Hey guys first time grower here. I've been wanting to grow for a long time and finally got around to buying some equipment and doing some serious research (Growing Autoflowers...great book on Amazon). I'm not bursting with patience so I knew Autos were the way to go for me. So... not knowing a lot about strains I picked the strain that looked the sexiest... and well a picture is worth a thousand words. Seeds - 2 Berry Ryder Autos from Auto Seeds via Attitude Tent - 37"x37"x79" (If I remember correctly) Soil - Roots Organics Potting Soil *EDIT* Container - 5 Gal Smart Pots (They're like a rough sturdy fabric almost like wool) Nutes - Roots Organics Buddha Bloom and Grow (I'll post N-P-K later can't remember off-hand) Day 15 - Grow 30ml Day 20 - Grow 40ml Day 25 - Grow 15ml / Bloom 30ml Day 30 - Bloom 40ml Day 35 - Bloom 50ml Day 40 - Bloom 50ml Etc... Flush with distilled last four waterings. (Prolly Day 55 for the runt and 60 for the beast) Water - Tap left out for 36 hours. Started out watering a gallon every five days and am now watering a gallon every four. NOTE: I water 1/3 gal three nights...then leave them alone for a night. It's a real pain in the ass for me to drain the trays in the tent and I've found I don't have to drain them when I water in spurts. My light is off from 5PM-8PM so I water at about 10PM each night. Next grow I am going to alternate between tap and distilled. Best of both worlds I think Lighting - 400W HPS with Apollo Dimmable Ballast at 50% (Cool Tube w/ Reflector) Days 1-15 - 24 Hours On Days 15-30 - 20 On / 4 Off Days 30-Harvest - 21 On / 3 Off (Read a thread where a guy tested 24/0, 20/4,18/6,21/3 was apparently best) Co2 - Two Gallon Jugs with Sugar/Yeast mix on either corner of tent (every bit helps) Notes- I run a 6in fan 24/7 and a little dehumidfier that I empty daily. It can't keep up (NE USA - HUMID) and I have since purchased a 30pint Delonge dehumidifier for about $200 from Amazon (It's very nice trust me) Temp/Humid - I have had temps in the mid 80s so heat stress has been an issue. Humidity has been anywhere from 35%-60%(light off) but this new dehumidifier should resolve that. I also think that the Buddha Bloom nutes are a bit weak and I have run into P or K deficiencies. I'm purchased some Fox Farms Tiger Bloom for the future. I'm really not sure but I got some yellowing in the lowest fan leaves and some slumping from the leaves coming from the flowers. Then spots appeared on the leaves sprouting from the cola bud. I gave it a heavy dose of Bloom and it seems to be recovering. The odd part is that the shorter plant has shown more signs than the taller. Dolores 1 (left) was always fuller and bushier while Dolores 2 (right) was taller and scrawnier. Both got some curling on the edges throughout vegetative which I'm almost positive was heat stress (May was weird weather here). Anyways they started flowering right around day 25. Dolores 1 at that point pretty much stopped getting taller and just got bushier and bushier. Dolores 2 on the other hand continued to reach for the skies (I have to measure them but I'd say there about 2.25 and 3.5 feet or so). Dolores 2 finally stopped getting taller around day 40. These pics are Day 45 and I will update this every five days or so until they're ready. Sorry about the blurry close up pics. You can see some of the spotting on these pics. *EDIT* Also, these problems are more prevalent in D1 (the runt) despite D2 being so much bigger.
Man for a first time grower I would have thought u had been doing this for yrs.. that shit looks awesome ... Great job man
Damn man those are looking great I just harvested my berry Ryder on the 7th and mine did not look that good. I see the difference between good lights and cfls I got 38 grams off of my one plant,soon enough I will have a smoke report I am still waiting on the perfect cure.
Thanks for the votes of confidence guys. I did a lot of research and hard work to get this going so it feels great to get some positive feedback . I'm a post-BMT Leukemia patient that loved herb before I got diagnosed and now I love it for a whole new set of reasons, too. I'm already set up for an Autopounder grow next. I'll be sure to do a full journal
Dug out the tape. D2 is 2'2" and D3 is 4'2"! Even in this tent Ive got the light about maxed. As I said before I'll likely take the 50ml of Bloom until Day 55 or Day 60 and then I'm going to start flushing. From there I plan to watch trichomes and when they're about 50% amber I'm busting out the snips. I've got that Tiger Bloom on the way this week and I may cap the ladies off with a solid dose of that stinky brown gold. QUESTION: At what point in flowering are the ladies using the MOST P and K? Is it more the last couple of weeks or did I already pass it at like Day 35 or 40 (that's around the time I started getting small problems)? I don't want to burn them this late and I've read they stop using nutes at a certain point.
Day 55 Update!!! The ladies get stinkier and frostier by the day. The new dehumidifier is working like a dream keeping things right around 35%. They seem to have recovered from whatever was ailing them with the 50ml doses of Bloom (no slumping, less yellowing), but there is still spotting and curling on the bud leaves. They're taking more water as well, I may have to up it to a half gallon a night (about 1/3gal per night now) Also, D2 (runt) may be showing very small signs of nute burn. At any rate I've got some Tiger Bloom and Nirvana coming this weekend to finish things off. It's gonna be a riot from this point forward (not that I haven't been loving this already) but these last 2+ weeks are what it's all about.
Day 60!!! Alright guys the Tiger Bloom and Nirvana came in and both girls have greened right up. I've been doing 6tsps of TB to a gallon and 8ml of Nirvana (one's standard the others metric ha). The TB dose is heavy but they love it. They both take a gallon over two nights, then rest for two with just Nirvana water. Hairs are changing orange and they both stink like hell. There are some wild buds coming in on both..the pics do not do them justice in any way. I start flushing the mega bush tonight and beast mode is getting another heavy feeding with about 7tsp of Bloom and 8ml of Nirvana. She'll go another four days and then I'll start flushing. She's always looked like she would push 80 days anyways. It loved the six so I'm going to push it. Blood, Sweat, and Tears
Day 70! Almost There! Hey guys... back again with a Day 70 update. Both girls continue to do great. I fed D2 (runt) one last time with 6tsps of Tiger Bloom and 8ml of Nirvana. I gave the big one the same feeding and one extra feeding of 7tsps of Tiger Bloom and 8ml of Nirvana four days later. Both have now been flushed...because of the extra feeding D3 was flushed four days later (it appears to be almost exactly four days behind the runt so I imagine I'll be chopping it a bit later than the runt) I watered each with two gallons of distilled to flush them, and both returned about a gallon of water which I removed with a liquid transfer pump I got for $20 from Amazon. After about four days the leaves have started getting yellow on the edges and the lower fan leaves are drooping heavily and yellowing. Both should start dropping leaves over the next week. Today is actually Day 73 (got lazy on the update) so both should be ready around day 80. I've read a lot of positive things about chopping once all of the fan leaves have dropped and the bud leaves completely yellow. I think I'll follow suit. Blood, Sweat, Tears.
\tDay 80 Has Cometh!Ah...well as expected things have run longer than initially expected. I certainly can't complain tho! After so much effort and genuine elation throughout this whole grow it's nuts that I'm at its end. I get mega-passionate about this I've grown to truly love it... my lady is always busting on me about it haha... I couldn't be happier. Cutting any day now...bud leaves are dying from the top buds down. I'm going to do a progressive harvest, cutting as they're ready. Time to take everything I've learned and put some BST into my upcoming AutoPounder grow. Blood, Sweat, Tears.
Dude, those look absolutely kick ass. Are you sure you don't work for the breeder cos they look JUST like the photos on the site I will be really interested to see what sort of weight you pull off these. Also how are you planning on curing and storing these girls?
Thanks so much man I said at the start of this I wanted to grow the best Id ever had. After putting so much into this thepraise is very satisfying. I plan to cut from the top down as the bud leaves yellow completely. Each level I cut will reveal light to the lower levels and speed their maturity. It seems to take about 48 hours for each newly exposed level to mature. The runt on the left I plan on starting to cut tonight. Its 50% humidity and about 68 in the room that I'm going to hang them. Jute thread from Hades-Mart and clothes pins from Dollar General. After they're dry my lady got me some of the 2quart wide mouth mason jars (what a girl!) and I have a portable Foodsaver from Amazon for $25 with the wide mouth jar attachment $10. After about 8-10 days I'll. Jar everything up and then check them regularly for moisture... opening and venting. I cover the buds with paper bags when I have ANY light in the room and I keep the jars in bags under my bed. LIGHT is the ENEMY when hanging and curing. I have NO CLUE what the yields are gonna be but those colas must be pushing an ounce a piece. I'm pumped to see what I end up with.
Nice man. I hang dry my buds and they seem happy on a 3 day drying cycle. I have contemplated the brown paper bag technique as there are a lot of knowledgeable blades here that swear by it. Meh, maybe next time.... Man i am real REALLY stoned right now. Peace
Well see my drying room is also my bedroom and my lady and I watch TV at night. So I'm not actually using the bags to dry I'm using them as a light shield. I'll cut slits up opposite sides of the bags and slide them upside down over the hanging buds which should only be a couple hours each night.