Royal Diesel Automatic

[fanofpanic]

Hello all! I've returned after a little hiatus and I have started a new grow with some seeds from Royal Queen, which have been pretty good to me so far! The soil is as always Bio Bizz Light Mix and I'm still hanging on to my 200W CFL Agro light...I figured I might as well keep on using the light as long as it's not burnt out... The plants now are about three weeks old from sprout and have been fed once lightly with BioBizz Grow at a 1/4 of the suggested strength. It seems that the plants, while being the same age, might be two different phenos cause the structures of plants are quite different. The pot size might also come into play here but I'm not sure. Here is a pic of the two side by side:

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The shorter more compact one is in the orange pot, which is also shallower. However, the leaves are much bigger and the nodes tighter than the one in the white pot. here's some more detailed pics of the plant:

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and here's the stretchier, smaller one...

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The light's about 6 inches from the stretchier plant and 8 from the smaller more compact plant...it just seems that the orange potted one wants to expand more horizontally than the white one...could that be a pheno thing?

I'll keep you updated as time goes on...let me know what you think!

 

[tekdc911]

smaller pots usually make them mature faster
could be a pheno thing

 

[tekdc911]

this set is going to have some size to it

 

[fanofpanic]

I agree about the pheno thing...I checked in on them this morning and they are both starting to shoot upwards and are getting skunkier by the minute. I'm expecting them to go into flower pretty soon!

 

[tekdc911]

first harvest that was
100% under the new 400w hps + the ufo's i had
this was the main cola afghan kush ryder
sorry the pic is so big i was lazy and cut and paste it >.<

 

[fanofpanic]

I can only hope these girls turn out like that! Anything's better than how my little Dwarf came out in July!

 

[fanofpanic]

Got home from work and checked on the girls and look what I found on stumpy (the smaller one in the orange pot):


It looks like stretchy (the white pot) is also getting in on the action as well (even though it's not as evident)!:



I hope tek is right about the size of these girls...my last grow wasn't exactly 5 star!!!

 

[brotes grandes]

Looking good mate. Looks like those ladies will be very nice indeed and the more I look into RQ autos genetics the more im surprised and impressed. Their fb site has some of their autos on it and they are monsters. Good luck.

 

[fanofpanic]

Thank you my friend! My first RQ Auto was a dwarf, which, due to my inexperience, was true to its name! I got maybe a 1/4 out of it total which wasn't bad considering how it started off. I learned a lot through that grow and tried a Dinafem which for some reason died on me as a young sprout (i think it was the soil) and then thought i'd give RQ a shot again with one of their newer Auto strains. I've also heard Sensi Autos are pretty good though I've only grown Sensi Photos (White ICE) which were pretty good. I'm hoping that these'll turn out nicely! If they do, I think I'll be a fan of RQ from now on!

 

[tekdc911]

i have a couple RQ's going this round too royal cheese x 3 and Northern lights x 2
im really liking the kc45's so far if they auto im going to keep it going and use it as something to build off of
it smells like juicy fruit / skunk the right red container is one, im hoping this beast is a male
this is the oldest northern light they are crazy bushy atleast this one is
im all around impressed in the seedling stage with RQ there just a bit picky and were screaming for calmag at around 2 weeks the cheese was any way

 

[tekdc911]

how many hours you logged on your CFL ?

 

[fanofpanic]

let's see...the first grow was about 70 days x 18 hours a day which would be 1260 hours and this grow is at about 25 days x 18 hours a day which would be 450 hours so we're at about 1710 hours probably more because my memory on when I started is vague...are you thinking I'm about due for a new bulb? The bulb is rated for 10000 hours !!! But you know if you think otherwise ...I could just buy a transformer, hook it up to the hood which I have and then install a HPS bulb...(which is what I wanted but the wife wants me to save $$$ and use what I have for right now).

 

[tekdc911]

im not experience with that exact bulb but with the 68w's i used for years it was a noticeable difference when i put just 1 brand new one in with the 4 month old ones i had all the plants pointed towards that one bulb
those were GE 68w 2700k after figuring that out i started replacing bulbs at 20 bucks a pop after about $100 worth of bulbs i realized that every 4 months i could buy a hps cool tube instead
they have a really fast lumen drop after a few months they work just lose the kick

 

[tekdc911]

i got my digital 400w cooltube and all for like 120 bucks free shipping brand new ebay special

 

[fanofpanic]

you've convinced me as have hundreds of other rollitup members...unfortunately, there's one person who I've yet to convince...the decision maker!!!

Regarding the bulb, it's a monster cfl, not the type you'd put in a household socket.I use it as if you would a hps or so. I don't have multiple cfls running. The website for the light is:
http://www.phytolite.com/CFL.html

It cost about $50 and seems to be doing fine for now...I agree about the slow energy and brightness loss that occurs with the bulbs but I would have to spend at least $50-70 on a transformer and then another $75-100 on an Hps and Mh bulb. Plus with this cfl, I don't have to worry about heat issues like I would with the hps but probably a cool tube would be the same. I only run 2 or 3 plants at a time, just for hobby and personal, but I would love to see firsthand the difference in bud density with a hps vs a cfl...as usual, you're making me think twice...which is a good thing!

Let me know your opinion on the bulb if you get the chance!

 

[tekdc911]

i know your opinion on 18/6 lighting
but have you tried running 24/0 ?
its hard to do it at first after growing photo's
but i wouldnt steer you wrong bud

 

[tekdc911]

if anything i would find a way to add led's
maybe a floodlight or something like WW 30w or something

have you seen the small induction lights ?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/80W-Rectangular-Tubular-Induction-Light-Bulb-Ballast-Included-5000K-DW-Frosted-/120985284781?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c2b48f0ad
they are competing with hps
they put out alot more light then you would think and last aslong as led's pretty much

they have very little lumen drop over time

 

[fanofpanic]

not tried it yet...so that might/would make me a hypocrite! I just think that no plant on the earth is subjected to 24 hours of light and I can't see how it would help...but, i tell you what, I am always open to new ideas and i still have one diesel auto seed left and once these beauties that I have going now have finished, i'll try 24/0 with that last seed...and we'll see how it goes...obviously, I'll use my cfl set-up, so that i can compare at least somewhat the results. So, maybe mid -november, early december I'll start the experiment (which i will refer to as "tek's idea") . I wanted to start a couple of photos during the winter but I think if i have to wait until feb to start it's no big deal...plus the 24/0 might just max out my cfl and give me finally a valid excuse to change to hps and mh!!!

 

[fanofpanic]

can that light work just plugged into the socket or would I need a transformer? Do you know how much heat it generates? it's an idea...

 

[tekdc911]

i dont know how much it helps but i know it does
all the guys pulling real weight from them are running 24/0 that i have seen