First Grow on Fresca Sol/ Scrog

Alright.... I spared you all the first 5 weeks from seed to beginning flowering. Just turned lights to 12/12 a week ago. I used chicken wire for the scrog screen. All holes are now plugged. 52 sites/tops were counted.

Two plants:
Left = AK-48
Right = Powerskunk

Here is the setup:

Hortilux EYE 600w Super HPS bulb
600 watt Lumatek Digital Ballast (new model - bugs worked out)
Fresca Sol liquid cooled light w/ the Yellow kink resistant (not kink proof) tubing.
45 gallon resevoir for the Fresca (in garage)
25 Gallon Rubbermaid home-brew DWC system w/ 2 giant airstones & decent pump
an aquarium Powerhead with Venturi style aeration** (**I ran another line from another smaller air pump into the powerhead for increased aeration. Works Great!)
GH 3 part Flora series Nutrients (1/3strength), Kool Bloom, Zone (Dutch Master), Pot O'Gold (good shit).

Here are the pics:

So far the room (3 1/2' x 4 1/2') hasnt gone above 77* with the door closed. Works very well at
transfering heat into the resevoir in the garage, reducing heat sig to a 45 gal waste
can - instead of a whole room or attic full of heat from air cooling. Cools off well over
night. Bulb is cool to the touch for the first 10 hours, then there is a noticable warmth.
Not more than 90* to the touch though, still cooler than body heat.

I have researched the actual light filtration caused by the 3/4" of water and glass pane the light travels through before it hits the plants. It comes out to aproximately 8% lumen loss, and 3% loss of red wavelength of light. Tons of info here: http://www.seafriends.org.nz/phgraph/water.htm

Here is a little info from the site:

Loss of colour


"Water particles interact with light by absorbing certain wave lengths (see diagram). First the reds and oranges disappear, later the yellows, greens and purples and last the blue. Loss of the colour red is dramatic and is already noticeable at 50cm! At 5 metres depth some 90% has disappeared. Since the loss of colour varies critically with distance, it is necessary to make corrections by applying colour correction filters. Their use is described later on and their effect is quite substantial. Note that colour filters applied under water, do not taint the blue background, but when they are applied in the computer or in the laboratory, they do.
The picture shows that it is the total light path that matters. In the case of the strobe, this amounts to about twice the subject distance whereas for ambient light it amounts to depth plus subject distance."

Here are some more pics from week 4 of bloom. AK48 showing vigorous blooming while P-Skunk is seriously lagging behind - Not even a tiny Goddamn bud!

AK48 has 41 main stalks. All with nice tight budding on them. Here are the shots:

Alright. I had to discard the slow skunk, it wasnt good for that space. Maybe it was just a really "sativa-ish" pheno that doesnt belong indoors. It just kept growing and never really crowned off - drank nearly two gallons a day!.... I yanked the bitch..

The AK stands alone now with no-one in the way of some serious growth. This AK48 has proven to be a very serious resin producer. It is at 5 weeks and is very sticky, and smells very sweet, almost rotten-sweet. I am going to let it go the full Monty(8 weeks) and force as much product out of her as possible. Each stalk has dense budding for around 16 inches in length. Wouldnt be surprisied if it were to give around 7grams (dry) for each stalk (dreamin). I started using Northern Lights "FAT FLOWER" powder on them and they've blown up. I wish I could snap my fingers and fast forward to 4 weeks from now... I cant wait.

Here She is.. I know, the Red HPS light suck for taking pics...

Regarding the Fresca. Alright, there is a learning curve to maintainance. But once you know what your doing it is smoothe sailing. Never had a leak, have taken it apart around 4 times and put it back together myself. 45 gallon rez works like a charm. A heater core would keep it a 65*F all day even in summer. And its doing a monster job of raising this AK48. I still have a Daystar AC 6" hood that I love and will always use it, but I am throroughly impressed by this light.

Dont let anyone tell you any bullshit about dimished light and any other crap about how water filters out the light. This grow is coming along just as good as the AC hood.... but with far less heat! This light runs very cool for 600w HPS being inside it. Great for cramming some serious light inside small spaces. I cant wait for final numbers!

I know, I know - but I had to........

After the dissappointment of the tall skunk's departure, I used that as an excuse to vent frustration and cut down a half a stalk of the AK48. After all, a little sample was definitely in order..... In the name of Science, of course.

Taste was smoothe and had a spice to it, let them hang dry for 3 days. Mouth watered a little. Nugs were very, very dense! The smell isnt all there yet, but I would describe it as 'Sweet Flower Grease'.... The high? Hmm lets see... It punched my head right out of the high I was already experiencing (other bud) and put me in contempt (Ha!) It made a strong statement... Once again - its not all there yet, and it wouldnt be fair to try and describe the taste, smell, or high accuratley yet. It felt like it was on the verge of transforming into something special.

Alright thats enough - here are the pics..

There will be about 4 more weeks of posts. I'll try and save you all the agony of meaningless posting and just give you "the straight dope".

Feel free to comment. I would like to hear some thoughts. Anyone else grown this one yet?

Peace,
NYK

Here is a little interesting info on the AK48's lineage. No, this is not at all the same thing as the AK47:

"Since the mid 1990's "AK" strains have been increasingly popular. The Nirvana AK-48 is a strong early finishing version. Its Ice mother has ancestors of Afghani, Skunk, Northern Lights and Shiva stock. An intense selection process drawing from thousands of plants was used to find this special mother. Ice flowers are richly covered in trichomes and have a dense consistency. She has a high flower-to-leaf ratio, with buds forming along her main branches. The father is Jock Horror, a three-way hybrid that combines genetics from Northern Lights, Skunk, and Haze. The Jock Horror is a heavy resin producer and an early finisher with a unique fresh flavor and a potent upbeat buzz."

more on this here

here she is about week 7 (not mine) looks very Sugary:

Here are pics from day 46 bloom. Buds have exploded on all tops. THC galore (trichs still clear, some milky). I plan on letting it go a little longer than suggested - maybe 1 & a half weeks..See how strong the smoke can get.

I've had a problem with a little over fertilization. I got it down to 800 now w/ RO water (6ppm). I was so hoping I wouldnt have say that I burned these... but I did a little. Take a look

Couple questions:

1.) WHen you over fertilize in late flowering, does it hurt the actual buds? Or just the leaves mostly??

2.) Is 900 ppm too high of a concentration to use after an Overfertilization of around 1800 just happened?

Thanks everyone,
-NYK

Heres a dried one dried 3 days & cured for 7 so far. Pretty stoney. Its a smooth, full bodied smoke that has been consistently giving me this soaring, 2 hour long head and body high for the last 2 weeks. Seems to be no ceiling. Smell is still a little weak - but I dont know fuck about curing. I mean, I know the whole: Dry upsidedown on stems for 5-7 days/ Place buds in jars and burp once a day for one week/ then burp jars once every three days for a half hour....for 3-4 more weeks is it? I dunno... Not matter what MJ Ive grown, it always seems to smell like hay or "water bud" after it dries. Unless you squeeze it. But it pretty much is smelling like good commercial pot right now........but it gets me high like a sledgehammer right now - and I have been impatiently clipping samples for 2 weeks now. You have to kepp in ming that most potheads usually become immune to any weed after 5 straight days of smoking it. So I will take two weeks off smoking after harvest to get the full experience and see what it can really do.

+ rep for a good grow and being patient. Try to use your flash to get rid of the red hps light when your taking pics.

Now my hydro skills are fair, im much better with soil. So ill tell you what i would do, not saying that this is the best way.

After over feeding always flush for 24h and then half strength for another day before getting back to the regular schedule. That should answer both questions.

very nice grow. i love scrog. +rep

very good journal, no bullshit, no boring seedling pics. too bad about the skunk that would not flower

Thanks guys. My common sense told me to do something similar for the over-
feeding that happened. I did 2 days of 300 ppm solution, then 500 for 2 days,
and lastly 800 ppm for the last week.

Right now it is exactly 8 weeks into flower. I know AK48 says ready in seven
weeks, but I am letting it go to 9+ weeks. Trichs still seem more clear than cloudy yet.
There are a few ambers - I think I will wait until 90% amber so it will be one of those
"punch you in the face" stones..... Even though I am more of a Sativa guy.

Fresca did a bang up job on this grow so far. I dunno how much more pot I couldve
expected to grow on this plant, its pretty outstanding for a "Nirvana" strain. It has good
parents (Jock Horror x Ice). Doesnt finish as fast as they claim.

I will take some decent pics here soon. They are looking real nice.

90% amber trichs?
are you sure?

No Holmes...Actually, I am not sure about the 90% Amber thing(lol). I have only
grown 2 other times and each time I learned a lot about growing. This 3rd grow
was all about trying to get an actual quality end product. This time around I learned
about ppm's, light proximity (which spawned the idea of a liquid cooled light), and
when to actually harvest (trichs or hairs?).

Now, I am at that last part - Harvest... Which I only understand from books and forum
visits. From what I gathered, it would be ideal to harvest when trichomes are cloudy -
if one desires an upbeat, snappin buzz. And it would be wise to harvest when trichs are
amber in color - if you like the heavy knock out stone.... Sound right?

So, I figured since this strain was mostly indica dominated, it would be hard to
avoid its indica nature/genetics of already possessing those knock-out qualities in the stone. So take it to
it's limit in potency, I figured. Besides, the buds are starting smell really good after a 4 day
hanging and a 5 day cure.

Would 90% amber trichs be to long? WHat would you suggest?

Sorry for the long reply... but I am pretty Blasted right now

no problem, long thought out replies when baked are welcome.
umm, you know i have never let it go that long or known anyone who has. i beleive that sativa's are preferred to go longer till it is mostly milky with some amber so that it is a proper balance high and not full blast energy.
indicas i thought were preferred to be pulled slightly earlier but with more amber than a sativa, say approxitmatly 30-40% amber triches.
now i am no pro, i just read a lot, and its hard to retain all the information if its not practiced.
i usually prefer a head high, so a 90% amber in general would not be good for me, unless im having trouble sleeping.
but if you know what you like than go for the extra time.
as far as potency im not sure if you start losing it after a certain point.
im sure an elite member here will come along soon and straighten us out.
good grow and good luck.

on a side note, do you think the water cooled tubes will be too heavy to hang two in series, vertically that is

I'll probably play it safe and harvest at around 30% amber. I am wondering why I dont
see more now, since this strain is fabled to complete it's bloom cycle within 48 days and
all.. Hence it's name I guess.

It's stone is a solid, creepy (meaning "slower attack time"..not scary), long lasting, full body stone, so far.
Overcome by crystals at this stage. Nice oceanic breeze scent that intensifies 10 times when
squeezed, to a more perfumy version of that. Great looking pot!

The water cooled tubes should easily be able to be hung 2 in a series. I just saw one
with an aluminum heat exchanger inline with the water return, and the res water was actually
cool to the touch. That was impressive... I will have to incorporate that into the whole
system soon. These lights efficiently transfer heat away from the room, and they
can displace water into a space the size of a water cooler. I think that is pretty great..
-Also, you have to get the Fresca model. It is a very compact design, it is easy to clean & connect
it all back together. It is responsible for raising the AK-48 in the pics, of which you'll be seeing more of soon..

O.K. I thought I would talk about light placement for a second..

It seems that no matter how super-cooled your reflector, be it by air or by h2o, that there is a limit to which you can lower your light. At one point, the light was so cool to the touch that I lowered it 5 inches away from the tops. That definitely caused some bleaching, making the tops all white. Even though the unit is cooled off - it still produces radiant light heat. Its wierd, you can feel cold water & light heat at the same time when you touch it. The Sun's lumens are at 10,000 lumens when it reaches Earth, &
when it hits plant tops...only thing is that the Sun's rays are as strong at the plant tops as they are at the bottom leaves. And HPS light diminishes quickly after a certain distance from the bulbs. Thats why outdoor pot is such a different animal.

So it still needs to be about 12" or more away from the tops - with a 600+ Watt light in it. I think with a 400watt you can slam it right down on the plants no problem.

Wait till your buds look done, those white hairs gotta all turn mostly red and retract. Then you will have some really good smoke with lotsa amber. There's been much debate over this topic with some really good threads. Theres even a sticky in harvesting and curing about when and how to harvest from FDD2BLK wich i think is a must read.

Those flowering numbers are just indicators, if you stun or stress yor plant at any point you might just have added a week or 2 weeks to her done time.