Grow Style – Sea of Green (not in its extreme form without any veg time, but slightly vegetated 10-14 days)
Tent Design
I’d like to share this grow setup, which I’ve worked on tuning to 100% in past few years. Big move was from custom drywall cabinets to tents. It is pretty comfy, everything is easily accessible and it allows air movement.
I’ve done some tests with light measuring and this tent’s reflexive material is the way. They advertise mylar with 95% reflexivity.
Exact type is DarkRoom DR300w from Secret Jardin with dimensions 300x150x200cm.
I like how ventilation is done and many openings through zips available to get access inside. Is it built from pretty sturdy material. All zips are robust and won’t break… I don’t recommend cheaper version (sold under name DarkStreet or other chinese copies) because it is built from thinner material and light leaks out.
I’m using passive intake through bottom inlet socks and for outtake only one top vertical extraction sock (it allows 250 mm sonoflex duct). I don’t use side wall sock outtakes as they are primarily used for cool tube lights (this is not needed as ventilation is way over-dimensioned – see Ventilation below).
Last but not least, they advertise bottom of tent as waterproof, which is good for double safety. I’ve build there wood construction to create grow table 50 cm high (practically above inlet socks). Table is covered by very rigid construction foil used for masons. This creates 100% waterproof table with drilled hole in the middle to serve as waste. Wasted water drains down to sweage reservoir (as I don’t re-use this water). Sewage reservoir is wide and shallow just to fit under the table. I try to set drip so there is not much wasted water but enough to have all plants watered. With my setup it takes about 3-4 minutes to irrigate everything in full flower.
Plants are cloned in rockwool and replanted to 20x20x25 cm square pots filled with coco. I can recommend BioBizz coco in bags, not the one “pressed” in bricks. At the pot bottom I prefer to put few clay pebbles as drainage and onto that I top up cocos. This is hydroponics (no nutes in grow medium) and to automatize watering and fertilizing I’m using drip system. Behind tent (not visible on photos) there is 100 liters barrel for nutes mixing. High pressure sewage pump runs nute solution through plumbing, ending with pressure limiter and needles, one per plant. For this I’m using exclusively mineral fertilizers (they won’t clog needles). It is absolutely necessary to watch for pH and also EC! Corresponding meters are a must! Otherwise you will end up with suboptimal yield (low levels of fertilizer) or suboptimal final taste (high levels of fertilizer).
As a rule I aim for:
pH 5,5 in vegetative phase
pH 6,0 in blooming phase
EC (electric conductivity) max 2,2 in peak blooming phase
Flush 14 days prior to harvest with pH adjusted water (no fertilizers).
To adjust pH I use grow pH down and bloom pH down for their respective periods.
My favourite brand for nutes is Advanced Hydroponics of Holland (called in short “AH” here) but I’ve got pretty same results using Metrop line which is more concentrated. Practically speaking Metrop is cheaper, because you get more “salts” for your bucks. Never fertilize more than you need and if you are into hydroponics just use meters everytime. It is worth it!
I do use additives (everything best for the plants ). For small clones after they root I use Plagron Start Up. It really helps with root production and branching. Results are immediately visible. Unfortunately Startup is one of the most expensive grow formulas you can buy. But definitely works. If I don’t have Startup I do use common root stimulator (Plagron Startup is known to contain it itself). Please don’t confuse root stimulator for rooted plants with root stimulator for rooting of cutted clones!
There are currently more products from Plagron available similar to Startup… There is Cropmax/Cropspray which you can also spray onto leaves. It has similar results. This products were lately replaced with Plagron Vita Start. Same solution new name :).
Speaking about additives, I do use Plagron Phyt-amin as universal growth stimulator (sprayed on the leaves). Once switched to flowering, I do use bloom stimulator (flowering hormones) Green Sensation from Plagron. Both I’ve thoroughly tested and I can swear that they works. I use dosage that is listed on the package, of course not exceeding EC values I’ve listed above.
Note: Plagron Startup can be also used for mother plants to promote branching.
Note: Don’t be fooled by “daylight” photos in this thread. Modern cameras can adjust white point so that you can’t tell HPS from MH light. So these were adjusted to appear as “daylight”.
I’m using 3 Medium Adjust-a-Wing shades with rolls for easy positioning. Although costly I do like A-Wings for superior material reflexivity (they advertise glass coating) and their versatility in setting up. Basically you can straighten wings up or turn them down using attached string. You can also move with lamp socket up or down to position bulb more precisely. This allows you to fine tune reflexivity… Of course you should not do this intuitively but with proper light meter (luxmeter) and measure luxes.
I’ve come to conclusion to use what I call “wide lighting”. I know that many growers put lamps as close to plant tops as they can. In my eyes this doesn’t work. In this setup I set shade wings to allow illumination of wide coverage and hang it very high – see photos. The results are that coverage is extremely even and there are enough luxes also in corners (also due to reflexive walls). There are no hot spots. Just to recall there are three HPS 600W lamps to cover 300 x 150 cm. I don’t use “heat-spreaders” from A-wing product line as these are particularly handy when putting lamp close to tops.
When to switch to flower (12/12 light cycle)?
See this photo of plants 13 days in vegetation and then 4 days into flower.
I always make sure that air can flow freely during both day and night (maybe with exception when sucking in air from outside where is below zero temp). I can’t stress this enough. Air is imho single most underestimated factor among growers. Try to push more air and I guarantee you will be surprised. Give plants extreme amount of fresh air from outside and you will see results. My exhaust ventilation is intentionally overdesigned, so are vents for circulating the air inside of the tent.
For this setup I’m using Torin 5000 m3/h custom boxed (See Torin | Leading Innovation in Air Movement Technology) . Wooden box is littered with mineral wool to mute down noise and lower vibrations. Box is equipped with 250 mm circular flanges (originally Torin vent has rectangle in/out). I always hang vents on elastic bands to house ceiling (not tent ceiling because it is very heavy).
This has nice added value that you don’t have to fear about high temps. Key is to get coldest air possible from outside (possibly northern side of the house, but that just depends on your grow area and options) in vast amounts and get it out asap through massive ventilation system so it can’t get warm inside the box. I have never got any problems with temps in my rooms. For cloning I’ve even had to heat in cloning room .
Inside tent there are 4 small fans to circulate air around grow tent. There is also effluvial filter hung in the middle of the tent, which serves as air-intake. It is connected through 250mm sonoflex to boxed vent which is outside of the box (not seen on the pictures). This limits bud smell going outside.
In about one or two weeks into flower, once initial spurt is gone, I like to prune bottom leaves and branches with scissors. I cut off branches or leaves which wouldn’t reach top canopy and would stay in shadow. Basically my goal is to have bottom 15-25 cm of height just plain stems (no leaves) so you can feel fresh air flowing across the stems. This will help in final bloom phase to prevent from bud mold. You can see the process of trimming bottoms on the photo (IMG9028). Sometimes it is also last opportunity to make cuttings in case you don’t have own separate mother room. There is massive amount of side branching which you can turn into clones for other projects. These side branches wouldn’t make it into light to form reasonable flowers anyway.
See photo below for process of pruning bottom branches and leaves and making cuttings:
I say strain selection if alpha-omega of every grow. You need to find quality strain, with good yield and taste. But most importantly, you need to know your strain. Knowing how it grows, if it branches and how much does it stretch to height after 12/12 switch is crucial. Only then you can time your grow so you get most bang for the buck. You need to fill tent space with even canopy as you can see from the pictures. This takes experience and is not something you get right for the first time. So try to get some quality strain and stick with it for few rounds, I guarantee that you will get better results with each round, revising strategy (or grow style) and learning from past mistakes. Every plant does react different way to nutes, light and maintenance (trimming, pruning). This can’t be summarized into simple article, you have to try it yourself.
My strain selection is following:
Hashplant (Sensi Seeds)
Northern Lights (clones, not sure which breeder)
Afghanica (Flying Dutchmen)
These three are superb strains that I’d grow anytime again. I have kept these mothers for years and their clones were stable and yielded well all the time. All three are very indica dominant hybrids that have great yield and more important they fit my Sea of Green cultivation style. Hashplant has incredibly dense and resinous buds. Afghanica can grow extremely big colas.
I’ve got also nice selection of BushyOldGrower’s strains (BOG seeds): Sweet Cindy 2, Sour Bubble and Sugar Babe. I’ve kept mothers from all. Cindy is very delicate, small very dense buds with unmatchable taste. Of course there was some variety in seed pack, but I’ve chosen mother with excellent sweet taste and smell. You would be surprised when crushing bud with crusher to see how much it is packed in it! Sour Bubble was very sour and great if you wanted change in smoke you are used to… It wasn’t big yielder. Sugar Babe was yielding fine.
I’ll share some bud macros of these varieties later.
I’ve tested but can’t recommmend Mandala Seeds Blueberry.
If I’d give advise, I’d say key factors for great harvest are:
Don’t underestimate fresh air and give plants lot of it! I’ve always used over-dimensioned ventilation. Vent for this was about 5000m3 per hour boxed to lower noise and vibrations.
Great genetics - this is really key - get to know your genetics and choose it to fit your cultivation style.
Uniform, vital and well rooted clones. I always change position of clones to create stadium effect where needed.
I’m using submersive pump about 10000 litres per hour. (Can pump up to 8 meters water column) Price about 60 EUR.
Drip system is pretty standard from parts sold regularly in grow shops. I prefer 6mm capilary with valves as opposed to microcapilary with no valves. This takes care of steady irrigation of all plants.
6 mm capilary tubing
Irritec CNL 4 litres per hour valve
End Needle (capilary holder) for 6 mm capilary tubing
Everything connected by PE tubing (easy to build, shape and connect, moldable by heat - e.g. hot water)
). For small clones after they root I use 
