AK-47 Gold Arabesque

Could you post some photos of the whole plant/canopy? Curling leaves and the slightly browning tips can be attributed to heat stress for sure.

Day 5 of dry. My cupboard has been consistently at 15-18 degrees Celsius, and 55-65 % RH The one plant on the left, which I trimmed wet properly (little to no leaves) was becoming crunchy on the outside, and bounced back when squeezed. Most but not all of the stems made a snapping sound when bent, but didn't break clean off. I did the jar test, where I put a bud in the jar and after an hour checked. The inside of the jar got moist, so it still needs to dry more. But, I felt like it was drying too fast just hanging there, due to the lack of leaves. So, into the brown paper bag it goes (thank you Romans) I made sure to leave enough stems to give airflow through all the buds. Thank you @Weskush and @West Coast Vaper for the tip on "sweating" the bud I will open the bag and shake it up gently every day or two. As for the other plant, its still very green, leafy and not dry to the touch. Needs more time. I'd appreciate any and all criticism/guidance. Not really sure when to pull the trigger with this drying process, in terms of moving the bud from one stage to the next i.e drying, sweating, then buck and cure in terploc. Probably just get a feel for it the more you do it?

I feel like some of the buds I "over-trimmed"? They aren't as dense, and seem to be drying faster than the others. Probably supposed to leave on more of the sugar leaves. My next three plants when they are ready I'll try a dry trim rather. Or take off only big fan leaves. Other buds seem happier, where I left on more of the leaves because 5 hours into trimming my hands got sore and I got lazy. Have all the larf drying on a piece of cardboard beneath the others.

Harvested, wet trimmed and now drying the two biggest. Video quality is trash but here are two clips. I think my dry conditions are good. Temps and humidity seem to be in-line with what is recommended online.

had no idea this was a thing. It seems that this sweating process coupled with Terploc bags is probably the safest and easiest way for a first time grower like myself to get a decent dry/cure. Thanks so much!

You throw any boveda humidity control packers in the terplock bag? any hygrometer to measure humidity? I'd assume you still burp them twice/three times a day for the first two weeks, even with terplock bags

I'm curious to see everyone's personal preference I have yet to decide, have tried both.

With regards to the curling leaves, a user in this thread experienced the same issues with neem and leaf curling. As per that thread, just to quote " I think the oil is clogging pores and preventing from transpiring". Could be that, but someone more experienced will need to confirm. I didn't even know plants had "pores" needed to transpire, and haven't used Neem Oil myself. Edit: Even with this Reddit thread about Neem and houseplant leaf curling, ""...oil can block the pores on plants causing leaf curl." The general advice it seems is to spray at night or after sunset.

Hello hello, As I have mentioned in the past, my first grow has been free of any EC measuring. But, I now got myself an EC Pen (yay). My personal understanding is as follows: EC is the % of nutrient/mineral particles in the water. The "density" I guess. EC too high, means the plant can't absorb enough or gets locked. EC too low, means the plant has to absorb more water to achieve their nutrient requirements. For flowering and ripening stages, the GHE TriPart Flora Micro recommends an EC of 1.4 - 2.2/2.6. The Bloom on the other hand recommends 1.3 - 1.7. My EC after completing my feed, ready to water, is 0.9. As per the below chart I found here on the EC article I was reading, I should be fine. This seems to ring true with me, as my plants haven't had nutrient issues besides that tiny CalMag issue at the start. I also realize that my EC is probably lower because I am feeding half/three quarters of the recommended nutrient dose on the bottle, because I'm growing autos. I'm sure that in my next photo grow, I can logically expect a higher EC as I'm using more nutrients in the feed. Should the EC become too high, then I obviously need to de-chlorinate the water with an air pump for a few hours to reduce the starting EC before adding feed. Now, my question for the more experienced growmies is as follows: How am I supposed to know what exact EC to aim for when mixing my feed. As every separate nutrient has a different recommended range. But I suppose I am answering my own question here? Its a range, and as long as its within there then it should be fine. Have any of you experienced growers encountered any EC issues, and how did you rectify it? Are my above observations accurate? Thanks in advance for your responses and insight!

6 July Update My two Critical Auto shrubs (lol) are doing well. The buds have really fattened, and the smell is good. Very sticky. I haven't even seen any more seeds, which makes me happy. The canopy is very dense due to short and stocky nature of the plant caused by my overtraining, so I'm constantly monitoring for bud-rot. Humidity is controlled though, 39-45% RH, so no issues yet. These two little bushes are about 9 or 10 days away from their 11 weeks life cycle coming to an end. As for the other 3 younger plants which are a week or two behind, I took off 90% of the tie-downs, as to avoid the same overtraining. They have really responded well, and I've seen some explosive stretching. What I found interesting, is that one of the bud sites split into two at the top. Mutation? idk xD And just because, here is a photo of the tent in its entirety:

What he said ^ I put my lights at the recommended manufacturer level (40cm from canopy) at early stages, and it was too much. Raising lights should help, and helps the plants stretch as well. "Seedling Stage: For marijuana seedlings, LED grow lights should be between 24-36 inches above the plant canopy. Seedlings are delicate, and placing lighting closer can cause bleaching or stunted growth. Placing the light source at this height also avoids drying out the soil. At the seedling stage, less light intensity is best." IQ. (2021). Positioning LED Grow Lighting for All Stages of Marijuana Growth. [online] Available at: https://iq.lighting/blogs/lighting-blog/positioning-led-grow-lighting-for-all-stages-of-marijuana-growth [Accessed 2 Jul. 2023]. ‌

Thank you for responding guys! Thought an update would be fitting. June 28 61 days in for these two bigger ones, 52 days for others. Little under canopy herm bud Others still in pre-flower

@Naughty.Psychonaut Do I need to kill the plants that are generating a few seeds? Are my other plants at risk? I was thinking of just removing the few seeds, and keep going with the grow. I don't see any nanners or flower/pollen sites.

Thank you guys for responding and giving feedback, I really appreciate it! @Naughty.Psychonaut That's very insightful. I don't see nanners at all. Have checked the plants thoroughly. All just normal pistils. That little "ballsack" on 95% of the buds has pistils coming out, and no seed inside. If I look closely, I can find a "ballsack" here and there that has no pistil coming out, and has a small green seed growing inside. This seems to be on the lower branches, and more underneath bud sites rather than on actual buds as far as I can see. My tent pressure I am very finicky about. I check to see how the walls are, and do my best to make sure pressure is always even. Also have a bug/dust screen on the intake. But this pollen theory can very well be the cause. @LitItGrown Your final results are amazing man! You're completely right. I am an anxious person, and this project was also to help teach me deal with setbacks as they are a normal part of living. I got my EC Pen today, as mentioned before that was something I completely neglected. I've adjusted what I can, and now I'm just going to ride out the rest of the grow and hope for the best. In hindsight I find that these are the most likely culprits: Not checking EC this grow. HST rather than LST Stray lights during dark period I don't want to blame genetics or the fact that its an auto, because there is definitely a lot that could have been done better. Thanks again, appreciate all the kind words and feedback Edit: In the YouTube video Lit posted, they mentioned stray light. In the comments of the video someone said: "You just hit the nail on the head! I put my dehumidifier in on the last few weeks left of flower and sure enough I got a few immature seeds on the bottom of a couple ladies from the blue light" My dehumidifier also has a blue light. Even with the tape over it, its still a faint blue light through the plastic. And I'm having the same "immature seeds on the bottom issue". Could be the reason honestly. Need to remove that LED.

@Naughty.Psychonaut It seems I jinxed it Found some small, hard green seeds around some of my bud sites. Only on some bud sites, not others. After scouring the two biggest plants I found about maybe 6 in total. I can't believe it. I'm assuming it was the LEDs in the tent + my "LST" bordering more on HST for these autos. So, what do I do now? Edit: Upon doing more panic research I also read that keeping lights too bright and too close can cause light stress. I raised my lights a bit and turned them down. Not sure if that was it, probably too late now? I didn't really notice these before lowering and my lights and increasing the light strength. But correlation=/=causation so idk

Welcome!

@LitItGrown@Naughty.Psychonaut Thanks for responding guys! I was having a little panic, worrying that now I may be doomed to have seeded indoor I had no idea that it could add a further risk of seeds. Already patched up what I could and taped over the LEDs.

I had no idea that tiny bits of light during a dark period can cause fems to go hermie. That is awful, really? I thought it was only extreme stress or not properly feminized seeds that causes hermie plants. I've been running lights 24 hours , with loadshedding. Ended up being like a 18/6 20/4 hour cycle. Then loadshedding stopped for a bit and it was 24 hour light. Now I'm doing 18/6 to save on some electricity, because 24 hours was a bit crazy. My tent does have a tiny pinhole of light at the bottom. One at the top too. I make sure to zip up properly so that flaps cover, and not rush it, because light leaks there too unless the flaps are properly in place. I never figured it to be an issue. Same with the LEDs, of which there are on the plugs and the dehumidifier. Am I compromising my fem autos here, by not doing complete darkness when they do happen to be dark? The last thing I would want with my first indoor grow would be seeds in the bud xD I cry. If that is the case, then I should patch light leakage in the tent, and tape over all LEDs in the tent.

June 20 8 days since last update. Forum was a little quiet, figured I'd post a quick photo update on the flowering plants. 53 days old. Week 7/In Week 8 Misc Updates Got annoyed with hanging cables, did some cable management. Mycelium natural CO2 bag developing nicely as well. @LitItGrown broski your plants are surely ready to harvest now? Where is your update? I want to see

Welcome!

Would a Blumat work in this case? I figured that just like with autopots it would then be better to have clones, rather than different seeds/phenos, as they all have different nutrient needs. The appeal of convenience is there, having a constant moisture kept in my coco so the top doesn't dry out. But I wonder whether the synthetic nutrients I use would cause a salt buildup overtime in the Blumats, or if it would even work considering I'd need to make one feed that would feed 6 plants with different needs. When a grow is done, should you rinse heavily with just balanced water to clear out the coco of any residual salt buildup? That makes sense, but then I imagine you would also need to buffer it again (with calmag) before starting the next grow.

Lekker self-sustainable eco friendly setup, especially with the rain water Blumats However, Meneer Pants, I quite literally meant where are your plants being grown in pairs of pants? <-- Like so xD

One of the most unique and cool growing set-ups and style I have seen. Bonsai style and small figurines/other details are My only question is, where are the plants being grown in pants?

May I ask why you say they aren't wanting to adjust? To my untrained eye, I don't see any leaf bleaching from lights being too strong. Or is there something I am missing? Thanks in advance!

Thank you for your responses and feedback! @Naughty.Psychonaut Your insight is always great to read! My choice to use synthetic nutes stemmed from two things. 1.) I got them for free with my setup 2.) My entire plan was to follow along the week by week guide from SeedToStoned he has here, and that is what he used. If you have time, check it out. His run seemed to go incredibly well, but he is far more experienced. He grew Amnesia Haze and Critical Plus 2.0 Autos in this run, which is pretty much identical to what I have (Copied him for a reason). He also skips the TriPart Grow in this run. I think that may have saved me because I have no idea what the PPM of my tap water is, and adding grow may have caused it to be too high and cause lockout. Coincidentally, the guy I got my setup from followed the exact same guide, from the exact same YouTuber xD Hence only the CalMag, Micro and Bloom coming for free with the setup. Had I not gotten the nutes for free I honestly may have gone soil/organic, instead of coco/synthetic But that is to be experimented with further down the line. With regards to stunted growth, before this week I was only feeding the plants 2.5ℓ each, to avoid runoff and mess. In hindsight, that is probably way too little. Since I now learnt have my runoff tray and use a vacuum, I give each plant a whole 5ℓ as I'm not scared of the runoff. It's only been a few days since the larger watering and the little stunted ones seem to be way happier already. All the plants seem way happier in general. Keen to see how they will respond and look a week from now. The reason I chose autos was also because I was going to follow the guide step by step, and to avoid having to stress about load shedding and light schedules. My next grow, I doubt I will do autos. I'll probably do photos or even clones. Thanks again for taking the time to respond! @LitItGrown Your plants look great man! Appreciate the response and sharing your personal experience. The "fishbone" style of training you referenced, is literally what I did with my older plants. I started LST on all my plants at Week 3 or 4, very eagerly. In my case the main stem is bent like 80 degrees lmao, and then the fishbone. All the other main stems coming off were then also kept low, and I tried to keep everything growing in a sort of "circular" fashion around the pot as best I could. Although the plants are low to the medium, I feel I did a decent job at least keeping all bud sites even, and maintaining even light to every site. I hope my plants stretch up more and get some fat buds, just like yours are! I'm a few weeks behind you, and will be keen to see how they look when they reach the same age yours are in these photos. Definitely going to swap to the green rubber coated soft ties when I can, glad you could share your experience with the metal stuff. I've also had some slight brown impressions in some places using the DIY metal ties. Thank you again for taking the time to respond! Much love to all of you following and helping!