Autoflower Ak47 - Lowryder X Ak47

[tordek]

Overall how big would you say it got? (Height and width)

I have 4 currently growing outdoors at 4 weeks and they are about 6-10inch of stem before the leaves and definetly not very advanced compared to how yours were.

I guess I'm going to get slower growth because they are outdoors, they remained compact under light (2x 20w CFL) up to 2 weeks in then stems growth shot up once outdoors without putting out a huge amount of leaf.

Haven't even got proper fan leaves yet Probably on my 6th set of leaves up the stem although this is all grouped into a section of stem about 2-3inch on top of a lanky stem, this is excruciatingly slow compared to yours

All 4 look the same and are under direct sunlight in 2L pots and top quality compost (Cant remember what compost but it was voted #1 in gardeners world review.

[kbfl0912]

Originally Posted by tordek

Overall how big would you say it got? (Height and width)

I have 4 currently growing outdoors at 4 weeks and they are about 6-10inch of stem before the leaves and definetly not very advanced compared to how yours were.

I guess I'm going to get slower growth because they are outdoors, they remained compact under light (2x 20w CFL) up to 2 weeks in then stems growth shot up once outdoors without putting out a huge amount of leaf.

Haven't even got proper fan leaves yet Probably on my 6th set of leaves up the stem although this is all grouped into a section of stem about 2-3inch on top of a lanky stem, this is excruciatingly slow compared to yours

All 4 look the same and are under direct sunlight in 2L pots and top quality compost (Cant remember what compost but it was voted #1 in gardeners world review.

To answer your question as to how big they got....I'd say about 17-20" and about 14" or so wide. I can't remember, but looking back a few pages, it was pretty bushy.

I don't have any experience growing outside, but I do believe this is a strain best grown indoors. But, I don't know that for sure. Maybe they are too dry from the direct sunlight and being in a pot, rather than in ground. Without a picture, it is hard to know. If you have one, post it...someone could probably offer some advice. Have you fed it? If so, what nutrients are you using and at what strength?

[kbfl0912]

Originally Posted by drumlord420

Siphoning? Never thought to do that. I just received my Pro 200 and gallons of Grow Micro Bloom. I've started germinating one of the 5 femed seeds. I still need to get a ph tester and an air stone. I'll let you know how my progress goes. Thanx

Wow, you went w/ gallons....I should have told you to buy the smallest possible amount. You are going to laugh when you see how little of the nutrients you will use in that AG reservoir. The reservoir is about 1 gallon. You will need a very small measuring piece, like a liquid medicine thing. The kind that look like a syringe, but without the needle. But, on the bright side, you will have enough to grow in that thing for a long time....

[drumlord420]

Yeah...I called a place in FL and it seemed to make more sense to buy the gallons rather than the quarts, because a quart was half the price of a gallon, and yeah, I planned on buying a surplus. Anyway, I have access to a syringe like that, I just need to know how much to used based on cc's. Also, I was told by the retailer to add the Micro into the resivoir, wait a few minutes, then add the grow and wait, and finally the bloom over a period of 9-10 mins. This seems a bit odd to me. I understand what each nutrient is used for, but I thought that one would use each seperate nutrient over a certain amount of time, not just all at once. Since you obviously have a good bit of expertise on the subject, I figured I'd see how you went about adding nutes...

[kbfl0912]

Originally Posted by drumlord420

Yeah...I called a place in FL and it seemed to make more sense to buy the gallons rather than the quarts, because a quart was half the price of a gallon, and yeah, I planned on buying a surplus. Anyway, I have access to a syringe like that, I just need to know how much to used based on cc's. Also, I was told by the retailer to add the Micro into the resivoir, wait a few minutes, then add the grow and wait, and finally the bloom over a period of 9-10 mins. This seems a bit odd to me. I understand what each nutrient is used for, but I thought that one would use each seperate nutrient over a certain amount of time, not just all at once. Since you obviously have a good bit of expertise on the subject, I figured I'd see how you went about adding nutes...

Yes, you do use all three at the same time. You just vary the amount of each at different times during the grow. I will post the nutrient schedule that I used, but you may need to alter it a little for your grow. You just need to look at the plants to see if they look deficient in something.

As far as adding the Micro first........YES, you do have to do that. It has something to do with the way the nutrients bind w/ each other and the water. If you add the Micro last, the Grow and Bloom have already bonded and the micro is deemed useless. Something along those lines anyway.

If you go to www.advancednutrients.com There is a nutrient calculator there. Click on it and you put the size of the reservoir and it will calculate how much of each to add for each part of your grow.

Since you are growing an autoflowering strain, you should alter it. For instance, you are really only going to use the vegetative cycle for only about two weeks at most, and then just jump right in to the flowering cycle. I didn't use any nutes until I had a couple sets of true leaves. Then used nutes for the vegetative stage for about two weeks, then went right to bloom nute schedule. There website is pretty informative.

You could find a CC conversion table somewhere. I measured mine in ML's.

[stoned16]

hi kbfl,nice grow and journal aswell,can you tell me please what was your exact dry yield from your plant as i am looking into growing the same strain.auto ak.and what was the high like?head or body?thanks

[kbfl0912]

Originally Posted by stoned16

hi kbfl,nice grow and journal aswell,can you tell me please what was your exact dry yield from your plant as i am looking into growing the same strain.auto ak.and what was the high like?head or body?thanks

I am not sure what the dry weight was. I cut some down and quick dried it and didn't weigh it and then the rest of it, I slow dried and cured. I would say probably around 2 oz. But, I do not remember, nor did I weigh it. It wasn't alot, but given that it only takes about 10 weeks from start to finish, it's an OK turn around.

[wtfbbq]

I was thinking of doing this using bag seed. Do I have a pretty good shot with the bag seeds using the approach in this thread? I'm thinking they might have different vag/flower times because they are unknown seeds? Anything I should do differently in this scenario? Since this is my first grow I'm going in with the expectation that I'll probably make a few mistakes... hence the use of the bag seeds...

[kbfl0912]

Originally Posted by wtfbbq

I was thinking of doing this using bag seed. Do I have a pretty good shot with the bag seeds using the approach in this thread? I'm thinking they might have different vag/flower times because they are unknown seeds? Anything I should do differently in this scenario? Since this is my first grow I'm going in with the expectation that I'll probably make a few mistakes... hence the use of the bag seeds...

Well, w/ bag seed, you can probably assume it is not an auto-flowering strain. Also, it will be taller. So, you might have to do some LST to keep them below the 24" lights. Also, I would just do two at the most and hope you get a female. They will need more root room.

Since they will have to be on a 18/6 light cycle for vegetation, which will be much longer than the autoflowering strain in this thread...and....12/12 lighting for the flowering cycle. So, you will need to get a figure 8 cable so that your lighting and pump are running off of two different cords. Plug the pump cord into a regular plug and the lighting plug into the timer. That way your pump can still be running while your lights are not. And when I refer to the pump, I don't mean the air pump with the air stone, I mean the actual pump on the Aerogarden. The air stone and pump will need to run 24/7.

Good luck!

[wtfbbq]

Originally Posted by kbfl0912

Well, w/ bag seed, you can probably assume it is not an auto-flowering strain. Also, it will be taller. So, you might have to do some LST to keep them below the 24" lights. Also, I would just do two at the most and hope you get a female. They will need more root room.

Since they will have to be on a 18/6 light cycle for vegetation, which will be much longer than the autoflowering strain in this thread...and....12/12 lighting for the flowering cycle. So, you will need to get a figure 8 cable so that your lighting and pump are running off of two different cords. Plug the pump cord into a regular plug and the lighting plug into the timer. That way your pump can still be running while your lights are not. And when I refer to the pump, I don't mean the air pump with the air stone, I mean the actual pump on the Aerogarden. The air stone and pump will need to run 24/7.

Good luck!

thanks! I read the following in another thread:

"if you don't want them to get too tall you should start flowering when they have four sets of new leaves and 8-12 inches tall"

Is this an alternative to LST? ...I'm guessing that yield would be affected, but will I still see results? I also read other forum posts regardingi germinating, they just put the seed in the AG sponge and it germinated. no need for the wet paper towel etc...what are your thoughts? How did you germinate the seeds?

Also, I plan on buying the 1L of the bloom micro grow. I noticed you stated there isn't a need for a huge amount, and 1L seems like a lot. Any place to get a smaller quantities?

[kbfl0912]

Yes, you could flower early and yest yield would be less, but, it's up to you. You still might have to tie them down a bit.

I don't think there is any smaller amount of the Grow Micro Bloom. That is the smallest, I believe.

As far as germinating. I always soak mine over night in a glass of water. Then, I do put them in a paper towel in a dark area and keep the towel moist/damp, not soaking wet. Wait until the tap root pops out and then put it in the sponge with the root facing down. Put it down in the sponge about just so the seed is below the top of the sponge and not poking out of the top. I have heard of others just popping the seed in, I think I may have even done that with success. But, just to be sure, I usually do it the old fashioned way.

Also, I cut the sponge in half. Vertical. They are partially separated already, but I go ahead and cut mine all the way. It makes it easier for the roots to reach the bottom. Don't worry. It will still hold the seed in place with the pod split in half.

Good luck.

[jjbrown]

First off THANKS for this thread kbfl0912 you rock! .....I just read in the High Times Sept.08 (which the Aerogarden is on the cover) page 98 the "aerogarden experiment" that in a grow with lowryder #2 they used the nutrient pellets from the master gardener kit from Aerogarden...3 females on the tomato setting (16/8 light i think) with an end result of 3 plants 12'' high and up to 1.5 ounce yield...and this was with the regular aerogarden not the pro...auto ak47 and the pro looks like the best set up by far...

...but is worth the investment for the advanced nutrients?
Did you ad an air pump and air stone?
And did you keep a fan on the plants 24/7?

[kbfl0912]

Wow, I didn't know High Times was doing an experiment w/ this. I will have to pick up a copy.

I really don't know if the AN nutrients were necessary, but I went with them. I used the nutrients that came with it in the very beginning, and nothing terrible happened. But, I didn't know the composition of the nutes that came with it. I wouldn't recommend using them.

Yes, I put a large (about 4"-5") airstone in the reservoir and kept it on 24/7, I also kept an oscillating (sp?) fan on them 24/7.

Thanks for the props! I can't believe this thread has had about 15.000 views. Hope I helped some people.

I've got another one going, maybe I will do another thread under grow journals. This time....Diesel X Lowryder, they call it Diesel Ryder. They are lookin' good so far.

All these views and no one has given me +rep

[ohnothimagin]

Originally Posted by kbfl0912

Wow, I didn't know High Times was doing an experiment w/ this. I will have to pick up a copy.

I really don't know if the AN nutrients were necessary, but I went with them. I used the nutrients that came with it in the very beginning, and nothing terrible happened. But, I didn't know the composition of the nutes that came with it. I wouldn't recommend using them.

Yes, I put a large (about 4"-5") airstone in the reservoir and kept it on 24/7, I also kept an oscillating (sp?) fan on them 24/7.

Thanks for the props! I can't believe this thread has had about 15.000 views. Hope I helped some people.

I've got another one going, maybe I will do another thread under grow journals. This time....Diesel X Lowryder, they call it Diesel Ryder. They are lookin' good so far.

All these views and no one has given me +rep

How do you install an airstone in the Aerogarden? Does it require another pump?

Thanks

[kbfl0912]

Yes, to install an air pump- get a pump from your local pet store and some airline tubing and an airstone. Attach the airstone to the end of the airline tubing. Run the tubing through one of your empty holes and place the airstone in the middle of the reservoir. Then plug the other end of the airline tubing into the pet store "aquarium" air pump. If you buy the flexible type of tubing, it is much easier. Then be sure to cover the empty hole with something. Golf balls work perfectly. Try to keep the pump higher than the unit to prevent backflow.