RicinBeans
- 50
- 18
This is a bit of an involved plan I'm plotting out, and with a few moving parts, so I apologize in advance for the lengthy description and details. I just want to make sure to convey this journal as accurately as possible, so as to make it as informative as possible for anyone referencing it for any reason, or for anyone just looking to check in on a new grower's progress.
My first grow that I completed a few weeks ago turned out well enough that a couple of friends saw fit to help me expand my resources a bit. As such, there will be an additional tent (possibly two of them) coming in the next week or two, as well as upgraded lights, hence the "and third" in the thread title. Ultimately, the idea is to have a small tent to begin the cloning process in, a veg tent that a) holds one large-ish plant for cloning purposes and b) houses successful clones during the veg stage, and a flowering tent with the better lights in it, which will remain on a 12/12 as long as there are mature plants ready to throw into it.
In the meantime though, while the new gear makes its way here, I'm going forward with my initial plan, which is to see how my lower-cost lights perform on a SOG-type grow. The theory I've been kicking around is that those lights may have only been able to support much flowering on those large, robust plants that I had in my first grow, but might produce denser bud growth on smaller plants. Also, I'm generally curious about the two approaches to tent-filling.
Unfortunately, it's not going to be a direct apples to apples comparison, as I'm working with a different strain. Of all the seeds my buddy had in his collection, the only one with 11 feminized photos of the same variety was "Haterade" by Copycat Genetixx.
The reason for the number 11: The plan was 12, and for when the weather gets warm enough, to put 4 of them outside to grow by sunlight, leaving 1x1 sq ft for each of the eight remaining plants in the (4x2) tent. As I mentioned, 11 was the highest count I could get of a single feminized photo from the collection, but it worked out because when he brought them by, he also brought me a clone of "Blueberry Muffin."
So the plan is as follows: Assuming all of these seedlings take, the Blueberry Muffin clone will go into the new tent (I'll refer to it as "Tent B" going forward) along with some other clones my buddy expects to get his hands on in coming days/weeks. 3 of the "Haterade" will go outside, and the 8-plant SOG-style grow will progress with the an almost identical setup ("Tent A") as the first grow, which I'll link again here for a full list of the equipment.
The seeds were placed into a jar of water on 3/9, and onto a wet napkin on 3/10. Unexpectedly, one of the seeds had sprouted sufficiently to plant in something like 12-14 hours, so I did so early in the AM today. I'm checking on the rest of them every four hours or so, and will be putting them in their pots as they are ready. Below is the tent as of a couple of hours ago:
The only difference in configuration between Tent A in the first grow vs the current grow is the following two items:
1 12-pack of JERIA 1-gallon fabric pots
6x 2-packs of Umoonfine plant saucers with drain trays
The caddies were the only ones I could find that were sized small enough that I can fit 12 of them in the 4x2 tent with room to shuffle things around, and while the measurements in both product descriptions suggested that the pots might be resting on the lip of the caddies, they seem to fit very sungly into the center. I might consider rigging the caddies in a manner similar to the way I modified the pots in my first grow, where I create small feet for the cloth pots to sit on, but I'll play it by ear for now and see how these drain and dry out the way they're currently set up.
But there is plenty of new equipment coming outside of this tent:
TENT B PLANNING:
After a bunch of review-reading, hand-wringing and independent test comparisons, I went with a pair of ViparSpectra XS1500 grow lights for Tent B, which are currently en route. A part of me wants to throw them into Tent A as soon as they arrive, replace the current Wakyme lights with them, and finish the Haterade grow that way, but I'm going to be patient and let the plan play out, that way I get my SOG-vs-large plants comparison and also free up Tent A asap for clones I hope to make, both from the 3 Haterade plants that will go outdoors and the Blueberry Muffin that will go into Tent B once it's set up.
Should me friend not come through with the clones he hoped to snag me to fill tent B, I may decide to throw a couple of other seeds that I have in there, move them to Tent A when the SOG is complete (so I can safely convert Tent B into the flowering tent for the Blueberry Muffin clone), and start cloning at that point to fill Tent A with more veg-stage plants. After that, it's a matter of deciding the rate at which I'll be cloning, so as to keep a steady revolving door of clones going through the trio of tents.
As for the tent itself, I've not ordered it yet, but it's likely to be an identical one as Tent A, as that Vivosun is now a known quantity to me and I haven't had any problems with it at all.
I'll be more or less replicating Tent A as I get all the little components for Tent B, with the obvious, noteworthy exception of the ostensibly superior lights. There may be some brand changes for things like vent and circ fans, as prices have fluctuated dramatically since I set up Tent A last summer. I'll be sure to list any notable difference between the two tents as I acquire all of the equipment.
TENT C (for "cloning") PLANNING:
I may or may not wait a little while to set this up, as I wont' be able to clone anything for some time yet, but the idea here is a 2x2 tent. I'm not settled on the height, and as it doesn't seem especially important, I may opt for a shorter one if it ends up being substantially cheaper. I expect it will be easier to manage the humidity needs of clones in a smaller space, so it may be wise to go with a shorter tent regardless of price.
This is where my clones will begin in this revolving door of tents. I got these ENPOINT plant grow bags, and plan to manage them in a single tray that's small enough to leave room for a humidifier in the tent.
As for light, I had this Eecoo YB-1000W donated to me by a friend. There aren't many review of it out there, but I'm sure it'll be sufficient for cloning, and in the event that it's a bit too much light for that distance (should I get a shorter tent), it's a dimmable light, so it seems like it should be a good fit. And speaking of dimmable switches:
TENT A - POST-HATERADE GROW:
Since my thought is to have one plant that I hit up for clones at all times in the veg tent (Tent A), I wanted a pair of lights that are dimmable for that tent as well, so as to slow growth on that clone subject. As such, when this Haterade grow is complete, I plan to replace the Wakyme lights with a pair of these FREELICHT FL-1000 lights that I snagged for $40 a piece. I'm a little nervous about placing my known-quantity Wakyme with some new, unknown quantities, but reviews seem to suggest that the FL-1000 is up for the task of vegging (and possibly flowering, though I won't use them for that). I'll hang onto the Wakyme pair while I do my first grow(s) with the FL-1000 pair, and as long as it seems sufficient, I'll either resell the Wakyme or pass them onto a friend with a budget looking to get a first grow going.
And that's finally it! I'll be updating this thread with progress somewhat regularly and when there as an event of note worth documenting. I'll be sure to post periodic photos of Tent A, as well as Tent B and Tent C when those are set up, and I'll post video when it makes sense to. Also, I'm big on taking daily pics, so maybe I'll do another flipbook-style video at some point, as I did with my first grow. Please feel free to hit me up with any questions, suggestions or comments. And with that, see you soon, hopefully with good news!
My first grow that I completed a few weeks ago turned out well enough that a couple of friends saw fit to help me expand my resources a bit. As such, there will be an additional tent (possibly two of them) coming in the next week or two, as well as upgraded lights, hence the "and third" in the thread title. Ultimately, the idea is to have a small tent to begin the cloning process in, a veg tent that a) holds one large-ish plant for cloning purposes and b) houses successful clones during the veg stage, and a flowering tent with the better lights in it, which will remain on a 12/12 as long as there are mature plants ready to throw into it.
In the meantime though, while the new gear makes its way here, I'm going forward with my initial plan, which is to see how my lower-cost lights perform on a SOG-type grow. The theory I've been kicking around is that those lights may have only been able to support much flowering on those large, robust plants that I had in my first grow, but might produce denser bud growth on smaller plants. Also, I'm generally curious about the two approaches to tent-filling.
Unfortunately, it's not going to be a direct apples to apples comparison, as I'm working with a different strain. Of all the seeds my buddy had in his collection, the only one with 11 feminized photos of the same variety was "Haterade" by Copycat Genetixx.
The reason for the number 11: The plan was 12, and for when the weather gets warm enough, to put 4 of them outside to grow by sunlight, leaving 1x1 sq ft for each of the eight remaining plants in the (4x2) tent. As I mentioned, 11 was the highest count I could get of a single feminized photo from the collection, but it worked out because when he brought them by, he also brought me a clone of "Blueberry Muffin."
So the plan is as follows: Assuming all of these seedlings take, the Blueberry Muffin clone will go into the new tent (I'll refer to it as "Tent B" going forward) along with some other clones my buddy expects to get his hands on in coming days/weeks. 3 of the "Haterade" will go outside, and the 8-plant SOG-style grow will progress with the an almost identical setup ("Tent A") as the first grow, which I'll link again here for a full list of the equipment.
The seeds were placed into a jar of water on 3/9, and onto a wet napkin on 3/10. Unexpectedly, one of the seeds had sprouted sufficiently to plant in something like 12-14 hours, so I did so early in the AM today. I'm checking on the rest of them every four hours or so, and will be putting them in their pots as they are ready. Below is the tent as of a couple of hours ago:
The only difference in configuration between Tent A in the first grow vs the current grow is the following two items:
1 12-pack of JERIA 1-gallon fabric pots
6x 2-packs of Umoonfine plant saucers with drain trays
The caddies were the only ones I could find that were sized small enough that I can fit 12 of them in the 4x2 tent with room to shuffle things around, and while the measurements in both product descriptions suggested that the pots might be resting on the lip of the caddies, they seem to fit very sungly into the center. I might consider rigging the caddies in a manner similar to the way I modified the pots in my first grow, where I create small feet for the cloth pots to sit on, but I'll play it by ear for now and see how these drain and dry out the way they're currently set up.
But there is plenty of new equipment coming outside of this tent:
TENT B PLANNING:
After a bunch of review-reading, hand-wringing and independent test comparisons, I went with a pair of ViparSpectra XS1500 grow lights for Tent B, which are currently en route. A part of me wants to throw them into Tent A as soon as they arrive, replace the current Wakyme lights with them, and finish the Haterade grow that way, but I'm going to be patient and let the plan play out, that way I get my SOG-vs-large plants comparison and also free up Tent A asap for clones I hope to make, both from the 3 Haterade plants that will go outdoors and the Blueberry Muffin that will go into Tent B once it's set up.
Should me friend not come through with the clones he hoped to snag me to fill tent B, I may decide to throw a couple of other seeds that I have in there, move them to Tent A when the SOG is complete (so I can safely convert Tent B into the flowering tent for the Blueberry Muffin clone), and start cloning at that point to fill Tent A with more veg-stage plants. After that, it's a matter of deciding the rate at which I'll be cloning, so as to keep a steady revolving door of clones going through the trio of tents.
As for the tent itself, I've not ordered it yet, but it's likely to be an identical one as Tent A, as that Vivosun is now a known quantity to me and I haven't had any problems with it at all.
I'll be more or less replicating Tent A as I get all the little components for Tent B, with the obvious, noteworthy exception of the ostensibly superior lights. There may be some brand changes for things like vent and circ fans, as prices have fluctuated dramatically since I set up Tent A last summer. I'll be sure to list any notable difference between the two tents as I acquire all of the equipment.
TENT C (for "cloning") PLANNING:
I may or may not wait a little while to set this up, as I wont' be able to clone anything for some time yet, but the idea here is a 2x2 tent. I'm not settled on the height, and as it doesn't seem especially important, I may opt for a shorter one if it ends up being substantially cheaper. I expect it will be easier to manage the humidity needs of clones in a smaller space, so it may be wise to go with a shorter tent regardless of price.
This is where my clones will begin in this revolving door of tents. I got these ENPOINT plant grow bags, and plan to manage them in a single tray that's small enough to leave room for a humidifier in the tent.
As for light, I had this Eecoo YB-1000W donated to me by a friend. There aren't many review of it out there, but I'm sure it'll be sufficient for cloning, and in the event that it's a bit too much light for that distance (should I get a shorter tent), it's a dimmable light, so it seems like it should be a good fit. And speaking of dimmable switches:
TENT A - POST-HATERADE GROW:
Since my thought is to have one plant that I hit up for clones at all times in the veg tent (Tent A), I wanted a pair of lights that are dimmable for that tent as well, so as to slow growth on that clone subject. As such, when this Haterade grow is complete, I plan to replace the Wakyme lights with a pair of these FREELICHT FL-1000 lights that I snagged for $40 a piece. I'm a little nervous about placing my known-quantity Wakyme with some new, unknown quantities, but reviews seem to suggest that the FL-1000 is up for the task of vegging (and possibly flowering, though I won't use them for that). I'll hang onto the Wakyme pair while I do my first grow(s) with the FL-1000 pair, and as long as it seems sufficient, I'll either resell the Wakyme or pass them onto a friend with a budget looking to get a first grow going.
And that's finally it! I'll be updating this thread with progress somewhat regularly and when there as an event of note worth documenting. I'll be sure to post periodic photos of Tent A, as well as Tent B and Tent C when those are set up, and I'll post video when it makes sense to. Also, I'm big on taking daily pics, so maybe I'll do another flipbook-style video at some point, as I did with my first grow. Please feel free to hit me up with any questions, suggestions or comments. And with that, see you soon, hopefully with good news!
