Coco in an Ikea Cab

After transplant to the 2L pots they experienced explosive root growth; I checked them after 2 days and found most had tap roots showing through the pot drainage holes... the fastest one about 2 inches out!

After a week I'm afraid I fell short in space.



The fastest one, a Kalichakra, had suffered slight burns as it grew almost 2 inches in two days and reached the fluoro!

I also think 12 plants in there is a little crammed horizontally, though all look very healthy and green. They range in height 8-9" tall (25-30cm).

I'll had either to sacrifice the cab bottom area (intended for clones) and put them there to gain vertical room, or take clones leave them in the cab and move the rest to the flowering tent, then discard the male clones afterwards... all plants are more than a month old but I cannot spot if they're males or not.

Lower shoots are tiny however, about 1,5", dunno if that micro clones will root though I've read so... 25-30cm may need more vegging before putting it to flower? My flowering tent height is 6'10 (2 meters) using a 600W HPS lamp, just finished to assembly everything yesterday.

Have also 7L pots, I know it's been just a week from the transplant to the 2L pots, but all have tons of roots sticking out the drain holes... some even shot roots above the coco surface!!??? May I transplant to them just before flipping to flower or after?

Holy crap!!! Looks like you've been doin this all your life.

I have a few q's about the flouro set up and how you wired it. No one ever has any 2' flouro setups that plug in to a wall socket... most are made as direct connect to ac. how do you put one of these together ?

Hey repuk, those plants have blown up since the last update!

For clones, if the 1.5" you mention is inches then I think you'd have a chance, but if you were referring to cm I definitely wouldn't try it. If it were my grow, I'd put them all in the flower room and take clones once the shoots are big enough (I like about 5-8 cm), which would probably happen within the week under a 600w. But you already know that's my style.

If your plants are 25-30 cm tall, and you have 12 plants then you might think about flowering soon. It will depend a lot on how much your particular strains stretch but I'd say if you flowered now and ended up with 6 females, then on average they would probably be a good size if not a little bit tight under 1 600w. I've flowered a strain around 30-35 cm and had them stretch to about 140 cm. That one was on the extreme end but it can happen. IMO an undergrown cab is better than an overgrown cab. Your buds will be much fuller and no so small and airy like popcorn.

Otherwise keep it up. They are looking really healthy!

Hi repuk,
Those seedlings look so vigorous and healthy! With a six foot tall tent, you should have no worries about getting overgrown, I would think. Where did you get those 2 ltr square pots? I'm looking for tall pots like that.

admiralcornport said:

Holy crap!!! Looks like you've been doin this all your life.

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thanks admiralcornport! I've learnt a lot from the ton of mistakes I made! (and of course reading this forum!!)

admiralcornport said:

I have a few q's about the flouro set up and how you wired it. No one ever has any 2' flouro setups that plug in to a wall socket... most are made as direct connect to ac. how do you put one of these together ?

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if I understand what you're asking for, please ask again if this is not what you meant...

Mine is a twin setup with both lights sharing the same fixture, and the ballasts sharing the wiring to mains: each fluoro has its own electronic ballast, as there aren't dual 55W ballasts (there are dual 36W ones).

You just need to wire the mains connector of each ballast in parallel to mains.

PLL Fluoro ======== Ballast == Mains
PLL Fluoro ======== Ballast ==//

I just used the typical computer PSU cord (have tons laying around) and stripped the end that goes to the CPU (IEC connector) then to a wire (clamp? dunno the exact term in english). Then join one wire from each ballast mains connector to one in the clamp, like this (this pic isn't mine)



let me know if that answer your question... I'm in Europe and mains here are slightly different, so better be safe than sorry, ask if you're not sure!

icough2getoff said:

Hey repuk, those plants have blown up since the last update!

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yep!! I can't believe how healthy their leaves are, being crammed into such small space...

For clones, if the 1.5" you mention is inches then I think you'd have a chance, but if you were referring to cm I definitely wouldn't try it. If it were my grow, I'd put them all in the flower room and take clones once the shoots are big enough (I like about 5-8 cm), which would probably happen within the week under a 600w. But you already know that's my style.

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I meant inches. I could take micro cuts from shoots that are about 1,5 inches and have 2 tiny nodes. I may try as I've heard micro cuts suffer less from dehidratation, etc... and that suits my needs right now anyway

Being the first time I'm cutting clones I'll go the easy route and cut them while they're in veg, otherwise if I lose them I won't know if it was my fault in the cloning procedure or care, or just that cloning and reveg for my particular strain isn't possible...

If your plants are 25-30 cm tall, and you have 12 plants then you might think about flowering soon. It will depend a lot on how much your particular strains stretch but I'd say if you flowered now and ended up with 6 females, then on average they would probably be a good size if not a little bit tight under 1 600w. I've flowered a strain around 30-35 cm and had them stretch to about 140 cm. That one was on the extreme end but it can happen. IMO an undergrown cab is better than an overgrown cab. Your buds will be much fuller and no so small and airy like popcorn.

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Those are the taller plants, some are 20 cm... I think I'll take cuttings this week, maybe today, then put to flower by the weekend or before if the taller ones grow too much.

Then just for the sake of learning and experiment, take more cuttings when in flowering after I sex them, that will teach me the differences in the two approaches, and also how each strain handles it.

Would you repot them before flip to flower? Or leave them some time (a week? 2 weeks? flowering then repot to the bigger pots? Pulling them to the flowering tent after taking cuttings like they are is no problem, to repot I need to buy more coco and pots and that's a trip to the city...

Putting them to flower w/o repotting will help to control its height I guess, plus I won't need to repot males, but wouldn't like to shock them while in flower...

Otherwise keep it up. They are looking really healthy!

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Yep!! My wife says is unbelieable how could those little plants inside a cab be so healthy, no one would say there could be life inside!

petemoss said:

Those seedlings look so vigorous and healthy! With a six foot tall tent, you should have no worries about getting overgrown, I would think. Where did you get those 2 ltr square pots? I'm looking for tall pots like that.

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Hi Petemoss!! 2 meters look like a good margin, I wonder what's the minimum advisable distance from the HPS to the canopy? I got a cooltube but just didn't connect it to the fan as right now heat will be good inside. Guess 40cm is the minimum?

I got the square pots from a local growshop. But also found a good source of square, disposable containers... milk/juice bricks.

I'm repotting sooner now, at week 2 from sprouting the seeds I move them from the solo cup to 1L milk tetrabricks, being square and tall they're great for tight spaces, and disposable.

I did rearrange the cab however. Last night the speedier Kalichakra had reached the fluoros again and the fluoros were on the top position already...

So I removed the shelf, to do so need to remove the doors, a PITA having to remove also the mylar, etc...

I will build a sort of "table" that goes inside with the clones tupperware/rubbermaid below, integrated fluoros for the clones on the underside and the vegging plants on top of it, but will size it so that doors don't need to be removed so everything can be easily taken out.

BTW, what's the advisable power for clones fluoros? will 36W do?

36 W is ok, but even less will do. rigth now i use a 18W tube.

more important is the temp and humidity factors too cold makes for slow rooting too hot makes the clones loose their humidity.

in the cold of winter i can use 2 x 18W tubes and get good temps, but then i ad some kind of opaque barrier to make sure the light intensity is lower. white semitransparent plastic works ok.

bonecarver_OG said:

36 W is ok, but even less will do. rigth now i use a 18W tube.

more important is the temp and humidity factors too cold makes for slow rooting too hot makes the clones loose their humidity.

in the cold of winter i can use 2 x 18W tubes and get good temps, but then i ad some kind of opaque barrier to make sure the light intensity is lower. white semitransparent plastic works ok.

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Hi bonecarver! Temps inside the cab range from 19 to 25C. The clone area will be below the vegging one, so it won't benefit from the veg area heat much. I thought on putting the ballasts below the cloning chamber but I think that could lead to a disaster if water spills into the cab... I'll think of a way to waterproof and integrate the ballasts into the "table" I'll build to hold the cloning container and keep the pots for the veg area over, something like this:

Pot Pot Pot Pot Pot
-----Table top---------
Fluoros
------------------------
cloning container
------------------------
ballasts
------------------------ Cab bottom

I'll try with one and two 18W and monitor the temps.

I'm about to try cloning w/o any hormones, just as your method (rockwool, opaque plastic container). You say the fluoros being the right expectra was essential to your optimal conditions, which ones are you using?? do you leave clones 24/0? or just the usual 18/6?

Right now I'm not interested in grow speed, as my plants will need 2 months plus for flowering and clones will be in the cab... just want them to select a mother...

NICE!!!

NICE!!!

Very nice lil veg cab Bud! Man, I wish I could get my hands on some Mandala genetics! Hope Mike gets better soon! I hear Jan is the magic month and they'll be back on track. Anyway, lookin good bro, can't wait to see some flowering pics! I'll be watching...
--
TB4U

repuk said:

...
Hi Petemoss!! 2 meters look like a good margin, I wonder what's the minimum advisable distance from the HPS to the canopy? I got a cooltube but just didn't connect it to the fan as right now heat will be good inside. Guess 40cm is the minimum? ...
BTW, what's the advisable power for clones fluoros? will 36W do?

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repuk, I've seen charts showing the light intensity for various wattages and how the light intensity falls off quickly as you move further away. The bottom lines is that you should keep the light as close as you can to your plants to get the most from your light. With an air-cooled light I can almost touch the bulb to the glass without burning the tops. 40 cm would be a good starting distance for the first couple of days until the new plant gets used to the strong light. After that, I'd move in to about six inches and try to maintain that through the stretch.

Rooting clones don't need much light. You want the new clone to concentrate on root development and subdued lighting helps until the roots grow out more. Once you have a good root mass established, the amount of light you give will determine how fast the clones grow. Often I need to slow down a clone until a vacancy opens in the flower cab and low light like a 11 watt CFL and 1/4 strength feed works fine. If I need to get the clone ready fast, I use stronger light and full strength feed - you get the picture..remember, you're the Boss an you control the flowering plant, it doesn't control you! lol

petemoss said:

repuk, I've seen charts showing the light intensity for various wattages and how the light intensity falls off quickly as you move further away.

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here's one

Hi!

ThisBuds4You said:

Very nice lil veg cab Bud! Man, I wish I could get my hands on some Mandala genetics! Hope Mike gets better soon! I hear Jan is the magic month and they'll be back on track. Anyway, lookin good bro, can't wait to see some flowering pics! I'll be watching...

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Thanks! I've read so, seems like they will release a new strain! I wanted to grow satori also, so as soon as they're back I'll source some.

I want to put them in flower ASAP, guess wil pull them to the flowering tent next week, some haven't reached 8 nodes nor showed preflowers. Surely I'll post pics in flower!

petemoss, thanks for the tips! I haven't ducted the cooltube as I suspect I'll need some heat to keep the tent at optimal temp, will monitor the first couple days watching for temps, if they are high enough I'll duct the cooltube and follow your advice.

I want to put to use some fluoros I had from a photography project, they're 27W, so I'll use one of them through a translucid cover to tame down the light. Good tips for controlling growth, thanks!

thanks for the chart icough2getoff!

icough2getoff said:

here's one

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hey, that's a nice chart, icough2getoff! Thanks, think I'll save it for future ref.

repuk, I forgot you have a 600 watt HPS non aircooled. So please revise those distances I mentioned. 6" is prolly too close for a 600. I was thinking about my 250 watt light.

petemoss, never mind, I got your point

I'll do some monitoring first, will use the hand test to determine minimum HPS distance.

minimum hps distance - about 40 cm - but thats pushing it and risking light burns and stress on the closests leafs.

i prefeer to keep it about 50 cm to 60 cm - depending on the space to cover.

if your grow space is limited in size - i mean if you use reflecting walls - the light will reflect from the walls and add to the ldirect light from the lamp.

this can with adecuate material give very little loss in light intensity - but aloving proper distance for avoiding stress

what i mean i the chart above is not taking in consideration the reflective capabilities of the walls and its effect on the spread and light intensity. so really its not too accurate in real life grow conditions - its a test made in a laboratory environment with controlled parameters. and oviously all growers use reflective material on the walls - but nice anyway

just go with 50 cm - and if you notice its ok - lower it cm by cm.

peace

My tent is a Dark Room, has pretty good reflective walls. I guess ithe more you lower the light the less it reflects on the walls...

BTW bone, do you use any special spectrum fluoros for clones? or just 4500K-5000K?

i use normal workshop lights gotto go down to check the spectrum - but generally i got for the normal cheap tubes... the ones indicated for areas of not much use - like for storage areas or garages etc..

daylight colour 54-765, sylvania standard.

I cut clones from all plants (believing all will die) and pulled all of them to the flowering tent on Friday, they were badly crowded in there and some were 40cm (15 inches). Skunks were 2 months old, the rest 1 month & 1 week old.

The cuts were in the "micro" category, very small ones, some hardly had leaves above the rockwool cubes. I didn't use anything but tap, not PH'ed water (just had the rockwool plugs in PH5.5 water for a couple days) and put the cubes into a small translucent rubbermaid like box with about half an inch tap watter in the bottom, cubes don't touch the water as they sit on a plastic "platform" above the water.

Just put the clone container inside the Ikea Cab along with the 2 Kali Mists and the 3 seeded Somangos.

The following day I expected the cuts to be wilting or bad looking, but... I'd swear they've grow?? they're taller!!!

The plants in the flowering tent (unsexed yet, 5 kalichakras, 5 sadhus and a couple feminized skunk express) are growing fast!! I expect to be able to sex the mandalas this week, then I will transplant the girls from the actual 2L pots to the 7L ones.

I'll post some pics today. I've seen some red flies around dunno if they're harmful or not, I want to spray them with neem, guess that should be done an hour or so before lights go on?

My sprouting luck has gone from 100% on the previous 14 seeds... to 33% with the 3 somango I seeded on 18th only one has sprouted

I watered last night, haven't received my replacement PH meter so I PHed by "eye". Added some ATA XL, final EC was 1.1.

I'm usually very busy and tired at the end of the day and noticed watering can become an annoying task, have to look into an EBB&Flow system or something... having to hand feed 20+ litres is boring... can't imagine when the 7L pots time comes!

The clones:



The vegging Ikea cab, the seedlings on the left are somangos, first bad luck struck, just popped one from three

The Kali Mists on the right will be 1 month old tomorrow. I went a little far letting them dry, that's why the first one is droopy. Cannot believe all the 12 the plants flowering in the tent were crammed in there!



The 5 Sadhus, 5 Kalichakras and 2 Skunk Express 3 days into flower, they've stretched more than an inch per day!!:



I looked them closely, apart from the 2 feminized skunks that had female preflowers there were two Kalichakras I'm fairly secure (being a noob) that are females. The rest had very tiny preflowers.

The fastest, most vigorous of the bunch, Sadhu #5, who has purple stripped stems seems to be a male? What do you think?

Hey Repuk, looks like things are coming along nicely! Those clones look bigger than I thought. They look like a good size! Just don't let that rockwool dry out completely and you should be in good shape.

Nice flower room. Can't wait to see those girls start fattening up

That last pic does look kinda like a male, but if it were me I'd wait a few more days till you were certain. I've almost been tricked into throwing females away before.

Here's a couple more pictures of male preflowers

That's intensely zoomed in. Those are great pics of the male preflowers.