26"x26" 220w HPS Vertical micro grow

[all4theluvofit]

Some nutrients are stronger then others, and some are weaker. Some plants take more, some don't. I have noticed plants will "eat" more when they are getting to big for their pots, then they slow down a bit after transplanting. They pick back up after the roots start doing their thing. It's all part of the game! When ever you up the nutes, just do it gradually, and don't forget your waters.

Ps. I use a mix match of nutes, some I double, some the recommended amount. I just listen to girls.

 

[JustDoIt]

Whew! Glad to be back here, the northeast got hit with a snow storm last weekend and we lost power for a few days, had to get creative to keep the plants warm (if I left them they'd have been in 50* and less temps), tried keeping them in as much sunlight as possible too, and had a close call because of it all. But thankfully power is restored and life is back to normal!

Here's pics right before they went back in to the cabinet
(Left to Right: Purple Bud, Blue Cheese, White Widow, White Widow)

 

[all4theluvofit]

It's looking good man! It's just a question, but what is the reason for the double screen?

 

[JustDoIt]

Good question! The wire screen around the bulbs is to keep the plants (and anything else) from getting too close to the bulbs, then the black plastic screens on each of the plants are so I can train the plants so they fill in as much space as possible, and also to allow me to remove them individually from the cabinet.

 

[all4theluvofit]

If you have individual screens, you shouldn't need the middle one. I have individuals and the plants stay right where I want them!

All is looking well! I can't wait to see more pics!

 

[JustDoIt]

Very true, very true.... the inner screen supports the bottom fan though and I don't imagine it blocks much if any light, kinda one of those design things that looking back is unnecessary but made sense at the time, now it would just be a pain to remove.

I'm actually struggling now to keep the temps in line.... unlike before, now my temps are TOO low (69ish) with the exhaust fan and the circulation/cooling fan on their lowest settings, but if I turn the circulation/cooling fan off completely the temps shoot up into the 80's.... Any ideas? I'm going to hook the timer up tonight, maybe that will help....

 

[all4theluvofit]

I was just curious about the nets, we all are stoney growers, not engineers!


Well as far as fixing your new temp prob, I'm seeing two possibilities, or a combo of them.

1) heat the room more that the "garden" is in. Get a cheap space heater if you need to and place by the garden.

2) cover some of those intake holes (the ones on the floor) with duct tape etc. Start with maybe 1/4 of them. The more you cover,the more the temps should go up. When summer comes and the temps rise, just peel the tape back off!

Also timers for all extra fans/heaters are a great help!
Good luck
-All4TheLuvOfIt

 

[JustDoIt]

Good call on plugging some of the intake holes to bring the temp up!

Need to make a trip to the store to grab an extension cord to cut up and modify for the timer, that'll be really good to have squared away! I want the plants to fill in more of the screens before switching to 12/12 but I've been meaning to cut the lights back to 18/6 for a while just keep putting it off because of other stuff. Time to pay more attention to the grow though.

Color-wise the plants are looking much better, I think the cool temps have affected the plants though... fan leaves are funky looking (curved, curled, some look like maybe bugs have been munching?), but they're all still growing and looking more mature as each day goes by! Gettin' stinky, too!

I've been tucking the bigger fan leaves behind the screen and training the stems (6-7 main ones on each plant), I hope they'll grow another few inches quickly so I can start flowering them soon! I'm not sure what to expect for stretch so I don't want to start too soon.

In pics: Blue Cheese, Purple Bud, White Widow, White Widow, then after tucking/training, then back in the cabinet

 

[StupidBoy]

Great pix and set up JustDoIt! I like how you made a screen/trellis for each pot. Very inovative. Keep it green and

 

[JustDoIt]

Thanks, StupidBoy!

Got the timer set up, lights are off for 6 hours during the day, temps are still too low though, I'm curious to see what happens when I put a heat mat (for seedlings) on the screen floor, it'll block airflow and hopefully warm things up! Right now temps are between low 60's and low 70's and the plants don't seem to be growing as fast as they did at one point... I'd like to be able to say I'll switch to 12/12 next weekend but I do want the plants to fill up a bit more of the screen first. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what they look like then and decide!

I've been spraying them with plain ol' water mist a couple times a day because the humidity in the cabinet is still low as well, around 35%...
I've also misted them a couple of times with b'cuzz foliar.

I'd post todays pics but lights are out 'til after 3 this afternoon...

 

[JustDoIt]

This week seems like it's flying by, it's almost Thursday and I'm thinking that switching to 12/12 this weekend is too soon. The plants haven't grown much and there's a LOT of screen left to fill up. I'm wondering what's slowing down growth and can (unfortunately) think of several possible factors:

-A couple weeks ago we lost power for several days, and it was COLD. I brought them to hang out by the wood stove and placed them where the temps were in the 70's, though they did experience higher heat than that and lower temps (50's). Not ideal, but I figured better than a few days in 30-50* temps with virtually NO light. As far as light goes, they got whatever sunlight came through the windows (I did try and move them into the direct light when the sun was at the right level, but that would only last 30-40 mins) as well as whatever light the fire put off.

-After power was restored, it was much colder outside, which in turn made it much colder indoors where the cabinet is. I had been trying to figure out how to get the temps lower in the cabinet, but now I had to somehow increase the temperature from the high 50's back up to the 70's. I was able to by turning the fans to their lowest settings, blocking some of the intake holes, blocking off some of the vents in the utility cabinet where the exhaust air exits... plus outside temps came up a bit. Temps inside the cabinet have fluctuated from low/mid 60's to the low 80's since then.

-Somethings been nibbling fan leaves!

My guess is the temperature shock(s) combined with the change from 24/0 lighting to around 10 hours of indirect daylight...

I've switched to 18/6 lighting schedule, I guess I'll just have to wait for them to recover and resume vegetative growth. I want them to double in size before switching to 12/12.

It feels like this is taking a long time for them to grow, I'm looking forward to future grows as I dial things in and conditions are more stable in the cabinet (And power outages are planned for!) I'm sure it won't take this long.

 

[StupidBoy]

Things are looking good to me Man. You're probably right about the slower growth being a result of lower temps & minimal lighting then less than optimum air circulation. When's the last time you fed them? I don't see any evidence of insect activity. If you're refering to the 3rd pic in the above series, I must ask if you have a pet that might have taken a taste of your plants?
Keep it green and

 

[JustDoIt]

I fed them about a week ago when I watered them, I watered 'em again the night before last with plain water. They are growing, I marked off where the tallest part of each one was on the screen when I watered them and they've reached up maybe a half inch or so more... but they are looking much happier and conditions are more stable so maybe they'll decide to speed up and surprise me next week!

And no I don't have any pets that could have gotten to them... I haven't seen any bugs inside the cabinet or on the plants... it's not a huge problem just kinda strange the mysterious bite marks in the middle of leaves haha

 

[StupidBoy]

Well, sounds like you've been moving them around some lately. Maybe they just got knocked around. I can't walk away from my open flower or veg boxes cause one of our cats will quite literally get in and roll around! Lost an entire scrog once that was nearly ready to flip cause he thought the screen made a tasty hamock. LOL I couldn't even get mad @ him cause it was so funny, and my own fault.

 

[Warped1]

Lol that's why I'm not a cat person..j/k SB. Animals do the goofiest things. JDI I was going to suggest a feline attack on your plants, but if you say no then I guess not. Poltergeist?

 

[JustDoIt]

well... I don't own a cat or have any living in my house, and I don't think anything came in to the house and opened the cabinet door to taste the leaves.... Oh well! I have been moving them around quite a bit, guess it doesn't really matter that much, lol

Cats are pretty cool though, I don't think I'd want to own one but any cat that decides to lay down on a SCROG to take a nap sounds like a cat I'd get along with! (well... maybe not if it ruined my scrog, haha)

 

[all4theluvofit]

Animals are crazy! My wife has a 8lb jack russel rat terrer that like to nap by my 600watt when I'm in there!

Things are looking good! I would veg a lill longer, but don't worry about filling your screens up. They will stretch in flower too. Some strains more then others. I was making my screens to big to start with to. Just because I made the screen that big, didn't mean that plants could!

I found out to that screens can"chew" at your leaves especially if you move than around alot. Keep a eye out for pest still tho, some are very very small and can do big damage!

 

[all4theluvofit]

P.s. I just relooked at your last photos, and the chewed up leaves might be a little wind damage from the fan.

 

[thinkin]

nice setup! vscrog + barebulb

nice setup! vscrog + barebulb

Great start! Never stop improving!

Only one suggestion, move your plants CLOSER to the bulb.

Big Frostie Yields to YOU!

peace

 

[JustDoIt]

Thanks, thinkin!

Good point on moving them closer, right now the fan at the bottom of the lights is what keeps the plant pots where they're at, but there's really no reason I couldn't raise the fan a little higher so it clears the tops of the plant pots....

I'll have to take a better look tomorrow to see the best way to get 'em in there closer together so they're closer to the bulbs