Serious Seeds AK-47 Closet Grow

Hello, this is my first time growing so I figured I better put my journal online and get some friendly advice .

I started germinating the seeds August 19th. Here is my progress so far from what I kept on an offline journal.

Closet specs:

- 2'x4'8' space.
- Closet covered in panda film with front door a tarp/zipper entrance.
- 6" 150 CFM inline duct fan as out-take in upper left hand corner, sucking through a carbon scrubber based on Ryoko's DIY carbon scrubber.
- 4" 80 CFM inline duct fan as intake in bottom right hand corner.
- 12" oscillating fan on the inside for air circulation
- Currently 3 26w Daylight CFL's for first few week's of seedling growth. I also have a 250W MH and HPS bulb for veg and flowering.

There is approximately 1' between tarp door and closet door. I have to close the door for a few hours every day while I'm not home and at classes. During this time I have the lights off so the temperature won't get too hot.


I have strings attached to the door because the negative pressure is so strong it pulls the plastic right on top of the 250W lamp when it's installed. This keeps it at a safe distance.


6" 150 CFM out-take fan


4" 80 CFM intake fan


12" oscillating fan and carbon scrubber in upper left hand corner


View from entrance, 3 26w Daylight CFL's an inch or two away from the 6 plants.

Day 4 - 8-22-08

Using the paper towel method, all seeds root tips have emerged and been planted in FoxFarm Ocean Forest Potting soil. Placed a couple inches away from CFL's. CFl's are on 24/7. Pre-soaked soil in water before planting germinated seeds.


Plant names: Back-left: Maria; Back-center: Chimichanga; Back-right: Joy;
Front-left: Shorty; Front-center: El Rapido; Front-right: Sensimilla


Day 7 - 8-25-08

All plants have popped their heads above the ground. The front middle one, aptly named "El Rapido," took a day longer than the others to sprout.

Used a moisture meter and all plants read dry, so watered all plants lightly. (From this point on I water once ever 2-3 days, depending on how dry the plants are.)

Added the 250w MH light in addition to the CFL's because of some advice I got in the chat. This however brought my temps up to high 80's even reaching 90 at some points. Brought down the temps a little bit the next day with an oscillating fan blowing out the door and changing the light schedule to 18/6. I turn the lights off at 10am while I go to class (I have to keep the closet closed whiled I'm not home, and this significantly raises the temps), and turn them back on at 4pm. (Also, at this point my ventilation was only the 4" 80cfm fan as an outtake and a small computer fan as intake, I later upgraded the ventilation so that I could put in the MH bulb with no problems.)




Day 10 - 8-28-08

Removed the MH because it was getting too hot. Installed 12" oscillating fan in room to give plants a slight breeze and circulate air. Temps down to 78.








Day 13 - 8-31-08

Secondary growth has really started to pick up, especially the plant in the back middle, named "Chimichanga"







Day 15 - 9-2-08




Chimichanga

Day 17 - 9-4-08

Installed 6" 150 CFM yesterday, and switched 4" fan to intake. Temps fairly consistent around 85 with ambient temps around 82




Chimichanga


Joy


Maria and Shorty

Now that I've brought my journal up to date, I have a few questions I'd like to ask.

- I plan on switching the light over to just the 250W MH soon. Possibly tomorrow if the ambient temps are reasonable. Am I doing this too soon? Also, how far away should I start the light away from the plants?

- I have 3 gallon pots that I plan on transplanting the plants into. This will be the first and only transplant I do. When should I do this? Also, I read that I should put the plants under filtered light for a few days after I transplant, but I'm not sure how to "filter" the light.

- When should I begin to use nutrients? The plants have been watered with water only for the past 11 days, since they popped out of the soil. I have the FoxFarm trio nutrients: Big Bloom, Grow Big, and Tiger Bloom.

How do my plants look overall? I've never grown anything before, and I'm a little afraid of all the time they spent in the high temps.

Looking forward to any feedback, I'll keep you guys posted on future updates!

looking good .... them seedlings are lookin perfect no stretch or nothing

I decided to switch the lighting to the 250W MH today. Temps shot up to 90 real quickly, probably because the ambient temp is in the 80's. According to weather.com it should be 80 and going steadily down from tomorrow on, so I'm not too worried about it. Right now I have the door open with air blowing in to keep it down to 87. I'll be transplanting them into 3 gallon containers once my soil arrives on Monday.






Chimichanga

The mh kept pullin in min 86 deg so I decided I had to go with a cooltube. I put the plants back under fluoros until I can make a cooltube, which won't be until next week when my pyrex tube arrives.

In other news, my plants finally have the five leaf pattern, which makes me happy

I transplanted them all into 3 gallon containers today. Went as smoothly as I could have hoped.

top all of them right now..

youll get something like this..

I was planning on just LST'ing all of them, but maybe I'll try topping some of them. Should I top them or try that FIM technique?

I got 1 serious AK47 going right now also. Overall day 44 (i think) but day 2 of 12/12. It showed hairs about a month into veg...."scratching my head". I dont know if that is a trait of this strain or not. She is sure healty though. I hope all continues well and no bananas show up. Your's are looking good so I'm pulling up a chair if you dont mind. I'm curious to see if yours do the same. Anyone seen this with these serious AK's? I read in another thread that FF ocean will take you 6 weeks before you have to provide nutes.

i got ak47 but i havent done it yet .... im doing serious seeds white russian ..... and that showed pre flowers in veg ... i think its just the companys good breadin system ...that helps the plants show sex before flower

That's good to know about Serious showing signs during veg. I'm looking forward to how these guys are going to look once I get them under the MH.

I finally got the pyrex bake a round glass to make the cooltube, and then I went and dropped the pyrex glass . I ordered another one I hope it comes by Friday...

newbgrower123 said:

I finally got the pyrex bake a round glass to make the cooltube, and then I went and dropped the pyrex glass . I ordered another one I hope it comes by Friday...

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lol, that sucks.

I finally was able to build the cooltube today. Unfortunately my MH bulb wouldn't fit inside the pyrex glass, so I had to use the HPS bulb. The light is about 13" away, with temps a stable 80F.

Should I consider keeping the fluorescents in there somehow? This would probably raise the temp up a few degrees to 83-84.

I decided to start training a few of my plants today. I bent Joy and Sensemilla using a coat hanger I cut and bent into a hook shape. I also topped Shorty.




Sensemilla


Joy

Your an animal!! coat hangers and shit LOL +rep

I would say start using the nutes about 1/3 strength around week 3 and see how they react.

That sux you broke the pyrex.

I use htg stuff aswell. I have a hempy grow journal with ak that I started today. Go take a look if you get a chance. I'll be adding more soon.

wy are your plants wilting? i see two laid over , wat happened.best to top at 8 in, to get a good stalk goin. they good though.i did a wite russian grow not long ago.i ll do it a again though. i like your setup, kind of like mine except 600wt hps .

raiderman said:

wy are your plants wilting? i see two laid over , wat happened.best to top at 8 in, to get a good stalk goin. they good though.i did a wite russian grow not long ago.i ll do it a again though. i like your setup, kind of like mine except 600wt hps .

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Which ones are you talking about? The two that are bent over in my latest post are bent over because I pulled them down with a hook. I'm starting to LST them.

Boneman said:

Your an animal!! coat hangers and shit LOL +rep

I would say start using the nutes about 1/3 strength around week 3 and see how they react.

That sux you broke the pyrex.

I use htg stuff aswell. I have a hempy grow journal with ak that I started today. Go take a look if you get a chance. I'll be adding more soon.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I looked at your grow, looking good. Crazy how I could recognize the AK-47 right off the bat from your pics..

I'm having a few issues.

I transplanted these guys last Monday in Fox Farm's Ocean potting soil and that's the only time I watered them. I saturated the pots and allowed them to drain free. Now it's been about 9 days since then, and according to my moisture meter they're still "moist" in the middle of the pot, and "moist/wet" near the bottom of the pot. Is it supposed to take this long for the pots to dry out? I don't see any signs of wilting, but maybe you guys can tell better by looking at the pictures.

Also, one plant, Joy, has yellow spots on the tips of its leaves. Any idea what this could be? I was thinking it might be lack of Nitrogen since I havent used any fertilizers yet, but I'm hesitant to water again with them because the above issue Pictures of the plant below...





The sick plant Joy. It's hard to see in the light but you can tell that there's discoloration on the leaves

Any ideas/advice?