First grow, AK-48 from seed under 400w HPS.

Updated pics, mostly of the AK-48's.

Having a great time with this grow!

Considering moving the remaining AK-48's that are in 1 gallon pots into these 4 or so gallon fibre-grow pots. The one already in one is responding to the large root space quite well in comparison to the others I think.

Superthrive should be here soon, might just wait for that to arrive.

Still anxiously awaiting my damned moisture meter, but I've just been checking the runout holes of the pots for moisture until they're relatively dry before watering. So far so good.

monkeybones said:

Updated pics, mostly of the AK-48's.

Having a great time with this grow!

Considering moving the remaining AK-48's that are in 1 gallon pots into these 4 or so gallon fibre-grow pots. The one already in one is responding to the large root space quite well in comparison to the others I think.

Superthrive should be here soon, might just wait for that to arrive.

Still anxiously awaiting my damned moisture meter, but I've just been checking the runout holes of the pots for moisture until they're relatively dry before watering. So far so good.

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So far its looking great, the only thing id suggest is buy some mylar

AK48 was my first real grow too. (did a crappy bagseed grow first but that was all mistakes and shitty in----shitty out kinda deal) You will love the finished smoke of the AK48...it's strong and has a good balanced high.

Is changing the ph of the soil as easy as adding ph up or down in the feeding water

I've been growing ak48 now for over a year. It's great smoke. You're going to like the finished product. A couple of question I have, are you concerned about strong odors ? Are you using a carbon scrubber ?

When the 4th week of flowering starts you're gonna be getting a stink coming out of that area & then about a week later the stink becomes pungent & each week after that it gets stronger & stronger. Almost unbearable being in the same room with that odor. If you don't have odor under control, your entire home is going to smell big time. You're in for a real treat

Smokinherblikenotomorrow said:

So far its looking great, the only thing id suggest is buy some mylar

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Many thanks

Aye, mylar is on the list. I keep hearing about people finding rolls of it in the form of wrapping paper at the dollar store but so far none of the dollar stores i've visited have had any of it.

I was also sad to discover Canadian Tire (basically home depot) doesn't sell it. Gonna have to hit Home Depot or Walmart or something.

But yes, mylar is a must! Agreed.

Anjinsan said:

AK48 was my first real grow too. (did a crappy bagseed grow first but that was all mistakes and shitty in----shitty out kinda deal) You will love the finished smoke of the AK48...it's strong and has a good balanced high.

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Awesome I bought it for its reputation for fast growth and nice balanced smoke. Very excited, and getting more so each time I read a comment like yours from someone who's experienced it.

NuBud335 said:

Is changing the ph of the soil as easy as adding ph up or down in the feeding water

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I've been looking around for word of a ph up or down solution that is stated as being plant-friendly. Perhaps there is a horticultural ph up/down solution available, but I have not heard of it. From what I know usually PH is brought up with lime and brought down by retracted feeding and ph-neutral water.

Tried to focus on the AK-48's again today.

You can see from the overview show how the AK-48's are excelling past even the plants that got a week head start. Genetically superior from the looks of things.

The AK-48's are practically flawless in comparison to the bagseed plants they're sharing room with.

Very impressed with this strain

I may be wrong but I am 90% sure that your plants are suffering from over watering.

The twisted effect is from a P def. Of course ph could also be to blame.
Either way they are growing which means it isn't detrimental.


I'm 3 weeks from harvesting my AK 48 which coincidentally is also my first real grow.

Good Luck.

They are looking nice We have lots of other random plants on the grow too and some currently germinating with our first grow. Good luck!

mookie brown said:

I've been growing ak48 now for over a year. It's great smoke. You're going to like the finished product. A couple of question I have, are you concerned about strong odors ? Are you using a carbon scrubber ?

When the 4th week of flowering starts you're gonna be getting a stink coming out of that area & then about a week later the stink becomes pungent & each week after that it gets stronger & stronger. Almost unbearable being in the same room with that odor. If you don't have odor under control, your entire home is going to smell big time. You're in for a real treat

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+1...AK48 is a REALLY smelly plant in flowering. I got used to it...but when a friend visited...they all said the odor hit them in the face the second my front door was opened. (and I had two plants...in a closet...in my basement!)

mookie brown said:

I've been growing ak48 now for over a year. It's great smoke. You're going to like the finished product. A couple of question I have, are you concerned about strong odors ? Are you using a carbon scrubber ?

When the 4th week of flowering starts you're gonna be getting a stink coming out of that area & then about a week later the stink becomes pungent & each week after that it gets stronger & stronger. Almost unbearable being in the same room with that odor. If you don't have odor under control, your entire home is going to smell big time. You're in for a real treat

Click to expand...

Anjinsan said:

+1...AK48 is a REALLY smelly plant in flowering. I got used to it...but when a friend visited...they all said the odor hit them in the face the second my front door was opened. (and I had two plants...in a closet...in my basement!)

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Replying to both of you,

Thanks for coming by!

You both have a good point, this is a very stinky plant.

It looks a lot like I'm pretty careless with this considered, but I'm lucky to have a sane enough family that they don't mind me growing.

But like you both said this shit will stink up my entire house, so I would be pretty irresponsible not to do something about it.

More than likely my method of choice will be an intake from outside suckin air in and a carbon scrubber pushing air out.

I've tossed around the idea of building a nicely sealed door on the closet itself and lining the entire closet with mylar. The effect would most likely be satisfactory not just for me but the plants! I need to create a light vacuum for flowering sometime soon anyhow.

Or at least, that's the vision.

If all else fails, I'm a rural Canadian, I can stick these girls in my back yard. xD

For now they're adding a very refreshing aroma to my room =]

hazyintentions said:

I may be wrong but I am 90% sure that your plants are suffering from over watering.

The twisted effect is from a P def. Of course ph could also be to blame.
Either way they are growing which means it isn't detrimental.


I'm 3 weeks from harvesting my AK 48 which coincidentally is also my first real grow.

Good Luck.

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Looks a lot like that, and I think this was the case when they were still working on the leaves you're mentioning.

I've since changed my watering habits and so far the only plants not showing improvement are the bagseed. I don't water anymore unless the soil is dry or damn close to it at the very bottom.

pH is still an unknown for me. As i've stated in previous posts I've had a moisture/pH multimeter on its way in the mail for some time. I'm far past being anxious to discover and fix the pH of my soils. I do however use pH-neutral filtered water and have not fertilized once yet.

DevilishlyKatt said:

They are looking nice We have lots of other random plants on the grow too and some currently germinating with our first grow. Good luck!

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Thank you very much!

monkeybones said:

Looks a lot like that, and I think this was the case when they were still working on the leaves you're mentioning.

I've since changed my watering habits and so far the only plants not showing improvement are the bagseed. I don't water anymore unless the soil is dry or damn close to it at the very bottom.

pH is still an unknown for me. As i've stated in previous posts I've had a moisture/pH multimeter on its way in the mail for some time. I'm far past being anxious to discover and fix the pH of my soils. I do however use pH-neutral filtered water and have not fertilized once yet.




Thank you very much!

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I would advice you to use tap water from experience, the problem with ph neutral water is that i t has no buffer minerals and your ph fluctuates wildly once you add nutes, they usually drop ph way low.

Use tap and you'll be golden, it eliminated a lot of headaches for me.

hazyintentions said:

I would advice you to use tap water from experience, the problem with ph neutral water is that i t has no buffer minerals and your ph fluctuates wildly once you add nutes, they usually drop ph way low.

Use tap and you'll be golden, it eliminated a lot of headaches for me.

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Thanks for the feedback!

I knew that tapwater contains chlorine which is essential to plant life which is why I have reserved the filtered water for plants exhibiting what I judge to be pH related problems.

But I sure didn't know that the minerals in tapwater create a pH buffering effect. That sounds fantastically useful. Many thanks.

The AK-48's have been strong since they were seedlings and have been receiving mostly tapwater since they began working on their second node.

This is, of course, to the exception of their rare foliage misting at the end of their 18 hours of light. I much rather mist with a neutral filtered water than anything else.


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I really appreciate the feedback folks, I rather my ego go sour than my first crop!

Also on a side note, I only recently discovered the grow logs forum. Seeing as how this thread technically constitutes a grow log, any moderator reading this can feel free to move this over there. Peace!

I plan on transplanting the 3 largest AK-48's into larger square fiber-grow pots. Went out today and bought some ingredients

Coco block, perlite, vermaculite, and I bought a box of bone/blood meal to give these little girls their first dose of vegitation nutrients. Picture attached.

While I go and expand some of the coco block, feel free to post suggestions for soil mixes using what I've got. From what I can tell 1 part perlite, 1 part vermaculite, and 2 parts coco/peat plus whatever the fertilizer box reccomends is the best.

Does anyone have any experience with granular blood and/or blood meal? How easy is it to burn a plant with this stuff? Very keen to stay as organic as possible

Also, was it smart to go with the blended fertilizer for the phosphorus? I know potassium is more in demand durring the flowering period so I avoided that, and obvious nitrogen is a must. How will my plants like the phosphorus in their veg stage?


Edit; Upon further research I discovered that it is often prudent to allow organic soil mixtures to sit for about a week for the bacteria that makes the nutrients available to kick in, so I went out and got some miracle-gro potting soil for the time being. Fuckin' hate having to go with chemical fertilizers, but I guess on my first grow I should always take the safest route.

Aww no patience to wait for the fert? I think if you go organic liquid, you won't have to wait. We are doing all organic as well and looked at the dry single ingredients, but I wanted something a little quicker that we wouldn't have to physically mix in. There are quite a few hydroponic supply sites that do carry organic nutes for soil as well.

looking great man... good luck and i cant wait to see some bud porn

Updates and responses; AK-48's are all in larger square pots now, so it should be able to distinguish in the pictures. Everything is looking pretty good! Hoping my superthrive arrives in the mail in the next couple days, I'd love to take some of the stress off of the roots after transplanting.

DevilishlyKatt said:

Aww no patience to wait for the fert? I think if you go organic liquid, you won't have to wait. We are doing all organic as well and looked at the dry single ingredients, but I wanted something a little quicker that we wouldn't have to physically mix in. There are quite a few hydroponic supply sites that do carry organic nutes for soil as well.

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Heh, well they're sitting in miracle-gro potting soil right now. Decided against the homemade soil for my first plants. Rather get a strong established mother before I make any leaps of faith However, I chose to transplant the smallest, weakest of the AK-48's into my homemade potting soil for a test run. These plants are hogs for nutrients I am told.

150wHPS said:

looking great man... good luck and i cant wait to see some bud porn

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Haha you got it man, thanks for the comment. Plenty of plant porn to come ^^b

They are lookin really nice and happy

Headin' to the hydroponics store today, gonna pic me up some mylar and anything else I think I might need

So here are some pictures before I get started installing stuff. Tried to get some better closeups, still fiddling with the camera's settings.

DevilishlyKatt said:

They are lookin really nice and happy

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Thanks! I really have to give props to Nirvana for the fantastic genetics. They make the bagseed look awful