2 strains, 2 tents and 2 nets. One confused grower.

[Django66]

Watermelon Zkittles - 70 days Auto. Height 4 - 41/2 feet. 140 cm. Considering one plant in a 15-gallon pot of soil in a 5x5 tent. 8 bar style LED. Full coverage.

Tangerine Dream - 70 - 75 days Auto. Height, short. 2 feet. 65- 70 cm. Considering 4 or 5 plants in seven-gallon pots of soil. 4x4 tent Spider farmer LED. Full coverage (not really, corner plants bend inward if not trained. (Numerous strong side branches) (fast growing).
A scog net for each tent.
Next grow. No hurry. Any suggestions? Good idea/ bad idea?

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Why Autos for one?

 

[Django66]

Why Autos for one?

Really only because I have them. Photos would be much better. I'm just screwing around trying to get some skills. I don't care about yields. Just killer buds. If I ordered some photo seeds. what and who would you go with please?

 

[Django66]

My original goal was to grow a bunch of fast-growing autos to find out what cultivars I like best, and then get serious with photos. I'm already a gardener so it's just another new plant to me. I love how fast it responds to twists and turns around the net. I went through the very long thread welcome to the scrog. That did it for me. I'm in. I know photos would be better, but the watermelon zkitles sounds and looks yummy.

 

[farmerfischer]

Got some pics of your grow or a journal i can check out..?

 

[FirstCavApache64]

That watermelon Skittles isn't going to need anywhere near 15 gallons of media for an auto. I run most autos in 3 gallon pots with salt nutes and 5 to maybe 7 gallon when I'm doing organic.
They only veg for 18-31 days usually so they just don't need the root space of a photo period that's vegged for 45-60 days. The other one I'd do 5 plants in 3 gallon pots or 4 in 5 gallon pots. More can be run than this but depending on your experience level it's best to err on the side of extra airflow in my opinion.
DC Seed Exchange is the seed bank I use and there a bunch of good breeders there. I like Magic Strains for autos as well as Gnome Automatics. Photos I like Strayfox Gardens, Bob's Bitchen Beans Beans, Briscos Bargain Beans, Hazeman and GuamMaineian Gardens. I have just started stalking the Cannaventure site and they have some killer indica strains I want to get. They're Las Vegas Triangle Kush and Pure Louis XIII have great reviews and I'll try to get either or both this year. That will give you some ideas for a start. Fair warning.... buying seeds is addictive as hell lol.

 

[Django66]

That watermelon Skittles isn't going to need anywhere near 15 gallons of media for an auto. I run most autos in 3 gallon pots with salt nutes and 5 to maybe 7 gallon when I'm doing organic.
They only veg for 18-31 days usually so they just don't need the root space of a photo period that's vegged for 45-60 days. The other one I'd do 5 plants in 3 gallon pots or 4 in 5 gallon pots. More can be run than this but depending on your experience level it's best to err on the side of extra airflow in my opinion.
DC Seed Exchange is the seed bank I use and there a bunch of good breeders there. I like Magic Strains for autos as well as Gnome Automatics. Photos I like Strayfox Gardens, Bob's Bitchen Beans Beans, Briscos Bargain Beans, Hazeman and GuamMaineian Gardens. I have just started stalking the Cannaventure site and they have some killer indica strains I want to get. They're Las Vegas Triangle Kush and Pure Louis XIII have great reviews and I'll try to get either or both this year. That will give you some ideas for a start. Fair warning.... buying seeds is addictive as hell lol.

thanks. I thought 15 gal was a bit over kill. I'll stick with the 7 gal. I have my grow in now. The smaller, tangerine, I have a bunch of 3 and 5 gal pots to choose from. I have 3 mixed varieties (kinda mutants) In the 5x5 now. (I know. don't say it.) One looks and is growing like her cousin the hopvine. Humulus lupulus (i think) , in the hemp family. I'm just winding her around the tent trying to stay out of the way of the other normal plants. I ran out of room fast with five plants, all different.
Ok ill post a pick. Teach me something and feel free to chuckle. I'll start looking into those seed suggestions.

That's day one with the net. 30 days into the grow. After a week the net is almost full. I wish I removed the center plant. I've got nowhere to go now with some of them. Thats hoppy with the alternating bud sites on the right.
a different veiw

Did'nt tuck anything in the pics until after the pics. now it's a week later than these pics.

 

[FirstCavApache64]

Check out the enter the scrog thread on here for some net advice. It's not really doing its job the way you have it. It should be tight and the plants should be under the net at least until the stretch slows down, then you let them turn up to the light. The whole reason for scrog style growing is to have a really full and even canopy height so you can really dial in the intense light.
The way you have it now it will just be like a support system. I like bamboo stakes in the pot personally so I can still move the pot around the tent for watering and inspecting.
There's a ton of ways to grow this plant, you should try a bunch of techniques and you'll find which style fits you best.

 

[Dirt_McGirrt]

I dunno I just started letting autos grow however they want. You're giving a mad amount of DLI already and LEDs have a decent spread. I have found that moving a reptile UV light has helped at the end. Working on adding a full one tube UV T5 supplement.

 

[amneziaHaze]

wow tangarine dream. i planted them like 7 years ago a beautiful plant sadly i never finished her.

 

[beefninja97]

the net may not be necessary for autos but you should definitely scrog some photos with that giant ass light in there

 

[odessa]

Looking really good. IMO it's like doing it on hard mode because I find photos way easier. If you want to get some feminized photo seeds that are inexpensive and get decent results I suggest Expert Seeds. I wouldn't even know where to rank them but the seeds are inexpensive and the strains are hearty. I'm not affiliated with them but I grew out one of their autos which was a monster plant and am currently growing two photos. If you're doing a good job with autos you could be killing it with photos as there is so much more room to play around with time and training.

 

[Django66]

Check out the enter the scrog thread on here for some net advice. It's not really doing its job the way you have it. It should be tight and the plants should be under the net at least until the stretch slows down, then you let them turn up to the light. The whole reason for scrog style growing is to have a really full and even canopy height so you can really dial in the intense light.
The way you have it now it will just be like a support system. I like bamboo stakes in the pot personally so I can still move the pot around the tent for watering and inspecting.
There's a ton of ways to grow this plant, you should try a bunch of techniques and you'll find which style fits you best.

I used fishing rod blanks and weaved them through the net in the 5x5. to strethch it out. I'll have to find some more. I probably don't need the net in the 4x4. the plants are too small to benifit from it. It does help spread the branches out. Here's from this morning. I tucked and trimmed a bit after taking the pics. t

 

[Django66]

I need to stretch out that net. The plants are 1/2 way through the grow. I topped my first auto, the three tops is where it happened, I might just top autos that like to take over the tent. Trying different things. Thanks for the feedback! read the long long thread. cool how things change since 2009. here's some more of the set up. The 40-year-old floor fan in between the tents is almost too strong on low. I'm leaving all doors open and treating the room as one environment. I'm set up for photoperiods when the time comes. 2x4 nursery

 

[FirstCavApache64]

You're doing a good job with the watering and fertilizing it looks like based on the color of the plant and leaf condition. When you have time do some reading on the supercrop technique of canopy management. It allows the canopy to be kept flat without the net in the way. It's basically just controlled breaking of the branches to set the plant height. As you just flipped it could be used in the next week to even everything out up top.

 

[Django66]

You're doing a good job with the watering and fertilizing it looks like based on the color of the plant and leaf condition. When you have time do some reading on the supercrop technique of canopy management. It allows the canopy to be kept flat without the net in the way. It's basically just controlled breaking of the branches to set the plant height. As you just flipped it could be used in the next week to even everything out up top.

Thanks, yea the plants all look healthy but here's the thing.
2 banners in the 4x4 photo on the left. Born on the same day. The one not flowering cannot be bent. Thick stalk and branches. Another Banner is just like the hoppy looking banana kush. I might start training those two to climb the back wall. They never stopped growing. 2 inches a day. If I didn't label every plant you would think I'm growing 6 different strains. I tested my soil and water 10 ways and that's not the problem. I'm half way through the grow so I might as well experiment on these freaks.

 

[Django66]

the net may not be necessary for autos but you should definitely scrog some photos with that giant ass light in there

That's the plan. I like the idea of one big photo filling up 100 squares of a net with a killer bud in each.

 

[FirstCavApache64]

Do you have a light meter to measure the ppfd? One looks like it didn't get enough light, the hops looking one that's viney. The nodes are spaced really far apart like it was stretching for more light. In flower you want around 800-1000 ppfd depending on the strain. There's cheap lux meters you can get to get a good idea of your light strength or if you have the funds a light meter for LEDs runs around 250-400. I use a cheap lux meter I bought on Amazon and it works fine for my needs.

 

[Django66]

Do you have a light meter to measure the ppfd? One looks like it didn't get enough light, the hops looking one that's viney. The nodes are spaced really far apart like it was stretching for more light. In flower you want around 800-1000 ppfd depending on the strain. There's cheap lux meters you can get to get a good idea of your light strength or if you have the funds a light meter for LEDs runs around 250-400. I use a cheap lux meter I bought on Amazon and it works fine for my needs.

I've been moving the plants around so much because they were getting out of control. I have that same meter and it gives me a pretty good idea where i'm at. I'm following each light manufacturers recommended heights and intensity. I adjusted the height a bit. The plants are freaks. Three plants in the same tent all grew to the same height with no burn or stretching. Friggin genetics. Not fair.

 

[Django66]

Busy day yesterday. Risky move, I pulled the Banner from the middle of the 5x5 from under the net. Followed the advice I got here. (That's the whole idea). That plant was not benefitting at all from being under the net. I trimmed her up and tied her down. I added temporary splints to spread out the top a little better. Plant looks much happier this morning. My Goal was to have 4 Banners just like that in the 4x4. Bad genetics. 6 Banana Kush were supposed to go in the 5x5 because they were supposed to be smaller. It's a blessing though. I wouldn't be over here looking for a good bean source and getting great advice. Thanks guys.