Best strategy for a single grow room?

My problem is that I only have one grow room, that makes it really difficult to grow successive crops.
I'm around week 5 of a successful grow so far and I've got down to three fems starting flower, 3 ft tall, plus three clones successfully rooted and just taking off.

As always the problem is how to keep the clones at 16/8 or better while flowering the next crop at 12/12. At the moment I am carrying the clone pots back and forth (lamps at night, sunshine in day)

The climate here is pretty good at the moment - night time temps about 14C and daytime up to about 23C, lots of sun.

What's the best strategy?
1. Cut the existing fems right down to say about 1 foot, put the grow room back into 16/8 (the plants are just showing preflowers so no big deal) and play catch-up with the clones then put all of them into 12/12 in say three weeks more?

2. Take the existing fems out of the garden and try to flower them outside, leaving the clones in the grow room 16/8?

The weather will get colder so #2 is a risky strategy.

3. Top the existing older fems to get enough flower height in the grow room and keep on moving the clones back and forth . . . this will only be possible until the repot, after that it is going to become too much work. And I don't have enough space for 6 of these babes anyway.

Leafminer,

I definitely would NOT cut 2 thirds of the older plants away and thinking that is going to let the clones catch up. That is revegging without buds developed and is going to shock/stress the crap out of them. That kind of shock will at least set them back several weeks if not longer before they start to regrow and when they do they are going to be bushy and short not normal height. That is the best case scenario with the worst case being either death or hermie.

Unfortunately, I think you have screwed yourself by trying to grow clones from mature plants that are just getting into flower when you know you don't have anyway to veg and flower at the same time. I don't see any good answer if you can not figure a way to divide your grow area into veg and flower sections.

If you only have a single grow area and you think you want to grow different aged plants at the same time, then switch over to a autoflowering variety that both vegs and flowers best on the 16/8 schedule.

Unfortunately you can't play the "big boys" (I don't mean to put you down but you have to pay attention to the differences between your operations and another grower's operation before trying to do what they are doing. You can't preform the same stunts with a Piper Cub as you can with a F18. There are a lot of very good growers that can teach me a whole lot about growing that unfortunately just do NOT have the facilities to grow 2 crops at a time.) game of having both veg and flowering going on at the same time unless you either grow varieties (autoflowering) that do not require different light cycles or without having separate areas for flowering and vegging.

What you are trying to do is similar to trying to veg and flower 2 plants requiring different nutes in the same pot together. Man I hate to say it, but the laws that control plant growth just ain't going to let you do it.

I hope someone else comes up with a better answer, but we just don't have enough information to give you a specific answer.

Good luck with your problem I really hope that you can find a good option, but I just can't think of one. I'm sorry bro.

a veg room can consist of this:


and 2 of these:



with some minor adjustments and a fan



Don is right though. 2 plant cycles require 2 different sets of nutes. No way around it unless you hand water?

46 in wide???? u dont have no where else to vef or something????? if not i would do 4.5ft on top and 2ft on bottom for veg with floros with yo yos so u can move your light with ease when ur plants go from clone or seed to 2 ft vegged max plants! i would go with a 600 HPS instead of a 400 mh! if that framing is metal make sure u spray spaint it or something cuz of humidy it will rust eventualy!

Well, I grow in modified coco so yes, I do hand water, so nutes aren't the problem.
I'm using 6.5 sq.ft in this weird triangular grow room that's concealed in a garden nook. It is only 5ft tall and unless I get into tunneling, is not getting any taller. So, considering I need roughly a foot for the lamps, plus a foot or so for the pots, plus say 5" clearance from the bulbs, limits things a little.

It will be pretty tough to create an extra space that doesn't have light leaks. It's beginning to look like a submarine in there with the remote ballasts and all the wires and timers and stuff.

OK. I will have to top them though, or I am never going to get enough room. And I will start buying some materials to modify the grow room. Maybe get enough space for about 3 sq. ft and run 6 x 25W CFLs? At least I'll be able to bring 3 clones along. Going to have to install another timer, a new distribution board, move the remote ballasts, sort out all the ghetto wiring, reinforce the roof . . . oh well. Jobs for the holiday season.

Hey Leafminer-

Not all of us can or choose to have multiple grow rooms, so we have to make due with what we have- whatever our reason (we can't all be "big boys").

Constantly moving your plants about is surely going to stress them- different types of light between indoor and outdoor combined with the physical act of moving them really isn't good for your plants. I am speaking from personal experience. The result was hermis.

Getting these 2 different sets of plants to flower at different times will indeed be a challenge, if not impossible given your conditions.

However, this is simply not true:

DonJones said:

I definitely would NOT cut 2 thirds of the older plants away and thinking that is going to let the clones catch up. That is revegging without buds developed and is going to shock/stress the crap out of them. That kind of shock will at least set them back several weeks if not longer before they start to regrow and when they do they are going to be bushy and short not normal height. That is the best case scenario with the worst case being either death or hermie.

Unfortunately, I think you have screwed yourself by trying to grow clones from mature plants that are just getting into flower when you know you don't have anyway to veg and flower at the same time. I don't see any good answer if you can not figure a way to divide your grow area into veg and flower sections.

Click to expand...

You can indeed allow the clones to "catch up" with the other plants you've got going, it will simply put your harvest date a few weeks further out.

The picture I have included here is an example of that strategy-

The plant on the right is the "mom" that was ready for flower on 9/5/09 (6 weeks old and loaded with preflowers). I chopped 10 shoots off her, leaving her with only 2 or 3- definitely more than 2/3 of the plant. I actually thought she was going to die.

The pot on the left holds 3 of the clones I took from her.

On 9/15 the clones were rooted, by 9/30 they were hardened off and I put all of them (10 clones and mom) into flower. So this puts them right about 6 weeks in flower.

So this is one strategy that is an option for you. Now, I'm off to my Piper Cub to go to battle with an F-18. Happy Growing!

Chaibolna said:

HI guys

Here you will find strategies for the best way to partition your new hard drive. drive is analogous to a single house with one, large room drive capacities will continue to grow, as prices continue to fall.


Thanks

Click to expand...

Thanks BBFan for a sensible reply + your experience.
Today I topped two of them - the two I know are definitely fem - and used the tops for clones.
I think with the holiday season I am going to do some more work and create a little grow area enough for a few small clones. Stealth is the word with me.

hxxp://www.comforthouse.com/junmegradcon1.html
I don't know if this idea will be of any use.... I bought one of these (dont ask me why) a year or so ago and it's in the garage, never even opened the box.... I think it might do for a mini grow room with some added lighting and maybe a regular tarp over it to block out all light. Hope that helps you think outside the box.

leafminer said:

Thanks BBFan for a sensible reply + your experience.
Today I topped two of them - the two I know are definitely fem - and used the tops for clones.
I think with the holiday season I am going to do some more work and create a little grow area enough for a few small clones. Stealth is the word with me.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words Leafminer. I have the room to do multiple or continous grows, but lack the motivation. I get enough to keep me and the few folks I provide for adequately supplied.

Those tops should end up as nice single cola plants for you. Good luck with them.

Thank for all the useful comments, guys. I was thinking maybe autos are a better solution but then, I have seen so many comments on here about them being very smelly. I prefer low-odour strains myself, as a way of avoiding unwanted attention.

MindzEye said:

Leafminer, I grow in one room and a tiny 2x2x4 grow tent with cfl's and a duct booster fan to give some air flow, I can root clones and keep a couple of bonsai moms in there...

Cloning and mothers are the key for a single room, when I harvest I have a fresh batch of clones ready for planting the very next day... I also know they are all female...

During the veg period of my main grow I take some clones, when they root I select a mother and plant into a 1 gallon pot. I train the mother by bending and trimming if it gets too big.. By the time the flowering cycle of the main grow is 2 weeks from harvest I begin cutting clones and rooting them, by the time you harvest, all your clones should be rooted, a quick cleaning of the main grow room and your ready to plant clones the very same day as harvest... And I do all of this in a 2x2x4 grow tent... You can get them on e-bay for around $50...

Also take a look at the "All about bonsai moms" sticky here on the forums... You will have to root trim and trim the branches of your bonsai moms since they are only in 1 gallon pots...

Click to expand...

:goodposting: