Timeline strategy with my first grow

[rama777]

Interestingly, I just read that leaf surface temperatures will rise as humidity increases. So to get a good feel for the eventual HPS lst, I will need to take readings at the average flowering humidity levels, which for me will probably be around 40-45%

[mrgrowit]

If the leaf surface temperature is optimal then most likely the soil temp is fine. Even though you’re bringing in 64°F air, you’ll be surprised by how the heat generated from the grow lights can keep the space warm.

[rama777]

Turns out my LST is equal to the ambient temps. I suspect that will rise when I switch to the higher wattage HPS.

[rama777]

I was going to go for 6 tops and flip at around 20” for a 2x stretch but I’m being told I would be wise to plan for a 3x stretch to be safe. So I started tying them down pretty aggressively. Instead I’ll shoot for 16-20 tops or whatever springs up. Unless in a 3×3 that is I’ll advised for any reason. Does this look like I’m on the right track?

[rama777]

[rama777]

I don’t want the flowers jamming into each other and creating bud rot. Not sure if I should push 20+ tops or if I should prune down to 12-16 at some point.

Also not sure about a support method yet. I could use screens but I’d like to avoid them on my first grow if possible. Chris I watched some of your patreon videos and saw some examples of pots with stakes around the edges. Might these be a good candidate for that method? Any other support suggestions besides screens and stakes to consider?

[rama777]

Peak height from the top of the fabric pots is like 5 inches, maaaybe 6 inches with one leaf sticking up! Still have another 7-8 inches of vertical growth before flipping and allowing for a triple stretch. From the beginning I have been expecting to flip at 6.5 weeks, which is exactly 2 weeks from now. I’d say that’s looking pretty accurate if they basically double in height in the next 14 days.

[rama777]

Aside from when to flip, a more pressing matter right now is when to water again. I went from pots that were a small bit less than 1 gallon into the 7 gallon containers and watered them in with a 10% pot volume of water. About 25% of that was bottom watering. I kind of watered all around the surface relatively evenly.

I don’t believe the new soil will quite be dry enough to water tomorrow night, which will mark 4 days since transplanting. However, my intuition is that the 1 gallon mass of soil from the last pot will be ready tomorrow night. I was thinking about doing a 5% volume of watering, targeting the majority of the water throughout the last pot’s soil area. Does that sound like a good first watering after transplant method? It’s either that or go for more like 7% a day later.

 

[mrgrowit]

Yes it looks like you’re on the right track with the training. Keep in mind that the amount of stretch you get not only depends on genetics but many other factors as well such as environment conditions, nutrition, and even training. In general, the more tops you have the less stretch you will get. So if you do go with 20+ tops, they most likely won’t stretch as much as the 12-16 tops you’re also considering. Yes stakes could be beneficial in your case IMO. Depending on how much stretch you get and the thickness of the branches, you might not need any support at all. But if you do need to support the branches and don’t want to use a trellis net, stakes are an option.

Sounds like you gave a appropriate amount of water to begin (10%) and the 5% for second watering also sounds appropriate.

[rama777]

Awesome. It’s a relatively new strain and I’ve only been able to track down one person who I could reach to ask about stretch. Their experience was a 2.66 stretch. I can see from his photo of it that it was 6 tops. So perhaps if I do end up with 12+ tops, then maybe the stretch will be less?

One thing I’ve been wondering about is how the new top growth will play out. I keep the main 6 tops forced down to bring up new shoots, but those new shoots start with small leaves and thin branches. Nevertheless they are starting to reach the same canopy height as the main tops. Once I stop training the mains down as much, by virtue of their mass, will they potentially begin to really outpace the newer/thinner tops coming off the main branches? Or will all the tops that are at canopy height more or less grow upwards at a relatively even pace?

I’ll include a picture of the person’s plant that had 6 canopy tops to see if you can make an educated guess as to wether or not mine might not stretch as much given the training I’m doing.

[mrgrowit]

How much training and how you train will depend on which branches dominate. You could easily force down the main 6 and other grow up and be the dominate branches.

Really hard to tell you how much stretch you’ll get since there are so many variables. I could sit here and guess and say since you have more tops your plant will most likely stretch less, but then your plant could end up stretching more due to different pheno and/or better grow conditions. So it’s not really cut and dry as for how much stretch you’ll get.

[rama777]

That all makes sense. I’m actually not going to worry about it anymore because at this rate I’m honestly rather surprised at how short they have remained with the training. I was gonna flip at around 14” tall but they’ve stayed under 6”  tall for days now. Today marks 5 weeks from germination. I imagine I can only veg 4 plants in a 3×3 tent for so long before I’m asking for some kind of trouble! Probably gonna go for 2 more weeks before I flip.

[rama777]

Well I watered 5% last night, all worried that it might be too early and lo and behold…they look great.

Two of the 4 plants were not ready for a drink yet so I didn’t water them. If I had, they would have probably needed more like a 2-3% watering. It would be nice for the sake of time efficiency to water all 4 pots at the same time but not the end of the world. Is it best practice to not water unless you have to add 5+% to the pots?

I have my pots on risers for airflow. I obviously don’t want the bottom of my pots to stay saturated, but I do somewhat worry that they will dry out unevenly with the airflow. That’s on me and I’m confident I will get the hang of watering soon enough. Until then, and with a consistent 1-1.45 VPD in my room (night and day fluctuations), how do you feel about risers for airflow vs sitting right on the floor? An important variable is probably the floor temperature, especially here in a climate of cold winters. I have 2” of rigid insulation under my tent so for me it should be mostly a question of airflow under the pots or no airflow.

[mrgrowit]

Your question: “Is it best practice to not water unless you have to add 5+% to the pots?”
Answer: That’s debatable. In general, when growing with organic inputs, it’s good to keep a consistent moisture level. Depending on the size of the container and size of the plant, someone could go in and add in a small amount of water every day and maintain that optimal moisture level. Others may need to wait a day or two. I like the 5% rule, which is, if you think water needs to be added but not sure how much, add in 5% of the size of the container. See how the plants react, and then if you need to add more the next day, add another 5%. Some people do 10% instead. There are so many different ways to go about it.

Your question: “how do you feel about risers for airflow vs sitting right on the floor?”
Answer: First, I really admire your detailed approach; You ask some great questions that I’ve never heard anyone ask before. To answer this question, I must admit that I’ve never heard of someone using risers specifically to increase airflow across the bottom of the fabric container. Risers are mostly used to bring the plants up off the floor (which may be too cold and stunt growth), or to help ensure plants aren’t sitting in runoff water. I’m not sure how much of an impact the airflow will have across the bottom of the grow pot to be honest. I imagine not much of a difference (if any) seeing how you are attempting to keep the moisture level in the medium consistent.

[rama777]

Well thanks, I appreciate the words and especially your insight! Eventually you’re gonna have to tell me to stop asking you questions everyday 😉

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