Three Strain 4x4 SCROG - First Grow

What up everyone,

Ive been lurkin' in the shadows, reading post after post trying to get ALL the info I need to begin my first grow. I've been in the planning stages for nearly 2 months, building my knowledge base and slowly acquiring all the necessary equipment/pieces to the puzzle. Today, I was fortunate enough to receive the last item on my list, a Timber Redwood VS. I spent alot of time trying to figure out what light to buy and it seems Timber is the way to go.

I picked up four feminized seedlings from Dark Heart Nursery and really look forward to see what the Timber can bring out in these genetics.
From Humbolt Seed Co, Ive got two Blueberry Muffin seedlings
From Purple City Genetics, Ive got Watermelon Zkittlez X Do-Si-Do and Watermelon Zkittlez X Gelato 45

Im growing in Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil, using General Hydro Flora Trio W/ Floralicious Plus ("FloraMicro Hardwater" since my water is 350+ PPM)
I picked up Bluelab PH pen, and Conductivity Pen to dial in my nutrients. I plan to get a full halo style drip system set up in a few weeks (when I have some free time) but will be hand watering for now. Itll all be in a Mars Hydro 4x4 tent.

Im running a AC Infinity Cloudline S6 exhaust fan with 6" Carbon filter, and 2 Vivosun 6" oscillating fans to keep air movement. The shed I am growing is a but dusty and has pretty poor airflow, so I am running both intake and exhaust ducting to the exterior building so I can intake fresh air. I am running a single 6" duct as exhaust, and dual 6" ducting for intake. My intake setup is a tad unorthodox with ducting coming from through the roof, but it seems to be working. I currently dont run any filters on my intake (still figuring that part out) but Its probably a wise idea as my neighbors also grow (hoping females only)

I really dont do social media, but id LOVE to pick everyones brain here when I come across issues (which I KNOW I will), and this seems like a solid community to trouble shoot. Ive been smoking for 10 years now and trying to grow some top shelf trees.

The lil gals are currently in 1 gallon containers transplanted from seedling containers this morning (dispensary packaging). I plan to transplant to either 5 or 7 gallon fabric pots as final containers. Planning on a SCROG as well so going to be doing a bit of topping and plenty of LST. Im hoping to attain a true SCROG with a full 4x4 canopy.

The Redwood VS is hanging 24" above canopy at 25% power per Timbers website FAQ. Not totally sure if this is ideal for seedlings, but going to start here and slowly turn up the brightness as they grow. They've all got 3 or so sets of true leaves and have only been watered with water. I plan to start feeding next watering.

PLEASE let me know what you think about everything (setup, ventilation filters, nutes, light brightness/height, etc). Open to ALL feedback and constructive criticism.

Nice setup man ! Good luck with your grow . Proceed

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Shralpy why do you run your inlets from the roof?

Are you running CO2?

Very well done!

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Hobbes,

I am not running Co2, but I am very curious about it and plan to eventually. I figured I should get one semi basic grow down and wrap my head around some essential concepts before I dabble with more advanced stuff. Ive looked into it a little bit, but seems like I might need a sealed tent for that? Super down for some pointers if you've got any!

I run the inlets from the roof because it seems to make the most sense with my setup in terms of functionality/access. I wanted to initially utilize the three mesh flaps as intakes, but I quickly realized that'll likely cause issues.

My setup is in a backyard shed/outbuilding that came with the house we are renting. It seems like an old workshop, and was COVERED in dirt/dust/sawdust/spiderwebs/nastyness. As I was planning/testing the tent in the room, the air seemed a little damp (RH in high 60s). This could have just been ambient moisture from fall weather, but It seemed like the air in the room retained a lot of moisture. Because its a non insulated shed, temperature swings were pretty exaggerated with CA Central Coast spring weather (70-80 daytime, low 40s night). Thankfully our nights are warming a bit so hoping this issue mitigates itself some.

I cleaned the place out best I could, but between the dustyness, the damp air, and the crazy room air temperature swings, it seemed like my best course of action was to bypass the ambient shed air and run exterior ducting for intake/exhaust. Unfortunately, the existing vents in the shed are roughly 8ft high at the roof gables. Instead of making new vents/using the door or window, I decided to use the existing gable vents in an effort to stay stealth (lots of neighbors, lots of family/friends in and out of the yard).

The shed itself only has about 8' by 8' of usable space inside so I didn't have a ton of room to work with. I tried to position the tent with at least a little space on all sides to access all openings to have an effective way of access the back of the tent for SCROGing. Additionally, I tried to face the tent door away from the shed door/window to stay as incognito as possible (light bleeding when tent is open etc). Facing the tent this way also allowed me to align my tent vent holes with the shed gable vents. Running the exhaust/intake in this configuration also allows me to vent out over the fence away from my yard, minimizing noise and potential smell (which isn't the biggest worry)

This left me with 1-2 ft of extra room between the wall and tent on each side, just enough space to squeak by to get to the opening of the tent. Unfortunately, that also left 1-2ft of clearance between my tents low intake holes and the shed wall, which is also my aforementioned walkway. I experimented with running the intake ducting from the gable vent down to the low tent intake hole, but it was just too cluttered of a walkway and only allowed for a single 6" duct (unless I adding another 10' or so of ducting to run to the other side which seemed excessive).

While experimenting with this setup, it seemed like a single 6" intake was too small as the negative pressure in my tent was a little too pronounced (tent poles creaking from walls sucking in within 15-20 seconds of closure). Adding a second 6" intake and messing with the exhaust fan speed controller seemed to mitigate this. Also, positioning the oscillating fans underneath the intake tubes seems to turn my passive intake in a semi active intake, as the oscillating fans draw in air from behind; consequently pulling more air through my ducting.

Sorry for the extremely long winded response, but I feel these are all pretty pertinent details as to why my setup is the way it is. Im also extremely curious on what some of super knowledgeable/experienced growers think about this setup as I haven't seen a ton similar. Ive attached some pics to better clarify things.

...This also set me up for my first set of questions!!!

As mentioned, I currently do not run any filters on my intake which I DEFINITELY should start. Any recommendations? (Types, brands, styles) Figured ill build a contraption that allows me to use a typical square HVAC filter. Anyone with experience with that let me know!

Second, although my gals are still seedlings, I ran my exhaust and oscillating fan all night last night. I also ran my lights off from 11pm-5am, similar to my schedule. As a result, night time temps dropped to 55 degrees. Its been pretty warm lately so daytime temps hit low 80's, so pretty big temp swings.

With this my question is, should be worried about that big of a temp swing (30+ degrees)? My logical side says YES, but would like some input from experienced growers. If I should be worried, how should I remedy this?

Im thinking I can run lights on at night and off during the day to mitigate big temp swings?

or

Stop running my oscillating fans overnight? It seems the consensus is run your exhaust/carbon filter 24/7, but as far as oscillating fans go, I hear both 24/7 and run when lights are on only. Keep in mind my oscillating fans seem to turbo charge my intake, which is cool fresh outside air.

Im leaning towards running my lights off from 6am-12pm and hoping this solves it. If I do this, should I gradually shift my lights 1hr each day or just run them 24hrs on tonite and turn them off at 6am tomorrow resetting my schedule all at once.

Once again, sorry for the long winded posts, but I figure being detailed now will hopefully paint the clearest picture to get the best advice.

First week down and the lil gals seem to be taking well to their new home. Im seeing the 5th nodes develope and things seem to be looking alright.

Ive switched their "night time" to 10am-4pm and it seems to be helping temps. With the lights on overnight, im maintaing lows in the low 60s and high in the mid 80s to low 90s. Still a bit larger temp swing then id like, but glad to be staying out of the 50s.

Will be topping once the 5th nodes fully developed/6th is starting

Any idea whats going on with the squiggly leaves on the last plant?

Thanks!

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All of the leaves a a bit weird, like they're too big for the plant's size. Don't worry about it.

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Transpalnted to their big gal pots (5 gal) Friday, then topped today just before lights out.

These pics are "morning after" being topped. Seems to be a good amount of secondary growth and some pretty large leaves for the plants small size



Dosi-Melon Zkittlez front left,
Gelato-Melon Zkittlez front right (Squiggly guy from the last post)
Blueberry muffin twins in the back.



Dosi-Melon Zkittlez with the close ups

The ladies are looking alright after being topped. Unfortunately, im experiencing some issues with my Timber Redwood VS.

Ive only had the light for about 3 weeks but it seems like something is up with one of the drivers and the dimmer. 3 of my 6 COBs stopped working monday night, which is quite a bummer. Ive been in contact with Timber and hope to have the unit replaced soon.

Despite the gals only getting half the power of the Redwood VS for the past 3 days, they seem to be looking alright



Getting 3 seedlings started for the green house as well


Gelato-Melon Zkittlez

Open to all suggestions and commentary btw

Shralpy said:

Open to all suggestions and commentary btw

Click to expand...

Looks good so far.. happy growing !

Looks great so far!

Have you thought about defoliating underneath where the lights not hitting them?

I would also recommend doing some sweetheart bends on the regular. Essentially teach them to grow outward and have them build up stronger stem structure.

Thank you!

I was waiting for things to get a bit bigger to begin some LST but was able to get things rollin this afternoon.

I was thinking about trimming some under growth but figured it was too early. I plan to defoliate completely the week I flip them to 12/12... Thoughts?


Front left: Dosi-Melon. Front right: Blueberry Muffin
Far left: Blueberry Muffin. Far right: Gelato-Melon


Strongest of the two Blueberry Muffins ^^


Gelato-Melon Zkittlez ^^

Personally, I would wait until you can see the pre-flowers. You are doing more of a hydro grow so I don't know as much. I'm doing soil So mine are taking a lot longer.

Since you're doing the LST, I wouldn't worry too much about any defoliating just yet. Essentially they are readjusting. A simple leaf tuck much more effective.

The ladies are responding well to the LST so were keeping things going. Everything is bushing out nicely.

Although theyre still only getting 3 of 6 COBs, things are looking good. Watering about twice a week with feedings every other.


Blueberry Muffin X2 in the back
Front Left: Dosi-Melon Zkittlez
Front Right: Gelato-Melon Zkittlez

Got my replacment timber in the mail today and hung it up in the tent. I almost forgot how bright this things is.

Things are looking good so far with a tad more training. Ive been using some thinner tie down wire for training up until today thats been tough to work with. Finally got some legit training wire today so will slowly be replacing the old wire. Ive only retrained the Dosi-Melon Zkittlez thus far.

Temperature fluctuations are still a bit much (60s-90s), but could be much worse. It just funky because my high temps are during the plants night time and my lows are during their day (lights off 10am-4pm so high temps at 2-4ish)

Its day 22, but im thinking atleast another week or two to fill out the tent a bit more before I flip em.

Shralpy said:

Got my replacment timber in the mail today and hung it up in the tent. I almost forgot how bright this things is.

Things are looking good so far with a tad more training. Ive been using some thinner tie down wire for training up until today thats been tough to work with. Finally got some legit training wire today so will slowly be replacing the old wire. Ive only retrained the Dosi-Melon Zkittlez thus far.

Temperature fluctuations are still a bit much (60s-90s), but could be much worse. It just funky because my high temps are during the plants night time and my lows are during their day (lights off 10am-4pm so high temps at 2-4ish)

Its day 22, but im thinking atleast another week or two to fill out the tent a bit more before I flip em.
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How do your "night" time temps go so high ? Do you turn off the exhaust ?

tkufoS said:

How do your "night" time temps go so high ? Do you turn off the exhaust ?

Click to expand...

I run all fans 24/7 (exhaust fan, canopy oscillating fan and light cooling fan)

My weather fluctuates a decent bit. The tent pulls air from directly outside, and my tent sits in a uninsulated, minimally ventilated shed. The shed itself gets pretty hot and cold. Consequently, the inside of my tent peak and low temperature is usually whatever the outside temp is, plus 5-10 degrees.

The last few days have been in the low 90s here mid day, and low 60s over night. Since my light is off 10am-3:59pm, the 2pm daytime highs warm my tent during the plants "night time" to mid/high 90s. Then, with my light on from 4pm-9:59am, the overnight low cools my tent to mid/low 60s over the course of their "day"

Im re arranging some stuff to hopefully get my tent in the garage to help with this.

Im also thinking when I flip them to flower of running the light on 10am-10pm and off overnight to make the daytime high the plants daytime high etc.

I was initially trying to avoid excess heat from my light by running it on overnight, but that doesnt seen to be much of an issue with the Timber/LED

Shralpy said:

I run all fans 24/7 (exhaust fan, canopy oscillating fan and light cooling fan)

My weather fluctuates a decent bit. The tent pulls air from directly outside, and my tent sits in a uninsulated, minimally ventilated shed. The shed itself gets pretty hot and cold. Consequently, the inside of my tent peak and low temperature is usually whatever the outside temp is, plus 5-10 degrees.

The last few days have been in the low 90s here mid day, and low 60s over night. Since my light is off 10am-3:59pm, the 2pm daytime highs warm my tent during the plants "night time" to mid/high 90s. Then, with my light on from 4pm-9:59am, the overnight low cools my tent to mid/low 60s over the course of their "day"

Im re arranging some stuff to hopefully get my tent in the garage to help with this.

Im also thinking when I flip them to flower of running the light on 10am-10pm and off overnight to make the daytime high the plants daytime high etc.

I was initially trying to avoid excess heat from my light by running it on overnight, but that doesnt seen to be much of an issue with the Timber/LED

Click to expand...

Gotcha growmie..I don't know how tight buds get with high temps.. but I don't think it's good.. hope you have a good grow with that badass light

Thank you!!! It really is a great light. Im hoping to get the most out of it.

I agree its getting way too hot in there currently. Im hoping that moving things to the garage helps. Im sure itll still be warm but shouldn't be quite as hot. Planning to get the garage all squared away this weekend then move everything next weekend.

Gonna get my scrog netting set up as well soon. Will be using a PVC frame with 6"x6" netting, suspended by 4 more rope ratchets