Lemon AK by Fastbuds

Starting my second grow. This time it's "Lemon AK" by Fastbuds. This is said to be a cross between Lemon Haze and AK-47. The seedlings were directly planted in the soil. They popped after 2.5 days. This is another "fast" strain (8-9 weeks). I'm hoping to get some Christmas presents from this growth ;) Plant #1 had its seed shell/'case caught (see pictures above). It took an extra 1.5 days to shed the shell. In that time, it "stretched" up more than the others trying to find light. I may have to support this early one because the stem is thinner than the others. I planted on a Sunday and intend to do my updates on Sunday. I'm a day late here because I had weekend visitors. I'm using the second half of the "super soil" mix that I bought for my first grow (Blackberry by Fastbuds: https://growdiaries.com/diaries/34755-2nd-grow-blackberry-by-fast-buds#), but I am going to combine a bit of Fox Farms nutes along with it this time (very diluted ;) ). I was a bit disappointed that two of the plants in my first grow stopped growing early in vegetation. I was also expecting a bit larger harvest from four plants. I didn't understand what I had done to "dwarf" them. Then, when I was pulling the stumps/roots, I noticed that they had very limited root balls. These darn near could have been "Solo Cup" grows :O I'm going to use some additional nutes to see if I can stimulate better root development in this growth.

The second week was uneventful :D I gave them one watering of a diluted (1/4-1/3) full spectrum of Fox Farms nutes this week #1 is continuing to be a bit taller than the rest. Everything is looking good

I'm a day early, because I'll be gone tomorrow The ladies are looking fine and growing more quickly. As you can see, #1 (the one that had its seed case stuck) is continuing to stretch more than the others. It is about 4 inches taller than the other three. #1 is almost twice the height of the others, (9in vs. 5in) The stretch of #1 triggered me to do the first LST today. I had to remove a couple of leaves that were shading the new positions, I am feeding every other watering (1/3-1/2 nute concentration). So far that is about two waterings a week: One with nutes and one with just PH'd water. They are getting a gallon split between all 4 for now.

I had to re[place my phone. I am still learning and getting used to the camera on it. Sorry for the little blurs :/ This screen is way more sensitive than my last one and I'm still figuring out what settings to use. The ladies continue to diverge. #1 is most definitely expressing sativa characteristics. It would be standing more than twice the height of the others if I hadn't LST'd it #3 is lagging behind in size. #1 and #3 are both already popping pistils #4 is bushing out very nicely I am feeding every other watering (1/3-1/2 nute concentration). So far that is about two waterings a week: One with nutes and one with just PH'd water. They are getting a gallon split between all 4 for now.

I still don't have this new camera figured out. Maybe it's my shaky hands :/ Maybe next week I'll take the ladies out for their pictures so I can steady my hands/arms better. We'll see I may have to separate them anyway, because they are filling the tent ;) It appears that there are three different phenotypes in the batch :O #1 is sativa like. You can see in the photo above that I have had to start LST'ing it horizontally around the pot. #3 is very compact. Numbers 2 and 4 are similar and a mix between the two others. They are starting to reach beyond the edge of their pots as well. #4 is the only one not popping pistils now so I shifted the heading over to "flowering." I also switched over to Fox Farm's beginning flower nute formula. I'm still only giving the ladies 1/2 the recommended nute concentration. As should be evident from the photos, I did the major defoliation this week. The colas and main flowers are clearly defined now. Hopefully the stretch will all be upward now.

All four ladies are beginning to flower now. #4 is running about a week behind the others. In the past, I have used used my tent for hanging/drying. I may have to work out something else. These plants may not be ready for harvest at the same time :/ The stretch has begun. Numbers 1, 2, & 4 jumped up to 15 inches this week (from 10 in. last week). #3 is around 1/2 the height of the others. The morphology of #3 looks familiar, but it has been treated the same as all of them. With the pistils and beginning flowers has come some aroma finally. It's still pretty subtle though. My wife has not remarked about it. She has a more sensitive nose than mine ;) It is also much cuter <3 I'm staying with the same nute schedule as last week. I'll move to the next formula as the girls develop more "real" flowers. I had to start pulling the plants out of the tent to get the shots I want. This has led to a new period of learning :/ I have to figure out how to turn down the flash :(

Sorry. I got lazy. Since I have to pull the plants out of the tent to photograph them now, I didn't change over to the white light for the tent shots. I "think" I figured out what's going on with this grow. I have all three phenotypes represented here. #1 is expressing the sativa type. #'s 2&4 are expressing the indica (or hybrid) type. #3 is expressing the ruderalis type. In any event, they are progressing nicely. The tallest one is up to 20 inches now. Two of them are at around 18 inches. Of course #3 is still the runt, but it is developing some nice bud structure. #3 is still lagging behind in maturation. She's growing the tallest, but her flowers are around 1.5 weeks behind the rest. I got some very minor nute burn on #1. I'm using 1/2 concentration of the nutes. .I'll probably just water with plain water this week. I did a second defoliation this morning. the last picture of each plant show it after defoliation.

Sorry. I got lazy. Since I have to pull the plants out of the tent to photograph them now, I didn't change over to the white light for the tent shots. The tallest one is up to 26 inches now (after earlier LST)! Two of them are at around 19 inches. Of course #3 is still the runt, but it is developing some nice bud structure. #4 is still lagging behind in maturation. She's growing the tallest, but her flowers are around 1.5 weeks behind the rest. #3 looks like she is getting close to harvest. This grow will have an incremental harvest. The ladies are maturing at different rates :/ As I said, I just watered with plain water this week. Finally, they are starting to get pretty frosty. I included a few flash shots so you could see the thrichomes :)

Sorry. I got lazy. Since I have to pull the plants out of the tent to photograph them now, I didn't change over to the white light for the tent shots. The tallest one is up to 28 inches now (after earlier LST)! It is encroaching on the light. I have the pots on a wire rack because I am old. I don't bend over so well any more ;) I Since this one looks like it will be around for a few weeks yet, I am probably going to have to move it to the floor. Two of them are at around 19 inches. Of course #3 is still the runt, but it is developing some nice bud structure. I checked #3 for any amber trichomes. Not yet. I'll keep an eye on her. They 1, 2, & 3 are packing on some weight now. We'll have to see how #4 develops. Finally, they are starting to get pretty frosty. I included a few flash shots so you could see the thrichomes :)

1, 2, & 3 are all packing on both weight and thrichomes. I'm not seeing any amber yet I don't know what's going on with #4. She grew some more and started popping more flowers, but she is still way behind the others. A couple of her tops got up directly into the air from the fan. They started to droop. I moved stuff around to deal with that. In addition, as you can see in "Day 71 #4a" above, she is already starting to drop her leaves! I usually use my tent to hang the bud after harvest, but it looks more and more like #4 is going to be very much behind the rest. I'll either have to move her to my bathroom and set up a light or hang the rest in my bathroom and block the window :/ I'm switching 1, 2, & 3 over to just water now. Even though I'm not seeing any amber, most of the pistils are orange. #4 will still get some nutes. I defoliated the new fan leaves on #2 and the dead and dying leaves from #4 The buds are starting to look pretty tasty :D

I had to prop plant #1 up during the week. The weight of her heads had them drooping below the top of the pot :O Plants 1, 2, & 3 were ready this week. The total wet weight for them is 295.3 grams. I'll edit this when they are dry. I don't smoke uncured bud. There will be no taste or effects in this journal. Plant #4 is still in the tent. She looks like she is at least a couple of weeks out yet. I dropped her down lower. She had stretched up to the light with it as high as I can raise it. :O I'm a little ambivalent about the strain, Out of four seeds, I got four different phenotypes. That was "fun" to watch, but it also caused me some consternation. Also, I chose the Lemon AK because it listed ~8-9 weeks to harvest. I was hoping to give some of this as Christmas presents ;) It's week 11 for the first three and still a couple of more (at least) for the last one :O The buds look good. They are all very frosty. The "hybrid or Indica" type plants (#2 & #3) have nice dense, sticky buds. I got a very nice ball of "scissors hash" from trimming these three :D I have another 4 seeds from this purchase. It will be interesting to see what phenotypes show from them. Total dry weight for the fist three plants is 62.5g. That'a about a 21% wet to dry yield. This is all for personal consumption. I cut the flowers pretty tight/small. I don't have to worry about bag or shelf appeal ;)

Here's an update on plant #4. Sorry I missed last week. It's week 13 (day 91) and she is finally starting to bulk up her flowers. It is two weeks past when I harvested the other three plants. She still looks to be a couple of weeks out at least Most of her fan leaves are dead or dying If she continues on in this manner, I will probably just let them all dry out This week was just water I'll probably give her one more week of nutes this week I had to tie up her heavier limbs. They were beginning to flop I may have gone too tight, but I will wait a bit to see how she responds

Week 14 (Day 98)! :O Not exactly the 8-9 weeks advertised :P However, she is finally coming to fruition. Her flowers are fattening up and her pistils are finally turning brown. Still no amber thrichomes. This will probably her last week. Her three partners are all just about finished curing ;) I had to re-tie some of her limbs. They are flopping from the weight of the flowers :D You can see in the pictures how frosty she is getting. Just PH'd water from here on out. I spent some time this morning handpicking dead leaves from her. My hands have a wonderful citrus smell :D

Week 15 (Day 105)! I'm finally harvesting the 4th plant. Her pistils have mostly turned and some amber trichomes are showing. The site would not let me choose a second "harvest" so this is labeled as flowering. The pictures tell the story. The first one shows how she is flopping over with the supports removed. There was very little to trim. You can see the mostly already dried up leaves in the picture above. She took a while (15 weeks! :O ) and made me crazy, but the results are nice. She gave up 249.5 grams wet weight. I have some more of these seeds from FastBuds so I will definitely be growing these again. I wonder if the next four will be as varied