Hi there, First post but been lurking for a while.. So I'm 2 weeks from sprout with a Lowryder #2 cabinet grow. My very first grow was in a pc box but yielded bugger all and it was really horrible smoke.. needless to say, I learnt a lot from that. So I upgraded to a cabinet and she's (hopefully she's a she) looking really healthy and growing nicely. Some details: 4x27w 2700k CFLs 2x30w 6500k CFLs (2 died, need to replace) 1x4" intake fan 2x4" exhaust fans 2xsmaller fans for bulb cooling & circulation 10" pot (3 Gallons I think?) Mixture of tomato grow bag compost, peat compost & regular crap soil from the garden with perlite (not 100% sure on composts but can check out for sure) Lowryder #2 Autoflower feminised seed Germinated on 18/07/13 Potted on 22/07/13 Sprouted on 25/07/13 So 16 days from sprout and she's looking great! I'm planning to scrog as soon as she grows a bit taller. I had some weird discoloration about a week ago which I think might have been heat stress as I had her pretty close to the lights for the first week or so. I've moved her down and she's seems happier. I gave her a first dose of nutes tonight, unfortunately, decent nutes are hard to find where I am (Ireland) so I'm using Doff Tomato feed (with seaweed & magnesium). Its NPK is 4-5-8, any thoughts on this would be great. I gave her 1/3 strength (1ml in 1Litre of tap water that was standing for 2 days). Hadn't watered in about 4-5 days (can't remember exactly but the soil was bone dry). Only been using regular water up to tonight. PH seems to be around the 6.8 to 7 range, as I only have one of those shitty probes, it's hard to be exact but the water here seems to be ok. Again, any thoughts/help on this would be great. Temperatures/Humidity are min: 77.1º f / 38% rh and max: 85.8º f / 74% rh averaging around 80º f and 45 - 50% rh. She seems pretty happy with that. Light cycle is 24/0 as she's an auto I want to give her as much light as possible. Any recommendations on this as well would be much appreciated. I'm going to keep a journal here and post as often as I can, as from here on in it gets trickier to keep them healthy feeding-wise etc. Here are some pics from the start: (Are these images upside down or sideways? What's the deal with that?) Thanks for dropping by!
Argh! Found this little guy on one of the big fan leaves this morning.. (Sorry it's a bit blurry but he's gone now, can't find him.. probably a good thing..) Anyone any idea what it is? And any advice on pest control.. I'm going to do a search now.. I have this carnivorous plant that I've put in the closet under the pot (it says keep out of direct sunlight), anyone used these for pest control?
I fed her yesterday with 1L of water mixed with 1ml of the Doff Tomato Feed (1/3 strength). There's been a fair bit of growth since.. I'm just wondering when should I start to scrog? She's exactly 6 inches from the soil.. Should I let her get a bit bigger? Anyone? Thanks,
She's grown almost 2 inches since I fed her 2 days ago and she's looking really beautiful and healthy! I'm so proud of her (like a father is proud of his daughter, not because I made her but because she is growing so beautifully). Who's a little stoned? Anyway, does anyone think the Doff Tomato Feed would good enough to use right up to harvest? I'm limited where I am as most "Home Depot" type places only carry Miracle Gro, which I hear is full of chemicals and don't really want to use it. I've tucked a couple of the big fan leaves underneath so the lower (potential) bud sites can get some direct hits from the bulbs. Will this also help with the scrog? Should I start to scrog or wait? Someone please answer, I'm feeling rejected! (Not really but maybe a little alone)
You grow is going great man! Don't quote me on this, but I heard it was not good to top auto's because they have such a short life cycle that if you top, it will only stunt the plant. Sent from Nintendo 64 using Grasscity Forum app
they look great man, I wouldn't cut anything off an auto because it doesn't have any veg time to grow it back. the bigger the plant the bigger the harvest so don't chop anything off lol. LST works well though. I'm a huge fan of Lowryder#2, I have been growing it for about 8 years now, I have gone through as many generations too
The plants look good. If you can. you'll want to find a nutrient solution that has a lower first number and higher second and third. you need more Potassium and phosphorus and less nitrogen for flowering. But keep feeding her the nutes you are until she stops growing, which will still be after it sexes. It should show sex around day 17-25. once it stops growing and really starts flowering, then you can switch to the new nutes and maybe give her more 2700k bulbs. like 6 out of the 8. Also a 18/6 schedule will work best in your favor. It will keep electricity usage down, and the plant doesnt use anymore than that. Plants also do a lot of critical processes during the dark period, and it receives it in nature, and its proven. Lastly. I would suggest you looking at your intake and exhaust. When you have an exhaust opening, you should have openings for intake that are 2-3 times the area of the exhaust. passive intakes are all that is needed. if you are moving too much air you will also be removing humidity which will make the plants dry up and be crisp.
Ok, great advice guys, thanks! I won't top her, just let her do her thing. She's at day 19 from sprout so she (hopefully) will be showing sex any day now.. Was going to put her on 18/6 when she starts flowering. Can I change the light cycle now or should I wait until flowering? Regarding the intake and exhaust, I was under the impression that it was the other way around, twice the exhaust to intake.. So do you recommend just cutting a couple of holes for passive intake beside the intake fan or get rid of the fan altogether? It seems lst is better over scrog for lr? I don't really have height issues as I can move the pot down and the lights up if needs be and the lr shouldn't get higher than 18" or so? Thanks again for taking the time to reply, learning a lot from this forum. ASIDE: I'm currently sober (for just over a week now and hating it ) and have decided the next smoke I have will be my own grow. It's just so damn expensive here, my cash flow can't handle it at the moment.. So I'm hoping she'll be good to me! Peace out.
I find having an exhaust fan and an intake fan, passive intakes put a lot of strain on the exhaust fan and if you have a filter and ducting aswell it really lowers the efficiency. if you have plenty of height I would just let it grow natural shape. 24/0 does give you faster growth than 18/6 but not loads more. I have grown many plants on both regimes... I haven't done any proper testing yet but I would say 20/4 could be the best option... if you don't mind using the extra electricity you may aswell keep it on 24/0 especially when flowering
So day #22 from sprout and it looks like she's got some pistols.. It's a girl! They are 100% feminized seeds so I was expecting a female but it's never 100% so happy with that. I've noticed one or two bugs and looks like someone had a nibble but I don't think it's an infestation as of the three I've seen, they're all different and don't seem to be posing a major threat.. I'll have to keep an on on that.. Otherwise, she's growing nicely and seems happy. Any thoughts?
Ok, I have a question, I've just LST'd her (I think I'm going with Stacey.. no real reason..) Should I LST her at this stage (just showed sex)? I'm wondering if it will hinder the main cola or if it's better just to let her grow upwards at this stage of the game? Would appreciate any advice as I don't want to leave her LST'd if I probably shouldn't. Thanks!
Stacey turned back up to the light in a couple of hours.. Nice little canopy going now. Does anyone think this will affect the main cola?
In which way do you think it'll affect it? Positive or negative? LST'ing is a great way to increase yeild for any plant. Also increasing the light penetration, so I'm sure that it will only benefit your harvest. But other than that, your looking great! At least you know its a girl! Now for the exciting parts! Sent from shoe using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Thanks Zee.. I thought it might affect the main cola by not being able to bud up as much as if it grew naturally. My first grow in a PC box was heavily LST'd due to space restrictions so I know it's beneficial where space is limited but for a Lowryder, I have plenty of space, so I thought it might just have been better to let her grow naturally. It's certainly opened up the rest of the bud sites to more light so seems like the logical thing to do. Obviously, I'm trying to maximise the yield (who isn't?) so just wanted to make sure, in my particular situation, that it wasn't going to potentially reduce it. Thanks again for the input, I'm learning a lot.. Much appreciated.
Hi Guys, I gave her second feed this morning, 1.5-2ml to 1L of the Doff Tomato Feed. There was about 100ml run off which, according to my shitty ph probe, it's around 6.8 - 7 but I'm not wholly convinced by it. Either way, she seems very happy. I did notice that there's some roots showing at the bottom of the pot. Could this be a problem?
It will negatively effect the main cola but the idea is the rest will more than make up for it. LST is all about two things, first it moves top leaves to the side so lower leaves also get light. Secondly it allows you to get more leaves closer to the light by giving it a large even canopy. What you should aim for when training it is a wide even canopy that covers as much area as you have lit up. Don't worry about getting light to bud sites, bud doesn't photosynthesise much at all, it's job is to make seeds, the job of catching the light lies firmly with the big green leaves. That's what you want the light getting to
That's great info GG, thanks again. I guess I just assumed the bud sites needed more light so that makes a big difference to my thinking on it.. Should I worry about the root situation or is that normal?