First Grow Ever...Lowryder 2

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Thezeker

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OK.......This is my first row ever. After hitting a certain point in my life and not having to worry about being tested I decided to try MJ again. After making a few purchases and experimenting a decided that yes....I really want to do this again. :icon_smile:

The problem is that I am a professional and really have to keep this close to the vest. I live in Florida so no medical MJ is available and I really don't like buying from the public market. I really don't know anyone here to connect with and the purchases I did make were a bit dodgey. So after spending a kabillion hours on the web researching this I decided to do it.

I picked an autoflowering strain due to a couple of factors. One, they seem the least trouble which is what I wanted in a first grow. Second, the limitations of space I will have for the next 6 months or so.

So I opened up the seeds I ordered from the seed company (5 Lowryder 2's and 2 freebies. The service was prompt considering overseas shipment.
IMG_0165.JPG
The seeds were in a test tube type vial. I little tricky to take the cap off as all five of the seeds went bounding out over the kitchen island and onto the floor. After crawling around on hands and knees with a giant flashlight I got them back into the vial. Lesson number one learned.......open vial over light colored smooth cloth so if seeds are dropped they won't bounce all over and can be easily spotted.

I will propagate 2 seeds between paper towel sections today and tonight.
IMG_0167.JPG

PH'd the water to about 5.6-6.0. Using test strip. Made note to buy a meter as the strip leaves too much guess work. And another lesson learned is only add a bit of the up or down chemical to water or else you wind up going back and forth to get the water to balance.

The following feeding schedule is what I am going to try. NOTE:this was "borrowed" from another LR2 grow from Edsthread's Grow Journal on rollitup.

Here is my feeding schedule:

WEEK 0 (Day 1-7) PH'd WATER ONLY - PH = 5.8
WEEK 1 (7 DAYS FROM SEED) FORMULEX (2.5ML PER LITRE)
WEEK 2 (14 DAYS FROM SEED) FORMULEX (5ML PER LITRE)
WEEK 3 (21 DAYS FROM SEED) CANNA A+B (1.5ML PER LITRE) + 2ML OF RHIZO'
WEEK 4 (28 DAYS FROM SEED) CANNA A+B (3ML PER LITRE) + 2ML OF RHIZOTONIC
WEEK 5 (35 DAYS FROM SEED) CANNA A+B (3ML PER LITRE) + 2ML OF RHIZOTONIC
WEEK 6 (42 DAYS FROM SEED) CANNA A+B (3.5ML PER LITRE) + 2ML OF RHIZOTONIC
WEEK 7 (49 DAYS FROM SEED) CANNA A+B (3.5ML PER LITRE) + 2ML OF RHIZOTONIC
WEEK 8 (56 DAYS FROM SEED) CANNA FLUSH (4ML PER LITRE)
WEEK 9 (63 DAYS FROM SEED) HARVEST

GROWING MEDIUM: CANNA COCO NATURAL MIXED WITH 30% PERLITE

Ph: 5.8 / 6.2

More on grow tent, light, and hardware tomorrow.
 
welcome 'zeker... try using an eye-dropper or needle-less syringe for adding ph adjusters
 
welcome to mp. i just use tap water to germ all my seeds...if you soak them in a shot glass of water for 24 hours it will help soften hard to crack shells also...i soak all of mine, and most to the point that they all crack open in the water, then i put those straight into my medium...(just speeds up the process, and no chance of paper towel drying out, or becoming too cold);)
 
Irish said:
welcome to mp. i just use tap water to germ all my seeds...if you soak them in a shot glass of water for 24 hours it will help soften hard to crack shells also...i soak all of mine, and most to the point that they all crack open in the water, then i put those straight into my medium...(just speeds up the process, and no chance of paper towel drying out, or becoming too cold);)
I thought about that as many of the youtube videos showed that method. But I have a quirk in my personality that will not accept the simpler path.
 
thats cool. everyone has to feel thier way thru it and want to be comfortable on that next move...here to offer any help you need...
 
Thezeker said:
I thought about that as many of the youtube videos showed that method. But I have a quirk in my personality that will not accept the simpler path.

Sometimes the simpler path is the better path. There is absolutely no reason to pH the water you germinate the seeds in unless it is extremely acidic or alkaline. In fact, I believe that the acids used to lower pH could be detrimental to good germination. In addition, I have never read anywhere that 5.6-6.0 is a good pH to germinate. I believe a neutral pH is better for germination.

Do not be a slave to a nutrient schedule--different plants can have far differing nutrient needs. Use it as a guideline and learn to read your plant. You also need to take flowering estimates with a grain of salt. Most strains take a week or two longer than breeder's estimates. I do not flush my plants. I believe that they need food right up until harvest.

Unless you purchased female seeds, I would germinate all 5 to try and assure 2 females.

I think that it is important to have a space set up and dialed in before germinating seeds. Do you have a space set up? How large? What is your lighting? This is the most critical part of your grow. Ventilation? Almost as important as lighting.
 
The Hemp Goddess said:
Do not be a slave to a nutrient schedule--different plants can have far differing nutrient needs. Use it as a guideline and learn to read your plant. You also need to take flowering estimates with a grain of salt. Most strains take a week or two longer than breeder's estimates. I do not flush my plants. I believe that they need food right up until harvest.

Yeah...figured I would use it as an outline. With updates to this journal we'll see how it goes.

Unless you purchased female seeds, I would germinate all 5 to try and assure 2 females. Purchased Fems.

I think that it is important to have a space set up and dialed in before germinating seeds. Do you have a space set up? How large? What is your lighting? This is the most critical part of your grow. Ventilation? Almost as important as lighting.
Have space, ventilation, light etc all set to go. Will post details and pics early tomorrow EST.
 
If you purchased fems, I would still pop 1 more. Looking forward to seeing pics of your space.
 
Well I was supposed to be all ready to go as my light was suppose to arrive yesterday afternoon. Looks like it won't be here until today. But I figured I would go ahead and post some stuff about my grow space. I went ahead and purchased a grow tent. After considering there wasn't really a good space to work with and my incredibly crappy DIY skills (there's a reason I majored in accounting) it seemed a no brainer. The dimensions are as follows:

62 inches high
36 inches long
20 inches deep

tent 1 vertical.jpg

I am using two autopots with the reservoir to the right of the tent. I have two fans at the bottom, the one on the left is oscillating the one on the right is static.

autopots.jpg

For exhaust there is a 6 inch elbow duct that passes through the roof of the tent to a duct reducer and connects to a four inch fan. If you notice in the upper right hand corner of the pic there is a carbon filter. I have not connected that yet as it is not needed. But I will be using that curtain rod (very sturdy) as it's base. I just need a duct hose.

exhaust.jpg

The light I will be using I ordered from Hydroponics Hut. It is there pro-grow 90. It is a LED light.
http://hydroponicshut.com/pro-grow-90-watt-mother-keeper-led-ufo-grow-light-hydroponics-hut.html
The area of the tray for the autopots is about 25" long by 15" wide. I picked LED as they didn't seem to have a problem with noise or cooling or using tons of power. Hydroponics has a good reputation from what I have read. From reading some say LED's are not as good as HPS and I will be sacrificing growth. If so I would be OK with that for the benefits of LEDs. I will be needing input on the distance from the plants for the light. Lots of different opinions on that.

Update on seeds:
This morning one was showing just a hair of root coming out, the other none.

Any input on any of this is welcome.
 
OK...progress. After 48 hours in the cabinet above the refrigerator the seeds began to germinate.

germ.jpg

I planted the seeds in these pellets at a depth roughly equal to the length of the seed. The pellets are now in the cabinet above the fridge. I'll check on them tomorrow morning.

pellet.jpg

Today I shall hang the LED light that finally arrived and prepare the media mixture for autopots.

One question that popped into my head while planting in the pellets is, when I transplant to the autopots do I cut that band thingy around the pellet off or just leave it?
 
Boy, I hate to burst your bubble, but I sure wish you had talked with some of us on the LED light. I think that you are going to be really really disappointed with it, especially with autos. While some here had had some success using them for vegging, I have never seen a grow that flowered with an LED that I was in the least impressed with...and Lowryder is all flowering as they have no vegging period.

Unfortunately, what you have read is mostly hype spread by the manufacturers and sellers of LEDs. There is simply NO way that 85W of LED is going to grow 2 plants from seed to harvest. If LEDs worked, we would all be using them....we all want to use less electricity and have less heat. And most of us would be willing to give up some yield to achieve those ends. But the truth of the matter is that they do not work well for flowering at all. All the grows I have seen result in rangy plants, little yield, and light airy buds. You will probably want to be putting your pennies away to save for a HPS (or keep your eyes open as there are often good buys out there) if you are serious about growing.

I think it is also questionable whether autos are the easiest to grow. They have a set life span, so any stress will affect their yield much more than photoperiod plants that you can "nurse back to health" if you have problems. You might want to pick up some photoperiod seeds and veg them while you are growing the autos. When the autos are done, it will be time to flower the photoperiod plants, which will take about the same time as an auto (keep your eyes open for a HPS), but give you a lot nicer yield and quality. You can take clones before you flower (I'm working on a small stealth aero cloner, LOL I'll post a DIY if it works). This could give you a perpetual harvest and you could have about the same turnaround with clones as you do autos, but far better yield and quality. Hey, did I mention keeping your eyes open for an HPS? ;)

Wishing you the best of luck.
 
You didn't burst my bubble. I may be happy with what you would perceive to be my disappointment. I went with autos and this set up since within in the next 6-12 months I will be moving once, possibly twice.
 
Before I bought my MH/HPS setup, I researched LEDs a lot hoping to be convinced that they were in the same ballpark as MH/HPS. I really wanted it to be true. However, I was convinced otherwise. But I do think the technology of LEDs will continue to advance and may one day be as productive as MH/HPS.

Good luck to you.
 
DiamondJim420 said:
Before I bought my MH/HPS setup, I researched LEDs a lot hoping to be convinced that they were in the same ballpark as MH/HPS. I really wanted it to be true. However, I was convinced otherwise. But I do think the technology of LEDs will continue to advance and may one day be as productive as MH/HPS.

Good luck to you.

Yeah definitely a gap in performance. I spent hours reading about it. You have to be very careful on who you buy from. Don't even think about touching some of the stuff on e-bay. LED's are not quite there but not as bas as some say.
 
The Hemp Goddess said:
Boy, I hate to burst your bubble, but I sure wish you had talked with some of us on the LED light. I think that you are going to be really really disappointed with it, especially with autos. While some here had had some success using them for vegging, I have never seen a grow that flowered with an LED that I was in the least impressed with...and Lowryder is all flowering as they have no vegging period.

Unfortunately, what you have read is mostly hype spread by the manufacturers and sellers of LEDs. There is simply NO way that 85W of LED is going to grow 2 plants from seed to harvest. If LEDs worked, we would all be using them....we all want to use less electricity and have less heat. And most of us would be willing to give up some yield to achieve those ends. But the truth of the matter is that they do not work well for flowering at all. All the grows I have seen result in rangy plants, little yield, and light airy buds. You will probably want to be putting your pennies away to save for a HPS (or keep your eyes open as there are often good buys out there) if you are serious about growing.

I think it is also questionable whether autos are the easiest to grow. They have a set life span, so any stress will affect their yield much more than photoperiod plants that you can "nurse back to health" if you have problems. You might want to pick up some photoperiod seeds and veg them while you are growing the autos. When the autos are done, it will be time to flower the photoperiod plants, which will take about the same time as an auto (keep your eyes open for a HPS), but give you a lot nicer yield and quality. You can take clones before you flower (I'm working on a small stealth aero cloner, LOL I'll post a DIY if it works). This could give you a perpetual harvest and you could have about the same turnaround with clones as you do autos, but far better yield and quality. Hey, did I mention keeping your eyes open for an HPS? ;)

Wishing you the best of luck.



yes i agree with hemp im not impressed with led,s for the money you spent on that led you could of got a 250 watt hps on e bay i got my 150 watt hps on e bay for 63 bucks brand new from HTG they are the bomb and the heat output is really not that bad hardly any noise.with the nice set up you got going i would not of skimped out on the light just my two cents good luck with the grow and be safe
 

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