2.5x1.8 meter coco scrog, 3 strain bingo!!

This feels familiar as I`m on the back of several poor grows. I think it was a weak strain issue and/or bad water.

I`ve now banished the Cheese strain that I`ve been struggling on with and now have 3 strains to go with this grow.

4x Grapefruit
3x Big Bud
12 Armageddon

I aim to run with a total of 15 plants scrog stylie, despite the difficulty I envisage due to the different growth patterns that 3 different strains will give. The timing shouldn`t be too much of a problem as the Armageddon is a little quicker to finish at 6&1/2 to 8 weeks and the Grapefruit and Big Bud are 8-9 weekers, but we`ll see eh?

The Grapefruit apparently (I haven`t grown it before) grows with Sativa traits, ie leggy and stretchy, even though it finishes in 8-9 weeks.

The Armageddon is another sativa biased, and is quite stretchy. My friend is running with Armageddon in a tent and its stretched loads being overall 12-15 inches above the screen at the end of week3 of 12/12.

Now I`ve grown Big Bud before, most growers have grown this if they`ve been doing it a good few years, but this pheno I`m not sure of. I took the cuttings from a plant that had been neglected and my confidence isn`t so high on this one. I only have 3 of this one though. Its a little slow growing in comparison to the GF and Arma`s, looks very indica and to be honest reminds me very much of the Cheese Ive just ditched, short, stocky and close internodes. One of the things about this plant that reminds me of the Cheese is that there is some considerable intervainal lightening on some of the big leaves, its not yellowing, but it is really quite light. It gives me the heebee geebees to see it. I want to try it though and either overcome or prove my fears. Big Bud is renowned to be an easy one to grow so lets see.

I may only grow one of the three Big Buds though, it`ll depend on how they look by the end of this week when they`ll be ready for their final transplant. I`ll definitely run with the 4 GF and make the numbers up with between 8 and 10 Arma`s, depending on how many BB`s I go with.

I`ll come back with some photo`s over the next couple of days along with some of the details in the growing techniques I`ll be employing.

Roughly though, it goes as follows:-
3 x 602 nft tanks spaced a couple of feet apart with 5 plants per tank each in 12-14 liter pots of coco, under one big screen covered by 3 600w HPS and maybe an additional 400w if temps can be kept down. Two lights will be hung from light movers whilst the middle one(s) will be manually moved from one end of the tank to the other every other day.

Currently the plants are all on one nft tray with two 400w metal halides on for vegging. I`ve not used metal halides before but I`m impressed with the growth rate under them. I intend on using the two MH lights along with a 600w HPS until the end of the first week of 12/12 when I`ll switch over to all HPS for the rest of the flowering period.

I`m hand feeding for now, but will probably go auto feeding drain to waste before too long.

I`m using Canna professional Coco, and my nutrients too are from Canna, except for additional Calmax and superthrive.

I`m using RO water ec0.0 (after water issues I`ve had here), and use Calmax to ec0.3 to replace the Calcium and Mg taken out of the tap water. Then Canna Coco A+B to the required strength. In the early stages they`ll get doses of Rhizotonic, they`ll get some superthrive throughout the grow, and they`ll get some PK13/14 mid to late flowering. I`ll also be dabbling with feeding some Molasses and will be using a zym product to help break down old root matter.

Time I went to sleep, I`ll be back with some pics soon.

Toke

Okey dokey, I`ve got some pics to get this show up and running.

These were taken 4 days ago when they first went under the metal halides, they`d been under a 200w envirolight previously.

The four plants on the left are Grapefruit, the other 3 are the Big Bud.



Taken the same time, these are the 8 Armageddon I`m going to go with.



This is a stitch together of two photos showing the entire tray of 15 plants today, you can see they`re responding well overall, still have concerns about the Big Bud though.



I`m sorting my room out at the moment and should have them all potted up into 12 or 14ltr pots by the weekend, there are roots coming through the bottoms of the pots and they should be ready for transplanting in 2-3 days.

They`re getting fed to a healthy run off every other day with Ec1.1, ph5.8. I`ll be stepping this up to once a day as soon as they`re ready for it.

Toke

Its interesting to see the different characteristics of the three strains, they look like they`ll be quite different so fingers crossed they`ll work out alright scrogged under the same screen.

This photo shows the differences between the strains at this stage, on the left we have the Grapefruit, in the middle the Armageddon and on the right is the Big Bud.



Here`s a closer look at them individually, 1st the Armageddon, its quite stocky and has the faster growth rate of the 3.





Then the Grapefruit, long and leggy thus far





and finally the Big Bud, short and stocky and the slowest growth of the three so far





As mentioned above, there is a distinct lightening of colour between the darker veins, it alarms me to see this as this was a common feature in my cheese plants that gave me severe problems for 3 or 4 grows. The cuts were taken from a plant that was recovering from neglect and I`m wondering if this will give me problems. I still have another 5 Armageddon spare, so if this worsens I`ll take the 3 BB`s out and replace with Arma`s.

Here is a photo of an affected leaf. I know the nutrient and feed regime is fine, and the other two strains show no such problems.



I`m excited about this grow, I`ve heard nothing but good about both the Armageddon and Grapefruit as regards quality and quantity, just stability of the Grapefruit seems to be mentioned, it seems to produce 2 quite different phenos, both good ones though. My friend has 4 of these Armas going in a tent and at the end of week 3 the colas are forming and all is looking really good.

Toke

Good luck with the grow Toke, and could I ask whether you have the auto feed drain to waste system equipment already?

If not, how are you planning to do it?

Thanks

Peace

Hello mate just grabbing my seat, be along tomorrow to catch up

Thanks B Bulldog, well I have a set of drippers and some pipework, I`ve had dripper set-ups running recirculating tanks before. I have 2x90ltr res tanks that I can run from, but I need to make one big circuit with 15 same length feed pipes to the drippers for each pot. I`m thinking maybe 30 drippers, 2 per pot, but I`m not altogether sure. I have a couple of spare pumps knocking about but I think I`ll need to get a new one powerful enough tp lift the nutes over a meter (ie bottom of res tank to the top). Is it something you`re looking at too?

Hey Shhh, good to have you around mate, it`ll be good to catch up.

The more I look at the Big Bud and the interveinal thing and the slow growth the more it gives me the fear, I`m potting 3 more of the Armageddon up as I suspect I`ll ditch the Big Bud, or just run the one at the side of the screen to test it before ditching the strain altogether.

I`l go sleep on it.

Cheers Toke

Hi Toke,

I'd say that sounds like a good plan on the auto feed set up. Yeah I've been thinking about it myself. I came to a similar conclusion to you, although with more plants and smaller pots (10-11 ltr) with 2 drippers. Maybe with the larger pots you're thinking of, you could benefit more from using 4 drippers per pot, for a more even distribution of moisture; I've seen other threads where guys have had great results like this.

Peace

Hey Toke Pulling up a seat also Bro', G'Luck with this one buddy, nice strain selection imo!
The BB looks like she needs something like a little more Mg than the others, ive seen certain pheno's displaying such traits before, im not 100% saying thats what it is, im just saying what i see, intervainal lightening, dark around veins, says a need for more Mg possibly. A foliar application wounldnt hurt man & you dont have to mess with your feed solution/pots etc, just a thought.Could be just a pheno thing and harmless.?
'All the Best with this one man!
Peace.......Scroger

Hey man,
good looking grow. When will you start training your plants into the net?

Thanks guys.

BB`dog, Mmmm 4 per pot, easily enough done, the main thing is to set up a loop pipe to the pump so as to provide as equal pressure as possible. I`m not quite sure how to go about forming the loop as it needs to feed 3 rectangle trays stood a couple of feet apart along side each other with a screen covering the lot.

Scrogger, the Big Bud is giving me the fear, I may try some Mg foliar feed as you suggest, but I`m going to pop another 3 Arma`s in and just run one BB on the side as a test before ditching the strain. I reckon the GF and the Arma`s are going to be more suited to the scrog, being longer reaching and stretchier plants.

Hey Gut, welcome aboard, I`m going to start training in a few days, as soon as they`re transplanted into their final 12-14ltr pots.

Cheers Toke

Cheers Toke
Don't mind me pulling up a chair mate, I'm along for the ride.
The BB looks like a mg def., they may just come out of it on their own though. Foliar feeding them like Scroger suggests sounds like a great idea, especially since you do not have to mess with the medium so much this early on. All the other once look very healthy, good job bro!

Peace, Kind

Hey its good to see so many familiar faces looking in, I`ll try my fookin hardest to bring in a good one this time with none of the brain twisting problems of previous grows!

Yeah I`m gonna give em a foliar feed of epsom salts, cant remember what dosage and busy sterilising all my kit at the mo. I`ll check it out and apply before I hit the sack.

I`m sure you guys see it as most likely simply a Mg def that`s easily corrected, me too, but I`m sure you`ll understand my distaste for anything that looks remotely like this after my recent grows with da Cheese.

Lets see how they`re looking by the end of the week.

I plan to transplant into final pots possibly on Thursday, but most likely on Friday.

Cheers Toke

I`ve misted the 3 Big Bud with Epsom salts diluted 1 medium teaspoon to a liter of water. I`ve given them a really good covering and stood them in the shade protecting them from being burnt under the lights. Its wait and see if there`s signs of improvement.

It`d be cool if they come around and do well, get me over my paranoia for one. I think I`m going to go with a couple of them and stop being such a wimp! One of them seems to be a bit of a runt so I`ll lose that and replace with one of the Arma`s.

I`ve selected the best of the Arma`s for a mum, its by far the most vigourous of the lot. I`ll be making further selections from the best plants of this grow. I`ll take some from each of the 4 GF`s and from the 2 BB`s along with some from the stronger of the remaining Arma`s.

I plan on getting myself sorted with 2 or 3 robust strains, I dont know what I`ve been doing this past year and a half trying to persevere with a poor pheno, but I aint gonna let it happen again.

Good news on the camera front, I`ve got a working camera body to go with my lenses so I should be able to provide good detailed pictures throughout the grow.

Toke

Hello toke mate, had a lil read through and all sounds well cept the BB's.... Will be interesting to see if the extra MG will fix the issues with them.

The rest sound and look great bro...I'm rooting fer ya on this one mate, had a couple grows go sour in my time without being able to quite pinpoint the exact issue so I know what a fecking PITA that can be.

I am very interested in the Armageddon, have always read good things about the strain and the finishing time makes me wanna dance The grapefruit looks like it crying out to be tied down the kinky lil bitch Sure that will do well in the scrog, if it's the one I am accustomed to seeing it produces long crystal filled colas.

Should be a good show this mate... Best of luck!

im pulling up a chair im waiting for the bud shots

peace!

~Shhh~ said:

Armageddon. . . . the finishing time makes me wanna dance The grapefruit looks like it crying out to be tied down the kinky lil bitch

Click to expand...

Heh heh heh heh! I like it. I hope to be dancing before too long mate. I do love girls that wanna be tied down and forced to produce!

The Arma`s will finish ahead of the GF and BB`s, but this will work out ok I reckon, I envisage taking the tops off the Arma`s when they`re good and ready leaving the bottoms to mature up whilst the GF and BB finish off.

Hey Bones, I`d saved you a seat, good to see you mate.

Cheers for now, Toke

Mmm. . . .I`m going to end up with 4 spare plants here and no friends in need so I`m wondering if I can manage the hassle of having them sitting in on the sidelines?

It`ll make things tight and no doubt be a PITA at times but it would be another 4 plants producing more bud.

I usually like to keep things down to 15 plants figuring its not enough for the law here in the UK to be coming down too hard on me. Of course I`ll have lots of plants in the grow chamber this time as I set about getting some top quality mothers to supply my needs for clones, along with having up to 30 cuttings rooting up as the crop is finishing, having an extra 4 in the flowering room isn`t really going to push the boat out.

I`ve just reminded myself that I need to fit a shelf in my grow chamber, its around 7 foot high and around 3width x 3depth, effectively giving me a 2 tier grow cupboard which I`m going to need, space wise. Something I`ll get around to as soon as the plants are being trained into the screen.

I`m considering keeping my nutrient strength a little lower this grow too. I usually go up to around ec1.6 peaking at ec1.8 when using PK13/14 at full strength. I`m thinking of running ec1.2 to 1.4 with a peak of ec1.6 when adding Pk13/14. I know there are many different opinions on feed strengths, but I know I mostly hear people cutting back as opposed to going higher with nutes.

I`m going to keep things pretty simple with feeds, Calmax with RO water for the bass line, A+B, a Zym product, Ataclean (if and when I get around to setting up an auto feed for this set-up), Pk13/14 when needed and a couple of doses of molasses. That`s it, no fancy boosters or addys.

Cheers, Toke

Tokesome said:

Thanks guys.

BB`dog, Mmmm 4 per pot, easily enough done, the main thing is to set up a loop pipe to the pump so as to provide as equal pressure as possible. I`m not quite sure how to go about forming the loop as it needs to feed 3 rectangle trays stood a couple of feet apart along side each other with a screen covering the lot.

Click to expand...

Hi Toke,

I've seen that the Wilma dripper systems are essentially converted NFT from Nutriculture.

On the 4 ft long 8-plant model, it appears that the tube from the pump is just a single tube with a stopper on the end, with 1 dripper to each pot: this contradicts the loop theory (which makes sense).

I've seen the Wilmas working, but didn't take notes on the irrigation layout.

On yours, rather than 1 big circuit across 3 spread-out tables, why not have 3 separate systems, and then you could run 3 different strains, as well as having the back up of having the problem of the one pump failing.

It also gives flexibility having them separate, as you're not so restricted if you wanna mod your room layout, etc.

That's what I've got in mind, rather than monocropping across 3 full tables.

When are you going to install the auto-feed system m8?


Peace

Hey B`dog, yeah I`ve got the set up for nft and dont like the bunged end idea. The loop idea was a suggestion made when I posed the question in the G room design forum, it keeps the pressure a bit more even.

3 loops could be a real PITA for working around as my 2 res` are in the corners of the room. I`ll put a shot up of the overall room at the weekend with my ultra wide lens and you`ll see what I mean. Having said that, the idea of one big loop is probably gonna be a PITA too, so I dont rule yer thought out at this stage, the individual feeding would be handy with different timed strains coming off as you say.

I could attach a big loop to my screen frame and figure of 8 it down the middle, this would provide tubes running up each side and two up the middle to run from. I was thinking of hand feeding the Arma`s during PK13/14 week and again for their flush week which should work out to coincide with the PK13/14 week for the GF and BB`s, that is if the Arma`s really do finish in 7weeks!

If the Arma`s really do what they say they do and yeild well in 7 weeks and produce high quality weed, I`d find it hard to put other longer strains in with them, slowing the process down by a couple of weeks each time. I like the idea of 2-3 different strains to smoke tho, so I`ll see how this one works with double harvesting the Arma`s and single harvest the others.

Here`s a merged pic of the plants, you can see they`re doing well, the pics dont quite marry up but you get the idea. Tmro will see them potted up into their final pots and set out 5 to a tray.



The next photo shows the 3 still in beer cups, these will be potted up and put to the side of the main grow. The nearest plants that are in plant pots are the Big Bud, they seem to have improved since I sprayed them with Epsom salts at 1 medium teaspoon in a liter of water, I think the green is coming back and they`re catching up the growth race. I`ve noticed some slight tip burn on these 3 BB`s, I`m guessing this will be from the Epsom salts, I did spray two days running. Other than that they were hit with a feed of ec1.3 a couple of days ago, otherwise they`ve had ec1.0-1.1 I`ll put 2 of them under the scrog, I need to know how they perform under a screen as I see that as the way forward for me. 1 will also go on the side line with the 3 Arma`s.



Its going to be one very busy room

I fed them today with RO water, Calmax to ec0.3, Canna A+B to ec1.1, then added 110mls Rhizo to the 90ltr res, (probably 80ltrs full) and a couple of cap fulls of Superthrive. Just over .5mls of PH down to arrive at ec1.1 @ ph5.8. They really look to be loving it, they`ve done in a week what it took my last strain weeks to do at this stage, my confidence is up there again. Of course I`ll be vigilant all the same.

Once they`re in their big pots I`ll tie all the main stems over as they`ll be just into the net height wise. This will hopefully stop the centre stem from pushing up too hard into the screen as they`re trained outwards.

Cheers for now, Toke

Ps. Its a good job I always copy my post before posting, I was sent back to the logging in page and my post was lost. It took a good few times till I cottoned on to copying before posting

I`d lowered one of the lights to do a job above it and forgot to raise it up again and left it at around 15inches away from the tops. The result being a couple of burnt leaves on a couple of the Armageddon.





Anyway I`ve got my main 15 plants potted up into 3 gall buckets, and now have a 400wt MH and a 600wt HPS over the 3 trays. Tmro or Monday I`ll give the main stems a good bondage session, raise the pots and start them training into the screen.

Whilst repotting it was a good opportunity to examine the roots. The Armageddon had the most developed root systems, but the roots are doing fine in both the GF`s and BB`s.

This is the Armageddon



After teasing the roots out



The GF



And Big Bud.



I`ll come back before long with pics of the plants after tying stems down and entering the screen training phase, and some overall room layout pics.

Cheers,Toke