250 watt HPS Scrog Custom Built Cabinet

Time for a trim

If my plant were a native American-Indian, it would be called in English: Many Tops Ascending to the Sun; and known by those familiar as Many Tops, one day chief of the Many Tops Tribe.

At this point, it seems that each branch is growing relatively even in height, with each branch growing in its own direction. I intend to allow these branches to grow vertically until they reach the upper screen at which point I will train them under the upper screen.

I began watering with 1/4 strength Advanced Nutrients' Micro-Bloom-Grow combination today as saw an indication of a deficiency of some element besides nitrogen.
The lady tells me what she wants, she gets what she wants.

I wonder, and may find out, if I were to bury the plant up past the beginnings of its branches (which are all very near the base of the plant) would all of those buried stems adapt to the new soil conditions by growing new roots. If that is what takes place, the effect would be a single marijuana plant that appeared to be 6 or 7 separate stalks rising directly from the earth 1.5 feet before branching out under the top screen. I am aware, however, of the possibility of less favorable (and fun) outcomes.

She is really taking off, I like your idea of reburying the main stem to try for more roots, I say give it a try

I was thinking it would look sweet to have several stalks just rising from the ground as though it's a tiny marijuana forest.

how big is your box?
I have a box of 31.5 in (80cm) hight, 24in (60cm) wide, and 12in (30cm) depth an i want to install a 250hps but i'm worried about the heat.

And your babies are looking great

It's 2x2x4. If you research air cooled hoods and cool tubes, you'll see that there are several ways to dance around heat, even in a small space. If you rig it up and it is just too hot in your box, it would be worth simply moving to a bigger box, even if it adds to the start up costs. The results will certainly be worth it if you're using CFLs now.

End of the first month of veg with pre-flowers appearing.

Bushing out hard!

Things seem to be growing normally now that nutrients have been introduced.

Two very similar shots of the plant growing unrestrained. The nutrient problem has been resolved it would appear; the new growth is lush, vibrant, and lively.

Trimmed a bit

Joos Springsteen said:

Trimmed a bit

Click to expand...

Hey Joos, thought I'd drop it and sub to your journal finally lol.

Damn Joos, she's a meaty lil' gal eh?

Meaty is a great way to describe it; especially if we're comparing this plant to the several I grew with CFLs. Though I was pleased with the results of the light fixture I built for my first grow, I'm ecstatic, to say the least, about the leap in power the 250w bulb makes over the CFLs. I plan to try an MH bulb for veg on the next grow in order to compare the results of an all-HPS run with those of a mixed lighting schedule.

Some time ago, I think you advised me to get my cords up from the floor, and I intend to take that advice before too long. For now, however, I've been doing my watering in the bathtub. Once the plant is reaching the upper screen (ending my bathtub watering), I figure on drilling a hole near the top and adding a box on the outside through which I can route the cords.

TheVeg said:

how big is your box?
I have a box of 31.5 in (80cm) hight, 24in (60cm) wide, and 12in (30cm) depth an i want to install a 250hps but i'm worried about the heat.

And your babies are looking great

Click to expand...

You can do it man, U need a cool-tube for that small space, a RVK extraction fan (5" should be more than enough), and maybe u cud even get away with a passive intake. I'm not in a space that much bigger than what u've described, nearly the same footprint, just twice the height, lol, but i'm running 850watts in there, so i'm sure with half the space u can get a 250W going no problem, a little research will go a loooooong way, research some stealth grows to get an idea cos it sounds like that what u've got going on.

Joos whats going on man? U decided against doing a crazy flat scrog then? or did u tie everything back down...

The way it has turned out, I found that the lower screen was great to get an initial bush-shaped plant, but at the same time I didn't want to copy your grow step for step. At this point the plant will grow freely until the time when I can place the pot on the bottom of the cabinet. Following that, the plant will begin filling the top screen and I should have a nice looking shrub to train and trim through the end of the veg stage.

Joos Springsteen said:

Meaty is a great way to describe it; especially if we're comparing this plant to the several I grew with CFLs. Though I was pleased with the results of the light fixture I built for my first grow, I'm ecstatic, to say the least, about the leap in power the 250w bulb makes over the CFLs. I plan to try an MH bulb for veg on the next grow in order to compare the results of an all-HPS run with those of a mixed lighting schedule.

Some time ago, I think you advised me to get my cords up from the floor, and I intend to take that advice before too long. For now, however, I've been doing my watering in the bathtub. Once the plant is reaching the upper screen (ending my bathtub watering), I figure on drilling a hole near the top and adding a box on the outside through which I can route the cords.

Click to expand...

MH is nice if you can take the heat, if you can't T5 w/ Daylight spectrum bulbs work REALLY well. Honestly with all variables considered, I prefer the T5 to MH. Don't get me wrong MH is great, but T5's are easier to manage in my opinion. Duct tape and zip ties work wonders for a temp fix for cords.

Lol yeah CFL's are good for supplement, veg or clone personally. The amount of adjustment that needs to be done to ensure proper lumens is absolutely ridiculous with CFL's. The jump between CFL's and 250 is definitely a big difference lol.

Growing out 'n' up

Dig the pics.

Looking good man, try nd keep fan leaves on when she's small as the plant doesnt hav a lot of green surface area when its young, the fan leaves account for over 50% of the plants photosynthesis ability at this stage i reckon. Once uve grown sets of leaves to replace any ur thinking of cutting, do so then. This way u keep energy produced high

lilindian said:

Looking good man, try nd keep fan leaves on when she's small as the plant doesnt hav a lot of green surface area when its young, the fan leaves account for over 50% of the plants photosynthesis ability at this stage i reckon. Once uve grown sets of leaves to replace any ur thinking of cutting, do so then. This way u keep energy produced high

Click to expand...

I concur, keep those fan leaves on Joos. Imagine that those big fan leaves are like solar panels for a solar powered house. No panels, no power. In the sense of a plant it is killing your plants energy/food to grow properly. Another thing to consider is stress, stress like that can cause hermies for sure. Stop picking those fan leaves off, especially since you're now in flower. You should notice a lot more growth after leaving the leaves alone, the big fan leaves will fall off when they need to. The only trimming that needs to be done is about 2-4 inches on the bottom of the meristem/main stem, to allow proper air flow (If needed). Do this in Veg, not Bloom.

The lollipop technique is better for a SoG style perpetual grow, anything else I don't think it really helps at all. A lot of people have practiced this technique for awhile, but as growing techniques have advanced it's not being used as much now. You'll still find some who practice this method, but not as much as before. Different tokes for different folks, but in my experience that method is honestly best for SoG perp grows.

Not trying to be a critic or anything Joos, thought I'd clarify as my posts can seem dry sometimes lol.