Stoners say, “I flipped my plants today”. I don’t know why they say this. They didn’t flip a switch. They didn’t flip a plant upside down. They didn’t buy a plant, fix it up and then sell it for more than they paid for it. But what they mean is, they are coaxing the plant to start the flowering process, by changing the light cycle to 12 hours on, 12 hours off.
One of the most common questions I get is, “When should I start flower”? So I decided to create an article and talk about all the things I do when I go to flower, as this is a critical stage.
A week before flower (and a week into flower, don’t top your plant, and don’t remove fan leaves). Doing so will disturb auxins, and delay flowering, pushing your harvest out a week or more. The exception to this rule, is if you have some unruly branches that are dominating others, you can top those to slow them down and let the others catch up. Another exception, is if you’ve chosen a very tall strain and you need to prevent it from stretching so much (then I would take EVERY top!) But in general, top early and often, but no later than a week before flower..
When we go to into flower, we want to start with a nice, level canopy. To prepare for this, we slow down taller branches, and let lower branches catch up to the canopy. If you take off fan leaves and let light to the lower branches, they won’t stretch as much, and may never reach the canopy. Instead (whether you SCROG or not), try to bend / push tops out as much as possible, to let more light into the middle of the plant and get the widest profile as possible. Here’s an example of a flat top! I’m creating a level canopy here, simply by topping.
Some OG Kush, looking sweet at the captain’s quarters. Here we have about 25 tops, 2 weeks before flower. Now, I’ll top all of the tallest branches, and have 50+ tops before going into flower.
Pruning the underside: As said in a previous article, in veg, you can take off some lowers. Start at the base of the plant and go up about 3 inches. Then wait a week and go up another 3″. (Stoners call this “lollipopping”) You can see how I’ve done it here. The lower stuff that doesn’t get light, sucks energy from the top buds, and the tops won’t be as big. Don’t wait until the plant is massive before doing this. You can do it a little at a time.
Are you ready to flower? The most common mistake I see people make is flowering too soon. They take a small plant that is not mature yet, and flower it, ending up with a couple wimpy ounces of bud.
The two biggest factors that determine yield are:
1. How big your plant is when you go to flower.
2. How much light you have.
Listen to me now and believe me later, girly men, Yield is EXPONENTIALLY affected by veg time. If you want a big harvest, put your energy into your veg game. Not only is your plant growing taller, but it’s growing wider and producing more tops every day. Just two weeks more of veg time, can double, or even TRIPLE your yield.
The plant you see above is about 6 weeks into veg. If flowered now, it would produce a respectable 4-5 ounces of bud. However, this plant is in rapid growth stage. Wait 2-3 more weeks and this is what you will quadruple that yield:
Purple Dream, ready to flower after two months of veg time, and will produce a lb of premium bud.
Setting up your CapnStyle Growing machine.
I’ve been using the CapnSyle growing machines for 2 years. Each plant, has it’s own reservoir, and can sustain the plant on it’s own for about 5 days. It is easy to get under the plant and work, it is easy to service the pump, if needed, it’s easy to pump out water and refill. No airstone is needed. No complicated cycle timers.
It’s so easy to set up, you can look at the pictures and follow by example.
Items you will need:
$15 Wittbagger Tote (15 gal from walmart or 15 gal brute from Lowes) The tote must have a nice lip around the edge.
$10 Drip Ring (Hydro Hat, Hydro Halo, or DIY)
$15 150-200gpm water pump
$2 3′ 1/2 flexible tubing
$10 cheap 15 min on/off timer
The 14gal brute only uses up 11″ of vertical space. No chance for overflow.
Put your nursery pot on top of it, and set your timer to run for 15 minutes, twice a day. You can use a netpot or similar to keep light out of the reservoir.
The walmart wittbagger tote uses 12″ of vertical space.
You should have a good amount of flow out of the drip ring and it should run for 15 minutes at a time. This will ensure the PPM and PH in the root zone, is the same as in the reservoir.
I used to use superoots air pots. I’ve stopped using them because they prune roots too much. Regular nursery pots work a little better.
Switching to 12/12: When we switch to flowering cycle, this is a critical time for rapid growth. It will literally grow a foot or more in the next two weeks, and root growth will go bonkers. I give it beneficial bacteria, recharge, at least twice a week at this stage. Pay extra attention to PPM (should be around 750) and PH (5.9-6.2), as it is crucial right now. Calibrate your meters. Change at least 1/2 your reservoir water every 5-6 days, so you continue to give it fresh nutrients. Your plants will use more water per day in the next two weeks, than in the entire grow cycle. If growing CapnStyle, irrigation times should be twice a day, 15 minutes at a time.
Here is my basic PPM chart for Flowering, Capn style growing, using synthetic nutrients:
Weeks 1-3 700-800PPM
Weeks 4-8 800-900PPM
When I flush, I drop the PPM down to under 100. You can do this easily, by pumping out all the water, refilling with plain RO water, recirculating for 30 minutes, rinse and repeat. No worry about watering too much. I don’t adjust ph of my flush water as long as it is between 5.5-7.5. The goal is to lock out nutrients anyway, right? So who cares what the PH is during flush (within reason).
Do a light leak check. Go in the room after lights out and right before lights on, and make sure no light is leaking in. Ideally, you shouldn’t be able to see your hand in front of your face. Got light leaks? If so, beware of females growing pollen sacs.
Aim for a humidity of 50-70% and a 10-15 degree temp difference between day and night.
Too low of a humidity will slow growth. Too high promotes mold. Plants grow fastest when there is a temp difference between night at day.
Foliar feed every 4 days in the first 3 weeks of flower. I use dutch master liquid light + saturator. It works.
Consider if you have enough light. As long as you’re doing everything else correctly, yield is all about the size of your plant, and about light. I frequently see people using LED, florescent, CFL’s, and the yield from these are minimal (compared to HPS), and barely worth the heat they put off in the flower room. Let’s say for example, you have two large plants in a 4’x5′ area with one 600W HPS bulb in a hood. If you can at all afford it, add another 600W HPS. Even if it is a $60 cool tube and cheap apollo bulb. Think of it this way, let’s say you have to spend: $100 ballast, $60 cool tube, $30 Bulb. That’s $200. You will yield another 25% if you add another 600W. 25% will translate to another 4+ zips.
We simply don’t get bud like this without HPS Watts!
BlueDream, under a 600W Hortilux, in a Raptor hood. This yielded 24 zips, and produced the infamous ARM cola.
Infamous: It’s so famous, it’s INFamous.
Trees like this can be a home to a village of Smurf monkeys, which are known to eat spider mites.
This will be my last “how to CapnStyle” article. Feel free to leave constructive comments and questions below. Thanks for reading and happy growing.
EDIT!
MICHIGAN grower has commented, that he runs multiple plants in one tray, Capn Style. Slingblade does it this way too. I only do that when I am strain hunting. If you have the space, it is a great way to up the yield even more. 4 plants under a 600W light will yield a little more than a single plant. Here is a picture of how I did it. Maybe Michigan can also post one.
4 plants just put into flower, in a 3×3 scrog.
Been watchin your blog’s for about 6mo I think I have read every thing you have wrote. I have done just as you say. On this last run slight modifacation to your system. I run a 4 plant scrog in one net. All set on a lazy susan turn table all four plants in one flood try, top feed all with one res of 30 gal. 2200 watts. just process and cured 68 zips all giant colas. You are the CAPN!
Thanks for all the great info. I think I have reached the rank of Sargent.
>>>I think I have reached the rank of Sargent.
I’m the Captain of the ship, matey. You are the first mate.
Thanks for your comments, Michigan. I would love to see some pictures. Sounds like a really cool set up. 68zips is better than a lb per 600W light. That’s a nice haul. Way to go. Do you have any tips for other Capn Style growers?
Sup capn, love the series, was a bit sad when i seen this was your last article for the series, i do hope to see more from you. I have a question, it looks like the 7 gallon nursery pot is the one you flower in… Do you transplant from the 5gals into 7 gals right before you flower? I got 1 more dwc run, 2 blue dreams and 1 vanilla kush in 20 gallon buckets then i am switching to capn style. Dropped a cool 500 dollary doo’s on odds and ends to switch everything over once this current run is done. Just pulled 18oz from my last VK in dwc, but coming into summer i don’t want to deal with temp issues.
Capn. IF I new how I would post a video of my setup. It is at week 8 right now with 4 just about ready to flush. I use one of your old GH nute forumulas.
>>Do you transplant from the 5gals into 7 gals right before you flower?
Hey Boss. Yes I should have mentioned that. I switch from the #5 to #7 right before flower. If your plant isn’t a one pounder, the #5 is big enough.
>>> I got 1 more dwc run then i am switching to capn style
DWC is faster than CapnStyle in Veg, but makes absolutely no difference in Flower. In fact, I just finished up two back to back DWC runs with my same strain, and the DWC runs were 13 and 15zips respectively. With CapnStyle, I almost always hit 16-18zips. And you’re right, high temps is a recipe for disaster with DWC. Trust me, I’ve been there…. produced nothing for 4 months straight, due to pythium. Be sure to report back when you get up and running and let me know how you like it.
>>>was a bit sad when i seen this was your last article for the series
Thanks for the compliments. My goal was to get people up and running with CapnStyle, which I think I accomplished in the 4 articles. I will continue to post articles on how to get the most out of your CapnStyle grow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Em8BlfZ3Y
Here a little video I made today
>>>Here a little video I made today
Bravo, Michigan. Very impressive all around. I had the idea to post submitted pics and videos in a new post. Check it out. If you get time, take another video and turn your phone to landscape mode, and the video will be even more impressive. Let me know when it’s up and I’ll change it. If you want to get really fancy, take a video just before lights on, or just after lights off, and use a flashlight… then we can really get a good look at those chongers!
Dude! How much did that arm cola weigh when it was cured?
>>>Dude! How much did that arm cola weigh when it was cured?
I can’t even remember, but it was over 1/2 zip!
So glad to find you here! Could you please post your flowering formula here (or direct me to it).
I got 19 canning jars off 3 plants under 1000 watts using your method on my last grow, then I lost my bookmarks (and your recipes).
Thanks very much for sharing your knowledge. My last grow was my best ever thanks to your methods.
Hey capn,
When do you stop tucking the plant under the net? After she stretches?
I think the Capn went awall
Quick question. You said you let the timer water your plants for 15 minutes, and let them drain back into the reservoir. How is this being done? Are you just draining from the pots through the existing holes, letting the water just flood the top of your tote and making its way back into the res through the hole you cut for your pump tube?
Hello Ren, you are correct in thinking the run off from the top feed system drains back to his tote through the hole/s in lid. At no time will his pot flood because I’m sure it has good drainage. If you were converting a DWC dutch bucket type system for this application you’d want to make sure to drill enough holes in the bucket’s bottom or it would flood for instance. Notice the tote lid has a nice deep lip. As long as the little pump is not too powerful, you will not overflow the lid causing a flood. The Capn’s timer must be analog with 15 minute increments. A cheap digital one could be set to run for only a minute if need be. I’d never run a pump no matter how small with this system for much longer than 5 minutes at a time whether I watered a young clone once or twice a day or a plant in full bloom that could be watered multiple time’s a day depending on the fertilizer. The more salt based nutrients you use, the more the medium may need to be flushed (once a week before res. change) if the pump/s run much longer than it takes to saturate the medium. Once you see run off, the system shouldn’t need to run much more than a minute or less after that for instance. The picture of the 4 plants on the flood table are similar but the table will have a drain going back to the res. instead of a tote for an individual plant. Hope this helps you brother. I know the Capn is a busy man and you might need an answer quick.
>>>You said you let the timer water your plants for 15 minutes, and let them drain back into the reservoir. How is this being done?
Sorry for the late reply guys! Scroll up to the picture where you can see the white lid. There is a 6″ hole cut in it and a netpot sitting in that hole. All the water drains back into the res thru that hole.
>>>I’d never run a pump no matter how small with this system for much longer than 5 minutes at a time
J, thanks for your comments. But I’m using rockwool only, and sorry if I was not clear about that. It is almost impossible to over water and a 15 minute timer works best and here is why. When you flood the rockwool for 15 minutes, you can measure the PPM and PH of the water in the reservoir, and be confident, that the ph and ppm in the media is the same. So you will never have to “guess” as to the parameters inside your root zone. I’ve had others tell me they irrigate for 15 minutes 4x a day and their plants love it. Rockwool holds the right amount of oxygen, even when irrigating multiple times a day.
>>>The more salt based nutrients you use, the more the medium may need to be flushed
This is true with most media, but not with rockwool, and not when you run the water pump for 15 minutes at a time. Again, there is no need to flush the rockwool, because you are basically flushing it at every irrigation. No salt buildup, no ph fluctuations in the root zone. I sound like a commercial for rockwool, but trust me I pay for it. Give it a try sometime. It costs SLIGHTLY more than a bag of premium mix, but not much more. Specifically, I use the rockwool grow cubes, aka croutons.
>>>When do you stop tucking the plant under the net? After she stretches?
I never stop, all the way thru flower. I’m always tweaking leaves and colas to get maximum light to them.
I know you might not get back to me that fast but i hope this finds you. I want to start by thanking you. Ive scoured the web researching all possible methods and yours to me is the one im picking to start with, its been very very helpful so again thank you!
My question is why do the individual reservoir not need air stones? With the pumps only running twice a day for 15 minute intervals I’m curious how the water doesn’t become stagnant. Is it because of the beneficial bacteria (recharge) hes using? Don’t get me wrong, i’m happy to not have to place a stone but just curious as to the reason why.
Derek,
The moving water stays oxygenated by, well… moving. I use one in my ebb and flow res, even though I don’t “technically” need it. Just a little extra insurance for my roots.