My shot at V-SOG

[Mister_D]

My face when I tell my brother about going vert:
[URL="http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/6205/aliensguy.jpg"]View Image[/URL]

That shit had me cracking up .


Sounds like you've got most of your questions answered, but i'll toss my in also.

1. Vert racks are not a good choice for a beginner grower. They require a lot of advanced knowledge/grow technique to properly utilize/dial. That said donuts are the bout the easiest way to grow known to man.

2. The little muffin fan doesn't have to be one of the Honeywell's everyone loves so much on here. I've successfully cooled bulbs with box fans, honeywells, and even larger metal ones like you are using now. For cooling a single bulb the Honeywell is definitely best, but they all work fine. However with multiple bulb stacks (3 or more) it seems to work better with a stronger fan (i.e that big metal version you are using). With a big metal Honeywell style fan blowing straight up and 14" exhaust right over the bulbs (two 600's and two 400's stacked) I can comfortably hold my hand within a 1/2" of my bulbs.

If you'd like some more vert rack ideas, or just good information in general, read through my redemption thread. Started as a vert donut, but pretty quickly evolved into the vertical rack monster it is today .

 

[Species8472]

Thank you Mister_D, I will definitely check your thread out.

So here is my long overdue update:

They still get the "light" Canna feeding schedule and they still seem to enjoy it.
The last picture is the newest member of the family, my freshly set up DRII 90, now housing my DIY-Aerocloner and my badly ravaged Critical Mass Moms, who are recovering from a rigid cutting. I also got a brand new 250W CMH lamp, to speed up the next veg (upgrade from 180W of fluorous) which will put my former reflector to use. Would be a shame to let that good Gavita-Reflector pick up dust in the corner of my growroom.

Now with custom avatar and pics uploaded to ICM.

 

[catalyte]

good stuff. seems like with a bit of guidance from the Vert-Pro's around here you have all the ingredients for a great grow. Seems like your plants like their environment too.. don't change whats already working....

 

[Mister_D]

Now with custom avatar and pics uploaded to ICM.

Just curious was your avatar done by H.R. Giger? Big fan of his works. Also if you copy the BB code below any picture you select in your gallery it will show the actual picture in the thread instead of a link

 

[Species8472]

Just curious was your avatar done by H.R. Giger? Big fan of his works. Also if you copy the BB code below any picture you select in your gallery it will show the actual picture in the thread instead of a link

Pics edited, thank you again.
Although I am a huge fan of Giger's work since I saw the first Alien-Movie, my Avatar is just a picture from "Star Trek". It's a member of Species 8472, the only Star Trek Species that has ever kicked the Borgs as*es. My signature "The weak shall perish." is their motto.

 

[DirtyBurger]

Nice work, love the cloner, I have had trouble keeping up clones as well especially with limited space, something I'm working on. The blumats can work really well and yes they are a bastard to get dialed but I have found them better than the previous dripper system I used, I over watered, but with the blumats they draw water when needed. Each to their own I guess. Yeah some good advice all round, what aint broke don't need fixing.

A question for the vert masters, why are do nuts easier than racks? Could you explain some of those variables you mention. I guess one of those would be that you need more for racks and providing enough clones is a problem although if you grow em bigger that could solve the problem? But from what I've been hearen increased numbers and smaller plants dictate higher yields.

 

[Species8472]

I know it's a lot of reading, but you might want to check out bobble's threads, especially "bobblehead overtakes". I think Bobble encountered every problem possible when it comes to vert racks, and he even solved most of them.

Vert Donuts are the most easy thing to do. I will do another run after this one, mono-cropped with clones from one of my Critical-Mass Mums, but I will keep the setup "as is" with Blumats and Soil. The next run after that should be my first attempt at PPKs, but I learned the hardway not to change more than one major thing at a time.

 

[Species8472]

Boy, these ladies are smelly. I'm very satisfied so far, exactly what the breeder promised. When you get close to the buds of the King Kong, its like smelling a basket full of fruit. The Critical Mass reminds me of my humidor, a strong, tobacco like taste. But it's damn good tobacco.

I think I will chop 'em down from 07.06. - 09.06., what do ya think? I will upload some better pictures tomorrow.

btw all the damn clones rooted, I'm running outta space.

 

[Mister_D]

A question for the vert masters, why are do nuts easier than racks? Could you explain some of those variables you mention. I guess one of those would be that you need more for racks and providing enough clones is a problem although if you grow em bigger that could solve the problem? But from what I've been hearen increased numbers and smaller plants dictate higher yields.

1. Plant count - Donuts require less plants. This means you can be less proficient at cloning and still be successful (Vert sog uses more smaller plants thus requiring more clones/a more proficient cloner) Many growers, new and experienced alike, experience trouble with cloning.

2. Training/shaping - When doing donuts the most a person might have to do training/shaping wise is, cutting the bottom and weaker branches. On the other hand V sog usually entails hacking the backsides off each plant, and possibly training branches to gain the desired plant shape.

3. Watering - If you want to automate watering, it's much easier on a horizontal surface vs a vertical one.

4. Work load - Less plants and simpler design makes donuts less work over all, but that comes at the cost of yield also. You may find a donut setup is ultimately more productive for you simply because of time restrictions.

Those are the big reasons I don't recommend the method to newer growers. Done right V sog will smash donuts for yields. At the end of the day the choice is yours.

 

[Purple turtle]

I know it's a lot of reading, but you might want to check out bobble's threads, especially "bobblehead overtakes". I think Bobble encountered every problem possible when it comes to vert racks, and he even solved most of them.

Vert Donuts are the most easy thing to do. I will do another run after this one, mono-cropped with clones from one of my Critical-Mass Mums, but I will keep the setup "as is" with Blumats and Soil. The next run after that should be my first attempt at PPKs, but I learned the hardway not to change more than one major thing at a time.

yay ANOTHER v-sogger ..i thought so by your thread title ,none the less,nice plants/cola there.

all the info is here for the soaaaking up!

staying tuned for the next round!

pt

 

[Species8472]

Ok, the Ladies lose more and more of their colour, flushing is going along nicely - gonna chop'em by next friday, already really excited about it.

The Critical Mass clones for my next donut are a little over 10" tall now, and my local growshop now sells Root Pouch Pots... so I'm gonna transplant the clones into brand new air pruning pots by next Tuesday. What do you guys think which potsize I should get? I think I will stick with the 8 plants donut for now, there's a lot of potential improvement on my canopy management.

3 gal or 4 gal air pruning pots?

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

if you have 8 plants around a light then 3 gal is overkill
i ran 4 plants per light in 3 gal no worries at all

ps there is nothing wrong with overkill

 

[Species8472]

Aaaaand... it's gone. The product lost a whole damn lot of weight while drying... and I don't mean the average 75% I always had, sheesh.

Just about 300g (10.5 oz) dry weight. I'm quite disappointed, to be honest. A lot of things can be improved, but considering the fact that I pulled 385g from my very first horizontal grow, this still feels like a setback.

 

[Species8472]

Well... per aspera ad astra, they say.

I've been thinking about it a lot last night. This is what I came up with:

- 2 of 8 plants suffered severe damages. One from a re-pot too close to the flip, the other one was 'overgrown' by her neighbor. The first error was to repot more often than necessary. The second error was in my canopy management. Lesson learned.

- One of the plants grew a lot higher than the others. Again, my fault was not to stop her somehow. Even worse, that was the one that overgrew her neighbor. I should have at least LST'd her a bit to the side or something... anything.

- It's the player, not the game. I still think that vertical will work better than horizontal, when I figure it out better.

- Last but not least, and that's what I could really use some help with:

Genetics. The buds looked really promising before the harvest, but turned out to be just too fluffy. I will add a smoke report when I tested some of it. I culled the cutlings I took, if I really feel like growing the variety again, I will just get some seeds. But for now, I'm looking for something new.

I need a strain that is
- suitable for Vertical Donuts. I don't know yet if I will keep the plant count at 8, lower it to 6 or even build 4 PPK's and toss one in every corner. Avi's towers are looking damn good too
- should finish in about 8 weeks, anything more than 60 days is not the thing for me
- my friends and I like dense buds
- we like 'em smelly
- has to be available in Europe

Hints greatly appreciated.

 

[Mister_D]

for admitting it was grower fault and not the method. Just like any new method, vert takes some work to master. You are on the right path with your thinking, keep at it and success is just around the bend . I'm not much help in the genetics department, as most things I grow are 10+ weeks in flower. Plenty of reputable seed banks in the EU. Pick a strain that catches your eye, and search around for some grow logs.