SuperSkunk Manifold

Gonna be hard finding a more informative journal than this.

Keep it up H.A.F, some of us newbs are absolutely loving the detail and explanations/reasoning

diggs99 said:

Gonna be hard finding a more informative journal than this.

Keep it up H.A.F, some of us newbs are absolutely loving the detail and explanations/reasoning

Click to expand...

I've only been growing for about a year, so we're learning together. I'm just retired and have the time to devote to it.

General note for newbies. Patience, and buy quality.

I have a 300w and 1200w blurple led, and exhaust fan, pH meter, etc. that I bought on the cheap, then replaced because they suck.

It is better to "make do" and save for the good stuff. You can grow weed with a bunch of CFL's in a pinch. Quantum boards (or similar good lights that won't need to be upgraded) and a scientific quality pH pen (like Apera) are a must eventually.

For those worried about 'covert' - I have seen 3 grows so far without looking too hard, by seeing the blue-purple (blurple) glow coming from a window. Quantum boards are super bright, but white. The glow itself is not a giveaway.

Also, since there are no fans on the light itself blowing the heat around, it is easier (and cheaper) to manage the environment.

First "flower" feeding today. Figured I'd drop a paragraph or so. The main reason I chose the Fox Farms nutes was because it was easy. They have a schedule to follow that is easily adjustable, not too expensive considering, and I figured that if they tested their nutes on some grows to come up with the right schedule, they probably used free dirt. Meaning, their soils are one of the good ones as well. I'm a little OCD, so the whole schedule thing works for me.

FF was 'easy' because there was a deal on amazon for the basic trio and the crystals trio in one package. I did a grow with that, in their soil, and had bountiful flowers I also noticed that I hardly used any of the nutes, so I didn't need to buy any with the funds I allocated for the next grow. Long story short each grow I have bought a different set. The "gringo" stuff and the "bush doctor" stuff. 3 grows and I have only had to replenish the "grow big" part of the initial trio. I think that the 'replace as needed' thing will work well. There are some that only call for 1-2ml, lasts a while!

I also use the heck out of cal-mag. I got a small R/O system, and end up with )ppm to start with. That takes out the good ppm as well as the bad, so even if I am just watering (no nutes) I use some cal-mag just to get it back to "tap" water.

Last, I got the silica additive from the cal-mag guys, and I tried their "Sweet Grape" on the GDP I just snipped. After it cures I'll know if there was a benefit. It's a cane sugar based sweetener, but they have esters in it from grape plants. They have one that is citrus too. Sounded interesting, but I don't have a 'flavor' to grow right now that would benefit from oranges

Using the quantum boards, I had to refigure my blurple closet ventilation, and here's what I ended up with. There are no idea patents, so enjoy.

Other than upgrading the exhaust from a 190cfm 4" to a 350cfm 6", I had to get rid of fans. The only one running is the little white oscillating fan. I made a little adjustable shelf for it, just a board with holes in it, and the little board with pegs on the back. The fan in the corner is just there. It moves more air, so I tried putting it on the shelf instead - messed up the climate quick. temp shot up about 5 degrees in a half hour.

The little vent on the side is just a hole in the wall, covered with a piece of washable filter and a register. I cut a hole in the bedroom side and did the same thing, but I cut it higher on the wall to help keep light out.

So for ventilation I recommend over-sizing the exhaust and letting it do its thing. Have extra cfm available if needed.

Other stuff -
- I have the light hanging from a single point, so it spins. I stuck a small piece of metal on the light that has a hole in the end. I use a thumb-tack to hold the light straight.
- the thermos/hygrometer under the fan is a remote (1 of 3) that reads off a 'base' unit in the living room.
- I put 2x4 and plywood floor on the base of the closet to raise it a few inches (I could flush multiple plants in place if needed) then a piece of old vinyl I had lying around on top of the plywood.
- the little black sensor hanging down on the right above the vent is attached to the exhaust fan control unit. you can set an 'emergency' temp, and it will automatically kick the fan on high speed if it gets there.
- busted tape measure piece hanging on the wall has the "0" mark at soil level on the plant.

I don't know if we can post product info or links here, but if we can and you want them, just ask.

Clone update @dr.tomb .
3 live clones. the two on the right in 1 gallons are from a different plant than the 2 gallon.
I used small pots because I have seeds - this is just practice to see if I can.

The top right is the best of the first set taken 12/3 the bottom right I've written off, but it ain't dead yet.
The 2 gallon was taken 12/9 and her sister didn't make it.

My temps are good, but with the furnace running the humidity is low. I ran a humidifier at the start, but gave up refilling it after they showed good roots in the cups they started in. It only raised it about 10% anyway, since I run the exhaust 24/7. I have been watering about every other day (2-3 for the 2gal)because the small pots and low humidity dry it out fast.

My usual rotation is to start a seed when I see pistils on my flowering plant (about a week or so from now)
I can keep a plant in the tent indefinitely, because it only has an HLG 135 and they veg really slow, so I can start a seed and keep the clones, BUT:

I am growing a Northern Lights plant next, in either a 5 or 7 gallon pot and I want to fill my 3/3 flower closet with it, and I only have one seed. So if the clones take off and I start a seed I'll have to make morbid decisions on healthy plants!

They are going slow, and this may be just normal growth rate for clones, but any pointers would be appreciated.

Those clones look like they were happily on their way to flower. Eventually you will start to have shoots coming out in weird directions, some leaves will have 3 tips vs the traditional weed leaf shape. After about a couple weeks those leaves should start to be normal again. At that point I would either trim all the lowers or even better clone and repot the normal growth.

dr.tomb said:

Eventually you will start to have shoots coming out in weird directions, some leaves will have 3 tips vs the traditional weed leaf shape.

Click to expand...

The upper right one has those on top, so she is progressing. Thanks for the answer!

I think that inadvertently you answered my question about dropping a seed. Since I want a reliable rotation to keep going I'll just keep these under the smaller light and see what happens. Since it's 'free weed' I'll treat it like the learning tool it was intended to be.

First post-flip pruning and more LST. Got rid of all the lower fans, a few top ones that were shading, and I snipped all the lower growth off the smaller shoots.

Here's last night after, and this morning. For newbies, Superskunk is resilient and can tolerate training and pruning to the extreme if needed.

And last, this is the first grow where I haven't crowded the closet. Coincidentally, it is also the first grow I have gotten to this point without a lot of nute-burn or other issues. I wanted a grow where I had zero stress about plant issues, and the half-strength nutes, lights a little higher, and plenty of room seem to have helped.

I like doing "bonsai" planning at this point, since there is not as much new growth happening after flip. I like to look at a pic from the top to see what the light sees, and plan on filling empty spots or pruning a specific leaf or whatever.

This looks pretty good to me, but the circled leaf looks like it could be hiding stuff, so I'm going back in to see if I can tuck it or tie it out of the way.

This one shows a gap at the 'end' of the manifold, and a decent size shoot I can maneuver into that space.

The two older clones seems crispy from the low humidity so I domed them to see if it helps.

I'm digging your grommet holes and tie down method. Its too late for my current plants, don't want to attempt that while they're already potted. But the rest of my fabric pots will get that done to them for sure. And twisting the soft ties is another awesome idea. Stealing both lol.

Great job man, keep up the good work!

MrSchaeferPants said:

I'm digging your grommet holes and tie down method. Its too late for my current plants, don't want to attempt that while they're already potted. But the rest of my fabric pots will get that done to them for sure. And twisting the soft ties is another awesome idea. Stealing both lol.

Great job man, keep up the good work!

Click to expand...

Eyelets with installation tool
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D7TSS3X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05__o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Rubber wire
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014263B80/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Roll-o-twisties
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078PCPR9K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

MrSchaeferPants said:

I'm digging your grommet holes and tie down method. Its too late for my current plants, don't want to attempt that while they're already potted. But the rest of my fabric pots will get that done to them for sure. And twisting the soft ties is another awesome idea. Stealing both lol.

Great job man, keep up the good work!

Click to expand...

But if you are in a cloth pot, it ain't too late! Just poke a hole in the fabric for the wire to go through. That was how I came up with the idea in the first place. First it was just the twisties, then I added the rubber hooks, then I figured out the grommets.

My main reason for doing it is that I hate a SCROG. Up until the day of harvest I can take any plant out of the closet and flush, prune, LST, whatever.

I used safety pins around the edge of my pot, garden ties or pipe cleaners tuck through the safety pin nicely.

Those eyelets look way better tho, but just thought id throw out another simple temp fix. safety pins lol

Ya I already decided I'm going to poke holes and use a paperclip or something and tie the soft wire ties to that. And thanks for the link, that's a nice grommet kit for a bunch of uses.

MrSchaeferPants said:

Ya I already decided I'm going to poke holes and use a paperclip or something and tie the soft wire ties to that. And thanks for the link, that's a nice grommet kit for a bunch of uses.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I worked around the water, and seeing and dealing with canvas and securing things I got there naturally. I think if the grommets were expensive the paperclips might be a better option. sharpen one end then just poke it through and rotate it around still in paperclip-shape. I have 27 eyelets I'm not even using, but the paperclip thing could be applied as needed. Only think about the safety pins would be getting hung up in the clip with the wire, but I guess you could route it through the round hole at the end instead.

But you can't beat the hook idea LOL

Great thread @H.A.F. awesome work!!

Day 10 of flower No pistils yet (fem, not worried) and getting the second flower feeding (per FF schedule).
First was at 50%, this one was 75%

I've been careful to this point not to burn with too much light or nutes, but now I start pumping them in until she says stop. I still do the feed-water-feed-water schedule, but next time the nutes will be up to 90%, and if she rocks that I'll do 100% to the end. My humidity is hovering in the 30s and 40s so I get to feed and water more often. It has been only a gallon each time (3 gal pot) which gets me about a quart or less of runoff. I also bumped up the intensity on the light near 100% and bumped the exhaust fan up a notch.

She's still only 9" tall, but that's because I keep stretching her out. I've been snipping all "outboard" or "underneath" shoots, but I've been leaving several on the inside of each limb. I'll keep stretching her until I see pistils, then it's arranging each sprout I keep for light but not much drastic bending.
Here's before and after feeding/LST

This is also why I wanted to try just one plant.

I think the dome helped. More leaves but still curly. I think the soil is hot, so I have been giving nothing but RO water (0 ppm) for a week or so now. The other two aren't as good, but one is a week younger.
Here's the RO I use, had to buy some fittings to get it to hook up to a bathroom sink.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LKF09IW/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Pro-tip! (not really but it's a good one) If you use distilled or RO water (0ppm) you may notice that if the pH is a little off, a microscopic particle of pH-up or pH-down will have an EXTREME effect on the measured pH. STOP wasting your effort. If there is nothing (0ppm) in the water to act as a buffer, it is assimilating to whatever you add. and those are the ONLY ppm in the water.

If you RO water and are not feeding, you can pour it right on the soil, and it will assimilate to whatever is already there (nutes from last feeding mostly)

If you RO water it is also easy to get a deficiency in essential elements (mainly calcium, magnesium, and iron) which are removed along with all the bad ppm. I have tried just adding about a half dose of cal-mag(w/ iron) to all the water I use, plus nutes if needed. This time I am trying just adding extra cal-mag at feedings and just RO water in between. So far that is working better and I have seen no nute-burn like I did on previous grows.

I like the RO because it allows me COMPLETE control over what is in the water.