Supercropping a SOG, 4 plants per container, directed root growth

Guest · Mar 21, 2004

Well, I had this idea. I use milk crates to grow in because of the way they fill all available space with soil due to the perfectly square shape. Usually I grow one plant per container, a square foot of soil each, and nine plants total under my 400 HPS. I'm currently playing around with cloning and what to do with them due to a very productive mother plant (pic1) that I initially provided too much rootspace and light too. She grew BIG AS HELL and now I'm using cuttings that are a foot long each, give or take

The nine plants mentioned above are divided into three groups of three plants due to my perpetual harvest(pic 2), so I'm using 12 clones in three planters to keep up with the standard SOG requirement of 4 plants per sqf. Usually when I grow a single plant per container, I train her very aggressively using the Delta9420 LST technique(pic3). I plan on doing the same with the clones, but they will be trained and immediately put into flower. The stretch is the only opportuinity they'll have to grow out the nodal growth into an even canopy that will mesh into the room like a normal generation of plants. I dont expect the branching to get very large.

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Guest · Mar 21, 2004

Now, the idea here is to use multiple plants in a container (to make maintenance easier? whatever reason I do these things), not something usually recommended by growers who want the most out of their plants. Problems being root systems that intertwine and bind each other up, leading to the creation of runts in the planter. In fact, I have never grown multiple plants in a container without at least one having to be removed. The square foot crates I use hold roughly 7 gallons of soil when filled to the top, so I usually say I'm in six gallons, which should be plenty for four SOG clones with no veg growth. The cuttings are rooted in water, transferred to a retail store bought potting soil with equal perlite, and put under my clone mother light. Her light is the only one needed for the space since ambient light at floor level seems to just right for the cuttings. I use 12 ounce Dixie cups for them until transplant to the big planters.

Below is a picture history of the 12 cuttings to be used. The bottom picture is the group with the runt, obviously

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Guest · Mar 21, 2004

Directing the root growth was shockingly easy, about 10 seconds per plant. Once the clones were well rooted in the cup, I took a razor blade and slit the side top to bottom, exactly in half. The bottom circle of plastic you MUST leave whole and in place, this will be what directs the root growth toward the outside of the planter and each plants roots away from each other. First, I placed the slit cups evenly in the center of the planter, close enough so they touched each other in a circle. Each opening in the cup is aimed exactly at one corner of the planter, so when the roots emerge into the new soil, they are going straight for the side of the container and away from each other.

THis may sound like I'm crowding the plants together, but here where the LST training comes in. The way training works, the tip of the plant is bent over at a more than right angle, so the tip is now below the next highest nodal growth. Some people train much more aggressively by topping, snapping the hurd or completely inverting the tip of the plant. This is not necessary and is a stress factor that should be avoided. The goal to training is to pluralize the growth of the plant, which is normally focused at the tip due to a collection of a hormone(?) auxin. When we train the plant, we force the auxins to move throughout the plant and stir more growth from other nodes. This can also be achieved by topping the plant, tho a complete removal of the auxins located there is IMO not a good thing. The plant must replenish the supply before proper, even nodal growth can take place. Topping and harsh training methods can interrupt the flow of auxins, leading to a possible dealy in growth and uneven nodal growth. Except for the uneven nodal growth, its nothing I have actually observed really in size, yield or time but it makes perfect sense when you think about it.

the second pic is kind of an optical illusion. If you stare at it it looks like I carved the soil out of the cup instead of the soil protruding from it. Or maybe I'm really really high

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Guest · Mar 21, 2004

So, the reason this worked out so perfectly, the four trained tops of the plant each are tied in their own direction, away from each other, the same direction the root growth was forced. A base tie is required to keep the plant in place, and I actually tied the plants to each other. In one case, the two opposite each other beacame each others tie down point using some twist tie, and the tip was tied to the corner opposite it's tie down point. In another container I lashed all four together using a single circle of twine around all four bases. BOth ways worked well enough with a little manipulation. So, there is a container with four trained plants using twist ties as base ties, a container with the base tie using twine, and the third container was my strange one. I put all different sized plants in it, one topped, one a runt, and two LST. They did not undergo the directed root growth but were simply placed at the corner of the planter. Kind of a control group I suppose. Damn, I cant seem to find a photo of the runt planter in this generation of pics.

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Guest · Mar 21, 2004

Damn, Ive been at this two hours now. Gypsy, no offense intended at all, I love the site, but this picture system is cumbersome as hell. And I'll prolly use my entire allotment of space to complete this thread through harvest. I'll see what I can remove from my gallery next.

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Plants have grown 10 days in the stretch in these pics. The third pic is the earliest I have of the runt planter. You can see they are spaced differently and have no cups around them

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Hippo · Mar 21, 2004

Great post

Looks like it will work out well
And yes thats a cool trick of the eye, i got it after staring for a few seconds

Guest · Mar 21, 2004

Thanks Hippo :wave:

Guest · Mar 21, 2004

great post and instruction bro...........

great post and instruction bro...........

.......read a post on usin rubber maids, was wonderin if ya had holes in the bags for drainage? gonna try the rubber maids this time out. will use your tech...split cups..... for placement of the plants. sweet idea.

also in the clonin thread i wondered onto your water clonin. do you use anything besides Phed water to root um?

pleasure
CBF

Guest · Mar 25, 2004

Hey CBF, yeah, many holes in the bag for drainage. Cant grow healthy cannabis any other way, right?

You know, the Ph of the water isnt even a factor since the plant is oto actually living, it is simply in stasis via water uptake. Ive never tested Ph in four years of cloning this way

Guest · Mar 25, 2004

These pics are at day 15

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wisc2 · Apr 3, 2004

Great Idea for training root growth, Got some nlxbb bout a wk old, gonna try it when there ready. Ill be watchin to see how it goes.

rasputen · Apr 7, 2004

Ok,I'll try posting in the thread this time

Ok,I'll try posting in the thread this time

'C'udos Caprichoso!

I have been growing clones in 22 galon rubbermaids but now I have been also using bagged milk crates (mine are Dollar General & slightly rectangular.

The root focus technique is wonderful in it's simplicity.
I use styro cups sometimes & cut them open & this would be easy as hell.

I am not a big time 'G' that grows for cash, but I have managed some sweet single colas in 1 gallon coffee cans & they were wonderful & big as a coke can around.

Thanks for getting me to think about playing god in the underworld as well

(I guess I was stoned when I posted it outside of the thread...DOH!) ..:homer:

Thing_Fish_ · Apr 7, 2004

~~^^><>' -Sweet tekneek Dude!

Guest · Apr 7, 2004

Some update pics

Some update pics

Buds are completely set. The size of the plant compared to the original 8" clone has to be 10X. It has taken some work to keep all the tops even in height. The control planter with no cups has shown virtually no problems, same as the plants with the directed root growth. Damn.

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Supercropping a SOG, 4 plants per container, directed root growth

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