South Florida White Rhino

MikeyFTL

Member
I'm growing 4 nirvana white rhino clones outdoor this summer because my attic is far too hot this year. They are gorwing in a mix of fox farm and miracle grow potting soil. I currently feed them once every two weeks (1200ppm GH FloraNova Grow) and as you can see they get plenty of direct and indirect sunlight.

While they seem to be growing steadily and look happy, I'm concerned that after one month they look kind of spindly for white rhinos. Most pictures I see of the strain are full and bushy. Mine don't seem to be filling in much at all. They're kind of barren.

I don't think it's the summer heat that's bothering them because I've never seen their leaves curl for any reason. So I'm going to assume it's nutes. Is there something I could add to their feeding that may fill them out? Or should I just cut some clones and start again with a different nute? I would like to see these 4 produce something, otherwise I'm about to give up. Every plant I've ever grown seems to look like this regardless of the strain. One grower suggested worm castings. Any other suggestions?

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I'm no expert but they are stretching, I'm guessing it's due to not enough direct sunlight... are you sure they are getting at least 6 hours? Also how often do you water them?
 

ZeeeDoc

Well-Known Member
No expert either, but im a great believer in the environment/set up plays a massive part in determining how the phenotype turns out. You say it happens to every strain regardless so im guessing the basics aint right somewhere along the line.
Personally
I start seedlings under a blue 125 watt envirolight for a couple of weeks with a fan blowin over em gently before putting outside. This way by time they get outside there already established, they can sit 3cms away from the envirolight which helps prevent stretching really early on and cuz the fans blowing on em its strengthening the stems.. ANd no heat probs. And Enviro s are dirt cheap.
I have grown white Rhino a couple of times and overall it was a 50 50 sativa indica mix. The Sativa Pheno's wasnt a patch on the indica dom.
I would of also topped the ladys by now helps preventing early on stretch as well.
They look like pretty big pots aswell, maybe using a little pot to start with , get a good rootball going then transplant.... dunno
Goodluck
 

MikeyFTL

Member
I cloned them under CFL's in a dome to the point where their roots started bursting out of the rockwool cubes. They were nice and healthy before transplanting. I had planted them originally in smaller pots but they quickly outgrew them. My experiences with topping led me to believe they would grow much taller, which is what I wanted to avoid...so I never topped them.

So the big question is...should I start over and top them this time or will these girls go on to produce when the time comes? I usually have a 100% success rate with cloning so it's not a big deal to start from scratch.
 

ZeeeDoc

Well-Known Member
I dont think they are going to yield that much, not unless you were gonna whack em in the ground and let them do there thing.

Ive grown some Afghan 1 frm sensi that was suppose to be short and squat etc but they look exactly like yours. And I think what made mine stretch was we had a mini heatwave so my temp s in the grow room were off the scale and before i knew it I had lanky girls. Altho before the heat wave they were proper short and close internode spacing.


Re topping, Ive fimmed and topped and had great results from both. I always top no matter what, it forces the side branching to come on more and stops vertical growth for a week or two. So by time the very tops started growing again and at agood rate all the side branches have pretty much catching up making a more uniform growth.

Would I start again? Yeah i probably would. If you can whack em in the ground then id probably carry on.

Thing is with White Rhino is Sativa INdica mix. Ive grown about 25 rhinos and 12ish were all short and stocky and 12 were taller and bigger gaps between the nodes.

Can i ask when you put them outside for the first time etc was it sunny cloudy in the shade?
 

MikeyFTL

Member
First few days they were getting alot of direct sunlight (see pics for the kind of sun they get) and the weather was pretty hot. Then it started to rain alot. Its been raining almost everyday now and they're getting taller. My friend keeps nagging me for more rhino clones, so I think I'm going to cut the tops and some side branches and start again. Planting them in the ground is not an option.
 

Vindicated

Well-Known Member
I've grown about ten Nirvana's White Rhino plants from seed outdoors. I started them all indoors under a 125watt CFL for a month with a 18/6 light schedule , then spent three days hardening them off. When I first put them outside they stretched a little, but they didn't come out like yours. To me they look like they didn't get enough light during veg. You may also want to see if you can cut back on nitrogen.
 

Vindicated

Well-Known Member
You might want to double check on what kind of nitrogen your feeding them. I heard somewhere that ammoniacal nitrogen causes stretching.
 

greenjoe

Well-Known Member
hey..i am not doing white rhino i am doing chemo, and i have the same situation .....They are in the sun for a minimum of 9 hrs......i think it will take off soon.......they are both the exact everything...except the thin one will not tolerate any feedings at all...starts to burn the leaf tips....and all my other ones i feed twice a week with MG 25-5-16... i hope she smokes good
 

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MikeyFTL

Member
Unfortunately my attic setup is far too hot this time of year, so I attempted my first ourdoor grow. I don't generally have this problem with my hydro buckets, but then I didn't really have too much success with them either. I'm wondering if FloraNova is the way to go with these. I don't really keep tabs on their nitrogen, potash etc. All I give them is FloraNova Grow (1200ppm). Ammoniacal nitrogen is 0.9% so I don't think FloraNova is the cause...unless theres excessive nitrogen in my fox farm/miracle grow potting soil mix. I've also been giving them Superthrive in the hopes of beefing them up a bit, but it doesn't seem to have the effect I'm looking for. They certainly don't show any signs of stress. They're green and happy. I hate to kill healthy plants for stupid reasons...bad karma. But what's the point of continuing without yield.
 

ZeeeDoc

Well-Known Member
Id hazard a guess at that part when you mentioned it rained a lot. If the ladys were getting direct sun and they have been under the fluro's for a few weeks right underneath that light, then it goes and rains a lot, im thinking cuz the ladys are use to the intensity of the sun and fluro's thats why they have stretched as when its raining im assuming shitty dark clouds. So ya ladys must of thought Fck this wheres the light gone and just shot up wards. Ladys look healthy so I dont think its a N prob.
 

ZeeeDoc

Well-Known Member
But as you say there is no point carrying on if gonna be a shit yield. For me Id start again dude! I had some afghani s that stretched big time and looking back now, i should of just cut my loss's and start again. But i carried it on as ya do and well dissapointed with the yield. If i were you I go to headsite.com and order some fem The Church from greenhouse. £15 squid for 5. Cheap but fookin hell ive grown some beasts but these are the beast of beasts. And pretty consistent with pheno's. Grown the church indoors and outdoors and i have to say one of my favorites.
 

ZeeeDoc

Well-Known Member
even tho greenhouse are more commerical now, White Rhino was my biggest plant ever, 8 o's off the one under a 600w. proper dense nuggs, super stinky and stupidly crystaly.
 

MikeyFTL

Member
Yeah, when I rooted the cuttings they got light 24/7 under the dome for a week. We now have a storm system floating around and the rain just keeps coming. Very little sun in the past few weeks. Looks like bad timing on my part. I'm going to start again and maybe concentrate on topping them this time. Thanks for all the input.
 
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