Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20
Update - 08/08 -
Day 33 Flower
I made a couple adjustments to the garden and removed the 2 previous blue tubs, replacing them with smaller more effecient trays, now the plants are at ground level to try lowering temps ( because heat rises ), Now temps are stable at 81-82 F and 45% humidity with all 16 bulbs running. In case your wondering the light penetration im getting, the lowest branch pictured is 24" below the lights, with the higher branches being closer to 12" away from the lights. I also trained one of my plants into a first of its kind method i call Zo's "Cage of green" , if you google "Cage of Green" you won't see any plants trained this way even though they may call it cage of green it usually involves a vertical scrog grow using wire cage. The only materials needed to replicate my method are Velcro plant ties ( come in different colors ) and bamboo garden stakes , both preferably GREEN, you dont want a "Cage of Green" with orange plant ties and yellow stakes , keep your garden GREEN
You will also need Smart pots fabric pots (any size) for the velcro plant ties but im sure if you are using regular nursery pots you can find a way to make it work.
Ak-48 - Welcome to Zo's "Cage of Green"
Based on instructions from the book three a light, by day 30 of flower you should have your plants caged so they can support the extra weight of heavy buds without falling over. This is what the "Three A light" Cage looks like compared to my original cage.
Also note the books recommendation was to cage shortly after the 2nd defoliation , which is around day 18-22 , but mandatory to have them caged by day 30. My plant was caged on day 31
before cage ( day 28 )
after cage ( day 31 )
I actually waited late to do this which could've caused me to not like my cage once complete, it literally felt like i just pushed all of the buds to the center of the cage and the top colas were the only buds going to produce heavy nugs, while everything under the top of the plant would suffer, this is when the light bulb in my head went off and by day 32 i had envisioned and created "Zo's Cage of Green" or ZCOG.
Each Branch Gets its own section of the "Cage of green" , My Cage Has 8 total sections , 7 horizontal Branches tied down using velcro plant ties, When the plant starts packing on the weight and the velcro is no longer holding them down due to the weight making the branches fall, we reverse the velcro plant ties use and the branches will then get tied up to the bamboo stake to hold them up and support the heavy flowers.
Bamboo Gardening stakes serve two functions in ZCOG; they are used as support in the late weeks of flower and used to create a Equal cage of green, simply place the stake in the medium ( as far away from the main root as possible. You can then VERY GENTLY place your velcro plant tie around the desired branch and train it to the section you want, Be VERY CAREFUL not to break one of your branches
The 8th section is what i consider "Inside the cage" this should be your highest colas on your tree, around week 5-6 your heaviest buds will start to need support, Use A Velcro plant tie to connect the 2 branches like such, You can do this for any branches you want "Inside the cage" or that need support, just find the matching shoot/branch and Velcro to Victory!
Inside the cage
One of the lowest branches in the tent 24" under T5 Lights
Northern Lights - This plant was much more uniform in its structure so i just used the velcro plant ties to tie the bottom branches down and train them into there own section similar to the AK48, allowing the entire plant to produce good nugs instead of having a top layer of grade a and then a bunch of larfy buds.
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Aurora Indica - This plant probably has the best scent in the room, with AK48 being a close runner up. i accidentally brushed up against a nug and when i smelled where i had brushed up it was an amazing smell, I cant speak for other growers and there phenotypes but it looks like this is going to be a very pungent fruity/candy smell and hopefully taste. Im bummed out i didnt transplant to a 5 gal pot before flower, the difference in bud size in AK48 and Aurora indica is very noticeable, but hey you live and learn.
Enjoy , and i hope anybody trying to learn how to ZCOG understood my message. hopefully i can pull a great yield from the AK-48 and use this method in my future grows and show others my method of success.
