First Grow - Short Rider

[Marlo]

Hi everyone,

As you all understood this is my first attemt to grow my own marijuana!It took me a bit longer to decide it but its never too late!
So, i started reading and reading and reading and decided to build a grow box.I bought the materials and made a box 90x75x50cm with 3 leds of 10watts consuption each but didnt know the output power!I also didnt have any meter to check it so i started like that!In the first pictures is the starting setup.



On 17/4/10 i germinated 1 Fem Short Rider seed and 3 regular seeds from a weed i was smoking!I got 3 5litre pots for the SR and the other 2 bigger plants and a bottle of 1litre for the smaller regular.I filled them with BioBizz All-Mix and feed them every other watering with half dose of BioBizz FishMix(Veg) and FishMix+BioBloom(Flower) increasing it by 0.5ml every week.The lights were set on 18/6 so to veg enough the regulars.The SR is auto...she can go on with any kind of schedule.

At the begining i thought it was going ok but as days were passing,i was checking other grow journals with Short Riders and realised that something was wrong with mine.The other 3 were doing ok but i couldnt make any comparison with others cause i only knew it was some kind of sativa/indica indoor.Νothing else.Anyway,Short Rider was going too slow...!So after 2 weeks from germ i had a healthy but too small plant... I checked temperature,humidity,ph and everything was fine...so the only problem i could think was "light inefficiency"!I installed 2 more leds and with 5 leds setup,things got a little better but still not good!So the only solution with less consumption was cfls!!!On the second picture you can see the plants after 4 weeks from germination(15/5/10).I got out 2 of the leds and put 1 60watt cool cfl and one 130watt warm cfl instead.The SR is the one on the right.


(i excluded the smallest one from the pics cause there is not much to show)

After a week with the cfls i couldnt believe it...the growth suddenly got faster and faster...the cfls were doing the job so i installed one more 60watt warm cfl and sacrificed one more led.I also got the other 2 leds closer to the plants and that was a pretty good move...keeping tha leds high i thought would do good to spread the light everywhere but i was wrong cause i was losing the intense of the light.That was on 22/5/10.
After one more week and a day(30/5/10),which is today,the plants are doing great!SR is flowering and she is a beauty!She has many bud sites and the growth keeps going fast!The other 3 are also good but still no signs of sex.On the 3rd picture you can see the plants on the 6th week from germination!The SR is now on the middle.I focused on the SR cause its the one i hope to get some weed from,so i got on more led out and put on more 130watt warm cfl.So now i have a total of 380watt and a led.... I also switched to 12/12 so the other 3 to start showing sex.I hope SR will follow that change without any problems!



Here is a video from today!

[video=youtube;qBticZhXqHM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBticZhXqHM[/video]

That was it guys!!Sorry for the lack of pictures...i really hadnt thought to post a journal cause i didnt believe to get to that point from the first attempt.From now on i will keep you more updated.
I would be glad to read your comments and answer any question!


I must say a big big THANKS to RIU and all you guys that have posted so many usefull information!

 

[Tatan]

Yeah go with cfls not those leds... you need to repost the pictures, cant see them.

 

[Marlo]

Yeah i will go on with cfls and i will add one more 130w warm so to get rid of the last led!Then i'll have about 500watts which i think is good enough for a small box like mine!

 

[caper24]

Looking great man, congratss!! aha lots of usefull infomation to, im a firstimer myself starting a growbox in the shell of a dresser with the faces of each drawer nailed to a sheet of plywood and put on with hinges to make like a door. My only problem is right now and im hoping you can help me with this is what kind of cfl would i use for my veg stage also what king will i use for my flowering stage. also since your having such luck, what kind of soil/nuts and anything else you used, where did you get it and how much? sorry for all the questions im jus very intrested on learning and starting this thingg

 

[Marlo]

Looking great man, congratss!! aha lots of usefull infomation to, im a firstimer myself starting a growbox in the shell of a dresser with the faces of each drawer nailed to a sheet of plywood and put on with hinges to make like a door. My only problem is right now and im hoping you can help me with this is what kind of cfl would i use for my veg stage also what king will i use for my flowering stage. also since your having such luck, what kind of soil/nuts and anything else you used, where did you get it and how much? sorry for all the questions im jus very intrested on learning and starting this thingg

Hi dude,

At first,good luck with your first grow!Its gonna be a great experience...it is for me!!!Secondly,let me inform you that luck is an unknown word to me...just because i never was a lucky man! And thats why i kept reading and reading before getting started!So the only thing i can tell for sure,is that knowledge is the key...you must always know what you do and why you re doing it!Observe and collect data...then put your data together and do the right thing!Thats what i do,and everything works fine!
Now,about the lighting...the veg stage needs cool cfls which are 6400K and flowering needs warm cfls which are 2400K.My setup is 3 warm and 1 cool and thats because i want to flower.In the veg stage (which i completed with leds) i should have had 3 cool and 1 warm.These changes are needed because on veg,the plant needs more blue from the light spectrum,in contrary to the flowering that needs more red.Thats the basics...for further info,you can read many articles on the internet about growing with cfls,that can help you more!!
The soil i use is BioBizz Allmix and i feed them with BioBizz FishMix and BioGrow.On the second paragraph of the journal you can read my schedule!
The place i bought them and the price,are useless to you cause i guess that we dont even live in the same continent...!So if you want BioBizz products,check their site to find your closest dealer!If there is not one near your place,you can simply order them!
If you need anything else,i would be glad to help you!

 

[Marlo]

I forgot to mention that today i began an experiment...i started training the smallest regular plant!As far as i know,lst is not dangerous for the plants,but what ever happens,doesnt really matter.If something goes wrong,i ll start over again....i got plenty of those regulars!
So i tied it down and when there is progress(positive or negative) i ll post some pics!If i kill it...i will post pics from the funeral!

 

[Marlo]

-Update-

After 5 days the plants are still doing great!



The SR is flowering very nice and the smell is skunky....it reminds me of NY Diesel that smoked in Amsterdam last year!



The other 3 regulars are also doing fine...the big one hasnt yet showed any sign of sex,so i keep waiting!



The same for the other two.The small one is my "guinea pig" which i started lst. It seems ok and i hope to go on like this!The other one on the left,is a little streched but has no problems.



Thats the news for now...i believe the project goes on successfully and in about 3-4 weeks,my first weed will be ready to flush,dry and cure!
By the way...today i smoked a friends short rider and it was really nice...very fine taste,aroma and full of trichomes!It was mostly body stone and a pretty heavy one!

 

[Marlo]

-UPDATE-

3 more days have passed and the plants are doing great....not all of them...most of them!The little one that wanted to lst,is actually a male and i got rid of it quickly!
So now i have 1 Fem SR that keeps flowering nicely and 2 other that havent yet showed sex.
I am planning to kill the 2 regulars,since i dont really care about them,and start growing some new autos that just arrived from Nirvana,Amsterdam!Blue Mystic,Bubblelicious,Jock Horror and Northern Lights!

 

[Marlo]

-Short Update-

Last night one more male got killed!Fortunately it wasnt the one on the right.So now i have the SR and one more hopping to be fem!
The SR is doing great and the other is still vegging...its been a week since i turned to 12/12 but no sign of sex on this plant!I also started germinating 5 more autos!2 x Northen Light , 2 x Bubblegum and 1 x Blue Mystic,all from Nirvana!
More news and pics,tommorow!!!

 

[ilovatoke]

Your grows looking blinding fella, lots of usefull info so best of luck with it. I hear short ryders a nice smoke & it looks like you did your homework on it. i'll be keeping watch through your grow

 

[Marlo]

-Short Update-

Today,after 10 days on 12/12,the 3rd bagseed finally flowered and it was a girl...!!!! BUT it was already on the top of the box,just some milimetres from the lamp...i had no other choice but to kill her...! And so i did!
So now i have the SR,at the end of her carreer(4th week flow),and 5 young autos just germinated!they germinated in just 3 days...!that was quick in comparison to the SR tha germinated on 5 days..anyway,the seedlings look fine and i hope to get bigger than the SR!This time i am going on full cfl...no leds and shit...!We 'll see!!!
Sorry for the lack of pictures...i didnt have much time!I promise to post some photos on the following days!

 

[Marlo]

Your grows looking blinding fella, lots of usefull info so best of luck with it. I hear short ryders a nice smoke & it looks like you did your homework on it. i'll be keeping watch through your grow

Thanks dude...i do my best!!!
The short riders are supposed to be an easy growing plant and thats why i selected it....apart from this,i studied a lot before getting started,and that did a lot of good to my grow!I am running the 4th week and she is full of trichomes and huge calyx!!!I will try to get some pistures with a digital camera...then you'll see what i am talking about!
Today i checked her when the lights were out(with a green light of course) and the trichomes were shining like green fire....it was amazing!!And i know,its not anything special,but to me is like a dream....my own weed...!!

 

[ELGRINGO]

The pics above are of my Short rider 73 or so days
I germinated my SR about 24th of March. This is my first grow and I have done months of research on the botany surrounding the cultivation of marijuana. Unlike some people im not too concerned about creating the best weed on the planet, I am actually interested in learning about the cultivation and am using the beautiful weather we have had recently to my advantage. My aim is to have unsprayed organic skunky home grown, at least an oz or two and then I can relax and enjoy it, im thinking of ordering a new strain probably purple power or skunk red hair as they grow tremendously in the damp colder Irish climate, though it does reach peaks of 33 degrees Celsius in the summer in Ireland and due to this global warming malarkey its only getting hotter. This was more of an experiment I started to see if and when it was suitable to grow a MJ plant in Ireland and this strain was excellent I can definitely say it loves the sunshine and it hasn’t even reached the summer solstice yet. The increasing hours of daylight have definitely taking a toll with my SR its growing like wildfire now and has a very strong skunky, fruity smell.
After germination in paper towels I planted the seed into a mixture of soil and some nutes in the form of pellets, basically containing nitrogen and potassium. I used potting soil to get it started and grew a strong stumpy plant for about six weeks before I transplanted to a larger pot. In the larger pot I just used soil from my back garden it was soil from a 30 year old compost heap so it was full of nutrients and plant matter im surprised there was no coal. Anyway the plant has shot off since being in the bigger pot. When it reached 35cms I added tomato fertilizer to help this mother fucker bush out and grow a few extra inches and since then (about a week ago) it has flowered. I was afraid to add the fertilizer until my plant had a strong root system, so I could not burn the roots. Im delighted to see the beginnings of buds and it’s definitely an auto fuck all the haters this plant smells divine.
I hope to get product from this plant in the next 40 days im switching to a flowering fertilizer today. Check out the pics of the plant above they grow really well outdoors, ill post better pics up of the calyx’s and buds forming in a few days I used a mobile to snap these.

 

[Marlo]

The pics above are of my Short rider 73 or so days
I germinated my SR about 24th of March. This is my first grow and I have done months of research on the botany surrounding the cultivation of marijuana. Unlike some people im not too concerned about creating the best weed on the planet, I am actually interested in learning about the cultivation and am using the beautiful weather we have had recently to my advantage. My aim is to have unsprayed organic skunky home grown, at least an oz or two and then I can relax and enjoy it, im thinking of ordering a new strain probably purple power or skunk red hair as they grow tremendously in the damp colder Irish climate, though it does reach peaks of 33 degrees Celsius in the summer in Ireland and due to this global warming malarkey its only getting hotter. This was more of an experiment I started to see if and when it was suitable to grow a MJ plant in Ireland and this strain was excellent I can definitely say it loves the sunshine and it hasn’t even reached the summer solstice yet. The increasing hours of daylight have definitely taking a toll with my SR its growing like wildfire now and has a very strong skunky, fruity smell.
After germination in paper towels I planted the seed into a mixture of soil and some nutes in the form of pellets, basically containing nitrogen and potassium. I used potting soil to get it started and grew a strong stumpy plant for about six weeks before I transplanted to a larger pot. In the larger pot I just used soil from my back garden it was soil from a 30 year old compost heap so it was full of nutrients and plant matter im surprised there was no coal. Anyway the plant has shot off since being in the bigger pot. When it reached 35cms I added tomato fertilizer to help this mother fucker bush out and grow a few extra inches and since then (about a week ago) it has flowered. I was afraid to add the fertilizer until my plant had a strong root system, so I could not burn the roots. Im delighted to see the beginnings of buds and it’s definitely an auto fuck all the haters this plant smells divine.
I hope to get product from this plant in the next 40 days im switching to a flowering fertilizer today. Check out the pics of the plant above they grow really well outdoors, ill post better pics up of the calyx’s and buds forming in a few days I used a mobile to snap these.

I can see a very promising plant over there!!!Nice work man!
No matter if you want the best weed or not,you 'll get a very stoney stuff!Thats for sure!A friend of mine grew a SR in a pc-case with the minimum of care and he got a very nice smoke!It was skunky,fruity and stoney...i couldnt believe it.This plant is resistant on bad conditions,so you dont have to know much to grow it!But if you re in the mood to study some things(which i believe you are),you can get much better results!I studied a lot before getting started and the results are great!
I must say that your experiment is very interesting and you should definetely start a grow journal!Many people would like to follow it!I also wanted to grow an outdoor SR but i cant,cause i have many neighboors arround and my country is far away from legalizing....!!Anyway,i wish you the best for your plant!Start a journal and send me the link.I would be glad to follow it!

Now lets get back to the journal!
I visited my grow-box after 2 days of absense and the difference is huge!The main cola got bigger and the rest of the plant is swelling!Unfortunately i didnt get any pictures because the lights were out(of course i have a green lamp inside,so i can see).The quantity wont be much of course,because of the "led period" and the size of the box,but i hope to get 15-20grams dry weed!
Today i also checked the trichs and it was an amazing view!!!All the trichs are huge(like mushrooms) and almost milky.You can see the trichs rising with bare eyes!Beautifull!!!!So from now on i am starting flushing the plant with pure water for the next 10 days.It may be a bit long for a small plant like this but i cant stand the taste of ferts in my smoke.... i am smoking weed for 12 years and i definetely want a good smoke!After the 10 days flushing, i will stop watering for a week and then its harvest time!

I feel like saying some more things about growing...not about the way we grow,but the way we feel about it!When i started reading about growing weed,i felt awesome...i thought it would be something difficult that needs balls to do it!Well it needs balls to grow in a country which mj is illegal,but growing isnt that hard!So when i germinated my first seed i was like having done the greatest thing in the world!And to me that was true.Thats because all that years i kept paying and smoking weed that was like shit!And when i finally studied and understood all about it,i realized that for 12 years i ve been smoking weed that other people through in the garbage!That was very disapointing!!!Then i went to Amsterdam and saw what was all about!I saw what the real weed was like!!And of course i decided to grow my weed!So after some time taking care of my SR my feelings where completely different!I felt like having a baby that needs care.And as the days were passing i was feeling more like a dad than a grower!I realized that i definetely love marijuana!I also watched the movie "The Emperor of Hemp" which is the life and project of Jack Herrer....i felt incredibly sad because i learned about him and his life only a few days after his death!But i also felt really happy for this man!He gave a great fight for his beliefs and he did a great job!Many many people learned from him...i am one of them!!I believe its an honor for everyone that met him!!!People like him CAN save the planet!!
So after seeing things the way trully are,i feel lucky knowing all that about mj but unlucky about living in a country that mj is not only illegal but awfully reprehensible!Unfortunatelly most of the world is like that but one day things will change...i believe that!
Almost 2 weeks before harvesting i feel only one thing about growing marijuana!!!
PRIDE PRIDE PRIDE

 

[Marlo]

Hi ppl,

Its been a while since my last update and things have changed a bit!
The SR is doing great.I stopped watering on sunday and i will harvest on saturday(3/7/10).The calyx are huge and FULL FULL FULL of sticky trichomes!The smell is strong,sweet and skunky.I dont expect much from it...if i get 15g,it will be great,considering that i lost almost a month with the leds!
Beside the SR,there are 6 new fem babies.1xBlue Mystic,1xJock Horror,2xNorthern Lights and 2xBubblelicious(from Nirvana).All plants except JockHorror,are 2 weeks old.Jock is 1 week old!I have them on 5L pots with BioBizz Allmix soil and yesterday i started feeding with BioBizz FishMix,expept Jock of course which will start eating next week!The lights are set to 18/6 and the total is 480watt output power,while they consume about 100watts!



Any comments would be helpfull!!

 

[DSB65]

I grew sr last year and they seem a little fuller than yours.but they look good .i got 4 and a half oz off 5 plants..are your other plants autos to here some pics of my sr .happy growing

 

[Marlo]

Nice grow DSB65!Yours are a lot fuller than mine.Thats because i started with leds that didnt work as they should....so i lost a month with leds and then i changed to cfls.That costed me on the growth of plant!She didnt grew as big as it could!Thats why i dont expect more than 15g!The other 6 are all autos!I expect more from them!We 'll see!

 

[greenr]

congrats...except for the leds...

 

[Marlo]

congrats...except for the leds...

Thanks man!The leds were just an experiment...i thought it could work...it seems they didnt but i am happy cause i knew it early and rescued the poor plant!Of course i could have had better results with cfls from the beggining,but its ok!First time is always a lesson! The new babies will have a much better living!

Here's a morning picture of lady SR!



Does anyone have any experience with the new Nirvana Autos?Any advice would be helpfull!

 

[Marlo]

I visited my box a while ago and to my surprise the SR leafs had turned yellow...not all of them and not completely yellow but it was obvious that the plant was asking for water!That was the harvesting call...!!!And so i did!I trimmed it,chopped it and hanged it in a dark closet.It will stay there for about 5 days and then will be cured in a glass jar!It seems that the goal of 15g,is already gone...i think 10g would be ok...it may be less!Anyway,it doesnt matter...the only thing that matters is the fact that i got started and grew my first weed,which i believe will be stoney as hell...!!With so many sticky trichs and so strong aroma,it cant be nothing but stoney!

Heres a pic of the lady(sorry for the bad pic...light diseffisiency and mobile cam isnt good combination!)