First Grow / AG Grow / Transplant to Soil

I've been creeping on this site for a week or two and am finally ready for my first grow. First off, I'd like to say thanks for having such a great community and site.

Well, the plan is to start multiple strains in two AG Pro 200s and then transplant to soil in a larger grow room. Probally will do a full grow in the AG as well just to compare results.

I'll be using Fox Farm Hydro nutrients and General Hydroponics pH Up and Down. I have a 30 gallon pump hooked up to two 10'' airstone (one in each AG). As you can tell from the pictures, I just have the AGs on a coffee table with PVC constructed to hold of a piece of 10x10 Panda Film over everything. The PVC is also holding up a 5k lumens light in the middle. I have two CFLs (1600 lumens each) on the outsides of the AGs.

Here are the seeds I have, ordered from www.marijuana-seeds.nl/:
-Lowryder 2 (regular)
-White Widow Max (Feminizied)
-AK-47 (Feminizied)
-Green Spirt (Feminizied)

Here are a couple pics of my setup:



I have a few questions I can hopefully get answered here, along with any comments or suggestions!

Do I need to worry about the Panda Film (5.5 mil) going up in flames? Is it flammable?

How long should I grow in AG before transplanting (I know it will vary due to strain, just looking for an estimate)? Any special trick to transplant from AG to soil?

Thanks in adavnce...

-Nas

I wouldn't worry about fires, CFLs don't get very hot. Even if it fell on it maybe it would melt a little. As for moving to soil, watch the roots, once they get growing nice they can grow together and it will be hard to separate for transplant. I bet the lowryder 2s will do nice all the way to finish in the AG, possibly better than soil. I only transplanted to soil once and the roots were barely touching the water. I just took the plug out of the plastic holder and stuck it right in the soil and buried it a little to compensate for the stretch. It was a runt and took lots of abuse before it showed sex. It was male. Nice setup and good luck with the grow.

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I am debating how to germ my LowRyder 2 seeds ...

So, here I am posting to get some feedback.

Possible solutions:
-Dropping them in cup water and letting them germ that way.
-Putting seed direcly into AG (grow sponge (rounded part seed end up)) and letting them germ / grow.
-Putting seeds on heating pad and germing.

Advantages or disadvantages? Personal experiences?

I also heard when they germ, you want to pell off some film on the seed before you plant?

Thanks for the replies hempstead and SICC!

I would just do the paper towel and heating pad, that should work the best in my opinion

I germed the Low Ryder 2 seeds in a little garden container on a heating pad with a towel covering it (prevent light), this took one day. I took four of them and put two in each AG.

With a screwdriver, I made a deeper hole in the AG sponge and attempted to put the seeds in root down with tweezers.

First attempt - the root fell off when I was pushing the seed down!! Will it still grow?!?


Second attempt - It seemed to go in fine, but it's hard to tell if it stayed upright...


Third attempt - I put this in very carefully and the seed cracked (with pressure I put on it)! I know it already cracked, but just didn't sound good when it happen.


I didn't take a pic of the fourth one, it just started to crack and I couldn't see any white. I put it in similar to the others.

I hope all goes well and I didn't fuck it up already.

I have the pH between 5-6 in each AG. Over the span of 4-6 days, the pH went up 1.5 or so. Will need to keep an eye on it every couple of days. What makes it increase?

They've been in the AG with the pump turned on (all lights turned off) for one day. How long should I keep them in the dark with pump on?

I would just start the veg cycle, 18/6, with the AG pump going until they form roots and they hit the water. for the seedlings, i have seen the head get cut off of a seedling, and it still grew, so the one that broke should be ok, only time will tell.
And yes make sure to keep the pH in line, pH is the key when growing in hydro

Alright, it's about time I update this thread. All is going well as far as I can tell.

I have six Low Ryder 2 seeds going. Two each per AG and two in soil. They are running on 18/6 with external timers. They've been ALIVE for 10 days.

Plant 1:


Plant 2:


Plant 3:


Plant 4:


Plant 5 & 6:


Temp & Humidity:


Temp inside AG:


pH right from water well:


pH after adding pH Down:


I changed out the week old water in each AG. I currently have the AG lights on along with the middle one. I thought the lights on the side are overkill right now. What do you think? I haven't put any nutes in yet. When should I start feeding them?


I appreciate any comments or suggestions!

i would start feeding them nuts around the 3 week mark, and as for the lights the more lum's the better. i would also try and get your lights a lil closers to yourseedlings so they dont strech on ya!

lookin good man, i pretty sure auto's need the 20-4 cycle since they sex on their own

SICC - Good thing you brought that up, I would of kept them on 18/6 and then moved to 12/12...

Here's the description from their site:
The amazing Lowryder 2 is ready in 9 weeks from seed.
A short, bushy, very early flowering plant with prolific budding.
Lowryder 2 is an automatic flowering plant and can be grown indoors or out. Excellent for sea of green and commercial applications.

http://www.marijuana-seeds.nl/lowryder_2_seeds.html

So, do you think I should switch them over to 20/4 now and keep it that way until the end? Should all auto flowering plants be on 20/4?

Thanks for the suggestion Da420Monkey.

I will turn on the CFLs located on the side of the AGs. I will also lower the AG all the way down.

Yeah man from what i have read, and seen you just keep them on 20-4 the whole time, since they show sex on their own

I changed the light cycle to 20/4 and will leave it that way until harvest time! I also moved everything closer together, to avoid stretching.

Here are a couple pictures (cell phone) from today. All of them are Low Ryder 2 plants.


Plant 1:


Plant 2:


Plant 3:


Plant 4:


Temp and Humidity:


The water temp inside the AG is right around 80 degrees. The pH level was maybe 6.5 when I checked today. I lowered the pH to 5.5-6. I really need a digital pH meter...

How are they looking (comparing them from two days ago)? Any idea why plant 2 is really light green torwards the middle, is this normal?

I'm on 1.5 weeks, when should I start to feed them (Fox Farm)? Week 3?

I ordered two 120mm computer fans that I am going to get hooked up. Has anyone Macgyvered pc fans into an AG? I may just mount them on the PVC pipe.

The yellowing is due to the pH, you need to make sure it stays under 6, once you ass nutes the pH should stabilize, you can start at the 2 week mark if you want, whenever you do, just start at 1/4 strength and slowly work your way up week to week.

You can punch out the AG signs, and hang your extra CFL's thru there, i did that when i was going the AG

the front two i hung thru there, then the other 4 i had hanging freely on their own

Looking good man. Good luck
Ive got a question though. Could moving a plant from the AG to soil be somewhat stressful and maybe produce hermies or are you doing it after the sexing (can females go to hermies even after showing flowering?)

Nice setup SICC.

Is that a recent picture? What do you have growing right now?

MeditateWithJah said:

Could moving a plant from the AG to soil be somewhat stressful and maybe produce hermies or are you doing it after the sexing (can females go to hermies even after showing flowering?)

Click to expand...

That's a good question. I am not moving these to soil, just going to stick with the AGs this time around.

If anyone can chime in on this, I'd like to know as well.

Nasbale said:

Nice setup SICC.

Is that a recent picture? What do you have growing right now?

Click to expand...

no that was from over a year ago

this is my current grow

https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/289369-3-strain-party-cup-grow.html

Well, all appears to be going well. I am going to start feeding them this upcoming Sunday (when I change the water out). The temp got really high, not sure how it got to 97 degrees! I moved the fan in hopes of keeping everything a bit cooler.

Plant one's roots haven't reached the res yet, so I am just going to leave the pumps on until Sunday. Hopefully that one will catch up!

Plant 1:


Plant 2:


Plant 3:


Plant 4:


Temp and Humidity:


Temp inside AG: