EsotericGrows - 1st Time Soil Grow - Royal Dwarf Grow Journal - 2015

[EsotericGrows]

New microscope arrived. Unfortunately it doesn't work as advertised. It said it was adjustable from 20x up to 400x - which to me sounded like I would be able to use it for anything in between like 50x, 60x, 100x, etc. but it actually only seems to focus in on those 2 settings - 20x or 400x. 20x isn't close enough and 400x is way too close to work with. You can't even adjust the focus dial without moving it all over the place even on the stand at 400x. To give you an idea, 400x will focus in and show the area between the two lines of a 1mm ruler marker.

Here's pictures of hairs on someones gotee at 400x:

This is the red hair on the cannabis plant. You can even see trichomes on the "red hair".

Here's trichomes on a "white hair" from the cannabis.

Here's that same area at 20x instead of 400x:

And a bunch more various shots at 20x and 400x. I'm considering harvesting now, just thinking about ideas for drying and curing. I got a bunch of material to read and videos to watch today to educate myself.

 

[420Amard]

Id wait a bit they look clear\semi cloudy still. What kind of buzz you going more couche lock or a head high?

 

[EsotericGrows]

If you look at the page 4 of my thread it shows more amber than these on 3 bud sites but it's hard with 400x to get a good view. I think I'm going to swap this scope out for one that does 20x - 200x instead of 20x - 400x. I like both types of high - couch lock if I'm at home alone chilling after a hard day of work or clear headed if I'm out being social. I think on this one I'd prefer more clear headed with a bit of buzz but no so much I don't want to get off my ass.

 

[Cruizer]

The scope I have is 60x-100x adjustable with an led light. I would say you are ready to harvest if you're looking for a head high with a buzz.

 

[EsotericGrows]

How would you get yours to 80x and be able to get a clear image? The one I got is supposed to be adjustable 20x - 400x but I can only get it to focus a sharp image at 20 and 400, everything in between is blurry. Maybe there's a trick I'm not aware of with microscopes but I read a review that says it can only 2 those 2 settings and when you adjust the focus knob all it's really doing is moving the lens closer and further away from the object. There's also a thing to adjust how bright the LEDs go and a button to take snapshots but that's it.

This is the model I purchased: Veho Website - Product Detail

 

[420Amard]

It says in the description that it can do only 20x and 400x

 

[420Amard]

Main Features:
- Adjustable LEDs for object illumination
- 2 MP Cmos (interpolated)
- Measurement function using enclosed software
- Snapshot and video recording function
- Alloy stand and stand alone capture button
- Tacton rubber touch housing
- 20x or 400x magnification
- Fine slider adjustment for brightness, hue, saturation and sharpness, plus a black and white display mode
- VMS-004 USB Microscope is supplied with Windows and Mac drivers. For software for side-loading CD drives just visit the download centre
- The 2 megapixel CMOS lens can be adjusted to point in any direction using the movable arm
- Simply install the drivers, plug the microscope into your computer via the USB and you're ready to go

 

[Cruizer]

Yep, because I can see the trichs at 100x on mine. 200x must me too much magnification and makes it blurry. I have an adjustable dial on mine where I can move the magnification 60-100x then it has a focus button.

Amazon: Carson 60X-100X MicroMax LED Lighted Pocket Microscope (MM-200)

 

[EsotericGrows]

It says in the description that it can do only 20x and 400x

Yes I linked to the manufacturers webpage there but the place I purchased it from says in the product description it "can be further zoomed in manually up to a factor of 400x". Just google that part and you'll see a bunch of online retailers that say that about the device.

Yep, because I can see the trichs at 100x on mine. 200x must me too much magnification and makes it blurry. I have an adjustable dial on mine where I can move the magnification 60-100x then it has a focus button.

Amazon: Carson 60X-100X MicroMax LED Lighted Pocket Microscope (MM-200)

I've got hand held scopes that can do closer to your cruiser but they can't do digital photos to post on here. Also the one I have was a 400x model. The 200x would be a bit better but I think 50 or 60 - 100x would be optimal.

 

[EsotericGrows]

My last post with the 400x microscope shots should've been date stamped at the top to say - Day 89 (July 14, 2015) S#3. Unfortunately these forums don't let me add that after the fact.

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Day 90 (July 15, 2015) S#3 . (the images below are representative of what the plant looks like at day 90). So I got one friend who thinks I could've harvested a day or two ago to get a head high with a buzz. I changed my mind though and think I'll wait for a body high so I can get opinions on when to harvest at the various times. After all this is mostly an educational grow, I was actually expecting to completely fail so I'm pretty happy so far.

Oh and to clarify, all the zoomed in pics on page 4 and earlier were not done with the scope. The pics above on page 5 were done with the 20x - 40x scope. The pics from page 4 and earlier were done with a couple different cell phones using various techniques. I'm going to post a how to for people who don't have and/or can't afford proper equipment when I have a chance.

The pictures below were done with a samsung galaxy S4 but it seems the ones I took on the previous pages with the atrix 4G and the moto G (1st gen) came out much better.

 

[420Amard]

Looks mighty tasty man

 

[Cruizer]

Looks ready, nice pics!

 

[EsotericGrows]

Day 96 (July 21, 2015) S#3 - Harvest Day

Today I took pics

Here's the plant from the "front view". It was tied backwards so it grew curved.

This is a view from the side angle that shows how curved the stem became from the LST (Low Stress Training) I performed on it as it was growing. The training I performed was basically just pulling the main stem back in one direction and stretching out side branches along with flattening out the whole canopy to allow light to penetrate all the branches. It looks almost flat from the side. This allowed me to put a CFL bulb near the bottom/middle area of the plant to get light onto all the lower and middle areas.

And here's the rear view of the plant.

Now for some closeup bud shots on the final hours of life for the Royal Dwarf, so sad yet so

beautiful:

And here's some closer up pictures that show the trichome stage. These were taken with my cell phone.

 

[EsotericGrows]

Here's a 400x Zoom level closeup of the trichomes

And now that I've taken all that final eye candy of my first ever cannabis plant grown from seed to veg to flower, here's pics of the next stage - the harvest begins at the lower branches:

Here's the the plant with all the branches removed except the Cola on the top.

And here's the skeleton of the plant from the side view. You can see how the LST I was performing on it arched the entire plant structure. Towards the last week or so I also removed all the tie downs so you can see how at the top it started bending itself back and growing towards the light. It's really quite amazing how flexible these things are.

After trimming everything up here's all the nugs hanging to dry. Now hopfully I don't screw up this next final drying/curing stage after all that hard work I put into growing and nurturing this thing the past 3 months.

I'll post the final results with a weigh in once it's dried sufficiently.

 

[EsotericGrows]

Day 97 (July 22, 2015) S#3

The day after harvesting I wanted to take a look at the root structure of the plant. It looks like it was root bound (I could be wrong) and if I had a bigger sized pot, perhaps it would've grown larger? The entire container of soil came out as one big mass with the roots holding everything together.

Here's a closer view of the roots inside the container.

After breaking up and soaking most of the growing material and washing it off the roots with a sprayer this is what the root mass still attached looks like.

 

[Cruizer]

Nice job on your first grow to harvest bro!

 

[EsotericGrows]

Day 99 (July 24, 2015) S#3

I think I trimmed the nugs a little too short. The right jar is the buds and the left jar is the close up trimmings of frosty leaves. I put the outside fan leaves and anything unappealing separately from these two jars. I didn't do things 100% by the book and messed up in a few areas but they seem pretty forgiving and I learned a lot and I got something to smoke out of it in addition to being better prepared for my next grow. I've already got new seeds germinating and they just popped today so I'll plant before tomorrow.

Up next is sweet deep grapefruit and strawberry amnesia

I did a smoke test and I think I harvested at just the right time. The buds smoke nice and smooth and are a perfect blend of body and head high.

 

[David Bowman]

Hope all is well in your world.

Thanks for sharing this grow with us.

Please head over to the 420 Strain Reviews forum and post your smoke report there too.

I’m moving this to Completed Journals now.

You can use the Report Post feature found at the bottom left of every post and we'll move it for you right away.

Sending you lots of love and positive energy.

 

[stipulus]

Hi mate I am growing one Royol D at the moment and I must say that with autos that you should NEVER re-pot them. You should not fertilise them until they are very late in their flowering stage as well. That seedling has not got enough light at all, and if you grow under CFL`s make sure you keep them as close as possible. Lastly, always plant autos in the pot they are going to stay in..or if you transplant make sure you disturb the roots as minimally as possible...even if they are root bound. My royal dwarf is at 41 days and the top cola is about the size of you finished top cola with half as much leaf. Light is the BIGGEST key to growing any plant..it also looks like you over watered your babies with the droopy leaves. Next time start with a 15-20ltr pot, dont fuck around with putting the seeds in water or shit like that....straight into a expandable coco starter nodule, then put that straight in to the pot the plant will stay in for the rest of its life. My RD started flowering at 2 weeks from the cotyledons showing and is now 60 cm tall. It has stretched a bit but is looking nice and healthy. Remember when you grow you want that bitch to put all her effort into flowering not vegetive so when you give it some certs(only during half way through flowering) make sure you give it in half strength with very little nitrogen. Mostly P and K ok....Dont use that rack thing as well, if you have to use thin string and ties your branches down or super crop. But only super crop when the plant is still in veg mode. Do NOT run your lights 24 hrs...Use 20/4 as the plants do need some rest, and is swear the buds put out more body than leaves. Hot tip- get a few LED`s to put in your room, ads to the spectrum and will lead to better flower growth. Good luck my friend and peace be with you.