Wrangling a Malawi in hydro/scrog

OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
graying.geek said:
Thanx for answering my questions instead of just berating Ace's genetics.

I'm confused re: your strategy. It sounds like you wait until your screen is almost full before you flip. On this grow, just before they hit the screen I topped them, then flipped to 11/13. It's been 3 weeks and they've filled the screen about 80% and still stretching. If, as you say, the'll stretch for another 2 weeks my screen should be packed. If I'd waited to flip until it was half full before the stretch, I'd have a jungle on my hands. Do you have to double screen yours? Just trying to understand the timing....
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Didn't see this earlier but see how you went wrong there. As my plants veg I lash the growing tips to the screen so the branches grow horizontally and when I flip to flower I keep tying them down during the stretch so only the top colas height is above the screen. As side branches grow out they get tied down too. Only one screen involved but even doing all that some of the biggest colas can be flopping over near the end.

Putting a screen in and just allowing the branches to grow thru the holes is not a proper ScroG. The whole idea of a ScroG is canopy control and as seen by your jungle there wasn't much control. Looks like a good yield tho but the screen is pretty much useless there.

I top mine early just above the 4th node usually going for a FIM and can get it most of the time. Then I might top them like that again so have multiple branches growing up to tie down to the screen then train them all over the top. The screen should not be rigidly fixed either as the plant(s) will still grow taller and want to push up on the screen. Each tie takes about 2-3" of twist tie and only need 3 ties on each growing tip so just take the back one off and move it forward. I get overlapping branches and often tie one branch to a lower one as I go. When a branch reaches the side of the screen I let it grow out enough to be able to bend it around and start it back across the screen. I tend to veg longer than needed really but the yield goes up too.

:peace:
 
Kassiopeija

Kassiopeija

Well-Known Member
graying.geek said:
Probably should tie off this thread for posterity. It ended up being a successful, albeit educational, grow. The Durban Poison plant "finished" and was Pharvested at the end of May yielding 7 oz of rough trimmed bud after 9 weeks of 12/12. By that time the Malawi was taking up 70% of the screen so the Durban was getting pretty crowded.

Here's the Malawi a week before harvest.

View attachment 4642902

The Malawi had developed buds that just kept getting longer but didn't thicken and it was getting seriously out of contol height-wise. So, as recommended above, at the beginning of June I cut the nutes to mid-veg level and added apprpriate amount of a P-K booster with each feeding keeping the total PPM ~900. That did the trick. Vertical gsherowth slowed way down and over the course of the following 6 weeks the buds fattened up nicely. After close to 14 weeks of 12/12 the trichomes were milky with a handful of amber and the girl go chopped. Rough trimmed and ried down to 60% she yielded 1.5 lb, so respectable. I processed a couple of oz for edibles and made a batch of chocolate cookies at my nomal dosing level for a test drive. OMG! I was skeptical about the marketing hype re: this strain being abnormally powerful, but I overdosed and became totally wasted with accompanying nausea and restlessness. Impressive stuff.

As far as lessons learned, I'd summarize the strategy for my next sativa grow as follows:

1) Maintain mid-veg level nutrients until mid-flower

2) Switch to 12/12 when the plant reaches the scrog sceen

3) Run the tops under, or tie on top of the screen until the screen is "full"

4) When the screen is full, switch to 10/14, lower the nitrogen and start adding P-K booster

Keep in mind this is my first sativa grow so take it for what it's worth, though, most is based on other input in the thread.
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it definitely looks like a Malawi, judging from the buds (color & form), its leaves also became much thinner & Sativa-alike later in flower... yeah they stretch enormously... such plants can be flowered by continually reduce the daytime length from 12h down to 10h - even 8h - over the course of some months (like -15mins each week), and if possible, a reduction in overall ambient temperature

Well done :weed:
 
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