Less is more?

ninja1

Well-Known Member
That under a 400w with 3 other plants mate? Will have a proper look after dinner just waiting now for it to be brought out to me.
 

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
I'm with you here Jondamon. Most people neglect to account for the transitional phase of the plant growth. I've had this discussion with sooo many people, and it often turns into a big thing. I really think its one of the biggest reasons people cut early, and aren't happy with their final outcomes. You constantly see people on here asking if their plants are done at "7-8 weeks of 12/12", when they clearly need more time.

To the OP, the simplest explanation for why the yield was poor on your buddies plants, and if it ends up poor on yours that are the same genetics, would be genetics. Even with all the other possible variables, including being cut early perhaps. If the phenotype of those genetics you have is a light yeilder, then end of story really.

As far less is more.... I run a single cola SOG. My plants get a week or 2 of veg after being cloned and put into pots, and are usually about 6-8 inchs tall when I flower them. Because the genetics are mature they take about 7 days to actaully start forming flowers, and continue to stretch a bit for about 5-7 more days before they really settle into making buds. I typically start "counting"(I don't really count any more, just harvest whats ready when its ready) once the plant actually starts forming flowers. I consider this to be the beginning of "flowering".
 

jondamon

Well-Known Member
That under a 400w with 3 other plants mate? Will have a proper look after dinner just waiting now for it to be brought out to me.
It was actually 3 large plants and 4 single stem clones.

Total harvest dry weight from the room was 427g.

One of my plants had 156g on it.



J
 

adower

Well-Known Member
Hey bud, the plants are done when theyre done. You need to check the trich's and overall bud structure. Yeah the breeder says X weeks. Once you get around X weeks then start to check your plant and make the determination from there on what it looks like.

I dont know of any strain that can be completely done at 6 weeks. Around 6 weeks is when they are just starting to form. In week 8/9 the swell comes.
 

ninja1

Well-Known Member
wanna be hitting more than that lol otherwise fuck downsizing. guess i can use what im doing now and learn from it to try get improved yields.
 

Cobnobuler

Well-Known Member
Hey bud, the plants are done when theyre done. You need to check the trich's and overall bud structure. Yeah the breeder says X weeks. Once you get around X weeks then start to check your plant and make the determination from there on what it looks like.

I dont know of any strain that can be completely done at 6 weeks. Around 6 weeks is when they are just starting to form. In week 8/9 the swell comes.
Right. I'm no expert but with 6 or 7 grows under my belt now I've learned more and more that calender time really doesnt mean a thing. The plants will always tell you everything you need to know. Every growing environment is different so anybodys judgement on time lines goes out the window. The only one that matters is YOURS. My plants and my cheapo Radioshak scope tell me all I need. I dont even keep a calender anymore.
 

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
If your wanting to harvest more then downsizing seems counter productive. I saw a grow on here where the guy was using a cabinet in his garage. It was one of those like 4x7x1.5 ish cabs, that he lined with mylar and had a nice aircooled 400 watt setup that he regularly was able to get 10+ from the cabinet using a parabolic scrog technique to increase canopy area. He only ran a few plants at a time.
 
That under a 400w with 3 other plants mate? Will have a proper look after dinner just waiting now for it to be brought out to me.
Sorry a little late on this post. I have tested a few theories under (2) 1000w in a 4w x 8L x 7h area growing (2) strains: Tahoe OG kush n Pineapple Express! U'll see as we decreased the amount of plants our yields per plant increased significantly.
1. Our cycle is 10 wks veg n 10 wks 12/12 flower constant cycling
2. We crammed 22 plants our first grow ever n received an avg dry weight of 1.33oz per n total weight of 29.25oz
3. Next we did 17 plants and received an avg dw of 2oz per tw 34oz
4. 14 plants dw of a 2.75 tw 38.50oz
5. 10 plants dw of 4.20 tw 42oz

We haven't done 8 yet (cause were pretty happy results of 10) but my assumption would b a slight increase as well. Keep in mind we have also done a better job of keeping our girls healthy (weekly NPK soil test resulted in far less feeding) as we gained experience n knowledge throughout the process. My guess is because the girls have more room to breathe and receiving more lumens per sq ft penetrating deeper into the base they are producing more.

Final note as many above have said. Check the trichomes w a 60x scope. When there all milky w about 20% amber (pending preference) their ready! Buds can double in size in a matter of only a week if allowed to fully mature.

Glimpse of flower 21 days since 12/12 flip! They stretched 12" in 12 days before flowering!
 

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ninja1

Well-Known Member
Ill be downsizing but I will be able to run 2 tents so whilst one is in flower I will be able to veg. Longer veg should make up for the fact that I'm having less. Will be 400hps for 4 plants so 100 each and hope to hit around 10oz. Will just see how it goes ill just have to learn more and sure the crap yields will anger me enough to get on with it.
 

jondamon

Well-Known Member
Simple way of looking at it is this.

Keep leaves green and healthy.

Use a scope to check trichomes.

Harvest based on your own preference of milky/amber.

Stop harvesting early.




J
 

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
I would suggest looking into a way to use the vertical space, like hanging the 400 vertically in the middle of the 4, or buy using a v scrog or parabolic scrog to create a more even and larger canopy. The 400w isn't gonna have much penetration, which could also be the big difference to high yielding 400w gardens and low yeilding. The cabinet setup I mentioned was high yeilding because he maximized the use of every bit of light, and every bit of canopy space. If you try to grow bush "deep" plants under a 400 it will be much harder for the light to get down to anything but the top buds. Thus my suggestion for using a scrog!
 

jondamon

Well-Known Member
Here are some shots of my 400w room.

Non of these plants exceeded 2.5ft tall.







These last 2 pics were about 7 days away from harvest.



The shots above yielded 427g.





J
 
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