SCROG in DWC

OGbros Both seeds were placed to germinate on a damp piece of paper on June 15, and after 2 days, on the 17th, they sprouted. They were then put into a peat disc for the actual germination. On June 21, both sprouted seedlings were placed in hydroponic pots with expanded clay support. The pots were filled with tap water (in my area, the tap water pH is about 7.8), so I added 15ml of pH- from Bionova. The next time I check (in about 3 days), I'll check again until it's in the optimal range. The light was set on an 18/6 hour light cycle at a distance of 30cm and at 25% power.

OGbros Hey guys!!!!! Sorry for the absence even though it doesn't matter to anyone since this diary is read by me and my buddy ahahaha. I've been busy with work and university and haven't found the time but hey, here I am. I had some pH issues, every time I came back from the ladies it was off-balance: this caused some problems for the zombie while the cherry kush handled it. I started normal fertilization as per the label as if I had used 10 liters but I just dumped it directly into the solution (about 45 liters), in fact the EC is slightly lower than it should be but I didn't want to go all in at once: I wanted to give the plants time to gradually absorb the nutrients. I also used the mycorrhizae from advanced nutrients (30ml in total). Starting next week, we begin with topping and defoliation.👍

OGbros Ciaooo The zombie is slowly recovering from last week's stress while the sweet cherry has started to grow like crazy. Both have been topped (on different days, first the cherry and then the zombie) and defoliated. They put out new leaves every time I go to check on them, in fact, I think I’ll keep removing leaves every time since the growth rate is impressive (and you say, well of course, it’s hydroponic). I haven't added any nutrients or water this week, but it seems there hasn't been a need, with these temperatures if I were in soil I would have had to water at least once a day. In a few weeks, I’ll set up the scrog, but this time I want to cover as much surface area as possible. 🥷

OGbros Everything is going well, I’d say the zombie has fully recovered. It has super short internodes! (it should be 90% indica so that makes sense) I defoliated both plants because if I waited, it would become very difficult with all the new foliage they’re pushing out every day (especially the sweet cherry). I finally added some water, specifically 3.5 liters with all the fertilizers mentioned above at a concentration slightly lower than what’s recommended on the label. I’m confident for the coming weeks and can’t wait to set up my homemade scrog to open them up properly and fill all the space! 😋 edit 07/16 In just 3 days, as I imagined, the plants have put out new foliage. I decided to defoliate at a much faster pace compared to the last cycle so as not to leave anything under the surface of the net. I built the net with 4 PVC pipes (with matching corners) and screws every 7cm (I find commercial scrogs useless as they have holes that are too big). Now the plants are just a few centimeters from the scrog, and as soon as they reach it, it will be the start of horizontal growth!

OGbros Everything is going well without excesses or deficiencies in fertilization, the temperature is a bit high but it doesn't seem to cause too many problems. On day 19, I gave 10 liters of water with the addition of the fertilizers mentioned above at label concentration. The few times I fertilized, the EC of the solution remained constant: this means that the plants are absorbing water and nutrients in the right proportions. On day 22, I performed a defoliation on both plants: the sweet cherry (in my personal opinion) looks much nicer with its long internodes and impressive leaves. The zombie appears much more flattened with very short internodes, but to my great surprise, after the defoliation, I saw how many new shoots it has produced (not fewer than the sweet cherry). The sweet cherry has reached the net, and from now on I will start to gradually widen it. Along with the defoliation, I also performed some super cropping on the zombie to bend and space out the branches a bit (I used the same technique last week on the sweet cherry, which seemed much healthier compared to the zombie). Right now, I have to admit that they are not exactly a sight for sore eyes (which is why many people don't defoliate), but soon they will be beauties, I guarantee you. 👻 Edit 04/25 The girls have started to drink more water. Today I also added to the solution 10 liters of water with the tripak from ghe (grow/micro/bloom) at label concentration, calcium and magnesium (1ml), and fulvic acids (1ml). The tips of the sweet cherry are showing signs of an early excess of fertilizers, the EC is 1 (lower than recommended). Let's see how it goes.

OGbros Hey readers, I did a pretty heavy defoliation on both plants since the foliage had become too excessive from my point of view. Last cycle, I defoliated a little, and amidst the jungle of leaves and branches, airy buds popped up, and I don't want that again. After the defoliation, I added 10 liters of water to the tank with the addition of the fertilizers listed above at label dosage (except for calcium and magnesium, for which I used 1ml/l; the label would be 2). In the following days, the girls recovered well, putting out many new leaves. On the 10th of the month, I will do another significant defoliation, then I'll be away for 4 days; I really hope they don't grow too much and don't play tricks, otherwise the scrog would become useless. Once I'm back from the little vacation, I plan to start the flowering phase; the sweet cherry kush is really big, unlike the zoombie, which stays with super short internodes: I hope it's at least amazing to smoke!|

OGbros Hey everyone, I added 10 liters of water to the pots with the fertilizers marked above at the label dose, then I poured another 5 liters of water without fertilizers followed by 5ml of pH-. I did a pretty heavy defoliation on both plants, removing everything located below the scrog and leaves that I deemed excessive. In about a week, I was thinking of sending them into flowering. Now I'll be away for a few days and I hope they don't grow too much during my absence.

OGbros Hi everyone, after my return, the girls seem to have bounced back great! They've put out a lot of new leaves, and fortunately, not much has come out from under the scrog. I added 5l of water with the fertilizers mentioned above at the label dose (calcium and magnesium half, which is 1ml/l). On 08/16, I changed the light timer from 18/6 to 12/12: it's flowering time!

OGbros Hey everyone, I changed the light hours on August 16, about a week after the last defoliation. I would have left them longer, but the sweet cherry ran out of lateral space to grow.... I added 10 liters of water to the solution with the fertilizers listed above the label dose (pre-flowering) (calcium and magnesium 1ml/l, oligospectrum ex essential 1ml/l) Already in the first few days, they stretched a lot, which will happen for the next 3 weeks... Too bad about the size of the zombie: if it had been as big as the sweet cherry, I would have managed to fill the entire surface of the scrog (I think at this point it's unlikely that will happen). I plan to do a defoliation around the twentieth day of flowering since even though I've done several, quite heavy ones, the plants are pushing out tons of leaves and branches (I don't want anything under the scrog, I'm tired of wasting time cleaning the "popcorn buds." I hope to achieve a result on par with last cycle🙏

OGbros keep everything under the net! the flowers have started to form and you can begin to smell a light very sweet aroma

OGbros Finally, they have started to reduce the stretching. In a few days, it's time for an important defoliation to remove everything under the net and the excess foliage.

OGbros Here I am again, friends, as I wrote last week, I intended to give a good defoliation.... and that's what happened! (September 7th on the twenty-second day since the light cycle change). I have to admit that this time it was really a pain in the ass: the lack of side openings in the box makes everything very uncomfortable. I had to lie down in some really awkward positions; luckily it wasn't as hot as last month, or they would have heard me cursing all the way to Japan. Anyway, I mainly used my hands, but I had to help myself with some shears to cut the lower branches that would never have made it out of the scrog (literally a screen, not a thread of light was coming through from below, it looked like I had laid a carpet of leaves and branches over the net). In any case, with the help of my partner in crime, we managed to clean both plants in about two hours and removed an unbelievable amount of leaves and branches (if I remember correctly, we filled two 5L buckets each, pressing everything down, which is quite a lot). I added 30L of water to the solution, of which 20 were fertilizers according to the doses marked above, and 10L of water with just the addition of pH- (the water I use has a pH of 7.8 from the tap). After the defoliation, I have to say that as usual after such interventions, the plants looked like crap! At the moment, I was a bit worried about having overdone it, but in the following days, I must say they recovered tremendously, getting much bushier. If I hadn't done this operation, I would have found myself with a green jungle under the net, certain of "popcorn buds" (which I hate having to trim) and the not-so-distant possibility of mold appearing.... I’d say it was better to avoid that. Anyway, as you can see from the photos, the sweet cherry kush has spread much more than the zombie x zombie, but the latter gives me the impression that it will produce much denser flowers (and I’d say thanks to the fact that it’s 90-10 indica). Visiting them every 3 days, if not more, I always have difficulty normalizing the pH; in fact, I've had pH imbalances several times (if I had them at my place, it wouldn't be a problem at all, but since I can't see them every day, I adjust as best as I can), fortunately, my partner is there to help out. They've started to smell, but the activated carbon filter is doing its job. I hope they produce nice buds like last time.... But the only thing I can do is wait!

OGbros Hey everyone, the plants seem to be doing well. I apologize for the excessive exposure, but I have a bit of a crappy phone and I don't really feel like sitting there editing the photos. Anyway, the two girls are drinking a lot: this time I gave 20 liters of water split into 10l and 10l, I used the tripack plus calmag in both, while in one I used fulvic acids (10ml so 1ml/l) and in the other humic acids (10ml 1ml/l). The plants don't seem to have any particular excesses or deficiencies. The zombie has some leaves with the blade facing upwards: this usually happens because it's struggling to transpire (which doesn't happen with the sweet cherry, making the zombie the most sensitive of the two). I have to admit that from the photos there seem to be some nice buds already, but in reality, I haven't noticed this (even though they are visibly swelling). The smell is starting to get intense, but I bought a product (I can't remember the name right now, I'll write it down next week if I remember) that looks like jelly that absorbs odors, and I have to say it works excellently. We'll see what the next weeks have in store for us...

OGbros Hey everyone I don't have much to say other than that around the fortieth day I'll do another defoliation (much lighter than the last one) to expose all the possible sites where the flowers will form. The EC meter is messed up so I can't use it unfortunately, it probably hasn't been working for a while since it was giving me either extremely high or extremely low values. I hope this malfunction doesn't compromise all the work... Hello again, this time I bring bad news. During the last visit, I noticed some internal parts affected by mold, I won't even tell you the curses and tears, this news broke me. I only have the chance to do 1 cycle a year (and I'm infinitely grateful to those who allow me to do it, since here you risk up to 6 years) and being attacked by mold is one of the worst things that could happen. So I removed the affected parts and increased the airflow in the area below the surface (where the mold had appeared), plus I also attached a dehumidifier to keep the humidity under control. Apparently, during the hours when the light was off, the humidity % skyrocketed since with the light on it never went above 60%. I hope to contain the damage because it would be such a shame and a stab to the heart for me. In any case, I added 20l of water with tripack grow (half dose) and flow, along with pro bloom and calmag. I want to try to follow the advice I was given at the last Spannabis, which is to stop giving nitrogen in the last weeks. If I had been in soil, I would have completely stopped, but being in hydroponics, I preferred to reduce it but not eliminate it entirely since I would have experienced rather significant deficiency symptoms. We'll see how the girls react in the coming weeks, hoping that the mold problem is contained (if not, you'll hear my curses all the way to Holland). I hope you have a bit less of a shitty time than I do (by the way, the pulley that was used to adjust the height of the lamp broke again) and that mold never enters your grows. Peace 😢

OGbros Hey brodies, hope you’re all doing well! I checked all the plants thoroughly and didn’t find any more traces of mold. Next time I need to remember to turn on the dehumidifier right from the start of the flowering phase. I cut the SCROG net: since the environment is very humid, the string that makes up the net got damp. That could be why the mold started (I say could because it could have easily been caused by other factors). I also removed the perimeter structure of the SCROG but I don’t have photos after I took it off. I then had to tie some branches and pull them up; until that moment they had been supported by the net. I hope there aren’t any other problems, come on, in a few weeks we’ll be harvesting! edit: the photos from October 5th are different from the others because I activated the overexposure option on my phone camera. According to the seed bank, the zombie should be taken down in 5 days, but in my opinion, it’s not ready yet. I’ll definitely take them down together because I have no place to put them other than the same box. I think in a couple of weeks they’ll be ready.

OGbros Welcome back, everyone! We have reached the final days of this cycle. The trichomes on some leaves are starting to turn amber; personally, I like to harvest when the percentage is about 20% amber and 80% cloudy white. I'm still fertilizing, but in a few days I'll change the entire solution to water and Flora Kleen. Those who have been attentive readers will know that I had some issues with mold a few weeks ago, so I expect to find more at harvest time and during trimming. Fortunately, by lowering the humidity, the spread has stopped, but the contaminated buds will have to be thrown away (man, it makes me want to cry, damn it! :( ). I hope I don't find too much; it will be a real blow to the heart to have to throw some away, but that's life: sooner or later, the perfect cycle will come (or maybe not?). I really hope they are good; I expect a lower yield compared to the last cycle, even though I gave more days of vegetative (last cycle I managed to harvest 600 grams dry), but I still expect a harvest around half a kg. Catch you for the next updates!

OGbros Abundant production that satisfied me 100%, too bad about the zombie. At the time of the harvest, it had a strong citrus smell, I'll update the diary with the taste and effect after at least 1 month of curing.

OGbros As I said, the yield did not meet my expectations at all (since the sweet cherry kush in the same environment and with the same parameters produced more than triple). Right after harvest, the smell is very fruity, and I have to say I'm really curious to know what it tastes like when smoked. I will update the diary with the flavors and effects after giving it at least a month of curing.