Lemon AK (Fastbuds) + Quantum Boards

INTRODUCTION ============== Hi there, In this grow I'll be growing FastBuds Lemon AK (It turns out this grow is now 5 Lemon AK and 4 Girl Scout Cookies due to me killing 3 of the 10 Lemon AK seedlings and 2 of the Lemon AK Seedlings not growing past their first set of leaves, despite looking great for the first 5 days). This plant is a recent release from their new 2019 range. Fastbuds describe it as mostly sativa, and extremely strong. They say it responds well to intense light cycles of 20 hours or more. Thank you for coming along for the journey with me. Please feel free to comment, ask questions and make suggestions - all feedback and interaction from other growers is highly welcome. AIMS FOR THIS GROW ================== I intend to attempt to fill the tent space (1.4 square metres) with 9 minimally trained plants (xmas tree style) with the intention of maximising the amount of bud produced. My core goal for each grow is to get 1000g from a 12 week autoflower grow (2g/watt) with a target range of 750g to 1250g (1.6g/watt to 2.6g/watt). I almost achieved this in the Zkittles grow which yielded 33.5oz (932g). Those plants were trained, but the training was late and compressed the canopy and really wasn't optimal. Since then I've made the decision that when packing together this many plants in this sized space, that they possibly don't need training. AIMS FOR THIS DIARY ================= My primary goal is to document my grow setup, process and method to the level of detail required for someone else to be able to take this diary and use it as a complete growing manual. My secondary goal with this diary is use this diary as a means to help me diagnose any problems or issues with the grow. My third goal for this diary is to use each grow, via the diary, to refine and improve my growing setup and processes. BASIC GROW SETUP ============ This grow is 5 LEMON AK and 4 GIRL SCOUT COOKIES autoflowering plants from Fastbuds, in a 1.2m by 1.2m by 2.0m grow tent. I plan to just let the plants grow naturally without any major training, with the aim of getting a field of mini xmas trees filling as much of the tent space as possible, creating the biggest canopy possible. MEDIA AND POTS ============= They are growing in 11.4 Litres airpots. Each Airpot has 2 Litres of Canna expanded clay balls in the base, followed by a 30/70 mix of Perlite and Canna pro plus coco coir. I have read that perlite can affect the PH buffering capabilities of coco, so I thought I would try reducing the amount of perlite in 4 of the 9 pots and seeing if I notice any difference in the plant grow and/or how the media handles moisture. These would be about 15/85 perlite to coco. LIGHTING ======== * The lighting is four quantum q288 boards, each has 288 samsung LM301b diodes for a total of 1156 diodes, they are 3500k spectrum. * They are running at a combined 480watts for a total PPDF of 1176 umol. * This is a DIY clone version of the HLG-550 (purchased from Kingbrite on Alibaba for $400USD including International Express DHL Shipping) * I have built my own custom frame out of 20mm x 20mm x 3mm angle aluminium to spread the lights to the same dimensions as the original HLG-550 light. This light doesn't necessitate any active cooling even at full wattage, and it ticks along at around 40c at 240w, and gets to around 50c at a full 480w (Heatsink temp tested with infrared gun). * Each light is fitted with an inline wattage meter of eBay. This cheap but awesome accessory allows me to see the exact wattage the light is set to and using. It even allows for w/H cumulative usage display. Its about $8 USD and the LCD screen has a blue glow. Every Quantum Board should have one of these for accurate light intensity setting. * I generally start with a very low wattage for new seedlings (120w), or have the lights up at the top of the tent. I then move to 240w at 80cm for the first stage of vegetative growth. As the plants go into flower, I slowly increase the light intensity and lower the height above the canopy until its at 480w at 60cm. I try to get it to this point around week 8/9 so that the key bud growth weeks are done under maximum light intensity. LIGHT CYCLE ========== Normally, unless otherwise indicated, I grow using a 18/6 light cycle from seed to harvest. Fastbuds indicate LEMON AK will respond well to as much light as it can get, so I will be experimenting with a 21/3 cycle, and with increasing the light intensity at a more rapid rate. If I feel the plants aren't enjoying it, I will dial it back though. COCO PRETREATMENT ================ I use CANNA Pro+ coco. My nine 11.4L pots end up using around 100L of Coco, and 10-15 (previously more) litres of perlite, and around 15-18L of Aqua balls. Which is more than the pots can theoretically hold, and confused me for sometime. I think it's just that the different sizing lets the perlite mix into the volume of the coco without increasing it much, if anything. The Coco was given a pretreatment (on the day I put the seeds into the paper towels) with straight tap water that had it's PH adjusted to 6.0 I have previously used low strength nutrient pretreatments on the coco with a minimum EC of 1.2 but so far I've also had early nutrient build up issues, and so I'm going to try taking it back to minimum, and go with breeder recommendations for no nutrients in the coco for the first week approximately. GERMINATION ============ The seeds were germinated using the tissue paper technique. They were left to germinate and then transplanted directly into their final pots. The light was set to 120w at 90cm for germination day, and then once the first leaves appeared they were set to 1/2 intensity for this initial seedling stage (240w) at 80cm above the canopy. This arrangement feels about right. ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS ========================= Air circulation is to be provided 24/7 (continuously through day and night cycles) is via three pole-grip 18cm oscillating fans. These are placed at a height above the canopy to give a gentle breeze for the seedlings. They are lowered as the plants go into flower, to give more forceful air circulation around the buds. After trying other fan setups, I highly recommend the pole-grip, they save you a bunch of ground space, they are out of the way, and they are built to be easily aimed and oriented. I use the oscillating variety. Air Ventilation is being provided via (continuously through day and night cycles) 100mm inline mixed flow fan and 300mm Carbon Filter with 100mm ducting that ducts of the grow room and into the roof space. I have two tents ducting to a Y joiner, that then ducts via one duct to the roof space. The Y joiner is mounted on the grow room wall between the tents, and the I've used fittings that allow me to slip on the tent ducts at will, which allows me to change from venting out of the room to venting back into the room and setup a recycling air system. I have a dehumidifier running in the grow-room on high 24/7. This partially warms the air, and drys it, which is essential for me when the ambient humidity is high, or the tents are recyling back into the room. I have it draining to a 23L container which means I only have to empty it every week or so... it varies. I will get a bigger carbon filter when its time to upgrade, and I'd like to get a more powerful fan (and I'd stay with adjustable speed control) HUMIDITY/TEMP CONTROL ======================= Each tent has a humidity controller and temp controller. These have a wall socket in them to enable the control of any device that can be plugged in. Nothings currently plugged into either. I generally control the tent temperature and humidity by 1) leaving the extraction fan on 24/7. 2) Leaving the ventilation fans on 24/7. 3) Turning up the light wattage to get the right tent temperature, and then moving the light far enough away to get the appropriate intensity. I've found even though they don't get massively hot, four Quantum Boards in a 1.2by 1.2 tent is the most cost effective heating solution. I ventilate to the roof space usually. When the grow room gets very cold in winter I recirculate the tent air back into the grow room, so the heat isn't lost. I run a dehumidifier on high mode pretty much 24/7. It runs at under 250w which is fine with me. This warms up the room air a bit, which is great during the colder half of the year. TENT TEMPERATURE / ROOM TEMP ============================= Heating is provided in the grow room by the lights, the dehumidifier (which warms the air as part of its dehumidification process), and occasionally a fan heater in the grow room The ideal goal temp and humidity at any given week are set based (at this stage loosely on Vapour Pressure Deficit metrics, and optimal photosynthesis temperatures which research shows is a Leaf Surface Temperature between 25-28c. I generally try to keep the humidity as low as possible, and haven't had any issues yet with having to try and raise it. NUTRIENTS ========== My Nutrients are the full Flairform range (Flairform.com). GreenDream-1 Grow : ONE-part Vegetative nutrient for hydroponics, coco and soil GreenDream-1 Bloom : ONE-part Flowering nutrient for hydroponics, coco and soil Roots : Promotes vigorous root growth CMX : Calcium, magnesium & iron additive GroStorm : The All-in-One organic additive SilikaMajic : Silica additive for enhancing plant weight & strength BudStorm : The All-in-One flowering additive BudGenie : For improving resin output I also have "Plantmate" Trichoderma powder. This range is not coco specific. This I think leads to some Cal/Mag issues. I'm trying to mitigate with foliar sprays with epsom salts and possibly the CMX additive. I'm going to drop Flairform BudGenie. I found out from the MSDS that its just a highly dilute version of Flairform Budstorm. Pure empty money maker product, and encourages me to try a whole new nutrient range. I am considered CX Hydroponics as their product range seems quite well designed. EC OR PPM ========= When it comes to setting and measuring the strength of nutrients, and run-off, the standards are EC or PPM. I switched from PPM to EC, and now measure everything exclusively in E.C. measurements. This is primarily because PPM is not standardised and there are 2 or 3 base PPM standards, which effectively makes comparing PPM numbers impossible (if your meter is different standard to mine, we will get different PPM meaurements of the same nutrient). EC is simple, and always the same. My feeding/watering schedule is based entirely on PH and EC numbers, making it nutrient independent, this way you can follow it with any nutrient range, by just using whatever amounts get you the same EC number. I generally use a set percentage the base nutrient, and all the additives. By this I mean, to get a certain EC number, if I use 25% of the base nutrient, I will use 25% strength of all the additives as well. This seems to be the most logical way to decide which strength of each product to use. That said, because my nutrient is not coco-specific, I often use 100% Cal/Mag additive regardless of the strength of the base nutrient and the other additives. FEEDING/WATERING STRATEGY FOR THIS GROW ======================================== After two grows, I've decided that the best way to do coco is to water to run-off daily (after the first water to run-off, so about 2 weeks or so in to the grow) and to set the nutrient concentration using basic EC ranges for each stage of the plants grow. This effectively flushes the pot every day and I'm guessing gives the most consistent pot conditions (EC and PH value). With periodic waterings, I found I would have salt build ups and or swings in pot EC conditions and probably PH as well. I loosely (very loosely, it really is strain dependent I'm finding) base my feeding schedule on the following structure I found on the autoflower network. Its based on my tap water EC level of 0.35 It should be noted this schedule is based on my municipal tap water having an EC of 0.35 WEEK 1 EC 0.65-0.75 WEEK 2 EC 0.95-1.15 WEEK 3 EC 0.95-1.35 WEEK 4 EC 1.15-1.35 WEEK 5+ EC 1.5-2.0 PH - At this stage I have decided to aim for a nutrient PH of between 5.5 - 6.3 (so generally I try to let the nutrient PH swing between 5.8 to 6.3 and back if I can co-ordinate that over successive waterings. I find the attempt to get the PH down takes more and more ph adjusting additive the lower you go. So its quite easy to get my PH down from 7.5 to 6.5, but getting it to 5.9 usually takes twice as much again. WATER TREATMENT ================ My municipal tap water is around PH 7.5-8.0 and around 0.34 EC out of the tap. My PH pen is Bluelabs, it works great, and comes with a cap that has a well for the probe storage solution, so it always keeps the probe protected. For PH Control I have a standard PH-UP and PH-DOWN, as well as PH 7.0 and PH 4.0 Calibration solutions, and KCL probe storage solution. MONITORING ==================== Humidity/Temp monitoring is provided by a wireless monitoring station with 3 wireless monitors. It lets me keep a passing eye on the tent conditions during the time I'm home. Visual: I also use a webcam in each of my tents, this allows me to remotely view each tent from anywhere else. Its great, and more useful than I expected, wouldn't be without it now. Spot temp measuring is being done with an infrared temp gun. This technology is incredibly cheap (around $7 on eBay), and allows for checking leaf temps, coco temp etc from pot to pot. It is a useful tool when setting up and making sure the roots, and leaves, across the whole floor space are at optimal temperatures. PH monitoring is done via a bluelabs PH Pen. (Top quality NZ made device, I tried a cheap one, they are unreliable and need lots of calibration). EC monitoring is done via a cheap EC Pen (the budget versions of these seem to be quite accurate) WEEK 1 ====== DAY -3 - Gave coco pretreatment with tap water PH adjusted to 6.0. Gave about 3000ml per plant to get around 1000ml run-off. Placed seeds in Paper towels for germination. DAY -2 - The seeds (which are all huge by the way) have cracked. I have them on top of the light for warmth, but with enough padding between to make sure they don't get cooked! DAY -1 - The taproots have appeared and are slowly growing. Looks good for a planting day tomorrow. Day 0 - Planted 7 of the seedlings. The other three are growing a bit slower and will get planted in the next day or so Day 1 - Planted the other 2 seedlings. Day 2 - 7 of the 9 have sprouted fine. 2 of them have still got the husk stuck on them and appear to be struggling to fully germinate. Day 3 - Had some issues with the husks of a few seeds not opening up, and ended up accidentally killing two of the seedlings trying to remove the husks so I now have only 7 seedlings. I've decided to put down two more seeds to fill the empty two pots. I don't have anymore Lemon AK seeds, so I'm reluctantly putting down two Girl Scout Cookies seeds. Normally I prefer to only grow one strain per tent per grow, but I don't want to lose the potential 2/9ths of my yeild. From now on I will be increasing the number of seeds I buy and germinate, so I have some leeway for germination issues. Day 4 - Gave first watering with nutrient solution at 0.8 EC and PH of 5.9 at 400ml per plant - Planted the two Girl Scout Cookie sprouts today. Day 5 - No changes today Day 6 - Gave watering with nutrient solution at 0.8 EC and PH of 5.9 at 400ml per plant - The two Girl Scout Cookies seedling have sprouted and are showing their first set of leaves. Looking healthy. Day 7 - No changes today. Two of the seedlings are not showing any growth after the first set of leaves. Very odd. I'm gonna give them a few days, in the meantime I'm putting down two more Girl Scout Cookie seeds. Looks likely this grow will be 5 Lemon AK and 4 Girl Scout Cookies. I'm a bit annoyed, I really didn't want to do a mixed strain grow. OH well. Nevermind. In the end, I'd rather have a full tent.

WEEK 2 The Lemon AK plants seem to be growing well and not minding the 0.8 EC nutrient. The Girl Scout Cookie plants are doing well too. DAY 8 - No changes today DAY 9 - Watered with 500ml of EC=0.8 PH-5.9 nutrient DAY 10 - No changes today DAY 11 - Watered with 500ml of EC=0.8 PH=6.0 nutrient DAY 12 - No changes today DAY 13 - No changes today DAY 14 - Bit dry. Watered with 2000ml of EC=0.8 PH=6.1 nutrient I've been watering the two large GSC with 0,8 EC nutrient. The two smaller ones are still on PH'ed water.

WEEK 3 The 5 Lemon AK plants seem exceptionally healthy and vigorous and have really hit their stride. They are a great shade of green, and the daily growth is really noticeable. The 4 Girl Scout Cookie plants are doing really well too. All of the plants are praying, and I feel like this is setting up to be my best grow yet. Introduced a new product called Endoboost concentrate from Greeneden into the nutrient regime. It contains a concentrated blend of 7 Endomycorrhizal Fungi species, 17 Beneficial Bacteria strains, 4 Trichoderma species, Humic Acids, Sea Kelp Extract, Yucca Plant Extract, Root Promoting Vitamins with Vitamin B Complex and L-Amino Acids. I added 1g per 10L and will re-apply every 2-4 weeks. DAY 15 - No changes today DAY 16 - No changes today DAY 17 - Fed with nutrient mix of 0.8 EC and PH 6.1 Gave 700ml per plant. (inc Endoboost) DAY 18 - No changes today. Plants are really growing well. Extremely happy so far. Turned up lights from 200w to 240w. DAY 19 - No changes today DAY 20 - Fed with nutrient mix of 0.9 EC and PH 5.9 Gave 600ml per plant. DAY 21 - No changes today

WEEK 4 The 5 Lemon AK plants are growing at a phenomenal rate and have a really lush vibrant (almost glowing) green colour, I'm incredibly excited to see how they go during the next month of increasingly rapid vegetative growth. The 4 Girl Scout Cookie plants are doing very well also, although they are 8-13 days younger than the Lemon AK so they always seem comparatively small, however they are extremely perky and have a great colour as well (slightly more silver-green than the Lemon AK) and I have high hopes for these 4 plants as well. Overall this is shaping up to be my best grow yet. DAY 22 - No changes today. DAY 23 - Decided to give the 5 Lemon AK their first full watering to run-off. Gave them 3000ml each of nutrient mix with EC=1.0 and PH=5.8 with Run-off of 900ml and an EC of 3.5 (not worried about this high run-off EC as this is the first watering to run-off since sprouting, so I expect this high run-off EC to drop over the next few waterings). DAY 24 - No changes today. Am going to give the plants a few days and check the pot weight each day to get an idea of how much they are drinking and then set an initial watering schedule based on this. I imagine I'll start of giving them full waterings to run-off every 3 or so days for the first few weeks, and that this schedule will eventually grow to daily waterings around week 5-8 (I'm finding choosing when to do this is better based on how much they are consuming each day, and once it goes over a litre per day then its time to go to daily waterings (in a 3gallon pot, larger pots would require less watering, vice-versa for smaller pots). DAY 25 - Fed plants today. Gave them 3000ml each of nutrient mix with EC=1.0 and PH=5.8 with Run-off of 900ml per plant. DAY 26 - No changes today. DAY 27 - No changes today. DAY 28 - No changes today.

WEEK 5 Plants are really bushing out nicely now. Growth is progressing well. They got a bit droopy at the start of the week due to leaving them unwatered for too long. DAY 29 - No Changes today DAY 30 - No Changes today DAY 31 - Fed the plants with Nutrient mix with EC=1.0 and PH=6.0 at 3000ml per plant, with a run-off EC of 1.0 and volume of 2000ml per plant. DAY 32 - No Changes today DAY 33 - No Changes today DAY 34 - No Changes today DAY 35 - Fed the plants with Nutrient mix with EC=1.05 and PH=6.0 at 3000ml per plant.

WEEK 6 The plants have continued to grow well, and I can see a definite structure difference now between the Lemon AK and Girl Scout Cookies. The Lemon AK have a lighter green colour to the new growth with limbs growing out and up with lots of nodes. DAY 36 - No changes today, DAY 37 - Fed plants today with nutrient mix with EC=1.0 and PH=6.1 and volume per plant of 3000ml. Run-off EC was 1.4 DAY 38 - No changes today, DAY 39 - Decided to give the plants a flush with PH'ed water with 1ml per litre of Florakleen. Volume given was 3000ml per plant. DAY 40 - No changes today, DAY 41 - No changes today, DAY 42 - Fed plants today with nutrient mix with EC=1.0 and PH=6.1 at a volume of 3000ml per plant. Run-off EC was 1.0

WEEK 7 The plants have good floral bud sites appearing, and are definitely in flower now, so I have decided to switch over to the flowering nutrient regime today. Have noticed the new growth on the Lemon AK plants has appeared to be light green, and possibly a bit underfed, so decided to increase the strength of the nutrient mix as well. The Girl Scout Cookie plants are much less bushy plants, and are very different visually from the bushy lighter green Lemon AK plants. I have had to defoliate the Lemon AK severa; times as they have such a dense structure. DAY 43 - No changes today DAY 44 - No changes today - Defoliated the Lemon AK plants as they were so bushy and dense with nodes that I felt the need to clear paths to the budsites and lower limbs by removing a lot of the large fan leaves. DAY 45 - Decided to increase the strength of the nutrient mix. Fed with 3000ml per plant of mix with EC=1.3 and PH=6.1 Run-off had EC=0.9 and PH=6.1 and volume of 600ml per plant. DAY 46 - No changes today. DAY 47. - Fed with 3000ml per plant of mix with EC=1.3 and PH=6.4 Run-off had EC=1.2 and PH=6.1 and volume of 600ml per plant. Included Endoboost with this feed. DAY 48 - No changes today. DAY 49 - Switched to flowering nutrient regiment today. Fed with 3000ml per plant of mix with EC=1.5 and PH=6.0

WEEK 8 The plants have continued into their flowering phase with the budsites beginning to thicken and grow out noticeably this week. The Lemon AK plants and Girl Scout Cookies have very different structures and colours, with the Lemon AK plants producing numerous laterals each with many nodes creating a very dense bushes that have needed several deflorations, whereas the Girl Scout Cookies have a more sparse, yet solid branch structure, with less laterals each with less nodes, but with more solid looking bud-sites. The GSC are a deeper green than the Lemon AK. DAY 50 - No changes today. DAY 51 - Fed with nutrient mix with EC=1.3, PH=5.8 with 3000ml given per plant. Run-off had an EC=1.1 and a volume of approximately 1000ml per plant. DAY 52 - No changes today. DAY 53 - Fed with nutrient mix with EC=1.55, PH=6.2 with 3000ml given per plant. Run-off for the 5 Lemon AK plants had an EC=1.2, for Girl Scout Cookies the run-off had an EC=0.9 DAY 54 - No changes today. DAY 55 - No changes today DAY 56 - No changes today

WEEK 9 I defoliated the plants on day 57. I got a bit over enthusiastic and ended up taking off much more than I should have. But they seem to recover over the next several days, and by the end of the week were looking a lot better. Overall the plants seem to be doing fairly well and there are a lot of nice bud sites all over the tent which is a pleasing sight! The plants water intake went down after the defoliation, as it probably dramatically reduced their ability to transpire. I left the watering for a few days longer than usual, and the pots were quite dry by the time I did water them. Overall not my best week as far as plant care goes, but they seem to have survived it and at the end of the week are looking on track again. The distinct odour of lemons is very noticeable in the tent. It's quite strong, and surprisingly lemony. DAY 57 - Fed plants with nutrient mix with EC=1.4 and PH=6.2 and volume of 3000ml per plant. Run-off had an EC of 1.4 and was around 500ml per plant. DAY 58 - No changes today DAY 59 - No changes today - Would normally have fed plants today but they haven't been drinking much since the defoliation, so I'm postponing watering for a few extra days. DAY 60 - No changes today DAY 61 - No changes today. DAY 62 - Pots got pretty dry. Left the watering for too long. Double Doh. Fed plants today with nutrient mix with EC=1.4 and PH=6.4 with 3000ml per plant. Run-off had an EC of 1.4 and was about 500ml per plant. DAY 63 - No changes today.

WEEK 10 Plants continue to flower well with the buds all frosting up well and the smell in the tent growing stronger. One of the Lemon AK plants is quite different to the other 3 and has really thick, well developed buds. The GSC are maturing at a good rate and are actually ahead of the Lemon AK as far as their stage of flowering. DAY 64 - Fed with 3000ml per plant nutrient mix with EC=1.3 and PH=6.0 Run-off volume per plant was 1200ml at EC=1.1 DAY 65 - No changes today DAY 66 - Fed with 3000ml per plant nutrient mix with EC=1.37 and PH=5.8 Run-off volume per plant was 1400ml at EC=1.26 DAY 67 - No changes today DAY 68 - Fed with 3000ml per plant nutrient mix with EC=1.38 and PH=6.3 Run-off volume per plant was 1300ml at EC=1.29 DAY 69 - No changes today DAY 70 - Fed with 3000ml per plant nutrient mix with EC=1.3 and PH=6.3

WEEK 11 The plants continue into their last stages of flowering. 3 of the lemon AK seem a bit behind compared to previous grows at this age, I think they may end up taking an extra week or two to get to harvest. DAY 71 - No changes today DAY 72 - Fed with 3000ml per plant nutrient mix with EC=1.54 and PH=6.1 Run-off had EC=1.35 DAY 73 - No changes today DAY 74 - Fed with 3000ml per plant nutrient mix with EC=1.42 and PH=6.2 Run-off volume per plant was 1150ml at EC=1.36 DAY 75 - No changes today DAY 76 - No changes today DAY 77 - No changes today