First grow, Easy Riders in a DIY tent 400W light

After reading all those journals for the past couple of months, I got inspired and decided to start my own grow. For this grow, I'm going to follow the same advice I give to my students; don't rush things. Hence I decided to start with Easy Riders from amsterdamseedbank. 25 euro for 10 seeds, can't go that wrong there

Thing is that I like also to build stuff, so I made my own tent instead of buying one from the commerce. Dimensions are 1mX1mX1.9m and the cost was in the area of 40 to 50 euros (don't remember how much the skeleton cost me). It's covered with black & white sheet and most of the inside with Mylar.

The seeds were put to germinate in cotton yesterday and they already cracked. Tomorrow I'll plant them in transparent party cups that will be covered with black sheet to avoid light getting in the roots.

For lighting, I plan on using CFLs for the first week, then put em under a 400W MH for another one, and on the 3rd week I'll switch to an HPS lamp. The lighting schedule from start to finish will be 18/6 as Easy Riders are an auto strain and at least from the information I've gathered here that's the most efficient schedule.

For the time being, I'm going to use only 5 of the 10 seeds, once I separate the males from this batch I'll put the rest ones in as well. My water comes from 110 meters underground without any chemicals that you'll find in regular tap water. The ppm is at 204 and its ph at 7.2 (should I use a ph down solution or just some lemon juice?)

The soil is from a local brand with added perlite and agrosil. Looks quite good and was recommended for tomato grows.

The tent has no ventilation right now, as for the next couple of weeks I'm quite skinned, but the way I understood it there won't be any smell during that period.

Comes without saying that any advice is welcome. Obviously not many pictures to share at the moment, just a few from the tent.

The seeds have all cracked so into cups they went. The soil was flushed yesterday and today 1/2 hour before planting with 6.2 ph water. After placing the seeds I've sprayed the surface.

The cups are covered in aluminum foil (dull side out) as I've read that the roots must be protected from light. Two 23W CFLs on them at the moment.

One of the seeds started coming out. I've put on the MH along with the 2 CFLs and the temperature started going wild. With the light on it's at 35.4 C (95.7 F), humidity at 33%. Definitely one of the problems is that it's quite hot where I live and will remain so for at least a month. For the time being, as there's no money (and won't be any for another week or so) to install some ventilation, I've let the tent door open, opened up the window in the room too, and put one of the fans outside to throw some fresh air into the tent. I've put some water into the cups too (12 oz cups) as it seemed quite dry.

Does anyone think the temperature is going to be a problem at this stage? Apart from the fan I've put outside (about 6in) there's another small one inside of the same size, clipped on the skeleton.

If they start to hit the late 80's and 90's then temp can start to be a factor on them, but mostly just on growth you might get a little stunt if it's really high. If it's over 95 you probably won't get any growth but they probably won't die.

Day's gone over here, second plant showed up as well, will post some pictures tomorrow. For the time being I kinda handled the temperature, left the tent door open, put a big fan just outside it and opened the room window as well. Stabilized it at around 33C (around 90F). I hope it'll be ok for the next few days till I sort out my gear (or till the weather gets a change of heart, tho it'll be a hot September from the looks of it).

But I'm getting some money during the first week of the month, will try to invest them properly

Temperature today with the lights on seems quite stable at 32 C (around 87F). Not bad taking into account that the ambient temperature is at about 29-30. I guess the easy solution would be to put an AC running, but due to the fact that I hate ACs (the air they produce is horrible, also imo bad for my health) there isn't one. Humidity is quite low, below 30% so not showing on the hydrometre. From what I've read that's not bad at this point, right?


First photo is a group shot, 2 have sprouted, the other 3 hopefully will come up in the next couple of days. Second photo is a close up of the two that came up, and looking at the one on the right kinda worries me, has that brown spot on it's top and hasn't started showing leaves like the other one that sprouted yesterday. The MH light is at the top of the tent, but could it be like this due to the high temperatures yesterday? Should I worry?
Peace

5th day after germination.

80% success from germination to sprouting, i.e. 4/5 came out. What I thought was a problem on the one I mentioned above, was nothing more than the inner shell of the seed that was still attached to the new leaves. I had no idea that there was an inner shell! Yesterday I've put two more seeds to germinate (they have already cracked) so tonight close to lights out I'll transfer them to cups and put em together with the rest. Here's how things look like at the moment.



PS. The photos are from a video camera. I'll have to buy a proper one at some point...

6th day after germination, 1st day for two of them Four plants are going OK. I didn't like giving them names so I gave em numbers. No 1 is the one in the bottom middle, then start going clockwise. Nos 2 and 3 are doing fine, 2 has a long stem unlike 3 but not long enough to warrant any trouble. Nos 1 and 4 are a bit behind as it took em some time to get rid of the shell. Nos 5 and 6 were planted yesterday, same strain, same order just a week behind the rest. Also I didn't put any foil around their cups to see if something is going to happen or not.

Once again a bad pic At some point I'll have to buy/borrow/steal a proper one as the grow progresses.

p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; } Long time that I haven't written anything. That's cause I couldn't pay the internet bills but hey, I'm starting work next week so I've taken care of things.


So, what happened in the past 40 days. Well, all and all now I have 6 plants. 4 of them are the ones that were germinated on the 24th of August. The fifth one was germinated on the 30th while the sixth one sometime during the first week of September, at around the 7th but I failed to note down the date.


Sometime in the middle of September I was attacked by caterpillars! Bastards started munching on my leaves, almost lost a plant till I fought em. I used an organic product that smells like shit but worked after a couple of days and haven't had any problem with them ever since.


Then I realised that the soil I used when I transplanted them was already fertilised, which led to some droopy leaves when I tried to give them something extra. I mean, at the moment I just use ph adjusted water and the ppm I get at the dripped water is over 600. So I decided to keep it like this, not to use anything on top, just water.


Another thing was that they wouldn't get into flowering. The HPS went on during the third week of September but still nothing. I suppose that was probably due to the high temperatures I had at the start that maybe impeded their growth. So a week ago I switched to 12/12 for a couple of days and then brought em back to 18/6. That seems to have worked, as at the moment I got 3 girls and waiting for the other three to show me what they are.


Still no proper camera, but starting from top left, we got plant #5 (female).


Plant #2 (female)


Plant #3 (undefined)


Plant #6 (undefined, too young i guess),


Plant #1 (undefined)



And last but not least, plant #4 (female).




When I transplanted them, all plants bar #2 went into 6.5 litre pots (about 2 gallon). #2 went into a 12 litre one and the difference is shown at their size. So yeah, size matters


You will notice that plant #4 is kinda different from the rest. That's why it was maimed by the damn caterpillars, it took most of the damage.


I topped #6 two days ago just to see how it will go and compare it with the rest.


Some of the leaves on #2 are like a ram's horn but that was caused by the nutrients. The leaves haven't recovered but the new ones are not showing any signs of problem. #1 has some curled tips on some leaves, again nutrient problem, solved but the leaves kept their posture!


That's about it for now

Easy riders might be quite easy to grow, but they definitely take quite some time to flower. Am I doing anything wrong? Dunno really, but we're on day 61 and looks like they have just started to flower.

I'm left with 4 girls, 2 of the undefined ones proven to be boys. One got thrown away, the other one found a home inside the dragon's lair. I should have taken a photo when she was chewing on it


The way it looks and from what I've read in various journals, seems like it's going to take another month at least till It's chopping time
Oh well...
Oh yeah, I do have a new one coming up, part of the free seeds I got (that they didn't tell me what they are) I thought I might as well play with some to see what comes out.

A bit off topic but I just finished building it and wanted to share it. Can't afford a waterfarm at the moment but all those grows I've seen inspired me so I made myself one for more or less 25 euros. Doesn't sound as cheep but take into account that the pump with the air tubbing went for 19




I have a very very small leak at the bottom where the grommet is, but it's only a teardrop now and then so I'm not that fussed about it.


Got a question too. I can't afford an RO filter and can't buy RO water anywhere around here. I got my own water from a drill (I draw from 107 meters down, the bottom 30 are solid rock), it's ph is at 7.2 which I can bring down easily and it's ppm is at 225. Obviously there is no chlorine or anything else, it's totally natural. Is it going to be ok if I use that? What kind of problems should I expect with this water? How should I treat it? Is it going to be a failure?


Ok that was a lot of question but easily put together for answering


Rep will be given of course

Right on!

Things have changed a bit. The Easy Riders went from the tent to my second bathroom and in the tent went the waterfarm-like system with a White Widow that germinated 2 days ago.


The initial plants are doing fine, inside the bathroom I have a 600W HPS going so they'll have more light. There is no Mylar over there, I hope that the white tiles will suffice for the moment. The only thing that kinda worries me, is that I'm on day 70 ffs. They do take their time...







In the tent, things are going OK. I changed the water completely this morning as ph and ppms went quite high after a day in operation (tho I did wash the hydroton quite thoroughly, but nvm), at the moment ph is at 5.9 and pps at 245 (ph down brings up ppms) For this plang I'll eventually start journal but after a few days, want it to grow a bit first.





The other plant that's in the pot on the chair, is one of the free seeds I've put last week. The reason I've put it is cause I want to have a plant to experiment with and that will be it's raison d' etre.
The light is quite high, I don't want to dry the newborn, I'll wait for the first set of leaves to come out of the WW and then lower it.
That's about it for now. All comments are welcome

Your plants are looking really healthy I can't believe you're already at day 70 I'm terribly impatient so I know only being at like day 3 I have a long ways to go haha. subbing for this.

Things are going very very slow. Easy riders my ass. The first and the last time I'm growing them, I'm totally disappointed. Their genetics are fucked up, at least the ones I got. Good thing I didn't pay that much money on the seeds.

What changed? Well, nothing really. I had a case of nute burns in two of my plants, flushed em and waiting to see their reactions. Ah, also changed the lights to 12/12 in order to get some flowering. As it was, only one was flowering while the other three were laying dormant. As I said, fucked up no-good genetics.


Here come the pics.
Group shot



Plant #2. This is the best really. From what I've read and seen it looks more like the AK47 which supposedly is one of the parents of the Easy Rider. It's the only one that's blooming and hopefully will start budding quite soon.




Plant #4. This is also flowering tho at a slower rate than #2



Plant #5. This is taking its time. You can see some of the leaves been nute burned.


Close up on the leaves



I forgot to take a pic of plant #3, it's kinda like #5, also suffering some nute burn. Only got a photo of its leaves.




And this is my other project, I'm thinking about starting a journal for it quite soon. It's been growing a lot, and some roots are already in the bucket.
Blurry pic, only noticed when I was about to upload it



The whole system




It's powered by 2 air pumps. One for the water recirculation and one for the airstone in the bucket.

Blue, I just came across your thread. I am also growing supposedly Easy Rider from Amstadam marjiuana seed co. After 30 days they did not show flower either. Read my thread I started.

You setup looks really nice! Keep up the good work!

I should have mentioned this earlier but it's been quite some time I've chucked away those plants. Horrible genetics, will not recommend them to anyone.

Suffice to say that this grow was a failure, but a school of experience nevertheless