3x3 tent grow with 400w HPS

[Willy_Santos]

So this is my first grow in years. Nothing is really dialed in and I have never used a grow tent, but this isn't my first grow. I'm about 25 days out from when I started germinating. I'm still waiting on my tent so they are vegging under CFL's right now. So here's the broad strokes of the grow.

Medium:
-2 parts FFOF
-1 part Vermiculite
-1 part perlite

Strains:
-4x fem Greenbud WWxAK 47
-2x fem Greenbud Jawbreaker 47
-4x reg Nirvana Bubblelicious

OK so I haven't heard much about Greenbud on hear or elsewhere, but they were given to me by another grower for a third of their price on Attitude, still in breeder packs. They look good so far and seem like they would kill it in a scrog. The only issue with that is, the Bubblelicious seems to want to stretch and concentrate growth on the main stalk. I was hoping to fit up to 9 plants in 3 gallon grow bags in my tent, but that could be a no go as far as space causing me to chop a few. We will cross that bridge when we get there.

Here's a few pictures of the plants minus two Bubblelicious plants that got root bound in Solo cups.

Feel free to comment, critique, or question anything on the grow. Feel free to post about weather or pictures of tater tots... even though photographing your food and posting it to the internet is kind of lame, but screw it, it's a free'ish country and all are welcome.

 

[weariedjuggler]

You xan def fit the 9 3 gallon bags in a tent if it is truly 36 inches. but a lot of 3x3 tents are actually 30 inches. in that case it might be better to go with 8 plants 3 - 2 - 3. or 5 plants 2-1-2.

 

[weariedjuggler]

But youve got 4 regs in there so you wont know till you start flowering what your total plant count can/will be.

 

[Willy_Santos]

I'm thinking about throwing the Bubblelicious in early to sex them. 2 were root bound and clearly lagging behind, but the other two are an inch or two taller than the rest. Hopefully I can root out the male's early to make room for all of them. At the end of the day, it's okay if some don't make the cut.

Regardless, I appreciate the input.

 

[weariedjuggler]

Its good man. i have a few 3x3 tents too and i wanted to run 9 3 gallon smart pots in there but i ended up just growing them a little bigger and doing 4.

At this point ive build soil beds into the tents and i put between 1 and 8 plants in the soil bed. just depends on what my clo es look like at the time.

 

[Willy_Santos]

Its good man. i have a few 3x3 tents too and i wanted to run 9 3 gallon smart pots in there but i ended up just growing them a little bigger and doing 4.

At this point ive build soil beds into the tents and i put between 1 and 8 plants in the soil bed. just depends on what my clo es look like at the time.

Yeah the more I think about it, the more concerned I am with issues like airflow.

I actually saw that when I stalked a few of your grows. Do you have any issues with plants strangling each other when you put 8 in there or is it just a matter of how long you veg them

 

[weariedjuggler]

Yeah the more I think about it, the more concerned I am with issues like airflow.

I actually saw that when I stalked a few of your grows. Do you have any issues with plants strangling each other when you put 8 in there or is it just a matter of how long you veg them

Ill be honest i just make sure i dont try to grow multiple plants in small pots.

Those beds are between 6 and 9 cf of soil and a cf is roughly 6.5 gallons of dry soil. so between 39 and 58 gallons of soil per bed. there is way more than enough soil to grow any number of plants that would fill that small of a canopy. literally i could plant one per square foot or one per bed and there is enough soil.

I guess people run into issues of roots suffocating other plants when those plants would be getting rootbound whether they shared pots or not. cuz my large volume of soil makes it so competing for root space is a non issue.

Yeah and im stoned and tryin to figure out how to explain it. its prollt a mess to try to understand but the plants grow well together

 

[weariedjuggler]

Def airflow is an issue. i really worry about that all the time as those 3x3 tents get crowded quick.

 

[Willy_Santos]

T

Ill be honest i just make sure i dont try to grow multiple plants in small pots.

Those beds are between 6 and 9 cf of soil and a cf is roughly 6.5 gallons of dry soil. so between 39 and 58 gallons of soil per bed. there is way more than enough soil to grow any number of plants that would fill that small of a canopy. literally i could plant one per square foot or one per bed and there is enough soil.

I guess people run into issues of roots suffocating other plants when those plants would be getting rootbound whether they shared pots or not. cuz my large volume of soil makes it so competing for root space is a non issue.

Yeah and im stoned and tryin to figure out how to explain it. its prollt a mess to try to understand but the plants grow well together

That makes sense. Plants grow in the same "pot" in nature. If you had one plant in there long enough, as in years, it would probably get root bound. More plants just limits that time. The real question is whether plants run into problems faster in a soil bed or separate pots, given both method have equal amounts of soil.

Regardless, with 6-9 cubic feet of soil, you probably aren't going to have any problems with 8 plants and a reasonable veg time.

 

[Willy_Santos]

Ok, so it's been a while. Not much has really going on until I flipped on the 15th. One of the Jawbreaker 47's has already thrown preflowers. Here's the breakdown by strain:

White widow x AK47: compact with tight node spacing. Very pungent.

Jawbreaker 47: both plants are showing sativa dominant traits. They are both showing some stretch already, but it seems like the lower branches have compensated to form an even canopy.

Bubblelicious: the two rootbound plants seem to be recovering. I will probably throw the in once I sex the other 2. Of the other two seems to be male. It seems more mature than the others and is a solid 3-4 inches above the rest. Can't be sure but it's something to watch.

I will update with some photos soon.

 

[Willy_Santos]

Just got back from 5 days spending the holidays with my family. Plants looked great, but thirsty. 2 Bubblelicious were male, but I think I got them in time. A third appears to be sacking up, but it's not a huge loss. It might be a great opportunity throw some new beans in the dirt and stagger my harvest. HPS is hung, as is the carbon filter, which was desperately needed since my apt smells like two skunks screwing on a pile of garbage... But like in a good way

 

[Willy_Santos]

Noticed a great pheno in WW x AK47 #4. Great lower branch structure and already starting to get frosty after week 2. Must be WW dominant.
Things are starting to get interesting. The Blue OG has sprouted.

Chemdawg is in the dirt approaching its own groundhog day.

 

[Willy_Santos]

So at 22 days things are kind of taking shape and I'm seeing things that need tweaking. First off, running different genetics in a tent really damages yield. I thought all the AK crosses would be similar but I was off. Even among the AK47 x WW there were 2 extremely different phenotypes:

The snowman with its darker and slightly more indica looking leaves and it's high resin production.

And the more AK dominant pheno.

The Jawbreaker has really been the big surprise. It seems like a very stable cross. The way it branches out with very little training is pretty sweet. It seems like it would be awesome outdoors.


And finally, the next strains to go in:

Blue OG

And chemdawg limping along after some sprouting disfunction.

 

[LibertyHazeJedi]

Looking good, more soon I hope?

 

[farmerfischer]

Yup!! Looking good eh!.

 

[Willy_Santos]

Here are a few bud shots from the last week. Things are coming to a close. Harvest is tentatively 2 weeks away