Tweaking the new room, need some pointers!!!

[kest30]

Hello all!
I just moved out of the cramped, hot closet into a nice big grow room!

Here's my shklit:
Strains:
Zensation (Ministry of Cannabis) - Indica
Carnival (MoC) - Early Sativa
Black Cherry - Early Sativa
Super Lemon Haze - Late Sativa (still a seedling!)

Check the rooms!
Flowering: Veg:

Attachment 288451 Attachment 288452

2 400 W Digilux Enhanced Blue HPS 1 400 W Hortilux SuperBlue MH
CFL's supplementing here and there

I grow in hydro and soil.
For hydro, I use modified Waterfarms (extra holes in reservoir, airstone, tying stakes added) with Flora Series nutrients.
For soil, I only have mothers growing in Rainforest Blend with FloraNova nutrients.
I add Superthrive (5-6 drops), Bud Candy, and a little peroxide to the mix.
The setup is a perpetual harvest, on a three week cycle.

I live in Arizona, so my main problem is humidity...can't get it over 40%! When it rains, it hits 50%...

I have looked at ScroG and lots of tutorials on pruning and LST, but can't figure which is best. When I LST, it seems the lateral branches shoot up but are very thin and weak. When I top, it seems I lose a couple weeks of growth! Opinions? Gonna try a ScroG, but can't decide on how to make a free-standing screen, any suggestions?

I'm also getting lots of stretch, i.e.
Attachment 288453 and Attachment 288454

and I'm worried my buds will never fill in! I'm so tired of getting 2-3 z's per plant that I've changed everything almost.
So, what do you guys think about the setup? I'm adding two 4 ft T5's for side lighting help, and CO2 is my next investment...
Also, any suggestions as to how to handle the Super Lemon Haze? Really excited about it.
Thanks everyone! I'll keep this thread as up to date as I can with pics and info

kest30 Reviewed by kest30 on 12-15-2012. Tweaking the new room, need some pointers!!! Hello all! I just moved out of the cramped, hot closet into a nice big grow room! Here's my shklit: Strains: Zensation (Ministry of Cannabis) - Indica Carnival (MoC) - Early Sativa Black Cherry - Early Sativa Super Lemon Haze - Late Sativa (still a seedling!) Rating: 5

[kest30]

Here is a pick of all my baby-mama's. I'll keep the happiest two plants and of course the seedling.
Attachment 288457

Clockwise from seedling: SLH seedling, Zensation x3, Carnival x2

Here is a pic of the little Super Lemon Haze seedling.

Attachment 288458

I got 5 and only direct-sowed 1 fem seed. I have had a 100% success rate starting seeds by soaking in regular tap water for a couple hours, then sowing the seed 1/2", covering it with loose mix, and putting the entire small plastic pot into a large ziplock bag. She'll live in this pot until she's 8-10" tall. Notice the one cotyledon leaf that is curled under. Never seen that before...

[kest30]

Unit: Waterfarm bucket #3
Progress: End of veg week 2

Check 'em out:

Attachment 288459Attachment 288460

The second pic is sideways lol. 2 clones of Carnival in 1 Waterfarm. I topped both clones after 1 week of veg (seedling nutes) and Lo! They reverted completely back to symmetry at the fifth internode! Awesome! Gonna try LBH's 4-way LST LBH's 4 way lst tutorial (w topping sub-tutorial) just gotta figure out how I'm gonna fabricate a screen. Think I'll add some eye-screws to the sides to tie down with...

[kest30]

Also done today, I trimmed the two flowering waterfarms out, cleared about the bottom quarter of the bucket. Could probably do more but I'm nervous lol
Attachment 288461Attachment 288462

The left bucket is in flower week 3, and the right one is week 5. I trimmed a little before but never unless that part of the plant was dying from low light or something. We'll see what happens I guess...

[turksteelman]

kest30,
I am also in Az in the low lands about 25 miles from phx. I have never had an issue with humidity. Its nothing I've ever worried about as we have very low humidity except for yesterday and today. You mentioned you get 2-3 z's per plant? I think that is great and I would be very happy with that. I found the the hydro stores have the netting, both string or plastic in case you wanted to Scrog. Best of luck. I will be running Liberty Haze starting in a week or two and I hope I can yield what you do. I will be running only 6 of them, legally of course.

[kest30]

Thanks turk, I've thought about trellis netting but since the plants have to move every couple weeks, I need the screen to be individual for each plant. Leaning towards some wrought iron on long legs at the moment...

[kest30]

Here are some of the problems I've had:

First was the cat. She wants to play with everything!!! Especially if it hangs down. I trained her not to enter the room. Now, she lays down at the door threshold and waits for me to finish

The first plant problem I had was stunted cuttings. I knew not to give fertilizer until they rooted well, but had no idea what would happen to them. I had a Bubblicious and Aurora cutting. They both froze up for a couple months, and revived with a little FloraGrow foliar feed and a lower light level.
Now, when I transplant clones into a Waterfarm, I give half strength nutrients in settled tap water until they start growing again. Sometimes this is after a couple days, but it has been as long as 10 days. Once the clone begins to grow normally, it's time to harvest is the same as everyone else, and I never noticed any drop in yield or quality. The Aurora was tossed, eventually, because of a different problem...

[kest30]

Okay, so one of the things I'm now monitoring closely is TDS. Never really cared before because it was too much trouble! lol
The week 3 flowering plant was even after a day, meaning that it took in the same amount of water and nutrients throughout the day, so it's balanced well.
The week 5 flowering plant, however, dropped by >100 ppm. This means it needs a little more nutrient, right? So I can add a little bit extra of something. What do you guys suggest I add? I am leaning towards more Koolbloom which is 0-15-15...

[LOC NAR on probation]

You top up your rez with ph'ed water only. When you have toped up an eqaul amount to your rez it is time to change. Or when you see your ppm's drop way down they are feedig good and you need to change the rez. Reason is cause your plants piss off waste in yur rez so fresh is best.

[kest30]

Thanks for the heads up, LOC, I have heard about the topping off. I change my reservoir every saturday regardless. I refill with half strength nutrients. That puts me at about 1500 ppm already! So Sunday Monday Tuesday I top off with pH'd water and continue to hold reservoir pH at 5.8. Then wednesday I make another batch of nutrients and top off with 1 gallon of the mix per reservoir. Then top off with water until Saturday.
I figure this way, the plant gets an opportunity at full strength nutrients over the course of the week rather than getting shocked with nutrients on saturday and slowly processing all week. It keeps the ppm low, and that's why I think I may be able to add a little more of something.
I know this method may be somewhat wasteful or something but I haven't had any nutrient stress this way - not even tip burn.
I also added Bud Candy (magnesium), tho so that helps with the nutrient burn...