5by5's 2nd RDWC grow

I topped them two nights ago. Almost got behind as they are growing pretty fast.

They are going into flower in a week or two as long as they stay healthy.
At this rate they will quickly outgrow the tent if I don't.

Healthy looking plants man

If I may ask how tall is your tent? I’m working on my first grow and am around 22 days into veg, after seeing this post I’m starting to worry about vertical space.

It's 7ft. If you are starting to worry you probably are right. I let mine veg too long last time.
Because of this, had to bolt the lights directly to the top cross-poles using 1/2 EMT clamps. I needed every inch. Never again lol.

Make sure you top your plants and then put a cheap trellis net across your tent. Use it to keep the buds/leaves underneath as long as you can. In other words, spread out your canopy and keep it at the same level as best you can.

Appreciate the tips!!!

I was skeptical about topping or manipulating the plant in any way since this is my first time and I wanted to see the process to completion at least once before experimenting. Also to be frank I need to educate myself more about plant manipulation to feel comfortable.

I’m thinking a trellis would straight forward to implement but I’m at a similar stage (growth wise) and feel it may be pointless trying to impliment one at this point but then again I could be completely mistaken.

What do you think? [included pictures of current grow status]

Well, I think you shouldnt worry about messing with them as far as training. If you break a stem then just tape it up with some tape and it will be fine. A net will pay you back for sure.

So a quick picture a few days after topping.
Res change tomorrow, shooting for around 350 or so.
I am dropping the Grow some and going a little bit up on the Micro. Look close at the back left plant and you will see N tox and some weird curling on the new growth, plus it's generally more pitiful state than the others.
I am thinking this may be because I am running so little PPM's, and thus so little Micro may not be providing what I need.
The EWC tea for sure adds N. It must be because of something the bacteria adds to the mixture. I am not sure but we will see.

So I ramped her up to 320 ppm and 5.8. I guess the PH should go without saying because it drifts little anymore.
The roots, although pitiful compared to last year have to be given the credit that they have went from nothing to something again in 12 days, after having been chemically burned off with peroxide, lol. Shit happens.
The roots in the back are not brown, it is just the contrast being weird. If I bring them closer they look white too. They are starting to tangle around the air lines.

So far so good, not at all perfect but they will do. I have some N tox and other shit but I think I have it figured out. Changed my mix for less N and we will see.
The place is rank of veg. Getting a filter on there soon lol.

One last thing, I built this little duct because our outside temps have been getting into the 80-90 range.
With the duct I have a constant 6 degree rise from ambient. I have been able to keep the tent around 80-82 during peak heat.
I am holding off on a filter for this reason, but man, the shit is starting to stink.

After training. I just tied 4 points on each plant. They look like shit after being bent down but last year they pointed back up overnight.
I am putting up the net tomorrow and switching to 12/12 so long as they respond well to the training.
I busted one of the branches half off the back left one. It only broke a little bit, so I just taped it back in place and it will be fine. I just cant bend that one as much now.
Little bastards.
I am switching to flower early this year because I am thinking that since I have double the plants I can get away with each plant being smaller and still yield well similar to two large plants. I like the variety anyway.

PPM - 350 with a base of 80 so 350-80 = 270 true ppm's.
20 gal tap water @ 80ppm.
10ml Armor Si
10ml Calimagic
40ml Micro, 20ml grow, 40ml bloom (I cut some of the nitrogen because I was getting dark leaves and tips.)
EWC Tea 150ml once a week.
PH moves around maybe .1 a day.
I cut out some grow because the tea is adding nitrogen in some form. The back plant is the last one still showing any symptoms of N tox, but I am thinking that the tips that turned down will stay down no matter what. The fan leaves are bigger than my hand!!!

Based on the last two grows experience with topping and training, I think I would be ok to top some autos.
I still have auto fem uk cheese seeds that I want to grow because they are getting old. I am going to clean my system and rip those after these are done.
Anyway they are chugging right along without any problems.
This res I have noticed my water level dropping quite a bit and my PPM's are dropping about 10 per day as well. I am very happy to see this as I am not just guessing at nutrient strength anymore.
PPM's 330.
My temps are hot, sitting around 85 max and dropping to 78 at its coolest. Not bad considering I have two LEC's running and its 80 outside. Same as last year.

Switched to flower on 8/14. So its day 3. Once they get tall-ish I am taking off the bottom 1/3 of the plant.

CrvenaZvezda said:

Appreciate the tips!!!

I was skeptical about topping or manipulating the plant in any way since this is my first time and I wanted to see the process to completion at least once before experimenting. Also to be frank I need to educate myself more about plant manipulation to feel comfortable.

I’m thinking a trellis would straight forward to implement but I’m at a similar stage (growth wise) and feel it may be pointless trying to impliment one at this point but then again I could be completely mistaken.

What do you think? [included pictures of current grow status]

Click to expand...

They look healthy! You should top them, right now, in my opinion. But learning the structure of the plants is important too. Top them or flower them pretty soon if your tent/space is 7’ or shorter.

Different plants are differently trainable, practice early, practice often. Topping and/or training are well worth it, in my opinion. You don’t have to top, you don’t have to train, but you should do at least one of them. At least next time, try it. It is smart of you to make it easy on yourself this time, if you so prefer, but you’ll want to start flowering right away if you choose not to.

(Subvert that apical dominance, subvert it good!)

Michael Huntherz said:

They look good! You should top them, right now, in my opinion. But learning the structure of the plants is important too. Top them or flower them pretty soon if your tent/space is 7’ or shorter.

Different plants are differently trainable, practice early, practice often. Topping and/or training are well worth it, in my opinion. You don’t have to top, you don’t have to train, but you should do at least one of them. Subvert that apical dominance, subvert it good!

Click to expand...

Thanks man!!! I’m fairly pleased as well, this being my first adventure I’ve only run into a few ventilation issues which is due to me underestimating my needs and being a fool to start my grow in the middle of summer.

Likewise I underestimated how quickly these ladies would grow once they got going.

Haven’t done any training but will be entering flowering within the next 3 days (beans sprouted July 25th)

I transplanted from quart size containers into 5 gallons on 8/9 and roots were coming out the bottom 7 days following transplant!!!

Looking back it was also unwise of me to start such a large garden, it seemed like a good idea at first but boy did I bit off more than I can chew!!! I swear I expected some to die on me along the way

[First two on the left are random bag seeds - 3 small containers in the middle are autos - remaining plants are GMO Cakes and my main crop]

Your first grow appears like it is going well. The only problem then is doing it again a second time!!
Again, topping and trimming will pay you back big come harvest time.

These things are sucking down about 2 gallons a night, also dropping the ppms around 20 a night.
My PH dropped to 5.5 last night, I am assuming because of the nutrient usage during the flowering transistion.
Starting to see little budlets. I am going to put up the scrog net tonight or tomorrow.

After some trimming on the lower 3rd.