OPTeration Pure Cherry AK48~

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Hello Folks,

For the next 3 months I will be recording the results of my newest farm that includes Nirvana's AK48, Nirvana's Pure Power Plant, and a couple of Reefermans' Cherry Bomb II (98 percent sure).

I will be updating this thread as often as possible, with pics to come in the future.

First off, let me talk about my growing space. It is a 4x4x7 Grow Tent with 400 watt HPS, and a 195 cfm inline fan, as well as an attached carbon scrubber.

The scrubber is resting on the floor in the corner and is set to run for 15 min, every hour and 15 min. I use a passive intake by allowing a hole on the top side of the tent to be opened.


The medium I use is organic, and is known as "LC's mix". The following is the recipe:

5 parts peat, 3 parts perlite, 2 parts EWC's, 2 Tbls. dolomite lime for every gallon of mix. This is the standard mix that I use for my seedlings. I have mixed the veg/flowering mix already. It is "cooking" for 2 weeks for my first transplant.

To the above I added 1 Tbls. blood meal, kelp meal, greensand. And, 2 Tbls's bone meal. I then dampened it with a mix that had some Liquid Karma as well as a little molasses.

Next thread will detail the germ rates, as well as the first 8 days since sprout.

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[JackCough]

cant wait

 

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I started 10 seeds total.

6 Nirvana AK-48
2 Pure Power Plant
2 Cherry Bomb II (from last grow years ago)

The 6 AK's as well as the 2 PPP's both cracked in roughly 48 hours, and were put in the dampened mix.

The 2 CB's took an extra day and also finally cracked.

They were put under a single 3 foot double floro for the first 4 days. All came up within 3-5 days after being buried. One AK ended up looking like it got rot of some kind. It came out of the soil but never got full up, and was tossed.

As far as the looks of the plants go so far at around day 8ish...They all look pretty uniform so far, besides 1. One of the pure power plants is HUGE!!! It is about triple the width and height (in the leaves) then any of the other plants. I'll try to get pics in the next day or two, it is pretty crazy.

The temps in the tent are staying pretty chilly. Sitting @ about 65ish with lights on, this could be the reason that some of the "monster power plants" leaves are slightly curling all around the leaf.

I will be bubbling my first EWC and molasses tea for next watering as there are a couple AK's that are already starting to yellow in there first set of leaves (cateloyds*?).

MORE TO COME, with pics!

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1/6 (day 14ish from seed)

Sorry guys, no pics today! I forgot my bloody camera, I will try to get some next time!!!

As far as the update goes, the plant I dubbed "The Monster" is fucking HUGE! All my AK48's and cherry bombs, as well as my 1 other power plant aren't even close to how big this fucker is. He is the biggest plant from seed I've seen at 2 weeks, quite astonishing.

Both the Cherry bombs are not drinking water very fast at all. I just assume they are light drinkers.

In my last post I stated that I would be making a EWC and molasses tea to hit them with for the first time. I've since changed my mind on this, and I'm just gonna let them do there thing for now.

I noticed today that one of my AK's first set of true leaves has what looks to be rust spots on them, and they are curled up. None of the other plants have this, the temps are cool in my tent, and the light is about 20 inches away, so it's not a burn problem.

I think it might have something to do with the lime I'm using. I ordered this bag several years ago that was said to be "dolomite Lime", and without realizing it, never read the bag or nothing. Well today I noticed on the back it said "Hydrated Lime". I'm not sure if this has something to do with the slower growth rate of my seedlings, or if they are just taking there time. I suspect this might have something to do with the magnesium deficiency I've had in the past, but I'm not sure. Anyone know about hydrated lime?

You can see the roots at the bottom of my pots on every plant, so I know the plants are growing under the ground, it's above the ground where they are taking there sweet time. I'm expecting to see some rapid growth start to happen on the rest of the plants in the next 2 weeks when they should enter there Veg stage.

I think I'mma leave them in there current pots for another few days before I uppot to my veg/flowering organic mix, I don't think they are quite ready yet, besides maybe the lone Power plant that is in the keg cup.

Until next time.....

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[SwampNug]

Here's a bit from thegardenhelper.com:

"Raising the soil pH to make it more alkaline
Generally speaking, it is easier to make soils more alkaline than it is to make them more acid. Because different soil types react in different ways to the application of lime you will have to add more lime to clay soils and peaty soils than you will in sandy soils to achieve the same result.
To increase your pH by 1.0 point and make your soil more alkaline:

* Add 4 ounces of hydrated lime per square yard in sandy soils
* Add 8 ounces of hydrated lime per square yard in loamy soils
* Add 12 ounces of hydrated lime per square yard in clay soils
* Add 25 ounces of hydrated lime per square yard in peaty soils"

Seems like hydrated lime will work just fine for your mix.

Heres a good cross reference: the Cannabis Grow Bible by Greg Green recommends using "lime," or "alkaline calcium oxide", which implies its heated limestone. Heating limestone drives off the chemically bonded water, meaning it's no longer hydrated. All he recommends is to use a little at a time and test the PH constantly till you are comfortable with the dosage.

Personally I use dolomite lime which is purchased through the ceramic industry. Its calcium magnesium oxide, and I don't think it's hydrated. I use it liberally while mixing soil and it works well-over 2 tablespoons per cubic foot of soil wouldn't be bad if the acidity was a real problem.

In other words either one would probably work the same: non-hydrated lime rehydrates when it comes into contact with water, and both alter the ph due to their alkaline nature. I'll assume plants bring up this mineral in a hydrated form, so maybe hydrated lime is more readily available to the plant as cal/mag upon application. Use a PH tester to find out how your blend is working!

Hope this helps!

 

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Hey guys,

Sorry for the delay! Also, sorry for the quality of the pics, I did my best!

So far "The Monster" is still doing the same thing, GROWING! As far as most my other plants, they seem to be stunted, so I transplanted some of them, and gave othehttp://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=13488&pictureid=270823r test subjects a earthworm and epsom salt tea at a really weak dosage to see how they react. I'm thinking some of the problem froom the get go was the lime I was using, as you can see on the pic below, it's "Hydrated Lime".

The first couple are of "The Monster", followed by misc. shots.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?a...lbumid=13488&pictureid=270824pictureid=270828
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http://www.icmag.cohttp://www.icmag...m/ic/album.php?albumid=13488&pictureid=270827

 

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http://www.icmag.com/ic/album.phttp...ic/album.php?albumid=13488&pictureid=27084341

 

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Damnit, sorry, I have to figure out how to do this. Give me a bit.

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Day 23 from seed or so, notice how small the other AK48's and Cherry bombs are, same goes for the other Power Plant I have. This one has started off strong from the beginning, and hasn't slowed down, not sure why!

As you can see in the pics, on most of them the first set of leaves looks to be crispy, but weren't given any food, just a little Liquid Karma. Not sure if I have a too high of lime concentration from the hydrated lime or what exactly. I picked up some Cal Mag and gave them a slight dose of it last watering. I can't really tell if it is helping or not. I have however transplanted a few into 1 gallon containers, besides The Monster, which went straight into a 3 gal! Hoping them getting into there new organic flowering/veg mix will kick start them into gear! Only time will tell.

Inside my tent you can see a bucket of water, that has helped me raise my humidity from 20ish to 40-50 percent, and it is a little chilly in there, but I hope they will be fine! More updates to come guys, thanks for watching!

Also, in that pic that shows the nutrients I have used, leave out that soil sweetner. I just got that and is what i'll be replacing my hydrated lime with next go around. Hopefully by adding the real dolomite shit, will not stunt my gals right away! I'm not positive that's the reason for the problems, but I sure hope to not have them anymore starting my next grow! If you look at the pic of the lime bag, it says dolomitic lime, but as you read further down, you can see the "hydrated lime" term used a lot, no wonder I never knew.

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Hey Guys,

Quick update. Went and checked on them today, they all seem to have grown a little more since I uppotted and EWC tea them. I think I will top the Monster in a few days, she is staying nice and bushy, want to try to get multiple tops goin.

Will update with more pics in few days!

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[bigscoot]

i'll be checkin in on this 1

 

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Quick update,

The Pure Power Plant named "The Monster" has already shown female preflowers, YAY! What I think i will do while waiting for the stunted AK's to catch up is let the PPP, get bigger then take clones of her to try to start my first motherplant. I expect pretty good things from this plant. From growing as fast as it has, to already showing preflowers, should be good. But, it does have some lower leaves showing some problems, but it hasn't seem to slow her down at all, so I'm just going to roll with it for now. I also FIMed her last night to try to get some multiple shoots!

The 2nd PPP is starting to finally come along from whatever problem it has, same goes with all the other AK's and Cherry bombs. Still not sure what stunted em, i think it could be the cold temperatures i experienced, not to mention the hydrated lime i'm using surely has something to do with it.. Ever since the temps been staying steady around 70 degrees, they have shown much improvements. The littler Pure power plant I have is showing quite a bit of purpling on the underside of it's leaves already! Might make for one colorful girl!

The only plants that didn't have the rust spots, but did seem stunted were the Cherry Bombs I have. Both of them are showing universal green color, even on there first set of true leaves still. Must have been the temps that stunted them, they are taking off now, seemingly "Praying to the gods"! I love to see plants like that, just makes me feel like they are happy when they are standing tall and all.

I also threw some EWC, liquid karma, and molasses in my bucket to use for a EWC tea on all of them next watering. I also plan on transplanting the 3 that are still in smaller pots in the coming days. I watered the ones that needed it last night with slight doses of molasses, liquid karma, and 1/8 teaspoon cal-mag. Seems to have perked them up today.

I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow guys, I know I've been slacking on that, but I promise, more to come on the pics throughout the crop.

Until then, Peace

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[blazesck]

We made the same mistake of using hydrated lime instead of dolomite lime once and it stunted the seedlings we planted into it just like in your pics (coincidentally, we were trying to grow AK-48 and PPP). I'd say it was the source of your problems too. Try sprouting some seeds in a new batch of your LCs mix and you should get much better growth.

 

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Cool, thanks for the heads up blazesck!

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[komrade komura]

Excellent reporting and interesting grow OPT.

Well Done!

 

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Quick update.

Forgot the camera again! DOH!

All the plants but 1 are finally starting to get jump started after there little stunt period. THe Monster is looking beautiful...topped her a few days ago, she's looking nice a nd bushy. I think i might take some clones of her, and she is starting to wreak, already!

The other power plant i have is hte 2nd best looking plant out of all of em, followed by the cherry bombs.

It's funny...the freebies i got are the best plants, followed by the old cherry bomb II's. The AK's are coming along, but they seem the less vigor out of all of em.

Will take pictures tomorrow..i hope!

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As promised...PICTURES!

Not of best quality, but you gotta make dues with what's available right?

First 3 pics is "The Monster" PPP, after being topped, she is starting to bush out, as you can see. Starting to stink already also, very skunky like.



These are pics of the other power plant I have, starting to come along nicely, but nothing like the first..hope it's not a male! FOllowed by some group shot.



These next pics are from one of my Cherry Bomb II phenos, along with the still stunted/slow growing AK-48. Have no clue wtf is wrong with em.



See ya next time folks!!

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[bigAl25]

interesting

interesting

I'm growing AK48s, bubblelicious and strawberry bubba kush this go around. Will be watching your AK48s closely. Out of my 6 I have a runt AK48 too. The bubblelicious and Strawbubbakush are the biggest so far. In 4th week of veg right now. Good luck, I want the cherry AK48 too, but the other strains are beating the in growth hands down. How much can you feed the AKs? Will the take a strong amount of nutes?

 

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bigAl25,

To be honest, I don't know how much nutes they can handle. This is my first go around with them, and they've had problems which leads me to believe they like the lighter eating sides of things. Then again, I still am pretty confident that the reason for there slow start is due in part to the hydrated lime I used instead of the real dolomite.

The other plants got stunted as well, but have really started to rebound nicely. Hopefully the same will go for the AK48s.

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Today I was gonna prune the 2 lowest branches on the PPP lady I have when it dawned on me, why not try to clone those 2 branches. So I did. Hopefully I will see roots in a week, if not...not big deal.

I also shit canned one of my AK48's, would not grow, even after being up-potted, so she/he is toast.

As far as the rest of the plants, the 2nd PPP is continuing to grow decent, as well as both cherry bombs.

I will be ordering coco soon, with the GH Flora series nutes, and try my share at coco growing with my new Mosca Tsi Fly (Chimera's C4 female x Mosca's C99 male) seeds I just received, as well as some Chuck D (deep chunk x Sour diesal) from Cannacopia Seeds.

I was very happy with how fast they came, only took about 4 days, thanks Gypsy! I also received some Haze x Skunk seeds from Sam for the freebies. And holy shit are they tiny, REALLY tiny. I might throw one or 2 of those in with the next grow op just to see how they do, meanwhile I will try to do my part and overgrow the world by giving them to a potential new grower!

More updates in a few days, along with some pictures.

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