Dinafem Super Silver ScrOG (then SOG) [soil + CFLs]

[ourkansaw]

So I've been maintaining a grow journal on RIU, but their frequent server issues have put me in search of a better forum... and here I am! Here's a recap of my grow so far.

This all started with a Dinafem Super Silver seed I got as a freebie from Attitude. I germinated the seed and planted it in some topsoil from my (wooded) back yard, which is mostly worm castings. Here's a photo taken 3 days after germination:

I then got some good organic potting soil (and some perlite) and transplanted her. Here's a photo taken 5 days later, or 8 days from germination:

She immediately started growing vigorously. Five days later (day 13 from germination), and she was starting to look like a proper little pot plant:

I had decided by this point that I was going to do a ScrOG, so I thought it would be good to maximize the branching as early as possible. I did a FIM at the third node the day after that last photo was taken, and a couple days later it was clear that the FIM had been successful:

By around this time she was under four CFL bulbs:
1 x 42w 6500k
1 x 42w 2700k
2 x 23w 5000k

And she was growing like mad! Here's a photo taken on Day 21 from germination:

I decided to clone the two lowest branches, since they weren't getting much light anyhow:

Then, on Day 23, I transplanted the plant into its final grow container, a converted recycling bin with a screen fastened to the top:

A few days later, I switched the lights to 12/12, and never looked back. Here are weekly photos showing the plant around the end of weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of 12/12:

End of Week 1:

Week 2:

Week 3:

Week 4:

Today (one day before the end of Week 5):

That pretty much brings you up to date. Here's some eye candy from today:

Please feel free to comment, any feedback of any sort is welcome!

 

[ourkansaw]

I just realized I neglected to mention the SOG part -- I've decided that the ScrOG setup isn't conducive to the clone/mother type of growing I want to do, so I'm starting a perpetual SOG using clones of this same plant. Right now here's the mother plant (one of those clones I took from the bottom branches):

I'll be taking her first clone soon, with the goal of adding another clone to the flowering box every 10-15 days. Right now there is a small clone flowering, but it's not from this Mother plant -- it was a branch I accidentally snapped off when I was training the ScrOG. I decided to see if it would root, and more than a week later it looks like it's at least still alive:

There, NOW you should actually be up-to-date on this grow.

 

[ourkansaw]

Just a quick update before the weekend ends and my free time for posting vanishes for awhile. Today is the end of week 5 of 12/12 for the ScrOG.

I've decided I'm not going to take a clone from Mother until she gets close to the light up top, that way I can make it a long stem under the soil for the clone and maximize the likelihood of success. Here's where she sits now, so I'd say it might be another week or more before it's time to take the cutting:

In other news, the ScrOG has filled its screen completely and is now just growing up. It's already getting close to the limit for light penetration for CFLs, I'm afraid, so less than ideal. Here's a side shot showing how tall the canopy goes above the screen:

But, it seems like the plant as a whole is doing pretty well, so I'm excited to watch it keep going over the next couple months. Here are some more shots of the canopy:

And finally, some flower closeups for droolage:

 

[jagle]

Lovely grow man you are killing it.

first off, the first 2 weeks of flowering are more of a transition period and arnt counted in flowering times. so even tho they have had 5 weeks of 12/12 id only call it 3 weeks of flowering.

those clones are looking great.
tho i wouldnt wanna clone anything to far into flower.

other then that keep killing it, and use more cfls. the more the better

 

[ourkansaw]

Lovely grow man you are killing it.

Thanks!

first off, the first 2 weeks of flowering are more of a transition period and arnt counted in flowering times. so even tho they have had 5 weeks of 12/12 id only call it 3 weeks of flowering.

So you're telling me that when people say this strain often goes 100-110 days, I should really be adding 14 more days to that, so 114-124 days? Yikes! That's what I get for being a sativa lover, huh?

those clones are looking great.
tho i wouldnt wanna clone anything to far into flower.

As far as cloning during flower, I never intended to do that, it was a branch I accidentally snapped, and I've kept it under 12/12 rather than trying to reveg it or something. The other choice was basically to toss it at that point, and this seemed better, since it will at least produce a little nug I imagine.

other then that keep killing it, and use more cfls. the more the better

I just realized I never gave an update on the total number of CFLs I'm using at this point... I doubt I need too many more for this small area! Here's the current selection over the ScrOG:

42w @ 2700k (2800 lumen rating) x 2
32w @ 2700k (2200 lumen rating) x 2
26w @ 2700k (1750 lumen rating) x 4
23w @ 5000k (1570 lumen rating) x 3

That is a total of 321 watts of CFLs (21,710 lumens) over an area that is 22" long by 16" across. That's about 8,900 lumens per square foot, which isn't bad for a CFL grow.

So, in other really shitty news, my digital timer burned out at some point last night (while the lights were on), and I didn't realize until 2 hours after the lights were supposed to have come back on tonight. That's what I get for using a really old timer (I'd bought this one in 2003 and it's seen some really heavy use since then). Now I'm using an alarm on my phone and manually turning the lights on and off until I can get to the store and pick up another one.

 

[sir clamps]

hey dude really nice plants.
how do ya get em so compact when theyre little? mine r always leggier than yours.

 

[ourkansaw]

hey dude really nice plants.
how do ya get em so compact when theyre little? mine r always leggier than yours.

I kept the top of the plant about 1-2 inches from the CFLs, so that helped a lot! Also, it was 24/0 for the first week and a half, then 20/4 for two weeks before switching to 12/12, so I think the long "day" minimized stretching. Here's a photo showing how close I had the CFLs:

That photo was right after I raised the lights for the night, too. And that was two 42w CFLs (5600 lumens) on a 12-day-old seedling. I added two more bulbs a few days later, and it looked like this:

 

[saffron dreamz]

dense plant n hairy buds. i like em like that.

crazy lighting setup youre using!

 

[neverbreak]

wicked scrog bro, ya nailed it. that dinafem super silver looks like a keeper fo sho!

 

[jagle]

So you're telling me that when people say this strain often goes 100-110 days, I should really be adding 14 more days to that, so 114-124 days? Yikes! That's what I get for being a sativa lover, huh?

ya i am, if you look at the plant during the first 2 weeks of flowering, no real flowers happen, its stretchs and tries to adjust to changing its light cycle. Teenage boys go through years of hormones rushing everywhere as they change from boy to man, same idea. so yes i would take 2 weeks of your plants age, or add 2 weeks onto how long it runs for.

As far as cloning during flower, I never intended to do that, it was a branch I accidentally snapped, and I've kept it under 12/12 rather than trying to reveg it or something. The other choice was basically to toss it at that point, and this seemed better, since it will at least produce a little nug I imagine.

Ya i know you werent trying something serious just giving some advice

I just realized I never gave an update on the total number of CFLs I'm using at this point... I doubt I need too many more for this small area! Here's the current selection over the ScrOG:

42w @ 2700k (2800 lumen rating) x 2
32w @ 2700k (2200 lumen rating) x 2
26w @ 2700k (1750 lumen rating) x 4
23w @ 5000k (1570 lumen rating) x 3

That is a total of 321 watts of CFLs (21,710 lumens) over an area that is 22" long by 16" across. That's about 8,900 lumens per square foot, which isn't bad for a CFL grow.

So, in other really shitty news, my digital timer burned out at some point last night (while the lights were on), and I didn't realize until 2 hours after the lights were supposed to have come back on tonight. That's what I get for using a really old timer (I'd bought this one in 2003 and it's seen some really heavy use since then). Now I'm using an alarm on my phone and manually turning the lights on and off until I can get to the store and pick up another one.

Ok so actually thats alot more light then i thought, not bad. should get a decent enough return on them.
but can i ask why cfls? heat issue? or power consumption, its just a 250watt hps would be pulling around the same power as your cfls, and would give much better results

 

[ourkansaw]

Ok so actually thats alot more light then i thought, not bad. should get a decent enough return on them.
but can i ask why cfls? heat issue? or power consumption, its just a 250watt hps would be pulling around the same power as your cfls, and would give much better results

it's a combination of heat concerns (since this is in the attic) and a desire for greater flexibility. When I transition to a SOG I'll be putting each clone under its own CFL in a reflector, and a single hps wouldn't work as well that way. I also like being able to scale up or down my lighting based on my needs at different parts of the grow.

also, i don't care too much about yield, since this is strictly for personal consumption, and I don't consume very much (like an oz or two a year).

 

[jagle]

thats cool man just curious, an oz or two a year? really, thats some seriously low consumption haha..

 

[ourkansaw]

thats cool man just curious, an oz or two a year? really, thats some seriously low consumption haha..

Yeah, I'm an attorney and often work long hours. Many weeks I smoke one small bowl per week. Holidays are the main times I smoke more than a couple times a week.

 

[jagle]

oh ok cool cool. just what i find is that when you start growing you cant stop, and have to grow more, so you end up having to smoke it all away haha

 

[ourkansaw]

So here's a quick data dump for you data-heads. No photos today, check back tomorrow for those, then I'll be out of town for a few days, so no updates until I return early next week. Here's a summary of the datapoints for my Flower Box (FB) and Mother Box (MB):

And here are the graphs showing the full range of data for each box:

That's all for now, folks.

 

[ourkansaw]

Time for the promised photo update. Gonna have to keep this one short and sweet, need to wake up in 4 hours for a flight.

I did a thorough watering today (ScrOG really needed it, took like 3+ gallons), and took Mother's first clone. In doing so, I clipped off like 6 nodes along the part of the stem that's going underground for the clone, and a few of those had small branches already that looked potentially viable to be clones themselves, so I took some "micro" clones. My technique is dipping in rooting hormone and then putting directly in a soil/perlite mixture in their final containers. The following pictures are (1) Mother and her daughters (micro-clones were getting a quick soak before going in soil); (2) the current SOG family (Snap, Big Girl, and Micros 1 through 3); (3) Mother back in her home after giving birth; and (4 thru 7) the ScrOG from various perspectives.

As you can probably tell, I've raised the lights quite a bit since I'll be gone for almost 5 days. My next update will be Tuesday probably, so hang tight everyone!

 

[henry]

looks like a gr8 strain! sweet grow dude.
being an attorney must be convenient for know the law.

 

[ourkansaw]

Here it is, my long-awaited (hah!) update, with photos. The plants all survived just fine, and the flowers are really starting to fill in. Here are a couple canopy shots of the ScrOG:

And some closer shots of the ScrOG flowers:

The SOG clones are all looking great, even the tiniest ones. The oldest one, Snap, is full-on flowering, though not as densely as the ScrOG, obviously:

The other ones are hopefully putting out some roots, but haven't grown up top yet:

Backing up a little, I just wanted to show the SOG and ScrOG side-by-side:

Finally, Mother has recovered from the clone-taking and she's starting to stretch a bit. I'll probably clip the growing tips soon to slow things down a little and encourage her to get more bushy:

That's all for now, feel free to comment!

 

[monkeymun]

You're rockin' it bro! That ScrOG is sweet.

 

[jagle]

yep plants are doing very well..
what are you feeding them with