Borntorun's Latest, New Lights, AK-48

[borntorun]

Hey everyone, just thought I would show you the latest "endeavor".

The strain is AK-48 feminized from Nirvana. Little bit different technique then most. The lights are T-5's, one 12 bulb Bad Boy High Output and one 12 bulb Solar Flare Very High Output.
Soil is custom mix with pearlite and lots of earthworms added. I'll get into the detail as we move along.

The first part of this journal has already happened so I'll sort of fast forward until we get caught up to real time.

btr

 

[borntorun]

five seeds, all female all germinated. Vegging is under 4-35 watt CFL's (6000K) running 24/7. These were topped a few days before this pic. They are about 4 weeks old here, no nutes yet except liquid kelp and super thrive, I like them to spend some time developing roots.

 

[Siscokid]

Great to see ya again, I'm in like Flynn!

 

[borntorun]

Great to see ya again, I'm in like Flynn!

good to be back! although I haven't really been gone. Just haven't had the time or the energy to do a journal. My hats off to everyone that do journals. They take a lot of time and energy. I've always enjoyed yours! I've finally gotten this grow established enough to start documenting it.

btr

 

[Siscokid]

Well, allright then..

Let's see cooler... check, Pipe... check, papers and scissors.. ready!

So where did you find thes T-12s @?

 

[ConqueringLOJ]

Looking great so far! I'm in!!

 

[ItsChrome]

Looking good man! I'm in.

 

[Reefa Cheefa]

Yup

 

[borntorun]

Hey thanks for joining in guys!

fast forward a couple more weeks. They just came out of 36 hours of darkness and are starting to jump into the stretch. A couple of cuttings from each plant and we are ready to move the girls to the big show under the bright lights!

Typically I start a batch of 8 followed by a batch of 7 and then 8 and so on, each batch being 5 weeks apart. That keeps things under the 15 plant limit in the grow room. The babies are in a different location under a different permit. Since this is a new system of lights and a different strain I'm only starting with 5 plants and the 5 week period might change after I get it dialed in.

 

[borntorun]

I've never done the 36 hours of darkness at the end of vegging before. I'm on the 3rd crop of doing that now. I'm very impressed. I have never seen plants jump into the "Stretch" phase so vigorously. With AK-48 they are barely showing sex if at all after 8 weeks of vegging. After 36 hours of darkness pistils pop out everywhere and within a few days buds are forming all over. Some serious hormones are produced. I've been giving them a strong dose of liquid kelp, B1 and some extra nitrogen just before they move into the dark closet. One of these days I will have to shoot a time lapse video of the week after the 36 hours, the transformation is amazing.

 

[Siscokid]

That, sounds really interesting.. I would like to see a comparison time laps of the long dark period/normal switch.

Thanks for keeping this interesting!

 

[borntorun]

Well, alright then..

So where did you find these T-12s @?

they are T-5's with 12 bulbs each. The Bad Boy uses the High Output t-5's and the Solar Flare uses the Very High Output. The SF gives off more total lumen but BB gives off more per watt. I'll give you the full review as soon as the journal catches up to real time.

 

[Siscokid]

^oops my bad..

 

[borntorun]

Moving on.....to the big lights and the big bed Day 10 of 12/12

 

[borntorun]

Room temperature, bed temperature and humidity. no added heat or cooling. This is after the lights have been on 5 hours. Humidity drops down to around 60 when the lights are off. The room is concrete floor and walls and insulated ceiling so the temp stays pretty stable. If the humidity gets to high I just crack the garage door a couple inches.

 

[borntorun]

Day 44 of first batch and day 10 of the clones

The orange light is the Bad Boy and the White one is the Solar Flare. The Bad Boy starts out half the High Output bulbs at 6000K and half at 3000K and every week two of the 6000k are replaced with 3000k bulbs. The Solar Flare bed has all 3000K Very High Output bulbs and after harvest then the Bad Boy bed will be rolled under the Solar Flare and a new batch started under the Bad Boy. Beds are rotated 90 degrees every week. They are set up for SCROG but I haven't gotten around to doing one yet. Maybe next batch. I kinda wanted to do a test run to give me some base line numbers. First bed is 5 plants all topped once and second bed is 7 plants. I've got one plant that is a phenotype that is incredible as far as bud size goes. Not sure if it is in the center of the bed or if it is genetic. I'll find out when the second batch gets a little farther along.

 

[Tunes420]

Nice set up....plants are doing great....going to be a great run

 

[borntorun]

Nice set up....plants are doing great....going to be a great run

Thanks tunes...great to see you on board!

 

[Siscokid]

Day 44 of first batch and day 10 of the clones

The orange light is the Bad Boy and the White one is the Solar Flare. The Bad Boy starts out half the High Output bulbs at 6000K and half at 3000K and every week two of the 6000k are replaced with 3000k bulbs. The Solar Flare bed has all 3000K Very High Output bulbs and after harvest then the Bad Boy bed will be rolled under the Solar Flare and a new batch started under the Bad Boy. Beds are rotated 90 degrees every week. They are set up for SCROG but I haven't gotten around to doing one yet. Maybe next batch. I kinda wanted to do a test run to give me some base line numbers. First bed is 5 plants all topped once and second bed is 7 plants. I've got one plant that is a phenotype that is incredible as far as bud size goes. Not sure if it is in the center of the bed or if it is genetic. I'll find out when the second batch gets a little farther along.

What a Neat idea.. I'm guessing the lights are stationary and your rotating the beds.

If I may ask, why do you start with a mixture of 6000K and 3000K.. then go to all 3000k?

One more NEW idea from BTR!

Plants are looking great!

 

[borntorun]

What a Neat idea.. I'm guessing the lights are stationary and your rotating the beds.

If I may ask, why do you start with a mixture of 6000K and 3000K.. then go to all 3000k?

One more NEW idea from BTR!

Plants are looking great!

yep just rotate the beds under the lights. And easy to roll outside to rehab the soil after harvest.

I like to keep some veg lights going during the stretch phase to maximize cola size and then to switch to all intense bloom bulbs to really stack on the weight. It's working really well so far. I'll post some more pics today and should be caught up to the "real-time" by tomorrow.

The first batch is on day 56 today and are the fattest, stickiest buds I have ever grown. And still packing on the weight with no sign of amber yet. The 48 days in the name AK-48 isn't going to happen with this batch. As long as they keep adding weight I'm fine with them going longer.