How to scrog up bushy nl#5xhaze girls?

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Hey hi folks,
admittedly, I may have bit off a bit more than I can chew by deciding to top, LST, gently defoliate, and scrog Northern Lights#5 x Haze from Sensiseeds all on my second closet grow - it all just made so much sense to me I got excited and went for it, haha!

So now I feel hampered by my inexperience and unsure of how to proceed with the scrog -- and would greatly appreciate your opinions! :mrgreen:

Some background facts:
  • my closet has an area of 0.5m x 0.9m (20" x 35"), with max plant space (top of pot to max. height under lamps) of 0.6m (24")
  • lighting was 150W MH and now is being supplemented by a 200W growth CFL, for flower I have a 150W HPS which will be supplemented by 200W flower CFL
  • my medium is 28L of recycled soil
  • I have 2 plants, one of which I thought was going to die, so I just planted it into the pot that was actually designed for 1 plant. Instead, she decided to stay alive, though growing more slowly than the other (for a while it looked like it was an indica-leaning pheno, the differences especially in leaf form are disappearing)
    Northern Lights #5 x Haze is said to have quite a stretch after switching to 12/12
  • I counted the first 5 days of growth as the germination phase, and they are on day 40 of veg today (so, 45 days from sprouting in total)
    • I first topped to the 4th node on day 14 and 17(=the slow plant) of veg
    • transplanted from germination pots to the big pot on day 17
    • defoliated big fan leaves that were blocking out light on day 20 and 27 (always a bit less on the smaller plant)
    • started LSTing on day 27 (the smaller plant on day 29)
    • and topped a second time on day 29 and days 31/32 (continuing to treat the smaller plant more carefully than the larger)
    • I left them to grow out until the full moon on Thursday, and after that have been defoliating here and there as well as LSTing to get more light to the middling branches, and have also begun removing undergrowth that doesn't look like it'll make it anywhere productive.
And here we are!
Both plants have grown very bushily - the branches are very crowded and can't really unfold even with LST, as the internodal lengths are so short. So I'm thinking of switching to 12/12 very soon to hopefully! alleviate that.
But which way to go?

1. install the screen to the height of the smaller plant - and the shorter tips of the larger plant's branches, and try to weave the longer ones outwards during stretch? Starting like this:
2015-11-29_1.einscroggversuch-hoeher (1).JPG

in this case, the canopy looks like this:
2015-11-29_1.einscroggversuch-hoeher (2).JPG


2. OR place the screen a bit higher (by 5cm = 2in) so both plants still have to grow into it, and just pinch out any branches that don't make it above the screen or are just too many per square of screen? Looks like this:
2015-11-29_2.einscrogg-final  (2).JPG

the canopy then looking like this:
2015-11-29_2.einscrogg-final  (1).JPG

What would YOU do? :shock:
Thanks!
 

Bose

Well-Known Member
If so mark the calander. Then mark it again when you start to see pistils. I was told you will start to see pistils between 7-14 days generally. My one plant took almost three weeks to show pistils. Good luck and post pictures.
 

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
If so mark the calander. Then mark it again when you start to see pistils. I was told you will start to see pistils between 7-14 days generally. My one plant took almost three weeks to show pistils. Good luck and post pictures.
Depends. Mine have pistils in veg. They will all show pistols when sexually mature.

You are right in counting the days. After the flip it takes a little while for flower to set in. The tips of new growth will take on a yellow look. Don't freak out. Its normal.

I start counting flower time after the stretch and spider looking buds are setting in.
 

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Sooo.. yes! I took a deep breath and switched to HPS/flower CFL and 12/12, leaving the screen that bit up higher. Added a handful of neem meal as there was a fungus gnat doing a solo flying act in there and watered them nicely.

This is how they look today, on day 1 of stretch:P1010815.JPG

I'm keeping a detailed journal on this grow and yes it makes sense to count the stretch until flowers appear as a separate phase, so I'll do that and post updates of how they develop as I tuck and weave and thin :)

Thanks guys for your encouragement and holding my hand on this - tis greatly appreciated! :mrgreen:
Cheers!
 

Bose

Well-Known Member
Depends. Mine have pistils in veg. They will all show pistols when sexually mature.

You are right in counting the days. After the flip it takes a little while for flower to set in. The tips of new growth will take on a yellow look. Don't freak out. Its normal.

I start counting flower time after the stretch and spider looking buds are setting
Good morning. If I go by what you said I'm probably about five weeks into flowering
 

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Sooo.. yes! I took a deep breath and switched to HPS/flower CFL and 12/12, leaving the screen that bit up higher. Added a handful of neem meal as there was a fungus gnat doing a solo flying act in there and watered them nicely.

This is how they look today, on day 1 of stretch:View attachment 3554105

I'm keeping a detailed journal on this grow and yes it makes sense to count the stretch until flowers appear as a separate phase, so I'll do that and post updates of how they develop as I tuck and weave and thin :)

Thanks guys for your encouragement and holding my hand on this - tis greatly appreciated! :mrgreen:
Cheers!
Very nice. The plant and your setup.
 

Bose

Well-Known Member
Sooo.. yes! I took a deep breath and switched to HPS/flower CFL and 12/12, leaving the screen that bit up higher. Added a handful of neem meal as there was a fungus gnat doing a solo flying act in there and watered them nicely.

This is how they look today, on day 1 of stretch:View attachment 3554105

I'm keeping a detailed journal on this grow and yes it makes sense to count the stretch until flowers appear as a separate phase, so I'll do that and post updates of how they develop as I tuck and weave and thin :)

Thanks guys for your encouragement and holding my hand on this - tis greatly appreciated! :mrgreen:
Cheers!
Nice job. Looks good
 

Bose

Well-Known Member
I topped them several times. Lst, and super cropped them. I started at the 5 node. With the stretch I was concerned about height. I could have waited for them to go taller before training them. I learned a lot with this grow. Next time 8-)
 
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