AK47 Auto X LR2 (Easy Ryder) Cabinet Grow

[ital farmer]

-Approx. 4 sq. ft. of cabinet space
-AK47 Auto X Lowryder2 Fem, now called Easy Ryder (from Attitude/Lowryder - been sitting for about one year)
-Starting off with one 40w (2600 lumens) 5000k CFL bulb on each plant with capacity for 12 total bulbs as they grow)
-Germinated seeds started in half solo-cup pseudo hempy cups (1/2 perlite, 1/2 soil)
-20/4 cycle
-mostly using rainwater
-First sprout appeared 16 March
-Other seeds were started later, they sprouted 25 March


Here they are 28 March - the one on the left is 12 days old (from sprouting above soil), the others are 3 days old - no nutes yet

These two photos are a closer look at the oldest plant

 

[ital farmer]

29 March
Added 1/4 strength nutes (hydro style powder dissolved in water, standard "grow" formulation)
I gave the nutes to all three even though two are only 4 days old, they seemed to like the weak mixture
Will probably water with nutes every other watering from now on

I also bought six 40 watt 2600K CFL to start mixing in as they mature

1 April
Transplanted the oldest one (15 days) into actual hempy bucket with 3 perlite to 1 vermiculite mix
The roots were pretty well developed
Trying to keep the hempy moist until those roots hit the reservoir

These are now 7 days old

 

[ital farmer]

I've upped the nutes to half strength and they get it with every watering now. They really seemed to respond well to the nutes.

Today I placed the oldest one under a 2700K bulb. I'm going to leave a combo of 5000K and 2700K bulbs in there to help build branch structure while flowering begins. I may have to rig a new lighting setup since my current system evenly spreads 12 bulbs out over the entire area. If these remain this small, I'll have to jam two or three lights together right over the plant.

Starting to get a little smell too.

Here are all three together

Looking down on the older one

And from the side

Looking down on one of the younger ones

 

[ultimate buds]

man thats a lot of growth for a 2" plant lol that should be mega bushy

 

[ital farmer]

man thats a lot of growth for a 2" plant lol that should be mega bushy

Short and bushy would be just fine with me! Thanks for looking.

 

[ital farmer]

I transplanted the smaller two into their hempy buckets today. Growth seems to be ramping up now and I believe the oldest one is showing sex.

I'm worried about temps getting too high. I have an 80 cfm computer fan pulling air out of the top and the air is moving pretty well, but it's not enough. I'm going to try and insulate the pots/roots so they'll at least stay reasonable. It doesn't help that my cabinet is in the garage which gets crazy hot during the day.

I originally designed my light bar to go over a scrog setup, but this dwarf grow doesn't seem like it's going to need that. Now I have to reconfigure everything so the bulbs are as close to the three plants as possible.

I'll post some more pics in a few days, once they are established in their new pots.

 

[ital farmer]

I'm really impressed with the recent growth. The oldest one is showing preflowers and they're starting to smell a bit. Still worried about high temps, but the plants aren't showing any major signs of distress, knock on wood.

I'm using full strength nutes now. I think the older plant's roots may have reached the reservoir.

Here's all three of the ladies. These are taken just four days after the previous set of photos.

Some individual shots of the oldest one (about 3 weeks old)

Here's one of the younger ones (2 weeks)

Here's a shot from down low showing the light bar and reflector. I swapped out my original reflector for several reasons, one being my temps were getting too high. I'd rather some light sneak out if it means the plants staying a little cooler. I'm currently using a few of the available bulb sockets since the plants are so small. As they grow/start to flower I will add 2700k bulbs into the empty slots.

 

[ital farmer]

The pH of my rainwater seems pretty high (7.5 or so). I'm going to switch over to well water, which is more like 6. I'm doing half and half for a few days for a gradual transition. Plants weren't really showing any signs of distress, but I figured every bit helps when dealing with such relatively small yields of autoflowering dwarfs. I'm going to try and post pics routinely once a week. Temps still worry me but there's not much I can do I guess.

 

[ital farmer]

I'll start with an overview photo of the girls. They're looking pretty good.

I did a bunch of work to try and keep the temps down. My fan seems to be moving enough air, so I tried to increase the circulation within the cabinet.

I cut two large openings in the metal shelf that the light bar hangs from. This shot is looking down from above.

I also cut a bunch of holes in my reflector to increase air flow and to allow the heat to rise up away from the plants. The holes are cut above the ballasts and bases but not the bulbs themselves.

Here's a quick pic of my exhaust hole (the fan is mounted on the outside, hidden inside cardboard boxes that have the back cut out. That's a dryer sheet covering the opening to help with the smell.

That's all for now. I'll post after a few days to say how the temp is doing. If the temps stay real high, I may put a sheet of glass or plexiglass between the bulbs and the plants. Hopefully it won't come to that.

 

[MEANGREEN69]

really nice loking plants man..how old are they? also do you hand feed them from the top?

 

[ital farmer]

really nice loking plants man..how old are they? also do you hand feed them from the top?

Thanks for stopping by. The plant in the middle is 4 1/2 weeks. The other two are 3 weeks. Yes, I hand water them from the top just like it was soil. I also mist them with a spray bottle once or twice a day.

 

[ital farmer]

OK, so my recent efforts to bring the temps down haven't been very fruitful. I think I may try to mount glass or plexiglass between the bulbs and the plants. I think soil would probably insulate the roots better than pure perlite. Oh well.

 

[lowpro88]

Thanks for stopping by. The plant in the middle is 4 1/2 weeks. The other two are 3 weeks. Yes, I hand water them from the top just like it was soil. I also mist them with a spray bottle once or twice a day.

nice grow man im doing somethin with auroflower strains too u should check it. plus rep for ya those plants look good

 

[MEANGREEN69]

Thanks for stopping by. The plant in the middle is 4 1/2 weeks. The other two are 3 weeks. Yes, I hand water them from the top just like it was soil. I also mist them with a spray bottle once or twice a day.

sweet. you got some nice growth from them in that time..next grow is

going to be autos in some rookwhool/coco. now i know they should do

well..

 

[ital farmer]

nice grow man im doing somethin with auroflower strains too u should check it. plus rep for ya those plants look good

Thanks for the rep. I'll be sure to check your autoflower grow out.

sweet. you got some nice growth from them in that time..next grow is

going to be autos in some rookwhool/coco. now i know they should do well..

Thanks. Typical hempy growth; pretty slow at first, but once the roots reach the reservoir they start growing nicely. Good luck with your grow.

 

[GravityWorship]

Hey, your grow is looking very good man.

i've got something similar with easyryders too, can i ask why have you chosen to use so much perlite?

i've always used 25% perlite, but not for any particular reason. does more perlite help?

Keep up the good grow

 

[DankBudds]

^^Ide like to know also. The verm seems to be working awsome. How did you start from seed (straight up verm?). Ill be following this one.. very cool..

 

[ital farmer]

Thanks all for checking in.

I'm using hempy buckets, which are sort of a cross between hydro and soil. There's a 2 inch reservoir at the bottom of the bucket (drainage holes are just drilled a little higher than normal). I water with hydro nutes and the plant's roots absorb the water/fertilizer. Once the reservoir is empty, I water again and it fills back up. Since the plants get their nutrients from the water solution, there is no real need for any soil. This allows greater control over water and nutrients and any problems (ph, nutrient burn, etc.) can be fixed almost immediately.

 

[ital farmer]

^^Ide like to know also. The verm seems to be working awsome. How did you start from seed (straight up verm?). Ill be following this one.. very cool..

I actually started seeds in a more traditional fashion. Soaked in water, germed in paper towels, then planted in mini hempy buckets. The mini buckets were solo party cups cut in half. The drainage holes were cut 1/2 inch or so off the bottom. Pure perlite in the reservoir, then a more traditional mix of soil and perlite in the rest. The biggest problem with hempys is slow growth until the roots reach the reservoir. I figured a soil start would help them begin with a good root base. With most of these autoflowering dwarfs, they say to plant directly into its final container but I didn't really know that until after I started. It seems like they haven't minded too much.

 

[ital farmer]

My temps are still out of control. I guess the computer fan is not enough for my exhaust. I'll be heading to the store for a 4" inline duct fan soon. Hopefully that will help.

In an effort to judge how long it takes for the reservoirs to empty out, I guess I let them dry out a little too much. They're showing some signs of heat distress. I guess my temps are OK if they get enough water, but I'd still feel better if I could get them down.