A Good Day

A friend passed me a seed from her dispensary weed! It smelled like a cherry sweet tart in the jar. Let’s see if I win the lucky dip! From Leafly: “This marijuana strain is a rare cherry phenotype of AK-47. With its reddish-purple characteristics and cherry aroma, it's no wonder how Cherry AK-47 got its name. The buds have gold coloring with lime-green leaves layered with trichome heads. This strain's flavors are described as smooth cherry with a creamy sandalwood aftertaste. With a THC level of up to 16% and a CBD level of 0.5%, Cherry AK-47 "creeps" up from a cerebral effect to a complete body sensation. ” “Don't let its intense name fool you: AK-47 will leave you relaxed and mellow. This sativa-dominant hybrid delivers a steady and long-lasting cerebral buzz that keeps you mentally alert and engaged in creative or social activities. AK-47 mixes Colombian, Mexican, Thai, and Afghani varieties, bringing together a complex blend of flavors and effects. While AK-47’s scent is sour and earthy, its sweet floral notes can only be fully realized in the taste. Created in 1992 by Serious Seeds, AK-47 has won numerous Cannabis Cup awards around the world for its soaring THC content. For those hoping to fill their gardens with this resinous, skunky hybrid, growers recommend an indoor environment with either soil or hydroponic setups. AK-47 is easy to grow and has a short indoor flowering time of just 53 to 63 days, while outdoor plants typically finish toward the end of October.”

Back annotating from my Kongzilla on ICE!!! diary

I have no idea how my plants are doing because I’m at Burning Man smoking tons of weed. My friend and I drove out to Reno via Yosemite because we’re insane!

Still at Burning Man! Did my plants live? I must smoke lots of weed so I don’t worry!

Have a listen while you read: https://www.vevo.com/watch/ice-cube/it-was-a-good-day/USPO20300008 Thanks for having a look! I was away for 12 days with the light way too far away, so these plants are catching up a bit. This is really more like week 2 or 3 in terms of development. . See my diary Kongzilla on ICE!!! for history. Please note this is my second grow! This was seed from a friend's dispensary (Zen NoHo) buy. It's a regular seed and may not have been pollinated by an AK47 male or bisex plant. The jar it came in smells like a cherry sweet tart. My understanding is that the cherry ak47 is a phenotype of ak47 and not any cherry pie related strain. I will clone the plant in a few weeks to sex it. From Leafly: "This marijuana strain is a rare cherry phenotype of AK-47. With its reddish-purple characteristics and cherry aroma, it's no wonder how Cherry AK-47 got its name. The buds have gold coloring with lime-green leaves layered with trichome heads. This strain's flavors are described as smooth cherry with a creamy sandalwood aftertaste. With a THC level of up to 16% and a CBD level of 0.5%, Cherry AK-47 "creeps" up from a cerebral effect to a complete body sensation." Oh yeah baby! Pots: Transplanted from a .5 l air pots into 1 gal fabric pots. I wish they were a bit deeper and larger. I intend to move this into 5 gal equivalent air pots before bloom. The roots from this plant in the air pot is significantly more developed! Some minor spiraling occurred in the 3 other plants in my garden that were in solo cups. I'm happy to have transplanted now. I'm sold on the value of the airpots. I'm curious about the fabric pots and chose them out of economy. Soil: I used 4 gallons EB Stone Emerald Triangle Formula 420 soil augmented with 1 gallon perlite, 1/2 gallon organic worm castings, 1/2 gallon rinsed coco coir, 2 cups greensand and 1/2 cup of diatomaceous earth. I top dressed the pots with Growstone Gnatnix as fungus gnats are pervasive here even though I don't over water. Nutrients and supplements: adding mycorrhizae, humic acids, and root microbes have definitely helped rapidly develop the plants and roots. I'm seeing some purple stems which is magnesium deficiency from using bottled spring water. Using CalMag to correct. Light: I added my second Viparspectra 300 this week with the transplant as the space is filling out. 2 VIPARSPECTRA 300 @ 136 W each. These are well reviewed full spectrum LEDs. I have seen folks here get amazing results using these lights. Training:I FIM'd the apical top leaves after the 3rd node and when the stems seemed solid to encourage branching. Translation: I pinched off the fourth set of new leaves. Environment: 2 fans and a homemade swamp cooler to keep temperatures and humidity in range. I keep the space open. Happy growing!

A lot of growth this week! Dark green leaves on the AK, so I didn't add nitrogen fertilizer except for the Cal-Mag. It’s been hot in the daytime so I’m running a swamp cooler which also raises the humidity favorably. I'm seeing some prior deficiencies in the lowest leaves and a little nibbling but I am not concerned about either. I'm using SM-90 as foliar spray with neem oil every 3 days. My shower grow is in a bathroom with a small open window facing my outside garden, but I suspect the spider who lives in the window lets some little bugs past. I pinched/FIMed some but am letting the plants grow and will do some more shaping when it's more established. If you have constructive suggestions and help, this is only my second grow--please feel welcome to comment! I'm not sensitive about criticism--I am here to improve my grow. Most Images taken in natural lighting or under an incandescent clip light

Updating late with images taken today (Monday) through Thursday was update day. I laid off nutes aside from CalMag as the plants were looking a bit dark. I’m thinking this one is due soon for a bigger pot and some LST besides topping. Raised my lights 2” because I was seeing light burn. I’m seeing some purple around the leaf edges. I will investigate.

I knocked a couple weeks off this diaries because of slow growth while I was away for 2 weeks and had my lights too far but I have edit this to reflect reality. I’m not trying to be deceptive but wanted to give an accurate picture of where the plants should be at, but I am realizing nature has a mind of its own when it comes to time and there is no “should be” just what is. Better to just report history because it explains the present. I did some creative pipe cleaner LST and mild and gradual defoliation to shape, while continuing to top. Each plant has been getting an individual diet based on how the leaves are looking, but I have kept nutrients minimal because they are just on their 3rd week after transplanting and should be using what’s in the soil. This plant has had some cal-mag deficiency which is clearing up nicely with Cal Mag. Preflowers show she’s likely a girl! Using bottled spring water with CalMag and using about 1 tsp of homemade plain green tea kombucha as acidic ph down when needed. I intend to tranplant into 5 gal equivalent air pots in the next week or two. I do like the smart (fabric) pots, though. They don’t retain water , drain really well, and make no mess. All the soil stays in the bag when flushing. We’ll see how the roots look! I had to raise the lights another 1” due to plant growth. Foliar spraying with SM90 plus neem oil about 1x week and Safer soap spray (only soap, no pyrethrins) every 3 day due to some mild bug munching, I believe, or maybe I’m being paranoid. Just say no to bugs!

Southern California is warm and dry this week. Stepping up Cal-Mag this week as my plants are looking much better with using it more aggressively. I believe any burns are from the soil, however I flushed everything but the Gorilla Glue and Ice Bomb that are doing well and starting adding some light grow nutrients. Every watering now has Cal-Mag and root microbes in my water from a jug. I’m watering every other day approximately, as it has been hot and these cloth pots dry out fast. I’m adding nitrients only when the leaves start to lighten back up, about once a week. All plants got some pipe cleaner LST and a leg shave. AK appears to be female which makes sense because a woman who goes by Femme gave me the seed. She is recovering nicely from potassium burn and magnesium deficiency. Thanks for stopping by.

Southern California simmered in weather advisory level heat this last week with temperatures over 100 F even in coastal areas. I ran a DIY bucket swamp cooler to lower heat to 87-90 F in the space while raising the humidity. I also chose to transplant just before the heat really intensified, probably in good service of the plant. This plant was wilting in the evening after a morning watering, and so I figured it was time! I then headed south to San Diego for 4 days, leaving my adult spawn to care for my plants with strict instructions of bottled ro water plus a measured amount of Cal- Mag. When I returned, the heat wave had ended and this plant exploded with growth over just 4 days. I’m very happy with the stem and leaf color and texture as well as the way the leaves are piontimg up towards the light as if happily singing the “waaaaaaa” noise that goes with the HBO logo that you all know from watching Thrones and The Wire. On transplant I continue to use EB Stone Formula 420 Soil ammended with approximately 1/2 gallon of perlite and a handful of worm castings per 3.5 gallon pot. I took time to thoroughly mix and break up compacted soil with my hands, moistened the soil with ro water plus Cal-Mag, humic acid and root microbes. I made a hole for the plant, sprinkled with mycorrhizae and microbes and snuggling the roots in. The roots were nicely developed. My transplant was much easier thanks to a tip from @GardenofAutos who slips her airpots into a pair of pantyhose to help contain dirt that escapes through the holes. Just tie off the legs and voila!, your plants are stylin’!

After nearly a week of 100F heat where I was able to keep the grow space at 87-90F, I believe this plant got hit with heat stress or transplant stress. Either way, I think the transplant needed to happen. I did a light flush. I have added some Kellog’s Organic Plus Fish & Kelp sludge to the water plus root microbes and Cal Mag. I think the plant may lose a few leaves but seems otherwise hearty.

Unfortunately heat stress and spider mites made it a not so good day for the AK. It’s super sad. There’s much more space for everything else now, I guess: “on the bright side” I had to tetris all of them in there. Sorry no images of the carnage. This was a lot of work to deal with.