First timer - Advice on when to flip, and best methods to develop this grow

Gerber101

Gerber101

Member
I'm close to flipping into Flower. I'd like some advice on when to flip, and the best way to continue. I was originally going to scrog these, I have a net ready to place, any advice would be great.

Currently Day 42 in Veg

Set up:
4x4 tent with 4 plants in 7 gal pots, all sitting in 3x3 drain try - I'm only growing to a 3x3 footprint because of current light limits.

I was originally going to scrog these, looking for advice on the best path forward from this point.

Lights - Platinum P450, HHE 300
The 450 covers the 3x3. The 300 is pretty small, its pointed at the smallest plant for now. Not sure how I'll use the 300 in flower yet.

Strains - 2 OG kush, 1 Christmas cookies, 1 Northers lights (2 weeks younger than others)

The plants have been topped many times. I've trained them a bit to help them bush out, and now they seem pretty dense. I'm not in a huge rush, but I thought I'd already be in flower by now. The back left plant lost 2 large branches, so that corner is a bit bare. I salvaged a few clones from them.

I'm not trying to set any records with my yield, just trying to learn and get a good quality product. I thought about attempting a scrog, it looked like a good way to get a slightly larger yield with fewer plants, but I may be in over my head for the first time

Can anyone offer some advice on what I should/could do at this point, when should I start the 12/12? I don't really have to scrog. Maybe I can go the tomato cage, or bamboo stick/support route if that seems better for a beginner. Tent is 7ft tall.
 

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Chris323

Chris323

Well-Known Member
I will start by saying your girls look great !!! good job so far! Next i will say everyone has an opinion and they are never really the same.. you can count on your plants stretching at least 100%... SOOOOOO you have to really look at what plant matter is there and visually think "do i have enough room for these bitches if they double in size?" if yes put in some bamboo supports and ride into the sunset. if not you have to figure your shit out cuz its going to get messy as fuck! looking at your picks i would say your best course of action would be to set in your scrog net make a nice even canopy and flip those bitches.. i would also say that you can take off anything under the net that is not really getting light because your going to spend way to much time trimming bullshit fluff that will just piss you off ( been there done that myself). I scrog 3 times and just cant be bothered any more to be honest ... i dont even top! just let them do there thing and shit turns out great!! but hey take what you want from my rambling reply lol !! happy growing
 
somebody1701

somebody1701

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't scrog on my first grow. KISS. I use tomato cages and/or bamboo pools. Chris323 is right about the height doubling. The key for me would be do you think your roots are fully developed? If so, flip now or when the plants get to 1/2 the max height you can support in your space (don't forget the width of the light and the space it needs between the top of the plants). If the plants are too tall already, I would be prepared to super crop them later when necessary.
 
Gerber101

Gerber101

Member
Thanks you for the response. I'm glad to hear that the girls look healthy. I don't think I'll do the scrog after hearing from you guys. I've already trained and topped and learned a lot about extending yield in that way. Scrog seems like an extension of that, maybe I'll try it next time. I think I'll go the bamboo post route, it will be the easiest for me to tweak/modify as I need.
My tent is 7 ft tall, so with the light at the very top I should be able to grow up to about 5ft. The plants aren't very tall, but 2 are very bushy, so I think I'll be ok with the height (fingers crossed).

If its flip time for me, I do have a couple questions:
When time/hour do I start the new cycle. I currently do 18/6, starting at noon. Do I need to start the 12/12 at noon also? I'd like to have my flower lights run over night.
Do you recommend doing anything special with the lights when I flip? Off for longer on the first day or anything like that?
Is there a special way to feed before a flip, or should I flip just before/after a water? Should I do a flush first?
 
Chris323

Chris323

Well-Known Member
The very first thing you have to do ...... STOP OVER THINKING !!! Lol set your timer to come on at the same time as it normally would and to go off 12 hours later .... That's all ya have to do .. No need to flush or give periods of dark or any of that jazz ..
 
Gerber101

Gerber101

Member
My current light schedule for VEG is Lights Out at 12:30pm - 6:30pm. I'd like to start FLOWER tomorrow or the next day, but I'd like the schedule to be from 8am-8pm. Will I have issues doing this? I need a little time in the morning and evening to tend.
 
evergreengardener

evergreengardener

Well-Known Member
Gerber101 said:
My current light schedule for VEG is Lights Out at 12:30pm - 6:30pm. I'd like to start FLOWER tomorrow or the next day, but I'd like the schedule to be from 8am-8pm. Will I have issues doing this? I need a little time in the morning and evening to tend.
Click to expand...
You can change the schedule if you want may shock them tho maybe go from 8pm to 8am so that your not changing it by much time. Also feed them your veg nute for first week or 2 of flower
 
somebody1701

somebody1701

Well-Known Member
In my experience, you can change the light schedule however you want and it doesn't shock the plants. I've accidentally left the lights on all night during flower a couple of times (I don't recommend this) and had no ill effects. Maybe it's just the strain I grow, but all this extra hoopla regarding lights always seemed like BS to me. Don't have even the tiniest light leaks, leave them in darkness for 24 hours at the start of flower, etc. If you understand how the length of the light effects a hormone, you realize it takes days or weeks of a light change to matter.
 
Gerber101

Gerber101

Member
Thanks for the replies again guys!

I think I'm going to try 12/12 starting tomorrow. Rather than turn the lights out at the normal 12:30, I'll turn them out 4 hours earlier, at 8:30 am and start the 12/12 from there. Fingers crossed.

For nutes - I've seen many say to keep the veg nutes going for the first week, then slowly introduce the bud nutes following, I'll try that.
 
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