After being a long-time reader of Overgrow have decided to join esp. since I’m getting ready for my first-ever indoor grow. Would like some feedback on whether I’m be biting off too much for my first effort in terms of growing difficulty or just “too much going on” I’ve been a home winemaker over the years, have done well and was able to avoid glaring beginner errors in that effort. Ready to hear that there are no analogies to cannabis growing skills though. I’ve also been around other’s grows over the years and just reconnected with a friend who has been growing greenhouse the last 11 years. I have limited space and a 4 x 4 grow tent Here is what I’d like to grow, 2 female plants of each:
NYC Haze (Top Dawg)
Twin Peaks (Lucky Dog)
Puck Yeah (Coastal)
TBD but an OG Kush of some type (love aroma/flavor profiles that feature roasted coffee (torrefaction) tones with citrus/piney layered over the top) from a quality breeder like the ones above.
Is this too much to bite off for a first grow? It’s not scale I’m worried about, but growing 4 different strains at once. I realize they’ll all have different watering/nutrient//pruning requirements. It’s also in my nature to keep detailed notes. Since all will be regular seeds I’ll have to germinate multiples of each to ensure identification of 2 females. How many seeds should be popped? Have read that regular seeds are ideally 50/50 male/female but at OG I’ve seen reports of more males than females in a seed pop. What can I do with any males that pop given my small set-up? Would hate to toss them but obviously I’m nowhere near the experience level to utilize them for breeding. Not set up with multiple grow tents for pollinations anyway.
So many cool seeds out there is what I blame for these problems!!!
All of them!
It’s an amazing feeling.
Let natural selection take care of the breeding.
What isn’t good will die, everything that survives will be best.
I’m timing my pollinations (you can delay males by topping and pruning them) to the moment when the females begin flowering and have a good handful of pistils ready.
Have the male flowers touch the pistils and then harvest the male and make tea with it, or cook dinner with it, or eat it like lettuce.
Then you get a small amount of seeds, but still get a good amount of bud.
Plus you have the entire OGverse to assist with any issues that arise.
You are going to get a bunch of opinions on how many Reg seeds to pop to get two females. I would typically pop 5 REG seeds if I am looking for a couple females in a 4x4 grow area. (Just my way though and definitely no guarantees on 2 females). I would sex them in the solo cups or 1 gal if possible and then unleash them when they show.
I am going to assume that your grow is going to be great.
I would not worry about getting males.
If you don’t get the itch to pollinate a few sites when the time comes you can dispose of the males or if a Male is truly Special you can always clone it and do a pollen run with it later…
That eight flowering plants in a 4x4.
Tight but doable
I must admit I would have to fight the feeling not to pop them all.
If growing a selection in a smallish space like a 4x4 best to keep veg real short (2-3weeks) pop like 20 in 1 gallon pots. Once you’ve culled the males you should still have a pretty full canopy. just keep the rest of it simple and you should be fine.
Thanks for the reply and input Madd. What you say is similar to what I’ve been thinking, pretty much pop half of each pack since these are all 10-12 per bag for good chance of 2 females each strain.
I do think it will be a little tight in a 4 x 4 but doable. Is SOG or SCROG even applicable in such a small space? I was thinking of managing canopy by just topping/dimming at the right time and pruning leaf pulling as needed at later stages. Also maybe gently tie back some branches for overall light dispersion.
As for what to do with males, yes def. cloning an option and just keep them going in veg state and healthy though of course limitations over the long term.
And if I follow, was the idea pollinating a few sites just to pollinate say a few lower branches of a female to get a small amount of seeds? Wouldn’t that still need to be done in isolation away from the other females, or is the limited application the means by which pollination can be done in such tight space?
Great to hear folks are willing to offer advice along the way. Reading the stuff here have been great sources for genetics and the current basis of my knowledge about growing. I’m dialed in as far as equipment and I’m going to be all-organic, still getting nutrients (whole other potential long discussion!) dialed in but getting close!
Thanks Eugene. Straightforward approach like that best fits the limited space and scale I’m operating under. I’ve enjoyed your posts/replies on lots of topics on OG, now including mine here.
If you go with a bunch of small plants in small pots best bet for feeding is synthetics in a 50/50 peat perlite(or vermiculite) blend with 1/4cup lime per cuft and the same amount of diatomaceous earth if going with perlite instead of vermiculite(both de and vermiculite are good sources of silica)
From there you just mix up you base nutrients, ph to 6.5 and dilute to whatever ppm is appropriate for the stage of growth they’re and water with it, make adjustments as necessary.
One thing you might consider before popping expensive seeds, is making sure you have a seed starting method that gets the vast majority of your seeds turning into healthy sprouts.
Try out your planned method using some cheap/bulk/free seeds first.
It can get expensive fast if you fail to get pricy seeds to the seedling stage, and it’s not all that hard to mess up in my opinion.
Never too much! You’ll just learn the subtle difference of each seed(all seeds should be considered an individual). Some will want 2x more feed than others, some recoil quicker from too much light or wind while others cannot get enough. Treat them all the same unless they give you reason to mix them a heavier feed(one getting hungry before others) or extreme tucking in to avoid wind(rare but it happens). They’ll develop their own personality if you’re observant.
Many ways to run them, You can easily do 2 of each females in (8)3 gallons or 2 each sharing a 10 gal, so then you’d only need (4)10 gals in a 4x4. You’ll want to flip them sooner rather than later either way cause they’re going to fill it up quick. You can get more yield from less plants but you’ll need to veg longer.
You’ll have slightly different finish times, The hazes tend to run long but it’s nothing to worry about just don’t expect them to finish the same day or even week without some steering by using smaller pots, introducing bloom nutes etc.
Any questions just ask some of us crazy ones are running 30+ different kinds in various stages at any given time haha
Good luck and Welcome to THUNDERDOME! I mean overgrow
Too much? I started 12 strains this year. Kinda overwhelming but I supply my friends and brother w/ my overflow. I run 2- 2 x 4 closets and outdoor in the summer. The only thing is your watering and feeding, not every strain likes the same thing. But I’m sure you will figure out what is best for you. Good luck with your grow. If you find out you have too many, put some outside gorilla style if need be. Thats how I roll.
IMHO cannabis is often a “less is more” plant grown by “more is more” humans. I’m happy to be the lone dissenter, and strongly recommend fewer plants. perhaps even a monocrop of say, four plants in big containers. being a winemaker, and describing particular flavors you like makes me think you should try growing organically. I think it would reduce your workload and flatten your learning curve substantially.
if you find something you really like, keep it and run it again a second time. then maybe add a strain or two and go from there.
in general, grow strong genetics of something you like, keep it simple, and plan ahead for harvest…it will come at you faster than you think.
Thanks Eugene and THRESH for the advice on grow area strategy and soil/nutrient advice. I was thinking 8 - 3 gallons myself.
Great idea about germinating the seeds mumen. Thought about either water in a container or paper towels methods. Build-a-Soil has a video on YT showing how to germinate seeds directly in soil I haven’t seen yet that looks interesting. Even if practicing with bulk seeds still gotta sow them somewhere!
Appreciate the less is more perspective nok. And organic is what I’m going to do, recalling interviews I’ve seen with growers and breeders I like who all seem to grow organic.
My belief is that is you are going to have 8 plants in a 4x4 It will naturally be a SOG that you are going to have to be on top of it as it is going to fill out awfully quick.
No worries though, just have to watch veg growth so it doesn’t get to crazy. I typically tie my plants down very early to form the plants shape. I tie them down as early as 5th node. When the plants have the shape I am looking for I grow them vertically from that point forward. (Old pic but you get the point)
Air Movement/Flow/Circulation is going to be your best friend.
You can’t tell from the pic but I have Fans Moving Air at pot level, Canopy level and above my lights.
Yes! I would experiment with all of this. Best way to learn IMHO is by doing it and experiencing the results 1st hand.
Take a ton of pictures of your grows as well as a bunch of notes . As you grow you will learn and what a better way to learn than going back through a ton of pictures/notes of your grows and seeing things. You will see things your remember and a few things you may had missed…
Yes! I would not worry to much about pollinating as this is your 1st run with the genetics. I would take clones and after you grow is cured and you have time to smoke a bit of your labor you will have a better idea of what you want to concentrate on.
You may want to run a search on the OG to assist you with organics.
I would recommend a few for you.
Oh ya!
I am a soil gardener and absolutely love what I have been able to do in a Sub Irrigation Planter (SIP) using Natural Inputs.
There are a bunch of other posts but the ones above will lead you to many more OGers running Natural inputs.
haha
I think it would reduce your workload and flatten your learning curve substantially.
