Cloning, Notes on SCROG

Actions:
-Final trimming of late veg in preparation for bloom
-Clones of Phantom, Abusive, Bubba, GSC, No-Q
-Water
-Fungicide all
-Added 8 net cups to T5
-Calibrated pH meter (-0.2)

VEG (HPS)
I currently have 16 trees in late veg that could be bloomed instantly, but I still have a couple of weeks until I have to bloom them. Many of the trees are too tall as they have been so I topped all of these trees to stunt vertical growth, trying to preserve as many lower branches as needed. The problem with a few of the trees is that most of the "good" growth is near the top of the tree, while the bottom branches seem to progress inconsistently. This is most likely due to the absence of light in the bottom areas of the canopy. Without the need for cloning, it would seem that they could have been topped once they were placed under the HPS light. For now I will test this theory by topping the next wave of trees once they're put under HPS.

VEG (MH)
Early veg is progressing relatively well, although I had to throw away one. These were trees that were transplanted from net cups to the PW mid pots, which have more soil than the white square pots I used earlier in veg. I'm now certain that transplanting to mid pots is much more effective. Despite the fact that I only have 14 trees for this cycle at the moment, I'm confident that I'll be able to transplant a few of the plants from the T5 to compensate for the shortage. A few of these trees even look like they would be ready to bloom for the Master, but this mainly depends on the progress of the plants in net cups.

VEG (T5)
I have a total of 32 net cups under T5, which includes an assortment of WF (Candyland), Abusive, Bubba, GG, and a Mystery strain which is probably GG as well, although there is a small chance that it is Sour Kush. About half of them were planted about two weeks ago, while the other half were planted this past week. Based on the current schedule, I'm given about another two weeks (from the start of the next bloom) plus eight weeks (full bloom cycle) to get these trees ready for the Master room. Heavy emphasis should be on controlling height and maintaining plant strength, which means I'll have to constantly trim lower leaves throughout the entire T5 cycle. Powdery mildew is returning on the Bubba, but with regular training and application of fungicide I shouldn't have too big of a problem.

CLONES
I've decided to experiment with smaller rockwool "plugs" rather than cubes. Although the number of clones I've been able to make hasn't been much of a concern, getting them to root in time is a real problem. My theory is that with smaller plugs, the roots will become visible sooner. On the other hand, the clones I made two weeks ago are showing promise; a few have already rooted beyond the cubes, and some roots are even coming out of the top of the cubes. Several things worth noting:

-Water was being changed out regularly and left to sit on the tray
-Mostly Phantom, although Abusive and GSC are showing similar results
-Humidity dome was left on the entire time, with the ventilation holes gradually being opened after the first week
-Tray sat on the floor next to the T5, and clones that were towards the back of the tray (furthest from MH) were the first to show roots
-Clone gel was scarce during cloning
-Almost every clone was dipped in a GreenCure solution for mildew eradication
-Some clones showed yellowing on the leaves, prompting me to change the water
-Many clones were skinnier than usual, consisting of bottom branches from this late veg

With this next cloning session, I dipped only a few clones with heavy mildew in a fungicide solution. In hindsight I probably should've dipped them all, but I will keep a close eye on these clones to see if any mildew develops and I'll spray them in necessary. I made mostly Phantom clones, but I also have Abusive, Bubba, No-Q and GSC.

The total amount of clones is more than I've probably ever had. I only need an assortment of 50-60 (20 per room) and I have close to two hundred, if not more. A rooting rate of about 25% is necessary to maintain constant production levels.

MASTER (Start week 7)
Colas are smaller than usual, and attempting to SCROG the overly tall trees did not help production. I moved the fan to circulate air underneath the canopy rather than around it. I also noticed that the AC timer was set to turn on three hours earlier than required, but I doubt this had any huge effect on the production. A major concern, however, is that many of the colas that are getting adequate light are still not showing any major development. I suspect that watering too much could be an issue. Mildew is a constant uphill battle in this room, particularly due to the high number of Bubba trees. Spraying with fungicide only keeps the spread contained, but it isn't eradicating the problem. I suspect that the wider pots I used for this bloom cycle is drying out due to the increased surface area of the soil, thus adding humidity to the room and stimulating mildew growth. For now, I'm going to have to set up the dehumidifier to run constantly, attaching a drainage line to the toilet in the bathroom.

MIDDLE (Start week 3)
Colas have just begun to develop. Vertical growth has stopped for the most part and many of the trees don't reach the second trellis. The density of the canopy is seemingly good for yield, but this may be a problem if mildew spreads inside of the canopy. Fortunately the wall fan is moving the air adequately around the canopy. I was forced to raise the back left corner light to its peak, which means that the trees underneath that light are at an ideal height. It's worth noting that one of those trees is Abusive, and wasn't SCROG'd like most of the other trees. In fact, the GG towards the front of the canopy that wasn't SCROG'd is also showing decent growth, despite the fact that it was an undersized tree that had to be boosted by an extra foot or so. The most heavily SCROG'd trees are under the front right light, and I will watch this area of the canopy closely to examine the effect that the SCROG method has had.

Notes on SCROG
SCROG isn't working for a variety of reasons:
-SCROG requires training throughout veg and the beginning of bloom
-SCROG requires fewer, smaller trees
-SCROG requires that each individual branch is supported or tied down

Without these requirements, attempting SCROG will only hurt my yields. In hindsight, I imagine that without SCROG, I would have tall, albeit fuller, trees with average sized colas regardless of how the trees came in from veg. Most of these trees had 3 or more heads, which would have been enough considering vertical height during the beginning of bloom would have allowed for lower branches to reach the canopy anyway. The concern was that these trees were stripped of lower branches when they first entered bloom, which left me with an inadequate number of cola sites to begin with, but emphasis should be placed on light distribution rather than plant manipulation. Instead of bending the entire tree off to the side and hoping that sub branches will grow out, trees should only be bent outwards from their centers in a "menorah" formation.

Trimming is also a tricky part of SCROG. Most other growers show a canopy of only about one foot thickness, whereas my past heavy yields have been with canopies of about 2-3 feet thickness without SCROG. Considering the size of the trellis/frame, I'm limited to about 9 square feet of surface area of light, but with a thicker canopy I'm able to multiply my yield even further. If I can find an exception to this, it will be with the front right light in the middle room, where there is a high density of top cola sites. I'm refraining from trimming to see if the density of the canopy will show favorable results.