Irish grow 2013 - Lowryder #2

[devon232]

Hi all.

Been a couple of years since my last grow since my previous attempt was a big disappointment.

Growing in Western Ireland is very tricky due to the very damp climate (especially in the flowering season).

I chose my outdoor spot due to its location (on the south side of a hill with good drainage and seemingly good soil) but the harvest was very disappointing (mould, scraggy plants etc). I put this down to a mixture of poor light (despite the south-facing location) and poor soil (low nutrients with large rocks etc).

This year I decided to put a bit more effort into preparing the soil.

21 April 2013:
I spent a few hours digging over the soil, removing the numerous rocks and aerating the soil as much as possible.

I also mixed in a bag of potting compost and mixed the soil up.

I then went away for around a month, and germinated my seedlings in my back garden.

 

[devon232]

1 Month Later

1 Month Later

Around a month later, I brought my 8 seedlings (which I germinated in a seed tray) to the patch.

In a change from previous years, I transplanted them when they were still quite small.

Usually I let them grow much larger before transplating them, but when they are larger, transporting them becomes a bigger problem.
Also, the seed tray compartments were quite small, meaning the seedlings would always have their grown limited due to the smaller root mass.

At this stage, I had no idea what strain they were (I was using some bagseed from a friends grow). My previous experience with "mould resistant" strains was not good (Frisian Dew and AMS were both very disappointing - they just weren't suited for the Irish climate).

26 May 2013:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=35663&pictureid=1105932

I sprinkled some slug pellets in the area and left the seedlings to their own devices.

 

[MJBadger]

I don`t want to jump on your enthusiasm but you have probably picked one of the worst plants for soil planting outdoor , I have yet to see a successful LR grow in the ground . They hate any wet as do most autos but considering the low yield for all the effort you`d been better trying a better yielding auto or a regular with a bit more mould resistance . HFH Scottish is a possibility .

 

[devon232]

1 Month Later

1 Month Later

Approx 1 month later again, I returned to my patch.

It had been unusually warm here in Ireland, so I was hoping for a nice surprise, but the results totally amazed me.

As I battled my way into my clearing (it was a bit overgrown), I could see that all 8 plants had survived (none had been eaten).

Even more surprising was that all 8 were already flowering.

Due the longitude of my location in Ireland, it is VERY unusual for cannabis to flower in July LET ALONE June (especially because a few plants seemed to be several weeks into flowering).

I concluded that these all must be LowRyder #2 plants (since the bagseed I acquired had come from a friend who had previously grown LowRyder #2). It was the most logical conclusion.

The plants were very short which showed it had started flowering very soon after maturing, which is a typical characteristic of LowRyder.

29 June 2013:
A general overview, once I had cleared some of the weeds and grass from the area


A closer overview of some of the plants


I was surprised at how healthy they looked compared to previous ones. I suspect the slow-release nutrient granules combined with the fine weather are the key.


Another closeup


A final closeup of a different phenol - this one looks like it will finish quickest. Perhaps in 5 weeks or so.

 

[devon232]

Hi MJ.
LR would not have been my choice, but it was some bagseed I was given.

I had some disappointing results with AMS and Frisian dew (1 and 2 years ago respectively) and they are both supposed to be mould resistant.

I didn't even know they were LR until I saw them flowering - I thought they were Skunks lol.

I think Auto-flowering is a key in Ireland because we usually get a decent spring and early summer, but late summer and autumn is far far too wet.

At our longitude, a plant that typically flowers in late july would actually flower in late august with catastrophic results.

 

[THC123]

You are overfeeding your plants, this way leaves and yield will not be big, next time use 1 spoon of slow release per plant when they have vegged for a month

 

[devon232]

Thanks for the advice THC- How can you tell they are being overfed? The leaf tips are not going crusty, the plant seems very healthy.

The reason why they are so stumpy is because they are LowRyders which means they wont grow much branching before flowering.

I know this is a less than ideal strain, but it was free bagseed and I didn't realise it was LowRyder until it started flowering so soon.

 

[THC123]

I can see they have too much N because the leaves seem like plastic and they are small.

Lowryder 2 can get quite big and bushy and more then 1 meter tall , my max was 80 grams but 30-50 is very common

Next time start them in universal potting soil and plant directly in soil or germ in jiffies and as soon as you see roots starting to poke out plant them in their final spot.

Then after a month of growing give one soupspoon of organic npk pellets liek dried cow manure of whatever and a theespoon of lime and one theespoon of bone meal and cover that with a bit of compost or just more potting soil.

Then rain will do the rest

This lowryder 2 yielded 80 grams

 

[devon232]

That certainly is an impressive specimen there THC. Thanks for the advice.

I have to confess to using too much slow release nutrients. I dug them into the Soil instead of sprinkling over the top since the soil was so bad.

 

[THC123]

good soil is the basis , make 10 liter holes filled with universal potting soil you find in the garden store per plant