1st Grow: Russian Rocket Fuel - 250wHPS, GL60 Tent, Soil

[RiddleMeThis]

X-Posted from the Soil forum:

Hello all, new to ICMag, and pretty excited. I recently started my first grow, January 8th to be exact. We are nearing 4 weeks from seed, and supposedly 4-5 til harvest. I have one girl that is exactly one week behind the rest. Anyways, heres a rundown of my set up, and i'll edit this with some pics of it sometime today.

The Strain:
Russian Rocket Fuel
(White Russian Auto x NYCD?) by Short Stuff Seeds

- Its an autoflowering plant, yes... I know.. I will be growing a normal strain next time


The Setup:
- GrowLab 60 Tent (24" x 24" x 63")
- 250w HPS, switchable ballast, standard reflector, Hortilux bulb
- 4" Exhaust fan (~250cfm) with Speedster regulator
- 4" Carbon filter
- Cheap humidifier, with ducting running from the top of it, into the tent
--> I do this to control my temps/humidity


- Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil, mixed with one bag of perlite, 70/30 mix.
- Started in starter cubes from hydro shop (24 hour lighting - 250w daylight cfls)

- Transplanted to 1 gallon pots with FFOF (20/4 lighting - combination of 250w HPS and 2-6 daylight cfls)
- Transplanted all but 1 of the 4 remaining females when they showed sex.
- RRF #2, #3, and #4 are all in 2 gal Smart Pots.
- RRF #5 is 7 days younger than the rest, and in a 3 gal Smart Pot

- On 1/1/10, plants were given week 2's regimen at 1/2 strength of FF's Grow Big, and full strength Big Bloom, as well as 3/4 strength MagCal
--> Some of the plants showed slight signs of nutrient burn, RRF #4 being the worst (she was semi-flushed after) - Next watering I wont be using nutrients.

- I decided to switch to 17/7 lighting this evening (compromise...)


I think that pretty much covers it for now. Heres the pics

RRF #2

RRF #3

RRF #4 (nute-burned)

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Today I "topped" the nute burned part of the youngest RRF, and am hoping she can form some new growth, and not hurt my yield too bad...

I also didn't mention the freebie mystery kush auto I have in there, also about 27 days old with the older plants. However, these plants have been giving me hell. Today I also chopped her top as it was burned. I did the same thing about a week and a half ago, and she started new good growth. Hope she does the same again!

The other 3 russian rocket fuels are looking good. Tested the soil's moisture today, and will likely end up watering those 3 tomorrow, no nutes.

Ill try to get a picture of the setup tomorrow

 

[ronbo51]

May the force be with you. Looks good so far. Don't fret too much. These auto's are tough.

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Little update. So far everything has been going fairly well. I just gave the plants a pretty good feeding of 1tsp of FF Tiger Bloom and 2 Tbsp of FF Big Bloom. The plants needed a watering, this is the first time I really let the soil actually get dry, between 1 and 2 on my soil moisture probe. I mixed the nutes with spring water... not sure how good/bad that is. I checked the pH prior to adding the nutes and it was high. After adding the nutes it was between 6.5 and 7, which I assume is good.

Lots of bud sites are starting to show, which is really exciting. I would say the tallest ones are around 12 inches tall now. The younger RRF I kind of topped a bit less than a week ago is actually starting to show new growth, or new budsites at least. My lone mystery kush that has been sensitive to anything I have given it is showing around 5 budsites, hopefully get some good smoke off her. The 4 oldest plants are exactly 1 month old today. and the younger RRF is 24 days old.

Heres a couple shots, including some setup pics.

 

[Pac-Man]

Great job man. Keep the pics coming.

 

[Tiredofschwag]

I don't understand why so many people are getting nutrient burn. If you read through the forums you see lots of people with burns. In all my 20 years of growing, I never got burns excep one time when the plants grew into the lights. Be careful and the rule in growing orchids is never fertilize a dry plant. Water it first and then a few hours later add some nutes.

Still I must say the plants look great in the photos.

 

[autogrower]

looking great man, lets hope you get that bushy pheno

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Just checked the girls, 30 minutes after lights came back on. This was the first rest they've had since the feeding about 24 hours ago, and they look like they took off again. I'd say the largest ones are around 9" tall. All the RRF's seemed to enjoy the nutes, and once again, the mystery kush may have gotten nute burnt again? Not sure what this plants deal is, but it definitely does not like nutes, even lower dosages. Oh well, I think i'll hold off on nutes for awhile til she dictates otherwise.

No pics today, thanks for the input!

 

[FC89]

your plants look awesome so far man, how much taller you think they'll get till they stop stretching? and are you gonna keep them in those 1 gal pots? thanks for the info, I got some RRF beans and cant wait to sprout them.

 

[dargo]

Can you take some close up photos of the mystery kush, hows it coming along, how do it smell and look? are the buds fat and sticky mmmmmmmmmmm kush

I got 2 mystery kush beans aswell, cant wait to grow them.

Good luck with your grow, im using a 250w hps aswell

 

[RiddleMeThis]

4 of the 5 plants are actually in 2 gallon smart pots, and the 5th is in a 3 gallon smart pot. I am hoping they get upwards of 20", since I have plenty of vertical grow space.

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Ok, big pic update. Plants are looking great! Even my stragglers are coming along nicely, especially the weird looking mystery kush and the topped RRF. Only problem is, they all may have hermied? If so, I dont think I am too worried, since honestly, all of the russian rocket fuels have been amazing, especially RRF #3, and RRF #4 (the one in the 3gallon smart pot), they have an amazing fuely/skunky smell to them. The others have a somewhat floral/bitter smell.

Hermie?

RRF #3

RRF #4 (in 3 gal smartpot instead of 2gal)

RRF #5 (the topped one, actually 7-8 days younger than the rest of the ladies)

Mystery Kush shots ... shes making progress! Tried to get some good ones for ya dargo

And some random tent shots

 

[Seedling]

Hey mate.

Is that first photo of one that you think has hermied? To me it doesnt look like it has at all, just a very swollen calyx. Great grow! Nice to see how the Mystery Kushes will be doing.
Pulling out a chair for this one.

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Awesome, I am just a r'tard then! Those calyxes are everywhere, on all plants, and all super swollen. They kinda looked like nuts, so I got nervous lol. This is certainly a great first experience, I am really starting to get excited! Still have a good 30 days before harvest, lots of times for all those budsites to really beef up. Some of the cola's on the larger RRF's are already nearing 1" in height. Anyways... time for bed

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[Flying Goat]

I'm with Seedling... Those don't look like balls to me.

I'm still studying the AFs, but it appears many varieties of them do not require heavy nutes or super-charged lites. I'm building a CFL grow cab for my stepdaughter... It's gonna be interesting.

Riddler - Can't wait to see how these ladies turn out! More pics (plant porn), please, I'm an addict! Also, when it comes time, we'll expect a full smoke report, ya know...

Cheers!

 

[hisser]

Looking great!

 

[RiddleMeThis]

I'm with Seedling... Those don't look like balls to me.

I'm still studying the AFs, but it appears many varieties of them do not require heavy nutes or super-charged lites. I'm building a CFL grow cab for my stepdaughter... It's gonna be interesting.

Riddler - Can't wait to see how these ladies turn out! More pics (plant porn), please, I'm an addict! Also, when it comes time, we'll expect a full smoke report, ya know...

Cheers!

No worries, all will be provided! Most likely going to stagger my harvest a bit for a variety of effects

 

[happycamper15]

I noticed the same things on my RRF girl. Nothing to worry about. There were quite a few of them up the 22" stem I had!

 

[RiddleMeThis]

I noticed the same things on my RRF girl. Nothing to worry about. There were quite a few of them up the 22" stem I had!

I hope mine gets to 22"!

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Here's a few shots of some of the girls tied down, and some porn. Meant to get a shot of all the girls in the tent, but forgot :smoking:.

There's a bit of yellowing in the lower leaves, gonna give them a good feeding tonight as its been nearly a weak since the last. Gonna do it right this time, water one plant, check the runoff ph, and adjust if I have to.. My target should be between 6.5-7.0, right?