Kalashnikova, Kera Dwarf & Some AK For Good Measure - All Autos - First Grow!

Ozmo · Apr 11, 2018

Hi,

Thanks for stopping by! I have been trawling this site for a few months now trying to learn as much as I could before deciding to have a go myself.
I did a real basic out door grow last year, I really enjoyed the process but other than experience I didn't gain much.
I have decided to use auto's for my first go, it seems to be most peoples advice, although I have got some nice photo period seeds waiting for the next run. Autos seem like a good idea as they are apparently a bit easier and yield a bit faster, both of which I like the sound of!
I must stress that I really have no idea what I am doing, i'm just copying what iv'e seen others do so if you can see something doesn't look right, please let me know as the chances are I have no idea that it's wrong!

Equipment

60x60x140 Finether grow tent - ideally I would like one MUCH bigger, but budget was an issue as was space - so this is a compromise. Although, I have just found an entrance to my attic which does open some possibilities up!

1x 60w E27 LED bulb
1x 45w LED Lampwin panel
1x 300w Lumentlite dual spectrum CFL with reflector hood - I learnt a lesson here, I wish I had bought one decent light and I could have with the money I spent on these three. Whilst trying to save money and being naive I bought the 2 LED products thinking they would do the trick, but it didn't take me long to realise I needed more light if I was going to achieve anything worth smoking, so along came the CFL.

4" Carbon Filter & fan
1x usb fan
1x humidity & temp gauge
1x digital PH meter - I haven't bought a PPM meter, I think thats next.

Black Magic potting soil
Biobizz nutes - 3 pack (I didn't realise at the time I wouldn't need this so much as most of the nutes are already in the soil I believem please tell me if i'm wrong!)
calmag
ph downer - The natural PH of the water here is around 7.2

I only planned to have 2 plants on this grow as the tent is so small, but during germination I got impatient and thought the first 2 seeds I put in weren't going to sprout, so I popped a couple of others and as you would imagine, they all germinated! So I have 2 in 5 litre grow bags and the 2 I couldn't bring myself to throw away in small half litre cups - so kinda like doing my own solo cup challenge!

Pics of my set up....

tent.jpg

Ozmo
Apr 11, 2018

IMG_20180411_175325.jpg

Ozmo
Apr 11, 2018

IMG_20180411_175345.jpg

Ozmo
Apr 11, 2018

temp

kera Dwarf Auto seedling.jpeg

Ozmo
Apr 11, 2018

kalashnikova seedling.jpeg

Ozmo
Apr 11, 2018

So far only the first 2 seeds I started to germinate have broken the soil and they are both looking healthy, the dwarf is on day 6 and the kalashnikova is on day 2. I think the 2 in the smaller cups will pop tomorrow. I realise the smaller ones wont yield much - if anything at all but as this grow is for experience I thought why not! I have seen some pretty impressive results in solo cup challenges.
I went for black magic potting soil as it looked like it has everything I need, I don't have a garden where I live so I can't really be cooking soil and shit in my kitchen! I understand now that black magic is made by monsanto who are the bad guys. but if their soil is good, then that's cool with me I guess.
I am letting water sit for a couple of days before watering them with it then I am adding less than half strength calmag and ph correcting to about 6.2 (soil is at 5.5)

I am only using the LED's at the moment, so I have 105w of multispectrum LEDs and the seedlings seem to be loving it, i'll whop out the CFL in a couple of weeks. Has anyone out there used a 300w lumentlite CFL to grow with? it definitely looks the part, I hope it delivers! for my next grow I am going to get a 600w led panel.

Please feel free to pull up a chair, any advice is welcome - and banter is welcome also!

Peace

Ozmo

AKgramma · Apr 11, 2018

Be sure you give your autos plenty of root space before the taproot hits bottom, or they will go straight to flower. (Learned from experience) I use 3 gallon tall kitchen trash receptacles for my autos, which give them about 13 inches root depth.

Unfortunately for us in the States, CFLs are no longer produced, so once mine give out, I'm going to have to supplement my LED panels with the equivalent in LED bulbs or tubes.

Nothing wrong with Black Gold or other off-the-shelf indoor potting soil. Just read the ingredients, and beef it up with worm castings, blood meal, and whatever else sounds good.

Ozmo · Apr 12, 2018

AKgramma said:
Be sure you give your autos plenty of root space before the taproot hits bottom, or they will go straight to flower. (Learned from experience) I use 3 gallon tall kitchen trash receptacles for my autos, which give them about 13 inches root depth.

Unfortunately for us in the States, CFLs are no longer produced, so once mine give out, I'm going to have to supplement my LED panels with the equivalent in LED bulbs or tubes.

Nothing wrong with Black Gold or other off-the-shelf indoor potting soil. Just read the ingredients, and beef it up with worm castings, blood meal, and whatever else sounds good.

Thanks for the info man. I didn't know that the tap root triggers flowering in autos, I can't see a way for me to more soil underneath without stressing them, I think I'll put it down to experience and make sure I address the issue in my next grow.
No more cfls in the US? I thought they were better for environment?! If budget weren't an issue I'd have gone led all the way!

Troy01 · Apr 12, 2018

Pulling up a seat.

AKgramma · Apr 12, 2018

Ozmo said:
Thanks for the info man. I didn't know that the tap root triggers flowering in autos, I can't see a way for me to more soil underneath without stressing them, I think I'll put it down to experience and make sure I address the issue in my next grow.
No more cfls in the US? I thought they were better for environment?! If budget weren't an issue I'd have gone led all the way!

It surprised me, too, when I went to Fred Meyer to buy more 23 Watters. Not a CFL in the store! The floor clerk told me what was up. They are being replaced with LED bulbs, so I hope the equivalency is measured the same, by watts pulled from the wall.

Ozmo · Apr 15, 2018

Here's an update...

Not much to report, just steady healthy growth and Mrs AK auto has popped up to join the party which is cool! My other kalashnikova was a dud, or I messed up the germination some how, it might have been on the cold side which wouldn't have helped. I ditched the small container I was growing the AK in, so hopefully I'll get a better yield from that one now (fingers crossed).

Here are some pics:

IMG_20180415_152225-01.jpeg

Ozmo
Apr 15, 2018

AK AUTO

IMG_20180415_152559.jpg

Ozmo
Apr 15, 2018

Kera dwarf

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Ozmo
Apr 15, 2018

Kera dwarf

IMG_20180415_152401.jpg

Ozmo
Apr 15, 2018

Kalashnikova

IMG_20180415_152341.jpg

Ozmo
Apr 15, 2018

Kalashnikova

Watering with tap water that has sat for minimum 24 hours, ph'd to around 6 (soil is at 5.5) and adding calmag. Are there any nutrients I should be giving them now? They all seem very happy! I'm going to put the 300w cfl in soon, although I have been told that the plants don't require as much light during veg - so do I need to put more light in yet?

Ozmo · Apr 15, 2018

Quick addition...
I have put the 300w cfl in and taken the low power led panel out, I'll put the leds back in for flower, I found 2 very useful free apps (for android) one is a lux meter, so I could make sure I was increasing the amount of light they were getting and I got a free light spectrum meter, I appreciate these aren't going to give very accurate data, but to get a rough idea, they're great!

New light

Ozmo
Apr 15, 2018

Troy01 · Apr 15, 2018

Those girls are growing perfectly. They look like they are enjoying their new light.

Ozmo · Apr 15, 2018

Troy01 said:
Those girls are growing perfectly. They look like they are enjoying their new light.

Thanks man, it's good to hear!

Troy01 · Apr 15, 2018

Just keep doing what your doing... They love it. Are you going to top them?

Ozmo · Apr 15, 2018

Troy01 said:
Just keep doing what your doing... They love it. Are you going to top them?

I've been thinking about that, obviously there's a divided opinion on whether that's a good idea for autos.. But I've seen journals that prove it can be beneficial. I think I'm going to let the dwarf do its own thing, because that's a small plant any way, I'm going to lst the kalashnikova and top the AK as that's mainly sativa (with ruderalis) and can grow quite tall, I don't have too much height! I guess I'll do what ever I can to maintain an even canopy?!

Troy01 · Apr 15, 2018

I've been topping all my autos and they really respond well to it. I understand that some strains don't like it so is always good to do a little research.

My autos that are in bloom right now are all about 42-46" from the top of the pot. I've had to do some super cropping to keep them down. Even with a 7 foot tent I have had to make some adjustments.

There's a good thread AUTO TOPPING THREAD that would be worth a read - even if you just read part of it as it's about 80 pages long now. They recommend that if you decide to top that you do it between the 3rd and 4th node before they hit 21 days.

Ozmo · Apr 16, 2018

Troy01 said:
I've been topping all my autos and they really respond well to it. I understand that some strains don't like it so is always good to do a little research.

My autos that are in bloom right now are all about 42-46" from the top of the pot. I've had to do some super cropping to keep them down. Even with a 7 foot tent I have had to make some adjustments.

There's a good thread AUTO TOPPING THREAD that would be worth a read - even if you just read part of it as it's about 80 pages long now. They recommend that if you decide to top that you do it between the 3rd and 4th node before they hit 21 days.

Wow, that auto topping thread is a great read! Thanks for sharing that! Having read that, I think I'm going to top all of them at the 3rd node!

Troy01 · Apr 16, 2018

Ozmo said:
Wow, that auto topping thread is a great read! Thanks for sharing that! Having read that, I think I'm going to top all of them at the 3rd node!

I found that thread before I started my 1st grow of the season back in January. I was sold instantly. I topped all of my plants and do some pretty heavy LST. All of my plants have responded to it well.

Here's a peek

DCFA6019-BBEB-4F87-9341-E74B2D87B48B.jpeg

Troy01
Apr 16, 2018

Ozmo · Apr 16, 2018

Troy01 said:
I found that thread before I started my 1st grow of the season back in January. I was sold instantly. I topped all of my plants and do some pretty heavy LST. All of my plants have responded to it well.

Here's a peek

DCFA6019-BBEB-4F87-9341-E74B2D87B48B.jpeg

Troy01

Apr 16, 2018

Wow, that looks amazing! I’ve read all your journals, you get good results! Remind me what lights you use?

Troy01 · Apr 16, 2018

Ozmo said:
Wow, that looks amazing! I’ve read all your journals, you get good results! Remind me what lights you use?

I have 2x 600 watt LED lights (my original). This year I build my first DIY COB and then expanded on it in the main tent and added 4 individual COB's. I'm able to independently adjust the height of each of the solo's as needed. In order to not burn my big girl (Carol) back left I had to raise it all the way to the top of my 7' tent. At least they finally stopped stretching.

Ozmo · Apr 19, 2018

Quick update...

All is still going smoothly which is good!
I've spent the last few days getting the right height for the new light, between 6 & 7 inches seems good. Currently having a hot spell here at the moment which isn't helping temperatures, it was up to 31.9c in there today which must be in the limit of what they'll put up with? If it persists I'll start pumping air from outside but I would really like to avoid doing that.
I gave the 2 larger plants their first feed today, just a quarter strength biobizz grow (npk 2 7 4) with calm again - ph'd to 5.5 so I'll see how they react to that over the next few days, they weren't showing any deficiency and I'd hate to stress them by giving them too much of something and end up burning them.
Here are some pics: