Some advice for outdoor livestock tank scrog lower michigan 2022

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PurpleLurple

PurpleLurple

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I am a second year outdoor grower in lower Michigan. Last year I grew one bag seed indica in a 300 gallon livestock tank, planted as seed right in the tank on June 1st. It ended up around five feet tall and very big around. Yielded 2 lbs almost. We had a very wet year and quite a bit of bud rot on the larger colas. I don't want to grow trees due to outdoor laws in Michigan. It's supposed to be enclosed and it's not so maybe I want to be a little more furtive this time around. I am doing an outdoor scrog this time with that stock tank. It is 8ftL x 3ftW x 2ftH. I'm looking for advice on how many plants to put in that space (my scrog screen is 10ft x 5.5ft. Since I do not want trees, I'm thinking about putting seeds in the ground around June 21st instead of June 1st. We flower here around August 15. That would give them around 5 weeks of veg outside. Growing indicas so not much stretch I don't think. Should I plant 5-8 plants in that tank for whole season (starting in ground with seeds on June 1st); should I plant 5-8 plants on June 21st to give them shorter veg time? Should I put 8+ plants in that tank starting on June 21st? Should I plant one seed for the whole season in that tank and scrog it to fill up the 50 square feet? I know it sounds insane but I don't want 2 liter bottle sized colas that are going to rot with the crappy autumns we have here. Anybody with any advice or experience please chime in. Thanks in advance,

PurpleLurple
 
MIGrampaUSA

MIGrampaUSA

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I am a second year outdoor grower in lower Michigan. Last year I grew one bag seed indica in a 300 gallon livestock tank, planted as seed right in the tank on June 1st. It ended up around five feet tall and very big around. Yielded 2 lbs almost. We had a very wet year and quite a bit of bud rot on the larger colas. I don't want to grow trees due to outdoor laws in Michigan. It's supposed to be enclosed and it's not so maybe I want to be a little more furtive this time around. I am doing an outdoor scrog this time with that stock tank. It is 8ftL x 3ftW x 2ftH. I'm looking for advice on how many plants to put in that space (my scrog screen is 10ft x 5.5ft. Since I do not want trees, I'm thinking about putting seeds in the ground around June 21st instead of June 1st. We flower here around August 15. That would give them around 5 weeks of veg outside. Growing indicas so not much stretch I don't think. Should I plant 5-8 plants in that tank for whole season (starting in ground with seeds on June 1st); should I plant 5-8 plants on June 21st to give them shorter veg time? Should I put 8+ plants in that tank starting on June 21st? Should I plant one seed for the whole season in that tank and scrog it to fill up the 50 square feet? I know it sounds insane but I don't want 2 liter bottle sized colas that are going to rot with the crappy autumns we have here. Anybody with any advice or experience please chime in. Thanks in advance,

PurpleLurple
Michigan grower here ... You will struggle to get many strains to finish before a Michigan fall sets in. I've been working on setting up my greenhouse for my summer run. Getting beyond the first week or so in October ... even with a greenhouse ... is difficult without WPM or bud rot setting in.

I'm growing "Fast" flower strains this summer. These are F1 hybrids of a cross between an auto flower plant and a photo period plant. These F1 hybrids are photo period plants and will start flowering in the first few weeks of July, giving you up to about 10 weeks to finish before the cold wet nights and the cloudy days of Fall ruin it all.

Running a scrog is fine but without special attention given to the strains you chose, even a scrog run might have trouble finishing here since the scrog does nothing to shorten the plant life cycle ... only the plant itself.

This is still a work in progress ... I've dropped my seeds into distilled water and will be getting the plants started soon so no pictures to show yet ... but here's a picture of the greenhouse as we get ready for the summer.

Work In Progress 2
 
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PurpleLurple

PurpleLurple

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Wow that’s going to be sweet! Where did you get seeds and what strains for fast flowering?

thanks
 
MIGrampaUSA

MIGrampaUSA

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I've purchased seeds from Oaseeds and Herbie's seeds. These are European companies which depending on many factors and how much you're willing to pay for shipping could take some time to be delivered. I've also purchased from Hella Dank Seed company out of Nevada and North Atlantic Seed company from Maine. Everyone has delivered the goods, just some faster than the other.

This summer I will run the following:


and


I have Sugar Black Rose Early version by Delicious seeds growing indoors right now. It started flowering at 15 hrs daylight and from the looks of it, should finish in about 8 weeks indoors under lights.
 
MIGrampaUSA

MIGrampaUSA

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Thank you!! I ordered some of the Tropicana fast and will try it this summer. Still going to try scrog on big tank I think
Scrog away and have fun doing it. The scrog idea to keep a shorter plant profile is a good one. I will run scrog sometimes indoors for that reason ... keeping heights contained.
 
PurpleLurple

PurpleLurple

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Hey MIGrampa! I see in reading for the FAST seeds from North atlantic that they are not supposed to be moved outdoors earlier than mid june? Is this only if youve grown it out to veg indoors? I cant imagine putting a seed in the ground June 1st v 15th will screw anything up. I emailed the company and awaiting a response
 
MIGrampaUSA

MIGrampaUSA

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Hey MIGrampa! I see in reading for the FAST seeds from North atlantic that they are not supposed to be moved outdoors earlier than mid june? Is this only if youve grown it out to veg indoors? I cant imagine putting a seed in the ground June 1st v 15th will screw anything up. I emailed the company and awaiting a response
These type of plants, although they're photo-photo period plants, they will flower during the long day sun in Michigan during June. Mine are just cracking their seeds right now which will give me about a 5 week veg before I put them outside. I will be vegging these plants at 20 hrs light. I'm not growing trees. My plants will be in 7 gallon fabric pots which are in the ground. They should not exceed 5 - 6 ft feet tall. This is intentional as I don't want the plants trying to grow out of the greenhouse.

If you look at the day length on June 1st it's still less than 16 hrs and your seeds (Tropicanna Poison Fast Version) will start flowering once your plants reach sexual maturity (3-4 weeks). This will give you smaller plants and a smaller yield at harvest. I would start them inside pretty much as soon as you receive them. Veg them until at least June 18th. Between June 18th and June 21st, there's only seconds differences in daylight hours where after the summer solstice daylight hours begin to decrease.

P.S. I always put my photo period plants out around that time. Most normal photos transplanted at around 18" at about the first day of summer can still grow to significant size by harvest.
 
Johnlandy420

Johnlandy420

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Michigan grower here ... You will struggle to get many strains to finish before a Michigan fall sets in. I've been working on setting up my greenhouse for my summer run. Getting beyond the first week or so in October ... even with a greenhouse ... is difficult without WPM or bud rot setting in.

I'm growing "Fast" flower strains this summer. These are F1 hybrids of a cross between an auto flower plant and a photo period plant. These F1 hybrids are photo period plants and will start flowering in the first few weeks of July, giving you up to about 10 weeks to finish before the cold wet nights and the cloudy days of Fall ruin it all.

Running a scrog is fine but without special attention given to the strains you chose, even a scrog run might have trouble finishing here since the scrog does nothing to shorten the plant life cycle ... only the plant itself.

This is still a work in progress ... I've dropped my seeds into distilled water and will be getting the plants started soon so no pictures to show yet ... but here's a picture of the greenhouse as we get ready for the summer.

View attachment 1242591
Jealous of your outdoor setup here! Looking good
 
PurpleLurple

PurpleLurple

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Well heck! I guess I’ll grow those next year then and start them early indoors. I’ll plant my photos this year and hope for the best. Earliest is an 8 week flowering time and that’s mid-October. Maybe I’ll just do a bunch of autos next year. Actually the seed company is sending freebie autos-I can plant them and see how they do in buckets. Learn every year. Thanks Grampa for the info
 
S

Steveroo

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3
I was wondering why your starting your girls so late in Mi. I started mine in March as i did the last 5 years and have got them in the ground the first week of June every year and have had awesome results ! Flowering has started 3rd week of August every year for me. I start them inside under LED lighting and getting an early start gives me time to pinch tops multiple times before going outside. most of my plant yield an average of 1 3/4 pounds per plant. This year I started tying down the branches of a Kush Sorbet that just looked like she wanted to stretch. at this writing she is about 3 x 3 foot wide with multiple tops . Plan on trying an outdoor scrog of sorts to see what the results are. Any suggestions will be gladly accepted !
 
PurpleLurple

PurpleLurple

55
33
I was wondering why your starting your girls so late in Mi. I started mine in March as i did the last 5 years and have got them in the ground the first week of June every year and have had awesome results ! Flowering has started 3rd week of August every year for me. I start them inside under LED lighting and getting an early start gives me time to pinch tops multiple times before going outside. most of my plant yield an average of 1 3/4 pounds per plant. This year I started tying down the branches of a Kush Sorbet that just looked like she wanted to stretch. at this writing she is about 3 x 3 foot wide with multiple tops . Plan on trying an outdoor scrog of sorts to see what the results are. Any suggestions will be gladly accepted !
I always plant in the ground around June 1st. 5-7 foot trees are big enough for me without adding more veg time( got 1.5 lbs per plant last year—plenty for me). Who knows? Maybe I will start early next year. I’m topping this year, and I haven’t before. Will that slow my veg considerably? I just try to avoid indoor growing. More things to have, more things to pay attention to. I plan on taking pictures through the grow and posting here.
 
S

Steveroo

3
3
I always plant in the ground around June 1st. 5-7 foot trees are big enough for me without adding more veg time( got 1.5 lbs per plant last year—plenty for me). Who knows? Maybe I will start early next year. I’m topping this year, and I haven’t before. Will that slow my veg considerably? I just try to avoid indoor growing. More things to have, more things to pay attention to. I plan on taking pictures through the grow and posting here.
I think topping tends to set them back about a week or two depending on the strain from what I've seen in the past. That's why I start them early. My LST girl is Now 4 ft. x 4 Ft, and has well over 40 possible main sites. As for going into October to harvest I try to get strains that don't have to go so long in Bloom. Bad time of year for bud mold. I grow outside in a 28 x 18 area topped with a PVC hoop frame and Greenhouse plastic over the top for rain protection. So far so Good !! This years strains are, Kush Sorbet, Animal Face, Lemon Mint, Jealousy, G-45 and Ice Cream Cake. Steve
 
PurpleLurple

PurpleLurple

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33
Hey Grampa,

Just curious, did your FAST strains start flowering? I germed mine on 5/15 outside in cups. They have been in the ground since 5/31. According to Sweet seeds they should start to flower 2 weeks early, which means around July 31 for me, as photos start around August 15 here. Mine are doing great, but show no signs of preflowers or anything like that. I also have two Sweet cheese FAST strains doing well with no signs of preflower.
 
SmokinJo421

SmokinJo421

315
43
I am a second year outdoor grower in lower Michigan. Last year I grew one bag seed indica in a 300 gallon livestock tank, planted as seed right in the tank on June 1st. It ended up around five feet tall and very big around. Yielded 2 lbs almost. We had a very wet year and quite a bit of bud rot on the larger colas. I don't want to grow trees due to outdoor laws in Michigan. It's supposed to be enclosed and it's not so maybe I want to be a little more furtive this time around. I am doing an outdoor scrog this time with that stock tank. It is 8ftL x 3ftW x 2ftH. I'm looking for advice on how many plants to put in that space (my scrog screen is 10ft x 5.5ft. Since I do not want trees, I'm thinking about putting seeds in the ground around June 21st instead of June 1st. We flower here around August 15. That would give them around 5 weeks of veg outside. Growing indicas so not much stretch I don't think. Should I plant 5-8 plants in that tank for whole season (starting in ground with seeds on June 1st); should I plant 5-8 plants on June 21st to give them shorter veg time? Should I put 8+ plants in that tank starting on June 21st? Should I plant one seed for the whole season in that tank and scrog it to fill up the 50 square feet? I know it sounds insane but I don't want 2 liter bottle sized colas that are going to rot with the crappy autumns we have here. Anybody with any advice or experience please chime in. Thanks in advance,

PurpleLurple
So I'm in lower Michigan as well!!
I know ALOT & im here to help if you need it or just want to bullshit.
I'm very curious what this livestock tank looks like. Any pics available?
 
MIGrampaUSA

MIGrampaUSA

3,732
263
Hey Grampa,

Just curious, did your FAST strains start flowering? I germed mine on 5/15 outside in cups. They have been in the ground since 5/31. According to Sweet seeds they should start to flower 2 weeks early, which means around July 31 for me, as photos start around August 15 here. Mine are doing great, but show no signs of preflowers or anything like that. I also have two Sweet cheese FAST strains doing well with no signs of preflower.
I'm showing preflowers on the tropicanna poison despite 20 hrs light/4 hrs darkness. My other plants haven't shown sex yet. I have led lights in the greenhouse on a timer.

P.S. The best way to minimize weather issues in Michigan is choose strains that finish in September. Last year probably was an exception but most years if you're done before October, you'll be ok.
 
SmokinJo421

SmokinJo421

315
43
I'm showing preflowers on the tropicanna poison despite 20 hrs light/4 hrs darkness. My other plants haven't shown sex yet. I have led lights in the greenhouse on a timer.

P.S. The best way to minimize weather issues in Michigan is choose strains that finish in September. Last year probably was an exception but most years if you're done before October, you'll be ok.
What do you think about sending plants into flower early in Michigan using a trellis and blacking out the plant feeding "bloom fuel" middle to last week of august?
 
MIGrampaUSA

MIGrampaUSA

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263
What do you think about sending plants into flower early in Michigan using a trellis and blacking out the plant feeding "bloom fuel" middle to last week of august?
To be honest, I haven't put any thought into that. I don't see myself using blackout curtains on my greenhouse.

At What point does the solstice start.
Mid august/late august?
Summer solstice (June 21) has already passed us by.
 
SmokinJo421

SmokinJo421

315
43
Lol the green house wouldn't be that hard to do at all, thanks 4 the info gramps but I was referring to winter solstice & beginning of flower?
I'm only doin 2 atm (at the moment) and can control that trigger and feeding them certain stuff that'll induce flower transition early if applied
 
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