2022 Project Grow Log #1 How many pots should I cram into a 4 x 4 tent? Nine maybe?

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CannaGranny

CannaGranny

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But I usually don't grow plants this big in diameter. those are huge. What kind of yield do you get from plants this big when they finish? These are not even in flowering. They're going to be gigantic.
In answer to your questions these two are Future 1 and Runtz Tangie. Currently eight weeks old, and prepping them to flower. These are hybrid strains and both seem to be leaning toward the Indica side fairly heavy. Yield depends on several factors, topping, Fimming, etc. I also scrog them which helps big time with the yield. How much? Enough that I only want two in that tent 😊
 
CannaGranny

CannaGranny

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Pro Mix Bio Myco. My technique is not to completely soak all the potting soil right at transplanting. It makes no sense since the root ball is only the size of a 16-ounce cup. Soaking the entire pot could present a danger of overwatering. And add too much humidity to the room for my taste. And that promotes fungal diseases. I add water a little at a time. Next time the watering will include nutrients. They're due.
About watering, ideally, it is best to water in the root zone, the outer circle of your pot. Two reasons for this, it encourages the root ball to grow out and away from the bottom of your plant and another is watering that close to the root ball will eventually build a mud hole beneath your plant that will deprive it of oxygen. As far as humidity goes my veg plants love it. Providing a fresh air exchange will take care of any fungal prob that you are worried about. I’d be more worried about powdery mildew from stacking your tent so full. Just do it 😊, water them well and watch them grow!
 
phxazcraig

phxazcraig

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Watching to see how it goes there. My two cents is that more than 4 plants in a 4x4 creates a huge issue with access to the back plants, for watering and for defoliating. If you have access to the back and sides of your tent with access panels, you're good.

Last year I grew a nice crop in a 4x4 using 5 plants in soil. Took plenty of time, cropped and trained, filled the tent with canopy from side to side. Got 18 ounces in dried bud. It was pretty easy, but it also took 5 months. I was hand watering, and it was a big problem getting to the back two plants because of the plant in the center.

At some point I realized a simple truth. The yield is based on your canopy size (and lighting, etc) and you can get the same canopy size from 1 plant or 16 - and you'll end up with about the same yield. The difference is in the amount of seeds and the amount of time you put in training your plants. 16 one-gallon pots in a SOG should be a lot less work than manifolding and/or mainlining a single plant. On the other hand you're talking sixteen potentially $10 seeds versus one.

I'm growing a new crop, this time in coco coir. Thought I would save myself some grief by only going with 4 plants this time so I could squeeze through the center to work on the back plants. But I also put in some plastic tubing for an automatic watering system, and it effectively does what that fifth pot did - block access to the center. Consequently I have overly-bushy back plants.

My 4 plants have surpassed the 5 I had before, but only because they are growing in coco this time and are bigger and faster growing because of it. I only let them grow 5 weeks before flowering this time, instead of the 3 months I gave them in soil. Should have flipped them at 4 weeks too.
 
dirtyoldman

dirtyoldman

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In answer to your questions these two are Future 1 and Runtz Tangie. Currently eight weeks old, and prepping them to flower. These are hybrid strains and both seem to be leaning toward the Indica side fairly heavy. Yield depends on several factors, topping, Fimming, etc. I also scrog them which helps big time with the yield. How much? Enough that I only want two in that tent 😊
I also wanted to ask, what is that strain in your profile picture with the purple buds? Do you know? I've been kicking around the idea of growing a colorful strain just for fun. I know there are other strains with colorful buds. I saw one that was red or pink-colored one time.
 
CannaGranny

CannaGranny

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I also wanted to ask, what is that strain in your profile picture with the purple buds? Do you know? I've been kicking around the idea of growing a colorful strain just for fun. I know there are other strains with colorful buds. I saw one that was red or pink-colored one time.
That was Captain Redbeards Wedding Cake. Never saw such wild colored buds ever. Was fun to grow, called for cooler temps.
 
dirtyoldman

dirtyoldman

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2022 PROJECT GROW LOG ENTRY #4

FINAL 3 GET LST, OTHER GET HST AND ALL GET A GOOD SPRAY OF NEEM.


After a week you can see five of the White Widows are getting that desired bush effect that gives me those bigger yields. One of them not so much. But all 6 had their tallest branches topped and the sixth WW that kind of got away from me is going to get some special attention in the future to spread it out and get it bushier. You can twist and pin cannabis like a vine and I'll do what I can to get it the effect I am looking for. I have plenty of gardening wire and know where to buy more, so it will be more LST for that plant. The Mataro Blues in front get their first training as they were catching up. Leaf structure was excellent and everything is a healthy deep green. They received another nutrient treatment day before yesterday and their second application of Cal Mag Plus. In a couple weeks they'll get another application of Cal Mag and that will be it. You don't really need to overdo it with that stuff because it remains effective for a longer time. The plants can only use so much of it. I had a very light application early. But usually two good applications of Cal Mag mixed with the regular nutrients is all I ever do in a project. It prevents those nasty things that can happen with nutrient deficiencies. I don't know how many times I've seen desperate growers on different web sites plead for help for their sick plants that suffer from some nutrient deficiency that outright harmed the plants or left them open to disease. It's a double whammy. Deficiency harms the plant and then the fungus moves in. People on these sites try to be helpful and kind and wade in with all sorts of suggestions. But I was always honest with them. You're screwed! You can continue for a much lower yield. Or do the right thing and start over. Cannabis grows fast. It doesn't take long to get new plants up and running. I'm not going to slog along when half of my leaves are destroyed. I can't emphasis Cal Mag Plus enough. I've seen so many tales of woe. And then there's the failure of growers to monitor proper humidity and temperature or cause a cross contamination from garden plants or flower gardens and end up with powdery mildew. They'll cross-contaminate some times by having their potting soil infected by storing it near infected outside plants. Or not sterilizing equipment. And the dreaded fungus rolls in. Neem can often prevent that sort of sob story. I see people giving all sorts of advice about how to fix a major fungal infection like that. Late in a project if you have some bud weight I can understand. I've dealt with that damned rust problem before but it's really hard to cure. Peroxide and baking soda are only somewhat effective. And when Black mold takes hold? Incurable. You can keep plucking all the affected leaves and think it's beat after application of a chemical treatment. But it always comes back. As far as I'm concerned, burn the room when that stuff moves in. It's like the Black Plague. Neem and Cal Mag Plus are the prescriptions to prevent a lot of sorrow.


These just got a good spray of Neem. I'll add another entry in about a week. With just pictures, more text isn't really necessary. You know what I'm doing. Watching Fox Farm and a strong lamp do its thing.
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Edinburgh

Edinburgh

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I have a 4x4 and can cram in 3 3gal pots, could cram in 4 but we can only legally grow 3 at a clip, this is under a 600w 2 cycle led, can cram 9 2gal nursery pots but it's to close and tight.unless your doing a scrog run.
 
sambapati

sambapati

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that depends on what you are growing, I have a 4 x 4 x 8 foot tent with 2 photoperiod plants that is out growing the tent My wife wants me to put them into the spare bathroom to grow them into completion & grow the autos in it
Do whatever your wife says 100% of the time and you'll be smiling
 
Shayne010944

Shayne010944

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following this grow

i have a 4x4 and run the wilma XL 4 pot system - last grow vegged for 3 weeks and then flipped. very fast explosive grow using hydroton and starting from seed in rockwool.

Wilma system went well but at the end did get some root rot - Saved all the plants though
 
SSgrower

SSgrower

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I have a 4x4 with 6 plants in 3 gal. material bags that my grow buddy says are all female so we'll see if I can Yo-yo or scrog net them I am uncertain as I've never tried to run 6 at one time. Lot's of H2o that is for sure, thankful for the rain this week.Cheers SS
 
dirtyoldman

dirtyoldman

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I have a 4x4 and can cram in 3 3gal pots, could cram in 4 but we can only legally grow 3 at a clip, this is under a 600w 2 cycle led, can cram 9 2gal nursery pots but it's to close and tight.unless your doing a scrog run.
This could very well get out of control with crowding. As I mentioned before this is an experiment. I hate scrog nets because after hermie incidents in the past I want to take each plant out of the room periodically and carefully prune and examine them for bananas and balls at eye level. Hard to see looking down on them. So the parameters of the experiment are to drill holes in the nursery pots and build vertical cages out of thick gardening wire to attempt to get the same effect as a scrog. Not tapered like a tomato cage, but squared-off. Trying to separate the colas for an even carpet. And try to get away with overcrowding that way. If it works the system will be more effective than a scrog because it's a more flexible system and can be more precisely fine tuned. I've seen many scrog net set-ups that still wasted horizontal space. They didn't fill the net holes and there is not any geometric cohesion to the carpet of colas. It's often not even, it's haphazard. I want corner to corner coverage and not waste one square inch of horizontal space or lumens. If the experiment fails and it gets completely out of control I have my old closet that I've been using for years. It's still got a 400W Super Lumen lamp hanging and ready to go and I have more ventilation equipment ready as well. My air conditioning unit should be able to cool both rooms. I have an alternative area with shelving that I can set up my clone nursery if they get pushed out of the closet. I have two fluorescent lamps ready . This could end up being a three-room operation if push goes to shove.
 
dirtyoldman

dirtyoldman

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2022 PROJECT GROW LOG ENTRY #5

EXAMPLE OF WHAT TRAINING CAN DO.


This girl has now developed 9 potential top colas and that's enough. This is what training methods can do for you. Hopefully in a week I can start building their training cages. Not quite yet.



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In perhaps a
 
dirtyoldman

dirtyoldman

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2022 PROJECT GROW LOG ENTRY #6

FLOWERING CYCLE BEGINS TODAY.


I'm getting a sea of green in here and I'm tickled pink. Still not ready to apply gardening wire. Going to wait until the budding sites/colas are a little more developed. But if the explosive growth continues it may force my hand. After getting nutes a few days ago these plants really took off again. Sucking up a lot of water now. I'm getting just what I wanted from HST/LST. Tons of budding sites. I have 10 potential colas on several of these plants. Training was sub-par on two in back corners but I'm just going to let them rip like this. They will likely end up being the tallest in the room. Appropriate for the back corners. The Mataros are starting to develop some big fan leaves. And I can see why this strain got its name. These leaves are like a blue/green color. Will be interesting to see if they develop any interesting colors later in the project. Need to order more Big Bloom today. That stuff is awesome. I use even more than what is on the directions. And I'll detect a faint smell of manure in the ten for about a day after application. And that's the bat guano in this Fox Farm product. I've been getting such great results since using Fox Farm. If I can keep up the good work and keep disease off these I'm going to have a superb harvest right about the time of my Birthday in June. Happy Birthday to me! You can see my remote temperature sensor to the left bottom. For newbies that don't know, a remote sensor is a must for a room so you can monitor the temperature and humidity. You can put it on your desk far from the room if you live in a big house and still get a reading. They have decent range. And always place it at the height of the top of your canopy. Especially if you decide to run a hot room. This room right now is running at 76F.



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dirtyoldman

dirtyoldman

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2022 PROJECT GROW LOG ENTRY #7

LIGHTS OFF PHOTO WEEK INTO FLOWERING.


Go that night time droop and it is 68F in the tent. Day before yestersday they got their first feed of Tiger Bloom plus Big Bloom. Yesterday swapped out the Halide bulb for the HPS bulb, and this 4 x 4 is developing a serious canopy. Thought I'd take one with the camera flash because inside-tent photos from now on will have that orange glow distortion. Healthy, healthy canopy. There are no leaf problems in here. Leaves are healthy all the way to the tips. In about one more week I will move on to the next stage of this grow. Taking clones as it is time to trim the undergrowth to allow better air flow. Clones root better when taken from bottom of the plant. At least that's my old-school knowledge. Don't know if it is valid or not. Something I learned a long time ago. As I trim these and take some clones I'll be looking for disease, pests and balls. And then I just might do that garden wire experiment and attach some guide wire to these nice plastic nursery pots. These pots are about completely dry every two days. Just keeping my fingers crossed about disease and pests. We have a problem with an invasive species around here. Stink bugs from Asia. They get into everything. Including my tent. Three managed to get in there probably while I was working. I've always worried about the little buggers carrying diseases. I remember reading about that one time. Them carrying a virus that can infect plants. The damned things have a two-year lifespan unlike almost all insects. So they hide come out of nowhere even in the middle of the winter. I find them in my place year-round. One time I rolled over on one in my bed and had to strip it in the middle of the night. Throw everything in the washer, even the comforter. Disgusting. I flush them down the toilet year-round.



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Buzzzz

Buzzzz

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Lighting: Hydro Farm 600w HID in 4 X 4 tent and Hydro Farm 400w HID in a 24 x 60 inch closet. Switching off from Halide to HPS shortly after flowering.
Strains: Mataro Blue (indica dominant) and White Widow (sativa dominant).
Nutrients: The Fox Farm Trio
Additonal nutrients: Neem Oil and Cal Mag Plus
Medium: Pro-mix BX Myco

Any help with this project is greatly appreciated. I may need it. It is my most ambitious project yet and I could have problems like all projects. I will post pictures. I can't compete with the pictures I've seen in contests but there are some nice pics on my profile. I've had some nice yields and kick-ass potency through the years. How many 5-gal. pots should I try to cram into a tent? I like to grow plants up to about 3 to 4 feet and I want to utilize HST and LST. I have a garden wire training thing I'm experimenting with. Like somewhat of a cage. I'm copying others' techniques. I'm a veteran grower but this is my first tent grow. I'm about to roll with a dual-room project and would really like to flower both rooms simultaneously if the ventilation works out. I may need to combine and "Y" the outtakes. The closet room will be a nursery of clones and the tent shut down after the harvest. And then I'll shut down the closet and only run the 4 x 4 for a few months. And then take a breather and maybe shop for new genetics. Hopefully about that time I'll be jarring up a good load of potent hash.

It's going to be a hash summer and the two strains I'm growing, White Widow and Mataro Blue, are known for high trichome production. Come along for the ride and watch me kick out some hash. I made a couple little jars of Blue Cheese hash last summer when I had those plants covered in trichomes. Even the scrap from that produced hash. And now I'm hooked on the hash train. I want more hash! When I put a little bit of that in the vape with weed it really lights me up. And sadly, I'm almost out of that sweet Blue Cheese hash.

So how many five-gallon pots should I cram into this tent? Assembling the tent caused me considerable pain this morning because I pulled a shoulder muscle trying to stretch the base last night. Got it mounted but had to quit because I was in pain. And then grimacing in pain finished the assembly this AM. The cage was a too-large diameter for the base. It was way off and I did tap the joints flush. It was too late to save my shoulder but I finally figured out that It was time to dig out the hack saw and trim 3/4 inch from one segment and 1/2 an inch from another. AFTER I pull a muscle and with a dull-ass blade. I was afraid I was going to rip the base trying to stretch it over with channel locks. But after a day of heavy ibuprofen therapy I'm feeling chipper and happy. And stoned. Although I'm taking it easy.

I've got 6 fem. White Widow and 9 fem. Mataro Blue seedlings. From BC Seed Co. Almost two weeks old. 100% germination like all seeds I get from BCSC. They're up and growing and the White Widow are being consistent with growing fast. Unlike most growers, as I've recorded in past logs, I start adding nutrients as soon as the first true leaves appear. They jump like rockets. I'm convinced this helps ward off disease as well. I've already grown WW from this source and it was spectacular. The best plant in the room, not a single ball or banana. And the heaviest yield. The taste was incredible and it made such potent hash. It had that unique spicy, perfumy taste and aroma. So I know I've got good genetics here. I'm cloning it off this time. I couldn't believe how fast the single WW plant grew. For most of the project it was twice the size of the others and the same age!

The grow tent is nice, I re-enforced the frame with thick gardening wire and tape. I should have enough equipment stocked and hoses and what not. Some of it new in the box. Brand new lamp. Just need a tower fan and some Big Bloom and I think I'm done buying stuff. I have a new closet fan coming. Those things never last. I hope I can make this tower fan last longer than those. I burn them out in a year or less running non-stop. The 4-inch hose fans have been champs and I have two of those ready. I think one of them just ran non-stop for almost 2 years. I use in-line ventilation fans as well to suck cold air in from outside or from the air conditioner. Some of those are surprisingly powerful. And they last for years. Hopefully the fans get the job done. This is the most powerful lamp I've owned and it is going to get hot in there. I was grateful that the tent had plenty of 4-inch hose ports as well as 6-inch. I thought maybe they would only have 6-inch ports. I had adapters ready. And I also have a big 6-inch 440 CFM fan with light hours on it. That thing is noisy but I may need to fire it up. The first test burn will tell.
Personally unless I was doing a sea of green ( in that case I would use 16) I would only put a few in because when they compete ,they shade each other ,they all lose and get tall and you gain nothing by adding more
 
dirtyoldman

dirtyoldman

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Personally unless I was doing a sea of green ( in that case I would use 16) I would only put a few in because when they compete ,they shade each other ,they all lose and get tall and you gain nothing by adding more
Yeah, it's getting pretty nuts in there. I've been busy with the home-run business lately but it's probably time to bust a move on this. They really did get away from me and crammed that tent with foliage in a hurry. I'm just going to have to set up a clone area on a nearby shelf and fire up the second flowering room in the next couple days. The 400 Super Lumen HPS is about to get lit. I kind of figured it might head that way. Nice luxury to have a second flowering room ready and it's time. i can have it set up in minutes everything is ready so here I go for that big, fat harvest. I think the three Mataro Blues go in the closet and I'll leave the six White Widows in the tent. It makes sense to separate them by strain. In case one is more prone to hermie than the other.
 
dirtyoldman

dirtyoldman

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2022 PROJECT GROW LOG ENTRY #7. DAY 10 OF FLOWERING PERIOD.

Listened to comments and moved the 3 Mataro Blue plants out of the tent and into the closet and kicked up the HPS400 Super Lumen. They stretched and filled it out like they were happy to have more room. Now this room of my house, which is also my office, looks like a real laboratory with hoses, wires, and timers all over the place. One of the Mataros looks great as seen in picture, but a couple White Widows in the tent are rivaling it in greatness. I've got a cloning area prepared with a four-foot fluorescent with standard bulbs and a 24 inch Hydrofarm fluorescent with full spectrum bulbs. So just short of a 6-foot cloning area. I shudder to think how expensive are four-foot full spectrum fluorescents these days. Haven't priced them yet. The way everything is zooming in price I'm in constant sticker shock. I think people are buying more retail now to look for bargains and avoid shipping costs that effect price. I know I just saved $7 buying a fan off the shelf.. I find out today I'm paying $240 more a year on my electric budget. Kicked in even before I fired up all these lamps. Plus a plethora of fans running now. I think I have 8 total fans running and I'll need to install something for the clone room as well when I get something draped over it. Not really necessary, though. I like the extra light in the area but still want a little clip fan or something on them. I plan on taking 25 clones and marking each cup so I can sort them out later if hermies appear. Of course, if that happens those clones hit the garbage can. So far, everything is perfect. There isn't an unhealthy spot on any of these plants. No leaf spotting, the leaves are all fine from stem to tip. They are due for a shot of Neem. They'll get that when I trim them out and start taking clones in the next couple days. New pint of Tiger Bloom got here today. That zoomed in price, too. I don't like buying quarts of the stuff because it has a tendency to crystallize in the bottle. I like it fresh. I might keep the cloning area and grow microgreens here for my salads. I need to eat more salads. Put on a few pounds over the winter. I plan on completing my second grow of 2022 with clones by September and then I'm going fishing in Myrtle Beach for a couple weeks. Was down there for 3 weeks last October and although there were a lot of storms I still had a good time. Was fishing on the pier and hitting the vape! No one even noticed. You're not supposed to do it, but I fought a big shark for about 25 minutes and brought it to the pier as people enjoyed recording the battle. A battle which had me climbing around and over things. And man were my arms tired! I make my own 140lb test steel leaders so I don't lose the sharks. Have not gotten in trouble yet despite the city ordinance! Caught 3 big sharks on the trip. And a bunch of smaller ones along with a long list of other fish. This year the trip will probably cost me $250 in gas. They're just getting started with their war over there. Mark my words, these things have a way of involving other countries. Other nations will be fighting Russia actively, it's only a matter of time. That's the historical track record. Everybody falls into it like a stack of dominos.


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AlfaDog

AlfaDog

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I grow in a 5by5 but my flood tray is a 4by4 so I always try filling every put and veg longer to fill almost to the walls but dosent really fill 100% but I'd recommend 9×5gallons smart posts and if you wannt het creative and put some work put 13×5gallon the canopy fills out in no time and very full
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