Papaya in a bed of Ocean Forest 2'x4' tent 600 hps

Lebniis · Dec 25, 2011

Basically just posting because maybe I can learn something new and I’d like to progress my knowledge as quick as possible.

This is my 4th run in this tent. I've tried a few different strains and so far of the one's I've tried, Nirvana's Papaya seems to be of higher vigor as well as being mold and insect resistant.

Unfortunately my last run went horrible in 1 gallon pots. I tried to do sea of green with Master OG and fell short after flipping the lights immediately without letting them root in and not loading them up on nitrogen before flowering. But it is nice to learn and try new things to see what works best. So here I am, trying again.

Growing are 8 Papayas chosen from 20 clones for the quickest rooting and most vigor. Rooted in 4 inch pots and transplanted into this bed. I like the idea of having a lot of root space as well as the ease of pouring 1 bag of Ocean forest and 1/2 bag of perlite. I’m using GH and following Lucas’ advice of a 1400 ppm threshold and using only 8ml micro and 16ml bloom. Using tap water filtered by a small boy.

Also looking at eventually getting a new mother started, pretty set on a BOG strain but open to suggestions.

The tent has a 600 HPS for veg and flower as I am too broke for a MH bulb. There is an 8" exhausts pulling the heat from the hood out of the tent and pushing through a Can filter. The filter is old (4 years) and still kicks ass on even the stinkiest strains.

Enjoy and thanks for clicking :tiphat:

Last picture shows the fan under the tray to help air circulation. Trying it out since last run there wasn't enough air movement and PM became an issue.

Lebniis · Dec 25, 2011

Also GDP has to be one of my favorite strains if someone can suggest a strain that is similar and available on the Bou! A sweet and grapey taste would be ideal. Thanks

señorsloth · Dec 25, 2011

it's looking great! always nice to see a fellow bed grower doing his thing!

booleybomb · Dec 26, 2011

I was interested in doing a similar setup but I had concerns with heat and ventilation. How is your 600w doing in a 2'x4' tent? What are you doing about ventilation, (kinds and # of fans)? What are the temps in there?

The grow looks great. Keep it up.

one Q · Dec 26, 2011

i personally didnt like papaya, but she did yeild and smell great! hows the heat.

Lebniis · Dec 28, 2011

Booleybomb, no heat problems in winter. The tent remains in a room of 70 degrees or so. Inside the tent never above 80. One 8 inch fan sucks through the hood and exhauststhe and the intake is passive. This works for me but may not in all environments.

Oneq, the papaya isn't spectacular but grew extremely dense and has a heavy indicate stone I like. Looking for another strain to grow with a goo or grape taste and smell.

Any suggestions on grape tasting or smelling strains?

Lebniis · Jan 7, 2012

Couldn't water these guys for 5 days and came back to find them severely thirsty and losing leafs. Sticking to the Lucas Formula and plan on switching to Maxibloom and the GH nutes run out. The plants are back to their vigorous selves. Crossing my fingers for a high quality, mold free yield!

Not extremely excited about the papaya anymore, thanks one Q

First day flipped

InnocenTurd · Jan 7, 2012

Very Nice! Bed growing is totally cool. They are starting to take off!

grow_right · Jan 8, 2012

looking good!! i really enjoyed my papaya, nice smoke.

canavi · Jan 8, 2012

Why did you choose bed growing over individual pots? Doesn't that just limit your ability to nute each plant individually if needed?

Lebniis · Jan 9, 2012

I am pretty confident that since each plant is the same strain and that I chose them during cloning for similarities in growth that they will all respond to the application of nutes the same. So far no problems. It was very easy to pour a bag of soil and this allows the roots to spread out much further. I tried 18 1 gallon pots and did not like how it came out. I have the 2x4 tray so I needed to put it to use.

canavi · Jan 9, 2012

Cool. Makes sense with the clones. I'm going to give a bed a try in my clone next run.

FlowerTops · Jan 9, 2012

Soil beds give nice results, I think you'll like it better and find it easier. I do have a few suggestions to try on your next run though.

1- you're bed should be bigger under 600w then 2x4, should be closser too 4x4 and deeper (more then just one bag)

2- There should be no drain in a soil bed setup (this was the hardest part for me too understand and believe)

3- It's better if you water and feed from the bottom up by having 2 hoses on each end of the bed leading to the bottom before you put put your soil in.

4- I found it much better to have a layer of lava rocks or hydroten pebbles at the bottom of the bed where nutes and water will pool giving the soil above it the ability to soak up what it needs and not more, and it won't drain away nutes and minerals like mag. when I tried this I found the roots would extend all the down to the bottom layer and they were like 3x more roots then I was used too. And I only had to feed once a week without any worrys. It will also spread your water and nutes evenly. Bigger stronger plants.

Also I found promix to be better then foxfarm for this.

You're where I was at 7 years ago, just giving you the things that worked for me to improve it since then.

-FT

C21H30O2 · Jan 9, 2012

Just a heads up, your not going to be able to reuse that bed and soil when using chemical ferts. Salts will build up and make the soil toxic. You can flush the soil but that will only go so far. Beds are meant to be reused... This grow however looks beautiful, good luck and keep up the good work.

canavi · Jan 10, 2012

FlowerTops said:
2- There should be no drain in a soil bed setup (this was the hardest part for me too understand and believe)

Also I found promix to be better then foxfarm for this.

-FT

Thank you for the advice. I'm going to test out a bed of clones next flowering cycle. Probably going to line the bottom of the bed with hydroton/promix and do a foxfarm blend on top.

Lebniis · Jan 11, 2012

FlowerTops said:
Soil beds give nice results, I think you'll like it better and find it easier. I do have a few suggestions to try on your next run though.

1- you're bed should be bigger under 600w then 2x4, should be closser too 4x4 and deeper (more then just one bag)

2- There should be no drain in a soil bed setup (this was the hardest part for me too understand and believe)

3- It's better if you water and feed from the bottom up by having 2 hoses on each end of the bed leading to the bottom before you put put your soil in.

4- I found it much better to have a layer of lava rocks or hydroten pebbles at the bottom of the bed where nutes and water will pool giving the soil above it the ability to soak up what it needs and not more, and it won't drain away nutes and minerals like mag. when I tried this I found the roots would extend all the down to the bottom layer and they were like 3x more roots then I was used too. And I only had to feed once a week without any worrys. It will also spread your water and nutes evenly. Bigger stronger plants.

Also I found promix to be better then foxfarm for this.

You're where I was at 7 years ago, just giving you the things that worked for me to improve it since then.

-FT

Thank you! Unfortunately the 2x4 is as big as I can get so that leaves me one option, get a deeper tray. This sounds good, I think that would help speed up growth and make watering less frequent.

How does not draining make for healthier plants? I do not know so help there would be cool.

Is there anyway to have a dripper lines under the soil that could connect to each other and then one spigot where a hose could connect. No experience with drippers and going from standard hose size down to dripper line size. Sounds like a good idea, any more info?

I may try promix per your advice, but I'm really liking the Ocean Forest results so far. I'd like to put some coarse material as the first layer but need something that is not as obvious as round clay balls and is eventually decomposable. Perlite would work for me, would it stay intact for 4 months through out a cycle?

Thanks for the advice.

C21H30O2- Just a heads up, your not going to be able to reuse that bed and soil when using chemical ferts. Salts will build up and make the soil toxic. You can flush the soil but that will only go so far. Beds are meant to be reused... This grow however looks beautiful, good luck and keep up the good work.

Thanks for the input and kind words. I agree, I won't be reusing the soil.

Nader · Jan 12, 2012

All the best with your grow

I will be watching and sending good vibes your way

Lebniis · Jan 14, 2012

Thank you Nader! Checked out the link to your grow, looks good.

Can I get Flower Tops back in here or a discussion of post #16? pretty please

señorsloth · Jan 14, 2012

1- you're bed should be bigger under 600w then 2x4, should be closser too 4x4 and deeper (more then just one bag)

2- There should be no drain in a soil bed setup (this was the hardest part for me too understand and believe)

3- It's better if you water and feed from the bottom up by having 2 hoses on each end of the bed leading to the bottom before you put put your soil in.

4- I found it much better to have a layer of lava rocks or hydroten pebbles at the bottom of the bed where nutes and water will pool giving the soil above it the ability to soak up what it needs and not more, and it won't drain away nutes and minerals like mag. when I tried this I found the roots would extend all the down to the bottom layer and they were like 3x more roots then I was used too. And I only had to feed once a week without any worrys. It will also spread your water and nutes evenly. Bigger stronger plants.

good advice, aside from the first bit IMO,

for a 600, 2X4 is actually not bad at all, i usually recommend 3X3 because it's a better footprint, but 2X4 is 8 square feet and 3X3 is 9 so it's really not to over sized, probably enough to make up for the skinnier longer footprint...just my opinion but i dont' think it's so bad, a 4X4 space is better for a 100w light, again just my opinion.

yes, it's true, beds aren't supposed to drain, people have a hard time understanding this, bravo for bringing it up! i think the reason is because beds are more like nature, and the bottom layer is always semi moist...you add water too the top when it needs it and the bottom stays moist and alive, if you were growing organic anyway...

i am interested in your hose setup, i hand water from the top every five days and don't have any issues with it, but I've always planned to eventually setup some sort of drip feed so i can just put water in a reservoir once a week and let it slowly and evenly water my beds without me having to hold a wand for an hour.

Lebniis · Jan 17, 2012

Will answer any questions about the hose setup. Back when I was running a full room and 4 lights I bought this heavy duty pump (non-magnetic) and a safe drinking water 25' hose. Connected the two and let the pump sit at the bottom of the reservoir. Sometimes I use a watering wand but since the pressure of the pump usually doesn't allow the wand to stop water flow, I leave it off most of the time.

Anyways, this grow is done. Sad but necessary. My heart loves Mary Jane but my brain needs a break. Have to focus on other aspects of my life.

It was surprisingly easy cutting down my Papaya mom and these plants. They are composting now and in a wholesome approach I look forward to utilizing them in my veggie garden.

Papaya in a bed of Ocean Forest 2'x4' tent 600 hps

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