WOS AK Landraces Cheap Chinese LED closet experiment

[BrownThumb]

OK, so I am already probably 6 weeks into this thing, so will post some baby pix of the Afghan Kush, but there is also a Bhutanese Thimpu (Holy Smoke Seeds) baby (The only Sativa in the pix), an unknown Auto-flower and another baby that popped up the other day out of the blue, likely another Bhutanese baby.

Medium: Soil that's been used once for Auto-flowers.
Containers: 3 Gallon Smart Pots
Light: 180 Watt Blackstar plus a cheap LED panel from China that runs at about 240 watts in veg mode and 384 in flower mode.

The plan was not clear initially, I started a bunch of Auto's which was a huge failure for some reason, ended up with 4x World Of Seeds Afghan Kush Land races, 1X Blue Himalaya or Kush Ryder mutant dwarf, 1x Bhutanese and maybe another Bhutanese, but could also be an auto.

The pics start around 8/22/12, the first of the WOS AK cracked the soil on 8/9/12.

 

[BrownThumb]

BTW, the SCROG idea is no more, started it too late, current pics to follows later. I am trying to decide if I will force flowering in a few days or let them go a bit to increase yield, although I am probably already pushing my luck on space. I suspect 3 AK females, but it is not totally clear yet if that is the case. The jury is out on the Bhutanese sex too, as it is only about 7 internodes tall (6").

 

[BrownThumb]

WOS AK Circa 9/18-9/19/12

WOS AK Circa 9/18-9/19/12

This is 4 and 5 days after the Chinese LED was added. It seems to be helping a little, IMO.

 

[supermanlives]

looking good man. i needs to get me some sativa.

 

[BrownThumb]

I really have zero experience w/ Sativa, but the Bhutanese is extremely stocky like a Indica. Branchy, too. I had it in my head that Sativa=stretchy and tall, but apparently that is not necessarily always the case.

 

[BrownThumb]

Status...

Status...

I think I am going to wait one more week before dropping the light cycle. The goal is to pull a QP out of 23"x24" but I am so unorganized this go that I have ended up with 7 plants going in this tiny space. Granted, one of those is a dwarf mutant auto blue Himalaya or HK Ryder maybe 8" tall that may equate to a doobie when complete, but nonetheless it is a tiny space in which to work. The dark green baby to the left which is literally about 6" from a Blackstar 180 is the Sativa (Bhutanese Thimpu) and is looking like a mutant in a good way, but that may be because I am bombarding it with light. It is just now at the 8th inter node and that is why I am thinking one more week. I still don't know all of the sexes, but I am afraid they will all be females as I was thinking about a cross. I suspect I may be dreaming to think I can pull a QP considering I am being a lazy grower and not really "working it" via LST, et al, but perhaps good things will happen.

 

[BrownThumb]

Current visual

Current visual

Something for people to look at... I like the the variegated greens of the one in the upper right, it's an attractive plant. The one below it just got a shot of blood meal, so hopefully it greens up some. Try to control your envy when you feast your eyes on that auto at the bottom right that is flowering... That's gonna be a hell of a fatty! The little sativa is cruising right along as well....

 

[BrownThumb]

Latest visual

Latest visual

Today...yeah, the one is greening up... BTW, I lied, it was Guano, not blood meal that I used for N.

 

[BrownThumb]

Current visual

Current visual

So here we are today... It's getting harder to tell that 2 of the AK's are fully 2 weeks younger than the others.

One of these, the shortest of the AK's has annoyingly dense vegetation. The littlest one of all (Sativa) is way more dense than I would have imagined after all I have heard about Sativa's being uber stretchy. It could just be the hellish amount of light it has gotten.

The BT has a real interesting smell that I have not yet been able to label. It is exotic and reminds me of an Indica though it is supposed to be pure or nearly pure Sativa. It's also interesting to note the different texture/feel the Sativa has having only grown Indica in the past.

Right now I am trying to decide when to flower. I wanted to start last week, but I don't want to bone myself on yield so think a bit more veg may be in order. Then again I don't have a lot of room and they're already slammed together. Thoughts?

 

[BrownThumb]

Latest installment

Latest installment

Status... The Sativa was bad so I stuffed it in the corner and that is why you cannot see it. They're starting to look like plants now, so maybe a few more days until I drop the cycle. I am thinking I will go 14/10 since these are Indica, but if the Sativa does not flower at 14, then I will have a problem.

 

[Grant Holt]

Looking good & stocky

 

[BrownThumb]

Variation of phenotype in Auto flowering varieties

Variation of phenotype in Auto flowering varieties

There is no such thing as proven by the following snapshots. This may be a day or 2 early, but I was tired of looking at it. I am guessing this was a Hindu Kush Ryder as I was trying those and Himalayan Blue and this doesn't smell blue.

 

[BrownThumb]

Dropping the cycle

Dropping the cycle

Last day of Veg is here - going 13x11 tomorrow.

The Sativa could be a problem if it doesn't kick at 13 hours, but I can always tie it down if it goes nuts. The difference in day length between Bhutan and NorCal is not as much as you'd think, otherwise I would have gone 12x12 to play it safe. I think the AK's would kick at 14, but again the Sativa is complicating things.

The sizes range from 16" for the smallest of the WOS Afghan Kush Land races up to about 22".

The Bhutanese from around Thimpu is about 14" tall for the record. It's also LED-bushy just like the smallest of the AK.

Doubting I will yank a quarter elbow ATP and I am concerned about air buds since this is only my second go w/ LED and I have not yet done well, but I shall remain hopeful. I have included porn for your amusement.

 

[silverhazefiend]

I think it shouldnt be that hard to get a ounce off each plant ..u have about 180+384 ? Even if its only 384 watts of led ..I think it's possible ..u don't wanna wate ligt with led so I would suggest gettin a small tent or make a area dedicated with Mylar fr the plants ..the keys is not to waste light and get maximum penetration from the light

 

[BrownThumb]

I think it shouldn't be that hard to get a ounce off each plant ..u have about 180+384 ? Even if its only 384 watts of led ..I think it's possible ..u don't wanna waste light with led so I would suggest getting a small tent or make a area dedicated with Mylar fr the plants ..the keys is not to waste light and get maximum penetration from the light

Agreed, as the budget allows that is the plan (tent or Mylar, etc.). I just blew my allowance for a while on lighting, so I am just going to have to tape some paper to the walls and suck it for now.

The lighting is iffy, the 180 is maybe 90-110 watts and the other is at least 345 but may be as much as 384 watts. So I guess it would be safe to say around 430 watts.

Thanks for the good advice and stopping by!

 

[BrownThumb]

Not much going on yet...

Not much going on yet...

So here we are at about 5 days into 13/11.

 

[BrownThumb]

roughly 10 days into 13/11

roughly 10 days into 13/11

One of the better specimens ended up being male, so 3 females and the one male out of the 4 Afghan's. I can't tell what sex the Sativa is yet, but it sure is bushier than I had expected from a true Sativa.

I discovered that if you add warm water to Guano and leave it for a few days to ferment, the smell when you open the container is horrifying . No shit. Like death. I think that will mostly do it for fertilization, if not completely for these plants.

One of the pics shows a close up of the bushy little Sativa stuck in the pot next to what is now the best of the Afghan females. Not much going on flower-wise, but they are starting to thicken up a bit.

 

[ItsTopShelf]

brown thumb i dont wana be a dick. but u could of gotten better plants from CFLS.. honestly. leds are garbage unless u get the expensive ones.. and even then its better to use hps or mh.. all day.. over led for price atleast.. but ya u could of loaded that thing with CFLS .. made an extraction system for all the cfl heat.. and good to go.. but anyways.. if it were me. id trash that auto.. u could of grown that thing all the way threw in a beer cup.. lol i had a problem with autos mutants too. no yield .. so instead if i want small plants ill do 3 weeks veg n flower . better yields for sure.. and u can buy pandafilm online to line ur room for cheap and it will help with reflecting light back at them ..

other wise the plants look good .. but honestly man i bought some chinese leds. and was very dissapointed

 

[BrownThumb]

Yeah, I'll figure it out some day. Thanks for the pointers!

 

[Phychotron]

I've been wanting to check out those green LED panels in action for awhile now. How much did the panel cost? Can you post a photo of it with the plants? If your Chinese light is inefficient you can always boost it with some fluorescents, like maybe some T5's on the side of it. I'm not a fan of CFL's because of the clutter. I think the Chinese lights are getting better with better wavelengths, but it will be some time before they understand what it takes to grow bud. I bet they test their stuff out on lettuce and stuff thats legal in China and they work great. I'm still going with Advanced LED Diamond series after being duped into a few Blackstars.

Your plants look like they could use a good feeding. Are you just using guano and soil?

I would trim the under brush at 2 weeks, ditch that lower branches and shaded lower buds that are barely coming in in comparison to the rest. In the third pic of the last three you posted, I would chop that whole thing out--at least the bulk of the thin leaf section, leaving the thicker healthier leaves if there are any.

Most hydro stores sell the panda film by the foot, ~$1-2 for a 10' wide section. Call around.