Suspended Planter 600w Cool Tube + DS300 LED

My gut tells me NOW. I'll probably start the 24-hour dark period at lights off today. I'll be in 12/12 at 6pm on Tuesday.

Looking AWESOME!! I wish I could add more rep! Def the way a journal should be done. On the note of your exhaust fan, what kind of rope did you use to hang it? I have an identical problem, vibrations felt EVERYWHERE... Possibly a pic of the setup??

But again looking fucking badass, those roots are like some dank linguine!!!

Looking good Roomie! I agree, that screen is ready to flip!

Swisher Twister said:

Looking AWESOME!! I wish I could add more rep! Def the way a journal should be done. On the note of your exhaust fan, what kind of rope did you use to hang it? I have an identical problem, vibrations felt EVERYWHERE... Possibly a pic of the setup??

But again looking fucking badass, those roots are like some dank linguine!!!

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That means a lot, Swish. Thanks!

I don't think it matters what kind of rope you use. Actually, I didn't want to waste my climbing rope, so I replaced it with some old 1/8" white rope from the hardware store. It works just as good. I'll take some pics when I get out of darkness.

Swisher Twister said:

Looking AWESOME!! I wish I could add more rep! Def the way a journal should be done. On the note of your exhaust fan, what kind of rope did you use to hang it? I have an identical problem, vibrations felt EVERYWHERE... Possibly a pic of the setup??

But again looking fucking badass, those roots are like some dank linguine!!!

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Roomie said:

That means a lot, Swish. Thanks!

I don't think it matters what kind of rope you use. Actually, I didn't want to waste my climbing rope, so I replaced it with some old 1/8" white rope from the hardware store. It works just as good. I'll take some pics when I get out of darkness.

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You could use bungee cords. The elasticity should also help dampen the vibrations. Play around with the length of the elastic section too as you can get unlucky and find harmonics which could make the vibration worse! If that happens, shorten it a little more. You can also use a spring. You get a compression spring, as opposed to the kind you pull on, and run the cord through it and tie to the opposite end. I realize a picture would probably help what I'm trying to describe, but I don't have a picture. Imagine a string attached to the ceiling, comes down and goes through the center of the spring. At the other end, it is tied around a nail or something long so it can't go back through the spring. Then you have a cord going UP from the fan, through the spring, and tied to a nail on top of the spring. The 2 cords will pull against each other and compress the spring. I used to suspend my fans this way when I grew in the 90s. Worked pretty well. If I got unlucky and found a harmonic, I would just go get different springs.

My solution for this grow? Don't attach them to anything that can vibrate. My new room is in a basement with concrete walls. When I built my room, none of the walls are attached to the ceiling (floor of house), so the walls are isolated from the floor. My fan is attached to the wall that is attached to the concrete. No vibrations at all

There you go with your harmonics and physics and stuff! I dig the compression spring method. I am disappointed that I didn't try suspending the fan sooner. I lived with the 60 cycle hum of death for an entire f'ing year.

Great looking scrog, I'm looking forward to following along.

Roomie said:

There you go with your harmonics and physics and stuff! I dig the compression spring method. I am disappointed that I didn't try suspending the fan sooner. I lived with the 60 cycle hum of death for an entire f'ing year.

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Sorry Bungee cords might be easier, but I've used the springs and they work.

I hate that hum. That's the main reason I hike, to escape the 60hz hum! I think most of us don't realize that we're surrounded by it all the time.

Thundercat said:

Great looking scrog, I'm looking forward to following along.

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Efharisto, Mr. Cat! Name tag is optional. There's complimentary coffee and juice in the back.

Hiker said:

Sorry Bungee cords might be easier, but I've used the springs and they work.

I hate that hum. That's the main reason I hike, to escape the 60hz hum! I think most of us don't realize that we're surrounded by it all the time.

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I was being stupid on purpose. It takes me about 15 minutes to get away from the city. And you're right, you don't notice the noise until it's gone, and then you can't believe you live in it 24/7. I love the Northwest for that very reason.

Flower - Day 2

I have replaced the LED with HPS and transitioned into flower unscathed. The plants didn't seem to notice the new light, and the closet temp has not changed a bit. This really surprised me. Save the fact that I have to connect the HPS to my exhaust fan, the difference in room temp between a 300w LED and 600w HPS cool tube is basically nothing. We'll see how this changes in the summer.

Mixing 10 micro, 10 grow, 15 bloom, 2 liquid blue, 5 ml/gal of early bloomer @ 1230 ppm. Light is 21 inches from the plants (lowering to 18" tomorrow). pH nominal. Temp nominal. RH 35%.

I am a little worried about overcrowding. I trained yesterday and they came back in full force today. At least they are healthy and growing vigorously.

For all it matters over the stretch if you need to you can even train right out the edge of your screen. That 600w will cover your whole area well, looks like you might have 8-10 inchs at the other side. That will atleast give you a bit more space. They do look very nice and healthy.

Thanks, Thunder. I was thinking the same thing today, just let the branches grow around the edges and call it good. But it also wouldn't be too difficult to extend the screen out a few inches. Hmm. I'm still unsure of how long to train the SCROG. I doubt these mutts will stretch as much as they did under LED in the first grow, but who knows.

Gah. Growing can be a little nerve-racking sometimes. I'm in OCD overdrive.

I feel ya man, our fun hobby can get very stressful at times. I'm sure they won't stretch as much, but they might stretch for as much time. If that makes any sense. Last time they got a good 12-15 inchs over your screen it looked like. If that took 2 weeks, they may still stretch for 2 weeks this time, but only go 6-10 inchs. I don't really know just using arbitrary numbers. I can't remember is this a clone from the same genetics as last time, or is it from a differrant seed?

They're from the same mother as the last grow. I suppose my big question would be, is there an optimal height for branches to grow above a SCROG? My closet will facilitate plants growing 12-15 inches above the screen, no problem, but if a tall/overgrown SCROG negatively impacts bud growth or quality, I'm not down for compromise.

I think the ideal height has to do with light penetration. With your LED you didn't really have penetration, atleast not much. This 600 will give you way deeper light. I'd be more inclined to try to keep it 8 inchs above or less, but it may get to 12 its tough to say. The key is that how ever deep it gets that the light is getting down there too.

You said yourself half your problem last time was over crowding them to the center for maximum light. The light away from the center is almost just as good, so let the scrog work and spread it out as much as you can, then once you start to see the formation of flowers stop. Another advantage you have this time and the reason I asked about the genetics, is that your genetics are more mature now then the last time you flowered them, so they may not stretch as long either. The more mature the genetics are the faster they start to flower typically. I've got 2 100% sativas in right now that aren't showing signs of maturity, and I'm afraid its gonna take them 2 weeks + to start flowering. Hope this helps peace man.

TC

It's all making sense now. Seriously, thank you.

Hey Roomie. Plants look great! You could flip that anytime and you will be happy.

I agree with TC, move more of those branches out to the edges. The center looks real dense compared to the perimeter. Did you have a # of buds you are shooting for? It looks like you have a lot of tops in there already. I'm not using a screen in my grow, but I have set a goal for the number of branches I want on each plant before I flower. If you have reached your goal, flip those ladies!

Hey I had a question I saw a page or two back you said you were going to start the 24 hour dark period before you flip
i haven't heard of that yet does it just jump them into the switch
im going to 12/12 tomorrow and would probley want to try it if it helps a little

Plants start to flower based off of a hormone that builds up during the dark period. I believe the idea of the 24 hrs of dark is to start the 12/12 cycle with a boosted amount of that hormone in the system. I never make a point of giving them extra dark before hand, but if it works into my cycle I might. I just switched my lights today, and with changing timers and shit, they ended up getting about 20 hrs of dark period since yesterday. I will also say I won't be counting my flowering cycle until they start showing bud formation.

Peace Tc

Hiker said:

Hey Roomie. Plants look great! You could flip that anytime and you will be happy.

I agree with TC, move more of those branches out to the edges. The center looks real dense compared to the perimeter. Did you have a # of buds you are shooting for? It looks like you have a lot of tops in there already. I'm not using a screen in my grow, but I have set a goal for the number of branches I want on each plant before I flower. If you have reached your goal, flip those ladies!

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Word, Hike! I'm close to having one bud site per hole. I started training out to the sides after switching to 12/12, so the branches should grow evenly across the entire screen. But you're right, I was trying my hardest to make the mistake twice.

doubletake said:

Hey I had a question I saw a page or two back you said you were going to start the 24 hour dark period before you flip
i haven't heard of that yet does it just jump them into the switch
im going to 12/12 tomorrow and would probley want to try it if it helps a little

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Some people say it helps, other people say it does nothing. That's a win-win game, imo.