scrub

After my posting previously that "I would expect more bowing with the wooden crossbar than with the chain." I tested it.

Nope. I was wrong. When you 'twang' the chain it is quite taught but not as stiff as the wooden crossbar.

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TWISTEDKANE

that is such a good idea i wonder if i can use that with my set up to train mine in a closet

scrub

Thanks, TWISTEDKANE. I think that this method would be an excellent choice to consider for training is a closet. Make sure you anchor the chain/spring assembly to a wooden crossboard on the wall and not just to plaster board. Based on discussions above and on my few weeks experience, powerful springs appear to have been a good idea.

Moving the crossbar centers from 4" to about 1 1/2" was a very good choice. I can bend those main stalks much more gradually when training in 1 1/2" growth increments.

Other key information to know:

• These plants are from seed; so, there will be males to remove.
• Plants were placed at the farthest left of the cabinet and trained to the right.
• With the exception of one runt, plant placement from left to right was shorter to taller. That is, taller to the center. This was done so that the taller did not shadow the smaller in training.
• The runt was placed to the right center of the tallest plant, away from its shadow. That gave the runt a little boost. This worked. The runt is no longer the runt.
• Training takes place daily.

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scrub

First photos compare 4/26 before and after training. The visible difference is that the after picture appears less defined. That is because some branches have been pushed down.

Last photo compares outline of 4/20 canopy with 4/26 canopy.

Flowering will start in one week due to harvest time constraints.

Attached Thumbnails

     

 

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smokey the bare

Hi Scrub,

Really excellent information and I think I am going to give this a try rather than the more standard Scrog I was considering.

Is there any reason why not to use chain for all the cross pieces? I know you have it because you already had it in place, but if you were starting again, would you use chains throughout?

I will be interested to see how you use the higher level chains for additional training. Do you expect to use every level in this grow?

Thanks again.

Peace.

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Be seeing you,

-J

scrub

Yes, Smokey, I will use chains throughout my next grow. I kept the wooden support bar at the base because that is how I started the grow. Also, the 4" centers on the wooden support bar match the 4" centers of my plant grow sites. Since this tier provides counter support to each plant, there was no real need to swap it out with a chain.

I probably will not use the additional chains up the back. I put them there in advance, just in case.

I think that you will like this as an alternative to ScrOG. Heck, it is ScrOG--with a moveable screen.

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scrub

Trained three branches. Flushed. Started Flowering Light Cycle.

Flowering cycle started to meet harvest time projection.

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scrub

Added higher training tier. Removed lowest training tier. Converted a few training dowels into support dowels by moving them from over a collection of branches to under those branches.

Smokey, I checked for bowing on chains. Up-bowing at the center of the chain appears to be about 1/8 inch.

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smokey the bare

Hey Scrub,

Thanks for the update. Very kewl. Nice looking canopy you've got going there. I really liked the way you turned the training dowels into support dowels, and how you can reuse the lower chains higher up in the cab. Very well worked out.

I see that, unlike a classic ScrOG, there is a fair amount of vertical growth going on. I see you have already gone up a couple of chain heights. And since this is only the 5th day of flowering, you probably still have 10-14 days of stretch still ahead? Is it your intent to fold the stalks in the other direction? At what point do you think you will stop their training?

I am really enjoying watching this grow. Thanks for sharing.

Peace.

__________________
Be seeing you,

-J

scrub

Smokey, I tried bending back the right most branch and found a resulting crimp in the trunk. I undid the bend back for now.

The bend back issue came up in my ScrOG grows. The semi-solution that I had there was tie downs and hooks.

Bend back is key if I want to do further training on the right of the cabinet. Ideas I've considered:

• Do nothing. Just let them grow from here.
• Bend right-constrained branches front-to-back instead of right-to-left and tie down.
• Bend back on the right. Facilitate by relieving some of the restraining support force below. Possibly let the plant tip a little to the right to reduce the bend angles. Grow media is not netpots and some tipping is possible.
• Bend back on the right at a higher level. Surely I can reduce stress by bending back higher up. How high can I go? I'm not sure.
• Top the right-most branches. I will not do this, but it is a choice.

Any suggestions?

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