Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 - Autofem

Spliffd

New Member
This is my first real grow so go easy.

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This is a cheap DIY job done with stuff I mostly had around the house.
The strain is lowryder #2 "easy ryder chosen because of a few reasons:

1. Grows small (micro space considerations).
2. Short seed-harvest time
3. Supposed to be easy for newbs like me to grow.

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Lighting is 4 x 26W CFL's thru the entire grow (1 x 6500 and 3 x 2700). Because its an auto it will be on a 20-4 light sched throughout also.
Lights are fixed so as you can see I have propped up the plant to get it closer to the light.

I still have a bit of work I want to do on the box, mainly light traps for the rear. I'd like it to be reasonably "stealthed" but doesnt have to be right now.

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Im using 4 x 60mm fans for exhaust at the top and have multiple holes for a passive intake at the bottom. Temps are between mid 70's and 90ish.

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And here is my girl at 2 days old and I think looking pretty good. No ferts for now.

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Wish me luck!
:thumb:

Spliffd
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

Hey Man,

I had a girlfriend who loved spliffs. According to her, they were either grass or hash mixed with marijuana. I hate cigarettes. so it was a bummer that she always mixed the Good Weed with the Killer Weed.

Everything looks good! That's a real little cutie you have going. Keep her close to the light so that she doesn't stretch too much. What are you using for soil?
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

Hey Man,

I had a girlfriend who loved spliffs. According to her, they were either grass or hash mixed with marijuana. I hate cigarettes. so it was a bummer that she always mixed the Good Weed with the Killer Weed.

Everything looks good! That's a real little cutie you have going. Keep her close to the light so that she doesn't stretch too much. What are you using for soil?

I was also wondering what type of soil? And do you plan on supercropping(i.e. LST, topping, fimming)?
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

Well shes one week old. Here are some snaps:

As you can see she has started on her second set of fan leaves.

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Not sure how she rates as far as growth rate goes but Im happy I managed to keep her alive so far - yippee!!!!

I had sprouted another one of the 3 seeds I ordered to grow outside in the natural light as a comparison to my CFL light, unfortunately shes no longer with us. :rip: Its coming to the end of summer here at the moment so im sure its not optimal for growing outside anyway...

But screw it! Im playing my "newb" card and gonna do it anyway so....

I sprouted my final seed and BAM!!!

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Meet "Sunshine" 1 day old (since sprouting)- since shes going to be living outside once I think shes strong enough to take on the big bad world.

There's still around 14 hours between sunrise/set - I wonder if thats ok? Its an autoflower so the photoperiod shouldnt matter too much, but what about growth? Ideas???

Temps are still really warm (mid 60's at night and 80 aroung midday) and I can always find her a safe place on a window sill inside somewhere when needed.

Is it ok that I have her in direct sunlight on the window sill at the moment?
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

Everything looks good! That's a real little cutie you have going. Keep her close to the light so that she doesn't stretch too much. What are you using for soil?

Thanks GG! yeah im trying to keep her as close to the lights as possible without making the mistake of her gowth causing contact to the bulb. Ive seen a few others on here make the mistake of underestimating growth and burning their plants.

The soil is just cheap (thoguth not the cheapest I might add... :high-five:) potting mix I found at the store. Im looking at trying to acquire some coco coir thanks to some info and results Ive picked up from you and Bigirishdoode. You cant argue with results and as far as Ive seen it doesnt look to be any more expensive than potting mix, which is SUPER important for me.

Im a bit nervous about my soil. It always looks to be quite dry as you can see in the photos, even the day after watering. And when I water, the water pools above the soil and takes a while to start penetrating thru and thats not me pouring a whole bunch of water in either. Im actually scared I could underwater because when I see the water pool I think it may be too much. bleh....

Any and all advice appreciated.
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

I was also wondering what type of soil? And do you plan on supercropping(i.e. LST, topping, fimming)?

Hey Nuglinger

See soil above...

As for LST and such - hmmmm
I have thought a little about this but was kind of thinking Id play it by ear.

My idea is to somehow end up with four main braches that I could train up along the corners of the box. Because my box has more height room than width I dont really have the luxury of bushing out too much. The downside about my plan is that with my lights at the top of the box the lower part of the plant will really suffer.

Any suggestions for a plan of attack nug?
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

Spliff,

If you're using something like MiracleGro or other crap like that - DON'T!

I ran out of good soil (provided by a friend who buys it in bulk - but he's out of town on extended assignment), so I bought some crap that was almost like MIracleGro.

Either take a picture of the bag or write down the ingredients in it.

From your desciption, I'm pretty sure I know the type of soil it is. This kind of soil compacts and almost never dries out. It feels dry on the top and when you water it, the water pools on the top and runs down the side of the pot and out the bottom.

I used soil like this but mixed it 50/50 with perlite to give the soil some airiness. It was still crap! If you look at the last page or two of my journal, you'll see how I transplanted from this crap soil to coco coir. The result was dramatic.

Please buy some good soil and transplant. At the very least, add at least 50% perlite or vermiculite.
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

Its raining today so I'll grab some pics of the soil another time.

I stopped by the gardening shop to buy some nutrients and picked up a small coir brick for around $1.50us. I found some coco coir stuff also but they only had big 40L bags which I really dont need that much of. Maybe I'll mix it with something in future.

GGrant - When did you start using nutes with your last autoflowering strain?
I have some "Thrive" liquid fert at 12-3-6, Budzilla at 30-30-70 and Sulphate of potash 0-0-42-18 (NPKS).

Because its going to be flowering from early stages I was wondering when to start with different nutes.
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

GGrant - When did you start using nutes with your last autoflowering strain?
I have some "Thrive" liquid fert at 12-3-6, Budzilla at 30-30-70 and Sulphate of potash 0-0-42-18 (NPKS).

Because its going to be flowering from early stages I was wondering when to start with different nutes.

Spliff, I've never grown an autoflower. I've thought of doing so because of how quick they finish, but I never have.

Here's some stuff I found that might help:

I've grown LR2, best cycle IMO is 18/6. Under 24/0 they didn't seem to grow as fast as in 18/6...maybe it was just a funky batch, donno. These plants grow really fast though, took them 18/6 the whole way and had some good smoke.

Yielded about 10-14 grams per plant, not bad.

it's pick your poison... for best results 18/6 or 20/4 u cant go wrong with neither

This is probably the best one and is from the Joint Doctor himself!


Autoflower Power — Lowryder Auto Flower Grow Guide


OFFICIAL LOWRYDER GROW GUIDE - written by the Joint doctor
Preferred growing methods
Indoors, Lowryder performs very well in soil mix (pots or beds) or in soil-less systems, where it can be cultivated from seed to bud in two months — 18 hours of light per day is recommended all the way through. Switching light cycles down to 12 hours may diminish yields and shorten the already-short life cycle slightly. Because Lowryder's life cycle is so brief, cloning becomes impracticable, so only plants from seed are grown. By default, Lowryder is a great choice for sea-of-green.

Because flowering plants and seedlings can be maintained in the same room, Lowryder presents new possibilities for the small to medium home grower, including "staggering" your indoor harvest. A true continuous harvest system may be achieved by planting new plants periodically to replace the ones that have been harvested. This ensures that a grow
room is always full and always producing fresh bud, and one never has too much work at once. Click here to learn more about the Joint Doctor's "1-2-3" continuous harvest method.

For best results, place jiffy pellet or plant directly into 1-2 gal.pots. Alternatively, start in 4-inch peat pots, then place
rootbound females into a plant bed after sexing (at approx. 17-20 days) — this may result in smaller plants than the first method. Grown under a 12 to 24 hour/daylight cycle from start to finish. I recommend 18 hours per day; this can be decreased to 16 after the first month with no loss of yield.

Outdoors: sow directly into soil after soaking, in 2 gal. pots or plant beds. New stands of Lowryder can be planted up until late summer, to ensure a continuous harvest outdoors. Avoid transplanting if you can, but do so if plants become rootbound. Rogue (remove) males at three weeks.

Growth Factors
Lowryder is extremely versatile in that it can be cultivated in virtually any climate or grow environment. In fact, it has pushed the envelope of growing, enabling early harvests in unlikely places like Finland, the North West Territories, and other northern, short-season, or high altitude areas. It is also well-adapted to backyard gardens, windowsills and patios where plants can be easily concealed because of their tiny size.

Nothing will mature earlier or faster than Lowryder! When other varieties have barely begun flowering, Lowryder outdoor growers are kicking up their feet and already enjoying their fresh harvests.

Characteristics
Lowryder virtually does away with the vegetative growth stage: it passes almost immediately from the seedling stage to the flowering period. To our knowledge, Lowryder has the shortest known life cycle and height in the cannabis species.
Male plants may be identified as such after approx. 17-20 days, while females show themselves a couple days later. Plants will even flower under a continuous light regime.

Lowryder females usually grow no taller than 16-20 inches. 12-16 inches is typical. Light intensity, pot size, and proper pH all play an important role in determining the size of plants at maturity — the better the conditions, the bigger the yield. Plants produce one main cola, although when they receive adequate light, lower nodes branch out profusely.

Yield and height are dependent on obvious growth factors. For example, plants kept in small peat cups on a windowsill may yield as little as 1 g. and grow no taller than 6 inches, with no branching whatsoever; while a plant in a 4-gallon container under high-intensity lighting and good cultivation methods, can turn into a profusely branched, two-foot wide 45-gram bud monster.

Fertilizer: During the first two weeks of growth, Lowryder should be weekly light feedings of a "grow" type nutrient solution, with micronutrients. When plants pass into full flower, they should be started on a "bloom" regime for weeks 4 through 6. Mycorise-type biological amendments (root stimulators) seem to increase growth significantly.

Average flowering time
Indoors: 40-45 days (after a 15-20 day seedling stage)
Outdoors: ripens approx. 60 days after seed is sown.
Note: 100% of plants display the auto-flowering genotype.

AVERAGE HEIGHT
12 inches. Minimum: 5 inches, maximum 16 inches (very light-dependent, with slight phenotype variations).

YIELD
Depending on light and other factors, Lowryder yields up to 45 g — one report even claims 96 g for one exceptional plant under hydroponics. Extremely light-dependent in terms of yield. Without adequate conditions, plants may stay extremely small, almost comically so — but still produce a decent smoke.

Buds are compactand close-quartered, slightly irregular and variable, with high bud/leaf ratio. Thick pistils, with orange coloration, and medium-sized, individual calyxes. Tends to be top-heavy indoors. Typically, budding sites start very close to the ground.

High is uplifting, surprisingly strong. Well-rounded. Best suited for outdoor activities. Smoke is smooth with pleasant, earthy undertones. Smell is not overpowering. Unique flavor, with echoes of NL and William's Wonder in the bouquet.

JD on nutes:

I get alot of requests for more info on nutrient needs for Lowryder. This is a hard question to answer as it depends how much money you want to shell out for nutrient products.

I get Advanced Nutrient products (many say the best) at a discount and I have adapted their formula for my own use. Advanced Nutrients provides a complete program for an 8-week grow and has a guide for different growing mediums.

For the first two weeks, I use what they recommend for seedlings.

Then I use the Micro 2+ Light Feeding program for the rest of their life cycle. I usually skip week 3 and 5 to bring it down to a 6 week program which I begin as soon as LRs are sexed.

I know it sounds complicated. Obviously all this is not needed.

As a rule of thumb, treat Lowryders like seedlings for the first 2-3 weeks, then switch them onto a light bloom program. So, you feed them a seedling/transplanting formula the first 2 weeks, then switch to a bloom fertilizer with something like a 5-10-5 or 1-2-1 ratio of N-P-K.

Give them a feeding of bloom fertilizer every week on weeks 3,4,5,6. Just pH-balanced water on week 7. Flushing solution on week 8.


...or for organic freaks, just plant into organic soil mix with bat guano mixed in... and put away the calculator... .

Hope this helps!




.
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

So "lil weezy" is at 2 weeks and STILL ALIVE!!!:party:

Here she is.

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The smaller plant beside her is 1 week old and Im using her as a natural light comparison. She will live out in the sun and will have the same treatment as "lil weezy". I've decided to call her "Sunshine" for obvious reasons.

I had initially wanted to do this comparison at the same time but the seed that germed at the same time, unfortunately didnt make it - :RIP:

Also if you look closely in the background of the side profile photo you can see a bright green bush. Thats "Big Weezy", a male in flower at the moment. Im attempting to gather pollen to make some seeds on a couple of lower budsites with these two plants.

So far Ive cut a few top branches from weezy and put a plastic bag around to catch the flower/pollen. Ive left the branches in the shed to dry and collect more pollen. Any experienced hands here who can let me know if Im heading in the right direction ?

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Im guessing I'll have to be quite careful about these girls getting pollenated because of their autoflowering trait which starts flower around 3 weeks? is that right?

Well I gave lil weezy its first feed.I dont know very much about nutes in general, let alone autos, but I have some general purpose liquid fert. What do you guys think?

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Thoughts???
I have some "budzilla" for later flowering stage nutes.

Finally...
Earlier we talked about my soil medium. I have been considering switching my soil to coco coir because of experiences Ive heard from other posters here on this site. After looking a bit closer at the info for this soil it seems that it should do the job pretty well. I decided to put up some pics and let you guys help me to decide.

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I actually bought a small 10L brick of regular coir to try at some stage or perhaps mix with something. Id be interested to hear if anyone has had experience using regular coir.

Any and all feedback appreciated
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

if ur not sure wot 2 do with ur soil etc,get ur soil,the organic stuf u hav has all the food in it 4 awhile,after 2+wks feed 1/4 strength and work up,dont bother with slow release dry feeds as they can cause nute burn or lockout,miracle grow-big no no,lots of chemicals,man made that takes alot 2 remove & u take out the nute the plant needs,if not dun prop,smokes harsh etc,stick to simple life,not over doing it with bloom boosters etc,use organic soil & feed,then less probs & cleaner smoke~any1 can put chemicals in it,giv just wot is needed..a rizla.:thumb:
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

The soil looks OK. At least it's not that MiracleGro crap. The best soil to use is one with no added nutrients. That way you can decide what you feed your plant. Soil with nutrients in it can sometimes cause nutrient deficiency problems, mineral lockout, etc.

However, I don't think the soil you chose will be too bad. If you start having problems with it, you can ditch it for something like Coco Coir.

The same goes for nutrients. If you buy ones more suitable to marijuana, you will have a better crop. The Thrive doesn't look too bad.

It's N-P-K is 12-3-6.

Botanicare's PureBlendPro is 3-2-4.

For vegetation, you want a fertilizer leaning towards nitrogen. For flowering, you want a fertilizer leaning towards phosphorus.

You should be careful fertilizing a seedling before it is two weeks old. If you want to do so, it is best to start with a 1/4 - 1/2 strength solution to see how the seedling reacts. Non-organic fertilizers can burn the roots of a young plant.

I remember seeing some journals on this site that talked about gathering pollen from a male plant.

Instead, I found two journals (on other sites) that discuss this:

How To Collect Marijuana Pollen And Use It
Pot magazines like High Times are famous for publishing amazing pictures of cannabis flowers of mostly the female species. Cannabis is a dioecious plant, which means that the male and female flowers develop on separate plants, although monoecious examples with both sexes on one plant are found. Sibling crosses draw genetic traits from both the mother and father plant, the male plays just as important a role as the female does but its rare to see male cannabis plants in full bloom and pollen collection and use is almost a mythical craft. I will do my best in this article to shed some light on the ways pollen is collected and dispersed.

Before we talk about collecting pollen let's talk about staggering. This is a trick I learned by trial and error that allows us to get the maximum number of seeds per plant. This doesn't apply to those just working with a branch or two.
When pollinating a mother plant for seed I will start her into 12/12 a full 7 days before I move the male into budding room. Keeping in mind that each strain is going to be a bit different on its time frame, this 7 day rule has worked very well for us.


Once the male is flowering well the females will be entering a window around day 21-24. Most hybrids I work with are done in less than 9 weeks so 3 weeks in is good place to start. You can pollinate up to day 30 but you stand a good chance of the seeds never getting mature so I find each strain perfect window. Apollo-13 is closer to 21 days and Jacks Cleaner is better at say 26 or so.

One thing I must insert — and I am not trying to be rude for young, aspiring breeders out there — is advice to concentrate on producing the best herb you can and mastering the craft of room set-up. Again, no offence, but you can't breed properly in a cab. I do it in a limited space but I have been growing successfully some 32 years and didn't start breeding till I had around 20 years under my belt. It doesn't hurt to experiment — that is how we learn — but I think at least a few years as a grower are in order before anyone attempts breeding even though I lay out every single step. If you think its easy, ask a grower how many complete garbage strains he's grown out from so called "Established Breeders". It takes an eye and that is gained from experience.

Ok, so now we have our male in full bloom and we have our females in the breeding room. This area should be completely separated from main bud area preferably in another building completely. If the two rooms share a common HVAC duct system you will get pollution into your main area. Pollen is serious stuff and flies everywhere and you cannot see it. It will stick to your clothes, pets, etc. You must change clothes and bath after entering your breeding area.

Over the years I have budded out quite a few males and each one acts a bit differently. Some bud extremely fast while others tend to release pollen over a longer period of time. The best males to work with are one that matures in a short window maturing and releasing pollen in a short time span.

I prefer to simply allow my males to hang out with my mothers for a few days with a small fan positioned on the male with females in the air stream. As the stamen open the pollen naturally flies into the air providing max coverage. We also like to pluck off ripe pods and gently roll them between our fingers over each cola head. This is how we capture the amazing suspended pollen shots I set as a standard and later Jill perfected.

The Pollen Trap

One trick I have used in the past is the pollen trap. This trick takes a good eye for when the male is about to open. If you can figure that out — simple — take two large Tupperware containers and form a box that will hold a cup with water. Wax paper in bottom and along sides and tops you have cut off the mature male. Place the tops to hang over the wax paper and tape the entire box shut this allows you to have it in a non secure place like a vegetive room. Warning: don't spill the water as it ruins the pollen and don't put more into the glass than you need to. I used a heavy bar glass that wouldn't tip over.

One thing we should cover is male cluster formation. When selecting a male for breeding we run him as a mature full size plant and we want to see even if he has met all our other breeding criteria that he makes big gnarly male clusters this indicates the bud formation he might pass on. If you male produces small clusters he most likely will not pass on larger yields to the offspring. This is not set in stone but it is a very good indication.

Once the plants are fully pollinated I wash the females off with a spray bottle of water and if its raining I place out doors for a night up high on a barrel where no bugs could possibly get to her. I prefer a gentle long rain to a spray bottle as it removed any access pollen. Once I have redundantly rinsed I place the mothers back into my main bud not in the main air stream of my blowers

More Tricks

Back to the male we have used for the breeding party. I will bend his branches over and cover them with a V spaded hanging trap I make from wax paper. This is the process I will get Jill to shoot here in about 3 weeks and add to the thread. One thing to watch out for is the male flowers they contain water and must be removed from pollen. I find the hanging traps I make can be shaken and the flowers being heavy fall to the corners and can be removed from the pile.

Collecting pollen is a bit like milking a gnat, when you manually roll a pod and it falls it may be a million grains but its is barley visible to the eye it also tends to stick to the wax paper but the solution is to mix in some dry flour. I used a ratio of about 5 to 1 and ended up with a yellow looking mix that resembled cake batter. I allowed the flour to dry well and microwaving wouldn't be bad idea to remove any moisture that might remain in the flour.

The male Cannabis plant is amazing in its own right and in the game of creating hybrids a male known for his attributes can be worth a lot more than the most elite female cutting.


Breeding Marijuana
Breeding marijuana is possible to select cuttings from plants that grow, flower, and mature faster. Some plants will naturally be better than others in this regard, and it is easy to select not only the most potent plants to clone or breed, but the fastest growing/flowering plants as well. Find your fastest growth plant, and breed it with your "best high" male for fast flowering, potent strains. Clone your fastest, best high plant for the quickest monocrop garden possible. Over time, it will save you a lot of waiting around for your plants to mature.

When a male is starting to flower (2-4 weeks before the females) it should be removed from the females so it does not pollinate them. It is taken to a separate area. Any place that gets just a few hours of light per day will be adequate, including close to a window in a separate room in the house. Put newspaper or glass under it to catch the pollen as the flowers drop it.

Keep a male alive indefinitely by bending the top severely and putting it in mild shock that delays it is maturity. Or take the tops as they mature and put the branches in water, over a piece of plate glass. Shake the branches every morning to release pollen onto the glass and then scrap it with a razor blade to collect it. A male pruned in this fashion stays alive indefinately and will continue to produce flowers if it gets suitable dark periods. This is much better than putting pollen in the freezer! Fresh pollen is always best.

When breeding marijuana save pollen in an air tight bag in the freezer. It will be good for about a month. It may be several more weeks before the females are ready to pollinate. Put a paper towel in the bag with it to act as a desecant.

A plant is ready to pollinate 2 weeks after the clusters of female flowers first appear. If you pollinate too early, it may not work. Wait until the female flowers are well established, but still all while hairs are showing.

Turn off all fans. Use a paper bag to pollinate a branch of a female plant. Use different pollen from two males on separate branches. Wrap the bag around the branch and seal it at the opening to the branch. Shake the branch vigorously. Wet the paper bag after a few minutes with a sprayer and then carefully remove it. Large plastic zip-lock bags also. Slip the bag over the male branch and shake the pollen loose. Carefully remove the bad and zip it up. It should be very dusty with pollen. To pollinate, place it over a single branch of the female, zipping it up sideways around the stem so no pollen leaks out. Shake the bag and the stem at the same time. Allow to settle for an hour or two and shake it again. Remove it a few hours later. Your branch is now well pollinated and should show signs of visible seed production in 2 weeks, with ripe seeds splitting the calyxes by 3-6 weeks. One pollinated branch can create hundreds of seeds, so it should not be necessary to pollinate more than one or two branches in many cases.

When crossing two different varieties, a third variety of plant will be created. If you know what characteristics your looking for in a new strain, you will need several plants to choose from in order to have the best chance of finding all the qualities desired. Sometimes, if the two plants bred had dominant genes for certain characteristics, it will be impossible to get the plant you want from one single cross. In this case, it is necessary to interbreed two plants from the same batch of resultant seeds from the initial cross. In this fashion, recesive genes will become available, and the plant character you desire may only be possible in this manner.

Usually breeding marijuana, it is desirable only to cross two strains that are very different. In this manner, one usually arrives at what is refered to as "hybrid vigor". In other words, often the best strains are created by taking two very different strains and mating them. Less robust plants may be the result of interbreeding, since it opens up recesive gene traits that may lead to reduced potency.

Hybrid offspring will all be very different from each other. Each plant grown from the same batch of seeds collected from the same plant, will be different. It is then necessary to try each plant separately and decide it is individual merits for yourself. If you find one that seems to be head and shoulders above the rest in terms of early flowering, high yield and get buzz, that is the plant to clone and continue breeding.
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

dont bother with slow release dry feeds as they can cause nute burn or lockout,miracle grow-big no no,lots of chemicals,man made that takes alot 2 remove & u take out the nute the plant needs,if not dun prop,smokes harsh etc,stick to simple life,not over doing it with bloom boosters etc,use organic soil & feed,then less probs & cleaner smoke~any1 can put chemicals in it,giv just wot is needed..a rizla.:thumb:

Great stuff - thanks bro. Id never really thought about harsh smoke from chems and stuff. Id only heard about harsh smoke if you dont flush for a couple of weeks before harvest.

I always thought that miracle grow was quite an established nute line over there. Ive read quite a few journals from growers that seem to love the stuff.
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

ggrant - Hey man thanks for that pollen info. Wayyyy better than anything that I found. I guess I spent too much time researching whether I could smoke him rather than researching pollen gathering / breeding.

Sounds like a pretty daunting job really, to do in my grow cab at least, by me none the less. Id probably have tonnes more success by trying to let it occur naturally, instead of pollen gathering storing and pollinating later. Nevertheless I shall not be deterred, theres no harm in trying. I'll just not hold my breath for killer bud strain, or even seeds at all. Either way I end up with a bunch of seeds or seedless bud - win/win.

I would be quite excited to be able to have a shot at breeding the way this guy does with choosing head above shoulder strains and breeding them - FUN!!! But until rules change where I live I will need to maintain some measures of stealth and use the small amounts available.

I only just found out yesterday that I should be draining the run-off from watering/feeding to wash any old ferts and other junk from the soil. I had been letting the run-off sit in the dish below. Is this right? Am I the only stupid one who never knew this? I had only thought of draining before harvest. Luckily Ive found out early and have only just started using nutes.
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

I only just found out yesterday that I should be draining the run-off from watering/feeding to wash any old ferts and other junk from the soil. I had been letting the run-off sit in the dish below. Is this right? Am I the only stupid one who never knew this? I had only thought of draining before harvest. Luckily Ive found out early and have only just started using nutes.

I don't use a dish. If water leaks out the bottom, I just mop it up. Usually, I only add enough water or nutrient solution to saturate the soil, not enough to cause runoff. Whether you drain the runoff or not doesn't make any difference. Try watering you plants so there is no runoff. If there is, it's better to discard it, as it will start fermenting if it is exposed to air for too long.

It's no big deal, though. The only times you need to flush are:
1) You have a bad nutrient imbalance. Flush your plants to get rid of mineral buildup on the roots.
2) When you are switching from vegetation to flowering. This will get rid of the excess built-up salts and get the soil ready for flowering nutrients.
3)Two weeks before harvest. This will get rid of the excess nutrients in the soil and help remove any nitrates, which may give your smoke a harsh taste. There's some debate about whether the nitrates in the soil give your smoke a harsh taste. Some growers say it's the curing process that oxydizes the nitrates and will give your smoke a smooth taste.

Remember I said there was a journal here about someone who collected pollen from his male plants? Now I remember how he did it.

He took a sheet of aluminum foil, laid the plant on its side over the foil (he didn't cut the plant or anything - he just tipped over the entire plant over, pot an all, over the aluminum foil. Then he gently shook the branches.

The pollen fell on the aluminum foil. Afterwards, he took a fine brush (like the kind they use for cosmetics) and gently gathered all the pollen together and put it in a small vial for later use. I think he kept it in the fridge for storage.

Wondering about smoking a male plant?

Let me tell you a funny story. I'm a hippie from the sixties and this was my first grow. I lived in a house with four other students in a small town. We had a large backyard. A friend had given us some bag seed which we put in a garden we made out back. We knew nothing about marijuana cultivation and just let the plants grow.

A neighbor lady came by and asked what we were growing. We said it was a type of parseley. She took off a leaf and ate it and said she wasn't sure if it was parsely. After she left, we fell down laughing.

The plants ended up being over seven feet tall! My friend harvested them. We tried curing the female plants and threw the male plants in several plastic bags in the attic.

My friend had heard that you should soak the plants in Coca Cola and dry them in the oven, LOL!. We did this and rolled up four joints each and smoked them. This was only the second time I had tried marijuana. The first time wasn't memorable and may have been poor weed.

After 1/2 hour, I told my friend I was feeling weird. When I stood up, I told him that I felt I was only 2 feet tall. He told me I was bullshitting him. Ten minutes later, he said he was feeling it, too!

I was starting to feel really paranoid, but my friend insisted on driving into town. I went with him, thinking everyone knows I'm stoned! We went to a local store and bought monster-sized ice creams cones.

Never has ice cream ever tasted this good!

After that, we got high on a regular basis. A few weeks later, my friend found some pictures of marijuana plants. It turned out we had been smoking the MALE marijuana plants! He thought the male preflowers were from female plants.

We rescued the females plants sitting in the plastic bags in the attic. They had fuzzy white mold on them. We discarded some and cleaned up the rest, drying it in the oven.

It Was Awesome!

We had three large garbage bags full of the stuff. I'm a bit of a cook and I make lots of marijuana brownies, marijuana cookies (they were bright green!) and even a marijuana pizza with weed instead of oregano! Good times!

So, you can get high from male plants!

By the way, most marijuana in the old days was 3% THC tops. Now, a good strain nowadays will yield 12% - 15% THC.
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

Bahahaha!!! great story! Sounds like you guys had alot of fun back then. If only more people would be as fun nowadays. Everyone seems to prefer stress and worry.

Anyway...

Male plant smoking - After I wrote that last post of mine I decided Id just go ahead and find out first hand. Pretty sure I wouldnt die from it, so what the heck right?

I dried a small bunch of leaves rolled it up and smoked it. It was okay, definitely a high, not huge but its there. I wouldnt be suprised if a "seasoned" smoker didnt feel much at all. But I did! Much less of a stone and wears off after about half an hour to an hour. The thing I like about it is it leaves me in a state where I can still function in society. You know - no couchlock or mega-munchies or too much stoner-talk. What I dont like about it is, because of the small high you have to smoke much more and often, probably because of such low thc content.

To sum it up:

If you're like me and dont have too many options for smoke at the moment then Id say "go ahead!, its meh... ok". If I had a choice Id rather grow and smoke proper bud. Till then iI'll smoke this.

Hey ggrant - Im sure you must have a bunch of killer stories from the hippy days. Is there a thread on 420 where old timers like you sit around a campfire and tell us young bucks whats what?

As for growing, watering more specifically, what am I reading about when people are talking about having 20% run-off when feeding or watering? Originally I thought the same as what you described above but I thought there reasoning made sense to help wash out old nutes and other junk?

Oh well - better go roll another one.
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

3 Week update

Well Ive just finished re-potting to a larger 3L and final pot. I wasnt sure if my previous pot was good for this micro-grow but I saw a couple of roots coming out from below and didnt want to have roots bound up this early in the grow. So here it is.

3weeks_side.JPG


3weeks_top.JPG


All of the new growth is looking pretty healthy to me. I fed for the second time just after transplanting.

Pretty cool to see the hairs forming up already. As a new grower its nice to get that aroma and actually see results so soon into the journey.

3weeks_inside.JPG


As you can see there is some discolouration in the older fan leaves. Is this because of the lack of light to these lower leaves? Or is this trouble?

3weeks_leaf_shot.JPG


She's looking a little droopy and Im hoping she perks up in good time. The natural light comparison plant ("Sunshine") is looking healthy but seems to be growing at a slower rate. This may have something to do with the poor weather over the past week. I'll snap some pics and throw them up at a later date.

Feedback appreciated
 
Re: Spliffd - CFL Microgrow - Lowryder#2 (Autofem)

We are just about at 5 weeks and there have been a couple of slight problems.
Here are some snaps so you can see what she's looking like.

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4_weeks_-_side2.jpg


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4_weeks_-_close.jpg


Ok...

So...

Positives:

1. She is still alive and starting to look frosty.
2. See above (number 1.)

Negatives

1. Some nutrient burn showing in the foliage (leaf tips)
2. Vertical growth has pretty much halted.
3. Yellowing and browning of the lowest leaves
4. Slight yellowing of some of the upper leaves around the edges.
5. Rookie light configuration

Im going to ease up on the nutes a little and see how it goes from there. It seems a little hard to see if its working or not with what seems like minimal new growth to judge it on (I usually look at new growth to fare how well the plant is doing).

I knew this was a dwarf strain and that it would stay quite small compared to some other strains but I didnt think it would be THIS small. Even in my small box there is still quite a bit of room as you can see below.I have a couple of tins propping my plant up to the light.

4_weeks_-_in_box2.JPG


I have trimmed a couple of the lowest sets of fan leaves as they were quite dead and I suspected they would be draining energy from the plant that couldve been used elsewhere. Some of the slight yellowing around the edges of the leaves of the upper foliage is a bit of a mystery to me. Can anyone out there help me with this? Could this also be a deficiency?

The final problem Ive been wrestling with is the light configuration.

light_config.jpg


Because this was a DIY job, not a very well planned one I might add, after I put in the y-sockets I realised there wasnt enough room to have all 4 of the bulbs in. So I did some twisting and managed to get them all in there. Only problem was, the bulbs were all at different height levels. To make things worse, the lowest bulb meant more distance between the plant and the other 3 bulbs that were at more or less the same level.

Long(er) story short, I decided to take out the lowest bulb and have the plant closer to the top 3 instead of close to the low bulb and a larger distance from the 3 at the top. So Im down to 3 x 26W'ers (all 2700k), anyone see a huge problem with this? Ideas or solutions for a budget minded grow newb?

Here's the box transforming into stealth mode.

4_weeks_-_in_box2.JPG


4_weeks_-_stealth_mode.JPG
 
How did this grow turn out?

We would love to be updated with some pictures and info! :blushsmile:

How about posting a 420 Strain Review?

If you need any help with posting photos, please read the photo gallery tutorial:
Photo Gallery Guide - How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

I am reporting this to be moved to abandoned journals until we get updates.

Thanks and hope all is well in your world!

Love and respect from all of us here at 420 Magazine!:Namaste:
 
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