First grow - Easy Ryders under CFLs in soil

[enonumus]

The Easy Ryders are all between 3-4 weeks from seed and all doing great, some better than others. Scarlett (21 days) is just exploding compared to the others. Measured her today (9/15) and she's 9" tall. She was just 7" tall 2 or 3 days ago, and has been growing about an average of 3/4" per day. I'll post some close up pics of her in my next update. She towers over Sarah (6.5") even though Sarah is 5 days older. Jennifer (21 days) is 5.5" tall, Tiffany (21 days) is 4.5" tall, and Stella (20 days) is 5" tall. Of course the plant heights don't tell the full story, some are shorter but fuller than others, but in general they're all doing extremely well.

Had a small tragedy last night. I was added a 42w 2700K bulb to my 2nd grow box for Stella and Amber, and one of my lights fell down and landed RIGHT ON TOP of Stella, just as she was developing her first central flower on top. It smashed the flower, bent the main stem over, and severed one of the top two main branches. I was devastated. I repaired the flower and main stem pretty well, but there was nothing I could do about the severed branch, and with it being one of the top two branches I just don't know what's going to happen. She continues to grow very well and is very healthy, despite being exposed to extreme temps last weekend and having a couple of her leaves burned by a light that moved and was touching her leaves. Seems all of the bad luck from this grow has landed directly on her (and Amber).

Speaking of Amber, she continues to be drastically affected by the exposure to 100+ degree temps for over 48 hours last weekend. The timing couldn't have been worse, she was just starting to flower, and hasn't grown at ALL for the last 3 days, except the flowers themselves which have grown a teeny tiny bit. Don't know what else to do for her except give her plenty of water and keep her temps low.


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9/14 Pics
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Easy Ryder (5)

(TL-Scarlett Day 21, TR-Sarah Day 26, BL-Jennifer Day 21, BR-Tiffany Day 21)

Stella - Day 20




Onyx (1)

Amber - Day 16 (STUNTED)

 

[bobhamm]

they are looking real nice and bushy, doing a good job, one of my ERs went from 5" to 20" in 2 weeks! not as bushy as yours though, just go super easy on any nutes, they can be very sensitive.

 

[enonumus]

they are looking real nice and bushy, doing a good job, one of my ERs went from 5" to 20" in 2 weeks! not as bushy as yours though, just go super easy on any nutes, they can be very sensitive.

Thanks. Wow that's crazy about your plant, but actually it's about the exact same rate one of mine has been growing for about the last 8 days, although I wasn't expecting this kind of growth spurt for at least another 2-3 weeks. It's been growing between 3/4" to 1" per day consistently, although it looks like it's finally slowing down now (thank god lol). It's almost 11" tall at 25 days, measured to the top of the cola, although the top leaves stretch upward about another inch. All of my other Easy Ryders are very similar in height and general size, at around 5.5" to 7" tall (and the 7" tall one is 5 days older). Here are some pics of my monster from yesterday. I have more pics of all my plants to post from the last few days, but I need to edit them first.

 

[Rtoke]

You sir are fucking smart !!! rep for you !!!!

nice plants, were is the outdoor one ???

 

[enonumus]

You sir are fucking smart !!! rep for you !!!!

nice plants, were is the outdoor one ???

Thanks. Somebody is paying attention to my thread if they know one is supposed to be growing outdoors . Oh, I bailed on the outdoor idea... I just couldn't justify the loss of yield from growing one entirely outdoors this late in the year, especially since the temps here were still well over 100 on some days. I also realized I was only getting about 8 hours of direct sunlight, and maybe 12 hours of total light this time of year, and while I'm sure it would have produced decently, I just decided to grow it indoors in a separate grow box. I've actually had some problems with it though. Along with my Auto Onyx it was exposed to really high temps for about 48 hours when I had company here weekend before last and had to move it to another room. The Onyx was only about 10 days only and really suffered from the heat . My 5th Easy Ryder (Stella is her name) suffered pretty bad from the temps too, and it seemed to halt her flowering process for about 10 days, although she's continued to grow somewhat. To make matters worse, a few days after it was exposed to extreme temps I was adjusting the light above her, and it dropped right on top of her cola, bending it over and slicing off one of her two top branches. I can tell the trauma has affected her, and I'm not sure what the end result will be, but she'll still produce halfway decent I think. I'm backlogged on my pictures, I'll try to get them up later tonight.

 

[Rtoke]

sweet i will buy a box and a couple of these lights http://www.mitre10.co.nz/shop/lighting_and_electrical/lamps_and_floorstands/desk_lamp_60_watt_black_101556.cfm?sid=1&rid=1&orderby=1

 

[bobhamm]

my ERs are at day48 and looking at them they are starting to really fill out budwise, pretty sad looking though, yellow leaves, spots, you name it, I like to think I gave them a demonstartion of the chaos theory where they were doing fine until something I did(over fert probably) sent them into a continuing up/down cycle that they just havent been able to stabilize from... but they keep chugging along and considering all theyve been thru , Im actually pretty impressed with them, go easy on ferts and so and I think you will get a more than bountiful harvest ! my big one I finally had to supercrop a couple of weeks ago when it hit 22"(not coutning the pot) and the top of the cab, it recovered really nicely though I have to say...keep that in mind if yours explode!

 

[enonumus]

Sorry for the update lag to anybody that's been following this thread. I go to great lengths to try and take good pics and clean them in Photoshop for best results. That can get tasky with 7 plants. I'll try to take pics and post them twice a week, but now that they're past the main Veg stage there isn't much change day to day anymore.

Not much to report really. My 4 Easy Ryders that I was growing in my main grow box originally are all doing excellent, and range in height from about 6" to 7.5", except for Scarlett which is just shy of 12" tall (although she's FINALLY stopped stretching hallelujah lol). I moved Scarlett out of the main box about a week ago and swapped her with Stella, because Scarlett was just getting too tall and too big to be grown in and alongside those other plants, and Stella was about the same size as all the others so it was a logical choice. Since then however Stella has gone into a stretch phase as well and she's over 9" now, so soon she'll need to be moved over to my secondary grow box with Scarlett.

Stella really suffered some severe trauma, both from that heat wave and I think especially from when that light fell on her. The whole top level of the plant is unable to withstand normal temps and it's reacting as if it had very hot bulbs right next to the leaves, even though that hasn't been the case at all. Some of the leaves have dried and shriveled, others literally show signs of being burned, including a little bit of the flowers on top of the main cola. Nothing I can do about it, I've kept temps below 85 and the bulbs clear of the plant, and it's had plenty of water. Still, it's flowering and it'll produce, and it's going through a major growth phase right now, but it didn't do much for about a week so I think the yield will be reduced.

That just leaves Amber, my auto Onyx. I've already written about the heat wave she was exposed to at around 9 or 10 days old, which definitely shocked her and completely halted all Veg growth for about a week. She did however still start flowering during that week, and has slowly continued to do so, but the plant is so stunted that there really isn't much room at all for the flowers, and there aren't any major branches yet. She HAS finally started to grow a little bit, at least vertically, but there are still NO new leaves or horizontal growth since the heat wave . Currently she's about 5" tall, which is maybe 1" to 1.5" taller than she was.

Here's the next round of pics...
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9/15 Pics
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Easy Ryder (5)

Sarah - Day 27

Scarlett - Day 22

Jennifer - Day 22

Tiffany - Day 22

Stella - Day 21
** No Pics **

Auto Onyx (1)

Amber - Day 17
** No Pics **

 

[enonumus]

This was about a week ago so I don't really remember much. Scarlett grew like a weed for about a week and finally slowed down right about this time, and is back to growing maybe 1/4" a day at most instead of almost 1" a day. At this point I'd say she was around 11.5" tall. About that same time that Scarlett stopped stretching though, my troublesome plant Stella, who I've tried everything possible to screw up, started going into her own stretch phase much like Scarlett did. I'll update more about Stella's current size (which has now surpassed Scarlett's as of 9/27), and the issues I've had with all of my plants in one of my next posts. You can clearly see the burnt leaves at the top of the plant in these pics .

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9/18 Pics
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Easy Ryder (5)

Sarah - Day 30

Scarlett - Day 25

Jennifer - Day 25

Tiffany - Day 25

Stella - Day 24



Auto Onyx (1)

Amber - Day 20
** No Pics **
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[enonumus]

Here are some pics of Amber, my auto Onyx as of day 23 from seed. As I've already mentioned more than once, she was severely stunted from exposure to extreme temps between days 12-14 from seed, and had almost zero Veg growth for about a week after that. She's since started to grow a little bit, and she's flowering ok considering what a tiny space she has for her flowers, but there's no question that she's going to be a fraction of her potential size and yield. Amazing how you can work so hard and have such beautiful plants, but one little screw up can ruin everything.

More pics to follow, I'm still several days behind in posting pics and updates. I definitely have news to report on my girls.

9/21 Pics
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Auto Onyx (1)

Amber - Day 23

 

[TheEarlOfTea]

great quality pictures man and nice flowers you got there

 

[spontcumb]

I'm following your journal with great interest. I put 3 - Easy Ryder femmed seeds directly into soil on 9/10. All 3 are doing very well. I've got some cfls and 3 - 1 foot square LED panels on the ladies. First try with LEDs. They definitely do make a difference. Anyway, just wanted to wish you continued success and I'll be cheer leading for your grow...lol + Rep!!

 

[Aspyre]

Hey man. Hope your yellowing mentioned in your other thread was simply nutes being pulled from the leaves. Seems like it would be , since it's happening to all your girls simultaneously. Keeping a close eye on your grow. Best of luck.

 

[enonumus]

Hey man. Hope your yellowing mentioned in your other thread was simply nutes being pulled from the leaves. Seems like it would be , since it's happening to all your girls simultaneously. Keeping a close eye on your grow. Best of luck.

It definitely isn't the normal pulling of nutes from the leaves that occurs at the late stages of flowering. My plants are in very serious trouble and I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure it out. Went to the local hydro shop yesterday and explained everything and showed them pictures, and they too weren't entirely sure. It might be related to the fact that I changed my Brita filter JUST before I started seeing this problem (like 2 days before), so the new filter might be pulling out minerals that the plants needed, or they might have introduced something bad into the plants since the filter was brand new. 2 waterings ago I stopped using the filtered water. I used my regular tap water for one watering, adjusted for PH, and yesterday I started using distilled water long with a produced called "Revive", which has ALL the nutes that plants need but in low dosages. Supposed to be miracle stuff according to the guy at the local hydro shop who's used it himself a few times in severe situations. So far 1 day later the plants are definitely still getting worse . Nearly all of my fan leaves are gone or will be gone very soon on my largest plants. At this rate I won't make it to harvest :'(. Just don't understand, my plants were TOTALLY healthy until about 12 days ago give or take.

 

[Aspyre]

That's crazy... I've been follwing this thread, almost since it's inception. It almost feels like it's happening to one of my girls. I've been using store bought distilled water, just because the pH of my tap water is in the "slight alkaline" zone. However, I've read other threads bashing Fox Farms OF, because of pH problems. Have you checked the pH at soil level? Are the Onyx going through the same?
I've heard good things about those "Revive" products, but i believe that unless the pH in the soil is not within the acceptable range, nothing will be absorbed.

I've steered completely from nutes. I just incorporated "Super Thrive" into one of my 2 girls to see how she responds. So far, no problems.

 

[enonumus]

That's crazy... I've been follwing this thread, almost since it's inception. It almost feels like it's happening to one of my girls. I've been using store bought distilled water, just because the pH of my tap water is in the "slight alkaline" zone. However, I've read other threads bashing Fox Farms OF, because of pH problems. Have you checked the pH at soil level? Are the Onyx going through the same?
I've heard good things about those "Revive" products, but i believe that unless the pH in the soil is not within the acceptable range, nothing will be absorbed.

I've steered completely from nutes. I just incorporated "Super Thrive" into one of my 2 girls to see how she responds. So far, no problems.

Thanks for following the thread. I've put so much working into the plants, the pics, and the thread, I can't express how upset I am about what's happening. Not to mention I've spent quite a bit of money on light fixtures, bulbs, mylar, soil, seeds, nutes etc.. I'm certainly into it at least $300 now, and I need at least an ounce out of these girls just to break even at retail prices. I was expecting at least half an ounce or more per plant originally and I felt that was conservative, but there has been very little bud growth in the last week while all of this has been going on.

The somewhat good news is that on at least 3 of my plants the problems appears to have slowed dramatically. However my two large plants (apparently a different phenotype), Stella and Scarlett, got dramatically worse in the 24-36 hours after I gave it the Revive, and they each lost about 4 large fan leaves just in that time frame plus a couple small leaves at the bottom, which is a lot for a small plant in a short period of time. All I have left on those plants are my mid to upper fan leaves which aren't all that big, and all the sugar leaves.

My Onyx doesn't seem to have been too affected, but it's practically a dwarf even compared to my smallest Easy Ryders. It basically just has a small main cola and a couple tiny flowers on either side, and it's only about 6 inches tall. It was SEVERELY stunted at a critical phase of development. That said, it IS still flowering, and as long as it doesn't get worse it'll produce something at least, probably at least an 8th, maybe more if it grows (still at least a month before harvest for that one). That's not much to be sure, but it almost pays for the plant at current Co-op prices.

I haven't posted any pictures at all lately because I scarcely have the heart to take any pictures with what's been going on, plus once the Veg stage ends there really isn't much to see since the buds grow so slowly, or at least mine have. If I get them stabilized I'll take some updated pics. Current regimen is distilled water from the store, every 2-3 days. I'm going to give them the second round of "Revive" tonight or in the morning, mixed at 8ml per liter. After that I'll probably talk to my guy at the hydro shop again, and may go to 1/2 strength bloom nutes for my next feeding in 2-3 days. Next one after that will be straight water and we'll see where we are at that point. If I can put a halt to this problem right now I'll save my plants, but there's no question that the yield will be affected. Overall the plants still look very healthy except for the afflicted and missing fan leaves. The sugar leaves and the flowers/buds all look good, and the plants are perky and doing well. That won't last of course if I continue to lose fan leaves.

Stay tuned!

 

[bobhamm]

just saw your other thread about the yellowing...I've had all kinds of issues with my easy ryders, and oddly empoough mine started when I switched to RO water, I neve did figure out all the issues but after flushing and cutting back on nutes it got better, but I also switched back to tap water at the same time just in case, Im about a week away from harvest and looks like they are going to make it, and they were way worse than yours, mine started at the top of the plant not the bottom....

 

[enonumus]

just saw your other thread about the yellowing...I've had all kinds of issues with my easy ryders, and oddly empoough mine started when I switched to RO water, I neve did figure out all the issues but after flushing and cutting back on nutes it got better, but I also switched back to tap water at the same time just in case, Im about a week away from harvest and looks like they are going to make it, and they were way worse than yours, mine started at the top of the plant not the bottom....

Just curious, when you switched to RO water, was it a new system that you had just bought and set up, or an existing one that you had, or were you getting RO water from someone/where else? Reason I ask is because when I was talking to the guy at the local hydro shop about my problems, and I suggested that it might be related to the changing of my Brita filter just a couple days before the problem started to appear, he mentioned that with the Reverse Osmosis systems like they sell in his shop, you have to run them for like 2 hours before you're supposed to use any of the water. He said there's a big warning that comes with it. I guess there's something in the system that's harmful to the plants initially, not in the charcoal filters, but the other part of the system (I don't know much about them).

The Brita filters are basically just a charcoal filter so he didn't think the same thing likely applied, but it was worth mentioning since I'd only run my new Brita filter for several seconds before I started using the water for my plants. When you install a new one black stuff comes out of it for a few seconds, but once that stopped I assumed the water was fine. Still don't know what the problem is or was that's causing the yellowing, but I'm leaning heavily toward the new Brita filter causing the problems for unknown reasons, simply because NOTHING else changed in my regimen except I gave them one feeding of Molasses. The problem continued for well over a week after I gave them the Molasses though, during which time I watered them at least 3 or 4 times, so that couldn't be it (plus everybody uses it).

Gonna check out pics of your plants if you have any online. I'm curious to see what your buds look like 1 week from harvest compared to mine at 5 or 6 weeks from seed. BTW, how far along from seed are you? You said you're about a week away from harvest, but I'm seen different reports on the harvest time for the Easy Ryders ranging from 7 weeks from seed, to 9 or 10 weeks.

 

[bobhamm]

mine are at day 59, one looks like a week left, the other ER(which had much milder problems) maybe2 weeks, a few days more,,, just waiting on the amber to show up, really sticky plants, go to my thread in the sig for pics

 

[enonumus]

mine are at day 59, one looks like a week left, the other ER(which had much milder problems) maybe2 weeks, a few days more,,, just waiting on the amber to show up, really sticky plants, go to my thread in the sig for pics

Just took my Sarah, Jennifer and Tiffany out of the grow box and brought them in where I could get a really good look at them under different lighting, and to take some pictures which I'll upload later today. Sarah and Tiffany are definitely the same Phenotype, they look like twins except for the differences in foliage that I've lost. Sarah is 5 days older, but Tiffany actually looks the most mature. Both have nice healthy yummy looking colas, and decent sized buds on the outer branches. All of the buds look like they're coated with powdered sugar . Tiffany is only day 38 from seed, and Sarah is day 43 from seed, so they both have a ways to go, but to me they look like they're only a couple weeks from harvest. That would roughly be in line with the 7 weeks from seed to harvest that it says on the Attitude site and I think on the packages too, although almost everybody that's grown these has talked about harvesting them around week 9 or 10.

Jennifer appears to be a cross between the Sarah/Tiffany Phenotype, and the Scarlett/Stella Phenotype. Sarah and Tiffany are very short at only 9" tall, but look like perfect little plants, no taller than they need to be for the amount of bud that they should yield. Scarlett and Stella are also virtual twins except for developmental issues with Stella, and are much taller at over 13" in height since week 4, and much broader. Although Jennifer isn't as tall and broad as Stella and Scarlett, she looks identical to them the way the buds are developing, which is very different than Sarah and Tiffany. Scarlett, Stella and Jennifer don't even have that dusting on the buds yet, or it's just barely starting, even though Scarlett has a very large main cola. I can definitely see them being the 9 to 10 week variety that others have mentioned, which bodes well for the yield I'll get from them if they can survive that long. Unfortunately it's those 3 plants that are losing fan leaves the fastest, when I wish it was Sarah and Tiffany since they're definitely going to make it to harvest in a couple weeks.

As far as the yellowing/spotting and losing leaves issue, it definitely appears to have slowed dramatically and possibly stopped on Sarah, Tiffany, and maybe Jennifer. Scarlett and Stella continued to get a little worse today, but it does appear that the problem might be slowing with them as well. Just a little while ago I gave all of them their second round of "Revive" with distilled water and Hygrozyme, which will hopefully put an end to the problem. If Stella and Scarlett don't lose anymore fan leaves other than the ones that are already afflicted, they should make it to harvest and have decent yields. I've got my fingers crossed.

Amber my auto Onyx is hanging in there. She's still only about 6" tall with one little cola and a couple little buds on the sides that are developing. Somehow I don't think she's going to be anywhere near the 20"-35" that the Attitude site claims is typical for this strain lol. She's only 33 days from seed, and the Attitude site doesn't say the expected harvest time, only that it's medium to long, so I'm not really sure how far off I am. Someone else on ROI said it was 7 to 10 weeks, but that's not overly helpful since it describes all autos pretty much lol. Anyway, she's got at least 3 weeks to go, maybe twice that. Gonna keep giving her Revive at least twice a week, nutes once a week, and straight water once every week or so (I usually feed/water every 2 days), and see if that Revive helps breathe some life back into her. If she were at least 9 inches tall or so by harvest time that would provide enough room for significant bud growth, but 6 inches with no significant branches is just way too small.

That's it for now. Pics will be posted later today sometime.