scrog and/or training help.

I would really appreciate any tips about training, like fimming or topping. H

ow many branches should I remove from the bottom to keep it open for air to circulate?

I've been trying to do scrog grows and have gotten mostly there, but I'm ending up with lots of little branches under the metal rack I've been putting over top of them and it seems like something is not right. I've had 'tips' from people/friends that don't really grow.

I have gotten some decent colas, but not like some of the plants I've seen, in fact, I've seen some pics, here, with more tops on their plants than mine do, using a screen/rack that I try to weave the branches around to try to get some of these small branches to grow up to their height.... I think mine are just too bushy underneath the screen, which I would assume is sucking the life from the tops..

As you can see, I'm kinda confused.

Any help would be immensely appreciated!

I will trade you information for some pictures

Get rid of everything under the screen. Make sure whatever your using as a screen has decently sized holes, 2x4 or 4x4 inches is good for me, 1.5x1.5 was way too small.

growingforfun said:

Get rid of everything under the screen. Make sure whatever your using as a screen has decently sized holes, 2x4 or 4x4 inches is good for me, 1.5x1.5 was way too small.

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One of those expandable gates to keep babies off stairs. What a pain in the ass with those little openings. Took aviation snips to finally be able to remove it. 4 plants topped multiple times and supercropped. This is the tops of one.

I'll add pics when I can get some, but my screen looks similar to hotrodharley's, but not the colas. Screen looks similar. I also, went from using Fox Farm nutes to organic, amended soil, which took a bit of size from my buds yet increased the flavor and smell, as well as the 'punch-factor'! I've used no bud boosters since I switched over. Soil is 2:1 Sunshine #4 mix soil(with myco):lobster/seafood compost and topped with a 2:1 mix of Build-A-Soil Craft Blend:Neem seed meal(with 1/4 cup of diatomaceous earth per every 10 gallon pot/bag). I'd like to see a side-shot of this above, so I could get an idea of what is taken off between the pots and the screen. That looks lovely, by the way!

Sleepybud said:

I'll add pics when I can get some, but my screen looks similar to hotrodharley's, but not the colas. Screen looks similar. I also, went from using Fox Farm nutes to organic, amended soil, which took a bit of size from my buds yet increased the flavor and smell, as well as the 'punch-factor'! I've used no bud boosters since I switched over. Soil is 2:1 Sunshine #4 mix soil(with myco):lobster/seafood compost and topped with a 2:1 mix of Build-A-Soil Craft Blend:Neem seed meal(with 1/4 cup of diatomaceous earth per every 10 gallon pot/bag). I'd like to see a side-shot of this above, so I could get an idea of what is taken off between the pots and the screen. That looks lovely, by the way!

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Basically the plants were lollipopped. The lower skinny branches were cut and rooted yielding monstercrop plants. The fan leaves stripped, air moving at all times under the canopy as well as over.

Sleepybud said:

I'll add pics when I can get some, but my screen looks similar to hotrodharley's, but not the colas. Screen looks similar. I also, went from using Fox Farm nutes to organic, amended soil, which took a bit of size from my buds yet increased the flavor and smell, as well as the 'punch-factor'! I've used no bud boosters since I switched over. Soil is 2:1 Sunshine #4 mix soil(with myco):lobster/seafood compost and topped with a 2:1 mix of Build-A-Soil Craft Blend:Neem seed meal(with 1/4 cup of diatomaceous earth per every 10 gallon pot/bag). I'd like to see a side-shot of this above, so I could get an idea of what is taken off between the pots and the screen. That looks lovely, by the way!

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Sounds like your soil an nutrients are thought out, whats your lighting like? If your trying to skate by doing minimum lighting that is a direct course to small buds. If your using hps buy a new hprtilix super hps bulb for the next flower run, if led make sure its not burple lights, and increase your watts.

I'm using King LED 800w over each plant. Sometimes, in veg I'll share with another 2 plants, but only after a month, so they're staggered, but in flower I use a 1:1 ratio for 800w LED : single plant.

Thank you guys for your replies!

Hotrodharley, do you mean you take the actual branches and shove them right into the soil or are you saying that you take cuts and clone more(or, use the main plant as a mother). I definitely do take approximately 6 cuts from each plant to clone for the next generation.. I usually keep the best 2 of my clones to actually up-pot(into 10 gallon grow bags) and gift the others to other patients in need.

I don't profit whatsoever from my stuff. I gift all my extra cuts and actually give all the guys in my band free sack(s) o' buds. I think it's meant to pay this gift forward.

Sleepybud said:

I'm using King LED 800w over each plant. Sometimes, in veg I'll share with another 2 plants, but only after a month, so they're staggered, but in flower I use a 1:1 ratio for 800w LED : single plant.

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There's your problem right there. You got conned into buying a bad light... I'm sorry for your learning experiance..

How's that? These LED's are not good? I've grown some very fine meds with these(granted, not as much as my 2 x 600w HID's per room).

I'm fairly new to this, and had to cut back for the cost of the lights and ballasts. I'm disabled and have been fighting social insecurity since 2013, so my personal situation has been dire at times. I'm trying to get help from people who know more than I do to try to live within my means.

Plus, I'm asking about the scrog thing as well and/or pinching/fimming as well. And, I'm having trouble with too many branches under the screen. If I can understand the way to get everything on the same plane to get more tops and cut away what shouldn't be there or what Hotrodharley mentioned about monster cropping..? I don't understand if he was referring to taking small lower branches are sticking them into the soil or taking cuts(as I do take cuts).

I mean, I'm aware the LED's aren't as powerful as the my HID lights, but since I'm usually flowering 2 plants in 10 gallon bags at-a-time, one 800w LED per plant should suffice, no? I was growing 6-12 plants in each room under the HID's, again, as a green-assed novice and getting some nice plants of about 10 different strains.

I've never done this(grown, I mean) before my diagnosis, and epilepsy made it a cold, hard fact of life as well as a necessity for me.

Sleepybud said:

Thank you guys for your replies!

Hotrodharley, do you mean you take the actual branches and shove them right into the soil or are you saying that you take cuts and clone more(or, use the main plant as a mother). I definitely do take approximately 6 cuts from each plant to clone for the next generation.. I usually keep the best 2 of my clones to actually up-pot(into 10 gallon grow bags) and gift the others to other patients in need.

I don't profit whatsoever from my stuff. I gift all my extra cuts and actually give all the guys in my band free sack(s) o' buds. I think it's meant to pay this gift forward.

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I take cuttings and put them directly into wet vermiculite after dipping in Clonex and then In Mykos.

This is what I've been using as a home-built rack. It's got casters and a bottom refrigerator rack to keep water from rotting the wood. It's on a slant so it'll drain(cut-outs so no water drains right onto the wood.

The bottom one is two plants that have been planted in these for just about 2 weeks, so there's still lots of growing to do. The top ones I've already had to weave in.

My game plan has been to let it get knarly underneath until I flip to the flower room, which is when I take the best cuts from that, then try to clear out the bottom for adequate airflow.

hotrodharley yes, I do the same! Actually, exactly, except I put my cuts into my simple pan 55-site cloner(with a clear hood) for 2 weeks and they've got dreadlocks for roots!

Those arnt 800 watt lights tho... they probably are closer to 150 watts or something. It's a scam dude, you fell for marketing and lies. Your wondering why your getting small buds when your doing everything else right (it does look like you are doing a good job) this is why. Those are bad lights man.

If you dont believe me or whatever I dont care I'm burnt out on this burple LEDs topic, it comes up like 100 times a day on this site, countless people just like you getting scammed and posting here asking why, then not wanting to believe they bought trash lights, arguing, etc.

I'm merely looking for help. I'm not burnt out by anything and came here looking for information from folks that know more about this than I.

Wherever you got the notion that I didn't believe you I'm not certain. All I stated was that I've gotten some good meds from this setup.

So, knowing my financial situation is in the shitter, what do you suggest I do? You believe that I should just turn off these as there's absolutely no use trying to continue? I'm trying to make the best of a bad situation, I guess, as any other way I turn I won't be able to afford it. Like I said, I know I'm not getting the same results from these as I did from my HID's. So, if you could help me get the best out of this, that'd be the best for me. If not, I'm sorry I angered/frustrated you.

I've got my old HID's still connected but I took down the hoods to hang these, but the metal halide and high pressure sodium bulbs are old. Which brings me to another question: What is a baseline price for these bulbs that are usable, as I've seen them from $20 to $120/bulb? Maybe if I ran one per room? I'm grasping here...

I probably did get lied to, but it was from another guy that's a med patient like myself who didn't make any money from me getting these lights. So no con unless he just enjoys leading less knowing, less financially-able people into just pissing money out the window. I'm assuming that you've seen these specific lights and people's issues with them. I can tell you that I've noticed other LED's that have a similar name are more like $100/100w LED's and that was what was attractive to me about these. I should know that anything that seems too good to be true is.

Thank you, again.

My frustration isn't directed at you, it's the effect of others on the forum.

I'm the one burnt out.

The best bulbs are made by hortilux, a new 1000watt super hps is about 58 bucks. Lots of good websites to order from that arnt amazon or ebay. Stay away from ipower or apollo like the plague.

The con I was referring to is the online propaganda that's put out en mass by led makers, probably was listed as a 800w light, or comparable to a 800 w light, but it isn't, that's the con.

If you use led you want the white lights. They are hands down better. The best LEDs out are quantum board and the Samsung strips.
Dollar for dollar hps will take you farther though every day of the week. If you need points on how to cool the lights it's pretty easy, ducted hoods and fans, the whole industry was built around them.

It seems that I'm back to where I was before I started this thread.

Thank you for the responses.

Sleepybud said:

It seems that I'm back to where I was before I started this thread.

Thank you for the responses.

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The buds in my pic? An iPower light. I was pressed to flower inside my cabin without a tent. I did everything against the rules. Red LED lights around, no tent like I said. I had to have one light so a single CFL but I watched movies.

Cheap used light, no tent, no total darkness.

No bugs and no hermies either. I would not do it again but it worked. The HPS bulb had 2 grows already but the fuckers here want $100 for a new $50 bulb.