Indoor Growing a pound and a half in a 4x2’ tent

[420autoflower]

Awesome Job Sir

Thanks @Cringer!

 

[Humanrob]

Looking forward to your next update, it's been fun having a run that parallels yours. I made some mistakes early on, and mine started to bud up more quickly than yours did. I think this is a perfect example of why some people grow huge plants, and others small ones. I've read a lot about "stunting plants" with stress, but this real time comparison is showing me that is presenting as your plants staying in veg longer and building out into larger structures prior to flowering, and mine flowering sooner while the plant is still smaller, (severely) limiting its potential finished size. That might seem obvious, but I've never seen it play out in real time before. Your complete environment is so much closer to optimal than mine, that it allows the plants to push their potential from the roots up.

It will be interesting to see how long your plants go start to finish, and if that plays into their size. I'm wondering if large plants live longer, or grow faster, or both (I suspect both). As always there are a million other factors in play, but it's still fun to take notes along the way and at least scratch the surface. Are you still running your lights 24/0? Do you do that start to finish?

 

[420autoflower]

Looking forward to your next update, it's been fun having a run that parallels yours. I made some mistakes early on, and mine started to bud up more quickly than yours did. I think this is a perfect example of why some people grow huge plants, and others small ones. I've read a lot about "stunting plants" with stress, but this real time comparison is showing me that is presenting as your plants staying in veg longer and building out into larger structures prior to flowering, and mine flowering sooner while the plant is still smaller, (severely) limiting its potential finished size. That might seem obvious, but I've never seen it play out in real time before. Your complete environment is so much closer to optimal than mine, that it allows the plants to push their potential from the roots up.

It will be interesting to see how long your plants go start to finish, and if that plays into their size. I'm wondering if large plants live longer, or grow faster, or both (I suspect both). As always there are a million other factors in play, but it's still fun to take notes along the way and at least scratch the surface. Are you still running your lights 24/0? Do you do that start to finish?

No problem @Humanrob!
Let me snap a few current pics and type up some simple info and I’ll update the thread shortly.
Sorry to hear your plants started flowering prematurely. Do you usually start them in smaller containers or plant directly into their final homes? I’ve run into that problem when I use to start my seedlings in solo cups, so now I use the 4x4x4” or 4x4x3 Grodan blocks exclusively to avoid that problem. The Grodan blocks eliminates any risk of transplant shock, stunted growth or early flowering and will give the young seedling somewhere to grow for the first 10-14 days without taking up much space. I also have the option to set them on coco, place them on larger Grodan blocks/slabs or grow plants in just the 4x4” block. Another benefit is that the plants are getting more root space since the blocks sit on top of whatever substrate I choose and roots grow down and out from there. They are versatile, inexpensive and I have plenty of time to figure out what method of growing I want to run without worrying about them being in small containers for too long.

 

[420autoflower]

Day 39
So far so good!
They’re all flowering now and going through their stretch period well. Planning on giving them their first schwazz in a few days to reduce stretch and allow more light down to the bottom of the canopy. Not doing any lollipopping so very important for me to keep the foliage down to maximize the potential of each plant. Still working the canopy twice a day plucking handfuls of leaves to clear the tops and allow more light to hit the nodes to promote better stacking and gear them up to produce large colas. After they finish their stretch I’ll set the canopy height the best I can based on the tallest plant and place them in their permanent positions for the rest of the grow.
Turned up the Maxisuns to 90% power and hitting the canopy with a very high PPFD now that they’re starting to flower. Definitely high at this stage of growth but trying to push them as far as I can.
Keeping the ec at 1.3 but cut the General Hydroponics FloraNova Grow and started them up on GH FloraNova Bloom. Also added General Hydroponics Koolbloom into their diet for their main PK booster but having to alternate the Botanicare Calmag and Koolbloom to keep my PPM in range. Still feeding them GH Floralicious for amino acid supplementation and I’ll start carbo loading them with Cutting Edge Sugaree in a couple weeks to help bulk them up.

 

[Humanrob]

No problem @Humanrob!
Let me snap a few current pics and type up some simple info and I’ll update the thread shortly.
Sorry to hear your plants started flowering prematurely. Do you usually start them in smaller containers or plant directly into their final homes? I’ve run into that problem when I use to start my seedlings in solo cups, so now I use the 4x4x4” or 4x4x3 Grodan blocks exclusively to avoid that problem. The Grodan blocks eliminates any risk of transplant shock, stunted growth or early flowering and will give the young seedling somewhere to grow for the first 10-14 days without taking up much space. I also have the option to set them on coco, place them on larger Grodan blocks/slabs or grow plants in just the 4x4” block. Another benefit is that the plants are getting more root space since the blocks sit on top of whatever substrate I choose and roots grow down and out from there. They are versatile, inexpensive and I have plenty of time to figure out what method of growing I want to run without worrying about them being in small containers for too long.

I plant directly into my final pots, in this case 5 gallon pots that were about 2/3's full, so about 3 gallons of soil. I had to make some changes this grow for my bad back, so I went from fabric to plastic pots so I'd water less frequently, and added a bunch of perlite to keep them lighter. I also experimented a bit with my soil mix. Those changes came with an adjustment period that spanned several watering cycles in the second and third weeks... net result was that first I over-watered, then under-watered. That was enough to throw the plants off, they started flowering at about 24 days into the grow. Everyone knows the first three weeks are critical, this is why.

I've got the watering and feeding dialed in now (I think) and they're doing better, tomorrow will be the end of week 5 for me. Because of the early flowering I had to do my first defoliation at about day 30, so I did it less intensely than my last one. They'll be small, but I think they'll finish OK. I used to grow photos in this 2x4 tent, and would usually get about 12-14 oz (total) from 2 or 3 plants. If I can harvest 12 oz from these 8 little plants, I'll be OK with that. But that remains to be seen.

 

[420autoflower]

I plant directly into my final pots, in this case 5 gallon pots that were about 2/3's full, so about 3 gallons of soil. I had to make some changes this grow for my bad back, so I went from fabric to plastic pots so I'd water less frequently, and added a bunch of perlite to keep them lighter. I also experimented a bit with my soil mix. Those changes came with an adjustment period that spanned several watering cycles in the second and third weeks... net result was that first I over-watered, then under-watered. That was enough to throw the plants off, they started flowering at about 24 days into the grow. Everyone knows the first three weeks are critical, this is why.

I've got the watering and feeding dialed in now (I think) and they're doing better, tomorrow will be the end of week 5 for me. Because of the early flowering I had to do my first defoliation at about day 30, so I did it less intensely than my last one. They'll be small, but I think they'll finish OK. I used to grow photos in this 2x4 tent, and would usually get about 12-14 oz (total) from 2 or 3 plants. If I can harvest 12 oz from these 8 little plants, I'll be OK with that. But that remains to be seen.

Yes, must have been your watering if you planted them directly into 3 gallons of soil. Watering is something I’ve been working on as well…learned a lot from the watering masters on this forum in the last year and I think I’m just now getting it down. Not a big concern for me with the few crops I have currently growing as they’re basically all hydro and much more forgiving when it comes to overwatering.
I was interested in seeing your crop and searched for a grow journal but couldn’t find one. Feel free to post pics of your grow here if you wish, would be nice to see your plants.

 

[Humanrob]

Yes, must have been your watering if you planted them directly into 3 gallons of soil. Watering is something I’ve been working on as well…learned a lot from the watering masters on this forum in the last year and I think I’m just now getting it down. Not a big concern for me with the few crops I have currently growing as they’re basically all hydro and much more forgiving when it comes to overwatering.
I was interested in seeing your crop and searched for a grow journal but couldn’t find one. Feel free to post pics of your grow here if you wish, would be nice to see your plants.

Thanks @420autoflower! I'm pretty sure adding more perlite and changing my soil mix (this time recycling some 'used' soil from my last grow along with fresh soil) was a format change that had unanticipated impacts, along with the watering inconsistencies. There are a lot of ways to mess them up!

Anyway, here's some pics from Monday, which was the end of week five. Last week they had a big trim, they'll get another one next week.
Just another grow in a 2x4...

 

[420autoflower]

Thanks @420autoflower! I'm pretty sure adding more perlite and changing my soil mix (this time recycling some 'used' soil from my last grow along with fresh soil) was a format change that had unanticipated impacts, along with the watering inconsistencies. There are a lot of ways to mess them up!

Anyway, here's some pics from Monday, which was the end of week five. Last week they had a big trim, they'll get another one next week.
Just another grow in a 2x4...
View attachment 1565679View attachment 1565680View attachment 1565682

Wow!
Very nice @Humanrob… I’m impressed.
They all look good and healthy to me.
Please update your grow here if you don’t mind. Very interested to see how yours turns out.

I stopped recycling my coco for the same reason. Don’t want any unexpected problems and too many variables when using recycled medium.

 

[Humanrob]

Wow!
Very nice @Humanrob… I’m impressed.
They all look good and healthy to me.
Please update your grow here if you don’t mind. Very interested to see how yours turns out.

I stopped recycling my coco for the same reason. Don’t want any unexpected problems and too many variables when using recycled medium.

Thanks for the kind words! I usually recycle my soil into our outdoor garden, but I felt like I was feeding so much last grow that the soil might be sort of 'pre-charged' and have usable nutrient life left in it. It seems that wasn't the case, during my first big trim I took off a lot of unhappy leaves. Shifted some things around, they seem to be doing better now.

I'll check in periodically with updates. Thanks for the invite --

 

[Humanrob]

Day 39
So far so good!

...day 50?