Tex’s Farm: Perpetual CFL Micro SOG

[Chloemobile]

Hey tex I love this grow. Simple efficient and great results.

Working on a perpetual cfl micro sog myself. Just another dude trying to grow his own brand to stay away from the underworld and share with a few close friends.

I have a converted cab right now with a single wappa plant that is about 2-3 weeks from chop. Took two clones one died and the other is the mama. Haven't had a successful clone since. 0 for about 5 now. Def gonna give the Walmart cloner a shot. 3 plants @ 7-10 grams a pop every 2 weeks is plenty. Can't wait to get the perpetual going. Still dialing in my medium/nutes. Using Lucas with FNB in a 100% perlite hempy. Made the mistake of feeding with every watering and burned it up nice and had a salt buildup issue that was a pain to fix. Then I had a few waterings with a ph meter that was un calibrated. Plants don't like 8+ ph :/. I run a similar setup slightly stronger fan and 3 more lights (2x42 2x40 2x26 1x 30). This first plant being from seed and super cropped will prob yield 14-20 grams. Currently have a cab being built made out out of some particle board I bought at lowes. $2.98 for 12in by 48in pieces. Getting my adult arts and crafts on when I get time. Also trying to be stealth with an ngb style thing I guess



If I could replicate the results of your grow I will be beyond satisfied. Keep up the good work man. Your grow gives me something to look forward to and I appreciate it. Didn't mean to rant so much about my shit haha.

Peace

Chloe.


=D

 

[Penguin59]

Awesome thread Tex! Loving the strains and the consistent results you've been getting. I was truly blown away by Dr. Bud's method too, it's good to see that it's inspired a great many people.

Have you had any experience with any of Nirvana's other strains other than NL?

Penguin

 

[repuk]

Hi Tex!!

Lots of pics! great!

It seems you already have your clone method dialed in, I have no place for vegging right now, but I may start to take clones if I find a supersmall place to keep them "stalled" after they root while waiting for the main grow space to finish the crop then flip to veg.

This is what I used in the past, 100% success always, is super simple, cheap and practical... you need a small translucent rubbermaid (the lid being translucent too), and small rockwool cubes (~2in). You need to put some sort of "screen" in the bottom of the rubbermaid to have a 1/3rd of an inch clearance from its bottom, it must be plastic.

Keep the rockwool cubes in water PH'ed to 5.8 with rhizotonic to a EC 0.5-0.7 the day before taking the clones. You can try w/o rizhotonic, or w/ any root promoter, always low EC.

Take the rubbermaid, pour same water you kept the rockwool cubes, it must cover the bottom but not reach the bottom screen, ~1/4 of an inch is enough.

I cut the clones and instantly put them in a coffee cup with water from the rockwool cubes. I always cut the smallish bottom side branches with 2 nodes, 5 or 6 cm (2 inches) is enough.

Cut the lower node stems with a razor blade, then "scrape" the stem area lightly until no trace, or slight trace of the lower node is "felt" through the razor blade.

Took a rockwool cube, make a hole in its center with a toothpick, small screwdriver or whatever, insert the clone until the area of the former bottom node is at the center of the cube. Press the cube sides to make sure all the stem is in contact with the rockwool.

Put the cubes on the bottom screen of the rubermaid. Spray the clones with the same water, and close the rubbermaid.

Place the rubbermaid in your veg cab, you can use it to raise your moms or other plants, no problem if they block light to the "cloner" in fact this is what we seek.

Open the lid every 2 or 3 days, and spray the leaves refilling the bottom water if needed. In 4 - 5 days you'll see a spurt of roots piercing the rockwool reaching for the bottom water.

If temps are low, an "iguana cable", a heated rubber cable sold at any pet shop under the rubermaid will speed up rooting, you just want the bottom to be barely warmer than the top of the rubbermaid.

I have rooted micro-clones less than 2 inches with this method, plus it doesn't need its own light, timer or whatever, you just keep it around your veg cab doubling as a pot raiser.

 

[TexMex McDirt]

Chloe - Glad you liked the farm. That is what this community is all about. I lurked here reading, soaking up info for prolly a year before I began. Cloning was a real bitch for me to figure out. It seems like some methods that work like a charm for some folks, work for shit for other. But once I got this Ice Tube method working, it is foolproof for me now. I have had maybe like 3 failures in my last 50 clones. I'm not sure what line of nutes FNB is, but if it works for you, that's all that matters. I like the GH because I have 2 products, 1 for veg and 1 for flower. I don't have to mix in all sorts of supplements and crap. Easy. And yea, PH is really important. I found that out the hard way. Good luck with the cab man. Happy farming!

Penguin - Thanks for lookin' in. If it weren't for the good doctor I never woulda tried this hobby. Changed everything for me. I have only tried the NL. It's really friggin' good. Low/no odor in flower and killer effects.

repuk - What up man. That's the thing about cloning, there's a million and 1 ways to do it, but it just seems like certain methods work better for some people than others. Once you find a method that works roll with it man.

Mahalo. Happy farming. Stay safe.
Tex

 

[macumba]

great op, best wishes

 

[Kushion]

Hey Tex, how do you like that S&P fan? How noisy/silent is it? Do you think it would work with a carbon filter?

 

[TexMex McDirt]

I love the S&P fan. It has a high and low setting depending on how you wire it. Really easy to wire it. I have it on high. If I wasn't in the attic, I could prolly get away with low. And yea, it could totally pull thru a carbon filter. It is loud enough that it wouldn't work in a stealth dresser out in the open or anything like that.

Cheers!
Tex

 

[TexMex McDirt]

New cloning spot

New cloning spot

As the temps have cooled off for fall / winter, I am realizing that keeping temps up into the 80s is really key for my cloning method. I read the OP in the Wal Mart cloner thread had stated several times that he believed the higher temps were key for the method. Well, I can say with certainty that this is true. Over the summer when outdoor temps were higher, my cab temps were constantly in the high 70s to mid 80s. All was well. Now that outdoor temps have fallen, my cab temps are running in the low 70s to mid 60s. Still fine for the grow, but not the cloning. My last clone run I had roots on 2 of 5. And not the big set of roots I had grown accustomed to, but like 2 or 3 little roots. The other 3 had 0 roots. So, I have realized that I need to be able to clone in a space with higher temps, at least thru the winter, then I can put them back into the clone/veg/mom cab. So here is my solution...

There are some boxes stacked up in the corner of my home office. Looks very inconspicuous, just some junk I don't want to deal with.



But, let's see what is in that top Home DePOT box...



Well, there seems to be a small tote in there. Let's peek inside...



There ya have it. My ice tube tray Wal Mart cloner in there with a 9 watt CFL. Temps in there have been in the mid 80s. this is my first try with this clone spot, so I am crossing my fingers it works out for these colder winter months. Just one more thing to deal with growing in the attic. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Happy farming, stay safe.

Mahalo.
Tex

 

[Kushion]

Looks good. I have run into similar problems with my bubbler. Another option is a heating mat sold with germination kits. Of course, that is another expense, but I think they are only about $15 on Amazon.

Keep up the good work Tex.

 

[repuk]

That cloning method it's going to work, that´s for sure... even raising RH will speed things up, let a bowl of water inside, or a wet towel. Clever placement!

Regarding heat, you can also easily find a "herp wire" in any pet shop, it's a wire that plugs directly to the wall and keeps about 40C. You can put it on a timer (i.e. 15min on 15 min off) and roll it under the tub, playing with time and number of turns underneath the tub to keep an steady temp/RH.

Once you dial that cloning and root development will be matter of a handful days...

 

[soursmoker]

I am also dealing with cloning issues in the winter! my first ever shot at cloning i got 6 out of 9. that was a few weeks ago! since then temps have dropped significantly and havent gotten a single clone to root out of like 20. Thats a genius idea you came up with there. I went a little more ghetto and attached a shelf above my lights in my veg cab and stuck my cloner up there to catch the heat from the lights being exhausted LOL.

on a side note, i just read through the whole sticky thread on recycled living organic soil. It is definitely one of the most informative threads on the site. If you get a chance check it out( I wouldnt expect you to read all 250 pages but if you want to, go for it!)
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=241964
either way i mentioned it because in the thread ALOe vera is discussed and the gel that comes from the leaves of the aloe vera plant contain tons of beneficial amino acids and polysacharrides and such... I dont know all the science behind it BUT it is said to help immensely in the cloning department. It is a natural cloning gel and can be sourced from your garden. there is a fellow in that thread that simply cuts a leaf(fillet) of the aloe vera, squeezes the gel out and then dips his clones in the gel and says to have the best cloning rates ever. Who knows, personally I've never tried it but I'm going to give it a go and let you know!

Sorry for the rant back to your thead!

By the way,. beautiful nugs bro

 

[TexMex McDirt]

Kushion - I thought about looking into something like those heating mats. Main issue was wiring for power to it and this was a bit easier for me. Took the lazy mans route. We'll see if it pans out. Good to see you around!

repuk - There is water in the tub that the tube tray sits in, so I got that going. Same deal for that herp wire, the holes for the cables going into the cabs are are sealed with caulk, and I didn't feel like fucking with that. This was easier. Fingers crossed.

soursmoker - Ghetto is in the eye of the beholder. If it works then it's a good solution. If you try that Aloe thing let me know if it works for you. I have not had a chance to read that thread yet, but I will. Very interesting.

Cheers all!
Tex

 

[TexMex McDirt]

So the clones were starting to yellow up. I usually leave them for 10-14 days. This was day 11. I pulled em. Looks like I have my winter time clone spot. Wasn't 100%, but was better than 0%.

The Clones, ready to see what's up...



Got 4 of 6 to root. Not my best, but I'll take it...



Got 'em in dirt and ready to veg out for a few days...



I pulled these from the drying box tonight. This was from 2 runty plants. Pretty damn disappointing. Oh well...



Here is the current state of the flower cab...



That's all for now. Happy farming, stay safe.

Mahalo,
Tex

 

[Penguin59]

Hey there Tex! You're right ma' man, 4 clones is better than 0.

Some bad luck there with the harvest from the two runts but the new flower cab is looking very very promising!!!

Happy growing.

 

[rootidec]

hi tex,
congrats on the grow
i'm just checking in since I'm starting a sog with soda bottles just like you (before I had 2.5 liter pots) and I use your method for cloning, as well. So we share some concerns too, like rooting rate and plant's low yeld sometimes eheh...
I'm opening a thread in micro soon, I'll stay tuned on yours, c ya!

 

[TexMex McDirt]

Penguin59 - Yea, 4 is better than 0. Mainly I am happy to know it worked at all to solve my issue with the cooler temps during the winter. More things to deal with growing in the loft space, but it is growing, and at the end of the day that is what matters.

rootidec - Thanks for stopping by. Good luck getting set up. My yields have been around 5-6 g's per plant on average, these last two were the lowest I have had yet, really not sure why exactly. I think I may have neglected them some. I may increase my watering, see if that helps bulk 'em up any. After looking at some PPK stuff, I am thinking I may let them go too dry too often. Looking forward to your post.

Cheers,
Tex

 

[sgapetti]

Wsup tex, looking good as usual .I am having as well some problems with cuts as i have low temps, when is not to warm gets to cold

If there is any advantage in choosing small bottles against bigger pots and longer veg , as I do , must be the ability to have frequent irrigations and still the possibility to have dry soil in between , more oxygen for the root and faster growth. I said dry , not arid , you need a minimum of humidity to keep a healthy root system.
Peace S

 

[Chloemobile]

Nice work tex. I'm actually expire ring with several different size bottles right now -16oz 24oz 1l and 2l and hoping to get a good comparison. I have to water every third day usually sometimes every other day with the 16 and 24 oz bottles. Interesting though about too dry too often since you read about the importance of a "proper" wet dry cycle but as with most things its probably strain dependent. It seems like it takes at least a year to really dial a strain in due to all the different variables in growing Even the nuance of too dry vs just right dry. Love this hobby.


=D

 

[audioguy]

Tex, finally picked up some maxibloom, sick of messing around with the schultz, plants look way better already

Wanted to know if you fed the maxibloom everytime you watered or you did a one on one off type of schedule.

Thanks!

 

[Kushion]

Tex,
Glad the new clone setup is working for you. Those runts are too bad, but by your pics you have a perfect system to sustain yourself and build a little stockpile as well. I like how your buds are going down to the soil, ala true Dr. Bud style. Mine have ended up taller, with one main top cola and smaller nugs attached to the stem. Unfortunately I have had a couple cases of the dreaded bud rot, but hopefully I have it figured out. Your yields are right in line with mine. I have been getting 5-7 g's on average, with a few 9's sprinkled in off the critical jack, which is my best yielder by far, but also the one that has molded. Anyway, keep at, stay safe and have fun. It's such a blast growing your own!