The Zero.Kewl final decision

hey guy, so i found this thread the other day on a site called international cannagraphic of this dude who was growing massive colas using a very bizarre off the wall method. the thread can be viewed here

International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums - zeros growing method... again.... please dont close it this time.

essentially what this dude does is take a plant and flower it for 2 weeks, then he takes a clone from one of the bottom branches, vegs til root, then back to flower for another 2 weeks, then 3 days dark period, then back to flower as usual until finished. he has pics of some big colas on the thread and i was intrigued. i have decided to lay down the law on this as there is alot of contoversy on this other thread. im taking it upon myself to find out once and for all what truth there is to this.

i will break this down into its 2 main components and compare each against a baseline plant.

1) the clone must come from a plant 2 weeks into flower.

i have 2 clones from 3 plants at various stages of growth, 2 from a plant the day of harvest week 8, 2 from a plant still in veg, and 2 that i will take once i put one of my mother plants into flower for 2 weeks.

2)The 3 day dark period

one clone from each plant will have the 3 day dark period and the others will remain in flower with no dark period.


i will compare yield, stretch and crystal resin production and update weekly to bi weekly w/ pics. i have registered for an account on icmag so i can prove it on that forum as well. i am putting the mother plant and the 2 clones from harvest day in flower today, in 2 weeks i will take 2 clones from the mother in flower and 2 from a mother in veg, root those, then put them into flower. i only have one question, i will be using soil, what size containers should i use for a clone straight from root..? i have .75 gal pots, 1.6 gal pots, 1 gal grow bags, and 3 gal grow bags. any ideas?

here are some pics to get everybody started with of the clones from week 8 and the mother plants i will be using

wow interesting i`ll follow this. myself i would go with that 3/4 gallon bucket. thats about what i use, seems pretty good. then i go to a 3 to 5 gallon bucket for final part. good luck with this.

yeah, this guy is kind of all over the place with his data and reports, not to mention his grammar, and people question if he is even for real. we will soon find out.

hey thanks bonz, i'm not sure how tall the plants will get or how much root growth im going to get in 8-10 weeks of flower and if possible i would like to not hae to transplant in flower. for this reason i thought the 1.6 gal just in case...but as i said, i haven't put clones directly in flower before, so i dont know what to expect. this should be interesting.

p.s. the mothers are in 1.6 gal right now, im transplanting the one to a 3 gal bag for flower

I'm definatly in on this post... I'm still reading all of Zero Kewl's post but maybe you know if this is answered. When he puts the newly rooted clones in the darkness for 3 days, is the original mother in the dark with them or does he have a sperate area? Can this be done by growing one plant, taking cuttings, leave one cutting to stay in veg while all others are flowering. Then as soon as they are done flowering continue the cycle with the one clone left for veg?

i sort of do the same in a way by puting mine in dark for 48 hours before flower. i`ve been told it helps start the flower process because they think it`s the end of the season and try to reproduce before they die, but then the light comes to make it take off again.
ya i wasn`t thinking about flowering right away. i would go with the big pots and some kind of root hormone to help build the roots faster. dont think they would have time to streatch to much.

smokertoker said:

I'm definatly in on this post... I'm still reading all of Zero Kewl's post but maybe you know if this is answered. When he puts the newly rooted clones in the darkness for 3 days, is the original mother in the dark with them or does he have a sperate area? Can this be done by growing one plant, taking cuttings, leave one cutting to stay in veg while all others are flowering. Then as soon as they are done flowering continue the cycle with the one clone left for veg?

Click to expand...

in order to do this you would have to already have a flowering plant that has been flowering for 2 weeks...at this time take a cutting from the bottom branches, and place in veg until it roots, then move directly from the cloner to the flower room.I suppose you grow out the nice top colas of the mother plant as usual with no dark period. he only does the dark period with plants he grows this way, ones that have been taken from a mother 2 weeks in flower then rooted and returned to flower for 2 weeks, its not until then that he leaves them in the dark for 3 days.

i got both of the clones from week 8 of flower planted today in 1.6 gal containers of 3parts happy frog, 1 part perlite, and 1/2 part expanded soil moist. they will recieve ;1/4 strength flora micro and bloom tomorrow. i put the mother plant in flower as well, tomorrow she gets transplanted into a 3gal grow bag of the same mix as the clones' and gets a top dress ]ing of jamaican bat guano and watered throughly. i gotta go get the guano tomorrow.

Keep us updated for sure. I got about 1-1/2 mo. left on this round and I'll give this method a shot DWC style.

yeah thats how this guy did it, he used dwc, he said he can fit 10 single cola plants in one dwc tub (rubbermaind 18 gal i assume)

bonz said:

i sort of do the same in a way by puting mine in dark for 48 hours before flower. i`ve been told it helps start the flower process because they think it`s the end of the season and try to reproduce before they die, but then the light comes to make it take off again.
ya i wasn`t thinking about flowering right away. i would go with the big pots and some kind of root hormone to help build the roots faster. dont think they would have time to streatch to much.

Click to expand...

i think that is part of the reason for the 3 day dark period, the plants (according to zero.kewl) should stretch and increase in crystal resin production over the 3 night dark period and should be anwherer from 1-2 ft tall by harvest begining with a 2-3 in clone.

ya they realy do shoot up. mine were about 6to 8 inches when i did the dark thing and now at 45 days there about 2.5 feet and the crystals did seem to start quite quick and heavy. i have some pic`s in my gallery of the results

got an update for everyone, i got the flowering mother woven into her screen, i took 3 clones from her on july 24 (2 weeks after beginning 12-12) and 3 from another mother in veg that same day, those are in a humidity dome right now in rapid rooter plugs. i took 3 in case for some reason i lose a clone...one of the little clones that i already have flowering (clones from harvest @ week 8 of my last grow rooted and put directly into flower) is on day two of its 3 day dark period....so thursday morning it goes back in to the flower room...im curious to see if the three day dark period affects the little clone....the other clone from the same plant remains in the flowering room. im waiting for the clones i took 7-24 to root then those are getting transplanted into a 1 gal grow bag (i've determined that using the 1.6 gal pots is a waste of soil and space...i dont think that a rooted clone put directly into flower will overgrow the container...worst case scenario i might have to transplant mid flower...that's pretty much what's going on so far w/ this experiment....stay tuned... oh and i will post some pix in the next day or two, my camera needs batteries and i can't take the clone out of the dark until thursday...and maybe by then my clones will be rooted. who knows, this is a learning experience, we'll see how it goes

these pix are from yesterday, i got a couple of the mother plant (3 weeks since 12-12) and a couple of the clones from weeks 8 flower, in the picture of both of them it's the one on the left...it seems unchanged by the dark period, the other one seems to be sending out a shoot or two.... the one w/ the dark period is a bit darker green, but both plants have had the same dose of gh bloom and micro since put into flower.

watch the heat on the little ones they seem to be curling. and on the big one looks loke there may be some wierd coloured spotting on the fan leaves toward the bottom of the pic, could be ph issue?

Let me make sure I'm clear on where your at... You took clones from the mother two weeks into flowering. Then you rooted. Next you went straight to the three days of dark or two weeks of 12/12 then three days of darkness?

My mothers are a few days away from being in flowering for two weeks. Be taking my clones here soon...

smokertoker said:

Let me make sure I'm clear on where your at... You took clones from the mother two weeks into flowering. Then you rooted. Next you went straight to the three days of dark or two weeks of 12/12 then three days of darkness?

My mothers are a few days away from being in flowering for two weeks. Be taking my clones here soon...

Click to expand...

i took three clones from the plant pictured in the scrog 2 weeks after 12-12 right now those cuttings are rooting in rapid rooters in a humidity dome under 18/6....that same day i took 3 clones from my other mother plant that was still in veg and started them in the humidity dome the same as the others...the two clones pictured above came from my last grow...on harvest day as i was cutting the plants down and hanging them up to dry, and that was when i decided to take a couple of clones from the bottom branches....then i started this experiment

Thanks....

I have my clones back in 12/12 under my HPS.

Have you put your shorties in the 3 days of darkness yet?