My First Time: AK47 & Gold Bar Kush

[Radogast]

They've grown a lot in just a few days. AK47 is showing off and GBK is trying to catch up.

Sweet growing!

AK47 really took off. As far as training, all you now have to do is look at the top 1 or 2 branches and make a choice - Do i want other branches to catch up? If the answer is yes, find a way to hold those top 1 or 2 branch tips lower than at least one other branch. Also, If there is a branch so low you want to give up on it producing flowers, remove that branch.


GBK may be a little behind, but look at those gorgeous fan leaves. She has ostrich feather fan dancer action going on - a beauty!

 

[ginganinja30]

She's looking nice and happily filling out Mrgreene ✌

Sent from my GT-N5110 using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[MrGreene]

Time for another update before I head out of town again. The girls are about 6 weeks old now....if I counted right.

GBK is looking pretty sexy like an exotic dancer with all the right curves and AK47 seems to have really hit a growth spurt so I tied her up again. Maybe I did a better job at it this try. Lol


GBK

AK47 last night.

AK tonight.

Some more parts came in for the budget cob build:

18 - heat sinks
9 - 60 degree reflector/lens
10 - 90 degree reflector/lens
10 - 50w cobs in 3000k
10 - 50w cobs in 6500k
2 - 50w 380-840nm full spectrum
2 - 10w uv 396nm
1 - mean well HLG185H-C1400B driver
4 - Chinese 50w drivers (I measured 59 watts from the wall)
3 - Chinese 10w drivers
4 - Inventronics EUC-160Q070ST 160w 4 channel driver (only $13 each including shipping)

I also ordered two grow tents. 32x32x64 and 36x36x72

I'll need to reorganize my spaces when I get back and decide how much of which light goes where so I can build the light frames and get everything assembled.

 

[Radogast]

Time for another update before I head out of town again. The girls are about 6 weeks old now....if I counted right.

GBK is looking pretty sexy like an exotic dancer with all the right curves and AK47 seems to have really hit a growth spurt so I tied her up again. Maybe I did a better job at it this try. Lol


GBK

AK47 last night.

AK tonight.

GBK looks great.

You did a very good job on AK47 - real nice

And look at her response to your training !

At this point, with the enough light, nutrition and good environmentals, AK47 will probably yield 1/2 oz to 1-1/2 oz.
After another week in veg, she will yield 1/2 oz more.


Have fun building your COB LEDs. Your girls will be preparing to enter flower while you prepare their flower lights.
No hurry. Neither girl is showing pre-flower branching or pistils yet.

 

[MrGreene]

Sweet growing!

AK47 really took off. As far as training, all you now have to do is look at the top 1 or 2 branches and make a choice - Do i want other branches to catch up? If the answer is yes, find a way to hold those top 1 or 2 branch tips lower than at least one other branch. Also, If there is a branch so low you want to give up on it producing flowers, remove that branch.


GBK may be a little behind, but look at those gorgeous fan leaves. She has ostrich feather fan dancer action going on - a beauty!

I'm looking forward to the ladies dancing for me.

 

[MrGreene]

GBK looks great.

You did a very good job on AK47 - real nice

And look at her response to your training !

At this point, with the enough light, nutrition and good environmentals, AK47 will probably yield 1/2 oz to 1-1/2 oz.
After another week in veg, she will yield 1/2 oz more.


Have fun building your COB LEDs. Your girls will be preparing to enter flower while you prepare their flower lights.
No hurry. Neither girl is showing pre-flower branching or pistils yet.

Thanks Rad. It has been such a comfort knowing someone experienced is watching after me.

Every time I check on the girls lately, I think they must be really happy. The glow that they both have doesn't really show up on camera, and the odors they give at different times of the day tell me that big things are about to happen.

They will get at least one more week of veg and maybe a little longer. Another week or two vegging isn't a problem especially if it'll help yeilds. I'm tempted to veg longer and give each one her own tent to flower in so they can get as big as they'd like.

 

[Radogast]

Thanks Rad. It has been such a comfort knowing someone experienced is watching after me.

Every time I check on the girls lately, I think they must be really happy. The glow that they both have doesn't really show up on camera, and the odors they give at different times of the day tell me that big things are about to happen.

They will get at least one more week of veg and maybe a little longer. Another week or two vegging isn't a problem especially if it'll help yeilds. I'm tempted to veg longer and give each one her own tent to flower in so they can get as big as they'd like.

I've not had pants get wider during flower - just taller. If they fit side-by-side now, they will still fit side-by-side in flower.

Longer. Longer. Longer.
There are rewards for vegging just a few weeks longer

 

[MrGreene]

I've not had pants get wider during flower - just taller. If they fit side-by-side now, they will still fit side-by-side in flower.

Longer. Longer. Longer.
There are rewards for vegging just a few weeks longer

I don't mind vegging as long as it takes to get it right. Maybe switching around 4-20 would be appropriate.

 

[Radogast]

I don't mind vegging as long as it takes to get it right. Maybe switching around 4-20 would be appropriate.

I planted my last seeds on the Spring Equinox, I expect my next harvest to be done on 4/20. I like magical dates


If you are sure you will be adding more tents in the next 2-3 weeks, I would go ahead and start new plants now (clones or seeds) to fill them up. They can fit in your existing veg area until more space is ready.

 

[MrGreene]

I got back home early this morning and immediately checked on the plants. AK seems very happy and is 26 inches at her widest point. GBK looks like she has grown a lot too but is having some fan leaves shrivel and also has some damp places where leaves overlap. The house was a little cool because I left the air conditioning on before I left, but the grow area was 71 degress. The top of AK is still in the cloner and finally has roots showing. I will plant the top this evening and take another cutting from AK to clone. I will post some pics in a little while.

I got my travel schedule and it looks like I will be up north on 4-20 so flip will have to be the weekend before or after. The good news is both tents arrived.

I planted my last seeds on the Spring Equinox, I expect my next harvest to be done on 4/20. I like magical dates


If you are sure you will be adding more tents in the next 2-3 weeks, I would go ahead and start new plants now (clones or seeds) to fill them up. They can fit in your existing veg area until more space is ready.

 

[Crashdog]

I got my travel schedule and it looks like I will be up north on 4-20 so flip will have to be the weekend before or after. The good news is both tents arrived.

Nice,
Having Veg and Flower rooms is great.

 

[MrGreene]

For sure. I couldn't imagine doing this in just one space.

Nice,
Having Veg and Flower rooms is great.

 

[MrGreene]

Finally uploaded some pics of AK47 and GBK from this morning. They have both been rotated about 90 degrees since the pics to give them a little more room. The shriveling fan leaves on GBK don't show well in these pics. It looks like it mostly happened where there wasn't any light getting through because of leaves touching.

The cloner is still running 24/7 and the 3 watt led desk lamp is on 18/6 beside them. Starting to see some roots from the AK47 top I put in around 3 weeks ago. The leaf cuttings don't look like they are doing much of anything other than consuming their resources.

I also started checking out my budget lights and drivers. I expect that I'll have to upgrade the cob chips eventually but at least this is a start and these were less than a dollar each for the 3000k and 6500k. The full spectrum were a little over $6 each and the 10 watt uv 395nm were less than $4 each. The four pre-drilled heat sinks were a little more than the others at $17 each. I picked up 4 pre-drilled and 14 that aren't drilled just in case I didn't have time and needed to assemble some quickly. The first set of 4 warm or cool white will total up to $85 and the next couple sets will be $47 each, plus I think I got the correct drivers to be able to use some quality cobs later.

 

[Radogast]

Loving the lights in progress. (A bit jealous actually)
Loving the 10 tops on AK47.
Loving the Skunky look of your Gold Bar Kush.
I see the leaf wrinkle. I doesn't look familiar or scary. I wonder if it's the Blue Medi Kush genetics? Did your humidity get high?

So what happens ahead this month? New lights in a bloom tent. 2 plants ready to go into bloom. More clones? More seeds?
This is looking VERY promising.
I think I'll keep watching

 

[MrGreene]

Loving the lights in progress. (A bit jealous actually)
Loving the 10 tops on AK47.
Loving the Skunky look of your Gold Bar Kush.
I see the leaf wrinkle. I doesn't look familiar or scary. I wonder if it's the Blue Medi Kush genetics? Did your humidity get high?

So what happens ahead this month? New lights in a bloom tent. 2 plants ready to go into bloom. More clones? More seeds?
This is looking VERY promising.
I think I'll keep watching

Thanks for the encouragement Rad.

I'll do another post on the lights in a little while. I got the first set of 4 together last night.

I think that AK47 could be put in flower any time. She is for sure wide enough with plenty of tops. I'm trying to wait until GBK tells me she is ready too, and I think she needs a little training first. One of them gives off a skunky odor at times that makes me think she is in heat.

I'm not overly concerned about the leaf wrinkle yet. I think I see a pattern to it and will check closer later today. It looks like the wrinkled ones are on branches where other large leaves are growing closer to the tip. Humidity was 50% when I checked last night, but IDK what it was all week while I was gone. I will admit that I checked to see if the swick under AK47 was still damp when I got home but never checked GBK till late last night and found it very dry. I added a gallon of water then mixed up a gallon of full strength nutes to split between them. 6 tsp big bloom and 2 tsp of grow big. That's what the chart says is for week 3, although I think they are at 7 weeks. That was their 3rd feeding.

I did pot the clone from AK47 and took another one from her. I might take one more before she goes into flower.

In the coming month you will for sure see two new tents go up, new lights in both tents and the veg area, and more clones. I have 94 seeds to choose from and will pick a couple to get going in late May or early June.

 

[MrGreene]

I spent a couple hours working on the first set of lights last night. I chose the 3000k cobs for this set.

The first step was soldering some 16 ga jacketed wire to the cobs and adding some quick disconnects. The quick disconnects are called "deans connectors" and are used as battery connectors for remote controlled cars. They're rated at 50 amps.

After that each cob got some thermal paste.

Then they were mounted to the heat sinks.

Followed by the reflectors and lenses.

Next step was to power them up with the 160 watt 4 channel driver.

All that's left to do is hang them and wire up the fans to a 12 volt power supply. I will be hanging them individually for now so I can adjust how many I want in each area. Later I plan to either build frames out of aluminum angle and/or make an enclosure so they can share a fan. I have 3 more sets to assemble like this one plus another set that will use a meanwell HLG-185H-C1400B dimmable driver. I also have a couple of inexpensive 50 watt drivers just in case I only need one more light in an area.

I understand that these are not the best/most efficient cobs available but in my eyes they are a lot more efficient than many of the other non-cob light choices out there and are a good solution for light on a budget. I spent a grand total of $325 for enough materials to put together 18 50 watt lights. That works out to about $18 per light, plus I will have a couple of extra drivers, 14 extra cobs, and some 10 watt uv lights to play with that are all included in that grand total.

 

[Radogast]

I think that AK47 could be put in flower any time. She is for sure wide enough with plenty of tops. I'm trying to wait until GBK tells me she is ready too, and I think she needs a little training first. One of them gives off a skunky odor at times that makes me think she is in heat.

Sounds right to me. 1-3 weeks before going into flower. Even more time if you can wait for the harvest.

That's what the chart says is for week 3, although I think they are at 7 weeks. That was their 3rd feeding.

I did pot the clone from AK47 and took another one from her. I might take one more before she goes into flower.

The chart says week 3, but it probably has you going into flower on week 5, so one could call that 'on schedule.' BUt I don't know
nothing about no nutes except not to start too early.

That AK47 clone looks sharp. Well done.
I enjoyed the heck out of my AK47 smoke yesterday. A great high for getting things done.

I have 94 seeds to choose from and will pick a couple to get going in late May or early June.

If you have a second tent with new lights ready within 2-4 weeks, and you can fit your seeds and clones in the current tent alongside your AK47 and GBK, I don't see any reason not to pop 2 new seeds now. Your 2 big girls go into flower in a new tent under new lights, and your 2 clones and 2 new seeds become 4 girls ready to fill your 36x36 tent when they are big enough. (I confess - I went back and read up on your new tent sizes.)

All that's left to do is hang them and wire up the fans to a 12 volt power supply. I will be hanging them individually for now so I can adjust how many I want in each area. Later I plan to either build frames out of aluminum angle and/or make an enclosure so they can share a fan. I have 3 more sets to assemble like this one plus another set that will use a meanwell HLG-185H-C1400B dimmable driver. I also have a couple of inexpensive 50 watt drivers just in case I only need one more light in an area.

I understand that these are not the best/most efficient cobs available but in my eyes they are a lot more efficient than many of the other non-cob light choices out there and are a good solution for light on a budget. I spent a grand total of $325 for enough materials to put together 18 50 watt lights. That works out to about $18 per light, plus I will have a couple of extra drivers, 14 extra cobs, and some 10 watt uv lights to play with that are all included in that grand total.

With those big old heat sinks on 40W COBs, you might not need to enclose a fan. Room cooling might be enough. I wouldn't be surprised if the heat sinks stabilized at 80-90 degrees without dedicated cooling. You will know after you have them hanging free.

Even a discount COB is bound to be pretty darn good at putting out light. If the 4 lights you already assembled (in what looks like a quality manner) can replace a 600W HPS, at 1/4 the voltage draw, 4-8 times the life span, and 1/4 the heat that is a pretty sweet setup. I might want to follow your lead - especially at a 1-2 month return on investment in electricity savings.

Sweet.

 

[MrGreene]

Sounds right to me. 1-3 weeks before going into flower. Even more time if you can wait for the harvest.

I don't mind waiting a few weeks. I'll only be stopping by the house for a couple days at a time over the next 3 weeks anyway.

The chart says week 3, but it probably has you going into flower on week 5, so one could call that 'on schedule.' BUt I don't know
nothing about no nutes except not to start too early.

I think it does show going into flower on week 5. That didn't happen. Lol. I probably wouldn't have given any if they were both looking good when I got home. I started the training on GBK tonight and the funky leaves were where she was perspiring and other leaves were in contact.

That AK47 clone looks sharp. Well done.
I enjoyed the heck out of my AK47 smoke yesterday. A great high for getting things done.

I'm looking forward to trying some. I still don't know if I just need a boost during the day or just a little help getting to sleep or both.

If you have a second tent with new lights ready within 2-4 weeks, and you can fit your seeds and clones in the current tent alongside your AK47 and GBK, I don't see any reason not to pop 2 new seeds now. Your 2 big girls go into flower in a new tent under new lights, and your 2 clones and 2 new seeds become 4 girls ready to fill your 36x36 tent when they are big enough. (I confess - I went back and read up on your new tent sizes.)

I have two tents and could leave this veg area as is. Not sure if I need/want 3 grow spaces. I can see where I could easily have too much going on. I'm sure I could keep all the spaces full though. I was kinda planning on taking a total of 3 clones from each and growing out 2 of each while keeping the others as mothers in case I really like them. I've been wanting to drop a couple more seeds but don't see the timing of everything in my mind yet.

With those big old heat sinks on 40W COBs, you might not need to enclose a fan. Room cooling might be enough. I wouldn't be surprised if the heat sinks stabilized at 80-90 degrees without dedicated cooling. You will know after you have them hanging free.

It would be great if they will stabilize at a decent temp without any fans. I should have a tent up next weekend when I get back from the beach and will start testing them.

Even a discount COB is bound to be pretty darn good at putting out light. If the 4 lights you already assembled (in what looks like a quality manner) can replace a 600W HPS, at 1/4 the voltage draw, 4-8 times the life span, and 1/4 the heat that is a pretty sweet setup. I might want to follow your lead - especially at a 1-2 month return on investment in electricity savings.

Sweet.

That was exactly my thoughts. The flood lights are using the same cob chips run at a lower wattage and are doing ok growing plants. These seem like a decent compromise for better light with low power usage and less heat. It took a little searching to find the best prices but wasn't too time consuming. Let me know if you need a hand when it's time to start yours.

 

[Radogast]

I read a lot about mother plants before I started growing, but there are some very successful growers here who have kept the same clones going for many years (decades even) without ever having a traditional mother plant. I have gone at least 5 generations of taking clones of clones right before flower. I only stopped because I shut down the grow area for an interstate move.

A mother plant makes sense if you will be harvesting 10-20 clones at a time and running many copies of the same plant.

With as many seeds as you have, I imagine you will be growing 3 or more strains at a time.
Setting aside half your grow area and half your nutes for mother plants seems wasteful.

If I ran 3 tents I think I would use one tent for veg and clones, one tent for flower, and one tent for growing the biggest plant that would fit in the tent - probably using fluxing as a training technique .

 

[MrGreene]

Maybe I don't need a mother plant for each. I just don't want to waste seeds or lose a strain that might end up being a favorite.


I haven't read about fluxing. I'll have to look it up.