Quadline Photo Plant Grow - 2x4 tent - 600 watts LED - 3 Plants

[twalte]

Welcome to my fall/winter grow. Comments are welcome, so feel free to pull up a chair.

I exhaust my grow tent into my grow room, so I’m unable to grow in summer. However, the small amount of added heat and humidity is welcome in the fall and winter months, so here we go.

I will be using a Quadline training technique…a technique from another forum that focuses on shaping the plant for low growth. I’ve only done this once before and I was very impressed with the technique. You can Google “the quadsquad thread” and find the instructions. You basically remove the branches from the bottom two nodes, top the plant above the fourth node, and then spread out the four remaining branches. Below is an example of a quadline from the other forum after training the four branches to spread out…this is the goal for my grow.


Looks like I have 4 seedlings ready to go for the 3-plant grow.

I will be using the AC Infinity self watering bases with wicks for this grow. These self watering bases worked great last time I used them, but they did require new wicks.

Tent: 2x4 AC Infinity tent
Lamps: 2x Timber 3vl 300 watt LEDs
Medium: CocoLoco coco coir mix in 5 gallon fabric pots
Nutrients: Gen Hydroponics Flora Series / Seaweed Extract / CalMag
Training: Quadlining for low height and plenty of tops….possibly SCROG net
Other equipment: Humidifier, 4 small fans, AC Infininity Controller 69

Seeds watered with Reverse Osmosis water and seaweed extract in Coco Coir. Currently under a T5 fluorescent light. I tried to use tap water and my seeds wouldn’t germinate, so the presence of chloramines in my tap water is having an impact. I use RO water and aquarium drops to treat chlorine on my water before feeding.
Ganja Farmer Zkittelz
Seedsman LA Peyote Kush
Godfather OG

More updates to follow…

 

[twalte]

Good Morning…Saturday Update. Most seedlings are about one week old. The fluorescent lights are on 20 hours per day so that they get a four hour dark period I recently lowered them to 3-4 inches above the plants. I have yet to determine whether these plants benefit from a dark period and the internet provides various opinions as usual. The seedlings that initially sprouted were leggy (lights were 6” above the canopy) and benefitted by being transplanted to a larger container and supported further up the stem by more coco coir. Their medium is a little too wet and I’m seeing some slow growth as a result. Im letting them dry out a bit.

I had a very poor germination rate….i needed to plant 17 seeds to get 5 seedlings. I only plan to grow three and I dislike wasting expensive seeds. I believe that my seed storage process (vacuum sealed mason jar/refrigerated/dessicant packs in the jar) possibly damaged the seeds or dried them out too much. Not sure whether it was the dehumidifier packs or vacuum sealer….but I’m no longer vacuum sealing my seeds. The second reason I suspect for the poor germination was the use of high ppm tap water with choramines added by my water supplie. Chlorine dissipates with time but chloramines don’t. Seeds need low ppm and no chloramines apparently…..so using reverse osmosis water improved my germination. Finally, my heat mat was adding too much heat to the germination area (over 90 degrees). The fluorescent bulbs add enough heat.

Now I am waiting for the leaves to stretch over the edges of the containers….then I will transplant. I have two options. Option #1 is to move up to 1.5 quart containers and stay under the T5 fluorescent lights in the germination station. Or option #2 to move into final 5 gallon container in the grow tent. While running a 300 watt lamp seems like overkill for 3 small plants, I’ve decided to go with option 2 since I’m using a self watering bottom feeding system. I want the root system to learn that the water/nutrients are deep. Instruction manuals from other bottom feeding systems recommend getting the plant into the final container as quickly as possible because it will grow a different root system with bottom feeding. Another benefit of moving to the final container sooner is for the quadline plant training. I’ll be staking down branches early in the grow.

I’ll make my final decision on next pot size this week. Until next Saturday…..

lamp height. 3-4”. (3500 lux light level….working up to 5,000)
Temperature. 77 degrees
Humidity. Too low….46%! I will raise to 55
Water ppm: 350. (Reverse osmosis water with 1oz/g of Maxicrop seaweed and 3ml/g of CalMag. Diluted with RO to target 350ppm.
Water ph: 6.0. (Coco medium)
Container size plan: 16 oz cups probably direct to 5 gallon fabric pots. (Might go to 1.5 quart too)
Fan on low/medium speed to provide constant stem movement (but not too much)





Two LA Peyote Kush, Two Ganja Farmer Zkittelz, one Godfather OG (the big plant)

 

[twalte]

Quick update. Transplanted into the 5 gallon fabric pots and placed them in the grow tent. Dialed in the lighting to provide 5600 lux. Seedlings benefit from 5000-7000 lux. I am planning to increase the intensity of the lighting every day by a little bit as the plants get accustomed to the light.

Lighting: 20 on / 4 off 5600 lux level
Water: ph 6.0. Ppm 650 (ro water with seaweed and cal mag, plus a small dose of GH Flora series nutes)
Medium: coco coir and added perlite
LED height: 20 inches
Temperature 70 degrees F
Humidity 70%

these are self-watering pots, but the roots don’t reach deep enough yet to get to the nutrients. I will need to hand water for a few days while the roots grow deeper. The moist coco coir is actually in the bottom third of the fabric pot.

Now we wait for 6 nodes so that the quadline topping and training can begin.

 

[twalte]

Week 3 begins with a Saturday Update. The only big change is that I replaced the Godfather OG plant with another Zkittelz plant. The godfather had stalled out and wasn’t acting robust. The skittlez is extrememly fast growing relative to the Godfather…..so it’s swap time.

I am struggling to maintain a low ppm and a 6.0 ph in the water reservoirs. When I top feed the plants, the liquid that drains out has a much higher ppm than what I’m putting in. I’m having to dilute the water in the reservoirs with RO water to keep it to 800ppm. The reservoir water is drawn back into the plant using wicks, so I don’t want too high of a ppm.

The two plants are now almost 6” across….growing quickly. Maintaining a 76 degree temperature and 75% humidity….VPD is under 1.0.

feed is 1ml/g each of GH Flora Series plus 3ml/g of CalMag and 28ml/g of seaweed extract.

 

[Topshelfruns]

I love zkittlez and God father og my next grow will be skittlez your grow setup looks awesome!!

 

[twalte]

I love zkittlez and God father og my next grow will be skittlez your grow setup looks awesome!!

Thanks! The Zkittlez is a new one for me….looking forward to trying it. I had to destroy my Godfather OG seedling, but I do enjoy that strain immensely. It was a great plant the last time I grew out Godfather OG.

 

[Topshelfruns]

Thanks! The Zkittlez is a new one for me….looking forward to trying it. I had to destroy my Godfather OG seedling, but I do enjoy that strain immensely. It was a great plant the last time I grew out Godfather OG.

I got some zkittlez from the Homie he had some amazing zkittlez like complete fire bro and I found 3 seeds!!!!! It's my next grow properly grown godfather og is a hard hitting strain why did you destroy the seedling?

 

[twalte]

I got some zkittlez from the Homie he had some amazing zkittlez like complete fire bro and I found 3 seeds!!!!! It's my next grow properly grown godfather og is a hard hitting strain why did you destroy the seedling?

The Godfather seedling had deformed leaves and was growing very very slowly. I suspect I mistreated her as a seedling with too many nutrients, because she just simply stopped growing these last two weeks. I do plan to order more Godfather OG seeds because that was perhaps the best strain I’ve ever smoked.

i just discovered that I planted Zkittz….not Zkittelz. It’s a cross between Grape Ape and Zkittlez. I hope she’s as good as the Zkittelz you had.

 

[twalte]

These self watering bases worked well with Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil and perlite last time….all watering was done through the base with almost no top feeding.

This time I’m using coco coir which requires closer monitoring of the reservoir PH level and ppm. Unfortunately, the stock AC Infinity watering base has protective bars across the fill opening that prevents you from being able to insert a ph pen or ppm pen. I used a wood chisel to cut out the plastic bars for easier access. ( see the red circled area). Just a tip based on past experience.

 

[twalte]

I’m always hesitant to put seedlings under full-intensity lighting. They are three weeks old. Using the Photone application, I was able to determine that I need a Daily Light Integral (DLI) less than 30. DLI is calculated based on number of hours of daylight (20 hrs) and the lighting intensity used (366 ppfd). My DLI is 25.7…shy of the 30 target. I will slowly increase to 30 DLI this week to allow the plants to acclimate to the higher intensity. The leaves are showing small leaf curl from the higher intensity lighting…..see below.



Seeing some small leaf curl from the higher intensity lighting. Will leave it alone and let them acclimate. I’m watching them closely today.



A quick summary of this grow….
Strain/s: Ganja Farmer Zkittz (2), Seedsman LA Peyote Kush (1)
Genetic Makeup: Hybrid
Pot/Bucket Size: 5.0 gallon
Tent Size: 2’ x 4'
How Many Plants: 3 plus a spare backup seedling
Environment: Indoor
Stage: Seedling / Early Veg
Medium: 85% coco Loco / 15% Perlite
Lights: 640 Watt LED plus new Mars Hydro UV/IR 45
Nutrients: General hydroponics Flora Series Nutrients
Room/Tent Temperature: 76 degrees
Relative Humidity: 72%
Media/Res PH: 6.0 ph
Pests: None
Watering: self watering system (bottom feed)

With the higher intensity lighting, the LED is holding the tent temperature at 78 degrees. I have the humidifier set to keep the VPD below 1.0.

 

[twalte]

Today I installed the mars Hydro UV/IR 45 watt lighting in the tent. Easily zip tied the lights to my current cob LED frame. I am Running IR for a total of 35 minutes per day with a small window before the lights turn on and a small window before the lights turn off. I won’t run any UV until later in veg mode and more in flower mode.

I purchased this light myself on sale….so I am testing this without any bias. I don’t know what to expect

Here’s a quick look at the lights and the reported benefits of each light spectrum.



Light timing. I use Kasa smart timers for my lighting. My LED runs from 4am to midnight….so I have the IR starting before the lights come on and after they’re ready to turn off.

 

[twalte]

Plants grew 5 inches last week in week #2 of veg, I removed some side branches and topped to give myself 6 branches to train them
. I was going to do a quadline (4 branches), but I’m running with 6. I’m also thinking that I may convert this to a SCROG.


Here’s a photo of the three plants as of this weekend….3 weeks old. Looking very tall for their age. Likely due to faster growth in coco vs soil. Could also be affected by the IR light that I’m running in the tent at sunrise and sunset.


Watering bases with wicks are doing an excellent job of feeding nutrients through the wicks. I’m not top watering except for the occasional sip to address potential deficiencies (iron).


One plant was showing a potential iron deficiency with yellowing between the leaf veins. I lowered the ph in the reservoirs from 6.0 to 5.8, plus I fed a little iron (Maxicrop seaweed extract with IRON). Seems to have already helped.



Finally, for this week, I’m increasing the Daily Light Integral to 30. I noticed some leaves curling last week at 25 DLI, so hopefully they have acclimated to the light.

 

[twalte]

Tuesday Update

Strain: Ganja Farmer Zkitzz (2), Seedsman LA Peyote Kush (1)
Genetic Makeup: Hybrid
Pot/Bucket Size: 5.0 gallon fabric pot
Tent Size: 2’ x 4'
How Many Plants: 3 plus a spare backup seedling (and a few Basil seedlings)
Environment: Indoor
Stage: Seedling / Early Veg
Medium: 85% coco Loco / 15% Perlite
Lights: 640 Watt LED plus new Mars Hydro UV/IR 45
Nutrients: General hydroponics Flora Series Nutrients, MaxiCrop Seaweed Extract, GH Silica supplement
Room/Tent Temperature: 76 degrees
Relative Humidity: 72%
Media/Res PH: 5.9

Turned on AC Infinity LED lamps attached to vertical poles (corners) and adjusted lighting to provide a Daily Light Integral (DLI) of 30. Raised lamps to 20” above the plant tops before setting DLI. I am only running one LED as the plant is not ready for full intense lighting yet. Also installed a SCROG net, but I haven’t decided if I will use it. Since I’m using one gallon water reservoirs under each plant, it could become too difficult to remove the reservoirs once plants are woven into the trellis net. I’m struggling with how I want to train these plants to keep them short since I don’t have a lot of vertical space…but I think it will come down to aggressive low stress training. I will either do quadline training or SCROG….but I’m leaning to quadline.

I’m considering a Gorilla Grow Tent 2x4 so that I can get an extra 2’ of vertical space….or else I can remove the inline filter from the ceiling of the tent for an additional foot of space. They’re a little steep in price though. Since I do add humidity to my tent, it might make sense to run the inline filter outside of the tent away from the humidity.




I replenished the nutrient solution in each 1g reservoir yesterday and the ppm was 850 (a little high) and the ph was 5.7 ( slightly low). I added 20 oz or RO water to each reservoir today to lower the ppm and ph since I’m seeing an unhappy plant. This plant is showing some drooping leaves, so I’m hoping the lower ppm feed will allow her to recover. Now the ppm is at 780 and the ph is at 5.9.

I am doing all feeding through the bottom-feeding 1g reservoirs, but for this plant I poured a small amount of RO water with CalMag around of the plant. That might lower the ppm of the nutrients at her root ball.



Now we wait….as soon as the branches get a little longer it will be time for LST like I started here. I will likely remove the SCROG net today and try that technique another time.

 

[thisusernameisnottaken]

Why is your coco dry? Also I started 1 day old seedlings under 30k lux 18/6, but I'am mostly experimenting between 20-30k lux.

 

[twalte]

Why is your coco dry? Also I started 1 day old seedlings under 30k lux 18/6, but I'am mostly experimenting between 20-30k lux.

This feeding system (SWICK) feeds from the reservoir in the base by using wicks, so the top level of coco remains dry. Top feeding is discouraged in a “SWICK” style system. The coco in the bottom 1/3 of the pot remains moist with the nutrients that are wicked up from the reservoir at the base. The roots reach down deep and feed from the endless supply of nutrients.

I’m not top feeding at all. The lack of watering requirements is one major benefit of this style of feeder. No runoff, no daily fertigation…. simply top off with nutrient water every 3-4 days or when it’s low.

as far as lighting goes, I’m following this daily light integral (Photone app) guideline to determine the amount of light they need by age. I keep my lamps 18-20” above the plants and I run 20 hours.

 

[twalte]

This weekend was defoliating time. My quadline training has failed completely and I’ve given up. I am now topping these girls to try to grow them out as a bush.

The self watering bases are working great. All nutrients and water are fed from the bottom thru wicks. No top-feeding at all. This makes growing in coco quite simple compared to the traditional coco process with frequent fertigation. It’s nice not having to vacuum excess feed from the plants daily too.

one more week before I flip to flower.

 

[FmSwayze]

Really? You're not going to share how this ended? The format is killer, your details phenomenal. I need to see the rest of this.

 

[Fallguy111]

You left us hanging \O/
|
/ \

 

[twalte]

Really? You're not going to share how this ended? The format is killer, your details phenomenal. I need to see the rest of this.

You left us hanging \O/
|
/ \

Sorry….my grow got away from me completely and I was unable to pull off the quadline training as planned. The UV and InfraRed lighting I used was likely excessive and I believe it resulted in a lot of plant stretching and stress. The stems were ultimately weak, and I had fewer branches as a result of damage inflicted by me during Quadlining. I will not use infrared lights or branch-bending clips ever again.

I ultimately had to buy a taller 8’ tent to accommodate the stretch and even that was difficult.


Despite having three feminized plants, one seeded herself too.

Overall the grow turned out poorly and I’m planning to try it again in fall going back to basics. I will probably just use a SCROG in a 2x4. Sorry for the incomplete grow journal.

 

[FmSwayze]

Sorry….my grow got away from me completely and I was unable to pull off the quadline training as planned. The UV and InfraRed lighting I used was likely excessive and I believe it resulted in a lot of plant stretching and stress. The stems were ultimately weak, and I had fewer branches as a result of damage inflicted by me during Quadlining. I will not use infrared lights or branch-bending clips ever again.

I ultimately had to buy a taller 8’ tent to accommodate the stretch and even that was difficult.
View attachment 5389491

Despite having three feminized plants, one seeded herself too.

Overall the grow turned out poorly and I’m planning to try it again in fall going back to basics. I will probably just use a SCROG in a 2x4. Sorry for the incomplete grow journal.

A class in humility. Great job! Straight up, people need to see this. Small tent growing is not for the faint of heart. Thank you! Can't wait to start my own journal, maybe one day we can do a side by side.