Diesel Ryder 1st Indoor Grow

Whats up world! This is my forum journal of my very first grow, Joint Doctor's Auto Diesel Ryder! I didn't want the feminized seeds in hopes that I would get a male out of the bunch with which to experiment later in pollenization, as I read numerous places that cloning Autos is somewhat impractical (they just grow too damn fast)... First thing's first, here's the setup, I'm curious as to how some of you pros feel about it:

Mylar grow cab, 22"x36"x62"
400w MH/HPS balast with both bulbs, 6" fan cooled
FFOF soil and nutes
3 gallon grow bags
LowRyder Diesel Ryder reg seeds (starting with 4 good plants)

I've got other seeds I want to try later on for variety (NL Auto, Critical Jack and Black Russian Photo), but let's get the Diesel good and growing before I fill the forum with all my grow adventures. It should also be noted that my entire setup cost me less than $300 from good online shopping, which I hope is encouraging to anyone who wants to start a grow on limited budget (beware the "all in one" kits, they may be convenient but a little time on eBay will get you all the pieces WAY cheaper individually). Here's a pic of the initial setup before i potted my seedlings, then we'll get to the meat and potatoes of it all. I'll need a seperate post to talk about my germ story lol. Hoping for some good feedback and advice guys, this is a journey i'm uber-excited to undertake. Thanks and comment/sub freely!!!


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Okay so here's the good stuff, my first germed DR beans ... A little bit about my method, I actually did a little bit of an experiment since there are so many different ways to get those seeds to pop open and grow, and I wanted to find the best way that works for me. Basically I chose six seeds, three of which I used the paper towel method on. Two seeds I placed directly into soil, and one I placed into a peat pellet greenhouse (just to prove/disprove rumors that cannibis doesn't start well in peat). All six were soaked in a shot glass of distilled water for 48-72 hours prior to placing into grow medium and all had shown the first white tap root. The results? The two placed in soil popped open about 2 days sooner than paper towel method, and the the peat seed, although it finally did pop and show a tap root, didn't take to the transplant to soil at all. IMO the peat is just not the right consistency medium for the roots to thrive, and hard as she tried she just didn't make it. Of the paper towel seeds only one took to the transplant, I think mostly due to temperature shock (it's winter here and my house is generally cool at night, which they may not have liked so much in the damp paper towel). In any case I know now that for my particular setup and environment, it's best to just soak the beans and stick them in the dirt in my cab. To me that seems the most natural anyway, and eliminates the risk of transplant shock. What I ended up with are three spouts about a day or two apart in growth, all of which are in the first week of veg. I've got another DR seed soaking now and in two days I'll place it in my last grow bag (remember I only wanted 4 to start with, although my cab will easily fit 8-10 3-gallon bags...

So now that I've got them growing, the floor is open to all the tips and tricks the grow community has to offer. I've done TONS of reading and research, and although this is my first cannibis grow, I'm not unfamiliar with the basics of good horticulture. My current regimen is a 24 hour MH light cycle pumping out about 40,000 lumen, set at a height about 2 feet from the seedlings. The fan I have is awesome and I could probably put the light closer, but it's too soon to tell which distance is best to avoid excessive reaching. I should know for sure in another couple of days. Temp and humidity aren't an issue as of yet, although I do need to invest in a proper temp/humidity moniter. For the time being I'm using the tried and true "feel" method, and the babies don't seem to mind much, so I have a little time to acquire more gadgets to keep my grow controlled and precise. As far as the light, I know many people say you can use HPS for the entire grow with Auto strains, and just as many people swear by a 20/4 light cycle, but my thinking is to run the MH for the first two weeks for 24 hours to get some good chlorophyl (sp?) production going on and then switch to the 20/4 HPS cycle closer to flower time. Any thought on this choice?

Another note, I don't plan to use any nutes until the light cycle switch; I want to see how light and nutes affect bud production, so there will be more on that down the line. I'm still open to suggestions on the matter, and if anyone has found extreme success I'd love to here your routine so as to incorporate good practices into my grow style...

Okay enough talk as I know i get long winded, now time for the pics! You can see which of my babies popped first, she (I'm hoping it's a "she") is already growing a strong stem and forming it's second set of serrated leaves since the cots opened up. Number two is just now showing it's second set of real leaves, and number three just opened it's cots this morning, I can see the true leaves forming between them (sorry no pic on that one, I'll add later). Comment/sub and enjoy!!!

Nice set up man, I'll be following your progress

Okay so I gave the kids a week getting into what routine they responded the most to, and just like any newborns it's been exciting and stressful at the same damn time lol. First of all DR's like the 20/4 cycle way better than straight 24, they need that rest and it DOES make a difference in growth over a day. Next dark period I'll be switching from MH to HPS, now that I've gotten the hang of controlling the temps. There's enough mylar in my setup where I can keep the lights pretty high and close to the fan and not lose lumen, and I periodically let fresh air in throughout the day/night. I will say if you use FFOF mix it 3:1 with a good aerated perlite, it tends to get packed after watering and the roots need that air. Chalk it up to a newbie error but this I'm sure they'll be fine. They say FFOF is a little hot for seedlings and I think I agree, the next sprouts I'll pick up some Light Warrior and work on a germ/seedling mix. But I digress...

DR#1 is already looking very nice, strong stem and good symmetry, about 1" and stretching new leaves everyday. She's just eating up light and is getting good water so grow baby grow. #2 is starting to stretch those first true leaves and working on more, so that bit of intial shock shouldn't be and issue. #3 is the special case, and I'm just gonna have to let it grow and hope for the best. This one seems to have had issues from the start, and it caused me to do a whole lotta damn research on what was going on, as the first leaves came out sort of shriveled and/or mishapen. I have no clue why. This had me double and triple checking everything from heat stress to nute toxicity, did all the pH tests and took samples, and everything checks out okay. It's just how this plant is, because it's still growing. And then I was clumsy one watering and left a drop on one of her cots and it left a light mark, but it's kinda cute, like a tattoo. I ran across a couple of other threads and mutation doesn't to be toooo uncommon, a couple guys say it ended up being some of the most awesome smoke, so bring peace and prosper young bud...

I'm only having to water every 3-4 days, still don't need major nutes (although I did sneak about a half teaspoon of rooting hormone to a gallon of my next water for Sunday). pH is a steady 7 and it stays about 78F. Thinking this week about adding some CO2 to the tent, you know I love the DIY stuff lol...

BTW about to germ a couple more to fill this space out. Since the light cycle stays the same throughout the grow why waste the light, right? Should see those in about a week.

Here's to date pics, sorry it's doesn't like to let me order them properly. I gotta be honest, that crazy looking one is freaky lol. Someone snuck and alien bean in my batch

looking good man, i am a first time grower too, using the same strain.

What's the latest dude?