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AF-AK-47 beginner grow

coredump

Member
Hiya all.

I wanted to first say that I have been lurking on these boards for a while and have learned a lot. I appreciate everyone that has added to this site. The information you all post is invaluable. Thanks! I am by no means, a expert at this. I will be more than willing to listen to any feedback.

That being said, one can only learn so much by reading before the desire to have a hands-on approach takes ... root.

So the following is a record of my first attempt at a grow. I chose an AF due to the quick turn around and near instant satisfaction. After much study, I decided to go with the Auto Flowerring AK-47. I picked up a 5 pack from "The Attitude Seed Bank". Seeds were delivered in a cursory manner and I was pleased with the customer support's reponses prior to placing the order.

Germination: I placed one seed into a sterile shot glass filled with tepid sterile water and placed it in a warm/dark place. This was done with all 5 seeds.

I chose this method over the napkin method after having read that the root has miniscule hairs that attach to the napkin and can damage the seedlnig when transplanted, if handled roughly.

I should mention a few preparations that took place prior to ever having touched the seeds! I choose to grow in my master bathroom due to itss lack of "public" usage. I completely emptied it, cleaned the walls with 10-1 bleach water. I securely hung two 400wt HPS lights about 4-5 feet above the tub's surface. I ran the power from the ballasts into a surge protector and from there, into the extension cord. All power connections were placed into a five gallon bucket to prevent my untimely demise. So far, it seems to have worked. I am still alive. :jump:

Soil I added the stuff below... One part compost to 3 parts Lite premium potting soil. (0.85% nitro, 0.15%phosphorus, 0.10% potash) into a 5 gallon bucket. I added 4 handfuls of the Seed Starter and 8 handfuls of the vermiculite.

PC210020.jpg


I know the phosphorus show in the pic is extremely high, so this is what I did with it. I took 2 teaspoons of the pellets, crushed them, and diluted them into a gallon of water. It took 2 days before all the particulate finally disolved. After thouroughly mixing the above mentioned soil, I filled 20% of each 1 gallon potter (holes on the bottom for drainage) and liberally poured the phosphorus laced water into it and let that sit for 3 days under a single HPS to evap the water. I don't know how its gonna work, it may be a waste if it all runs off after the first few waterings. I did this because I figured by the time the roots were that deep, they would be needing that good "P" lovin. Good idea? No clue. Feedback? I filled the remaining space with the semi-soil listed above. PH is at 6.6 according to my cheap Rapitest PH tester.

Ok, back to the shot glasses.... I have a 100% rate of germination after 36 hours! I was loving my choice in seed banks about then! I placed them no deeper then 1/4 inch into fully expanded peat moss tablets. One per tablet. I placed these on a plate. Placed the plate on a heating pad, put my HUGE popcorn bowl over the plate and heating pad. The whole thing sat in the dark bathroom for about 18 hours. At this point, water leaves strarted appearing. I could barely see them throught the condensation buiild up on the inside if the bowl. I should mention, I kept about a 1/4 inch of water on the bottom of the plate during this process.

So now I had leaves! I'm well on my way. :watchplant: I popped off the bowl and turned on ONE HPS light and they bagan thier 24/0 cycle. Temps were in the mid to lower 80's now. I waited until I saw about a one inch growth and transplanted them from the plate, into the one gallon potters I mentions before, peat moss tablet and all..



More to follow...
 
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coredump

Member
-=day 3=-

-=day 3=-

My bathroom haven. . .

day35.jpg


Real leaves. I was so happy.
day33.jpg


Still running one 400wt HPS hanging about 4-5 feet above it. temps at 82 degrees, ph 6.6, humidity at 18%. (not sure if its relative or absolute. I'll have to check later.)

I waited until day 3 and watered them just enough, but not enough to have it pour profusely from the bottom holes. Oh, I decided not to use the little drainage catch plates for under the potters thinking it could just go down the tub's drain. Hmmmmmm do nutes stain porcelin?

I put a humidifier to up the humidity to 38% and faced my fan at the ballasts to cool them down. The stems and leaves were gently being blown by this wind by proxy.
 

coredump

Member
-=day 17=-

-=day 17=-

All appears well and good, cept that one lil short bastard...

PC110015.jpg


A close up.

PC110017.jpg


I'm watering only when the weight of the potter feels empty. Turns out that is every 3-4 days. I have both 400WT HPS lights on now. 24/0. 4 feet above canvas. :watchplant:
 

coredump

Member
-=day 23=-

-=day 23=-

I walk into the room and check my babies. All looked good with one exception....

PC170010.jpg


DINGLE BERRIES!!! Did I mention these seeds were purchased as "femanised"... It may be my fault. Perhaps I stressed it out somehow. I have no idea. I gently covered it with a plastic bag from Wallyworld and took it to the kitchen (3 rooms away) and performed an autopsy on him. I saved the trimmings for Bubble later. Is it even worth it? Again, I'm new to this.


edit: I wrote and told them what happened. I asked if I had any options or if I was just screwed. No response yet. 3 days ago. . .
 
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coredump

Member
-=day 40=-

-=day 40=-

40 days and no nights...

PC210016.jpg


12-13 inches. :) is that good?

PC210017.jpg


Close up

PC210018.jpg



The lil short one has lighter, smaller leaves. No curling or holes. I'm kind of at a loss as how to properly handle it. Any suggestions?
 

coredump

Member
-=fertilzer treatments I'm usin=-

-=fertilzer treatments I'm usin=-

Every 10 days, I add 1 teaspoon of "OMRI listed, Alaska fish fertilizer 5-1-1 to a gallon of water, and water away.

Watering schedule still seems to have changed a bit. The potter are becoming light every 2-3 days now. I am not flooding it. I pour about 3 cup fulls until it drains into the soil. If the water doesn't pour out through the holes after a minute, I add another cup and walk away. It usually spits out about a 1/16 of a cup when I do that.

I'm flowering now. I still use the 5-1-1 tsp - a gallon of water, but now I'm crushing a pinch of the 0-48-0 and diltuing that into the same aforemention gallon of water. I did this for the first time today.

I think I need to pick up a 1-2-3 fert. The problem lies in finding it in local stores. Everything I'm using is because of availibility. I know there is better out there. I need to find some fast. I'm guessing my girls are getting hungry.
 
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OPT

Member
Though I know nothing about auto-flowering strains, I would say you would wanna transplant them gals into a bigger container. I understand they auto flower so the end container size doesn't need to be huge. But, if they are drying out that fast, I would guess they are starting to get root bound.

I would guess they are going to start to stretch soon, that transplant will really help them along with this.

Again, don't take my advice as perfect because I have no idea how those auto flowers work, but they look good so far man, good luck.

OPT
 

coredump

Member
-= stretch =-

-= stretch =-

I will pick up some bigger potters tomorrow first thing. I don't think it would hurt. rather be safe then sorry.


Below is a link that explains the importance of what he is saying...
 
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licknrol

Member
I think you need to lower your light a foot or two and install a fan just to blow the heat off the top of your plants. I grew auto ak47's with just 23 watt fluoros and my plants were bigger than yours at that age. But i had my lights as close as possible without burning, around 2-3'' above the plant. Before i had a fan for circulation but i didn't have a fan just for blowing the heat off the tops and i had to raise the lights way further away to prevent burning. Your ak's are doing good but i think they would have been way bigger if you had your lights a lot closer. Good choice going with auto ak's they're awesome.
 

coredump

Member
helpluvr - I'll be adding the leaves to my next spaghetti sauce, purely for flavor.

socbutter - Does that mean I'm "It" now? *Looks around for someone else to tag. muhahahaha

dkmonk - If no one else shared, I wouldn't know nearly as much as I do now. I'm glad to add, especially if it helps someone else learn.

licknrol - I tried lower both 400 watt HPS lights to 2 feet, 6 inches. Temps jumped to around 92... I reraised it on seeing that. And that was with my insanely strong fan hitting off the ballast and then the plants. This fan can seriously be felt 50 feet away if I turn it on all the way. It's on the lowest setting right now so it doesn't bend them in half. I thought of putting a cheap osculating fan in there, dedicated soley to the plants. It just seems like it might be a bit of overkill in such a confined space. Do u think adding a second fan and lowering the lights would really help? They are already waving at me when I walk in the room.
 

dkmonk

Member
Yah a small oscilatting fan in addition will be fine just point it a couple inches above the canopy.
 

hilbie

Member
id say for 40 days they look ok, i believe u lost growth by keeping the light on all the time, roots grow in the rest period very well, and your light seems to be so high above them, otherwise good work so far, plants look healthy and u should be on your way to good smoke real soon, keep it up., u dont need a bigger container, your plants fine in what u have, just water more often, it will draw in fresh air more then dirt u only need to water once a day or every other, at the stage your at with your plants growth and its size relative to your container , i think potting up would be a waste of time-
 

coredump

Member
I lowered the light to about 2 feet above the canvas. Temps jumped almost immediately, so I turned the fan up a notch and cracked the fresh air intake (window...) a lil more. Temps fell from 92 down to a comfortable 82 degrees and the girls aren't bent over.

Within 45 minutes of lowering the HPS's, the lower large fan leaves were pointing at the ground. I felt for water heft and they are in need. I watered until I got minor drainage and Pray they perk up again. I'll check them again tonight after work. If they haven't improved, the light will be moved back up some.
 

OPT

Member
400 watt lights are generally supposed to be around 18 inches above the canopy. If other plants are shorter....stack them on things..etc to try to get them all as even as possible. With you HPS that far away, your losing precious lumens, which would help in not only the density of the buds...but just the overall growth rate.

I don't really see how your temps can be that high in such a big grow area, you sure you have your heating vents closed to that bathroom? I could understand the temp jump if you were in a small space..but your in a pretty big wide open bathroom.

Either way you'll wanna find a way to get that light down, at least a foot for heavens sake! Theres a great thread on light and diminishing returns somewhere around here, i think in the Grow room and design thread.

You don't want wind to blow too hard directly on your plants...u dont want them to snap, or get wind burn.

Let us know what you figure out.

OPT
 

the.rise

Member
reading what you said about the temp spike when moving the light closer and OPT's remark i have to agree with his statement. get that light closer!

Also, make sure your thermometer isnt reading the temperature of the probe but instead the air around the probe. what i mean to say here is, i noticed by putting the probe on my thermometer under a 1mil thick piece of mylar the temp reading went from 88 down to 80 in a few minutes. the temp probe is black, and under HID lighting that black really likes to soak up light energy and get hot over time.
 

coredump

Member
My thermometer doesnt have an external probe. It reads ambient temps. I believe I have it shown in a pic I posted above.

What are the signs and symptoms of having the lights too close? I read over 85 degrees and it stops growing. (this month's high times mag i believe)
 

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