Advice/Opinions Wanted

[starke]

SOME BACKGROUND: Decided almost four years ago I needed to learn to grow to keep the misses and I supplied. Between the two of us, our adult kids and the occasional visitor we use about three zips a month. Got some mids bag seed and started playing around. Didn’t take long to figure out I didn’t have a clue about growing weed or anything else indoors even though I’ve been a successful vegetable gardener outdoors for 30+ years.

Fortunately, even though I’m an old fart I am computer savy. In early 2014 after killing yet another bagseed plant I typed something like “HOW THE FUCK DO YOU GROW WEED INDOORS?” into Google and presto – up popped IC Mag. Started reading…and searching…and reading. Became a member in August 2015 and kept reading. Built BlueAdept’s CFL stealth box based on his tutorial here on IC. Learned how to sex plants and clone from all the generous info shared here. Completed four bagseed grows in the stealth box, two SCROG with two plants and two sort of SOG ala DrBudGreenGenes with 6 plants. Miracle Grow soil and Miracle Grow nutes. (Yeah…don’t say it…I knew better based on info I’d already read here but I had a bunch at the time from the outdoor veggies and herbs.)

Made some smoke on each grow but not quality and not nearly the quantity for my goal of being self sustaining. Realized I was going to need a real indoor grow space, some real lighting and real genetics. In November 2016 I began putting the pieces together: 5x5x8 Tent, 6” Hyperfan, 24x6 CanLite Filter, some assorted fem genetics from Herbies, FFOF, 5 gal airpots, Maxibloom , meters, etc. Popped a Super Lemon Haze, Hawaiian Snow and a Skywalker Kush in January this year and made my first post here on the Mag. By March when my URSA LED arrived the girls had gotten a bit out of control so I cut clones, supercropped the hell out of them and basically threw them in the tent to learn the LED lighting curve, nutes, ph and other environmental considerations. They are currently in week four of 13/11, are each about 42” tall and are ugly as homemade sin. But they are making buds and I’m learning a lot. I’m treating these first plants as an experiment with the strains and the equipment, no great expectations. Which brings me to the advice needed.

Working with just three decent sized plants in the tent is a PITA when it comes to watering/feeding/trimming etc. I can remove them from the tent but that is also a pain. I want to run either four or five properly trained plants when these are finished and had assumed until recently I would build a SCROG screen. Now, however, after dealing with the plants daily in the confines of a tent I’m thinking once the plants are locked into a screen I’m screwed if any thing requires moving or removing a plant.

For the past year or so I have been playing with mainlining/manifolding on males and culls and have become fairly proficient at it. If I manifold, everything can be attached to the pot for training, Cola separation and support sort of like a modular SCROG but without the screen.

SO A QUESTION: If I run four or five Super Lemon Haze or Hawaiian Snow trained for eight colas each and vegged to where they are about 40” tall at the end of the stretch, can I pull ten or twelve zips per run?

I am growing in soil at this point because it’s what I know. I stumbled on a PPK thread about a year ago and have since read everything on this site I could find regarding PPK. I am fascinated by it and impressed with the results. Seems like for me it would eliminate the hassles of hand feeding/watering in a tent, which has become a daily PITA with my three girls now and is sure to get worse with another plant or two in the tent. (I’m making pistils turn brown brushing against them daily) I’m leaning in this direction but could sure use some opinions/advice from those running PPK in tents or in small rooms similar in size.

Any answers, opinions, advice or links to the same appreciated.

Starke

 

[DoubleTripleOG]

If I was you, I would get a 20-30 gallon trash can. Get a pond pump or submersible sump pump. Attach a hose to it, with a wand on the end. Problem solved. Now you can water all the plants with ease from standing outside the tent.

Your question about yield. It's very possible to get 12 ounces from 4-5 plants under 1000w bulb. The varieties you mentioned are definitely able to produce that much per plant. But....the biggest factor affecting your potential yield, is you. Controling the environment and plant training is what will determine your yield in the end.

I would try 6 plants of all one variety. Veg them into little bushes and flip at no more than 18" tall. A shorter, wide plant will always yield more than a tall lanky one, in my experience.

 

[mushulatubbee]

Hawaiian snow oh oh oh!
I say rock on with this grand funk railroad and maybe journal the grow so i can follow along to watch! The methods (both btw) sound good to me so far!

 

[Jellyfish]

I would go with the scrog, and just figure out a way not to take them out of their spots.

I use hempy buckets for indoor growing, there's a thread, here's a link.

Hempy buckets, if you don't know, is passive hydroponics. It's very simple, and ideal for a 4-6 plant situation, in my opinion.

Good luck!

 

[starke]

DTOG: Thanks for the advice and feedback. I feel like a dumbass for overlooking such a simple solution to my feed/water dilema.

mushu: I'll be doing a diary for my first "real" grow probably begining in July.

Jellyfish: I'll take a look at the Hempy's. Thanks.

 

[Americangrower]

Never grew H Snow but I assure you if you veg to 40" with SL haze it is going to be as tall as your room even if you try and tie her down...as DTOG said 18" is more then enough. If I was growing under 1000w in a 5 x5 tent I would simply crop once for 2 colas and throw like 12 ladies in there..easily get 2 zips off each SLH if fed right .

 

[Jellyfish]

Yeah, you don't want to veg to forty inches, because when you flip it to 12/12, it's gonna blow your roof off! I start flowering when they're 12-14 inches tall, and start tying them down as soon as they grow through my screen. Even then, they grow another 18-24 inches in flower easily and finish perfectly.

 

[starke]

American/Jelly: I wasn't clear in my original post. The girls in the tent were probably 36" when my light arrived. I supercropped them down to about 24" because I knew that even with an 8' tent I'd be out of room with sativa doms. They finished stretching last week and are at 42" which is a decent size plant for the way the yields are looking and fit well within the 8' tent. So I'm going to veg to 18" - 24" like you and DTOG have suggested and then flip. Thanks for having my back.

 

[majorana]

I, too, had the same troubles you've mentioned with watering. I'm slowly reading my way through the PPK discussion, but am holding off actually building one until I can figure out how to source that synthetic turf in Europe.

Towards the end of the penultimate grow I went the Blumat way. Now all I have to do is mix nutrients into gallon jugs (about once a week) and use those to fill the cistern when I get around to it (mine can hold for about 5 days. I usually fill it up daily, but I might get a bigger one before I go on vacation.) The plants love Blumat more than hand-watering too: they drink however much they want and are fed whenever they need.

 

[starke]

I've spent the last day and a half reading up on hempy's and I'm leaning towards five traditional or all perlite hempy's for the next grow. Have been trying to decide on a nute regimen but could use advice from hempy folk who are using something other than the original GH regimen.

 

[Jellyfish]

I follow the GH regimen on this thread called The Recipe. Go lighter on Sativas.

 

[starke]

Thanks Jellyfish.