Thoughts on a new room design, input pls.

[DaveTheNewbie]

Sunday update.

2 weeks veg :

3 weeks flower :

 

[St3ve]

starting to put on some weight. I like it..

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

Well the 3gal smartpots (with handles) arrived today. Im going to transplant the veg plants soon. Im not going to bother transplanting the nearly 4 weeks 12/12 plants. pics when done.

Im over the inflexability of the standard 13mm hydroponic retic hose i have been using too, so im moving over to the 10mm ID silicone vaccum hose and im going to refit everything in that soon. pics when done.

I bought 20 3gal smartpots which is way more than i need. Cheaper to bulk buy 20 than buy 12 at full price. So im going to run an experament soon with 8 pots per light instead of 4 (i can do this with smaller pots) and see what the real difference is. Next batch of clones cut will be an 8 plant run.

Im also starting to get a feel for the pruning rights and wrongs too. I underpruned the first time by miles, and overpruned the 1 plant last time. Next time round i hope to be better, but its an art.

EDIT :

i really like the size of the 3gals. if i had seen them in the shop i would have probabally gone for them. Im very excited too see if we can get some of the famous blumat love that everyone else seems to be enjoying.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

Sunday update

First things first : I fucking love the 3 gal pots and blumats. They work. They worked first time and they kept working. The 4 pots are totally soaked with zero leaks.

IT FUCKING WORKS !!!!!

7 gal pots are a fail. 5 gals are unknown for me. 3 gals are awesome.

veg plants in 3 gals :

flowering plants 4 weeks in :

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

did i mention that blumats rock with a 3 gal pot ????

 

[bobblehead]

did i mention that blumats rock with a 3 gal pot ????

That's how I feel.... #1-3... But a #5 is pushing it.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

That's how I feel.... #1-3... But a #5 is pushing it.

i was rereading my own thread and noticed that DHF also was dubious about 5 gals with blumats. He used the maxis with a 5 gal. 3 gal is the winner move.

I move my current veg plants into flower this Sunday, pruned and cloned tonight. I think i will run a seperate thread for them becuase it will be a full run not a fuck about like this is. It will be the same strain (TGA Querkle) which is a low yielder, but its all i got. I am supposed to have some TGA Agent Orange and Ace Of Spades coming, but its all talk so far. Anyway pics this Sunday if i dont get the new red 10mmID silicone hose in first.

 

[bobblehead]

I think DHF will tell you otherwise... Cause he says he bought some tropf and maxis but never used them. Probably something to do with not rushing into things... Idk...

 

[FlowerFarmer]

on a different note im a big reader of these forums, even tho i dont post in others threads (i dont know enough to tell others what to do)

I notice that everyone prunes heavier than i do. i talk about pruning a bit earlier, but i thought i would revisit it

I repruned one of the 2 plants and left the other alone to see what the real difference is. I suspect i went too far, but the first round is all about learning.

anyway the plant i didnt touch :

When did you prune those? Not too late into flower I hope?

It can certainly be genetic influenced, but I'll tell you that every time I think to myself.. "this is crazy I'm taking way too much off".. at the end of the grow I wish I would have taken more.

It might not equate to more yield if the plant hasnt been tied, trained, etc to produce more "key" tops, but I've gotten my largest colas to date by stripping everything up to the every top "tip"..like a palm tree. It looks absolutely brutal at the time, but would result in soQuick style colas about the size of my thigh damn near.

I'd tie over to create many tops per plant (looking like a jewish manorha)....about 2 weeks in I'd do a massive aggressive strip.. the results were impressive. Huge donkey dicks..


Pics were once posted in the defoliation thread, but unfortunately that account was deleted.. and pics lost with it.

 

[village green]

It might not equate to more yield if the plant hasnt been tied, trained, etc to produce more "key" tops, but I've gotten my largest colas to date by stripping everything up to the every top "tip"..like a palm tree. It looks absolutely brutal at the time, but would result in soQuick style colas about the size of my thigh damn near.

I'd tie over to create many tops per plant (looking like a jewish manorha)....about 2 weeks in I'd do a massive aggressive strip.. the results were impressive. Huge donkey dicks..

Flower Farmer..did you do this in a vert setup? Can you remember some strains you tried this on? As you mentioned, it could be strain dependent but were there some which didn't take to this as well?

 

[FlowerFarmer]

Flower Farmer..did you do this in a vert setup? Can you remember some strains you tried this on? As you mentioned, it could be strain dependent but were there some which didn't take to this as well?

No, this was when I was still running horizontally. I dont think it'd be necessarily beneficial vertically. I still strip backsides and stuff, but no longer tie over to create more "tops" since the plant is more sideways oriented in a vert setup...not going for more "tops", but more laterals.

I cant remember which strains specifically performed the best, but at the time I wasnt running anything that didn't like it. I was running a blueberry x lavender, bubblegum and afgan mango at that time...around 4 plants per 600w. I wasn't however growing any super sativas, but always stuck with shorter varieties.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

I think DHF will tell you otherwise... Cause he says he bought some tropf and maxis but never used them. Probably something to do with not rushing into things... Idk...

That said....I bought maxi`s for my # 5`s before shutdown , although I do see some folks runnin regular cones in #5`s with no feedback though as to whether they do a good job , so again it`s trial and error that rules the day...

i also know he told me what i had to work out myself much later :

Here`s the thing Dave.....

The larger and deeper the container the harder it is for the regular cones to keep the medium constantly "moist" , and that`s what the "maxi`s" are for cuz they`ve got the extension on the cones so they can be set deeper in the coco ftw........but....

Nobody can tell yas how many regular cones it takes for your #7 smartpots but you through trial and error cuz everyone uses different "consistency" coco and the cones react differently to each said consistency of medium....

I`d say 2 to start with since yas don`t have the maxi`s , but it`s an educated guess at best.....

and something about babyshit

When did you prune those? Not too late into flower I hope?

1 week before flower and 2 weeks after.

but I'll tell you that every time I think to myself.. "this is crazy I'm taking way too much off".. at the end of the grow I wish I would have taken more.

well i sure think im taking too much off, and yet i went back in a second time for an extra prune, think i fucked it tho.

Pics were once posted in the defoliation thread, but unfortunately that account was deleted.. and pics lost with it.

damn thats what i need now.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

ok being 4.5 weeks into flower i have some predictions, lets see if im right :

1) the less pruned of the 2 plants will yield more than the over pruned.

2) if i had 4 plants instead of 2 i would double my yield cause half the light really isnt being used and putting 2 more plants in there would take nothing from the current 2

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

i got the new hose today

the red hose is the 10mm ID (1/4 inch?) and the blue is the 8mm (6mm ID)

the silicone hose is so much nicer to work with than the standard crappy black plastic hose most people use. Im guessing its the same as the flexzilla that other people talk about. costs maybe $5 per metre and is well worth it.

 

[St3ve]

ok being 4.5 weeks into flower i have some predictions, lets see if im right :

1) the less pruned of the 2 plants will yield more than the over pruned.

2) if i had 4 plants instead of 2 i would double my yield cause half the light really isnt being used and putting 2 more plants in there would take nothing from the current 2

I guess I missed the overpruned one.. when did you do it?

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

I guess I missed the overpruned one.. when did you do it?

2 weeks after flower

 

[FlowerFarmer]

I'd say your prediction will be correct.

With all that unused available light I think she would have done just fine if you'd had just tied her back just a hair to expose some of that middle area. She's already got a little bit of that gangta lean.


Either way.. some damn nice plants dude.

I'm envious of your hose too.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

heh and now i want to change all the plumbing to 1/2 inch (19mm) hose to increase pressure and lower air bubble issues, plus the idea amuses me

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

question regarding pruning :

When running a donut with say 4 plants around 1 light, people prune out the back. This is because the rear parts of the plant dont get any light. it looks like this :

what if you ALSO took off some of the FRONT of the plant to make a concave area near the light and letting more light deep into the plant, and making a more balanced face to the light such as this :

Do people do this, has it been discussed?

EDIT : im going to call it front and back pruning, and im going to try it next run.

 

[St3ve]

I have tried something similar with horizontal not vert donut.

Yes it can work if you do it right. The thing with pruning is cleaning the plant of anything thats not going to get direct light, sucker branches, and to maximize budsites. Its going to take some trial and error on your part to get a feel for exactly how to maximize your efficiency.

So what I would say it.. next run, do two plants like the top pic, and two plants like the bottom and see which produces better quality buds and better yield.