NobleWeed's AK47 in Soil

[NobleWeed]

Hello everyone at 420MAGAZINE. I have spent many hours looking at all of your grows and learning as much as possible. Its much better then sitting in class ALL day or being at work.
This is my first grow since i got my green card. My good friend gave me some clones of his AK 47 plant that was dying so that i could become self sufficient.

Here is a pic of the Clones. I have them under a 100W CFL

They are in small 3" pots and are only 1 week old. I just put them in soil before i took this picture.
Here is a picture of the mother that i cut them off of.

My friends room mate left town and didn't water it for several weeks and had the light off the whole time that's why it is in such horrible shape.
After taking all the usable clones we could we salvaged the stem dried Bud.

Such a horrible sight i know. After watering and a few 100W CFLs she perked right up again and i am now going to take the last 2 stems and grow them. I have wated a whole week to see if the last stems were even alive or not.

I built a grow tent for the clones 4X4X6 and will put them in as soon as i have them on a once a day watering schedule. I am using 8 35W 3500K vertical lights because i don't want to prune the leaves to give the bud sights more light. I also have a 400W HPS bulb i will use for the flowing stage but not going to hook it up just yet as i don't have proper ventilation in the tent. I left the light on over night too see what the temp will rise up to.
Here is a pic.

I went with the tent vice hydroponic because it is much less $$$ and also i don't want to loose power this spring and loos my whole crop. I will invest in a hydro system as soon as i am more comfortable growing and i know more.
As you can see the grow tent doesn't have a top as of yet because i don't know what else i will be hooking up. if you have some ideas let me know. like should i run ventilation top to bottom or bottom to top. As it stands now it cost less then 100$ total to build but i don't have the receipt right now. I will give a parts breakdown and more pics if you want me to post them.

I have FOX FARM GROW BIG and they are planted in Miracle Grow potting soil because i hear it dose wonders for them in root forming. It only has trace amounts of nutrients and will probably be gone before harvesting.

Well that's all the information i have at the moment i will be back tomarow to post some more.

I have 96 square feet of grow room with a 6' ceiling.
Q: Will this be enough room for 5 AK 47?
Q: How should i hook up my ventilation?
Q: How long should i veg them for?
Q: What Nutrient PPM should i use?

That should be enough for my first post.
Thank you for looking.

 

[NobleWeed]

Ok so here is my update. I took my 1 week old clones and put them in my grow tent with a 100W CFL 6" from them to give them some upward growth. I put some expanded clay pelets on top of the soil so that the soil wont dry out too quickly since i have theses guys on a 24 hr watering schedule. I am going to start feeding them todaday but i dont have a PPM meter. I guess i will start looking around for one.

here is the fan i am using i have it just circulating the air in the tent but i am going to rig it put to blow air into the tent from the outside. Its a 20$ fan i have had for a few years and has been sitting in my closet ever since.

The temp rose overnight but not by much i am going to need to get some realy good ventalation befor i hook up my 400W HPS.

Here are the new clones from the mother i just cut and put in peat moss.
I used cloneX with these and fallowed the cloning guide on this forum.

Wow this is turning out to be a picture grow journal but i don't think you guys care. I am going to start looking for a PPM meter today.

 

[HealingKronic]

hey nobleweed welcome to 420mag! im no help with hydro as i am a soil guy, however i usually veg for about 3 weeks or until plants are 12-14 inches tall. keep in mind that plants usually double in height before from flower to finish.

96 sq feet is a little small for 5 plants. i recommend at least 150 sq ft. however im not saying its not possible.

venting should have an intake and an out take. intake should be low to the floor and have fresh air. out take should have a fan near the top of the room to evacuate warm air first to help keep cool. if your using CFL's heat wont really be an issue though, but the 400watt HPS could be.

anything else just ask!

 

[NobleWeed]

Thanks for the info.
This is going to be a soil grow so i wont need any advice on hydro as of yet.
I left my fan on low all day yesterday and when i got back the temp had dropped from 79F to 65F so i don't think that ventilation will be a problem as of yet LOL. Now i need to get some warm air in the tent. I did like a said and got a PPM meter and damn they are expensive. But i believe in dong things right the first time and not killing my plants. I started the three potted clones on a 100ppm feeding today to see how they will tolerate it. Only one of the pots was dry when i watered today and i think it is the only one with a little transplant shock. Hopefully this feeding will give them some strength. I bot a new digital temp/humidity meter also.(no pic)

Here is the strong clone.

The one that needed watering.

And the runt. Witch is doing pretty good in soil now.

My ppm meter.

Well that's it for today ill have more pics tomorrow.

 

[NobleWeed]

Sorry for leaving you guys hanging i was lazy yesterday and didn't post my new pics. I was pretty disappointed because my furnace doesn't work and its cold in the house so the CFLs were not keeping my plants warm enough. it was 59F in the grow tent. So me and my friend moved my young plants to a small closet and added a heat light and another CFL to keep them warm and try to bump up the humidity. I ran my little fan to circulate the air in the closet but i had it blowing on the thermometer LOL so the temp isn't accurate. I went back today and they are dong pretty much the same. they have been in dirt for 5 days so they are still young.
Here are some pics.
Here is my set up.

Here is what temp and Hg it was with the fan blowing on the thermometer.

Here is my runt that is actualy the only one getting any new growth on it.
Notice the purple stem. All of these are clones of the same plant so why dose this one have purple on its stems?

Here is the one that showed the most promise but looks like it is wilting but its leafs are still firm just rippling down the edges so i dont know what is going on. Do you think i should prune the larger fan leafs? Will that give it some more energy to grow??

This is the last clone if dirt. It looks promising exept for the same rippling the last one had and there seems to be some bleaching or burning on some of the new leafs i just noticed it yesterday and i dont know what it is. I'm scared i might have to prune it off but right now I'm just going to leave it.

Oh and one more thing about my new clones. I just took these clipings 3 days ago and The larger leafs where wilting so i clipped them. I fallowed the complete cloning guide on this sight and the three in soil didnt get cliped and cloned as well i did these. so what is wrong with them?

The young growth on top is still firm but the large leafs are wilted and kind of soggy. I have them in a humidity chamber under a 100w CFL. Hopefully they will perk up tomarow when i check on them. Thanks for looking at my dying plants and pleas give me some advice even if it just wait until something new happens.

 

[NobleWeed]

Well no change today they are still the same nothing new. The new clones are looking better they are keeping there firmness and might make it. I haven't done any pruning yet but i might still prune back the first set of leafs on the plants in soil the runt seems to be benefiting from it. I would like to get some advice.

 

[Green Utopia]

Lookin good man.

Don't worry about a little droopyness with the leaves of a new clone. Happens alot. I didn't see if you have a dome or anything while they're young. If not you'll likely need something with that cold and humidity. If the clones aren't rooted especially. When they don't have roots - they have no way to get water, so you need to make sure you keep it nice and humid for them or they'll wilt. And a seedling heat mat helps greatly as well.

Big props for the emergency move to the closet. And I like the tent as well.

You're doing fine - first one's always tough. Try to keep it a little warmer if you can, and maybe think about a clone tray and dome - you can get both for less than 10 bucks. But aside from that you're right on track. Don't make any big panicky moves, and the plants will grow.

+Reps for being in the game!

PS - I have both phenos of AK going and you'll love it. They are lots of fun to grow. Mine can gobble up the nutes and you can't kill them if you try. But you will want to pay attention to their different sizes. If you get both phenos they are very different heights.

 

[NobleWeed]

Thank you that means alot coming from you Whiskey Papa. I have read your perpetual grow post and i am still amazed you did all that yourself. +rep for stopping by.

The three in soil had 3/4" roots on them when i transferred them from my nursery to the grow tent. I just broke the peat moss apart to look and them closed and buried it in the soil. So I'm thinking its the shock of transplanting that they are still trying to get over. I'm still just going to sit back and watch for awhile.

I am decided thou i will use my 400W MH in my tent. The overwhelming evidence on the forums finally decided me. I ordered some new fans that will be able to cycle air through the grow tent. I think i will finish the top of the tent this weekend, add the extra light and see how the dry run goes. Ill post the results when i am done.

Thanks for dropping by Whiskey Papa and +rep for anyone joining this thread.

 

[NobleWeed]

Ok so hooked up my 400W MH lamp in my grow tent. It was 70 degrees in just a few minutes so i hoisted the lamp up a few more inches and now its sitting at about 2 feet. The humidity in the tent was low about 35% so i put a jug of water in there and hopefully it will moisten the air up a bit if not i will buy a vaporizer witch is no big thing just adds to the total price tag. The new clones are looking well sorry no pics my cam ran out of batteries and i needed to charge it. i did some pruning on the large fan leafs of one of the potted plants and i think i might prune the other leafs because how much the runt benefited from it. It is a stable 77 degrees and 39% humid now so i put my plants under the 400W MH lamp. All 3 of them lol that's what 133W per plant hells yea!!! Feel free to give more help. Since this is my first grow and i don't want to over water them i haven't watered them in 2 days and they still seem to be doing good. Ill water them tomorrow they will probably need it. 400W MH is BRIGHT!!

THANK YOU FOR READING (or looking at pics)

 

[NobleWeed]

OK now for a proper update. All my plants are dong fine and i found a seed in the bottom of one of my shake containers i don't know what it is it might be AK47 or not but i planted it anyway just a few hours ago. If it doesn't grow i don't care it didn't look that reliable but ill try.

I went ahead and bot a humidifier because it was getting down to 24% without one. With just a few minutes it was back up to 40%

My humidifier has a 28 Hr tank on it witch is great. All my plants are doing great i did some more pruning but didn't take pics of it. My runt is out performing my other two plants witch i wouldn't have suspected but results wont lie. I am still sure is was because of the trimming i gave it. I know my plants look droopy but they are firm just lazy. I watered today because they were on the light side and with the heat they will need it.

They are dong so good under the 400W mh lamp and i don't have my T5 lights on yet for blooming. YAY so happy!

I got a few jars for curing my bud. I know its early and don't count your chickens before they hatch kind of thing but they were cheap and just what i was looking for. I'm gong to go back tomorrow and get 2 more hopefully.

 

[NobleWeed]

Checked on my babies today and they are looking good. No pics was getting bored of wrestling my laptop to upload my photos. Damn vista trashed its hard drive and until i get a new one it will only power on for a few mins or so. But ill post more pics as soon as there is REAL distinguished growth. chow for now

 

[onthe420train]

Super humid all the time - not to wet around the stem just really humid air and all your clones will root and thrive. 25% is extremely way too low for a clone and they will likely die at that RH! 75%+ 90% is ideal high high humidity. upside down clear plastic keg cups.

 

[Grooster]

Hey what up what up!!?? Glad to have you here growing some fine AK-47! Your getting dialed in there and the girls are responding. Keep up the good work. Thanks for stopping by my grow. I'll be watching your gals grow up. + reps for salvaging that sad mother! Most peeps might have just thrown her out. You gave her some TLC and now you will get some love back. Keep it green brother.

L8ER

 

[NobleWeed]

Hey what up what up!!?? Glad to have you here growing some fine AK-47! Your getting dialed in there and the girls are responding. Keep up the good work. Thanks for stopping by my grow. I'll be watching your gals grow up. + reps for salvaging that sad mother! Most peeps might have just thrown her out. You gave her some TLC and now you will get some love back. Keep it green brother.

L8ER

Thanks for the rep Grooster. I like your grow as well i might do a perpetual grow after this depending on if i move or not. The girls are doing MUCH better, i trimmed the first set of leafs half way back like the runt to give them more drive to make more leafs. I also fed them a rooting solution at 150PPM today just because i KNOW there roots are well developed. I also turned off my exhaust fan to hopefully increase the HG in the tent. The little ones don't need that much air flow anyway. I will get my 4 150mm CPU fans in the mail soon and ill rig those up in the tent for proportionate air flow. The 2 new clones are doing well also but they still haven't shown roots out side of the peat moss plug. Man i hate those i am going to use rock wool next time.
The only reason they are so stunted is because the mother was SOOOOO stressed when the clones were taken.

 

[Sungod]

Great start NobleWeed, love to see you trying to save that plant. I'm sure she will reward you for some time to come. Great way to learn how to nurse a sick plant back to health too. +reps

 

[Dee House]

yeah man good idea on takn clones they look good !!!

 

[NobleWeed]

Great start NobleWeed, love to see you trying to save that plant. I'm sure she will reward you for some time to come. Great way to learn how to nurse a sick plant back to health too. +reps

Thank you i hope they do.

Anyone know a good humidifier mine isn't doing much although it dose have a 28hr tank on it its not humidifying the air.

 

[NobleWeed]

So i checked on my little girls today and my runt looks a little droopy. I think its from over watering because her pot was the heaviest of the three yesterday when i watered them with the root hormones.
Since the room doesn't have access to outside air i think i will put my 7gal ferment er in the grow tent and make CO2 with it. I usualy use it to brew wine but since i cant drink anymore i can use it to make CO2 for the plants. Ill probably do it today or tomorrow. Hell i might do it right now.

 

[NobleWeed]

As you can see its a case of classic over watering.

Here are my newest 2 Clones!! And they are sill alive. Cant wait till they show roots outside of the moss plug.

Ok i said that i was going to add some CO2 to my grow tent and i did. Its a simple recipe.
20lbs sugar = 12$
8 cans frozen concentrate = 8$
2 yeast packs = 3$
All you need is a bucked to add it all to and some yeast nutrient(not in photo) and you got a 6 week supply of CO2. And some very tasty wine.
Thats about 25 LBS of sugar ready to be converted into CO2 and alcohol. I was going to save this for my hydro grows when i get this grow over but i decided to go ahead and do it anyway these girls need all the help they can get.

That water cap is called a water lock 2.50$

Now they will grow much better.

 

[Sungod]

Very nice, do you know how much co2 this system will introduce??