600w MH/HPS Big Diesel Skunk X The Purps. Recirulating dwc & scrog - grow tent

bigslama912 · Jan 13, 2013

WELCOME TO MY GROW JOURNAL. :leaf:

feel free to post questions/comments

Starting up another grow, but now I have moved from a small bedroom closet into a 4x4 grow tent.
Here are a few pics from my previous closet grows...

STRAIN:

Big Diesel Skunk crossed with The Purps

NUTRIENTS:

General Hydroponics Flora Series.
SubCulture root innoculant.
Other additives will be added during flowering. Possibly Bud Candy but still tbd.

GROWING MEDIA:

38gal Recirculating Deep water culture system made from Really Useful Boxes, with rockwool and hydroton in 8" netpot.

THE GROW ROOM:

600W Lumatek Ballast with Hortilux HPS bulb and a Plantmaxx MH bulb inside a Hydrofarm vented hood
Hydrofarm 400cfm fan with 36" carbon filter
Scrog made with 1" pvc frame and steel wire from homedepot
4X4X6 Grow tent

PICTURES:

Plant at 2 1/2 weeks old. Took a while for the root to make it through the rockwool and hit the water, but once it did it started to take off.

View attachment 2478265 View attachment 2478268

Got the scrog in there, taken at about 4 weeks old. Got a couple water cans ready so the chlorine and evaporate off

Great things to come....

Slipon · Jan 13, 2013

nice pics and nice set up, will you use your old closed as Veg room now you got the tent to flower in ?

also I notice you use GH did you know about the Lucas Formula ?

http://lucasformula.com

Taviddude · Jan 13, 2013

Scrog is King

Krondizzel · Jan 13, 2013

Taviddude said:
Scrog is King

No it's not lol. You're just a king of scrog.

Krondizzel · Jan 13, 2013

Second: Ditch them 4 and 600's. Go straight to 1000's.

bigslama912 · Jan 13, 2013

Krondizzel said:
Second: Ditch them 4 and 600's. Go straight to 1000's.

I want to down the road, just using the equipment I already have for now.

Slipon said:
nice pics and nice set up, will you use your old closed as Veg room now you got the tent to flower in ?

also I notice you use GH did you know about the Lucas Formula ?

http://lucasformula.com

I have heard the term Lucas formula, but never really looked into it. Might have to give it a try.

I am currently not in the same location as my previous grows, but I do plan to get a seperate tent/cabinet down the road.

bigslama912 · Jan 29, 2013

Hey everyone, I have an update! :leaf:

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The plant is really exploding with growth now, plus it is finally having a chance to really get worked into the scrog. I plan to start trimming off the small growth from under the scrog, but starting slow in order not to stress her out too much.

I did not document the day of germination, but this plant is roughly 11 weeks old. It started off slow making its way through the rockwool and to the water but once it got there, growth exploded. If the current rate of growth stays I plan to flower within the next 2-3 weeks.

I have also taken 2 clones and they seem to be doing great. No roots yet, but still healthy and green.

Here are pics taken on 1/13

Here are pics taken on 1/16

Here are pics taken on 1/24

Here are pics taken on 1/29

Great things to come.

I learned 95% of what I know about growing on this website. For that. I thank you all.

doubletake · Jan 29, 2013

Looks like you were killing it in the closets ha really needed to upgrade to the bigger space.
the plant looks awesome are you going to flip to 12/12 pretty soon?

bigslama912 · Feb 2, 2013

Hey Everyone, Update time! :leaf:

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The plant still continues to explode, especially with new bud sites. I have continued to work it within the scrog until it fills roughly 80% then switch to flowering. Throughout the first growth spurt I will continue to pull down the growing branches, to keep them as even as possible. Overall flowering should begin in a couple weeks at the latest.

I have been mixing in a few teaspoons of some General Hydro Subculture Root inoculant and it has make the roots of this plan explode and they form these tiny little hairs, pretty cool to look at.

This is my first attempt at cloning as well, and they are pretty much dead... take 2 coming soon.

Pics taken on 2/1

[video=youtube;KGDi2-ZBY74]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGDi2-ZBY74[/video]

Pics taken on 2/2

doubletake said:
Looks like you were killing it in the closets ha really needed to upgrade to the bigger space.
the plant looks awesome are you going to flip to 12/12 pretty soon?

hopefully very soon, as long as everything goes to plan.

Windysmoke · Feb 3, 2013

how high above the top of the pots is your screen?

bigslama912 · Feb 3, 2013

Windysmoke said:
how high above the top of the pots is your screen?

Roughly 3 inches

pshadey · Feb 6, 2013

props Brotha man, i know you know who this is dont cha, im the guy that gifted those genetics to you. good job so far. i have 3 females in flower right now too under 1000k these girls love to stretch, i must say i like the diy undercurrent, no water chiller?. just keep a eye on those water temps. happy growing

pshadey · Feb 6, 2013

oh and check your water quality report and verify that the area that you live in doesnt use chloramime instead of just chlorine as chloramime doesn't evaporate with exposure to air, and you could very well be wasting your root inaculant, because as you prolly know the chloramine/chlorine will kill all bacteria

pshadey · Feb 6, 2013

sorry for the multiple post, but if i were you i would stick with the 600s, despite what others here think they are the better bulb as opposed the 1000k. the 600 has a higher lumern per watt rating, and it runs cooler so, you will be better off running a 600 closer to the plant than a 1000 farther away, as light intensity is reduced by half every 6-12 inches. And as far as the lucas formula its great, but you cant use it a full strength. instead 8-16 (micro-bloom) try using 5-10 ml per gal. my only issue with gh flora series is its lack of quality chelators(increased nutrient uptake through a broader range of ph), i used it for a while but have recently started using dynagro with much better results, quality and yield....

bigslama912 · Feb 14, 2013

UPDATE

So we are just over 13weeks now and she will now be transitioning into flower soon. The plant has gotten massive, with roots making their way into the recirculating system. I have found getting into the main container to pull back the roots rather frustrating.

My plan was to attach the lid of the main container to the frame of the scrog so if I lift the frame the plant and the scrog will lift at an equal height. So far I have only tried super glue, which failed miserably. Next I will be drilling holes through the lid of the container and zip tie it to the scrog frame. I was able to slip and my hand it and the roots on this thing are insane, just a giant solid mass of roots. Will post updates of results.
The plant has begun showing signs of a deficiency with little yellow spots on some leaves but others are missing a little chunk of the fan leaves as if bugs have eaten it... havent pin pointed what the issue is however I am 100% sure there are no bugs feasting on my girl.
Any advice is much appreciated, as I would like the plant to be the least stressed during this transition to flowering.

PICS!

bigslama912 · Feb 20, 2013

Time for an update! FLOWERING BEGINS!! :leaf:

Hey everyone, full 12/12 flowering is finally here! Today will be day 5 in full flowering. I have also done a bulb change to my Hortilux HPS bulb. I will be doing a fill water exchange to give it a fresh start for flowering, I also plan to transition the nutrients to the flowering dosages. The plants slight deficiency has seems to stop, but keeping a close eye.

What is everyones thoughts on Bud Candy additive. I have done a lot of reading and it seems to yield pretty good results, but many say its basically a molasses mixture. I plan to do a additive to increase bud and sugar productions, and I've been looking at bud candy. Just looking for other opinions.

Here are some pics. I will switch to another camera where I can adjust the lighting to take better pics with this light.

QUESTIONS or COMMENTS are WELCOME.

PICTURES

bigslama912 · Mar 11, 2013

Flowering Continues...

The plant is currently weeks 3 1/2 into flowering and producing promising results. The bundles of white hairs are showing on all bud sites and the plant is confirmed female. There has been A LOT of growth during the last couple weeks, and is also on full flowering nutrient schedule.

The smell is growing stronger by the day, even with the filter. Right when you unzip the tent a wave hits you in the face, one of the best parts of growing. I have also been using Bud Candy however I think I am going to make the switch to molasses.

Here are some pics from the last couple weeks.

Pictures taken 2/28

Pictures taken 3/7

Pictures taken 3/11

Great things to come

bigslama912 · Apr 7, 2013

_____Hey Everyone!____ :leaf:

There have been a lot of changes since I last updated this journal, but no worries this pretty lady still lives and it starting to get some solid little nugs. The water temps were starting to get way to high with the water and air pump plus the rising outdoor temps. Last night I hooked to my new Active Aqua 1/10 hp water chiller and the reservoir is sitting at a cool 68F.

The plant has reached what seems to be its maximum vertical height and is now focusing on bud production. Thats pretty much it, just keeping steady with the nutrients and keeping the water in the reservoir cycled through with fresh water and a weekly basis. Here are some pics showing the plants progress since the last update.

PICTURES!!

3/15