Dicomaco's Vertical Redemption/reboot Summer 2011

[Hundred Gram Oz]

Hey man that's great, the most efficient way to grow vertically is to do a VSOG. I've got plans to make a mini octagon that I was meant to build several months ago but never got doing it because of a multitude of problems but I'm going to get that project up and running before halloween. Reports are coming back of 2.3 G/pw with 2 days veg (600w).

 

[Dicomaco]

Hey man that's great, the most efficient way to grow vertically is to do a VSOG. I've got plans to make a mini octagon that I was meant to build several months ago but never got doing it because of a multitude of problems but I'm going to get that project up and running before halloween. Reports are coming back of 2.3 G/pw with 2 days veg (600w).

That sounds very exciting, I will look out for your thread then!

I've been thinking about SOG every since I started growing, but I never got to do it because I've always sucked at cloning, so I always had to take like 60 cuttings to get 20 hah!

Now with the cloner that shouldn't be a problem, so who knows, in future I will probably change things in that direction!

2.3 gpw.. damn talk about being efficient!

 

[megayields]

Hey man that's great, the most efficient way to grow vertically is to do a VSOG. I've got plans to make a mini octagon that I was meant to build several months ago but never got doing it because of a multitude of problems but I'm going to get that project up and running before halloween. Reports are coming back of 2.3 G/pw with 2 days veg (600w).

HGO I am very interested in this comment, is this a design from Heath Robinson (I have seen some of his octogon's that approach that GPW but never have I seen one that produces 2.3 GPW? Please keep us in the loop as you build this, I know myself (and I suspect many others) will want to follow your project carefully.

Respect!

mega

 

[Hundred Gram Oz]

I will definitely keep you all updated with a DIY thread, and a grow thread. Yes it's an original Heath Robinson design but with slight modifications from Bush Dr. I'll try and get a pic up... Maybe Bush Dr could come on this thread and give more info. I have all the planning information that was archived from a now offline website.

It can hold 80something clones from what I can remember but 40-50 clones are enough, 2 days veg only!

HGO

 

[Dicomaco]

TIME FOR AN UPDATE

Day 9

I've been a little busy lately, sometimes things that appear simple to do end up taking a lot of time, especially when you approach things with a rather perfectionist mindset.

The last couple of days I've experienced an INSANE stretch from my Casey Jones', it almost looks like there is TOO packed in there. I've done my best to tie them back to the net, and supercrop the living hell out of them in order to even out the canopy. Thing is, my girls are a lot more bushier than last time around, so I'm starting to think that I might have to prune some branches or things could start to get out of control

Top view

What do you guys think? It's only day 9, and CJ will stretch for at least 1 week more until it settles down.

Height is around 175 cm, including pot (30 cm)
Temps are between 27-29 degrees Celsius / 80-85 F
Humidity, no clue since meter is broken

 

[Dicomaco]

I will definitely keep you all updated with a DIY thread, and a grow thread. Yes it's an original Heath Robinson design but with slight modifications from Bush Dr. I'll try and get a pic up... Maybe Bush Dr could come on this thread and give more info. I have all the planning information that was archived from a now offline website.

It can hold 80something clones from what I can remember but 40-50 clones are enough, 2 days veg only!

HGO

Hmm 2 days of veg?! I reckon that depends on the strain in your garden?

Sounds amazing anyways, I have a feeling my setup will look quite different 6 months from now hehe.

I love doing new things and improving, but sometimes it'd be nice to just relax and settle with what I have and maintain.. but I can't! :

 

[~Shhh~]

I'm seeing lots of good work in the vert forums and a whole lotta luv, lol I think we need to do a group hug lmfao!!

Hey Dicomaco, that's sweet work for your first show.... Was that casey jones in the pics on the first page? Bud pics.... I always hear and read great things about casey but have yet to smoke that stuff...

pH when cloning I don't think matters at all.... [flame suit on, lol] reason I say this is because the plant isn't taking up any nutrients at this stage which is where pH becomes detrimental imo. I think you've realized this anyway since you got roots in 5 days with pH being higher than usual for hydro

Anywayz, grow on bruh looking forward to seeing you hit 1gpw! Fook the 1050 hahaaa.

 

[megayields]

IMHO their is nonsuch thing as too much stretch....but that's why they call me "MEGAyields".........looking good Dicomaco!

 

[Dicomaco]

I'm seeing lots of good work in the vert forums and a whole lotta luv, lol I think we need to do a group hug lmfao!!

Hey Dicomaco, that's sweet work for your first show.... Was that casey jones in the pics on the first page? Bud pics.... I always hear and read great things about casey but have yet to smoke that stuff...

pH when cloning I don't think matters at all.... [flame suit on, lol] reason I say this is because the plant isn't taking up any nutrients at this stage which is where pH becomes detrimental imo. I think you've realized this anyway since you got roots in 5 days with pH being higher than usual for hydro

Anywayz, grow on bruh looking forward to seeing you hit 1gpw! Fook the 1050 hahaaa.

I agree, I love the friendly atmosphere in here, it makes you wanna come back hehe.

Yes indeed that is Casey Jones. The cut was gifted to me last year and I feel so fortunate to have her in my garden, it is truly unique!

My pheno is Thai dominant in effect, very energetic happy high! Imo she's best best when harvesting around 63 days before she's completely mature at around 70 days. I actually regret chopping mine at day 70 this time around, as I enjoy the more cerebral/trippy effect it has when trichs are a little less amber

It's all good though, powerful sweet diesel smell with a fresh hint of citrus. And she shields, man does she yield. I made 240 grams on one plant first time I grew her, in a 3.5 gal pot, I almost couldn't believe it!

About the cloning, your theory sounds plausible, but when I spray them with Jump Start I do adjust the water because they must take up the nutes via the leaves I guess? Hah I'm not even sure Jump Start works.

Bad news though, I've been a fool, my propagator has gotten too much direct sunlight and the result is that 2/3 of my clones probably won't make it. I see beginnings of rot here and there

The positive is that I'm vegging 19 Killing Fields seedlings, AND got backup CJ clones else where, so it's not too bad I just hate seeing so many dead clones

Anyways, lesson learned, it's my first time with Aero, first big mistake, and last (i hope) !

Thanks for stopping by, I'm reading your Bud Candy VS sugar thread right now, interesting stuff, I'm currently looking for substitutes to all my AN products, since I have a feeling I'm getting ripped off..!

 

[Dicomaco]

IMHO their is nonsuch thing as too much stretch....but that's why they call me "MEGAyields".........looking good Dicomaco!

Hehe I'm not complaining, I'd rather have too much than too little

Thank you, now I'm approaching the last week of the big stretch and I'm seeing clear signs of flowers popping up everywhere. Can't wait for week 4, that's when the fun begins!

Btw, watch out for my Killing Fields, 15 girls sprouted yesterday. They will be flowered in September, purple, blue, pink, green, can't wait to see which pheno's ill get!

 

[gardenbug]

I made an aero cloner awhile back and had some trouble, tried nutrients, setting ph, etc.
I now get 99% success with it and can't remember the last time one didn't root. Here's what works best for me...
Tap water ( my tap is good, 40ppm and about 7ph)
1ml per gal 35% hydrogen peroxide, this is a must for me to avoid slime/rot
Pump always on
No dome
No ph checks, no nutes, no foliar.
13watt cfl 1ft away, light always on
Water temp around 65-70f seems to work best.
Just stick the cuttings in and wait a week or two.


Since you are in coco you can also just clone in that. It's slower than the aero cloner by about a week though. Just use beer cups and use a tray to bottom feed and keep them wet. I've been using coco and using the aero cloner as a backup, but I might retire the aero cloner soon.

 

[Dicomaco]

I made an aero cloner awhile back and had some trouble, tried nutrients, setting ph, etc.
I now get 99% success with it and can't remember the last time one didn't root. Here's what works best for me...
Tap water ( my tap is good, 40ppm and about 7ph)
1ml per gal 35% hydrogen peroxide, this is a must for me to avoid slime/rot
Pump always on
No dome
No ph checks, no nutes, no foliar.
13watt cfl 1ft away, light always on
Water temp around 65-70f seems to work best.
Just stick the cuttings in and wait a week or two.


Since you are in coco you can also just clone in that. It's slower than the aero cloner by about a week though. Just use beer cups and use a tray to bottom feed and keep them wet. I've been using coco and using the aero cloner as a backup, but I might retire the aero cloner soon.

Thanks for the advice, I will try that hydrogen peroxide this time around. I didn't last time only because I have no experience with it and I didn't want to risk fucking it up.

Basically it prevents bacteria in the reservoir as well right? I had no idea it worked against rot, that was exactly what I got this time due to the high temps. Gotta do my homework better!

Dunno if I will use dome or not this time around. I don't understand how for some people it works and for others not..

I read about a guy who had 20% humidity but still he rooted fine without dome.. it makes no sense to me!

 

[redspaghetti]

they are filling out nicely too! keep up the good work

cheers,

 

[Dicomaco]

Day 17.

Pics are from 2 days ago, my iphone wouldn't let me transfer them to my pc for some reason.

I removed the 600w MH and I'm now running 2x600w HPS

I don't know if it was the right decision to add it so late, but my theory is that as long as there are no obvious flower production going on, the MH spectrum should be advantageous for the stretching phase., since it's basically an extended vegetating phase...

Clearly visible flowers appeared around 4 days ago, and are now starting to grow rapidly, so I think my timing is pretty good!

Pic quality really sucks under HPS light, but nothing to do about it

I have a bit of a problem with the bottom growth, I think this is partly because the MH bulb was ready to burn out and didn't penetrate the canopy effectively, but it could also be because the growth is getting very dense.

I pulled out this branch from the dark, and it has very weak growth

Time for some defoliation? I already removed around 4 fan leaves from each plant during the last week, + some yellow leaves here & there, but I don't wanna go overboard stressing the girls..

Any suggestions? Should I wait for a bit on the defo?

 

[Dicomaco]

Also just for the heck of it, a couple of pictures of my 3rd horizontal SCROG. I wasn't gonna include it since it's just basically the 'leftover' weakest plants from my veg room that I'm trying to squeeze out a good crop from and I didn't expect much.

They looked very weak initially, but I gotta say they've redeemed themselves the last week, and looks like it will be a decent harvest after all

Setup 180x90x200 cm (6x3x6.5)
2x 600w HPS
600m3 exhaust
100m3 intake
Pots all 11 liter/3 gallon, except one in 6.5 liter.

Day 18

Plant numbers, damn I can't even remember, have to check later, I think 11

I've attempted to shape the growth after a half circle, so that the canopy at the sides is taller and the central canopy lower.

Nonetheless it is still the last time I'm doing horizontals, from next time around this room will be modified for Vertical!

 

[Dicomaco]

they are filling out nicely too! keep up the good work

cheers,

Thanks a lot for stopping by red, means a lot to me to get props from expert growers. Please feel free to critique or give suggestions, I'm all ears!

 

[megayields]

Looks great Dicocamo! That's only 11 plants? Wow looks like a lot more.....this is going to be fun to watch. You just follow the suggestions of the very intelligent peeps around here and you will do fine!

Keep it green and with HEAVY YIELDS...lol!

 

[Dicomaco]

Looks great Dicocamo! That's only 11 plants? Wow looks like a lot more.....this is going to be fun to watch. You just follow the suggestions of the very intelligent peeps around here and you will do fine!

Keep it green and with HEAVY YIELDS...lol!

Basically what I did just before 12/12 was lifting the plants up and LST'd them, so all the growth from 3/4 of the main stem stem is exposed to light and now making buds.

I find this method much more effective than growing bushes with bottom pruning and then flowering, since my Veg room was only 90x90x200 cm / 3x3x6.5 feet, so I had to take advantage of height rather than width during the veg phase.


I'm going to make a HUGE vegetation room for my next run, but I'm still very unsure about the dimensions, I hope you'll chime in and voice your opinion Mega, I really need some help with this.


I need a room that can veg enough plants to feed two 150x150x200 / 5x5x6.5 Vertical rooms with 10-12 plants in each room.

I was thinking of vegging them the first 5 weeks Horizontally until a height of approx 2.5 feet, and then remove the reflectors and hang the two bulbs (2x250w MH) vertically for the last 3-4 weeks..

Cheers

 

[Marlo]

Looks great Dico

I usually chop those weak branches that stay in the dark pretty early. 5 or 6 weeks from now you'll be happy you did. If you've already thinned out the fan leaves, and can't space the branches apart from each other....whoever is the least productive will have to go. I try to keep my wall canopy only a couple inches thick.

Don't be afraid to prune bro. I prune quite a bit, and at the end of the grow, I always wish I had pruned more. Its a learning curve for sure tho


Badass grow so far bro.

 

[Dicomaco]

Looks great Dico

I usually chop those weak branches that stay in the dark pretty early. 5 or 6 weeks from now you'll be happy you did. If you've already thinned out the fan leaves, and can't space the branches apart from each other....whoever is the least productive will have to go. I try to keep my wall canopy only a couple inches thick.

Don't be afraid to prune bro. I prune quite a bit, and at the end of the grow, I always wish I had pruned more. Its a learning curve for sure tho


Badass grow so far bro.

Thanks Marlo,

My biggest fear is losing yield due to too much pruning, but I reckon that whatever branch I chop off will give more energy to other prominent branches, hence nothing will be lost?

Naturally there's a limit, but I recall you mentioning that Diesel plants don't mind pruning/defo, so hopefully my Casey won't mind it too much

Btw do you think it's too late to take clones at almost 3 weeks in? It's just some of the hidden branches look like they haven't even got pistols yet, but I don't wanna wait 4 weeks for reveg hah!

Please keep an eye on my thread, I will start pruning for real the the next few days, and I'd like a couple of extra eyes on the pictures I'm posting here