----------- Day 1 ----------- Welcome to my newest grow journal! Every previous attempt of mine before has failed. I blame it mostly on my inexperience but also partly because I don't have lots of money for more supplies. I have the basic supplies: Lights: 3 X 42 Watt CFL (150 watt incandescent equivalent) Total: 126 Actual Watts Soil: Miracle Grow Potting Soil Miracle Grow Organic Potting Soil Water: Filtered and Purified Spring water that is delivered to my house At this very moment I have four LR#2's that just sprouted so this will be officially Day One of the grow. I planted the seedlings into compressed peat moss pots with regular Miracle Grow potting soil. I know, I know; its not the best soil choice for MJ. But its the only thing I had access to at the time. I have heard much better things about the organic version and that they use very high quality ingredients. When I transplant them into larger pots, I am going to use the organic soil. OK, now for the closet. I have a small plastic storage box setup right now but and looking into purchasing the materials and building a true, blue grow cabinet. But for now I am planning on growing them out until sexing (between 17 and 20 days) and then deciding whether to put them outside for the rest of the growth. I have found a new grow spot that is farther away from other people and it is also void of the clouds of insects that destroyed my last grow. I have a plan depending on the male to female ratio; If I have 4 males (lets hope not so [knock on wood]), then they are all going outside. If I do turn out with females then I will keep at least one inside to monitor the flowering and pollinate select buds for some seed crop. I will post some pics when I can get them. Im hoping this grow goes a little better than the other ones I have went through. By the way. Just in case you didnt know. It is the middle of the summer here and with LR's you can grow a plant outside from seed to bud this late in the season. I will post back in a couple days to let you know how they are doing. PlumBob
whatup whatup! good luck on the next round first of all! i got my first round fucked up as well) if u used NON FEMINISED LR seeds u can get this one fucked up as well) i had only 2females from 10 seeds i think u shoud grow them indoor untill sexing babys wont get u in trouble IMO but ur the boss!
thanks bro, I was had decided on doing that, because I didn't do that with my first attempt. They were one regular old bag seed seedling and one pretty decent middies bag seed seedling as well. Now I got enough time to germinate until sexing indoors until the end of the month, and then to finish the Lowryder #2 grow outdoors from the beginning of August through mid-to-late September I will post the rest of the info in a minute. PlumBob
---------------------------- Day 2 (Early Morning Update!) ---------------------------- Good whatever time of day it is where you are!, Well it is like 5:39 in the morning here and I am pulling an all-nighter resulting in a purely caffeine fueled day tomorrow, until work from 6 - 10 PM starting which with I will consume even higher amounts of caffeine to enable me to do my job efficiently (I push carts at a grocery store at an almost non-stop pace outside in the heat and then soggy drizzles before it rains.). Well enough about that lets get to an update with pics. I am sorry that they are on their sides! The box does not have enough depth for me to get a right side up picture with the light on. And to help you see what is really going on in there, I will tell you! ---------------------- Picture Explination ---------------------- The light is that color because it is one CFL was just turned on mere seconds ago in a box that is lined with Aluminum foil. The big plant is growing kinda very lush palm tree like because when it was a seedling it streched due to inadiquate lighting, which has been fixed, and because I topped the second set of shade leaves that came out, by pinching them off. This is a regular bagseed indica/sativa hybrid that was pretty damn good herb. The big plant and two of the seedling are starting to get a little burnt from the heat/light/hotspots. So I am going to start them all on a regular 18/6 light cycle. They have been on a 24 hour light cycle for three days before today. And I am also going to start rotating the plant and seedlings every couple hours. So that is my explination of my really shitty cell phone pics. I appologize, but I cannot find the USB cord for my Sister's 8 MPx Sony digital camera. And I promise, as soon as I find it, I will take the pictures then download them right away and post them at some point during that day. Other updates: I got another 42 watt CFL so there are now 3 X 42 Watt CFL and 1 X 26 Watt CFL in the box now. And there is a carbon based de-odorizing block in the grow box getting blown on constantly in the path of the intake fan (bad idea? good idea?). If it is bad then I can put it on top where the hot air flows out. I also bought Oust to supliment heavy odor control. I will need to go out and get another extension cord and a timer that accepts plugs with three prongs so I can operate all my lights on a timed surge protector strip and operate my fan on its lowest setting continuesly. It is about a 5 inch box fan so I think it puts out a decent amount of CFM's on this configuration. I can get the things I need after work tomorrow. Well I might update after I check them out in a couple hours. The light has been off since about 4:30. I just turned it on to take pictures. But I am going to keep them in the dark untill the afternoon so they can get out of the heat and sunlight for a while. I think it will give them time to adjust and heal before the 18/6 cycle goes into effect later today. Hope to hear from you all soon enough! PlumBob
Thanks Man!, I was hoping you would show up. I'm loving your grow and I think you would be willing to help me out with some pointers or criticisms. I really want to learn how to do all this right. And that why I love talking with the more successful growers. Well, good luck on your grow as well. PlumBob
Im going to wait till your next update to really give a solid observation. I noticed that taking a pic 1 hour after "lights on" gives a real good idea where your plant stands. I think 20/4 will give you more growth since 3 X 42 Watt CFL and 1 X 26 Watt CFL = 152 Watts (alot of room for more lumens).Or keep them on 24 all the way through veg. I think you going to have to get some more lights at the "end-of-the-day". but right now its critical that you keep them happy till the 6th node or so then try to force the sex. (you might not have to). The fliping in the light cycles has known to make plant lean more towards males. Other than that you I'm glad to see you up and running again. la8er
well i was thinking about getting a couple 2 foot long HO fluorescent lights to add for when my box is put together. Ok, thanks for the little bit of advice! I hope to hear some more in the future! PlumBob
--------------------------- Day 4 Update W/ Pics --------------------------- Welcome Back to my Journal! I am sorry there was no post yesterday! I was really busy and then I got fucking stoned and forgot to come online. Yesterday I went to target and bought a 3'H x 2'W x 1 1/2'D particle board storage cabinet to use as my stealth grow box from now on! And I got it for only $25 US. I drilled some holes in the top and wrapped tape around the wires of my lights, then strung them through the holes. The tape is to keep the lights from falling onto my little babies (which also happened yesterday and killed one of the LR seedlings while burning off one leaf of another one. I might plant more but I don't know yet. I am just going to flower the LR's inside now because I got the space and the ability to seal up this cab with caulk and weather stripping (For keeping light and smell inside the cab). I hooked up an old computer fan in the upper corner for exhaust, while I have a larger opening cut in the bottom corner for an intake. The intake has a 6 inch table fan blowing into the hole. I also bought a commercial strength odor obsorbing block that makes my room smell like clean laundry. That little thing in my cab has sucked out all the bad smells in the air in my entire room, while being hidden inside my grow cab in my closet, so im not too concerned about anyone outside of my room smelling anything. It also says it lasts for like 8 months. But If I need too, I can always get more, because I got it at work. After friday, I am going to go out and get some supplies to seal her up and put a full ventilation system. I might even look into bigger lights. I was thinking either a 2' long T5 high output fluorescent or maybe a 150 Watt HPS. The thing with HPS is that my electric bill cannot go up by much without someone noticing. So Im not sure. Any advice on this subject is greatly appreciated! More updates to come. Tell me what you think! PlumBob P.S. Im gonna get some flat white paint to paint her soon
---------------- Day 5 Update ---------------- Another very un-eventful day. I planted another seed that I germinated, two more on the way also. Im replacing the one that is really dead and adding two more plants to make sure I have at least a couple females. When I do find out which ones the males are, then I am going to plant them outside to grow out for some hash weed or something. Not sure yet, but I still have a lot of time to think about that. I can tell this grow is going to be a nice one for me at least. The LR strain seems to be growing quite fast. I already see the second set of leaves on the three remaining plants. And the healtiest one looks like it gets a little bit taller every time I check on them. (the one on the far left). So right now im just chillen on my futon with the doors to my closet and cab open for some nice fresh air. I put a desk fan inside to blow some more air on my plants. I want them to have nice thick stems. The seedling does but it gets really skinny like halfway down from a failed attempt at LST. So im going to try and bulk her up a little before I even attempt to flower the fucked up thing. Its like the plant only a mother (or father in my case) could love. O well. More to come. i am getting a fresh sack tonight so i will probably post some more pics when im stoned and have nothing better to do! Peace, PlumBob
nice update man, time for some constructive criticism. 1.EDIT: just saw the fan, maybe some clean handyman work to get non stop fresh air in there would help. 2.your best bet is to put fresh germed seeds straight into pots so they have room to settle into veg and then do a transplant before flower and you can also prevent overwatering much easier. 3.your biggest plant looks like its over watered that's why its so droopy. 4. Try and come up with a lampshade for those cfls using house hold materials so its free and creative so you don't waste all you lumens i aint dissing your growing technique just giving some advice that will definitely help. you will thank me soon good luck man, peace!
Thanks man, I appreciate the advice. I want to get my shit down asap, so all criticism is welcome here! I have enough fresh air in there, in the bottom corner behind the black fan is an intake hole with a very powerful box fan that is on medium setting almost all the time. So, air im not too worried about. Mostly im concerned about my light. I need to find a good day to paint because I would need to take all my plants out for at least 24 hours for the paint to dry before they go back inside don't you think? But on the watering thing. I will cut back on the water for the big girl but the little ones I need to water twice a day because if i leave them in there, the airflow will evap all the water in the dish and then the peat moss pots will dry out like hella quick and kill the seedlings. I might cut back a little on thier watering and see how they do. Im going to put my best seedling into its own pot in like 5 mins so i guess more pics will be coming sooner than I thought! I might put some flat white paper up, instead of painting. Or just as a temporary fix. I dont know yet. Whatever I have the money for or is convenient to do at the time. That kinda how this grow is going so far. Halfassed. lol
no way man watering twice a day is ridiculous seriously TRUST ME dont water for 2 days and those leaves will perk up like crazy and suck that light in EDIT: im talking about the big plant, keep the little ones moist, or even drop the peatmoss, seedling and all into a pot with soil. it will root through. Exactly 3 days since my last water and its perky as hell. trust me man. does that container for the bigger plant have drainidge holes?
ok man, yea the big one has drain holes. I didn't realize it was too much water. I thought it was all evaporating from the heat and the air. I keep the little ones in a dish with about 1/4 inch of water around them. So once these plants are established, they really do not need a lot of water at all do they?
Give them a good soak once every 3-4 days or until the soil is completely dry. Which ever comes first.
Took some new angles! Best looking seedling is in its own "pot". It is a one liter soda bottle that I cut in half. I drink the one liter diet pepsi's all the time so I dont have to buy anything. I think there will be plenty of room for the roots of such a short plant. And it will also help with the space issues I forsee in the future. I now have 6 lowryder seeds started! lol. Addiction is a cruel beast. Hope you like!!
I don't know why anyone hasn't told you but you're using the wrong bulbs. The bulbs you are using now are soft white that emit an orange yellow color and are used for flowering. You are in the vegetation stage so you want to be using daylight cfl's which emit a blue/white color.
sorry bro, I am not trying to be rude, but your incorrect. It only looks like that because of the maple colored background. They are full spectrum bulbs putting out all the oranges as well as the blues and reds. Perfect for Lowryders from seed until harvest! It might have something to do with my crappy ass camera as well. But these bulbs are working fine for now. I'm going to go to the hardware store when I get my paycheck and try to find some good bulbs and some more sockets for more lights. Thanks for the concerns about my plants though man! PlumBob EDIT: Wow, dude im really sorry. I was wrong and you were right. I went out and got 4, 23 watt 5000K CFL's I added some sockets and now I have 4 of those burning and 2 of the big 42 watt red bulbs going. I am going to try this grow with a mixture of both for this grow. During Veg I am going to have more blue bulbs than the red ones and vice versa for Flowering. Again dude. Im sorry, I feel like an asshole. PlumBob