Let the budding begin....

First, let me start by saying that 99% of what I learned about growing, I learned here. The GrowFAQ has been my friend. Also, thanks to everybody here that has taught me through sharing their experiences with what does and does not work. I started with a small budget and improved my setup as money permitted.

Here we go. My last 2 grows were scrog. They were successful. My very first grow as a newbie was a vertical grow and it did not go well. I lost 1 of the 2 plants 4 weeks into flowering due to over management and trying too many different things. I started with a very basic setup. A friend had given me 2 clones of an excellent unknown strain. I am still trying to improve my cloning skills.

Soil mixture -
1/3 No brand soil mixture with no nutrients
1/3 Perlite
1/3 Vermiculite

Veg Room
The veg room is 4'x8' with a 8' ceiling.
18/6 light cycle
(1) 4'x2' table (Cosco)
(2) 4' flourescent fixtures with 1 cool and 1 warm tube each. (Home Depot)
(1) 18" rotating pedestal fan (Home Depot)
(1) 55 gal garbage receptacle for mixing soil (Home Depot)
(1) Propagation Tray w/ 10" Dome with adjustable vents (Local Hydro Shop)
(1) Heat mat for propagation tray (Local Hydro Shop)
(1) Carbon scrubber (Online)
(1) Timer (Home Depot)

Clones are made using Olivia's Cloning Gel
Clones are placed in 3" peat pots (the roots grow right through the pot so you can plant the whole thing into the next sized container)

Evolution of the flowering room
The flowering room is 4'x8' with a 8' ceiling
12/12 light cycle
1st grow - 2 clones - vertical grow
(1) 400 watt HPS light, ballast & adjustable wing relector (purchased used from another grower)
(1) 18" rotating pedestal fan (Home Depot)
(1) Timer (Home Depot)
(1) Carbon scrubber (Online)

2nd grow - 2 clones - scrog grow
1st attempt at scrog. This was a fun grow.
Added co2 by using my beer fermenter to mix yeast and sugar.

3rd grow - 4 clones - scrog grow
2nd attempt at scrog. Another fun grow.
Added mylar on 3 walls surrounding plants
(1) Timer (Home Depot) for co2 solenoid
Added 20# co2 tank (Air Gas) with pressure gauge and electric solenoid with timer to release the co2 (gift from another grower)
(1) Timer (Home Depot) to turn Fan & Scrubber off while dispensing co2.

For this vertical grow I have 6 clones. I also had 6 random bag seeds that came from dynamite smoke of an unknown strain. I have eliminated 3 males from the bag seed, so I only have 3 left that were girls. This left me with a total of 9 plants in 2.5 gallon square pots. They were placed in the flowering room on June 14 and I pulled the trigger for a 12/12 light cycle. Twice per day while the lights are on the fan & scrubber turn off and the co2 comes on for a period of 1 hour. I have a halo of tubing which is suspended from the HPS light that delivers the co2.
The 6 clones are a sativa dominant strain. The 3 bagseed are 2 indica dominant and 1 sativa dominant. All plants were topped at 5 nodes. Because I only have a 400 watt HPS light, I was concerned about light penetration. For this reason all the plants were 14"-16" when I placed them into flowering. I really don't have a height problem as much as a penetration situation.

And of course, here are some photos that I took this morning. I will update the photos as the plants develop. The 3 plants down the center are the bag seed plants. the 3 on the left and the 3 on the right are the clones. I also included a shot of the co2 eq. and carbon scrubber.

Looking good bro..

U like to try lots of different methods.. respect

Yes, still looking for what will work best with the equipment I have and the space I have to work with.

which gave u the best yield??

I won't know about yield until I harvest these from the vertical grow. I got about 1.5 ounces from each of the two in my 1st scrog grow. Here is a picture.... everybody loves pictures. These were in 5 gal round containers and I am now using 2.5 gal square. More efficient use of space.

Here we go with some updated photos. The plants are now 2 weeks into flowering. I have a couple over achievers in the back. I may have to bend the tops down to even out the canopy.

Here we are in week 4. I decided to send a group photo. Bud development is progressing nicely. Clear trichs everywhere. They sure have a long way to go. As usual, the over achievers are in the back. On the right column are 3 random bagseed. On the left and center column are 6 clones. I think 9 is a perfect number under this 400w HPS. I could be daring and try 12 next time.

Without delay, the mugshots.

Here we are starting week 5. I finally decided to spend the extra and get some brand name nutes. I went with Flora-Nova one part system for flowering feeding at 3/4 the recommended strength to start. Plants are continuing to blow up the buds. The one bagseed plant in the front is not doing well. I attribute this to bad genetics. All the others seem healthy.

Some random photos from this morning.

Sorry, no updated photos for this week. Haven't been able to manage my work schedule to get photos when the light cycle is on. Buds continue to fatten up. I have two plants that are really over achievers. I suspect this was due to being larger clones when I put them in the flowering space. I am still trying to dial in the right mix for my new nutes. The larger plants don't seem to care how hot the nutes are but the smaller ones are still getting a touch of burn. I will have to adjust the mixture for the different sized plants. I am dealing with the canopy differences by raising up the shorter plants using inverted containers. In this way all the plants are getting a good even illumination.

Okay - here are some pictures for week 7. I have also included photos of my veg room. Started flushing with fresh water. I am guessing I have a couple weeks left to go. I have been watching the trichs and they are 50% clear and 50% milky. Very little amber so far but I know that can happen pretty fast.

Nice grow I like the Veg room setup!! Neato