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Germination
3 years ago
All four sprouted. A little worried about one that has yet to turn upward towards the light. Seeds were soaked in water for 24hr, then on a wet paper towel for another 24hr before being planted in happy frog potting mix. The plan is to create a living soil mix and transplant then into that and their final 5gal containers, probably around week four.
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Glass Of Water
Germination Method
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1
Week 1. Vegetation
3 years ago
19 hrs
23 °C
6.7
60 %
22 °C
19 L
76.2 cm
I had been planning on transplanting these into the 5 gallon pots with a living soil mix later in Veg, but given that these are autos and I have no idea when they'll want to flower I decided to take a little risk and repot them into the 5 gallon pots with my soil mix on day 3 and see how it goes. Currently I'm a week and day out from transplanting as I write this, and it seems to have worked out thankfully. No signs of stress to the little ones that I could detect, and I have yet to see any signs of too much nutrients either but I'll just be giving straight RO water for about the next two weeks before top feeding some more nutrients into the soil. After repotting I had to swap from my 6 bulb CFL fixture to the HLG 260 QB V2 to cover all the plants. I hung it about 25-30" above the tops of the plants and set it to about 40% brightness. Each of the plants was getting right at about 250 PPFD for 18 hours a day. After letting them adjust to the new pots and lights for 5 days I decided I wasn't super happy with the growth progress they were making. I upped the lights to the next brightness level and set the timer for 19 hours a day instead of 18. that took the light levels on the plants up to about 330-365 PPFD. I also added a big bag of spawning mushrooms to the tent in hopes of increasing the CO2 in that space. They seem to be making much better progress day to day now. My soil mix was as follows: 6 parts Sunshine mix #4 5 parts Happy frog potting soil 5 parts Bu's Blend Malibu Compost 2 Parts Worm casting (would have probably done 4 or 5 parts but the store only had one bag left, can top feed more in later if needed) 1 part Perlite 1 part Vermiculite 1/2 a bag of mineral mix made by my local grow shop Little less than the recommended amount of grow fertilizer for the amount of soil I was making also made by my local grow shop. This was my first time ever trying a soil mix like this and after doing a little research I decided to kind of wing it. I wanted to make 25 gallons of soil but ended up a few short. I don't think it'll be a big deal, I can fill in the tops of the pots with potting soil if I need to later. Would appreciate any comments on the soil mix and what I could have done differently.
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2
Week 2. Vegetation
3 years ago
19 hrs
24 °C
6.7
60 %
22 °C
19 L
76.2 cm
Happy with the progress we're making so far this week. Turned up the lights on day 8 and added the mushroom bag on day 9. Continuing to water with plain RO water every few days as needed. Watching for signs of stress or nutrient burn but have yet to see any.
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3
Week 3. Vegetation
3 years ago
19 hrs
26 °C
6.7
60 %
23 °C
19 L
76.2 cm
Watered with EM1 over the weekend happy with the growth so far. Topped three out of four of the plants the fourth node on day 16. Left the last plant alone as it's smaller than the other three. Day 18- Looks like the topping stressed one of the four plants into flowering early. Little disappointed seeing as we're only on day 18 since sprouting. No signs of flowering on the other three yet. Day 21- Noticing some Pistils
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Topping
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4
Week 4. Flowering
3 years ago
19 hrs
26 °C
6.4
Weak
60 %
23 °C
19 L
114.3 cm
Looks like all four of the lowryders are starting to flower. Noticed a lot of accelerated development/branching/stretching. I'm still not sure if topping them was the right move, but they are bushing out really nicely and growing very fast now. I've top fed the first two that I noticed flowering half strength veg, and bloom nutrients and watered again with EM1 in 6.4 PH RO water. Nutrients are top fed fertilizers made by my local grow shop. Will feed the other two in the next day or two as it appears they are all starting to flower now. Raised the light up a little bit and kicked it up another two notched on the dimmer at the end of last week. All the plants are getting about 450 ppfd for 19hr a day. I have one photo plant in the tent still vegging so I don't want to go too crazy with the light levels just yet, but I will be increasing the PPFD again this week right to about the 500 level. Next week I'm planning to swap the light schedule to 12-12 and starting to flower the other plant as well. When I do that we'll probably go up to around 750 PPFD per plant to start with to keep the overall DLI about the same. Would like to hit around 900 PPFD on the tops of the plants by mid way through flower.
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Defoliation
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5
Week 5. Flowering
3 years ago
12 hrs
26 °C
6.4
Weak
55 %
22 °C
21 °C
19 L
114.3 cm
Big changes this week. Got my second HLG 260XL V2 Rspec kit in yesterday and got it installed in the tent. It's bright in there with both lights. We're at between 650-750 PPFD on the tops of all the plants now. Changed the lights over to 12-12 to help them manage the increase in light levels and also to start flowering my larger photo period plant in the back so I don't run into too much trouble when it comes time to harvest and I have to use the tent to dry in. We'll see how the auto's take to the light swap. Been alternating watering with plain Ph'd RO water, and EM1. Watering about every four days. I water with a small hand sprayer until I feel it soak through to the bottom of the bag (little more than a quart per pot). The plants are developing very nicely. The one in the middle is looking to be as much as two weeks ahead of the others now in terms of where it's at in flower. Topping seems like it was definitely the correct move with these. Getting four really nice even colas to form at the tops of all the topped plants. They're spreading out and staying even with out any training on my part, just some defoliation here and there. One of the three that I topped wasn't spreading out like the other two so I did some LST on it to spread it out more before it really starts to flower hard. I'm going to be away for the rest of the week. Will water them right on schedule before I leave. Going to top feed more nuts this coming weekend when I get back. Will likely do another round of half strength grow and bloom nutes (last time for the grow nutes) and also add some more earthworm casting and possibly a little more of the mineral mix I used when I mixed the soil initially.
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LST
Technique
Defoliation
Technique
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6
Week 6. Flowering
3 years ago
40.64 cm
12 hrs
27 °C
6.1
Weak
55 %
23 °C
21 °C
19 L
63.5 cm
Was out of town with no one to watch the plants for 5 nights this past week. Watered them before I left. All of the lowryders seemed to do just fine while I was gone. The larger photo plant in back was starting to get a little wilty by the time I got back. It perked right back up with some water though. Adding the second light right before I left wasn't a great idea. Looking a the data on my tent controller I can see that the temp and humidity was getting a little out of control while I was gone. Getting up 83-84 degrees during the day and hitting 78%+ humidity during the evening with the lights off. I dimmed the lights a notch or two and lowered them a bit, keeping the over all brightness on the plants about the same. I also rewired the lights (the nice part of them coming as a kit that you assemble yourself) and mounted the LED drivers on the wall outside of the tent to help keep the temps down. Holding 80 degrees now during the day just by running the exhaust fan at 60% . All the plants are getting between 700-850 PPFD at the tops. Now that I'm not fighting to control the temp, I'm back to using the intake fan as a way to dehumidify (the outside room air is usually fairly dry) been holding 60-62% overnight since doing that. trying to keep it as close to 55% as possible. Fed the plants another serving of top fed bloom nutrients I think I'm done with the grow nutes at this point for all but maybe the photo plant. Will continue to alternate watering's with ph'd RO water and EM1. The lowryders are really starting to flower now and seems to be done getting much taller after continuing to grow and stretch for about 3 weeks after showing the first pistils. The tallest is about 16-18 inches. Considering this is my first grow I'm very happy with how things are coming along. I feel like I've learned a lot already!
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Defoliation
Technique
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7
Week 7. Flowering
2 years ago
45.72 cm
12 hrs
26 °C
6.3
Weak
51 %
23 °C
22 °C
19 L
88.9 cm
Nutrients 1
Cal-Mag Plus  - Botanicare
Cal-Mag Plus 0.396 mll
Noticed some brown rust looking spots on leaves on all four of the lowryders this week. Pretty much only on the larger, lower, more developed leaves. After talking with the guy at the grow shop I'm going to start using some cal mag each time I water, particularly because I'm just using PH'd RO water. Still continuing to use their top feed nutrient blends, a little less than directed every other week. Hopefully using the cal mag will help correct this issue. Added the Cal Mag to my water until I hit about 100ppm on my TDS meter which was almost exactly 1.5ml per gallon. I'm using less than directed on the bottle to start with as i'll be using it every time I water from here until flush, and this should also just be supplementing what's already in my soil mix. The tent has been staying a little cooler this week as I continue to tweak my intake and exhaust fan settings. Also the AC in the space outside the tent has been running more as it's been hot outside. That's been keeping the temps at 76-79 degrees during the day for the most part. Keeping the humidity at ~51% with the lights on. With no dehumidifier it goes up to about 60% with the lights off. I added another oscillating fan to the tent at the end of last week to help keep more air moving around the buds.
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8
Week 8. Flowering
2 years ago
45.72 cm
12 hrs
27 °C
6.3
Strong
51 %
23 °C
22 °C
19 L
50.8 cm
Nutrients 1
Cal-Mag Plus  - Botanicare
Cal-Mag Plus 0.528 mll
Almost had disaster strike right at the end of the last week. I noticed that the random bag seed that I started before these lowryders and have been growing alongside them this whole time was herming really badly. I had it sex tested weeks and weeks ago and the test came back female but I guess the genetics on that were no good since it was all over the plant and it really hadn't been stressed much at all that I could tell. it looked very healthy. I think I caught it in time and no sacks had matured but I'm not 100% sure since I have no prior experience. It's been removed and I rearranged the tent a little so the remaining four were getting more optimal light. I think I have the lights as intense as I'm going to go for this grow. All the plants expect for my little runt are getting ~900-1100 PPFD at the tops. Other than that it's been fun watching the buds develop on these little gals. Continuing to water with cal mag and upped the amount that I'm watering with slightly (+.5ml/gal). Seems to be helping with the brown spotting I've been seeing and also giving the plants some that dark green color back. The two that are on the left now in particular have been looking a little bright green/faded the last couple weeks. Added some of the veg nutrient top feed mix the last time I water for both of those as well. I think they are starting to look better.
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9
Week 9. Flowering
2 years ago
45.72 cm
12 hrs
26 °C
5.9
Strong
118 PPM
51 %
23 °C
22 °C
19 L
50.8 cm
Nutrients 1
Cal-Mag Plus  - Botanicare
Cal-Mag Plus 0.528 mll
Been a little busy the past week or two so not as detailed an update. Buds are continuing to ripen and put on size slowly. Thinking they're going to be fairly small buds, the plant that's furthest along seems to be growing larger, but looser buds, the other plants seems to be have smaller bus size but they look to be pretty dense. Still hard to say for sure at this point. Plant that's furthest along is really starting to yellow. I think there are a few things that I've done this grow that could be contributing to that. I've been top feeding it more for the last couple of weeks and now I'm just going to keep watering it with a little cal mag, and EM1 once a week and just let it do it's thing for the rest of the grow. The other three plants may get one more bloom feeding, they are also starting to yellow but not nearly as bad. Still a few weeks out from harvest I think but we're starting to get close now. Getting excited.
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10
Week 10. Flowering
2 years ago
48.26 cm
12 hrs
26 °C
6.5
Strong
118 PPM
51 %
23 °C
20 °C
19 L
50.8 cm
Nutrients 1
Cal-Mag Plus  - Botanicare
Cal-Mag Plus 0.264 mll
Very happy with how things are going. The buds are really starting to take shape. Still seeing some yellowing, mostly on the runt and plant #1 but I'm not too worried about it at this stage, they both look fine otherwise. Starting to see some purple come out on the leaves of couple of the plants. The main branches on plants 2 and 3 are very purple. Watering with the Cal Mag every time I water seems to have solved the brown spotting issue I was seeing a few weeks ago. It persisted for a couple of weeks, but the plants are looking better now. I've backed off the amount of cal mag I'm using with each water. adding about 1ml/gal to about 75ppm or so. Just enough to help replace any minerals my RO water might pull from the medium. It's been pretty humid outside here lately and without the AC needing to be run during the day as much the humidity has been getting to be an issue. Humidity had been creeping up to 70% overnight with the lights off. I bought a decently sized dehumidifier for the space that has the grow tent. That should take care of that problem. Other than that I think we're starting to get pretty close on a couple of the plants. I'm thinking maybe 3 to 4 more weeks left at most. Not really sure but I'll be watching to see as the terps get cloudy and start to turn amber.
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11
Week 11. Flowering
2 years ago
48.26 cm
12 hrs
26 °C
6.3
Strong
75 PPM
49 %
23 °C
19 °C
19 L
50.8 cm
Nutrients 1
Cal-Mag Plus  - Botanicare
Cal-Mag Plus 0.264 mll
The Ladies are definitely starting to finish up nicely. Really happy with how they've turned out so far. Getting excited for harvest! Planning on giving them about 2 more weeks at this point. I'll need this tent for the next grow that I've started in about 3-4 weeks so I have to be done with the initial drying by then. I think 2 weeks will hopefully be about perfect for these to finish up. Not the biggest buds in the world but they were supposed to be pretty small plants from the genetics. Given that this is my first time growing I'm really happy with how they're turning out. I think they filled in nicely for their size, and they've been really putting on a lot of resin in the last few weeks for a strain that is supposed to avg 14% THC. Not complaining! One sad thing to note is, I've seen a few seeds pods on the plants. You'll remember weeks back I had a random seed from my closet herm out badly on me and while I thought I had caught it in time, clearly some pollen got in the tent. Little disappointed but it doesn't look too bad I've only noticed a few pods after given them all a good look over. It's a learning experience, wont be doing random genetics in the tent again.
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12
Week 12. Flowering
2 years ago
48.26 cm
12 hrs
24 °C
6.3
Strong
75 PPM
52 %
23 °C
19 °C
19 L
50.8 cm
Nutrients 1
Cal-Mag Plus  - Botanicare
Cal-Mag Plus 0.264 mll
Here we are, at the last week of the grow! I've learned a lot from this grow that I'm hoping to apply to my next one. I think I under fed these by a good bit. Plant #1 has been trying to yellow on me for over a month at this point. I started giving it more grow and bloom nutrients 5-6 weeks ago now, it certainly helped add some green back but I wasn't going to try to completely compensate for everything I had missed up till that point. I will feeding my next plants more aggressively particularly in the late veg, and transition to bloom phase. Adding a little Cal Mag to my RO water each time I water made a noticeable difference, as did adding a good layer of straw mulch to the tops of the pots. I started these with little in the way of expectations. This was really supposed to be a test run for my next grow. With that being said I'm pretty impressed with how these grew. For small plants (under 20") they really filled in nicely. The buds are resinous and have been showing some hints of purple. Hard to really put my finger on the smell at the moment, but you can tell it's some old school genetics. Smells incredible when you rub some of the trichomes and give it a smell. I'm going to be separating the large branches of each plant from the main stalk when I harvest. I will then trim all the non-trichome leaf matter I can get to without separating the buds from the branches and hang the branches to dry for 7-14 days. After that, I will separate all the buds off the branches, give them their final trim and jar them for curing. I will update with pictures from the harvest when it happens at the end of the week!
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