Scroggernaut by BudXs

Welcome to the Scroggernaut - either you're scrogging or you're not The story: Wife didnt know about my growing past when we met, but I was upfront with her about smoking. Slowly showed her some pics and explained I used to grow illegally indoors and outdoors for profit. She is completely against the plant, but has always been supportive of my consumption so long as I keep it away from the kids and out of the house. When it came time to ask her about growing, she was very reasonable. 1) Cant be at our house 2) Cant be seen or discussed with our kids or family 3) We're going to Disney. Fine, the words were barely out of her mouth before I grabbed my keys to head to the native reserve to look for clones The Goal: 1 dry LBS of sugary sensimilia. This should cover my consumption until its time to do it all over again next year The Strain : I have a few favorite strains from a decade ago, but everything in growing has changed, from the strain names to the light sources. I have to rely on what the boys at the native reserve tell me the clones are. White Widow is what I purchased, but some of the clones differ in stature. They also already have mites and require some TLC. If time allowed it, or I asked my wife sooner, it would have been some indicas from Barney's or FastBuds. The Growspace: Cant be at our house, and I have nowhere outdoors to grow and to tend to. I have a sweet backyard for growing, but the kids are there, so no way. Luckily, I own another spot with a garage that I do not allow my tenants to use. So I set up shop the same day I got the clones. Pulled out some old boxes with grow lights, went to the hardware store, and I was off to the races. The garage is not ventilated or walled, but does have the amps required for my grow and then some. The technique: I will focus heavily on keeping a very low and tight canopy. The HPS I use has a very deep penetration, and so when I combine HST, LST, lollipopping and SCROG, I get very little larf, and many tight and compact buds. I start HST from day 1 on the clones, bending them at 90 to show them what the rest of their life will be like. I will keep HST and supercropping well into flower to keep the canopy spread and the light footprint maximized. Half the room will be scrogged, and half the room left free to compare the results for future grows in this room.

This week I learned of the difficulties of maintaining the environment in an indoor grow in a garage. I played around with a few fan configs and heat runs in the mid 90's no matter how good my exhaust is set up, no good for anyone. I purchased an AC unit that will run 24/7 throughout the grow, significantly adding to the cost of the electricity consumption. I learned very early on that you gotta go big for big results, no not sparing any expense, as I want top notch results. Bugs are an issue. Preventatively spraying with Doctor Doom, an old favorite. Will switch to insecticidal soap later in the plants life. I decided to experiment and tried too hard of a stress technique on one clone that was growing tall and no side growth. Ended up killing the plant, I guess when I crushed the phylum, so 9 plants becomes 8. Growth as expected, the waiting is the hardest part at this stage.

My AC unit has now been mounted above the canopy, making for much more floor space. Temps are bang on and the girls are thriving. Introducing a bit of MegaCrop now that the roots are formed. I expect growth to explode now. I continue to LST to promote new growth and keep a flat profile.

Lined the floor with a tarp for a better way to manage run off. When the Scroggernaut is running it will be difficult to water, so may as well expect some spills. Lots of bud sites, will flip soon. I like to grow 24" to 30" plants, lst'd or scrogged all the way through stretch to keep em nice and short and fill the canopy. Looking forward to the switch and setting up the Scroggernaut

The Scroggernaut - Either you're scrogging our you're not. Switched to 12/12 and put a net over half the grow room. Looking forward to filling it. Plants were defoliated on day of switch and will be defoliated again at day F20

Plants growing well, no stress at feedings and staying on top of bugs by spraying with pyrethium proactively. Looking for screen to completely fill by day 14 of 12/12 with the hopes of getting another week of stretch. Want all 6 inch colas across the scrog portion. Edit - Fed 2 days ago and EC meter was at 2300 when Mega Crop and cal mag were added. Tap EC is like 450, so I figured I would test the plants limits on food. Was expecting some nute burn and planned to flush, but to my amazement, the plants thrive. Will continue to push the threshold of these nutes till I see some burn and then flush

Looking forward to the start of week 3 and finally some real growth. Still going through some stretch, a little less than I'd like actually. I tuck and bend everyday trying to fill out the last 3 or 4 empty spots of the net. I'll be patient, as it is only day 15 of flower. Bud sites are really starting to show now that they have some hair to them. Im keeping a pretty even canopy on the non scrogged plants, and trying to use the light footprint as best I can without cramping the plants. At the end of the week I will be doing my final defoliation and clean up, really looking forward to that. Girls are sucking up the water now. I give them 5 gallons between the eight of them every 3 days or so. They used to sit in the run off for a few hours before they would soak it back up, now its on the floor for a few minutes and gone. Im using MegaCrop cuz it rocks, and Ive had some success with it before. However, I am thinking of tapering off of it towards the end of flower and substituting PK boost because the nitrogen levels of MegaCrop aren't needed. Hit me up if you have experience with MegaCrop

3 weeks of flower complete, plants are healthy and happy. Defoliated all plants on day 21 to promote more bud growth. Screen is less than 100% filled, but I am happy with the light penetration and should still be on target for my expected dry weight Made a bonehead move and left my timer in the on position instead of "timer" and left my lights on fro 52 straight hours. Immediately put it dark , and then back on track after that. Consulted google and reddit and not too worried about it. No signs of nanners or re-growth as of yet. Added PK booster this week in a small dose. Will work up to as much as the plants will take

PK boost is in, and the room is starting to stink Day F31 marks about the halfway mark of flower, and so far, very happy with the majority of the growth tips. The plant in scrog furthest from the HPS is a little lacking in terms of density of the buds. I may let it go a few more weeks after the others are chopped, we will see what the trichs say. One plant is smelling very much like black licorice when the stalk or leaves are touched, not sure on strain, but very prevalent. I have beefed up the volume at feedings, as the girls are drinking a tonne. Running half dose of MegaCrop, 80% dose of calmag and 30% dose of Beastie Bloomz PK boost Week ended with a bang. Buds are pumping, no pests in sight, environment is good, and everything looks to be on schedule. I have the air cranked under the canopy to prevent mold and botrytis

Start of week 6: Things looking and smelling great. Ladies have been drinking hard, and there have been no signs of nute issues or pests. Environment is dialed in, and temps are great. With one week of PK Boost usage, I saw a huge difference in my buds. There was a nice kick about 4 days after the first feeding with Beastie Bloomz. Will continue to use it at all feedings, slightly increasing each time till I reach about 85% recommended dosage.

Start of Week 7, the lucky week. I have cut down the Megacrop to a minimum, even though others like to use it heavy all the way through. Since I am running PK boost, no real need for the added P and K from the Megacrop, and certainly no need for the N. Would like the girls to start showing their colors (and they are) Buds are rock hard, even the ones on the outside edge of the light footprint. The combination of 1000W HPS and PK Boost has always been a favorite of mine. Will start to taper off all nutrients soon, and will flush in a few weeks. Thank you to all who have commented on my grow, and to anyone just taking a look. I also post to r/WeedDiary

Start of week 8 - Well, I found some webs today. I can't see any mites, but Im not taking any chances that these are regular old spiders at week 8 of flower. Spraying pyrethium on the planters and grow room. Plants are getting insecticidal spray for the next couple of days. Otherwise, everything is looking bang on to where I want it. Most buds are rock hard with the exception of the scrogged plant farthest away from the light footprint. It looks to be maturing slower, still with lots of white hairs not yet receded. Will likely give that plant a few more weeks, as I think it may be sativa dominant. Mid week update - 3rd day of spraying for bugs and I'm not impressed. The webs seem to be getting worse, unless I didnt notice as many before. They don't seem to be on the plants, just the planters and some walls, but they sure do look like mite webs, and not the good spider webs. I also noticed a few flying insect corpses on some bud sites, and caught a little bugger while I was watering today. Going to keep up my regiment of pyrethium and insecticidal spray. I can only assume that what I have done so far is effective against eggs, and I haven't seen any plant damage yet, aside from the slight burning from the sprays. Wish me luck. Also, I cut out nutes today aside from my last dose of PK Boost. Going straight water from here on out, and looking to chop in about 14-18 days Day F54 update - The webs look way better today, or should I say the lack of them. treated them again today, focusing mostly on the planters and undersides. Buds looking tasty, gonna start checking the trichs next week. Definite fade happening on all the plants, two of them more than others (multiple strains) Day F56 update - No more signs of pests, but the leaves of the plants have taken a beating. Not sure if from the sprays or the lack of nutrients from the sudden stop of feeding.

Flowering Week 9.... getting there:) Room looking and smelling good. Environment is good after last weeks bout with spider mites. Day F57 - Trichs are mostly clear on all plants, some areas of cloudy. Think Im still a good two weeks out. I have ad a bunch of leaves turn yellow quickly, so please see my grow question below Day F63 - Grow question was answered and advice was on point. Twas a PK burn. I flushed and they are looking back to normal 6 days later. Plants are looking almost ready, and trichs range from cloudy to mostly amber. As trichs are not the only indicator, I am relying on my experience to pick a chop date. Right now its looking like October 7 at day F70. Stay tuned for one more week of diary and then harvest pics!!!

Home stretch baby!!! Start of week 10 of flower, and things are looking chop ready:) The ill effects of last weeks PK burn have subsided and the plants are back to healthy. Have been checking trichomes and flower form, and based on my experience, these ladies are coming down in 6 days, October 6th. One of the plants has the hardest, densest, stickiest nug i have ever seen. So looking forward to tasting. I have been off the nutes for a few days and will be water only from here on out. I have dusted off my old bowl trimmer and drying rack. I have always wet-trimmed and dried in a rack. I dry for about 5 days and then start jarring and burping. The bowl trimmer is soooo fast. It cuts my trim time by literally 90%, will post a video on chop day. Updates later in week F66 - Chopped the one girl who had a tonne of amber in her. Looks to be a good 2.5 zips when dry, time will tell if my estimate is correct, but it comes from experience. Other 7 plants coming down on F71. Check my bowl trimmer video!

Flower Week 11! Chop week! F71 chop day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Harvest results: Plant 1 = 246g wet, dried to 64g Plant 2 = 345g wet dried to 103g Plant 3 = 338 g wet dried to 93g Plant 4 = 256g wet dried to 64g Plant 5 = 248g wet dried to 63g Plant 6 = 240g wet dried to 75g Plant 7 = 330g wet dried to 91g Plant 8 = 302g wet dried to 88g Total = 2305g wet so Im guessing 575 g dry, or just over 20 ounces. This beats my goal of 1lbs. EDIT - Updated dry weight is 641g!!! or 1.43 lbs blowing away my goal. These nugs were dense!! Picked a bunch of finger hash from the trimmer, and there is so much more left. I got a nice load of sugary trim which is drying out now and I will be doing dry ice and dry sift extraction. Stay tuned for cured photos and taste review

I was extremely happy with this grow. I was aiming for 1 lbs and I achieved 1.43 lbs total. The strain is a simple grow for anyone that can keep the environment on point. They are susceptible to pests, so a bit of previous experience in treating bugs is a plus. There seems to be either a rogue strain or a very special pheno within my garden. One plant showed a deep purple color starting in week 5 of flower. It grew out to some stanky and solid golf ball sized colas. Im keeping this stuff separate for the cure, as it is exotic looking and smokes like a dream. The Scroggernaut performed well. I was initially concerned that I would have issues trying to grow a scrog next to a free form. However, keeping diligent on the LST/HST right through midway flower made sure that the canopies were fairly level, and no ladies went missing valuable lumens, and none got light burnt. All in all, the Scroggernaut worked well and allowed me the flexibility of moving unscrogged plants, and with the extra space, made for easy watering of the scrogged plants. Harvest results: Plant 1 = 246g wet, dried to 64g Plant 2 = 345g wet dried to 103g Plant 3 = 338 g wet dried to 93g Plant 4 = 256g wet dried to 64g Plant 5 = 248g wet dried to 63g Plant 6 = 240g wet dried to 75g Plant 7 = 330g wet dried to 91g Plant 8 = 302g wet dried to 88g Improvements for next round include: 1) Increasing grow room size 2) Will raise the height of the scrog by 6 inches or so to help with comfort during watering 3) Will likely run Hempy buckets next to soiless mix and compare the growth rates 4) Will grow 1 extra week in veg I want to thank the GrowDiaries community, and especially the creators of the site for allowing me to share my grow with the world. It has been very fulfilling to track my progress, receive feedback from others, and have a resource for solutions to problems that I have never encountered before. 👊 Thank you as well to my Grower network who have provided some laughs and some interesting chat . Big ups! See you next year