Bigger Britches For My Ladies

[thailer]

Today I’m putting the finishing touches (hopefully lol) on my room as all year I’ve been planning on expanding my garden so it’s on a schedule instead of personal fun. I was growing in 27 gallon SIPs but the growth rate of the plants ends up being over grown before I can get them in a room to bloom because I run things all willy nilly. If stuff was on a schedule and I had more soil, I think things would improve. I also wanted deeper containers so I found HDX 70 gallon totes that are two feet deep I am hoping to put two plants in each one. The room is 6x9x9’ so I think I can fit three totes inside it and have a foot space in between each one and the walls.

I am not sure what kind of lights I’ll put inside there but I’m warning you now they’ll be old and cheap. I will have more info at the end of the day about that but I’ve been wanting to start this new journal because I have been a little one light grow show for over seven years and I wanna level up by year eight. I want to focus more on yield and production than my disorganized but super fun grow. I need to pick strains to cull because I can’t have one plant each now in the room so it’s more mono crop, less veg area traded for more bloom area, schedules, work, and a ton of trimming. I don’t currently trim my pot at all. I like it natural myself. I am excited but I am pretty bummed all the same so I’ve been dragging my heels all 2021.

I should probably pepper my post with some bud shots and plant pics so you can see the beginning.

 

[flylowgethigh]

Are you gonna put a SIP in those totes? Takes 6", leaving 18.

 

[thailer]

Are you gonna put a SIP in those totes? Takes 6", leaving 18.

Yeah there’s SIPs inside. My drainage pipe is only four inches and the water level in the automatic fill up sips are an inch and a half maybe? So there’s a few inches between the water and the soil where the perlite and pipes are at. The totes dimensions are 22” tall or what I said was two feet. The soil will be about twice as deep than the old SIPs so I’m pretty happy.

 

[thailer]

so here’s some pics I dig up to show the inside of what the plants will be going in and the plants in the first post are in the older design.

 

[flylowgethigh]

What is the plan after chop? You gonna leave in the rootball and plant over it?

With that much tub height, IMO you could go thicker on the perlite bed. My waterfall is at 6", and the perlite is 8". Wicks nicely. With the 7 gallon tubs, my Blumat sensor is reading 30 at 4" down (3" up). That is what a fresh top water would read just afterwards. The soil is really moist. I bet there may be a need to tweak the ratio of drainage material mixed in, to control the wicking - depending on the soil height.. Maybe not.

Also consider that you will possibly need a bigger reservoir, or autofill.

 

[thailer]

What is the plan after chop? You gonna leave in the rootball and plant over it?

With that much tub height, IMO you could go thicker on the perlite bed. My waterfall is at 6", and the perlite is 8". Wicks nicely. With the 7 gallon tubs, my Blumat sensor is reading 30 at 4" down (3" up). That is what a fresh top water would read just afterwards. The soil is really moist. I bet there may be a need to tweak the ratio of drainage material mixed in, to control the wicking - depending on the soil height.. Maybe not.

Also consider that you will possibly need a bigger reservoir, or autofill.

i posted a bunch of pics showing moisture by inch in my other thread so if your soil is seven inches deep and overly moist, it shows how my deep soil design is gonna work better.

why do you think i need a bigger reservoir? i can fill up the sips and the garbage can on fresh transplanted clones and come back in three weeks to refill. i can have plants deep in stretch which high water needs refilling once a week. i think that is fairly good myself.

 

[flylowgethigh]

I didn't know that you had a garbage can reservoir. My 10 gallons is only good for 4 days, as it is now drinking 4 gallons every 2 days. There is no way I would have put that much water to the plants, and because of that usage, I have been using more on the others that are being top watered. I never get any runoff from the bags, that sit on drainage spiders and saucers.

 

[thailer]

your system will suffer water loss from the perlite wicking moisture up to areas that are not covered by the fabric bag and release humidity into the air. if the fabric pots sat hugging the sides of your containers more snuggly, you'd have less water loss from evaporations and less humidity in the grow room environment. i think i shared pics of my reservoir in the beginning in the build section. i'll go check and if not i will make sure to add it in.

 

[flylowgethigh]

There is about 2" around the 7 gallon bags. The net time will be 10 gallon bags, and a tighter fit... but still air can get to the sides. Being able to puck up the bags and reposition them has already shown benefits. That will end if I put a SCROG on.

 

[thailer]

Jack Herer stinking up the joint

 

[thailer]

Donny Burger struggling with a hopeful transplant cure....only time will tell.

I originally had six plants but i tossed two of them (orange apricot mac) because i wasn't happy with the buds it grew. they were ok and nice flavor but there is so much leaf that keeps growing back after defoliating i just don't want to deal with the larf. so i am thinking i may plant some veggies in a couple spots....i dunno.

the bulb on this double ended setup kept causing the ballast to not fire up? i bought a new ballast because i thought that was the issue but it was the bulb. so i am not buying Digilamp brand bulbs again. i got an Ushio hps now. heres the plants a week before i transplanted them.

setting up the SIPs and redoing the ventilation in the room.

 

[thailer]

 

[thailer]

 

[unregistered190]

Nice! Moving right along since the last update

 

[thailer]

Yeah...slowly like a turtle because those pics are like a month old and the plant is hanging in a drying rack half shriveled.

I have hit a speed bump in the road of life and my garden has suffered because of it. If I can finish this round and start another one, it will be a miracle.

 

[thailer]

I was wanting to update yesterday but some relatives stopped by and stayed longer than I hoped for. Donny Burger is getting big so I’m gonna take some cuttings and see if I can throw a couple small Donny’s in the open spots. If it’s like GMO and this lady then they’ll just take right off. Everyone had burn from the sunlight getting through a window and then they had some issues with the coir bagged soil I used but since they got transplanted into my soil, all new growth has looked good.

 

[thailer]

https://youtube.com/shorts/NJxYaQNh7PI?feature=share

Jack Herer at the very end up close sparkling like gemstones not like in real life but it’s the best my camera can capture

 

[unregistered190]

Them are some huge trichomes!

 

[thailer]

it is some super happy uplifting pot. i very much enjoy the high and i would say it is my second favorite plant ever. i finally finished trimming it and i have some choice nugs but i'm gonna try to take some better pics in the daylight sun and not the CFL bulb lighting of the dining room. i got one of six bags done so at this rate i'll be trimming for a week probably. good thing theres a bunch of dope stuff to watch on Hulu.

stuff tastes so good its like i need a double of gin with a lime wedge to go with a bowl.

 

[thailer]

Donny Burger is a beast just like her mama.