First grow ever!! Indoor hydro continous drip, Serious AK-47 & Sensi NL#1

Got word just two days ago that a very good friend of mine from Central America is coming to stay with me for a little while, which happens later on today. That and a family member may or may not also be showing up as well. WTF, all of this news coming down on one afternoon! So obviously came to the conclusion that my MJ grow show is gonna have to me moved into the garage, out of sight. It just maintains way too big of a presence in the kitchen/living room, and is LOUD as fuck given it's four axial fans. The BCNL Producer I'm currently working on atm got moved back into the kitchen where I can store and hopefully run it during the winter. Probably better that way anyways as it's half the dual cab's height and looks a lot less imposing in there.
So ended up getting the Power Grow cab moved and wired back up and running all in one day! I was offered help in making the window that sits behind it into one which opens, but decided against the idea as the noxious smell would most certainly drift over into the neighbors yard, where they seem to be outside almost all the time grilling, hanging out, entertaining guests, etc. Ended up just covering the window with black and white poly sheeting instead.

Due to the lack of labeling on my first grow, I now believe that one of the AK phenos may actually be a mostly Indica NL #1. Main stalk is waaaay fatter then the spindly AK's. Who knows... but I kept that plant and the best representation I felt of AK-47 as my two mothers.

So here we are at day 12 of flowering on the third round:






Here's a pic of the plant in question from the first harvest. Looks quite a bit darker than the rest...



^thoughts from any Northern Lights experts out there??

On second thought I do still think it's AK. I do remember the NL#1 being almost neon green bright in color, with the buds being being very light as well with bright orange, almost golden-like strands. And the stretch went on to hit the bulbs with no end in sight.


This info I just now stumbled upon while browsing through ICmag pretty much put my questions to rest...

Mr. Bojangles said:

I had 3 phenos - an indica leaning one, a sativa leaning one, and the winner pheno.

In veg, the sativa leaning pheno looked more hybrid in growth, but had an explosive stretch once 12/12 was initiated and made more sativa style buds.

The winner pheno appeared more sativa during veg, the tallest of the bunch and leaves a bit thinner than any of the others. In flower though, it had a moderate stretch and developed very chunky colas very quickly.

The indica pheno looked that way in veg and flower, bushier with wider leaves than the others.

Click to expand...

31 days into flower so far...

http://s1055.photobucket.com/albums/s519/JJFOURTWENTY/?action=view&current=DSCN2897.mp4

34 days into flower, 26 more days to go...



already looks like I'll be surpassing the last harvest!

a few pics of the new cloner/mother tent setup...

a shot of the T8 forest:

This pheno is filling out nicely and is the largest producer by a mile. Gonna keep this one as the mother. Moving on to Hof Arctic Fallout the next couple of grows. But man, 15 more days at the most to go with this batch. I do remember this particular pheno finishing up quicker than the rest. In any case I'm not going to cut so early like last time. The high is great but I lost out on a little yield I felt. This trick is finding that exact date to chop at. Takes a few runs with any strain to correctly dial that aspect in.







More clones are ready to go as well...

49 days in and started the first evening of a five day flush. Judging by pistils actually proved to be very accurate with this particular pheno (the hybrid one).

Pics:

Nice buds, I wonder whats the net oz weight gonna be.

It'll be a few weeks 'till we'll know. Meanwhile today was chop day (day 54 I believe??). Here's some pics:











^^Remember that's off of 200 watts total - measured at the wall socket.

I really enjoyed going through this thread, great work!

Awesome thread! read through the entire thing, lots of good pictures and i like how you explained your mistakes and why you changed your set ups. I'm planning on starting my first grow this fall (seeds are in the mail!) so info like this is gold to me. 5 stars and im subbed

JJFOURTWENTY said:

Things are starting to take off now. The new nutrient regimen seems to be working out well and the plants seem happy. Been playing around with the drip timing and have once again changed it up this time to 25 minutes on/5 minutes off. This should allow the roots to get a slightly shorter, more periodical break while retaining the almost continuous flow of water which I feel is ideal for Rapid Rooter plugs set into Hydroton.

Click to expand...

lol that pic is a trip. as you scroll down it gets bigger and smaller as you scroll up haha. mindfuck.

Edit: Finished reading the entire thread. Nice!

Current Indoor Grow Setup



Secret Jardin DR6/90

Secret Jardin DR90 tent (flower):

- Botanicare EconoJet 2x2 flood & drain system with 3/4 fittings on both fill and overflow
- Sedra G300 needle wheel water pump (venturi intake uses forced air induction)
- General Hydroponics dual diaphragm air pump
- (3) EcoPlus 8'' airstones
- Can-Fan RS 8 HO centrifugal fan (dedicated to lighting circuit)
- Variac for fan speed control (currently operating at 62 volts)
- Air King 20'' box fan (fresh air intake)
- Air King 6'' clip-on fan (4-way adjustable)
- Dayton 4'' axial fan (height adjustable)
- Maverick Sun Big Foot 8 sealed reflector
- Ultra Sun 400 watt HPS bulb
- Solis-Tek STK-1000 dimmable digital ballast
- Sentinel MDT-1 master digital timer

Measuring at the wall socket, the flowering tent consumes 660 watts of total power during the daytime hours.

Secret Jardin DR60 tent (veg):

- Sun Blaze T5-22 light
- Hydrofarm Megagarden ebb & flow system

Sentinel MDT-1 settings:

- Lights on at 8:00am and off at 8:00pm
- Recycle timer Off for 45 minutes and On for 5 minutes (daytime hours only)
- Maximum temp 100 degrees
- Light delay 8 minutes

Because expanded clay pellets are being used as a medium, floods happen fast and occur often in order to keep plants from drying out. The main advantage Hydroton provides is the ability to maximize the amount of nutrients the plants can uptake, as well as having much hardier and robust plants because of the type of hydroponic system used (flood & drain in this case versus say RDWC).


pH, Nutrient, and Temperature Settings


pH levels:

Rockwool - 5.6 to 5.8
Coir - 5.8 to 6.0
Hydrotron - 5.8 to 6.2

Anything lower than 5.6 results in nutrient lock-out in any medium


Reservoir temperature:

68 degrees Fahrenheit (given a 72 to 78 degree lights-on room temp and a 65 degree lights-off temp)


Nutrient levels:

Clones: 200-400ppm AFTER roots appear (nothing before that)

Veggie: 800 or so, although can go aggressive and boost to 1000 once the plant is well established

Bloom: 1000 or so for the first couple weeks, then boost up to 1200 for almost any strain


Mixture Ratios for General Hydroponics Flora Series Nutrients


Clones and Seedlings - 2.5ml/gal of Micro, Gro, and Bloom

Vegetative - 5ml/gal Micro, 10ml/gal Gro, and 5ml/gal Bloom

Early Flowering - 7.5ml/gal Micro, 7.5ml/gal Gro, and 10-12.5ml/gal Bloom

Peak Flowering - 10ml/gal Micro, 5ml/gal Gro, and 15ml/gal Bloom

Flush - 2.5ml/gal of Micro, Gro, and Bloom for 3 days, then RO or de-chlorinated water with 5ml/gal of FloraKleen or 1 tsp/gal (2.5ml) of molasses for the remainder


Drying and Curing

- 70 degrees
- 70% humidity
- 7 days hanging dry

The key to this is having a good amount of air circulation. I have a powerful 20'' fan in my drying closet that is set to turn on low every fifteen minutes for five minutes. It's pointed toward the back wall so that no direct air is hitting the buds. During the first couple of days I'll also keep the door cracked slightly open.
Then after jarring the dried buds, the humidity should settle down to and hold at or near 60% for at least two hours. If it does, then the curing stage (three weeks minimum) begins.