Thanks for this - I'm just finishing 7 weeks in soil, so it's very helpful.
How many weeks overall did you grow from seed to harvest in the soil? About 9.5 it looks like from your thread?
My 4 RRF ladies are in one big (18 gallon, probably about 1 square meter of surface area) tub, along with a couple Snow Ryders from my own seeds (first grow), a week or two behind. They've grown very differently, even though they're all in the same medium.
I LST'ed all four of the RRF, intending to do a mini SOG that fills the bin. Six CFL's: 3 x 24 watts of bright white (100 watt equivalent at 6500 degrees) and 3 x 42 watts (150 watt equivalent at 2700 degrees). Results from the LST have been decent, with one really taking off to easily twice the height (and bulk) of the others. There's not a solid canopy, as the plants put on height at varying speeds, but there's also very little bare dirt visible from an overhead view, so the entire space is being used fairly efficiently. That one giant got extremely leggy literally overnight as soon as I tied down the top for the first time, but now it is starting to develop a nice main cola and multiple secondary ones. Those secondary colas are all up at the same height as the main one, having grown up to there from very low on the plant.
That one rapid grower seems to be the "bushy phenotype" of the RRF, and it looks from your grow journal like you had one of these in your hydro setup. I know that was a big "teaser" for me when I was shopping for seeds, as the bushy pheno was highlighted by the seller as a "monster lurking within" the RRF genotype.
Another has grown more modestly, but is very healthy and growing a very nice main cola with fairly tight internodal spaces.
The two remaining are a good deal shorter, but have really nice, very close internodal spaces and are developing plump, dense colas over 3 inches long so far. But they're also looking both more mature than the others (about 35% browning pistils vs. maybe 10-20% on the others) and their health is worse. They look like they have either nute burn or pH lockup, with necrotic brown and/or orange spots on the leaves. (Keeping my fingers crossed that I've slowed/stopped the progression). In truth I think I finally corrected pH sufficiently (a couple weeks ago with Epsom salts on top of the peat I had added from the start) to avoid lockup, but in the process perhaps caused excessive nutrient absorption. I may have some hot spots in the soil, although I did both flush it prior to planting, and then worked in some peat pretty thoroughly... or so I thought.
I tested soil last week and found high nitrogen, even though I'd flushed the soil between grows and did not add any high nitrogen nutes. I think this is just a hangover from having started with Miracle Grow soil, which includes high N for good vegetation, supposedly enough for the first 3-6 months of growth. Pretty much all I've been using aside from the Epsom salts, now terminated has been Eleanor's VF-11 in the water, and some molasses. The P and K were both on the low side, so Eleanor's seemed like a pretty gentle way to address that
Still, even though they're all in the same medium and sharing the same watering and feeding, the variation in overall health is disturbing. It's time to move them all to plain water, anyway, so I'll see what that does.
I still have not personally observed any amber trichs, but plenty of cloudy ones, and I'm a little worried I'll miss it. My first grow with Snow Ryder I never saw amber trichs, either, but it's not clear that strain ever goes to amber, plus I had to pull them a week or so earlier than intended so I could go on vacation.
So a question about that for any who know: How obvious is it to observe the amber trichs on this strain? Am I really looking for a definitively yellow/orange color? I have both a variable 30-100X scope and a little 45x scope, so it's not a problem observing the trichs... I just haven't seen what amber looks like for myself yet.
And if they're still not turning after I have more than 50% brown pistils, should I continue to wait, or go right to harvest? I don't want to harvest early and miss out on final growth, but I also don't want to harvest late and miss the peak THC... This is a Sativa, after all, and I want a solid Sativa effect!
How many weeks overall did you grow from seed to harvest in the soil? About 9.5 it looks like from your thread?
My 4 RRF ladies are in one big (18 gallon, probably about 1 square meter of surface area) tub, along with a couple Snow Ryders from my own seeds (first grow), a week or two behind. They've grown very differently, even though they're all in the same medium.
I LST'ed all four of the RRF, intending to do a mini SOG that fills the bin. Six CFL's: 3 x 24 watts of bright white (100 watt equivalent at 6500 degrees) and 3 x 42 watts (150 watt equivalent at 2700 degrees). Results from the LST have been decent, with one really taking off to easily twice the height (and bulk) of the others. There's not a solid canopy, as the plants put on height at varying speeds, but there's also very little bare dirt visible from an overhead view, so the entire space is being used fairly efficiently. That one giant got extremely leggy literally overnight as soon as I tied down the top for the first time, but now it is starting to develop a nice main cola and multiple secondary ones. Those secondary colas are all up at the same height as the main one, having grown up to there from very low on the plant.
That one rapid grower seems to be the "bushy phenotype" of the RRF, and it looks from your grow journal like you had one of these in your hydro setup. I know that was a big "teaser" for me when I was shopping for seeds, as the bushy pheno was highlighted by the seller as a "monster lurking within" the RRF genotype.
Another has grown more modestly, but is very healthy and growing a very nice main cola with fairly tight internodal spaces.
The two remaining are a good deal shorter, but have really nice, very close internodal spaces and are developing plump, dense colas over 3 inches long so far. But they're also looking both more mature than the others (about 35% browning pistils vs. maybe 10-20% on the others) and their health is worse. They look like they have either nute burn or pH lockup, with necrotic brown and/or orange spots on the leaves. (Keeping my fingers crossed that I've slowed/stopped the progression). In truth I think I finally corrected pH sufficiently (a couple weeks ago with Epsom salts on top of the peat I had added from the start) to avoid lockup, but in the process perhaps caused excessive nutrient absorption. I may have some hot spots in the soil, although I did both flush it prior to planting, and then worked in some peat pretty thoroughly... or so I thought.
I tested soil last week and found high nitrogen, even though I'd flushed the soil between grows and did not add any high nitrogen nutes. I think this is just a hangover from having started with Miracle Grow soil, which includes high N for good vegetation, supposedly enough for the first 3-6 months of growth. Pretty much all I've been using aside from the Epsom salts, now terminated has been Eleanor's VF-11 in the water, and some molasses. The P and K were both on the low side, so Eleanor's seemed like a pretty gentle way to address that
Still, even though they're all in the same medium and sharing the same watering and feeding, the variation in overall health is disturbing. It's time to move them all to plain water, anyway, so I'll see what that does.
I still have not personally observed any amber trichs, but plenty of cloudy ones, and I'm a little worried I'll miss it. My first grow with Snow Ryder I never saw amber trichs, either, but it's not clear that strain ever goes to amber, plus I had to pull them a week or so earlier than intended so I could go on vacation.
So a question about that for any who know: How obvious is it to observe the amber trichs on this strain? Am I really looking for a definitively yellow/orange color? I have both a variable 30-100X scope and a little 45x scope, so it's not a problem observing the trichs... I just haven't seen what amber looks like for myself yet.
And if they're still not turning after I have more than 50% brown pistils, should I continue to wait, or go right to harvest? I don't want to harvest early and miss out on final growth, but I also don't want to harvest late and miss the peak THC... This is a Sativa, after all, and I want a solid Sativa effect!
