Short Rider Small Cab 250 Watt HID

So I've been lurking way to long, time to contribute something to this great forum.

Little Background on my short experience. I'm still learning and trying new things.

When I was in my college house rental, I grew blue mystics in a DWC in about a 2'X4' tent with 400 watt Mh then HPS, with small cab for clones/veg. Went through 3 harvests and learned quite a bit, most of the information I needed was on this forum. (Thanks Guys) Was a good smoke but not overly impressive.

Moved to an apartment by myself a few months ago which caused me to put a pause on growing and reevaluate what I can do. I figured turning my clone cabinet into a full cycle grow chamber would work best in the space I had to work with. Originally had 8 23watt CFLs (Left them in and may use them as supplimental lights but doubt I can control the heat of almost 500 watts in such a small space) but I added a 250 watt MH with a lumitek MH/HPS ballast. (Will be switching to HPS once I see first pre-flowers)


Vent


So the current setup I'm using is built in a Hempy Bucket style with what I had on hand from my previous grows. Hydroton, rockwoll and airstones. I basically needed something I could leave for a week without worrying since I travel for work about once a month.

I have a water pump and airstone in the bucket. About two inches up on the buckets is a tube that drains back into the bucket.



You can see the water lines here.



I'm still trying to dial in the watering schedule. Currently its 15min every 3 hours. Which is working well since the Hydroton drains so quickly. They look healthy no drooping. I'm using House and Gardens Hydro nutes line up, which grew some impressive (for me) buds in DWC. I wish I had pics of the blue mystic but o well.

I basically chose Short Rider to dial in the grow setup and get a quick turnaround since I'm out of my relaxation medicine .

I'll update once a week and try to answer any questions but I'm still learning so hopefully I'll get some input from you guys.

So first update.

Week 2 (From seed sprouting)
Only 2" tall right now. This really is a dwarf strain. The blue mystics where easily double or triple this size by now.
Lefty

Righty


Once I'm done with this grow its on to an AK-48 scrog in this cab. Might move to ebb and flow if these buckets don't work out. (DWC is such a pain to refill and won't fit in my cab) I'm thinking ebb and flow since I can decrease the height of the growing medium and have more plant room.

For all you shroomers out there. These are some B+ pftek jars birthed about 4 days ago. My first attempt and I'm stoked to try shrooms for the first time. Super easy and no contams. Also have 4 1/2 pint and 4 pint jars of Penis Envy colonizing right now.



Feel free to add any comments or questions, just keep in mind I'm still learning and am limited in my space and anything I do must be self sustaining due to work.

Again thanks guys for all the great info on this forum.

They are responding nicely to the new light. Starting to bush out and added another inch and going good into their 4 internode.



Left Closeups



Right Closeups




And finally gotta love shrooms. From Friday only showing first signs of pins to To 3 days later with some solid growth. Should be getting my first flush over next 2-3 days. Got the dehydrator ready to go.

Well they autoflowered, first time growing autos and I'm pretty amazed. They stretched only a couple inches so far, 5 and 6.5 inches tall now. These are definitely small plants, I'm guessing they will stretch maybe another 1 or 2 inches in the next week. I'm not too hopeful on yield, I'll be happy with 10-15 grams a plant. On ounce out of two half foot plants isn't that bad, I guess.

Here are a couple pics from yesterday before I switched to the HPS and started week one of flowering nutes.




Some Closeups of the Left



Some of the Right



And some of today with the HPS on.




I also attached some pics of my water bucket with air stone and water pump.

Well they shoot up more then I anticipated but seem to have finished. Two distinct phenos also, left is only 7 1/2" while the right is 13". I'm also getting some heat issues with the light moving up, since the fan hole is right above the reflector. I might have to get a taller cabinet for my next run so I can place my fan better.

Buds are starting to form, I love this part. Smells awesome.

Both



Left


Best pick of the bud I could get.


Right



Right Bud shots

The Left one is bulking up nicely but the right one just won't stop stretching, a little bending to hopefully keep it under control. I'm really not liking this cabinet. I think I'm going to just go ahead and get a smaller tent (Secret Jardin DR90 or similar) for my next grow.

Some pictures of both.


Left



Left Bud shots



Right



Right Close ups

hey there man nice thread its looking nice how are you liking the auto flower strains. could i maybe grab some advice pretty new to growing. ive had 2 decent harvests latest a lowryder 2 i liked it but it wasn't as much a dwarf as i expected she grew to 26 inches but i think that was just because i went straight into a 6 gal pot
0PTICS

oh yeah hey again fogot to ask how long do those shortriders take, where do you get them and $?
0PTICS

Hey thanks for checking out the grow.

I think autoflowers are really interesting, seeing it start to flower with out changing anything was cool. But at least with some of the strains I've seen grow journals of the pheno variation seems to be higher then some more stabilized photo-period strains. I believe this will get better as seed companies get more time with them. To me I think this will be my last indoor autoflower. When I can do an outdoor grow, I'll probably use them to get 2 harvests a season. In my situation with limited space I'd rather have more control of the size and possibly have more time to train. (LST and scrog)

As far as pot size relates to plant size. From my limited experience its seems to be the better root system the bigger the plants can grow. I can't imagine a party cup can have a root mass that can support much more then a foot sized plant. Moving from soil to hydroponics really drove this point home for me, the roots have little restriction and grow rapidly which the top part of the plant mirrors. I think its safe to say that you can't have a healthy plant and good harvest without a good root structure underneath, soil or hydro.

Hope this helps, I'm sure some of the veterans around here can give some really good insight as well.

They are Short ryders from Nirvana. I'm guessing another 3-4 weeks so 60-70 days from seed.

cool cool i know what you mean about the stabalization mine didn't really look like any of the Lowryder 2 grow pics ive seen. i also wanted to try a few outdoor autos once the season comes but i'm finding it hard to get some goood guerilla grow spots. my Easy Ryder is almost three weeks so about another 7-8 to go i've been slacking on getting her into a 2 gal pot but i'm pretty sure i'll get it done today do you know if this is too late to be transplanting an auto as it's so close to flowering and is there any advice you can give me on the nute schedule
thanks
0PTICS

how'd the zoomies end up going lol i havent had those for a while

I'd say you'll be fine transplanting now, a little shock but I wouldn't worry to much so long are you are using the same soil and nutes. As far as nutes go, I follow the manufactures nute schedule as close as possible. Mine have a normal and aggressive feeding schedule, I play it safe and use the normal. I did get a slight nute burn my second week but have been fine since. Remember they call it weed for a reason, you may not get the awesome results like the vets out there but these plants are amazingly resilient and can withstand most newbie mistakes.

I had been looking for shrooms for years and just gave up after seeing how easy the basic PFtek was to follow. I really enjoyed the first flush, I actually didn't mind the taste, dried they tasted like day old popcorn. I finished my 2nd and 3rd flush already. Just waiting for some time off to try some more. Next on the agenda is a bulk grow, maybe a coir case.

thanks for the advice man i got her into her final pot today but before i transplanted i noticed that the cotyledon leaves and set of first "true" leaves were yellowing i'm using pretty shitty soil right now just potting soil from walmart just wondering if i should be worried

Check out this guide, http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=11688. Sounds like a nitrogen problem. Could be caused by PH problem, I'd check the PH of your water first.

thanks man yeah i have the pics up for it now i think it is a nitrogen problem after reading that but i dont know why that would be the case because the soil is supposed to feed for up to 6 months i was just going to feed it sum micro nutrients but yes the ph of my water is a little high (about 7) i have bought some ph down any advice on how often i should use it and in what ratios
0PTICS

I use a dropper and let it settle for a little bit after a couple drops until I have the desired PH. The PH down I have is really strong. It took me quite a while to get a feel for how much to use since the bottle didn't have any directions on it. I'd PH my water every time I water.

I wish I could be more help with the nutes in soil but I've been focusing on hydro.

thats cool many any advice goes a long way when your first starting out my ph down is the same no directions on it really so im gonna start with it in my next watering either tomorrow or thursday

cant wait for the next update that baby's gonnna be delicous lol