Rick Ratlin's World

[rick ratlin]

Hey there Farmers, Rick Ratlin here. I joined the farm summer 2011, green as hell. I spent about a year prior just soaking up everything I could cannabis related. Plenty of time was spent making sure the path I was taking was the right one. There are so many details that need to be taken into account, its overwhelming for someone like myself that's never been to a grow in his life. Books can only get you so far, but sites like the thcfarmer can take you the rest of the way. This is my favorite and only regular site that I go too. So I jumped in and started an Al b Fuct style sog grow with hydroton as my base media. Things have been tweaked and changed from time to time. It's been a joy so far, learning lots about the plant and myself along the way.
This is going to be my "first" grow diary here on the farm. Had one going long ago, but it got lost in the update. So I guess this is my debut. I'd like to give all thanks to all the thcfarmers for all the knowledge and help along the way. There's just too many here to thank. I'm not much of a forum type person, but this place is different, which I like. If you have any questions on the grow, please just ask. I've kept a relatively low profile here, but at some point I figured I needed to get to posting my grow. I've learned a lot from the farm, and would like to contribute.
Anyway, I'm currently in my first run in coco beds, and thanks to all the great info here, things are going great. But let's start from way back….when I grew everything in hydroton….

 

[rick ratlin]

Here's an old perpetual grow. 4 trays, 2 600 watt hps in cool tube aaw combo. Strains were Blubonic(seeds of life) and some crappy Greenhouse strain. Single cola dog in 5.5 inch black plastic pots. 2-3 plants per square foot. No veg, clones cut about 7 inches tall.

 

[rick ratlin]

Small trays turned into 3x3 trays, and 600's turned into 1ks. Al b fuct style. single cola, spaced 2 weeks apart. Blubonic seeds of life. All Hydroton, ebb and flow in the first pic,top drip the rest of the way (30 seconds 4 times during lights on,the first watering when the lights turn on, then 3 hours after that, no watering during hours 9-12), sterile system. Easy peasy, but lots of reservoirs to clean every 10 days. Also, flooding a 3x3 inner dimension tray even 3 inches takes a lot of water. So, I switched to 5.5 inch pots and top dripped through black hole emitters. They were expensive, but they worked perfect in 5.5 inch pots. After the first pic, all others are top drip. I Bought, 8 bags of hydroton, and never anymore. Hydroton was sterilized after every run with 50% food grade h2o2, dried and then stored until reuse. Lots of pre and post work, but the system was very easy to maintain. Top dripping also saved a lot of water.

Stardawg #4 Top Dawg

 

[rick ratlin]

Starting from the bottom right tray, going clockwise. Stardawg #6 (Top Dawg), Romulan Cheese (Pisces Genetics), Chem Urkel (Top Dawg), Romulan Haze (Pisces Genetics) Harvest every two weeks.

4 days later (with method 7 filter)

From The backside Chem Urkel. Giddee Up!

 

[rick ratlin]

A month Later…From closest tray clockwise. Chem Urkel, Romulan Haze, a crazy mix of "first time run" strains, and Stardawg #6 (Top Dawg). Still all single colas, except the mix, which was my first real attempt at a scrog. That was day 1 of that tray.

Frosty side nug Chem Urkel.

 

[LittleDabbie]

Make room on your sofa im coming over to smoke yer stash ;)

 

[waayne]

Nice clean setup @rick ratlin

Really nice genetics as well,Star Dawg and Romulan Haze are faves of mine,but man, your Chem Urkle looks amazing!

 

[rick ratlin]

Lets go back 2 months, I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's a run of Stardawg from seed, on the left tray is the #4 pheno, the right is the #5 pheno.

Stardawg #5 pheno. My first "chunky strain" I don't grow for yield, but this one got me moist.

This strain was almost hilarious to trim. Took almost 1/4 of the time it usually takes to trim.

 

[rick ratlin]

But before anything goes in the rotation, they get tested, usually in a single cola fashion. Right to left, Stardawg #4, Stardawg #6, Chem Urkel, and a strain I won't mention. You'd figure that I had that GSC on the left?

Don't let your eyes fool you, that Stardawg #6 is a monster. I called her the Angry stardawg. Greasy, and I mean greasy, not sticky. And tastes straight up like pine, menthol, and garlic/leek. At This point I really started to realize how important genetics were and how lucky I was to be able to shop at the farm and obtain Top Dawg seeds. Thats the Stardawg #4 pheno. Way denser than the #6, and has a really nice buzz. This plant was the first time that I understood what all this talk about Chemdog genetics is. Really great time in my growing career. There's no cut availability where I'm at, so its gotta come from seeds in RR's garden.

Thanks a lot @waayne, that means a whole lot coming from a grower like yourself. So here's another Chem urkel pheno close up for you. This one went purple super easy. This is the bud when you put it in the grinder, the kief flows through the screen like water, its really frosty. Very lavender type smell, the smoothest smoke so far in the garden. Goes purple without the cold. My go to for a nice easy going smoke.

Here's a close up. Go ahead and zoom in.

 

[rick ratlin]

Gotta have healthy moms to produce enough clones that have that vigor to root fast. I ditched the aero cloners for bubble cloners from various size plastic tubs/totes/tupperware. Nothing is off limits, and to be honest making cloners is one of my favorite things to do.

Here's a 32 banger. about 6 gallons to fill. Fed with 2 four port air pumps, the ones at the pet store will do for this application, as you don't want a shit ton of bubbles. Don't mind the dead clone in the middle. Stress training.

Bubble curtains are under each net pot, filled with hydroton. The bubblers are the round green ones from wally world, held down always with goop(purple one) Someone on the farm put me on it years ago, and I'm sorry I can't remember that persons name.
I like to take thick clones, about 7- 9 inches in length. I only use tap water, mine is about 100 ppm.

Shitty cloner, but still gets it done.

Hey @caregiverken , do you remember this one? The first ever @Garden of Dreams cloner contest. You won the cloner contest deservedly with your air layering clone, but mine was the dumbest. Rice Cooker Cloner. Still rooted too!

Here's a cloner in action.

 

[rick ratlin]

@LittleDabbie gotta spot just for you. No Dabs for me though. That shite is reserved for music festivals for me.
Here's a pretty simple conveyor veg station. Bonsai moms on the right, clones in the middle get shade light, and the next batch for flower, just in case you'd like to preveg. each side has a 250 watt hps, no blues in my veg area.

 

[LittleDabbie]

Hey without guys like you, Guys like me couldn't make our oil's :D

Keep up the pic flood yer killing it bro! :D

 

[rick ratlin]

Gotta take a break to watch some pigskin and do this

but I'll leave ya with some porn. Cheeto Kush

 

[LittleDabbie]

^^^ Ohh merrr gawdddddddd i want some :D

 

[sixstring]

Yeah buddy real nice grow show and walk through. Your making all those genetics shine.and nice drying cab/rack.subbed :)

 

[rick ratlin]

Thanks for the kind words fellas. @sixstring I just started reading your diary, seriously, don't know how I missed it. You are straight killing it! Now that we have a little background info, lets get back to the present. The current room has two 1k bulbs. One ballast is magnetic, and the other is electronic. Each light is in a cool tube modified to attach to a large AAW reflector. I do with what I have or can get cheap, so that's the light set up. I imagine the cool tube cuts about 6 inches of light off of each side, no sweat. It also allows me to place the lights closer during the first few weeks of flower to control stretch, about 8-14 inches. I'll admit, AAW's can cause serious light bleaching below the inside of each wing if you leave them too close during the last few weeks in flower. Under each light is a 4x4 ebb and flow tray sitting on custom wood tables on castors.. Smart pot inserts are inside, with about a 2 inch layer of hydroton on the bottom. Mother Earth Coco is on top, 100% pure, no filler, topped with Bokashi, cocoa shells, and Pyrophyllite clay from vitality herbs( thanks @salmonslammer !) Using Heavy 16 bloom, their original formula Fire, Caps bennies, homemade em, pfe's, and homemade bokashi. Using H16's Foliar once per week for the first 28 days. I'll get to the recipes and stuff later. Pretty much going by H16's schedule, and teas once per week.
Here's the tray from the floor- From this angle I noticed it looks even, but the tray is definitely on a slope to allow better drainage. The drains go into shallow trays that get emptied when I get to it. My watering schedule and rate has almost no run-off. It's probably because I used only coco, but whenever I watered to run-off, the plants droop for a long time.

And the full set

Plants were pre vegged for around 8 days in 5.5" square pots full of coco. This marks day 1 in veg in the "Flower Room"
This strain is White HP BX from seed Top Dawg. 4 seeds, 3 males, and this female. Has that ridiculous stretch that I've read is similar to the White.

A day later with the net started

Spent 9 days in Colorado seeing Phish at Dicks, fishing, and camping, and came home to this. It's what happens when you're not there every day to keep tucking branches. Oh well. Time for the second net. PS This is officially Day 1 of Flower.

Fast forward 17 days (sorry, forgot to take any pics!) A second layer of net added to keep the canopy under control. I'd like to mention that this is by far the least attention I've payed to a particular run. Lots of music festivals, summer fun etc. Anyway, things are moving nicely, Day 17 flower-

 

[GoldiNugs]

Nice setup dude. Very clen, very professional. Great looking plants and buds.

 

[rick ratlin]

I don't have a fish eye lens, so this will have to do. Panoramic RR style still day 17

 

[rick ratlin]

A little underskirt shot. I found that sometimes these inserts don't sit up if they're not full, so I improvised and used 6" bungie cords to tighten it up. Works like a charm.

Here's a shot of my shitty irrigation set up. It's been a real bitch to automate this set up. Trying to find the right pump with the right emitters to cover the coco without spraying water everywhere is a bitch. Right now I'm using a 1/3 hp sump pump with a 25 psi regulator and a filter. Each tray has different emitters as I've been trying to find the best option. Also you can see the layer of bokashi and cocoa shells.

 

[rick ratlin]

Skipping 12 days to day 29. Done with stretch, time to get frosty. another panoramic