The CAGE growing system.

[Unknown Stoner]

hey keef,,,, lookin good br0,,,, lest stop this over veg talk right now,,lol,,, i like to see them vegged from 10 - 12 inches then put in the cage ...... if you feel your running out of space just trimm off the backsides and some small lowers of the plants which doesn't get much of the light ( keep 2 - 3 main colas) .... imo veggin to 12-inches makes a nice plant that you can train it to do what u want..... plus short veg = Small yeild... u want 1-12 lbs or u want 6 lbs. .... the only way to get big is to go big... welp thats my 2 cents....

high Somoz i see your still looking for a cage........ have u seen the cube........
the cube holds 144 sites and can be spaced apart nicely....
peace,
DrawoH

 

[Keefhead]

Well, here's the picture of the day. Each of the 12 columns can be lifted up a bit, then leaned out for trimming. It should lean against something like a ladder, but I shot this one freestanding.



Try that with a coliseum. However, the Cage and the Cube will both do this. Well, back to my trimming. Man, I let them veg way too long.

Thanks to all who joined me here on this attempted grow, and a sincere welcome to all who have joined me here, and a special thanks to those who have offered suggestions. I need them.

Oh...I'm securing the plants with velcro ties so they don't get too close to the lights. Seems to be working real well, but I've only done one so far.

How much more stretch do you think you will get?

I could use about none, but I suspect at least another 6 inches. We're on our 3rd week of 12/12.

 

[gaiusmarius]

Hello again Keefhead,

nice to hear that all is going well all things considered. the good news is that 3 weeks is about as long as the stretching process takes. after that it should be just a matter of the buds filling in. it's very good that you can bend the posts back like that. should make the tying up easier.

i think next time you should only veg them for 24 or 48 hours, then go to 12/12. but i'm sure you've realized that. even in my coco setup i don't veg for more then 3 days on the coco slabs. still i end up with plants up to a meter tall which is the maximum i want them to be in my system. the other thing is the strain, some will stretch like mad and others hardly stretch much at all. anyway i'm starting to ramble.

peace
gm

 

[BigToke]

Each of the 12 columns can be lifted up a bit, then leaned out for trimming.

……..now that’s awesome!! Thanks for the pic bro.

 

[Keefhead]

BigT - Thanks. I usually lean it against a ladder, but it just cluttered up the picture. LOL.

Other than the sparseness (you can see it in the above picture) of the lower growth, I'm real happy with the system. I've tried several things, but plants respond slow, and it will be the next grow that tells me if I've got it right.

Gaius - These diesel didn't stretch much in the first grow, and this in the cage is doing about the same. But I need to veg for just long enough to get the roots established, no more. Yer absolutely right.

Till the next time, time to light up some hash.

 

[Guest]

keefhead....great job on the cage... I was standing next to one of these at the hydro store today....will be following this thread...peace..

 

[humble1]

wheee.... i am assembling my ghetto supercage. i got like 30 columns used at a junkshop and i strapped'em together in a kiddie pool and filled em with perlite and coco. i'll letcha know how it goes.

 

[fjällhöga]

this is some shit... i would LOVE to see something like this with a transparent res and fish instead of chem nutes. the hydroton would be a perfect bio-filter.

also, i would skip veg all together. clones put in directly at 12/12, if they came from a plant in veg, will veg a little bit on their own, just to the point where they feel able to flower. i bet you would still have a jungle, just a more manageable one.

wooohooooo , jeah im 100% with muddy , im growing organic with fermented algae and i have to say thats there is an improvement in quality and flavor , compared to before where i used Advanced Hydroponics nutes ...
Fj

 

[Keefhead]

keefhead....great job on the cage... I was standing next to one of these at the hydro store today....will be following this thread...peace..

What? You didn't just whip out the old plastic and take one of them home with you? LOL

I've attached a pic, about 20 minutes old, showing the growth, and if you look carefully on the upper parts of most posts is a band of velcro garden tape they use to train plants. Very handy here.



Oh, the stretch has stopped. Buds are forming.

 

[Mampi]

Looks great keef and those diesels stopped stretching just in time by the looks of things.... nice the way the columns flip back like that.... must make maintance a snip. How long on average does it take you to see to the system on each visit?

I was really really intrested in a cage before, the intrest had since subsided... until seeing it again in this grow.... now yas got me thinking and ya got an aeroflo36 huh? you think the cage has outperformed that so far ya...

I like strains that stretch a bit in bloom means ya don't have to waste much time veggin I used to grow LUI's that needed a good 10 day veg and finished @ 8.5 weeks which was basically a 10 week grow, had some NYCD's that I flipped straight from 6" clone that stretched to about 18" no need to veg and finished in 10 weeks



CiaO!

 

[Guest]

lol... I have a investment I have yet to turn a profit on so no new toys yet... but it was the coloseum one...yours looks cooler...prolly works better...the coloseum has too manny pots...

 

[pitisbitis]

beautiful setup you hawe Keefhead!

 

[Keefhead]

Mampi - Yep, the stretch seems to be over, no new growth.

The cage definately outperforms the AeroFlo36. Just how much will be determined at harvest, but there's definately more bud sites. This time I'm hoping for a pound dried, since its my first run. However, its 36 vs 72 sites, so we have to take that into account. Heh, lots more per sq ft of floor space.

As to maintenance I spend about 15 minutes a day with them, except for trimming time. Just topping off and adjusting the nutes/water, doing a quick check of all the plants, and a general check of the room.

bandan - good luck on your investment, so you can get your cage. I'm retired, so we know where my social security is going. Yessir, next month another lamp and ducting. I love it.

A friend has a coliseum, and in order to have any space he plants every other hole. That means his 150 site coliseum holds 75 plants. Mine holds 72. He can't tilt them out for trimming, and in fact can't much access any of the plants near as easy as I can. . . . He's jealous... :wink:

pitisbitis - Thanks. I'll post some pics of the room. I've learned a lot from folks here (and at OG) and I've made the grow room as close to ideal as I can afford.

 

[Keefhead]

I can't stand it. Except for the sparseness at the lower plants, this grow is going too well!

Day 16, little budlets are forming everywhere. The ph and nutes are right on, the temps everywhere are ideal. This weekend I will be lifting each out and back for a final trimming, getting rid of most of the useless popcorn sites, and doing a tie-back of those inclined to lean in toward the light.

However, to those who are still watching this thread, rest assured I will not let you down. When something finally happens, I will be photoing it for all to see.
I doubt that the result of the trim session will be anything of note.

CAGES RULE ! ! (I hope)

 

[Unknown Stoner]

glad to see the cage is still the rage...... you may want to be careful tilting the tubes back,,,,, the roots tend to come out the bottom.... look in the rez at the visible tubes and see if roots have come out yet...... the best is yet to come for ya my vertical Br0ther... sounds like your doing alot of right things to make a great harvest...

once your all finished,,, the real fun begins (not),,,, getting the rocks out the tubes thats stuffed with roots ... can be a pain...,,, but when the time comes,, i'll fill u in on the easy way....
peace

 

[Keefhead]

Here's hoping. I'm still a bit puzzled why the bottom row or two was so sparse, the second light is right there. I've about come to the conclusion that I didn't feed them enough (timing on long enough) at the start, and I've got the result. Maybe. Or maybe not.......

Yes, the day after harvest day, cleanup. I have no clue how I will clean this beast. I figured I'd just invert the columns over a 55 gallon barrel, or cut the tye-wraps and let it all fall out the bottom, but I am looking forward to your hints. Best to learn from the masters, I don't have time to make all the mistakes myself.

 

[Keefhead]

Well, there was a lightning storm (camera flash) about 1 minute before lights on, and I shot these pictures. One is the current state of the grow, it's starting to form a LOT of bud sites. I took it from a different angle, so it will look a little different than the previous ones.



The other picture is a shot of the equipment of the room. I figured y'all might be interested so I put it here.



I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but the grow room is a seperate room, isolated, in the garage. Stand alone and sealed. Sure makes for easier environmental control. And not everything is in place yet. It's a work in progress while the grow is going on. Nature abhors an empty cage.

Well, that's all for now. Not a whole lot of action during this phase, just grow, grow, grow.

 

[Guest]

Look'n very sweet Keefhead. Another great toy that's not available down under, can't even get a cool tube down here.
Best of luck till the finish m8.

Stay Safe.Peace.

 

[SCF]

Wow Keif Head! I see you have your hands full!!! I am still waiting for a decent enough harvest so i can come up and you can show me how to make that snow hash!!! im sure its perfected by now!


Damn nice job bro you inspire me

 

[Keefhead]

Thank you

Thank you

Wow Keif Head! I see you have your hands full!!! I am still waiting for a decent enough harvest so i can come up and you can show me how to make that snow hash!!! im sure its perfected by now!

Damn nice job bro you inspire me

SCF - Thank you. I am honored.

I still use the snow machine to get the water really cold (probably not necessary), but now I use cubed ice too, and a bubbleator for the stirring, and then run it through the bubble bag set. More grades than what come with the bubbleator bags.

Then take the 73 and work it and work it and work it. That's Dante's words, and his MFT hash at the new Santa Cruz store is great. Strain is also a big factor. I'm still working on that, though I've found some I like. Diesel for one. Wow! Not FMCD, but nice hit.

But right now I'm concentrating on the growing. It's not easy for me, and it barely keeps me in hash so far. I'd like to build up a little stash for the bad times.

AussieStix - Man, it's a shame you can't get these down under. Though there are outfits that ship there, the shipping would probably kill you. Maybe a little PVC and you could do something similar. If not, there are many great designs by some very talented designers around here. I'm sure you could do well.

Thanks all - and for the PMs too!