Stoneslacker's 250w micro, hempy, scrog - Blue Hash, Afghan Kush Special. Cheese

stoneslacker

Well-Known Member
The first light I bought was an led and was from ebay, but for the price it was very clean. I'm pushed to have a smaller grow so can't use the led right now.. But I noticed it had more magenta, pink, and even orange LEDs then white and blue. But they swore it was a veg light, another reason why I'm not worried bout using it. I definitely would be interested in seeing you're reviews if you decide to use those color bulbs/lights compared to just the usually used 6500k spectrum.
This will be the first time I've used the leds as supplemental lighting from the beginning of the grow. I can definitely tell the increase in light output over the cfls.
Considering the leds are rated at 36w compared to 42w for the cfls, the output is even more impressive. I went with the magenta and purple over the red to compliment the red spectrum of the HPS.

I will probably use the cfls on the right side of the grow cab like I have in the past just to help even out coverage and limit shading.

Here is the 1st pic update on the new crop.

Black Russian was a giant clone when I picked her up. Half her root mass came off trying to remove her from the net pot and I chopped over half of her plant mass when I topped her. This was done to
hopefully limit her growth and allow the smaller clones to catch up. Unfortunately I may have done too good of a job and she is struggling to bounce back. She was also transplanted from a NFT system and
it always seems to me these struggle when switched to a soil or soiless setup. Her fan leaves are quickly being consumed as she tries to rebuild her root mass and recover from her topping.

She should bounce back fine in the next week which should give the other 3 a chance to catch up. Except maybe the trainwreck which is limited to just one node right now so I didn't top her
like I normally would. I am trying to LST her and induce some branching.

In order - Black Russian, Crit+, BBC, Trainwreck




Shot of the new grow area opened up in the back and the Kessils doing their thing.



Group shot



Still planning a couple modifications to the area I think. I may try to box in the rear area with reflectix and take some a bit lower than it is right now.

These girls were transplanted on Thursday and are starting to get their feet set so should have some good growth in the next couple weeks.

I'll LST for most of the next 2 weeks then put the screens in place and train under for the last week or so before flip.

Peace
 

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stoneslacker

Well-Known Member
stoneslacker - i may have missed sumpin' but do you trim out some of the canopy/sun leaves as the grow progresses? my canopy is denser than yours looks. i am concerned about air movement. supposedly this master kush is prone to mold. my humidity levels are not out of control but i still worry. well, i worry about everything but that is my current sand in the ointment. your colas just look so uniform and separated. a little green with envy over here... btw - i am dying to post some more pics as my girls are getting frosty and starting to get fuller but i am trying to do weekly pics. wednesday is my next update.
Sorry I didn't reply to this mate. I do trim many of the fan leaves as the grow progresses. This last round was quite a bit less trimming of fan leaves though as I tried to be more selective in what I trimmed.
One thing I always do is trim out any lower nodes that won't get enough light to develop. With the low output of my 250w this usually amounts to anything under the first 6-8" and definitely anything under the screen.
 
I was thinking of getting those LEDs. With the price of cfls and LEDs, you think that there worth it? Also are you gonna switch them out when you flower for a different spectrum?
 

stoneslacker

Well-Known Member
I was thinking of getting those LEDs. With the price of cfls and LEDs, you think that there worth it? Also are you gonna switch them out when you flower for a different spectrum?
When I started looking at leds, Kessil really attracted me with the quality of the unit. I shopped around and couldn't find any for under $180. Then I found the magenta on amazon for $140.

I wish I would have waited as I found this site which has both the magenta and purple for under $100.http://growershouse.com/lights/indoor-led-grow-lights?p=3
I was able to get the purple on a cyber Monday special for $87 with free shipping, so was quite happy with that. Considering they have an expected life of over
40,000 hours it isn't too bad of an investment. I will say that the 150's are not powerful enough as a stand alone, but work great as a supplement.

I always run 6500K cfls as opposed to 2400K during flowering to help supplement the HPS with some white light. I believe in my experience
that it is beneficial to have around 10-20% of your light in a white spectrum.

I am really thinking about picking up one or two of the reptisun UVB bulbs to run this round. Will take another timer and some adjustment to find the
right amount of time to run the UVB though. They are beneficial to the production of trichs but too much can be very detrimental. Some people say to use them
for 4-6 hours in the middle of your light period while others say it is better to use them for 15min per hour. I like the big block in the middle idea better as there is less
chance for timer failure.
 
There pricey tho, but if there worth it maybe I'll go for them. I'm not so educated on the LEDs as much, the heat that came off my big led "150-200w" was surprisingly a lot.. So I never looked too much, I'll see if you get a noticeable change from them first :mrgreen:. That definitely a advanced lighting set up!! I would be to worried about doin to much, I tend to do much I always get so anxious :/
 

oldfogey8

Well-Known Member
thanks for the reply stones. i looked at some of the pics from your scrogs and mimicked the below the screen look. i have trimmed out any of the lower buds and fan leaves. i think it is too late to trim the fans up above the screen now as i don't want to do anything drastic this late in the game. maybe next time i will play with that.

as far as the uv lights you are looking at, i have read those reptisuns get pretty hot. i don't know if what i am using is the reason my buds get nice and frosty (since this is my second grow and i have used it both runs) but i am using a single 4 foot t5 10000k with uva bulb(in my 4 bulb fixture with the others being 3000 k ights) it may be just the timing of when i put it in during flowering but it seems the plants respond with trichomes pretty soon after i put it in my fixture. the bulb is like $9 and the t5 fixture runs relatively cool. i got the bulb from htg (http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-AgroMax-4ft-T5-UVA-Bulbs). it also has a lot of white light. my only complaint about it is if you accidentally look at it, it kind of hurts your eyes so i don't accidentally look at it anymore;). it looks dim but the uv must be what causes the discomfort which makes sense and makes me feel kind of dumb for looking at it in the first place...
 

eastcoastmo

Well-Known Member
Wow Stoney nice work on the new setup, will be another great grow to watch :D

Spewin about your mate not taking clones though, that sucks the royal fat one :( im sure the clones you do have will be awesome though, you have the mad skills to make them work...you'll get some ridiculous buds out of them Im sure!!
 

stoneslacker

Well-Known Member
thanks for the reply stones. i looked at some of the pics from your scrogs and mimicked the below the screen look. i have trimmed out any of the lower buds and fan leaves. i think it is too late to trim the fans up above the screen now as i don't want to do anything drastic this late in the game. maybe next time i will play with that.

as far as the uv lights you are looking at, i have read those reptisuns get pretty hot. i don't know if what i am using is the reason my buds get nice and frosty (since this is my second grow and i have used it both runs) but i am using a single 4 foot t5 10000k with uva bulb(in my 4 bulb fixture with the others being 3000 k ights) it may be just the timing of when i put it in during flowering but it seems the plants respond with trichomes pretty soon after i put it in my fixture. the bulb is like $9 and the t5 fixture runs relatively cool. i got the bulb from htg (http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-AgroMax-4ft-T5-UVA-Bulbs). it also has a lot of white light. my only complaint about it is if you accidentally look at it, it kind of hurts your eyes so i don't accidentally look at it anymore;). it looks dim but the uv must be what causes the discomfort which makes sense and makes me feel kind of dumb for looking at it in the first place...
Ya gotta be careful with the UV/A&B as both cause skin cancer and retinal damage. Best to shield your eyes at least when your working around those bulbs.


Wow Stoney nice work on the new setup, will be another great grow to watch :D

Spewin about your mate not taking clones though, that sucks the royal fat one :( im sure the clones you do have will be awesome though, you have the mad skills to make them work...you'll get some ridiculous buds out of them Im sure!!
I am a bit disappointed because I really wanted to grow that Kosher this round. It's that good.

I can't complain though as I can always get free clones and between my friends I have alot of different varieties to choose from. Next round is Kosher for sure though, I don't care if I have to wait a couple extra weeks for seeds to sprout.


Thanks for the link Stoney. Nice harvest as well.
Hey no problem M4. I hope you give the growstones a try, I really like the idea of them. I might just order me up a bag off amazon for the next grow.

Well 6 days from transplant and they are all bouncing back pretty well. The massive abuse I inflicted on the B. Russian has served
its purpose and slowed her down enough for the others to make up some ground. The Crit+ and BBC are already branching out and starting need some LST. I will
look to put the screens on in the next 5-7 days and see what kind of coverage I can get.

Black Russian was looking pretty rough there but she is starting to come back and should fill the screen nicely. I am still practicing some extreme bondage on her
and looking to shorten her long limbs a bit by bending and shaping.




Crit+ is doing great besides the one top that I snapped while bending her. The branch seems to be healing up but all the fan leaves went crispy on it.
She has some nice branching though and is starting to spread out, I think she will end up with a great canopy.



This pheno of Big Buddha Cheese is much different than the one I grew previous round. She is much stockier and less stretchy and her bud structure is more normal.
I've yet to sample this pheno but her smell and greasy feeling appear much the same as the 1st pheno.




Trainwreck is still struggling along. I have been bending her top right over and finally her lower nodes are starting to show some growth.
If I can keep her top low she should start some serious branching here soon. I have the MH on a 20/4 schedule and it just went out before I could snap these
pics. they look crazy weird under the LED only.
 

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SomeGuy

Well-Known Member
good job man. I love going right into another grow. Im at about 1.5wks of flower again already! woot! :-) I love your scrog. I think you will be happy adding some space for the 4th plant. I am working on a second space myself. Also started some new BB gear last night. :-)
 

stoneslacker

Well-Known Member
good job man. I love going right into another grow. Im at about 1.5wks of flower again already! woot! :-) I love your scrog. I think you will be happy adding some space for the 4th plant. I am working on a second space myself. Also started some new BB gear last night. :-)
Thanks SG. I hate to wait too long to get something growing again. I would like to make a veg area but I don't have enough space right now to veg 4 plants to full screens so I
always have this bit of a lull between grows. It's nice to get some vegging in the journal though, I think as you watch the plants get trained it really shows why I think a scrog is so
effective.

Speaking of which if anyone is interested in seeing a killer scrog check out SG's journal. He employs a vertical screen to really maximize his space and gets some killer results. Love a good vert scrog.


I was at the local Big Lots today and by chance stumbled across this stuff.



So like any good enterprising stoner I put it to immediate use.



I really like this for my screens. First and foremost it saves me a fuckton of knot tying. It is also very forgiving and flexible, so should work well
without damaging the plants.

I still have the string on 2 of the screens from last grow, but the new screen and one of the old ones will have these new wire screens and
we'll see how it goes.
 

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SomeGuy

Well-Known Member
Thanks Stone. Thanks for the thread promo too...LOL Its a small but good crowd over there in my journal. :-)

I have always liked a rigid metal screen over the soft string ones. I even use the twist tie stuff and I have noticed that even if I tie too tight the plants just keep on keeping on. Mj just really wants to grow. :-) I feel you on the veg space. Im at the point of wanting a second space that I can use as both veg and flower depending on need.
 

stoneslacker

Well-Known Member
Good thing is the narrow width of the individual screens helps to limit the bow effect. Try as she might to fight it, Mary is going to grow my way whether she wants to or not, lol.
 

stoneslacker

Well-Known Member
Thanks JD. It seems to be working great, I'll test them out in a few days when the screens go on.

That one box of wires must have been the only one in Big Lots, and it must have jumped right into my hand.

I went back there today and not another one to be found, the "helpful" lady there swears they've never had it. OK! Gonna check the Hobby Lobby for something similar.
 

stoneslacker

Well-Known Member
Wow that's over twice what I paid for it at BL. Well I still have plenty in just that one pack so no worries about finding any right now.

Thanks for the link JD.
 

stoneslacker

Well-Known Member
I have been doing some serious training trying to shape these canopies for the screens. Again, my belief in scrog training or LST training of any type is that
you need to pull every top that grows up back down to at or below canopy level. Cannabis will direct most of its growth in trying to achieve an apex tip, which
is why pulling all tips down below the canopy level will induce branching so well.

I bend all the branches and tops down horizontal and this causes the small growth tips on each arm to grow vertical off the branch. Each one of these new branches will be directed to
open areas of the screen and will become a top once she is flowered.

I never trim any of these branches until I am sure that by day 14 or so of flower they will not reach the canopy level.

I have installed 75% of the screens and placed them slightly lower at about 4-5" above the bucket vs. 7-8" last round. The Crit+ and Black Russian are far ahead of the other 2 growth wise, especially the Crit+ she is a beast.
I am not holding out much hope of the Trainwreck catching up or filling her screen before I need to flip, so I have placed her screen slightly lower than the rest
in hopes of helping her catch up a bit.

In order - BR, BBC, Crit+, TW




Group shot
 

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