As many as possible, your genetics play a part as well. Not all strains are suitable for the 420autoflower method of scrog. There is no right or wrong set number, however He Does Mention that by just tying down the growth tip for a couple weeks, i think he said he gets 8-12 tops going.
Yesā¦ as many as possible!
The amount of main branches will depend on how long your top is held down for and how long your auto stays in veg/preflower. The amount of side branching is also very important so keep that main pinned down for as long as you can. If youāre not able to bend your stalk after awhile them just point the tip of the main top horizontal and that will continue to divert the energy to the smaller branches and nodes. If done correctly each main branch will have enough side branching to produce the same amount as a whole plant would. The plants in my 4 auto SOG had their tops down for close to a month and I ended up with 60-120 colas (each) that made it to the top of the canopy, I did use netting to spread them out and hold them in place but they were only trained with the 420autoflower bent coat hanger method and no 420 SCROG method.
My mistake 420, sorry about that. I am able to check the pH with the dropper kit with the FloraNova pair.
All good Buddy!
Glad the dropper kit works with the Nova.
Thank you. A range of numbers is what I was looking for. And "couple of weeks" is a clue. Does no one have photos of this stage? The Maestro has said and I believe him, that he can do the 420Scrog with any auto cultivar. Results vary of course. I see that in my own plants, two seeds from the same pack can produce different shaped plants raised under identical conditions and rotating positions under the light. I keep track daily with good meters of pH, ppf, EC, and DLI. Waiting for two new Migro lights to arrive for the "lab."
If you're interested in every known way of maximizing nodes and minimizing internode distances in those first three weeks, ask ChatGPT4o. You'll be surprised at the wealth of specifics, pages worth.
The amount of tops will vary with every auto. Just hold that top down for as long as you can to get the best results. If you look at how my 4 auto SOG developed over the months youāll see how you can create a nice bushy canopy with 50-100 top colas with only 1 bent coat hanger stake if done correctly.
Thanks. Yes, that's what I see on the aerial views of his "skeletons" later. Many thick mains close to the base, it appears. This is what prompted my initial inquiry. He says he does not top, which I presume includes fimming. I have no interest or need for maximum ounces. I do like giving the Lord's Lettuce away also. I have six plants on a 5 x 3 foot table. HLG Diablo 350 light. But I want that even canopy of 20" inch wide bushes. The 2 inch metal scrog screen mentioned earlier in this thread looks perfect. I've already cut several flat pieces from it.
I like these pliers:
hydropros.com
Innovative Super Cropper $9
I find, as do other growers near me, that GH Ag-Sil, (or wollastonite in soil) makes a big difference in stem sturdiness, toughness, and thickness. I use Bendies plant trainers a lot. These are totally adjustable and that silica allows me to never, and I mean never, break anything when bending once into vegging.
A metal grid would be the best for your situation if you want a flat canopy but your plants will be locked in place and youāll have to cut the branches away from the grid when you harvest. Tough to keep a canopy flat in a 5 foot stretch with netting unless you get creative and tie down the middle some how. You can see how I did it in my 4 auto SOG and the 2 Treasure Stompers I just grew in a 2x4ā tent.
Letās see what you plants look like so we can advise properly
I think this retail hanging grid with 3ā squares would work well. 2ā squares will give you plenty of areas to tuck but there might be a lot of metal blocking light.
I'm new at this, second 420 method grow, but I'm becoming convinced that to accomplish long stems in early-mid growth stage, a relatively *low* PPFD, and then constant growth with 24 hr lighting to get to the usually recommended DLI, might be one of the secrets.
If light is too intense, leaves/stems don't need to reach for the light, so one ends up with short stems. Been there, done that.
But long stems are what one wants, to get the nice wide diameters that 420 always does when he flattens his plants. I've been meaning to ask the Maestro if he could give an example of watts in use and distance above the canopy, from seedling through early veg, and then to 'flattening day'. And then there's genetics. For example, my two different cultivar 21 day olds have different stem lengths, all other factors exactly the same. Looks like the plant on the left will be the better bet by flattening day. Not sure about any of this, trying to figure it out.
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I havenāt figured it out yet either brother but I think it has a lot to do with genetics. After you questioned me about my PPFD months ago I started checking with my Photon app to see where Iām at and even with a low PPFD Iām still getting shorties.
Day 14 for the White Gen 3 and Day 11 for the Knightmare.
The tops were bent over on day 11 and the lights are on super max at 30cm distance. Trusty Novamax Grow from GH is being fed every 5hours for 4mins, EC 2.1, Ph6.
(correction my EC is 1.2 not 2.1)
I'll keep moving the copper rod around the perimeter of the 6" Hugo to ensure that main top is kept down. Everything else is left to grow and do it's own thing.
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In Lak'ech
DOA
They look ahead of schedule Deano!
I don't know what you guys pay for your rockwool blocks but floraflex carries 6" blocks and plugs now. It's $20 for shipping, so 10 big blocks is $45 shipped. Cheaper then Amazon by a pretty good amount. And they usually have 420 sales
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Thanks
@JP1!
$4.50 per block shipped is a good price.
I go through a lot so I buy 64 count cases from Grow Generation for $224.
Used a second wire, and a plant tie, to hold the main stem vertical before the bend.
At previous grow the main stem tipped so much it was almost off the side of the block.
Also learned from previous grow that the wires need to be long to be useful. I had missed that
in some of 420's photos & videos where he displayed the bend-over wire before insertion.
These are about 15" long.
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Yes, I cut them to different lengths. I try to keep my main tops staked down as long as I can so sometimes 15ā stakes are needed. The longer stakes are also good to stake down into the lip of my 6x6ā Hugoās if I donāt have enough room left up top on the 4x4ā cube.
Day 29, FastBuds Lemon AK. EC 1.2. pH 6.0. DLI ~45. FloraNova Grow, and a little silica.
Tucking and plucking as required. She's growing like crazy.
I up the nutes to 1.2 every evening, next morning they're around 1.14.
Let her top up yesterday, possibly should have done it sooner, it's about 2" below
the tallest branches, at around 1 o'clock position in the photo. No signs of pistils yet.
Still giving her 10 mins of fertigation every 2 hours.
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Looking good!
Sorry for the question, but is there a chart for the PPFD / DLI
@420autoflower is running from day 1 to harvest? I'd especially like to know what kinda DLI he is running early on through veg. There are uncountable pages and I couldn't find these details yet. I know he's averaging on around 30Ā°C in veg, and really high humidity at 75+.
I'm coming from averaging at around 350-600 dry per auto, and I'd like to know some of these details so I can play around with similar details
Never checked before but I do now.
Thanks to
@Mongoose Iām now saving money on wasted juice.
My old FCE8000 is currently pulling 300 watts from the wall and putting out about 475PPFD around the perimeter and 600 towards the middle.
Day 12
Day 31. FastBuds Lemon AK. EC 1.2, pH 6.0. DLI ~55.
Nutes drop from 1.2 EC to 1.0 EC in a few hours. Fertigating for 10 mins every 4 hours.
Main stem ~5/8".
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Looks like she might be starting her preflower soon.
Honestly don't worry about DLI etc, we're running lights 24/7. The DLI sort of becomes irrelevant as it's just full blast, max level, from day 1 till finish. Providing you know what light burn looks like, you're good to go.
You want nice tight node spacing, which creates plenty of bud sites on the side branching.
My notes from 420's posts: 'Super cropping at around 7 days after appearance of pre-pistils'.
I don't see any pistils yet, so I have a little time to relax ... before the fateful day.
Honestly, I live in fear of my first go at super cropping.
Itās not that bad Buddy! Donāt worry!
Not long now, she'll be throwing them out soon
I think so too! Any day now!
Day 32. EC nudged up to 1.25. pH 6.0. 180 watts in use, 24/7. PPFD ~850-400, DLI ~65-35, top, sides.
Temporary net to get light to lower areas, will cut it away if necessary when it's time to flatten and
install the final net. Only two inner fan leaves removed. ( She might be a challenge to fit the 24" tent dimension.
)
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Glad you removed those 2 leaves bro. They were bugging me in your previous pics. Lol!
Created an account to say this is some fascinating work by all involved, I've read this journal about 4/5 times now and it never gets old.
Hey
@joozy!
Welcome to AFN! Great cannabis forum with the best people here.
Happy to know youāre finding the info interesting.
Everything in this thread is proven and no bro science!
)
