Barney's Gorilla Zkittlez

[Axion42]

Do you run a second net above your first one? I have another question, how high above your plants do you run your net? I don't have a RDWC so I have to be able to access the top to add water/nutrients. Before I started I drilled 1" holes in the lids, they have removable rubber plugs. I have a funnel with a long hose that I can hang on the tent and dump water into. I also have a long rubbermaid container that I'll use for emptying the reservoirs. It fits right in front of the plants and I can empty through the sight tubes.

I dont really have a specific height, somewhere in the 12"-18" range above my bucket lid, just depends on how my clones are growing at first. And nope I only run 1 net above. Have you seen the pvc contraptions people build for dwc stand alone buckets? Might wanna look into that, it allows you to access the bucket somewhat to be able to drain or whatever. I know in my setup if I didn't have a res theres no way I could get into my plant buckets the way that its setup now.

 

[H.A.F.]

Yes that's dry weight. I didn't think to weigh them while wet. When the first plant was cut down, the other three just fell over from the weight lol. Maybe I'll try mainlining on my next grow, I like the idea of not having to reach under a net to reach the lids. Do you think LED's cause more stretching than normal? I seem to have massive stretching issues. The plants below were 8 - 10 inches tall when I started flowering and when I finished, the tallest was just over 6 feet. I don't see other people having plants stretch like that.

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If that was LED and this grow is QB - you'll LOVE the difference. Stretch will still depend on strain, but I think you'll see a lot less. I have gone from tying the limbs down to spread them (early) to tying them together to keep them from falling over by the end. In soil your pot-size will also determine your plant size (as well as when you flip - duh) but you can have a ring of cola around the pot edge, not just 4 - just takes longer to veg. Since you keep stretching everything sideways though, you don't really gain height until you want to.

 

[H.A.F.]

I flipped a plant as soon as 8 small limbs were all putting out leaves on the end - ALL the height was post-flip and I had 8 big cola, with 3-4 golfball size nugs underneath It was about 12-15" tall at the end.

 

[diggs99]

Nice to see you back LG

my next run also has 5 Gorilla zkittlez growing. They just sprouted 2 days ago.

Best of luck, ill be following along.

 

[DustyDuke]

T

I've seen the photos you've posted of the stuff you build. I doubt there's any risk of you burning your house down lol. My dad is a retired bricklayer and I'm 100% that it's safe to run the lights in my tent.

He sounds like a good man I like your dad more and more

 

[Laughing Grass]

If that was LED and this grow is QB - you'll LOVE the difference. Stretch will still depend on strain, but I think you'll see a lot less. I have gone from tying the limbs down to spread them (early) to tying them together to keep them from falling over by the end. In soil your pot-size will also determine your plant size (as well as when you flip - duh) but you can have a ring of cola around the pot edge, not just 4 - just takes longer to veg. Since you keep stretching everything sideways though, you don't really gain height until you want to.

I've been using the hlg 300 quantum boards since I started. The addition is the four strips around the main light. that's kinda what's got me confused about all the stretch I've experienced. It didn't seem to make any difference having the light at 12 or 18 inches from the tops. At the end of the last grow It was right at the top of a 7 foot tent lol. I plan on starting flower once they've fully penetrated the netting and hopefully keep tucking for another two weeks. I'm guessing somewhere around the 1st of September.

I dont really have a specific height, somewhere in the 12"-18" range above my bucket lid, just depends on how my clones are growing at first. And nope I only run 1 net above. Have you seen the pvc contraptions people build for dwc stand alone buckets? Might wanna look into that, it allows you to access the bucket somewhat to be able to drain or whatever. I know in my setup if I didn't have a res theres no way I could get into my plant buckets the way that its setup now.
View attachment 4379622

That's pretty slick! Someone should market those in different sizes. I have another set of bars like the ones holding my netting. I was planning on using them with another net if things get too tall. I think I'll use it even if I don't need the netting since it kinda stops the tent from being sucked in so much by the exhaust fan.

Nice to see you back LG

my next run also has 5 Gorilla zkittlez growing. They just sprouted 2 days ago.

Best of luck, ill be following along.

I just did a search and couldn't find your thread. Do you have one going currently on your zkittlez? I'd love to compare my plants to your as they grow... maybe get some ideas on how to improve.

T

He sounds like a good man I like your dad more and more

He would turn the world upside down for me if I asked him. He's awesome!

 

[H.A.F.]

I've been using the hlg 300 quantum boards since I started. The addition is the four strips around the main light. that's kinda what's got me confused about all the stretch I've experienced. It didn't seem to make any difference having the light at 12 or 18 inches from the tops. At the end of the last grow It was right at the top of a 7 foot tent lol. I plan on starting flower once they've fully penetrated the netting and hopefully keep tucking for another two weeks. I'm guessing somewhere around the 1st of September.

A - how high is your net from the floor?
B - how long does it take before you flip to "fill a net"?
I think that if you look at your total grow time and how often you harvest per year you'll see why I chose to perform without a net
I just flipped four 4-top plants, one was 43 days and the others 52.
What I save by being able to flip as early as a month and a half - and having room for more small plants - and being able to rotate plants through my flower room - gets me about a harvest per month or so - and a variety of strains instead of a ginormous harvest of one strain that takes forever. So far this year I have harvested 5 separate grows (11 plants), getting from 2-5oz each plant.

I think even if I went for a longer veg, it would still be a manifold, just more limbs and a bigger pot.

 

[H.A.F.]

Oh, stoner dude forgot...

The A and B questions are about the stretch. You may be tucking sideways, but if you weren't you would be vegging 3'-4' tall plants. Some strains stretch almost 200% after flip. Most I have grown are 100% or less, but 100% puts you at about 7' total. It's stoner math, but I think the long veg and strain are your stretch issue, not lights.

 

[H.A.F.]

So if you are set on a scrog, I would use a smaller pot, or at least a wider one to shorten it, and lower the net so you don't have to veg as long because you can start tucking sooner.

Oh, and if you use twist ties instead of tucking you can reposition stuff if needed, like if some limbs outgrow others. get them through the net then tie everything down.

 

[diggs99]

I just did a search and couldn't find your thread. Do you have one going currently on your zkittlez? I'd love to compare my plants to your as they grow... maybe get some ideas on how to improve.

No thread for the zkittlez yet. They are from seed and only sprouted 5-6 days ago.

I will start one soon tho.

 

[H.A.F.]

No thread for the zkittlez yet. They are from seed and only sprouted 5-6 days ago.

I will start one soon tho.

Dude - give it up! Every time you start a new thread we can't find you LOL. Just name the thread DiggsDigs and call it a day

 

[Laughing Grass]

A - how high is your net from the floor?
B - how long does it take before you flip to "fill a net"?
I think that if you look at your total grow time and how often you harvest per year you'll see why I chose to perform without a net
I just flipped four 4-top plants, one was 43 days and the others 52.
What I save by being able to flip as early as a month and a half - and having room for more small plants - and being able to rotate plants through my flower room - gets me about a harvest per month or so - and a variety of strains instead of a ginormous harvest of one strain that takes forever. So far this year I have harvested 5 separate grows (11 plants), getting from 2-5oz each plant.

I think even if I went for a longer veg, it would still be a manifold, just more limbs and a bigger pot.

Oh, stoner dude forgot...

The A and B questions are about the stretch. You may be tucking sideways, but if you weren't you would be vegging 3'-4' tall plants. Some strains stretch almost 200% after flip. Most I have grown are 100% or less, but 100% puts you at about 7' total. It's stoner math, but I think the long veg and strain are your stretch issue, not lights.

So if you are set on a scrog, I would use a smaller pot, or at least a wider one to shorten it, and lower the net so you don't have to veg as long because you can start tucking sooner.

Oh, and if you use twist ties instead of tucking you can reposition stuff if needed, like if some limbs outgrow others. get them through the net then tie everything down.

I’m looking at three harvests per year and honestly the first one was was probably enough weed to last us more than a year. We smoked three ounces of the northern lights, gave away another four and I still have four and a half left. And now I have a little less than ten ounces of the LSD.

Fast turnover isn’t necessarily a priority for me. My goal now is to improve the visual quality of my buds while maintaining at least one gram per watt.

Does changing the pot size make any difference in dwc? I’m not disputing what you’ve said, I’ve been growing in five gallon pails and it was jammed full of roots and I’ve seen people here growing shorter plants than me in 10+ gallon totes.

You probably haven’t seen my last journal. My grows are enigmatic and I experienced almost none of the predictable norms everyone talks about. I started flower at five weeks from seed and the plants varied between eight and ten inches. When finished the shortest plant was almost four feet tall and the tallest was six including the bucket.

Humidity got away from me during the season change when the heat was off and the a/c wasn't running yet. I got a dehumidifier that took care of the problem, but the humidity was in the high 70's for the first few weeks of flower. The other thing I'm wondering is maybe I was starving the plants my last two times. The recipe I'm running now has me at 900ppm including calmag. The last two grows I was running 500ppm during veg and constantly struggling with ppm drop and ph rise. This grow I haven't had to top up the nutrients since they've gone into the buckets and my ph has been relatively stable. I've also been running silica throughout the grow... I don't know if stretch can be attributed to that, but I've been seeing a few articles and posts saying not to use it in flower, so I'm going to try that this time.

It's not that I'm set on a scrog and I'm not discounting your method, I'm just trying to find a balance between what I expect to get out of this versus what I'm willing to put into it.

No thread for the zkittlez yet. They are from seed and only sprouted 5-6 days ago.

I will start one soon tho.

I bet you have hundreds of photos of your first seedlings. I don't care for that stage either.

 

[H.A.F.]

Does changing the pot size make any difference in dwc?

The reason I mentioned pot size is that it will generally produce smaller plants, which would solve your problem, but not how you want
But shorter and wider, with the same quantity if that is doable. Just to save height.

 

[H.A.F.]

It's not that I'm set on a scrog and I'm not discounting your method, I'm just trying to find a balance between what I expect to get out of this versus what I'm willing to put into it.

I'm not arguing about methods either. I can dig a scrog. I mean, I get the concept. if I had one some type auto-watering system would be a must. Conversely if I had an auto watering system I would probably lean towards a scrog. I am just an old kid that likes playing in dirt. I pull each plant and water it individually, just because I like playing with them LOL

My first seed purchase was 10+10free and I still love the Superskunk, but it's coming out of my ears!

I just grow for me, and random friends and family on occasion - so I would rather have variety.

But I'm pretty much a hermit. ​

Got groceries yesterday - went out - there were people - zero stars - do not recommend

 

[Laughing Grass]

I'm not arguing about methods either. I can dig a scrog. I mean, I get the concept. if I had one some type auto-watering system would be a must. Conversely if I had an auto watering system I would probably lean towards a scrog. I am just an old kid that likes playing in dirt. I pull each plant and water it individually, just because I like playing with them LOL

My first seed purchase was 10+10free and I still love the Superskunk, but it's coming out of my ears!

I just grow for me, and random friends and family on occasion - so I would rather have variety.

But I'm pretty much a hermit. ​

Got groceries yesterday - went out - there were people - zero stars - do not recommend

How strong is the smell from the superskunk during flower? that's one of the strains on my list to consider.

Quick update. Plants are moving a long nicely. I did my first reservoir change this weekend. The new recipe has me at just over 1000ppm and the plants seem to be loving it, at least I can't see any signs of stress. That still seems really high to me. The distance between the branches are really tight on this strain. I removed several leaves that were blocking the light and trying to stick out the top.

 

[diggs99]

Looking good LG.

My GZ babies are coming along, i culled the runt, so im left with 4 in veg.

 

[Laughing Grass]

Looking good LG.

My GZ babies are coming along, i culled the runt, so im left with 4 in veg.

Still no journal yet? lol I'm teasing. How can you tell if it's going to be a runt when they're still babies?

 

[diggs99]

Lol gonna make a one stop shop for all my grows right away. Keep it all in one spot from
Now on

Here's an example of how far behind it was. Middle blue cup, you can barely see the sprout. It never made any progress in days so it was best to just get rid of it now.


2nd pic is most recent, it's what they look like now. Gorilla zkittlez are all blue cups

 

[Dr.Amber Trichome]

Nice roo

How strong is the smell from the superskunk during flower? that's one of the strains on my list to consider.

Quick update. Plants are moving a long nicely. I did my first reservoir change this weekend. The new recipe has me at just over 1000ppm and the plants seem to be loving it, at least I can't see any signs of stress. That still seems really high to me. The distance between the branches are really tight on this strain. I removed several leaves that were blocking the light and trying to stick out the top.

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nice roots. Do you add hydrogen peroxide?

 

[Laughing Grass]

Lol gonna make a one stop shop for all my grows right away. Keep it all in one spot from
Now on

Here's an example of how far behind it was. Middle blue cup, you can barely see the sprout. It never made any progress in days so it was best to just get rid of it now.


2nd pic is most recent, it's what they look like now. Gorilla zkittlez are all blue cups

Weird. I've never seen a seedling do that... not that I've grown a ton of them. How big do you let them get before you transplant?

nice roots. Do you add hydrogen peroxide?

I haven't tried a sterile reservoir yet. I would like to since it's a lot cheaper way to go. I've been using advanced nutrients voodoo juice throughout and general hydroponics rapid start until the first reservoir change.