Indoor AK 48 Auto at day 22

[RichardNiles]

no way im waiting 6 months, couldn't accommodate those bigg'uns if i wanted. i reckon they are photos, but i thought the claim of AK48 was a 48 day flowering. plus, i believe stepside said he had them indoor then, outdoor, then back in, so maybe their varied lifestyle lends itself to a long life

im glad pots have been brought up. I just learned of this "air pruning". In my smaller cab, i had a catch pan, id sometimes leave the run off sit to increase humidity, before i knew it those damn roots where growing right into the run off, thats when i learned, this can cause some problems, remove run off and let them self prune. which lead to using the air prune to the growers advantage. was also curious about those weird looking pots, air pots, smart pots, so i got some research to do before i start my next batch of autos, which are on there way as wee speak

so seeing my roots trying to suck up all the run off they could (i had no problems, like rot or anything) i let em go for a while, that run off is expensive run off, why not let take what they want. This realization lead me to the hempy bucket, by dewign having a reservoir of sorts at the bottom 2" of pot, it has my interest as of now

my pots suck, well, my technique maybe moreso, i got cheap ass nursery jobs, added 2 " of straight perilite to bottom (cause i read it on the internet), filled rest with coco, guess the idea was along the lines of a bottom reservoir concept. the perilite just fell out of the drain holes for a few weeks, the top of coco became significantly below the lip, the plants all rooted at the sunken level, thought i could add more coco and it would "grow itself up" all i got was leaves laying in the coco, and swimming in nute water

at this point i removed some "added coco" and cut and inch or two of the dead space from pot lip, restricting airflow, creating a swimming pool. this aleviated some bullshit

i failed to properly plant in a manner that takes full advantage of the given pot size....lesson learned

not sure what im gona do with pots next go, love to hear any input.
i know this, they will look good, function great, and satisfy my obsessiveness much better than the half ass first attempt

those weird air pot sure do look cool

 

[RichardNiles]

I tried to put this up earlier but lack of internet said no.

This was 3 days before Thanksgiving so a week ago

View attachment 510093

These Ak48's have been going since May. Almost 8 months

So do you check trichromes under magnification like everyday, for like, months???

Just curious as to how its actually 'called'

 

[slopoke]

no way im waiting 6 months, couldn't accommodate those bigg'uns if i wanted. i reckon they are photos, but i thought the claim of AK48 was a 48 day flowering. plus, i believe stepside said he had them indoor then, outdoor, then back in, so maybe their varied lifestyle lends itself to a long life

im glad pots have been brought up. I just learned of this "air pruning". In my smaller cab, i had a catch pan, id sometimes leave the run off sit to increase humidity, before i knew it those damn roots where growing right into the run off, thats when i learned, this can cause some problems, remove run off and let them self prune. which lead to using the air prune to the growers advantage. was also curious about those weird looking pots, air pots, smart pots, so i got some research to do before i start my next batch of autos, which are on there way as wee speak

so seeing my roots trying to suck up all the run off they could (i had no problems, like rot or anything) i let em go for a while, that run off is expensive run off, why not let take what they want. This realization lead me to the hempy bucket, by dewign having a reservoir of sorts at the bottom 2" of pot, it has my interest as of now

my pots suck, well, my technique maybe moreso, i got cheap ass nursery jobs, added 2 " of straight perilite to bottom (cause i read it on the internet), filled rest with coco, guess the idea was along the lines of a bottom reservoir concept. the perilite just fell out of the drain holes for a few weeks, the top of coco became significantly below the lip, the plants all rooted at the sunken level, thought i could add more coco and it would "grow itself up" all i got was leaves laying in the coco, and swimming in nute water

at this point i removed some "added coco" and cut and inch or two of the dead space from pot lip, restricting airflow, creating a swimming pool. this aleviated some bullshit

i failed to properly plant in a manner that takes full advantage of the given pot size....lesson learned

not sure what im gona do with pots next go, love to hear any input.
i know this, they will look good, function great, and satisfy my obsessiveness much better than the half ass first attempt

those weird air pot sure do look cool

hahaha...ya Richard, we all have those "lessons learned" files!!! Not certain of the history of Stepsides grow, so I couldn't comment on it, but those plants are big bushy monsters.

As far as pots go, I really like these "Root Pouch" fabric pots, they seem sturdier than the "Smart Pots", they function very well, and look pretty cool too. Can't really drill holes in them for LST like plastic pots, but that's OK, I have a cute method using cheap plastic laundry clips. Maybe I'll snap a pic or two and post em for all to see. I bought my root pouches from Nirvana, actually was a better price than Amazon. I've no experience with the hempy bucket or any sort of hydro set up, so I couldn't comment on that either.

I don't line the bottoms of these fabric pots with anything, it's just not necessary, and the growing medium I mix up is a good balance of both moisture retention, drainage and aeration. So my personal recommendation is giving the root pouches a try, I'm sold on them as are many other growers. I do leave an inch or so below the rim of the pot so I have something to get ahold of when I need to move them, rotate them, etc. mostly due to arthritic hands. The only thing I put on top of my soil is hydroton clay balls, they are inert so it won't hurt anything if any leaves are making any contact with them. The hydroton also helps slow evaporation, therefore helps with moisture retention and prevents any soil splashing during watering. The other nice thing about the hydroton on top is that it dries fast, so no wet soil for any bad bugs to be attracted to. Hope that helps

 

[slopoke]

So do you check trichromes under magnification like everyday, for like, months???

Just curious as to how its actually 'called'

hahaha....it's pronounced like "try combs" and I don't usually start looking at them under the microscope until I know it's like a couple weeks to harvest. On most strains, the pistils will have turned mostly brown/amber and not producing anymore fresh white ones. Even then, it's a growers choice on when to harvest, meaning do you want more of a cerebral "head high" or "body stone" or somewhere in between. As a general "rule of thumb" the earlier the harvest (less amber thichromes) the more THC, hence a more cerebral head trip and vice versa. Since I use mostly for chronic pain and insomnia, I usually wait till I see at least 25% amber with mostly Indica strains and a little more with Sativa strains. Since these AK48's are a hybrid, I'll be looking for 30% or so. Hope that helps

 

[slopoke]

Just a quick update....finally got my new 3 speed oscillating tower fan and the girls are digging' it. This thing is super quiet and efficient, full coverage from the root zone to the canopy.....bout $40 well spent.

I've included a pic of how I LST using laundry clips on these root pouch fabric containers. This is the little lady I topped early on when she was attempting to break the world vertical growth record. 1st time I ever felt the need to top an auto.

I rearranged the girls so that the two furthest along are closest to the fan for maximum air flow, thereby reducing any chance of mold, mildew, etc. whilst budding out.

Looks like I'll be harvesting one at a time as all 4 of these little beauties are on a little bit different time clock

 

[Chester]

Beautiful plants Slopoke ... are they about 6 weeks old ?

 

[slopoke]

Beautiful plants Slopoke ... are they about 6 weeks old ?

Bout 7 weeks from sprouting now Chester

 

[RichardNiles]

Bout 7 weeks from sprouting now Chester

Very nice. Mine are not too far behind, bout wk and a half I must of started behind you.

Do you find these few weeks of the grow kinda uninteresting?

I mean,the explosive veg, then pre flower till now, must take a shift in gears, maybe I'm just impatient, im waiting for some big plump masses to "appear'

And, with that, I am now getting educated on bud rot, powder molds and all that shit. That would be awful, all this work.....

Any thoughts or tips, other than what you can read everywhere.

Looks like that fan will be very effective, I have lots of fan, (2) 12 volts for the under carraige and on bigger fan up above, and a dehumidifier outside of grow but in small room around grow

All in a basement, that has had some mold issue before, but only in warmer seasons

Thought about preventive sprays, but that seems uncertain

Thanks for the updates, it helps

 

[slopoke]

Hey Richard, for me, it's never really uninteresting, as all plants are dynamic/ever changing to some degree or another, same as people. I suppose all of us have experienced impatience at times, as it is one of our less desirable human traits. I find that having other things to do and occupy your hands and mind is a good remedy. For me, it's our outdoor "urban" gardening project that keeps me busy. We live in the tropics, so it's a year round project and we have fresh grown organic veggies and fruits on a regular basis.

Yes, mold, mildew, fungus and the like can be devastating, especially for a new grower after a long hard road just getting to that point. All I know to do is probably what you have already read....keep air circulating all around and through your plants....keep your humidity in check......keep your grow area and the perimeter absolutely clean and dry as possible and free of stagnant air. I'd be very leery of spraying anything on my plants after buds had formed. Just focus on the common known prevention measures and you should be fine.

We do have a few full sized rechargeable AC/DC fans with built in lights always on standby as we do experience routine power outages. Our little grow tent is in our bedroom, air con runs 24/7 and draws no attention as we do live in the tropics and it is of course common. So the air con + our air filtration unit do a pretty good job of keeping things in check, not to mention the little wifey is a bit of a clean freak

 

[Shanesaw420]

Here is a few of my ladies o.g kush ( dinafem) white widow xxl (dinafem) blue critical ( dinafem) and early miss (crop king seeds)