First Grow: AK48 4x85W CFL stealth cabinet grow

ganjaluvr

ganjaluvr

Well-Known Member
if you've never grown the AK48 before... I think you'll like it. I did.. in fact I've got my last AK48 growing right now. I also found (lost it a long time ago and thought it was gone for good) but I also found one of my 'Ice' seeds that I thought I had lost for good.. a long time ago.

Anyhow, both seeds are feminized of course.. I never bother with buying regular seeds. But yeah as of right now.. I've got my last AK48 and 'ice' plant growing.. both from Nirvana Seed Company.

My ak48 is just now one week into flowering (first couple of pistils showed up 7 days ago as of today).. but she's looking beautiful. I named her 'Athena' because she's just so beautiful! As for my last 'Ice' plant.. I've got her in veg. She's about a week into veg now and looking healthy and beautiful too.

I'll be giving the 'ice' plant a good 3 weeks of veg time before switching her over to 12/12 for sexing (to induce the flowering hormones.. to begin the actual flowering process).

Anyhow, you'll enjoy the AK48.. strain puts out some very potent/smelly/beautiful/dense nugs. Also, the AK48 can be ready to harvest in as little as just 48 days.. but that's only if the plant is in absolute perfect conditions and is well cared for. My last AK48 grow.. I gave her 56 days (8 full weeks) of flowering before I harvested her.. and that extra week really helped with density/smell/weight. AK48 is a 7week strain.. but if you give her that one extra week.. she'll really appreciate it.. and will reward you at the end of that extra 8th week.

Anyhow.. good luck bud.

peace.
 
H

Hornstar

Member
So I have encountered some small problems already.

I checked my grow cab just now and found that the temps are at 85 degrees and humidity is down to 27%. This has not happened before and typically has happened when I put the plants in there.

I think the culprit is twofold. I had constructed a light trap for my PC fan and that considerably effected the air movement. So I removed one of the "walls" within the light trap and the airflow is much better. This will hopefully increase the hot air that is removed and increase the passive air coming from the hole at the bottom.

I also blocked the passive intake (I left about 1/2" of space for air to flow) again to restrict the light and I think this has also had a hand in increasing temps and reducing humidity. So i removed it altogether.

I don't need the cab to be 100% stealth as my wife knows whats up. Its just if other family members see it, then it will create unwanted questions. I will start thinking about how to get round the light leaks problem without restricting airflow. I might have to just rig up the other fan on the intake and potentially add a fan to the light fixture.

I also left a open glass of water in the cab which I hope will increase humidity. I will be buying a fan as well to blow across the lights.

I checked the cups and there is a lot od condensation inside the cups (I have the tops covered with cling folm which is obv acting as a humidity dome). This is a good thing as the humidity level inside the cup should be higher than in the cab. I touched the soil and it seemed very dry so I added a few splashes of water to moisten it.

Will check temps again in a couple hours and hopefully my diagnosis is correct!
 
H

Hornstar

Member
Hornstar said:
So I have encountered some small problems already.

I checked my grow cab just now and found that the temps are at 85 degrees and humidity is down to 27%. This has not happened before and typically has happened when I put the plants in there.

I think the culprit is twofold. I had constructed a light trap for my PC fan and that considerably effected the air movement. So I removed one of the "walls" within the light trap and the airflow is much better. This will hopefully increase the hot air that is removed and increase the passive air coming from the hole at the bottom.

I also blocked the passive intake (I left about 1/2" of space for air to flow) again to restrict the light and I think this has also had a hand in increasing temps and reducing humidity. So i removed it altogether.

I don't need the cab to be 100% stealth as my wife knows whats up. Its just if other family members see it, then it will create unwanted questions. I will start thinking about how to get round the light leaks problem without restricting airflow. I might have to just rig up the other fan on the intake and potentially add a fan to the light fixture.

I also left a open glass of water in the cab which I hope will increase humidity. I will be buying a fan as well to blow across the lights.

I checked the cups and there is a lot od condensation inside the cups (I have the tops covered with cling folm which is obv acting as a humidity dome). This is a good thing as the humidity level inside the cup should be higher than in the cab. I touched the soil and it seemed very dry so I added a few splashes of water to moisten it.

Will check temps again in a couple hours and hopefully my diagnosis is correct!
Click to expand...
Update on this.

The temps have stabilised around 80 degrees which I can accept.

The humidity actually got less after I put the glass of water in there. So I decided to tip it in the green tray I have in there. Luckily the cups (which have holes in) can sit on like a perch whilst the water in there are in little "bunkers". This increased humidity to 34% which is better but still not perfect. I also thinkl the fact its been dry and warmer the last few days generally thats had an effect. This could pose me a problem longer term as when I am growing in summer its much hotter and dryer. We shall see.!
 
H

Hornstar

Member
No signos of any sprouts yet. Its been about 60 hours and so I would hope there should be something before saturday night. We shall see.

I have had som issues with tmps and humidity as previously described. I have now set this up so that I have my fans, lights and humidifier coming on for 18hours. The humidifier is outside but blowing on the box and so the humidity is higher than it was.When they go off, the heater comes off and heats the area outside the cab to about 65-70 degrees, which keep the temps in the box at about the same.

This has only just been put into practice so I will evaluate them tomorrow. When I got home at 21:00 the lights had gone off at 16:00 but the humidifier and the fans stayed on (I had no timers for them at that stage). The box had standing water and humidity of 99% and so the humidifier is doing its job. Now that the timers are there, the humidifier, lights and fans will go off and the heater will come on so hopefully this won't be an issue.

Next update will hopefull be with pics of a newborn. :smile:
 
H

Hornstar

Member
Can't believe it. I looked at them last night at 11:00pm and there was nothing, this morning, 10 hours later, and one is reaching for the bloody sky and is nearly at the top of the glass already, and one is showing it pretty green head.

I will take pic tonight when back from work. I think I will have to remove the film over the top of the glass as the first one will be higher than that. I will then bring the lights closer, about 2" away I think.

Man this is it!!!!! ...
 
H

Hornstar

Member
So here are some pics of the new girls and a better idea of my improved setup.

You can see the black fan on the left inside the box, the two plastic cups and the therm. On the outside is a heater that only comes on when the lights go out to try keep the temps stable. The humidifier is to keep the humidity stable while the lights are on.

The temps seem ok I think. The max was 88 degress whilst the lowest was 70 degrees. Humidity was stable between 50-60%. I also moved the lights to about 2" away so we will see how they like that.

You can see from the pics that one of the girls is a little more advanced. She has a cotyledons and her first leaves. Whilst the other is much earlier and is only just showing the first leaves. I can't seem to see anything wrong. The colour seems to be all green so I suppose thats good. I haven't given any nutes but I know the soil (Bio Bizz All Mix) has nutes already that should sustain them for 3-4 weeks.

I gave the girls a proper water today. I basically watered them until I got runoff. I had previously just been spraying the top of the dirt lightly as I had a film over the top acting as a humidity dome and it kept the soil quite moist. Once I removed the film the soil dried out real fast as the water hadn't penetrated that far. I will check on them again tomorrow to see how the soil is but I'm expecting the soil to still be moist and so I won't be watering again till maybe sunday/monday.

Let me know what you think, especially if I have said anything that would cause cobncern. I really don't want to mess this up. DSC01265.jpgDSC01266.jpgDSC01267.jpgDSC01268.jpgDSC01269.jpgDSC01272.jpgDSC01273.jpgDSC01274.jpgDSC01275.jpgDSC01276.jpgDSC01277.jpg
 
H

Hornstar

Member
Hi all,

Got some more pics of the girls. The older one has grown alot and the main leaves (serrated ones - not sure of their proper name) have got much bigger. There are also signs of a new set of leaves coming through as well. The younger one is coming along and I think they have both stretched a bit. I have been topping them up with a little bit of soil to keep the stem supported and will continue to do that until I think the roots have properly taken to the soil and the stem is fully supported. At the moment there is no direct air blowing on them as they are protected from the fan by the glass itself but when they breach the rim I will have to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't get blown over.

Anyone know what the deal is with the shell? You can see its still there on the stem. Shall I just leave it or pull it off?
 

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H

Hornstar

Member
Plants are growing well I think. However I noticed that the leaves are starting to droop. I am thinkking this could be over watering but please give me some guidance. Am I just being paranoid? Do they look good to you?

You will notice I decided to transplant them into their homes for the duration. Think this is probably too early but I have done it now. Can't see how this could do them any harm.
 

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corúm

corúm

Active Member
That big of a pot... you really don't need to water at all once youve gotten it even remotely wet... i'd just leave the little champ do its thing, 3-4 days.. leave it.. it's one thing ive learnt recently. once it's got at least a set of leaves it'll start to drink a bit more noticeably.


gl man.. looks good.
 
H

Hornstar

Member
corúm;4795858 said:
That big of a pot... you really don't need to water at all once youve gotten it even remotely wet... i'd just leave the little champ do its thing, 3-4 days.. leave it.. it's one thing ive learnt recently. once it's got at least a set of leaves it'll start to drink a bit more noticeably.


gl man.. looks good.
Click to expand...
Yeah thats what I thought. I watered them when I transplanted, more so to get the soil to settle properly. I don't intend watering now for a few days at least. Thx for the comment.
 
H

Hornstar

Member
HWell as you can see the growth keeps on going. I left the girls without water since my last post and it did them the world of good. they perked up and looked healthier than ever. they are a beautiful green and I am pleased it is al going so well. The plants are about 2" tall now and have lots of leaves.

When I checked on them yesterday they were starting to dropp and the soil was dry so I gave them a water. I am intending on watering 3-5 days apart at the moment as the pot is so big ad the plants are quite small. I woul expect them to drink more as they get bigger and I will adjust my watering schedule to suit. I am currently not feeding them and was thinking to start during week 3. Any thoughts on this? What kind of amounts of butes to use? (I am using BioBizz).

There is also a pic of what is soon to be my scrog screen. I decided to go for a scrog as I want to maximise yield but only have about 2 foot grow space (measuring from the medium upwards). I thought that if I place the screen 8" from the medium that will leave me with 16" of flower room once scrogged. Any thoughts on whether this would be ok? Any general tips on scrogging would be very useful.

Anyway, enjoy the pics and please leave any comments you wish.
 

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H

Hornstar

Member
Hey all,

Well the plants have been growing like...well...a weed :smile:. They are way bushier than I expected, which I think is a good thing. They are about 5-6" high and I am getting them ready to put in the scrog fairly soon. Also going to start nutes on week 3.

However, I have seen a few brown spots on the leaves and this worries me somewhat. You can see them on the pictures. Pleas elet me know what you think they are. Here is a run down of the grow/setup to help diagnosis:

Strain is Nirvana AK48
Germ was direct in soil and popped after 36-48 hours.
4 85W CFLs
Medium is Bio-Bizz All Mix
No nutes used yet.
Watering has been via Tap water approx 3-4 days apart.
I have a fan blowing across the canopy and the temps at the canopy are approx 75 degrees.
I have seen a couple of small fly type creatures running around on the top of the soil. I cannot find any more after digging below the surface and cannot see any eggs. I don't know what type of creatures they are.
The plants are on Day 16 and still in Veg.
 

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