on the plant in the front right corner...

dam lookin nice man ! great job

Plant in the right front corner by the thermometer has exploded with new growth in the last two days,looks like she may be a 10-11 weeker but hopefully no longer than 10 weeks.Everything else looks like it should be ready for day 65-75 so 9-10 weekers.Plant in the back left might get the chop on Monday but I want to flush it a bit more as she's still quite green but good to chop between now and next Saturday.

Looking awsome, nice work man! Do you really think that vert growing yeilds more than horizontal growing using a scrog? Don't get me wrong, your plants look awsome clearly you are a skilled grower, but I can't help but noticing the gaps in the canopy. Have you done scrog grows before? If so how was the yeild vs your vert ? Thanks and good job man

My best horizontal grow to date was a scrog under an a/c 400w HPS in a 2.5x2x6 prefab cab/closet...9-10 zips dry...can't answer the yeild question as this vert grow is still going.First plant will come down sometime between Monday & Saturday and I'll be postin my dry weights per plant and total dry weight once all plants are harvested & dry.

Gaps all throughout the canopy due to poor training on my part,but also because these plants are all random bagseed from good batches of weed,but each is different.This was my first vert run,next run I'll be applying everything I learned from this run...only way to progress is trial & error and Eventually you get everything dialed...and that's when the magic really starts happening.

Ah I see, thanks for the info and good luck with your harvest

As Ace Ventura would say "Well alrighty then"...we're back with a Day 60 update.

Just as quickly as I witnessed new pistil growth on one plant,they have started to mature and turn orange and there's definitely some fox-tailing on some of that plants buds.So far my plan is to chop sime time between day 63 and 65 but I still can't get over how green some of these plants still are,only one has started to pale in comparison but still no real yellowing and I've been flushing with plain tap for two weeks now.

Any way,on to some mo porn...