400w 5-plant Scrog/Blumats (Inferno Haze x Joseph OG)... Starting Day-1 of 12/12

[Sativa Dragon]

Hey there Sat-Drag and thanks for stopping by.

This is only my 2nd grow using the Blumats but I really like them a lot as my time that I can devote to my grow is fairly limited (due to other more important commitments like family) so for me they have been a great find.

Before I tried the Blumats I was growing using DWC but I was always dealing with a multitude of different DWC-related issues (heat, constantly topping up res, etc). I didn't have the environment nor the experience to get past them at the time.

So a coco grow appealed to me and the Blumats seemed to be a nice time-saving extension of that for people who are time-poor (aren't we all these days?)
They do take a bit of fart-assing around to setup initially - but there is a great Blumat thread here on ICMAG to get help get you going (loooong thread but great info there).

I have only ever hit issues with them when I have let the res get empty and have had to "reset" them as a result; but that is just out of my laziness/lack of action more than any failing of the Blumat units themselves.

I've only ever used them in coco but if you were growing in amended soil they would be even better as you would only need to feed water through them - so much less chance of blockages from chunk nutes, and algae build-up, etc.

I say drop the hammer and try those Blumats!
Plenty of soil growers that love the Blueys

Take care bro.
Globs

Hey there Man!

I really appreciate the write up, I had my eye on these things for the very same reason you did, so I got 4 of the Maxi's to try out, They seem to be the Sheeit for soil.

Again thanks for the Info.

Peace

 

[Globule]

Day-25 of 12/12

Day-25 of 12/12

G'day folks.

My lovely ladies are still chugging along nicely (in my humble opinion) but I have come to the conclusion that I can't pick phenos for shit.

I was sure the two plants on the left were sativa-dominant; the dudette in the middle was some indica-dom pheno; and the two on the right were "OG-leaning" (some half-assed attempt to describe something in between the "Sativa-dom" and "Indica-dom" phenos I "identified"...)

But really I have no idea what is what to be honest.
All I know is that the two plants on the left that I had pegged as "Sativa-dom" phenos are "crowning off and fluffing up" (must be a better term for that surely?) way earlier than the other three plants.

So I guess they must be the "earlier-finishing-than-the-other-phenos"-pheno cos they are puffing out their chests nicely....

Unlike this "not-sure-if-its-just-not-as-awesome-as-the-others"-pheno on the right:

sheesh... I give up on pheno spotting!

Hope you all have better luck at pheno-spotting than I do.

Good growing to you!
Globs

 

[Mantra]

Hey, Globs!

It can be really tricky with different phenos of the same hybrid strain. I mostly go with leaf profile and growth characteristics, which would have me agreeing with your original assessment. But, yeah, meh.

such a tidy setup, and such a neat canopy both topside and below. Looking like you will smash it!

 

[indianajones]

subscription added, nice grow show thus far.

 

[spaceboy]

That is one beautiful grow you got there Globs... Ive been sitting on some blumats for a while but after seeing the stems on those girls I think I'm gonna have to get off my ass and set them up! What kinda ec you running and what kind of nutes?

Cant wait to see what you get out of these infernos to btw!

 

[Globule]

Hey, Globs!

It can be really tricky with different phenos of the same hybrid strain. I mostly go with leaf profile and growth characteristics, which would have me agreeing with your original assessment. But, yeah, meh.

such a tidy setup, and such a neat canopy both topside and below. Looking like you will smash it!

G'day Mantra and thanks for making me feel less crap about my pheno spotting abilities

Can I say for the record that I really do appreciate the encouraging comments from good people like you.
I don't have anyone to share my grows with other than complete strangers online and it makes it not such a lonely pursuit for me so thanks for the support.

subscription added, nice grow show thus far.

Thanks Indy!
Will do my utmost to not disappoint in the last remaining weeks of flower.

Can't make any promises though buddy...

That is one beautiful grow you got there Globs... Ive been sitting on some blumats for a while but after seeing the stems on those girls I think I'm gonna have to get off my ass and set them up! What kinda ec you running and what kind of nutes?

Cant wait to see what you get out of these infernos to btw!

Hey there SB and I hope you haven't literally been sitting on those Blumats for a while or it could explain your symptoms of dehydration and that annoying anal leakage you've been noticing

Seriously though, thanks for the nice props on my grow. I can assure you it is not as pretty in my cabinet as the soft grow-room lens filter is suggesting but I've done my best with what I've got (my wife assures/reassures me I'm good at that...) so I appreciate your kind words.

I think the stems are somewhat chunkier than normal because I topped the plants just above the 3rd node when they were old enough; removed the first two nodes (1-leaf and 3-leaf nodes) and grew all my mains off the remaining 3rd node (I topped each main for 4 then again for 8 leaders per plant).

As far as nutes go I'm following Canna's 'light feeding' schedule with Canna Coco A/B, Rhizotonic, Cannazym, and adding some CalMag and H&G Drip-Clean (to help keep Blumat lines clear and break down salt buildup in coco).

I don't really check my EC regularly to be honest (my pH is more important to me) but it would be at about 1.8EC (excluding water EC) and around 5.9-6.0 pH now.
Getting a few lockout issues from cold temps but I think I'm over the worst of winter now hopefully...


I'll to get a photo update done in another day or two but in the meantime, good growing to you guys and thanks for the positive vibes!

Globs

 

[BroughtSuperior]

looking good bro, nice canopy, seems that your in for a nice ride, im tagging along!!

 

[Globule]

Good News

Good News

looking good bro, nice canopy, seems that your in for a nice ride, im tagging along!!

Thanks very much Mr Superior
I've seen your completely flat canopies that you're pulling off in your grow so that means a lot coming from you - cheers!


So the GOOD news is that I got my two-res system setup before I went away for a short trip a few days ago and came home to it gurgling and slurping away noisely and the Blumats still keeping my coco moist but not too moist. So far so good...

The bottom res is a 50-litre camping cooler with a water pump continually pumping nutes up a hose and into the top 20-litre res for which the overflow would feed back into the large/bottom res.

This works fine and if the power goes out then the top res should last for a few days.

It is a bit gurgly and farty at the overflow outlet from the top res but it's getting the job done so I'm not too worried.

 

[Globule]

Bad News? Day 32 of 12/12

Bad News? Day 32 of 12/12

Well the feeling of victory over my sweet two-res hookup was short lived as I opened my cabinet and found that the little buggers hadn't quite finished stretch as I had thought!

I gave their scruffy necks a quick pinch to slow em down a tad as I am running out of ceiling height.

I probably have about another 6 inches to go before I run out of space (said the actress to the bishop) so I need to start pulling/tieing some of the taller mains back down towards the screen and open up the canopy a bit at the same time.

But not tonight... I'm tired...

Especially those ones over on the right-hand side there.

Some consolation though is that the ones on the left are really starting to get sticky and pungeant and the smell is an amazing bubblegummy-candy sort of smell!

Thanks for stopping by broheims

 

[shokdee]

Your thread is such fun to read and I like your set-up. I have a 400 MH and am looking for some ideas for a scrog.

I trust the beauty of your plants and their pungent aroma will give you an energy boost.

Don't you just love the streeeeeeeeeeetch!

Shokdee

 

[SkinnySRHKID]

Looking really good man, enjoy following the thread!

 

[robogro]

Globue, you are doing a great job, I'm sorry that I missed the start, but I've caught up now.(and subscribed)

cheers

 

[BroughtSuperior]

yeah buddy, lets see how those pretty girls are doing!!
1L

 

[Globule]

Howdy chums

Howdy chums

Your thread is such fun to read and I like your set-up. I have a 400 MH and am looking for some ideas for a scrog.

I trust the beauty of your plants and their pungent aroma will give you an energy boost.

Don't you just love the streeeeeeeeeeetch!

Thank-you very much shokdee and no, I am not liking this stretch at all thanks very much!
I seem to have a really bad habit of underestimating stretch and usually end up dealing with an overgrown cabinet like now.

I have been away for over a week on holiday and so came back to find some some serious and unsanctioned stretching had taken place while I was away. A few branches had stretched into the lamp and burned a couple of tops to a crisp unfortunately.

So my lovely level canopy has gone away and has been replaced by some craziness:

However - one thing I am not dealing with is dead or dying plants after returning from holiday! My blumats and 2-res setup performed flawlessly while I was away I'm happy to say.

If you still want some ideas from me for your 400W scrog after seeing this then I'm more than happy to throw a few your way for what they are worth...
Have you thought of trying a vertical scrog using maybe 4-5 plants in a doughnut around the 400W?

If I had more head height, I would love to do a 400w MH/HPS vertical grow next round, training the plants on vertical screens (possibly using a "PPK" setup instead of the coco/blumats?).

Looking really good man, enjoy following the thread!

Thanks - I appreciate you stopping by saying hello Skinny.

Hope you enjoy the remainder of the grow too - it looks like everything is starting to chunk up nicely now...

Globue, you are doing a great job, I'm sorry that I missed the start, but I've caught up now.(and subscribed)

cheers

Cheers yourself Robo and thanks for the kind words sir! Appreciate your support

My cabinet is really causing me grief for being so small to be honest.
Don't know why I just didn't make it taller in the first place. Always running out of space...

I'm pretty damn proud of my ghetto res-setup feeding the blumats without a hitch while I was away for over a week on holiday.

Almost without fail I have arrived home from holiday in the past with some sort of system failure. Was so chuffed to come home and have eveyrthing still ticking along.

Thanks for stopping by RG.

yeah buddy, lets see how those pretty girls are doing!!
1L

G'day BS - well you asked for it. The girls stretching their clacks and hitting my max ceiling height so I had trouble getting any decent shots of the canopy.

Will try to lift the light a wee bit more and tie dwn some of the canopy tonight and post up some shots.

In the meantime here are a couple of little bud macros (before they turn into big, drippy, resinous buds!).

Thanks for stopping by everyone and good growing to you.
Globs

 

[tehmaster]

I'm watching , reading and learning .
And as usual
Laughing at that avi globs

 

[BroughtSuperior]

sorry about the over stretch , i tend to do the opposite and not give them enough veg time, still they look nice, and the macro pic shows some real dank and frosty nuggetry, keep it rolling bro!!
1L

 

[Globule]

Day-50 of 12/12

Day-50 of 12/12

I'm watching , reading and learning .
And as usual
Laughing at that avi globs

Cheers TM - appreciation of pooh-humour is always a good yardstick of someone's worth in my books!

I would be amazed if you learned much from my grows other than a cautionary tale or two of what not to do - but if that's all then I'm happy to have helped you avoid my same mistakes

Thanks for hanging in there - I'm still optimistic of getting a nice harvest from this unruly lot.

sorry about the over stretch , i tend to do the opposite and not give them enough veg time, still they look nice, and the macro pic shows some real dank and frosty nuggetry, keep it rolling bro!!
1L

Thanks BS. I've managed to readjust the canopy a wee bit to try and get it a bit flatter. Will get my light sorted out tonight by zip-tieing it to the ceiling to squeeze an extra inch or two out of my cabinet height.

Pics below of before and after attempt to flatten the canopy a bit:

Pre-Flattening

Post-Flattening


Thanks for stopping by folks!
Globs

 

[shokdee]

Funny ha ha! I get the joke - the pre- and post-pictures - are the same foto.

Enjoy your w/end, Mr Bushwacker.

 

[Globule]

Funny ha ha! I get the joke - the pre- and post-pictures - are the same foto.

Enjoy your w/end, Mr Bushwacker.

shokdee - what have you been smoking?

There is a very important yet subtle difference in the photos in the front right part of the photo, where I have clearly pulled down that stretchy part.

I'm trying to turn the canopy into a sort of flattened saucer shape but the stretch got away from me when my back was turned.

So I am starting a multi-stage return to canopy excellence.

Stay with me brother...

A scrogger would notice the difference

 

[shokdee]

shokdee - what have you been smoking? A scrogger would notice the difference

Busted again!

So this is supposed to be a "flying-saucer-doughnut, with a creemy worm-hole at it's center" SCROG!

I'm staying tuned for the lift-off.