SWSVIC’s First Grow (Ever...) ILGM GDP

[SWSVIC]

Hey @420farms,

Welcome to the community and congrats on purchasing your Grobo, you’re going to love it! First off let me start by saying that I too am a noob, hence the title “first grow ever”. What I have done with my setup and my grow is by no means necessary, in fact some might argue that some of it may be unnecessary, but I think we can all agree that it’s pretty bad ass .

The Grobo is an EXTREMELY capable piece of equipment. What the Grobo team has accomplished thus far is absolutely astonishing and soon with their tireless efforts and the help of this community, they will have their masterpiece! You do not NEED any of the items, additives, or beneficials, that I have added to my system/grow (except for possibly Hydroguard if the water in your unit raises above 73 degrees which is more common than not).

The questions to ask yourself are:

-What do you hope to gain from the growing process and what are your end goals?
-Is this something you are doing simply to produce great bud or is there a deeper interest than simply producing?
-How much effort would you like to put in aside from the minimum work requirements?

The machine is so capable, many get away with little to no intervention and have great results. I on the other hand find it wildly entertaining to tinker, modify, and push the limits of the Grobo and my plant. I am personally most interested in the growing process and seeing how much I can do to produce the most perfect product. I am also very fascinated by the elite/rare genetics (seeds) market. All of these have become absolute obsessions of mine, thus I have gone way overboard and I’m proud of it.

Another grower called @Hellyesshedid put in a ton of effort and came up with this incredibly comprehensive list of “extras” and their purposes, check it out here:

"Extras" I might need for my Grobo

I would be more than happy to guide you based on my recent experience, once you receive your machine shoot me a message and I’ll assist in your setup! Should you have any other questions before then, don’t hesitate to ask!

[420farms]

Hell yeah, man, thank you for the awesome response.

To answer your questions, summarized into a single answer, it’s that I’m really just doing this for fun. As with everything in my life, if I like it then I want to make my own (I have that hobyist nature). At the same time, I want to maximize yield and quality (I also have that anal-retentive) nature, hence the questions about the nutrients.

I have several varieties of seeds, and I ordered the same Shiskaberry variety that’s Steven uses in the grobo video, to try to make my first grow as close what he demos as possible, to try minimize my chances of effing things up.

When I read above about possibly running out of nutrients 4 and 5 before the grow is complete I just wanted to make sure I had enough of everything to get started. I’m working through “Marijuana Grower’s Handbook”, by Ed Rosenthal, as well as “The Cannabis Grow Bible” and “Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower’s Bible” so there’s probably loads of good intel on nutrition and such in there.

Your setup looks totally bad ass, btw, sorry to disrupt this thread! I’ll hit you up when it arrives and everything is up and running.

[SWSVIC]

You made a good decision on the Grobo and you’re going to fit in well here . I think you are definitely headed in the right direction. Keep researching here as well as reading the books you referenced above. I look forward to growing with you.

[Russel_Richardson]

Honestly my last grow I stripped everything up to the main bud site and she didn’t skip a beat imo. I know about being apprehensive but they are one of the most resilient plants I’ve come across when it comes to trimming etc. I just don’t take anything from the top and you’re good

[SWSVIC]

Thanks Russ! Will take your and Todd’s advice. Water change day is tomorrow, I plan on taking 15% of the growth from the lower extremities just before I give her fresh nutrients. I will then be adding my ScrOG netting.

[SWSVIC]

Day 36 (12 of 21 Late Veg.) (I late extended for one week)

Defoliation!

I finally manned up and gave her a nice trim early this morning a couple hours after the lights came on. I believe I kept it to 15% . I performed a water change beforehand so she was Fully supported with fresh nutes and supplements. My goal is to create 6 large colas, I removed the two lowest today and plan on removing the second set next week (leaving her with 6) along with some more defoliating. Any critiquing is welcome!

Before:

After:

Water Change Stats:

Water out:
pH: 6.0
EC: 1.9
PPM700: 1330
Gallons: 2.1

Water in:
Solution: 3 Gallons RO Water (was out of Distilled), 11mL Rhino Skin, 6mL Hydroguard, 7.5mL Revive, 3.75mL Recharge, let sit for 2 hours then added 8 drops pH down.

pH: 6.1
EC 0.1
PPM700: 40
Gallons: 2.25

See nutrient usage below:

ScrOG!

I also added my ScrOG screen today! I placed it at 8” from the floor of the grow area, I figured that was a good height as I plan on putting another at 16” and then utilizing the third at 24-27” to stop her from getting too close to the light should that become an issue. The screen is about an inch above the plant top now and I am letting her “grow into it” before spreading her out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, don’t hold back!

Questions, Concerns, and Observations:

1. I have noticed that all of my additive bottles instruct you to shake the bottle prior to use, thus I have begun to do the same with the Grobo nutrients. Is anyone else doing this?

2. In your opinion is my defoliation too light, too heavy, or just right?

3. Any thoughts on my ScrOG Screen placement? Is there anything that I have over looked?

4. Any other thoughts on how I could further improve my grow?

5. I went ahead and added a week to late veg. as she was scheduled to flip in 4 days. Will most likely add another (maybe 2) as I have decided to ScrOG.

As always thank you all very much for taking the time to review my grow, it is so appreciated!

Grow well,
SWSVIC

[vegetato]

Nice color, short node spacing, fairly symmetrical – good job so far!

For #1 I shook up a #5 bottle a few times but it was a really old bottle and I could see separation in the liquid.

For #2 I think it’s just right - that big one in the middle is going to grow to cover some bud sites soon but it’s probably best left until that happens then snip it.

I’ve never used a scrog yet so can’t comment on that. Must say again though it’s looking good.

[SWSVIC]

Thanks @vegetato! What exactly determines the spacing distance between nodes? Lighting, genetics, grow environment? Also, what causes a plant to grow in a symmetrical pattern? What factors cause it to stray from perfection?

[vegetato]

From what I’ve seen stressed plants twist and curl and come out crooked sometimes, so it’s generally just a sign of good health/comfort.

Node spacing is lighting yes. You can also force tighter node spacing by pulling open the new growth – bend what is vertical to be horizontal on the newest nodes, so that light starts hitting those new little leaves sooner; basically help it open up the next set of leaves. I wouldn’t suggest trying that with your first grow, though. If anything do it on one side/half of your next one and watch how lopsided she grows.

[SWSVIC]

Makes sense! Probably won’t utilize that unless I see node spacing that is too far apart on future grows.

[SWSVIC]

Feel I should add that she was perfectly symmetrical before I started tucking the large fan leaves

[SWSVIC]

Quick shout-out to @SilverGrobo for this awesome idea:

Using a two bucket system and separating the drain/fill tubes by pulling them from the magnet fitting not only keeps your magnet from getting wet and rusting but also allows for a very speedy drain/fill. Simply wipe the tubes dry and push them back into the magnet fitting when complete. (I marked my drain tube with white electrical tape in order to easily identify which is which).

[BigPapa1]

What do you use in your water?

[miami5th]

@BigPapa1 - He mentions his stats every week during a drain/fill.

@SWSVIC

Water in:
Solution: 3 Gallons RO Water (was out of Distilled), 11mL Rhino Skin, 6mL Hydroguard, 7.5mL Revive, 3.75mL Recharge, let sit for 2 hours then added 8 drops pH down.

[vegetato]

@SWSVIC

3.75mL Recharge

Curious - how are you measuring the recharge in mL? should that read mg?

[SWSVIC]

3/4 Teaspoon = 3.75 mL (should have mentioned I’m measuring by measuring spoons).

[Adrianna_Owens]

Do you have the link for the net?

[Aang]

I think @SWSVIC has this

I’m still undecided on what kind of scrog net I should get

[SWSVIC]

Yup haha

[SWSVIC]

On one of the other screens I cut every other horizontal bar with a Dremel in hopes of forming 2” x 2” squares however I was not satisfied with the sharp pieces left behind even after vigorous sanding. Decided the hell with it and went forward with the unmodified 1” x 2” screen.