Question for a Lowryder #2 grow

[HumbleGrower]

Hello everyone.

Very soon I will begin a new grow, a Lowryder #2 grow. It'll be just one plant, in soil, under CFLs, in a 1'4"x1'4" space. Before I embark on this journey though, I have a question.

I'll be using a growtent. It has vent flaps on the sides and back near the bottom. I'll be using an 18/6 light cycle all the way through. Now, during the "dark" period, i'll have to leave at least one flap vent open to allow fresh air to enter. With this flap open, some ambient light is bound to get into the tent, not very bright light mind you, just soft light that might creep in through the vent flaps.

Will this light cause my plant to hermi in any way? Instead of an 18/6 light cycle, do you recommend any other light cycle for this plant (lowryder #2)? The seeds are feminized BTW.

Thanks for your input.
Peace n Pot

HumbleGrower

 

[BadRabbit]

Humble,

Unless this is an autoflowering strain, you'll need to rethink that plan, use 18/6 for vegitative growth only, when ready to begin flowering, switch to 12/12 and stay there through the rest of the grow. This is standard operating procedure for virtually all grows!

Block as much light as you can, there should be no more than a moonlight night might put on plants, during the dark phase.

Hermies can occur is you have too much light infiltration, among other reasons, but you should be able to control this is in a tent grow within an enclosed area.

best,
rabbit

 

[Sandnut]

Its posted in the auto forum its most likely an auto he is talking about lol.

Try to mount up some kind of filter so you can block the light, its better to be on the safe side..they cant take any kind of light during the dark period, if you cant solve this problem id suggest you rather go with a 24h light regime... I think lowryders respond better to that then other autos

 

[HumbleGrower]

BadRabbit: "Unless this is an autoflowering strain.."

hehe

Yeah dude, its gonna be LowRyder #2, which is a full autoflowering strain. I already know about light cycles and how to induce flowering with them. I was more concerned with the plant going hermi from ambient light; I know this would happen FOR SURE with a regular plant that is already in 12/12, but am wondering if it would happen or what are the chances of it happening to an autoflowering strain, something that is feminized, and something that is in an 18/6 light cycle all the way through for its entire life.
Thanks for the input.

Peace.

Edit: Okay, I have been Googling and it seems as though many people prefer the 20/4 light cycle for their autoplants. Now my main concern is light leakage into the garden, and as stated before, it'll probably amount to TV flicker, if that. Already i'm heavily leaning towards a 22/2 light cycle. The breeder (Joint Doc) even says that an 18/6 cycle is recommended, and any less will diminish yields. I think the 2 hours of "almost" complete darkness will help in resin/aroma production while not slowing down an already short lifespan.
Input?
Thanks.

 

[BadRabbit]

doh! Yeh, saw it on the IC front page and didn't know it was AF strain ... neverrmind.

but, by the way, WHY would you mess around with an AF strain in an indoor grow? Is it taxing or confusing in some way to reduce light schedules?

 

[HumbleGrower]

Why?
IDK, they're cool to grow, don't require seperate light cycles or rooms, some people don't have the room or live in apartments, the list goes on. Many people grow AF strains indoors. Don't believe me? Just look on the front page of this sub-forum; the majority of the grows are indoor grows.

Peace.

 

[Rudy R Alis]

Here is why I grow autos

13 inches tall 8 weeks from dry seed.

I don't use a light timer just turn it off when I go to sleep and turn it back on when I wake up. My closet is not light proof and the light cycle changes daily. I've never worried about light leaks, never had a female autoflower turn hermie for any reason.

 

[the END]

What strain is that Mr. Rudy?
...looks like LR2? and at what week is the picture if you harvested at the 8th?

 

[Rudy R Alis]

(LR#2 x Masterlow) x Blue Streak.

The pic is at 8 weeks, it needed 1 one more week but I cut it early for a going away session with a close friend.

 

[HumbleGrower]

Rudy R Alis: "I don't use a light timer just turn it off when I go to sleep and turn it back on when I wake up. My closet is not light proof and the light cycle changes daily. I've never worried about light leaks, never had a female autoflower turn hermie for any reason."

Oh man, that comment right there made my day. I have been worried about it and now I feel confident that i'll grow some nice bud. BTW rudy, that is one awesome looking plant!
Thanks for the replies.

Peace.

 

[IwannatokeNbone]

a good auto at 70 days like clockwork is my goal also, i get just as high of good autos as i do of kind nugs. when u factor in grow space that produces bud not clones then autos also out yeild. rudy r lis has it down .

 

[BadRabbit]

Sorry for going off line, but I'm back.

didn't mean to challenge your intelligence by asking that question, it was a geniune lack of knowledge.

Since posting that, I went off and read a lot about autoflowering strains, both here and several of the other large boards ... I have to say, and I mean no offence, that I would still consider them a bad idea for the following reasons:

1. The overwhelming weight of opinion in the groups from experienced posters is that the AF strains tend to be of significantly lower quality and higher unpredictability in results. Hermie's are higher as well. That's not to say that someone, as several have posted in this thread, haven't found a good plant or two, but use the search function, read up on it from others (don't take my word for it).

2. You're sacrificing a ton of quality for almost nothing ... here's how difficult a normal flowering strain is ... I walk into my garden, look at the plants and go, "ok, time to flower", I then adjust the little red off tab on my timer to add 6 hours to the off cycle. It's easy to figure out ... the red tab and the green tab are exactly opposite each other. It takes a grand total of about 20 seconds and is, even for me, painfully easy.

Works every time ... no additional rooms, space or nutrients or anything is needed.

Again, I don't mean to offend, but I recommend you study the options and consider those choices after learning more.

In the mean time, I wish you a successful and rewarding grow.

cheers,
rabbit

 

[lowrydergrower]

so you are saying lowryder #2 has a better chance of hermies popping up than lets say jtr by subcool?

 

[BadRabbit]

did I say that?

No, I suggested that based on what I read, that the new grower should investigate what others are saying about the AF strains.

You are free to draw your own conclusions.

 

[smokefrogg]

autoflower strains, such as lowryder #2 do not care about your light cycle

you're not going to get hermaphrodites or anything of the like, if you can it would give you more bud if you give it more light, why not keep it on 24/7?

p.s. to the naysayers, i have had lowryder #2 and i really dig it, i like the unique taste, i am not a lightweight and definitely felt the effects, got some lowryder #2 x afghan going right now, gonna' chop chop real soon and boy am i drooling looking forward to it...to each their own

 

[Muddy]

I would match Mi5 or Diesel Ryder against just about any full size strain for taste and potency. I just finished some Diesel Ryder that is so potent that I can't finish 1/4 of a J. And I'm a daily smoker with high tolerance. I've been growing autos for 3 years, have never had a hermie. Yes, there are some stability issues, but given that auto flowering plants are still relatively new that's to be expected. As breeders refine their lines they will become more stable. Hard to beat something that is start to finish in 8-9 weeks with no fuss.

 

[HumbleGrower]

Sorry for going off line, but I'm back.

didn't mean to challenge your intelligence by asking that question, it was a geniune lack of knowledge.

Since posting that, I went off and read a lot about autoflowering strains, both here and several of the other large boards ... I have to say, and I mean no offence, that I would still consider them a bad idea for the following reasons:

1. The overwhelming weight of opinion in the groups from experienced posters is that the AF strains tend to be of significantly lower quality and higher unpredictability in results. Hermie's are higher as well. That's not to say that someone, as several have posted in this thread, haven't found a good plant or two, but use the search function, read up on it from others (don't take my word for it).

2. You're sacrificing a ton of quality for almost nothing ... here's how difficult a normal flowering strain is ... I walk into my garden, look at the plants and go, "ok, time to flower", I then adjust the little red off tab on my timer to add 6 hours to the off cycle. It's easy to figure out ... the red tab and the green tab are exactly opposite each other. It takes a grand total of about 20 seconds and is, even for me, painfully easy.

Works every time ... no additional rooms, space or nutrients or anything is needed.

Again, I don't mean to offend, but I recommend you study the options and consider those choices after learning more.

In the mean time, I wish you a successful and rewarding grow.

cheers,
rabbit

Ok, as for your points:

1. I can agree with you here to a certain extent. Yes Autoflowering strains are fairly new and they are still in a stage of refinement IMO, but already there have been some nice results. DieselRyder & AutoAK come to mind. Hermies, IDK about that, unless you're dealing with feminized seed. Theres always a chance of that with female seeds. The genetics of autoflowering strains is such that they flower under all sorts of light cycles, usually anything from 18/6 to a full 24. Reasons for making an autoflowering version of a strain: short statue, quick flowering under veg-like light cycles, cutting the entire growth in half sometimes.

2. mmmm, I can taste the scarcasm, lol.
Yes, I too know how to use a timer and grow regular strains.

As for my grow, I put a seed of lowryder #2 (feminized) between 2 paper towels like a day ago. Nothing.
So day 2 I have taken it out of the paper towels and put in into a starter cube (GH Rapid Rooter), placed it into a bowl, poked two small holes in the lid for ventilation and put it on. Then placed it back on top of my cable converter box which gets nice & warm.
Well see what happens. Thanks & Peace all.

HumbleGrower

 

[Batboy]

Humble,

What's the ventilation situation? If you're leaving flaps open, then you have no plan for odor control?

Beware the stinky LR2. I could not contain the smell of 2 of those things, each under 10 inches, in an unsealed environment. Stunk up my whole house and posed a real security threat.

 

[HumbleGrower]

Batboy:

I have 3 flaps near the bottom of the tent. I plan on leaving one or two open, depending on how things run once i'm actually on a roll.

I have a Can-Filter 705 for order control. I plan on only growing one plant (fem) and grow her hydro in a mix of rockwool GroCubes and perlite.

I originally was using a 4" inductor fan that "supposedly" moved 80CFM. Bullcrap. My small desk fan moves more air than that thing, and this is WITHOUT the filter attached. With the filter attached & in place, airflow was practically non-existent.

I moved up to a Hydrofarm ActiveAir Blower. It is rated at 95CFM. Now, with all the bends and twists in the duct, and with the filter attached, it moves a respectable amount of air. Also with that inductor fan, with the almost nil airflow, I was worried about temps. Now I can rest easy about that.

I plan on running the blower without the filter attached until I can actually smell something, then i'll attach it.

I also have a tiny desk fan that moves a decent amount of airflow inside to circulate the air. Also, i'll be venting into the same room, not outside.

Peace

HumbleGrower

 

[Batboy]

Humble,

I am far from being a ventilation expert, so you should take these comments with a grain of salt and do your own research; however, your fan/filter combo concerns me. If odor control/security is not a major concern, just say so and I'll move on. . . but I foresee odor problems.

Your filter is rated for a max scrubbing (sucking) of 26 cfm or a max exhaust (blowing) of 13 cfm. With a fan moving 95 cfm, I question whether the stinky air will have enough contact time with the carbon for any odor removal to take place. Do you know anyone that successfully uses that fan/filter combo? Additionally, I'm just not sure if a filter with only 1.1 pounds of charcoal is going to be able to handle even one LR2.

What kind of growtent is this? You mention a 1'4"x1'4" area, but I imagine that this is just the footprint of the hydro setup. With open flaps, you're going to need a fan strong enough to create that negative pressure to keep in the stink. If you've got an unsealed tent without negative pressure, you might as well not even use the filter, because it isn't going to help.

If you are more experienced in matters of ventilation than I am giving you credit for, I apologize. If you couldn't tell, LR2 was my first growing experience and the powerful smell scarred me for life. While I don't have that many grows under my belt, I have not experienced a single plant that has come anywhere near the LR2's odor.