Need all the advice I can get...

[FC89]

Hey guys, Im new to IC but I've heard this is the best place to get info, so im here and have some questions if you could answer for me... Im going to be starting a mini fridge in the next couple weeks, and the strains i have available to me are onyx and rrf.... the first question is which should i grow in the cabs? the kind of pots im going to use are either 3, 3 gal air pots or 3, 1 gal air pots. Would it better to try to cram the cab and grow with the 3 gals and try to lst... or grow with the 1 gals... Im going to be using a 150w hps, have an exhaust with carbon scrub... is the hps going to be enough from seed to finish? i have a friend who says that i should use cfl's in the beggining to help growth.... Im going to be using ICC's method with fox farms Ocean forrest, and the appropriate tea method...

Guys your help is oh so greatful.... appreciate any responce...

 

[Bighill]

My first peice of advice is to read everything. Even odd threads that may seem useless, you get little peices of info pages in some times, that is just stellar info. IC has some eilte AF breeders sharing info all the time. Soak it all up.

1)I haven't grown those strains, i've grown snowryder from short stuff, they would take up about a foot SQ of floor space when done. Lots of info poping up on those strains right now, lots of reading to do
2) I am using 2 gal grow bags, they are smaller in foot-print than the last pots i used. AF's like room to spread their legs. If it was me in your situation i'd go with 3 1gal pots, the roots will fill the pot good, without lots of loose soil wastage. Others will dissagree. How-ever you have limited space for bushles of AF.

3) The hps will grow them from start to finish. I would recomend getting a 150 watt CMH bulb for your set up, this has a wider spectrum, will cover veg and flower, with a more natural spectrum. The sun knows best. If that isn't an option and your on a budget, the hps will get you there, until you can get the goods. One bulb all the way through is keeping it simple.

The smoke will burn super clean with ICC's method, he is here often for advice.

Welcome to the comunity.
BH.

 

[ol briarhopper]

Hey fc89...I would use the smaller pots for a mini-fridge grow.25-30 day veg and then flower them.The smaller pots will work fine and leave you more space to use which will become very valuable later in the grow....ol briar

 

[FC89]

word awesome, thanks for the advice so far guys... ive read up a alot about RRF already and it seems that the bushy pheno can get pretty large, i was thinkng that maybe i can just grow like 1 or 2 RRF's in the 3 gals and hope for the bushy pheno... but it would probably be easier to use the 3 1 gal pots and make use of all of them.... onyx i havent heard much about, much be one of the newer af strains... but im thinkin i could try them in the 1 gal pots... ive heard that air pots really help with root growth because of the air pruning...i appreciate all the advice so far... any more would be great!

 

[FC89]

hey guys, just got off the phone with my friend... he said he is willing to lend me 3 2 gal air pots....should i take those and run those instead of the 1 gals?

 

[TheGreenBastard]

hey guys, just got off the phone with my friend... he said he is willing to lend me 3 2 gal air pots....should i take those and run those instead of the 1 gals?

Yeah, you'd defiantly be better off with the bigger pots, an extra gallon can make a huge difference with AF's. Also, I agree with BigHill on the CMH, they are all around better lights than HPS for small spaces. If you already have the HPS or can't get a CMH then you'll still be fine. A couple of 6500k CFL's could help out, like your friend suggested, though I would use them with the HPS start to finish; you don't need to, I just like to have a full-spec of lighting.

 

[FC89]

yeah green, I already bought the light kit off htg supply.The 150w HPS, I was reading on it and I think that it can only hold the bulb that it comes with. I could maybe start with some CFL's for veg and the HPS for flower, but I'm not too sure if just using the HPS for the whole duration of the grow will be better. Im not too sure which strain would be better, I've decided for my fist run I'll run all 3 2 gal air pots and use the RRF. I've read that the bushy pheno can get quite large I hope I can fit at least 3 of them in the cab... thanks for the so far guys.

 

[TheGreenBastard]

I would use the CFL's for the first week or so and then use the HPS along with them. They won't need the 150w in that time, you'll see no difference if you used the bigger light. I like keep mine under CFL's for ~10 days from the day they pop, then add the HID's.

 

[FC89]

sounds good man, thanks for the info

 

[Flying Goat]

I agree with Green Bastard - a bit of blue lite in early veg helps. It can make a big difference in yield with some varieties.

Neat trick for heavier resin - get an interchangeable MH bulb. Not just 150w, but INTERCHANGEABLE. Run the last 2 weeks under it, then give her some dark before chopping.

I figure, in such a small space, you wanna maximize quality, eh? A little extra time & effort won't be wasted.

 

[FC89]

I agree with Green Bastard - a bit of blue lite in early veg helps. It can make a big difference in yield with some varieties.

Neat trick for heavier resin - get an interchangeable MH bulb. Not just 150w, but INTERCHANGEABLE. Run the last 2 weeks under it, then give her some dark before chopping.

I figure, in such a small space, you wanna maximize quality, eh? A little extra time & effort won't be wasted.

The kit that I purchased was off HTG supply, its the 150w HPS, I was reading a bit on it and it seems that only the HPS bulb can be used, so I'm not too sure if I can use a MH bulb. But for the first couple weeks of the grow I'll use blue lite CFL's. Should I switch right about the time I find out the sex of the plant? So I think I'm going to be using 3 2 gal air pots, I have 3 gals at my disposal but I'm not sure which would be better. I want to maximize quality and also try to get the most out of the fridge, some people say its better to use the smaller pots and they will grow in, but if I grow in the bigger containers would there be any problem?
Thanks for the interest, and information so far.

 

[FC89]

any help guys? searched everywhere and cant find an answer haha

 

[TheGreenBastard]

With AF's I always go with the biggest pots possible/practical. For you 2 gal pots would be best. Also, I wouldn't wait until they sexed to add the HPS, I'd put it in once they have a good amount of leaves. In other words, once they have enough to actually use the HPS; so maybe ~2 weeks.

 

[FC89]

With AF's I always go with the biggest pots possible/practical. For you 2 gal pots would be best. Also, I wouldn't wait until they sexed to add the HPS, I'd put it in once they have a good amount of leaves. In other words, once they have enough to actually use the HPS; so maybe ~2 weeks.

thanks for the info so far green. I'm hoping to put at least 4 2 gals into the fridge, the dimensions are actually quite big, Ill post them up once I'm finished gutting it out, but rough guess I'd say at most 20"x20"x38". So I'm hoping I can stuff 4 of those in there haha. If not maybe I could go with a SOG setup? I hear you can get great yield, but I dont think I have enough seeds. I'm assuming I'll be able to stuff 4 of those air pots in there. I've seen KB's thread, he has a fridge and he ran SOG and got a qp out of the fridge, but I'm assuming if I put 4 of them in 2 gallons I should reach just around that? I've read that RRF and Onyx can be good strains that yield up to an ounce, or more.

 

[TheGreenBastard]

I haven't grown either though I have heard they are great yielders as well. As far as pots, if you can fit 4, go for it. I suggest you try ScrOG rather than SOG, you would get far greater yields opposed to doing a SOG with multiple plants in a pot like you suggested. KB has a great thread and I'm glad that you had read it as I was going to direct you to it, though he achieved his 4.65oz with 8 plants in 2 liter bottles. If you were to put 4 plants in a 2 gallon pot you would have about the same volume per plant (~2L) though several factors would attribute to giving you a lower yield per plant.

These include:

Pot height
Root entanglement
Increased canopy density
Less light per plant
Nutrient competition
Overall increased difficulty

As well as several other factors. Normally you never want to do a "bed method" for many of the above reasons, though with AF's it can prove successful. SmokeyThe Bear has proof of this with his Outdoor sour bubble ryders. Though indoor I don't believe it is ever a vaible option in loo of the traditional 1 pot per plant method.

 

[FC89]

I haven't grown either though I have heard they are great yielders as well. As far as pots, if you can fit 4, go for it. I suggest you try ScrOG rather than SOG, you would get far greater yields opposed to doing a SOG with multiple plants in a pot like you suggested. KB has a great thread and I'm glad that you had read it as I was going to direct you to it, though he achieved his 4.65oz with 8 plants in 2 liter bottles. If you were to put 4 plants in a 2 gallon pot you would have about the same volume per plant (~2L) though several factors would attribute to giving you a lower yield per plant.

These include:

Pot height
Root entanglement
Increased canopy density
Less light per plant
Nutrient competition
Overall increased difficulty

As well as several other factors. Normally you never want to do a "bed method" for many of the above reasons, though with AF's it can prove successful. SmokeyThe Bear has proof of this with his Outdoor sour bubble ryders. Though indoor I don't believe it is ever a vaible option in loo of the traditional 1 pot per plant method.

Green, I appreciate your help so much you have no idea.... but if I were to do a SOG I would try to use pots similar to KB's and set aside the air pots. But ScrOG would be a great option too, it would be pretty easy to keep the canopy even. I always been kind of confused on how to ScrOG, I've read that you wrap the branches around the screen and point them towards the light? please correct me if I'm wrong. This is my first grow, so would you think it would be better to run a SOG or ScrOG? Thinking now ScrOG would help with the height restriction that I have.

Thanks so far for all the info and help, IC is probably the best help Ive gotten so far, it hasnt let me down!

 

[FC89]

any opinions on which would be better? I'm leaning more towards the ScrOG but not sure how the method is applied, I've look at a lot of threads and some are a little bit confusing. Do I just put the screen on top of the plants right about when they show sex? or when they start flowering? Because many of the methods don't really apply to autoflowers because they can veg for a very long time. Should I LST right when the plants are strong enough to so the screen will be filled? Could anyone give an opinion what a good material to use for the squares? I'm hoping if I do the method correctly to pull maybe at most a qp? but thats just shooting for it.
Thanks for the info and help guys!

 

[TheGreenBastard]

Honestly, I forgot we were talking about AF's (damn MJ) when I suggested that. I have never seen a scrog AF grow, nor have I tried it. I don't think it would actually be your best option as it could slow growth considerably since they basically are always flowering. You wouldn't be able to fill enough of the screen before they "started" to flower. I'm sure it could be done, though I don't think that you should be the one to find out.

If any one else has tried it, or has any other information on AF ScrOGing then please let me know how it turned out. I just doubt that it would have many positive effects. Sorry for suggesting that, normally it would be a viable option though I'm just not sure if it would be beneficial to AF's.

At this point, I'd just go with 4 2 gal pots, and grow them out naturally, or you could try SOG though just use smaller pots. In fact, you could even try mimicking KB's grow and use a bunch of 2 liter bottles. The problem with that is you would need ~20 seeds to be sure you had at least 8 females. Given that you don't have that many, I'd go with the former. Though you may want to make femmed seeds so you could SOG in the future without fear of males.

 

[FC89]

Honestly, I forgot we were talking about AF's (damn MJ) when I suggested that. I have never seen a scrog AF grow, nor have I tried it. I don't think it would actually be your best option as it could slow growth considerably since they basically are always flowering. You wouldn't be able to fill enough of the screen before they "started" to flower. I'm sure it could be done, though I don't think that you should be the one to find out.

If any one else has tried it, or has any other information on AF ScrOGing then please let me know how it turned out. I just doubt that it would have many positive effects. Sorry for suggesting that, normally it would be a viable option though I'm just not sure if it would be beneficial to AF's.

At this point, I'd just go with 4 2 gal pots, and grow them out naturally, or you could try SOG though just use smaller pots. In fact, you could even try mimicking KB's grow and use a bunch of 2 liter bottles. The problem with that is you would need ~20 seeds to be sure you had at least 8 females. Given that you don't have that many, I'd go with the former. Though you may want to make femmed seeds so you could SOG in the future without fear of males.

hahahaha no worries man, happens all the time with me too, but I think I'll just grow them naturally out of the pots, I've heard that it's not a good idea to top or fim them because it could stunt the growth. Since I don't have enough seeds I think I may invest in the CS, could be a great way to do SOG grows. If not I could just make regular seeds because the chance of me getting 4 females isn't that great. I appreciate your help so far green. So I'll be using the 4 2 gal air pots and hope for the best

 

[FC89]

has anyone tried LST'ing with autoflowers? Has anyone done it before with success? I'm hoping I can just incase I run out of height in the fridge.