Small-space Durga Mata (PS) Scrog

worming

Member
This will be about my first turn in a SJ DP 90, a small (0.9 x 0.6 x 1 m / 2 x 3 x 3 ft roughly) tent originally intended for propagating cuttings but used by me for the entire grow.


I write this journal because I think it might turn out helpful for people (mostly beginners) who, like me, have to deal with an impermanent living situation, a (very) small living space, not too much money to spend, and want to keep their growing operation low-key and stealthy.


Most xs-sized tents and grow cabinets on the market, or even DIY projects, tend to sacrifice width instead of height. I personally think it’s more efficient to sacrifice height because

  1. With indoor growing, the bulk of light energy is available at the very top of the canopy since even advanced lights won’t penetrate far. Thus, scrogging and SOGs are arguably the most common techniques used in indoor environments. This means that the wider your space is, the more light you can efficiently use - plus, you can grow more plants.

  1. Very generally speaking, tall things are less hideable than low ones and fit space less good.

The major objection against low setups of course is the stretch that occurs during early flowering and the risk of your plant growing too tall and burning. During the last 15 months in which I used a Minigrow One to grow one plant at a time, this has never once happened to me, despite this box being significantly lower than my new tent (you can utilize about 65 cm of height in total in the Minigrow)

This will be a dull thread to follow for fans of most (but not all) sativa-rich strains. If you are going low in height, you will have many, many excellent strains to choose from, lots of which exhibit strong sativa characteristics in effect. Some, however, just won’t work.


So, let’s see how I can do. I will update once a week. Please feel free to comment or make suggestions. I will also have a bunch of questions and all help is appreciated.




Setup:
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SJ GP 90
Migro Aray 2 (125W)
16 W 183m3 axial fan (See here)
5 W oscillating fan

Strain / Technique:
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I will grow three feminized Durga Matas by Paradise Seeds. This is a pure Indica, and as such it is expected to display a “stout and bushy form” which would theoretically make “it a good Sea of Green (SOG) option”. I won’t do that, though; instead I’m going to give them six to eight weeks of vegetation during which I will mainline them into stately manifold sceptres. I’ve never done that and I will sure often refer back to this tutorial (https://www.growweedeasy.com/mainlining-nugbuckets). I’m also going to use a fixed metal scrog grid later on.


Medium & Nutrients
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I have never used anything but BioBizz Light-Mix soil and I will do so this time as well. That being said, I don’t see why you wouldn’t use coco if you like it, you could probably also add a plant with that.


I’m also using BioBizz Grow, Bloom and Top-Max as well as a tiny little bit of Root-Juice early on.


Goals
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I aim to accomplish the following objectives by the end of the grow:
  1. Total yield of no less than 150 g
  2. Have a basic comparison between a plant that gets lollipopped heavily and one that loses as few leaves as possible
  3. Have a basic comparison between a plant that gets root juice and one that doesn’t.
  4. Produce a very even canopy with height differences of no more than 5 cm.


Pictures:
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worming

Member
Week 1 - Germination


I use peat pellets to germinate my seeds. I let them soak in lukewarm water and while they do so I prepare my 9 L pots by filling them to the brink with soil. I then water those pretty well, so that the fluffy mix settles down a bit. The next day, I top up and repeat as needed.


I cut the fibre bag around the jiffies on one side because I tell myself that this makes it easier for the young seedling to find a way for its roots.


Then, I put them under the light, which I have dimmed to 20%. For the first couple of days, I keep the light on for 9 hours. Once they raise their heads and look as if they’re going to shed the seedpod, I give them 18 hours.



Issues

The axial fan I ordered turned out to be an unbearable nuisance. It is way too loud.


For now, I will turn on the small fan but I am urgently looking into options to build a silent air-circulation-system. My space is 0.54m³ so I don’t need anything real powerful. Any suggestions will be appreciated!
 

worming

Member
Week 2 - Germination

36 hours after the seeds got wet I witnessed the wonder of new life emerging from 2 of them. The last one followed suit that night.

I decided to put them into paper cups and gave a bit of root juice yesterday. I now have three pretty uniform seedlings (4, 5 and 5.5 cm) and wait for them to do some rooting (which I expect to take a while since it's still rather nippy in here).

A bit tritely, I have forgotten about goal #3 and gave the juice to all of them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Y'all know how it is.

Also, I haven't given a shit anymore on a DIY fan and just ordered a regular old cheap one.

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worming

Member
Week 3 - Veggie 1

The 3 lasses have moved from their paper cups into 9 L pots.

Until yesterday I thought they were coming along nicely despite me having some issues with low temperature and general underwhelming air quality in the dedicated room. Today, though, I noticed minor discoloring on all three of them and I'm really at a loss to say what might be the problem. From the center of growth, the healthy dark greens become displaced by a sickly-looking yellowish spread.

My best guess is a light issue; I'm not too comfortable with the Aray yet. For the past days, I have kept the light at 60% at a distance of 60 cm (24 inches).
I have now moved them up a bit to 35 cm (14 in.) distance. If anyone has a better idea of what might be happening I'd appreciate it if they'd share their insights.

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worming

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Whatever the cause, the discoloration has phased out except for one plant which has some weird marks on one leaf, not unlike those of leafminers. However, there are only two marks and I can find no other signs of bugs. Other than that, she is looking healthy, too.

And that's pretty much of it for this week.

I have started feeding them and tomorrow or so I will bring up the light to 60%. And then I wait for the fifth node.
 

worming

Member
Week 5 - Veggie 3

The plants are now 9, 10 and 12 cm tall. The light is at 60 %, sometimes at 80, and I got 4 nodes closely set on good stems.

A few things went awry, though. For one thing, my room is too cold and the weather is refusing to cooperate. I'm using an infrared heating panel now but I still have dips below 17° C.

Worse than this, I have one plant (the tallest) drooping pretty badly and all three sport leaves that are a healthy green but very fleshy/leathery and the upper ones are curving up.

As for the drooping and fleshy leaves, I'm somewhat confident that I have nagged them with a little too much fert, as I have been too lazy to redo the water after I have fed an older Durban Poison. Mea culpa but I know they can handle it.

I'm not sure about the curviness, though. Until 5 minutes ago I had 30 cm distance to the light. Now it's at 60. We'll see if that helps.


Healthy:

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Also healthy:

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Droopy :(

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worming

Member
Week 5 - Veggie 3

I have topped all three plants down to the third node. Nugbuckets recommends trimming away everything except for the two mains, but on 2 plants I have decided to retain the shoots directly at the node as well.

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Light is on 100% and has been so for three days. Distance was 60, now it's 40 cm.


All of them sport the fattest leaves I've seen so far.

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I guess now the real fun will start and me bending and tying lots of shoots over the next few weeks. I want 8 mainline colas per plant, so I will have to top two more times. I reckon I'll need at least four more weeks of lush vegging.
 
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