Virgin Grow - AK-47 In 2x2x5 Tent With 250w HPS

[smokeywokey]

May I ask why you want to wash your buds? Because of the pesticide you used? Did you really go to town? Wouldn't gently washing them with plain water in a nebulizer now be good enough? I DO use H202 in the garden but mainly for germination and root aeration if soil becomeS too compacted. It can also be a useful product if you encounter, god forbid, root rot.

I am of the less is more club but other than my very limited use of H202, I am all organic.

But if you grow in a controlled indoor environment my understanding is that washing your buds is not necessary... but once again I stress that my whole op is organic. It's not as if you have dust and dirt being kicked up by wind like an outdoor grow... or countless unknown pesticides being sprayed by nearby fields belonging to commercial growers. What do you feel you need to be washing off?

Not trying to be contrary... just curious about your motives. Your first grow should be kept as simple as possible... pesticides and non essential treatments are best saved for when you have a handle on the most basic fundamentals of indoor growing. At least... that's the approach I have taken and I have had not one major issue yet. It's easy to take a google deep dive and be overwhelmed with all the different methods and practices out there but always ask yourself... 'is this absolutely necessary to my grow?' If not, maybe save that step for the hundreds of grows that will undoubtedly be in your future... or at the very least, try it on one small fraction of your crop and see if you like the results. That way you aren't plaguing your grow with unnecessary variables that could literally ruin your harvest.

Not a sermon... just my thoughts.

XXkitty

Hi Kitty. You're absolutely right. I'm totally obsessing over this whole grow thing. I wanted it to be completely organic too, not just for a complex terpene profile but because it was cheaper and less complicated. I'll try and chill out a bit but it's sooo cool. I've never ever grown weed before or seen anyone do it either. There are so going to be hundreds of grows in my future. And thanks for offering to help me all the way from Italy! Above and beyond! I was blown away

I agree everyone is really nice in these forums. I've looked at other ones but they're definitely not as cool and friendly as

 

[CannaKitty]

Hi Kitty. You're absolutely right. I'm totally obsessing over this whole grow thing. I wanted it to be completely organic too, not just for a complex terpene profile but because it was cheaper and less complicated. I'll try and chill out a bit but it's sooo cool. I've never ever grown weed before or seen anyone do it either. There are so going to be hundreds of grows in my future. And thanks for offering to help me all the way from Italy! Above and beyond! I was blown away

I agree everyone is really nice in these forums. I've looked at other ones but they're definitely not as cool and friendly as

Yo no problem. The first 3 pages of my journal are me checking on germinating seeds every 3 hours... poking 'em with my fingers and wondering what's wrong ever 15 minutes. I get it!! But, I have learned this so far. The less variables you have to worry about, the less potential problems can arise. As a new grower we already have a plethora of hurdles to navigate that an experienced grower wouldn't think twice about because they have done this before.

Just try to keep it simple. That and patience and I think I we got this.

XxKitty

 

[smokeywokey]

14 day old seedlings in a 600 watt hid light dimmed to 250 watts and 18 inches away.
Watering every 2nd or 3rd day and misting daily. I'm using miracle grow but will transplant into bio grow light mix and add nutrients on second watering. Should i turn the lights up to 400 watts right after i transplant and leave them 18 inches away? And what about the ph, I was told not to worry about that as I'm using soil.

HAPPY 420!!!!

Hi Gamerdad! I read that 250w HPS should be 25 inches away, 400w 40 inches away, 600w 60 inches away etc. It's because they're so hot, not too much light. If you can cool your light with a glass cover or fan/cool tube you can have them closer. There's also a maximum amount of light your plants can actually use, so anymore is just a waste of electricity.

I pH my water. Having the root environment slightly acidic helps with nutrient absorption. I know it all seems a bit of a fuss but as you can probably tell, people here LOOOOVE weed and especially love growing the stuff. If you can make your grow technique as finely tuned as you can, you'll reap the rewards with having lots of super scrummy buds to enjoy.

But then again, weed is a hardy plant that will find a way to grow under the harshest of conditions. I think everyone finds their own way. Everybody does it differently and that's the beauty of it. It's a fun hobby to play around with all sorts of different methods and styles. And sometimes not everyone has a lot of expendable income to throw at it too.

I find it hard to calculate the lumens per square foot. Light distance is key. Over a certain amount is overkill.

I also pinched these notes from nobodyhere's journal. Posted by Flaky1985

I think they need a few roots before having heaps of light too. I'm finding 250w for my 2x2 the perfect sized light. The temperature never gets over 27℃ (80.6℉). There's a guy on youtube that grows monster plants and he reckons the surface temperature of the top leaves is really important too. I'm going to have to find a way to hang my probe so it's at that level.

See! It can get as complicated as you can make it. I'm finding it hard to keep it simple at this stage in my pot growing development.

I hope that helps

 

[Gamerdad2017]

I've put the light up a bit, I had 250 watt hid light 18 inches away and not sure if thats the problem but the heat was always at 30c and humidity barely at 35% and some leaves are curling and looking crisp.

 

[Gamerdad2017]

 

[smokeywokey]

I've put the light up a bit, I had 250 watt hid light 18 inches away and not sure if thats the problem but the heat was always at 30c and humidity barely at 35% and some leaves are curling and looking crisp.

Yup, sounds like your wee babies were getting a bit fried. Be careful with drops of water on the leaves too. They magnify the light and make burn spots (sunscald) that look a bit like leaf septoria at first.

My humidity is always around 75% which is ok for veg but when they start to flower, with all the nooks and crannies it needs to come down, otherwise you can get bud rot apparently.

I'm hopefully getting the fan controller this week so I can start getting fresh air into my tent all the time.

 

[smokeywokey]

Day 30. Day 9 12/12

Just a few pix. They're doing well. Growing fast

Much love, Smokes

 

[SnarlyWeed]

Looking good smoke

 

[smokeywokey]

Day 31

Hi guys. I managed to snap the stem of Cosima (AK #3). It was still attached a bit so I wrapped some medical tape around it. I hope it's ok.

I gave them 1/2 Cup of manure each, and watered til run off. There are roots poking out the bottom of all the pots so tomorrow night I'm going to up pot them to 3l pots. I was going to wait until the regs showed their sex but that might be another week away. I moved the light up too cos the temp at the canopy was reaching 29℃.

The broken one is in the bottom left corner

I had the landlord showing a bunch of people through today cos the property is for sale. I had to move the tent into my room and was a bit concerned they might smell that spicy green, tell-tale aroma but it was all good. ::

 

[smokeywokey]

Day 32 from seed, Day 11 under 12/12

Hello. Got the girls out of the tent for a rearrange. They were sitting on a footstool thingy but were getting too close to the light so now they're on the floor of the tent. Thought I'd take some photos under natural light while I was at it.

Was going to repot but they're too wet still so I'm letting them dry out a bit.

I'm cashed up again so I'm going to get some things for my tent. The fan controller, some acoustic ducting, padded clamps and some yo yos for the lights. And a scrog net cos I need to keep the height down. I want to get some cloth pots and a heatmat for germinating but they can wait, I don't need them yet. I'm glad I haven't got room for a bigger tent otherwise I'd want to get one of those too

Happy growing everyone!

 

[SnarlyWeed]

Love those "real light" pictures. You have some mighty big fan leafs there. Any reason why you are not up potting to fabric pots now? I love mine.
Can we see pictures of your tent after the upgrade?

 

[smokeywokey]

Love those "real light" pictures. You have some mighty big fan leafs there. Any reason why you are not up potting to fabric pots now? I love mine.
Can we see pictures of your tent after the upgrade?

Hi Snarly. I was thinking that too about the fan leaves. Thanks

I've got 4x 3 gallon pots already. If I order some cloth pots they'll be here next week. I spose I could wait til next week to up pot. It's just I've got a sneaky feeling they're getting rootbound and it might be stunting their growth. I need more pots anyway cos the 3 regs really need bigger pots too but I didn't want to bother if they were males. I don't really know what I'm doing

I'll definitely post pics when everything is set up. I don't know how I'm going to do it yet. My tent is 5'3" and I'll need all the space at the top so the filter and fan might have to be outside on top. That's why I want acoustic ducting, my bedroom is right next door.

I'm just grateful they're nice and green and healthy looking. Wondering when they're going to start budding and when the regs will show sex.

 

[SnarlyWeed]

Hi Snarly. I was thinking that too about the fan leaves. Thanks

I've got 4x 3 gallon pots already. If I order some cloth pots they'll be here next week. I spose I could wait til next week to up pot. It's just I've got a sneaky feeling they're getting rootbound and it might be stunting their growth. I need more pots anyway cos the 3 regs really need bigger pots too but I didn't want to bother if they were males. I don't really know what I'm doing

If you already have pots no sense letting them go to waste. I'm going to be up potting soon too, and was hoping to sort out the males first. as well. Which reminds me, I have to give 2 days notice to hydro shop to get the smart pots in. Thanks

I'll definitely post pics when everything is set up. I don't know how I'm going to do it yet. My tent is 5'3" and I'll need all the space at the top so the filter and fan might have to be outside on top. That's why I want acoustic ducting, my bedroom is right next door.

I'm just grateful they're nice and green and healthy looking. Wondering when they're going to start budding and when the regs will show sex.

My filter is hanging from the top of the tent, its the canister type, so has to be inside. I do however duct it to the fan that sits outside the tent..The fan sits on styrofoam to reduce noise and vibrations.
Here's hoping our ladies remain ladies

 

[Aotearoa]

biogrow.co.nz if you need a place to grab some fabric pots. I'm using the 19litres (5 gallon) pots.

 

[smokeywokey]

Day 32

Hey guys. I up-potted the 3 AKs into 3 gallon pots. They weren't rootbound at all. I hope doing it now when they're just about to flower doesn't stress them too much. I gave them a plain water with pH 6.1. The soil I had mixed up a couple of weeks ago with garden lime and an old banana blended up and mixed through for potassium.


Next time I'm going to veg for 4 weeks after they're 2 weeks from seed. So they will be 6 weeks old when they go to 12/12. Also, I might leave them in 24 hours of darkness when I flip because I read that they start budding quicker doing that. I just left the mystery regs in the same pots because I don't have the floor space. I'll get some pipe cleaners tomorrow to do some more LST.

I ordered:

Fan speed controller.
Acoustic ducting.
Noise reducing clamps.
Scrog net.
250w MH bulb.

I don't think I went overboard but by gosh it's tempting!

I'll post photos tomorrow night.

 

[smokeywokey]

My filter is hanging from the top of the tent, its the canister type, so has to be inside. I do however duct it to the fan that sits outside the tent..The fan sits on styrofoam to reduce noise and vibrations.
Here's hoping our ladies remain ladies

Hey Snarly, I was thinking of having the filter outside the tent and having the fan suck air out of the tent into the filter. Even having the fan outside too on top. Would that work? I was thinking of room at the top of the tent for the light when the plants get big.

Yes, having 2/3 be girls would be nice

 

[DanksterFarm]

Hi there smokey and everyone!

I have long shopping list to do aswell, planning on to do another grow in water, on another place. Thinking of moving atleast one ak clone along with other strains to try in water cause my buds of ak swelled so nicely atleast in soil.

And oh my im smoking a testrun of my ak, been drying for 4 days, little bit moist near stalk but excellent smoke! And i started a 60hr dark perioid in my flower tent to finish up my first grow! 48h from now ill be cutting em down, pretty exiting! I have seen them once under natural light before, so its gonna be surprise for me aswell how they'll turn out.

Your babies look lush and green all the way, keep em growing my friend

Peace & love

 

[SnarlyWeed]

Hey Snarly, I was thinking of having the filter outside the tent and having the fan suck air out of the tent into the filter. Even having the fan outside too on top. Would that work? I was thinking of room at the top of the tent for the light when the plants get big.

Yes, having 2/3 be girls would be nice

My filter is the canister type. with only one end open for exhaust duct. It has to be inside the tent. If you get inline filter, you can do it all outside the tent, just duct from top of tent to filter and fan on the outside.
My canister does limit how high I can hang the lights, but not by a significant amount.

 

[smokeywokey]

Day 34 from sprout, Day 13 12/12

Hello. I'm pretty sure I can see hairs on the Aks. These are pre-flowers? Nothing showing by the stipulas.

I can't take a proper close up with my phone, sorry. I could have got a better angle

I'm pretty happy with the composted chicken manure.

I got a photography grey card. If I can figure out Lightroom (photography software for mac) I'll be able to correct the colours in photos taken under the HPS.

I was starting to worry that they were taking so long to start flowering but they were too young when I flipped them. They don't start flowering until they are sexually mature. Does anyone know how old approximately that is for a weed plant?

The walls of my tent are dripping with condensation. I can't wait til my new gear arrives. I think they've done ok cooped up with no fresh air. I open it up a few times a night but it's not ideal.

Keep it green folks

 

[CannaKitty]

Day 34 from sprout, Day 13 12/12

Hello. I'm pretty sure I can see hairs on the Aks. These are pre-flowers? Nothing showing by the stipulas.

I can't take a proper close up with my phone, sorry. I could have got a better angle

I'm pretty happy with the composted chicken manure.

I got a photography grey card. If I can figure out Lightroom (photography software for mac) I'll be able to correct the colours in photos taken under the HPS.

I was starting to worry that they were taking so long to start flowering but they were too young when I flipped them. They don't start flowering until they are sexually mature. Does anyone know how old approximately that is for a weed plant?

The walls of my tent are dripping with condensation. I can't wait til my new gear arrives. I think they've done ok cooped up with no fresh air. I open it up a few times a night but it's not ideal.

Keep it green folks

I use light room. All you have to do is change your white balance and you can do it manually. No need for a second filter.

First select WB

Then select this little dropper thing to set it manually...

Now turn the camera and center it on something else in the room that is mostly white that has the reflection of light on it... this works better than selecting the plants with the Mylar background... click the check mark.

After that your photos taken in the light room app will have the filter without you needing to hold something in front of the camera. I use it with LED but it works with anything requiring a filter to view... i.e. Your hps...

You may need to reset it if you close to app and come back to it but just follow those steps again and you should be good