My 2nd grow...Looking for some pointers for improvement

Afternoon all....I am in the midst of harvesting my first grow, which I am not disappointed with, as there were minimal problems that occurred. I am simply trying to increase harvest. Now, a little background. I'm working a 400W switchable lamp in a 4x4 secret jardin. I ended up with 7 plants, 1 had to come early, one died (and hermmed on me late in the game, so there are some seeds, but haven't found too many), and the rest are coming down. I've got a super lemon haze, an ak 47, some unknown sativa that smells like jet fuel, and a couple bag seed plants that have so far turned out to be face melters.

So, for grow 2, which is starting next week at the latest, I will be using the same equipment, as funding and space and a move at the end of the year are preventing any form of expansion for the tent. I started flowering them about week 5 or six, per some advice I got due to minimal headroom that the plants could potentially have. As they progressed, they filled and filled, some crapping out on me, some dying so had to chop. The majority did or are still doing very well. Huge colas at the top and pretty gnarly sattelite buds. I'm not disappointed. However...I see these gnarly pics of these plants that are buds all the way down the stem. Is this an environment issue or something you can control, or is it based on the strain? Perhaps because I had 7 plants in a 4x4 area, the light had something to do with it...not getting enough penetrating down due to all the overgrowth. I'm not really sure, but I'd like to find out.

Some other contributing factors that may be the issue and I'm sure people will ask about: Temp stayed below 81F but never below 65F. humidity pretty constant at 49%, rarely above 55%, 200CFM exhaust, 2 8" circulation fans constantly running. I'm rocking soul synthetics veg and bloom nutes in amounts that correspond to the bottles. Also, it's a soil grow...3 gal grow bags in fox farm ocean turf.

Any help would be super awesome. Thanks guys!

TheFerg

My setup is fairly similar to yours. Also, I'm in the 7th week of flowering on my second grow. First grow was MG soil with MG ferts, which I had some issues with (due to my lack of experience, mostly). Had 4 original plants from bagseed, one was a female. Ended up with 1.5oz dry. Also, it was in a closet not a tent, with poor incoming\outgoing air - unless I was working in my office.

With that said, I amped up my research here during the grow. Invested in a 4x4 tent and goodies like it looks you have (have a humidifier and dehumid for controlling RH though - didn't see that in your post). Switched to going completely organic and working with alot of different tea recipes. My temp and humidity are tightly controlled now similar to yours, but closer to 65-70% RH in veg and 40-45% in flower now. Strains include 1 clone from the original bagseed, 2 Nirvana Full Moon, and 2 Nirvana Aurora Indica.

I ended up topping and performing a modified SOG setup on the clone. I have 5 main branches, with some lollipopping early one. I really don't see more trichs on it this time around, but it looks like I will at least double the yield. The lesson I think I'm learning from this is that the growing method can improve yield, but may not improve potency. Can't wait to perform a smoke test to verify that!

Another lesson I learned is when I compare the bagseed with the FM or AI. The AI has maybe 2 times the trichs as the bagseed and the FM perhaps 5x. Seriously, the trichs on the FM are so abundant that when you look back at the bagseed you think there was almost no trichs there. Lesson learned here - yeah, genetics. Again, need to verify with a smoke report. haha.

Third lesson I learned was increasing the length of the vegetative stage is well worth the additional time investment with yield. I vegged the bagseed for 2 months versus about 4-5 weeks. I vegged the FM for 6 weeks, but it looks like it was vegged longer, it's a monster. One AI I vegged for 6 weeks and the other for 4. Both are pretty small compared to the other two strains, and I can definitely tell the 6 week AI is going to yield alot more then the 4 week AI. I will definitely be vegging for longer time periods, and topping and\or lst for controlling height.

The last lesson that I can think about right now is that each strain definitely requires different growing conditions to maximize success. My feeding regimen was equal for all plants, but each plant is different regarding minor drawbacks in appearance. I'm thinking that as I get to know different strains, I'll find particular ones that most fit my current gardening techinique.

This is all awfully interesting, and I'm finding that the process is almost (almost) as enjoyable as the end result. As I said before, big time noob here, but hopefully these observations help you in your grow.

You want speedier results? Drop soil and go hydro! Dwc(deep water culture), aeroponics or ebb n flow(flood and drain). Once you go hydro you'll never go back! I have an ebb n flow system outdoors using Canna Aqua nutrients and a DWC system indoors using GH General Organics nutrients. I used to grow soil till I noticed how much more control you have with a soil-less medium. It would cost you less than $30 to build a DWC system.

1 - 18gallon storage tote + lid = $7
1 - dual outlet aquarium air pump = $13
2 - 12" aquarium bubble stones = $4
1 - aquarium air pump check valve = $2
1 - 25' aquarium standard air pump tubing = $2

And ya still have enough $ to stop and grab a small coffee!
Check out

DWC DIY (on YouTube)

Ppl who grow a lot say hydro is better.
Ppl who smoke a lot say bio is better.
Bio fits my lifestyle as it revolves around the grow. Hydro I think would need constant attention which I have no patience for.
I also see a lot of beginners with burn issues, ph probs and more headaches than they bargained for. Mb some day I'd like to try an aero grow. Just not this year

Yeah, I am considering hydro, but I want to get a better understanding of how the plants work...get in tune with the little nuances. I was wondering if the veg time might have had something to do with it. I think I'm going to let them sit in there a couple more weeks at least. And I am also looking at topping one or two of them to see the end result. Drake, nice observations man. Very helpful with your word descriptions. Not enough of that from us noobs on this site. Also, I do have a humidifier, nothing special, but it gets the job done for veg. I had it up around 63% during that time. I'm hoping some staking or tying down will help with the height issue on this next grow. I just didn't want to get into all that high speed shit not having any experience. But, I've broke some branches, chopped too early, etc, and I witnessed first hand how fast these babies can heal up. Now if I can get my wife to help me with all of this stuff, all will be well. I'll try some of these tricks...keep sending the info! Thanks guys.