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Using a viparspectra par 700 with separate RWB controls. No exhaust just a small fan blowing over the top. Sitting in a 1" Rockwool cube buried in a 4" pot of clay pellets, getting sprayed with jets of nutrient, and a single line of nutrient feeing into the side of the Rockwool until the roots show. Not much to say at the moment. Just using white light only at 50%
This is a shallow water culture rather than a deep water culture. The roots emerge from the pot into the spray which sprays directly into and all around the sides of the pot. The container has enough holes to drain easily but there is alway a shallow pool of water in the bottom. The jets are on for 15minute every hour. This is to encourage healthier roots with a better feathery surface area.
Not much happening, but then every day feels like a week. It turns out that I had the pH a bit high due to not having my proper calibration solution. I've since adjusted it back to 5.9 and will see what happens. I was a bit happier by the end of the week. No roots have emerged from the 4" post yet so the top feed is still in. Lights are now 100%White 50%Blue The roots made it out of the post on day ten. I'm now expecting better growth
Seems to be doing better now that the roots have emerged from the pot. Stem is thickening up remaining very compact. Lights are now all 100% R W B. The lowest pair of shoots from the first node looked a bit spindly so I cut them off. Now there are eight main branches. Only LST from here on in. Hoping to do my best to fill the space.
Coming along nicely now. Very stocky and internode spacing is very tight. First bit of serious defoliating and more aggressive LSTing to try and bring the eight main branches to the same height as the unde.rbranches that are now springing up. PPM now 900.
Day 32 and I have done some more aggressive LSTing to keep the eight main branches and all the inner branches the same level. The canopy is now about 7 inches high and looking down from the top it’s about a little bigger than one square foot in area. I’m trying to make it more rectangular but it’s trying to stay square. Whatever.
Usually these should be starting to flower but no sign of flowers yet, although the defoliation has not slowed the plant at all, as you can see from what it looked like 10 hours after defoliation and 4 of those hours are in the dark. Hopefully she’ll show signs of flowers by the end of the week. I’m expecting to see the most stretching during week 6 and 7, or maybe 7 and 8.
I have no idea what is gong to happen now. I’m able to have the lights at 13” from the canopy as the vipar get rid of the heat well, and the fans are quiet too. Red and White are on full but the Blue is now at 50%
EDIT: I have changed the jets out for a more of a spread out jet with the green nozzles, this was to encourage better roots to emerge from the side. You can see the results 3 days later.
Update: Day 34 some heavy defoliation to get a better idea of how I want to set her up for flower. Which will flip next weeks with some luck.
I've been a bit surprised that while I'm getting a few pistils, she's not really looking like budding up yet. Running about 2 weeks late from what she should be doing. The flowers look like day 30 when it's day 40. So hopefully the next two weeks will see the big stretch.
Still feeding mainly grow nutrients with a little extra Bloom. Using Micro/Grow/Bloom, in the ratio 3/3/5/ started at 950ppm.
Looks like the flowering last week in spite of the pistils was a false alarm it's still vegging. I've gone in and given her a massive defoliation, including some very larfy branches, there's still a lot of larfy branches but hopefully opening her out will help. I'm now expecting another week of vegging and hoping for the budding to begin next week. She's beginning the week at 14" and I hope she stays well under 20 by the end of the week or I could have some problems.
finished up at 20" started budding up right after major defoliation. Roots are monstrous which I believe are helping her to not be set back. I tried a supergroup on one branch that was growing too tall, the branch split a bit, but she didn't droop and didn't slow down. I'd like to put a scrog screen up but I can't because the reservoir is underneath I'll use a different set up next grow.
Will cut the note strength down to 800ppm and use blooming nutes next week.
Beginning Week 8. Started with a very severe defoliation and two super crop tests. Branch was softened and bent over sideways, it doesn't look very good, however there was no drooping of any leaves and so I'll be watching this closely if it all looks good I may do some more of this towards the end of the week.
GH nutrients, at the ratio of Micro/Grow/Bloom of 2/1/4 ppm 1100
1N : 1.25P : 2K start at 1000ppm. Starting to bud up properly now. Trichomes looking nice all very pretty but not a large canopy maybe 20" by 24" with a lot of space. I think she's almost done stretching. I think I might struggle to get three zips but the quality looks nice. Gave her a bid defoliation again at the beginning of the week, not much more to do now but wait. Unfortunately the temp this time of year is about 30 degrees C.
Phenomenal crystallisation over the last two weeks. If this doesn't fill out then it may not be a large yielder but at least it will be a quality smoke. Hard to see it making 3ozs now. I can't inspect the roots any more due to the net. Ambient temp in the house is about 90ºF in the house but fortunately the viparspectra is not adding to the temperature in the room it is in at all!
Ok it's 11 weeks tomorrow Mon. Day 76 today. Not much more growth just buds beginning to fill out. The defoliation has allowed lots of budsites to get plenty of light. I've had the blue way down on the LED this week. Hopefully the next two weeks should see her fill out. This may not be a big yielder, but it look like the quality will be good. They appear to have ripened pretty quickly now. I'm waiting for a 60x loupe but they may mostly be ready in another week.
Not a lot has happened this week. The buds are not huge but the quality is very high, with lots of resin. She seems to have stopped growing and I'm just waiting now for more of the trichomes to go milky. Here's some bud shots.
Took a few branches off near the end of week 13, then after not much changed from the beginning to the end of the week with regards to trichomes yet the pistils got more orange, I decided to chop about 1/3 down at the end of this week. The rest came down a week later (which I'll put up soon) after I was sure that the the optimal time had peaked. Before anything was harvested I hoped for 4 zips but after I took down 3 branches and then at the end of the week saw how much was remaining of the plant after so much was cut down, I upped my estimation At this stage after a few branches half dried I estimated that there might be 5 oz
Put the blue diodes back to 100% for the last week and a half.
This was very branchy with a tendency to look very confusing, after severe defoliation then after scrog she looked very very sad, but the difference after two weeks was astounding. This is a strain that virtually demands to be defoliated. If only to keep the humidity under control. She also demands a scrog because once she's been defoliated then all those spindly little sticks make it to the top with fat buds. So scrog with defoliation is definitely the way to go for this Seedstockers OG Kush.
harvested first 1/3 at end of week 13 rest at end of week 14 after seeing no change in the trichomes, of which a lot stayed clear but that OK. It might be a strain where they don't all go cloudy. After chopping 1/3 down it seemed like more stuff just kept coming up, it's the plant that keeps on giving. In the end I was smoking this for about 3 weeks before I got to finally get a dry weight yesterday which was 7.5 tip not including what I smoked over the past three weeks which I estimate at a minimum of 1.5 ozs. So the total yield was 9 oz. This really did knock my socks off. I thought I'd get 7 in my dreams. There was likely a bit more than 9 but I just got too stoned to keep track properly.
Buds are covered in crystal and the quality extended all the way down the branch, they are hard and dense and fluff out well.
Unfortunately if I'd had known this was going to be such a big yield I'd have kept better records of what I used, when I say 9 oz that's because there was 7.5 a couple of days ago curing, and I'm estimating 1.5 oz smoked over the past three weeks, I'm allowing 1/2 oz per week for the past three weeks but in reality I've smoked more than that. per week so 9 oz is an absolute minimum the actual figure is more like 10 oz.
The stone is exceedingly stoned but mellow, you forget how stoned you are. Does not cause too much munchie problem or dry mouth. Lots of flavour when used with the FireFly 2 and the flavours are still changing, but I'd call it herbal.
The defoliating scrog and hydro set up made it easy to deal with but I can see this plant causing some difficulties for those not experienced in dealing with a bushy plant prone to mould.
The Viparspectra did a pretty sweet job, using an average of about 270W at the wall.000
Hi Shammy, no I have two 30L square tubs stacked. The bottom tub has the reservoir the top tub hold the 4 plant in a 4" basket. So the water comes up the side from the bottom tub and into the top of the top tub and sprays onto the basket, which then drips back down into the reservoir. I have it on 15 mins/ off 15 mins. I call it a shallow water culture because there's always a shallow pool of water around the roots. This is the general principal and there's lots of ways you can plumb this.
well brother, you definetly know what your doing. sweet looking harvest, 9+ ozs from one plant ? sick. im also growing a seedstocker, the bcn xxl critical auto, and i noticed your plants didnt show signs of fading in the leaves/ im not seeing that either even though i dont dare wait more then a week like you said , its taking forever to cloud up from head to toe...
@Freddd,wow
sorry to hear about that. i guess some people are naturaly better at some points of the grow then others. my weakness has been drying and curing. but my growth rate is really 100% from seed and all my intents of cloning have been a conplete failure lol
@Jisaac904, thanks for the kind words, I'm pretty happy with the result. Yeah the finish surprised me, not much happened in the final week. It's a bit deceptive about the leaves because I'd basically stripped all the fan leaves off, the larger sugar leaves did start to die but as she wasn't doing anything more I though it best to chop her down. The seeds I. bought for my first grow all died and this OG was a free see that they threw in!
Hey Fredd,
Im growing the exact same strain and set up(600w mastergrow + 100w additional red only) only on day 32 from breaking ground, very excited to know when you plan to harvest and how much this will yeild.
You've just inspired me to start my own diary from this point.
@Kunaal1, now that my grow is finished I can confidently say this particular strain really needs and responds well to heavy defoliation as well as scrog.
@Kunaal1,
Excellent, I hope that my experience is useful. Taking photos definitely helps when flowering as two weeks can seem much longer than two weeks. My one did not begin to flower till day 40 but it seems to have caught up. I'm waiting for a 60x loupe so I can get a better look at the trichomes. I'd like her to fatten up a bit, prolly two more weeks maximum.
@SHAMMYDOG, they're all sitting in their own climate controlled jars and I'm hoping they develop some more complexity. Currently their smell seem to me a bit generic but they are gradually changing. I'll be looking forward to seeing how they go.
Freddd, Holy smokes what a great job you did. I am very impressed with the yield. I do have a question... It sounds like you might give your yield a 10/10 and you also said the smoke is really good so i guess my question is, what would have made it a 9 or even a 10 Thanks.
also what were your dimensions of your scrog it looks Huge! Thanks again for all your info.
@SHAMMYDOG, Hi, I don't have enough comparison to give anything a 9 or a 10 yet. However I reckon all reputable seed suppliers will have at least an 8 quality bud if grown to their potential. So for me to give a 10 it would not just have to be super attractive with an award winning aroma and psychedelic high but it would also have to not be a bear to grow.
A 9 might be a good quality but that branched well and produced the type of colas I liked without too much fuss.
Area is 60 x 90 cm screen is 55cm x 60cm
@SHAMMYDOG, Hi Shammy, muchos apologies, I got stoned, I feel bad for leaving you hanging on the edge of the cliff. Stay stuned I'm just going to put up a detailed post very shortly! spoiler alert: not less than 9 zip.
Hey freddd... Merry Christmas, or to be PC, Happy Holidays Mate. I am assuming you might live in Australia only because you posted AUD price on your light. Hope your getting close to harvest, hope you can include a smoke report on your final post. Good luck.
@SHAMMYDOG, cheers, yes it's a heatwave down here presently which is the very reason I returned the HPS I was about to install and went for LED. I'm most amazed at how little heat it adds. I'm not sure if I can give much of a report until I have a few more strains under my belt for comparison but I'll do my best. Just started a new grow which will be more fun now that I've seen this one through.
@SHAMMYDOG, I really have no idea of the final weight now. The buds are dense and nuggety. It's very difficult to see the trichomes. It looks like it could be another week. I might take a branch off and let it dry now for comparison.
@SHAMMYDOG, I'm using the viparspectra PAR 700, I chose it because other lights I was considering would have been three times the price, they put this on eBay as an auction but I ended up getting it for 320AUD. I had initially bought an HPS400W because that is what I know from over 20 years ago but I sold it before I used it because where I now live the ambient temps in the house get up to the low 30'sC so heat was an issue.
First off I will say that all the vipers have a higher blue component that I'd like. This particular model the PAR series are both very quiet and very cool, believe it or not but it adds no heat at all to my grow room. The heat is sucked up and blown out the sides. No part of the unit gets hotter than 40C on full power, I like This model because it has separate dimmer controls for the Red White and Blue channels, which makes it very versatile. Overall it is probably a bit less efficient Than say a quantum board or a quality white cob, but I do not buy into the white LED argument on it's own, they need to have supplemental red light like the new QB Elite 96 for example, I might get one of those.
This light draws 325W at the wall so about 100W per channel. During seedling I ran just the white only which has both 3000K and 7000K bulbs at 50% only so only using 50W of power, then I upped it to 50%B and 50%W then during veg White and Blue on full power and red at about 10% when I switched to flowering nutes, and for most of the grow, I ran the White and Red at full power and the Blue at 50%. So I'm only drawing about 270W at the wall. These new models from Viparspectra seem to have better designed lenses than their earlier models. I can keep this light 15" from the plant tops with no heat issues whatever.
Many people have told me these lights are complete shit and cannot grow a decent bud, and that really annoys me, not because I am personally identified with this light but because it can scare a newbie off growing a plant because they think they have to spend a lot more. FFIW, my own personal opinion is that a good root system is much more important, so I'm a big fan of this type of shallow water culture where the root ball gets plenty of air.
Finally I think over the next two years you'll see that all the white QB's and Cobs will increase their red content dramatically. I know that blue is not that important just from being able to grow all the way through under HPS. However when I get another light soon, (maybe the QB Elite 96) I'll be able to in the future, do some light colour experiments with the Viper, for example maybe replacing the 4 hour dark period, with 4 hours of pure red light? Also as it looks like this might be ready to harvest in a week I might give it a heavy dose of blue light. However because I don't have a control plant, I can't really compare.
If Viper spectra used only 3000K leds instead of mixing them with the 7000K this would be a better light, and if they cut down the blue a bit and replaced them with more reds it would be better still. I'll put a few more shots up of the setup.
Weird she is taking so long to flower. I would do more aggressive LTS and maybe even some HTS to keep her the size you want. Shes awesome looking tho, nice roots.
I hope she flowers for you. I have had 3 autos in the past not flower and and I had to set them to 12/12 light cycle.
@JerMeds, thanks man, amazingly by the end of the next day she started to bud up properly on the tips. I'm not much more LST to do but I am trying to formulate a plan for HST I think she's gonna grow for two weeks now. She's grown 2 inches in the past 36 hours.
@SeedStockersOfficial,
Thanks for the encouragement, I hope it doesn't take 8 weeks before the first pistils appear like the one I link to below, I didn't even know it was possible for an auto to take that long. growdiaries.com/diaries/15634-fb-gsc-first-grow
What would you estimate I should yield from this from your experience with what you would have seen.
Freddd
