Northeast Outdoor Grow : AK-47

[Rasa]

So, just got back from Europe last week and desperately wanted to find some clones so I could throw them outside. Being that I got home in the beginning of May it made it to late to start from seed so I asked around and eventually stumbled on someone who had AK clones. Grabbed 10 last night and transplanted them outside at my spot. Bought 10 Home Depot paint buckets that they will be transplanted into as opposed to directly in the ground. Just wanted to keep a grow journal and I feel this is a better place then the other grow forums. So my next step is to go buy a shit ton of soil, peat moss, worm castings and pearlite and haul it all the way out to my spot and fill the buckets up so I can transplant the clones from their red cups to big ol paint buckets! I will keep you guys updated and I will try and snap some pictures when I get a chance. It looks like we have a heavy week of rain ahead of us, any suggestions of things I could do to make sure my babies don't drown or get over-waters and die?

[Uncle Ron]

What makes now too late to plant the seed?
How long has it been since the last frost?
What type of strain did you plan on growing from seed?
You do realize that you can artificially shorten the day (outdoors) to induce early flowering?

So much info needed to offer any help.
In the mean time, here are a few of my thoughts, stimulated by a bowl of Basjoe Special.
- Don't forget to cut drainage slots on the bottom of the buckets.
- Raise the buckets off the ground to allow proper drainage.
- How far do you have to transport water? Logistics can be a real bitch.
- Heavy rain week: Since the plants will be in buckets, move them next to shade trees or in the thicket/dense bushes. You could always make some type of cover from wire coat hangers and plastic. Use your imagination Luke, er, Rasa...
- Protect the clones from heavy rain, and strong winds as well, for about a month or so. Allow the root system to develop properly(?), which will mean a heartier plant.

Happy farming...

[Rasa]

Good tips Ron, i'm going out to the spot and dragging a fucking 50 lb brick of peat moss in a little bit. Going to gouge holes in the buckets as well for drainage. As far as keeping them off the ground i'm going to have to find some rocks or something to prop the buckets on then. I guess I just figured it would be to late to start for seed, regardless we are past the last frost here and the weather is good. My spot has 3-4 pine trees so I will position the babies around them to help protect them from the rainfall. Transport isnt to far, its a 15 minute walk into the woods and I can navigate it in the pitch dark too

[Boner]

Put something (be it clay balls or broken terracota pots or something similar) in the bottom of the buckets before you add your soil mix to help drainage, balancing them on something isn't a good idea as theres always a chance they'll get knocked over, I'd go as far as burying the buckets in the ground a bit to help against that as well if I was you.

[Rasa]

heard the clayball or stones in the bottom idea and i like it but theres no way in fucking hell that i'm going to buy clay pellets or dig through the woods looking for rocks so as much as i'd like to incorporate that i'm nixxing the idea. Ill snap some pics right now when I got to the spot so you guys can have an idea of what i'm looking at.

[Rasa]

Alright so just got back and holy FUCK I am beat.... just lugged a brick of peat-moss that must have weighed upwards of 50lbs about a half mile through the woods. It will all be worth it in the end though . First can I say that having a grow is so fucking exciting, its like I have another thing to live for, my little babies! So I made it to the spot and checked on all the girls, they looked great and seemed to be having no problem at all adapting to the warm sunlight, I started off by using the end of a sharp drill bit to gouge and twist holes into the bottom of the paint buckets. The buckets are Orange which is fucking horrible considering this is supposed to be guerilla but I am confident that my spot is secluded enough where it wont really matter, nonetheless I am devising a plan to camouflage them. So I gouged holes all around the bottom of the buckets and then filled them with a base of peat moss for now just to plop the cups in. The plants are in pretty small red dixie cups and you can tell they are in desperate need of being fully transplanted so I decided to just fill the buckets with peat moss and stick the plants with the cups in for now so they have a firm hold. I haven't had time to go to the store to get my vermiculite and worm castings and soil so this will just have to do for today. My planned transplant is tomorrow evening after I have gotten the supplies. Here are some pictures I snapped:

[Uncle Ron]

Ok, definitely paint those LOUD buckets.

By bottom of the bucket, I literally meant the bottom. Side holes are nice, but they aren't ON the bottom now are they? Unless the holes are exactly even with the bottom of the bucket, water can/will sit, which is very conducive to mold growth, not to mention root rot.
Remember the part where I mentioned using your imagination - find some small scrap pieces of wood, maybe 1x or 2x material, and use these to get the buckets off the ground. An inch or so off the ground is all that is needed. If you place the pieces flat, the buckets shouldn't (read won't) tip over, as suggested, unless the winds are Hurricane force...

I was reading the replies and was somewhat curious as to why someone would bury the buckets. Doesn't make sense to me. If you bury the containers, you might as well plant the clones directly into the ground. What do the containers provide in this method over planting directly into the ground? Also, unless the bottom is totally removed before burying, the likely hood of water-borne maladies will increase many fold, ie... mold, root rot, etc...One reason for this is the ground water table may be shallow, which means the soil is moist, which goes to drainage - moist soil under pressure doesn't absorb water efficiently. If you need more reasons, I've got more, like milk...

You seem to be off to a good start. Keep us informed.
PAINT THOSE BUCKETS!!!
Also, leave NO TRASH BEHIND!!

Happy farming...

[darkglobe]

The main reason for burying the bucket is so they don't get blown over in the wind...they only need to be half buried,with some stones thrown in the bottom of the hole to provide extra drainage.
I would say that your major problem is SLUGS,they'll scoff those younguns in one night...what are you doing about them ?

[Cal X]

Why such bright colored buckets? As for holes in the bottom of the buckets, as Ron said, drill them if you can. I know you're doing field work now, but, the buckets will have to be raised once the holes are drilled. It looks like there are a lot of rocks around there, you could use some flat stones to raise your pots, or you can use blocks of wood or anything that would be easy to lug up there! Once you have raised the pots, you could find some branches or carry some poles up there, then, hammer 3 polls snug against each bucket to support them from the wind You may want to support your plants as well dude!

[Rasa]

made holes in the bottom of the buckets, transplanted lastnight and the week of rain begins today. Put all the babies on top of boards for good drainage and they are sheltered under 2 nice big pine trees so they don't get torrentially soaked! They were dying to be transplanted, the root balls in the dixie cups were perfect! As for the orange bucket, it was the only paint buckets they had at my home depot, fucked I know.... I have a couple ideas of how to camouflage them but to be honest i'm not to to worried my spot is very very in the middle of who the fuck knows where! I'm gonna check on them in 2-3 days because they are getting plenty of water, hopefully they wont undergo to much shock from the transplant.

[Rasa]

I think I should mention that I didnt have time to get to gardeners supply and I was in urgent need to transplant so the transplants are sitting in 100% peat moss mixture which I have read is bad bad bad, apparently it holds to much water and is very acidic. I am going to run to the store this morning and get some perlite and vermiculite and try and get out there and mix it into the buckets, im getting worried reading shit about peat moss on these forums. Any input?

[Uncle Ron]

So far so good, eh?
Never worked with Peat Moss, but I think you are right in being concerned. Get er done son.

As for cammo, ANYTHING will be better than that bright orange. An ounce of prevention is worth, well, you know where I'm going. Wrap some cammo duct tape around those cans, something, anything.... hey, not a bad idea... won't have to dick with paint...

Ever heard of Murphy's Law? http://www.murphys-laws.com/
Simply stated, if something can go wrong, it will. Better to be safe than sorry, right?

Happy farming...

[Rasa]

So went back out yesterday, had to haul a big bag of Vermiculite, Perlite, two small bags of Bone Meal and Garden Lime and 2 bags of Hoffmans Organic Potting Soil. Re-Transplanted the girls, they hadn't really rooted into the peat moss so I just dislodged them, revamped the soil mix and then transplanted them back into a healthy mix that will make em grow to be big brawlic bastards! They were looking great even before I re-transplanted, the day before when they were still in Red Cups they were showing a lot of signs of withering because of lack of root space and when I went back yesterday they looked great. They are protected by a nice pine tree too which is helping them with the rain we have been getting. All in all it looks smooth, I am handling the camo dilemna today, I have something up my sleeve .

Here's a comparison of the two soil mixtures:

Out of curiosity I am wondering what I could expect for a yield per plant come fall, I know outdoor grows big and these are all nice feminized clones, hopefully a LB per plant would be nice, anybody have any past experience? I know it's impossible to predict because of the weather etc, but VT usually has strong outdoor grow season and hopefully it will follow suit this summer/fall.

[Rasa]

Went back out in the rain this morning to check on the girls, they looked great! I started to stash a supply of water so when things get dry I wont have to lug a fuck-ton out! Here are some pics, and you can see what I did to cover up the orange, just used some of the black gardening mesh stuff that you put under mulch or ponds and made a little wall around the girls.

the spot:


the girls under the pine tree with their new camo


two of my favorite girls, bushyy bushyy


Happy Growing! I have a feeling once this week of rain passes that these bitches are gonna start getting bigggggg!!!

[Uncle Ron]

Thanks for the update.
You are putting in a lot of hard work, so don't let it all go to waste. I'm still somewhat concerned with the color, but you have taken measures to decrease the chances of being seen, at least from ground level.

The plants do look nice, but I would advise you to take a look at the bottom-most sets of leaves. In the pic of your favorite girls, the plant on the right looks like the leaves are a little necrotic, ie.. burning tips. Keep an eye on the lower leaves; if they become too necrotic, be prepared to cut them off. No use in keeping leaves that are dying on the vine and possibly inhibit god knows what maladies... Wait it out a little more to see if the leaf set recovers. If so, onward and upward; if not, remove.

You are discovering the hard way my young padawan that gorilla farming can be a real bitch, mostly when dealing with logistics, ie... everything must be carried in. What sized container(s) are you using to haul water? Do you have a dirt bike or some type of off-road vehicle? Might make hauling water easier...
During periods of heavy rain, keep a close eye on signs of mold, very bad indeed.
Something else to think about (slugs were mentioned) is protecting the plants against flora and fauna - weeds/vines infesting and choking the plants; animals looking for a snack. Since you are using buckets, the likely hood of weeds/vines causing problems is minimal, but keep them clear anyway. As for animals, you might want to look at procuring some type of fencing, possibly (non shiny) chicken wire. Look for a cluster of trees that can be used to attach the fence; better than having to use all fence posts (less chance of falling over because of wind, etc...). Something else to consider is using a spray or powder to prevent critters, like slugs mentioned above, from munching on the plants.

As for yield, lets hope you can get at least 453gms (1lb). Many things to consider - genetics, climate, pests, and let's not forget our not so perfect but loving farmer.
According to Serious Seeds:
AK-47 - Indoor / Outdoor
Type: mostly sativa
This easy to grow plant is our most popular. It is of medium height and produces good yields quite quickly. Extremely STRONG odour and smoke. Take extra care with odour control when growing near neighbours. The name was given not out of any idea of violence, but more in association with the 'one hit wonder' that the smoke is. Quality without compromise makes AK suitable for commercial grows or home use. These plants have a short flowering period for a sativa, producing compact, not too leafy buds that gleam with a coat of resin crystals. Winning SEVEN prizes!! in Cannabis competitions, including second prize for the Best Sativa in the 1999 High Times Cannabis Cup, proves it is a favourite to smoke as well as to grow.
Indoor clone grow time: 5 - 10 days
Indoor flowering time: 53 - 63 days
Indoor yield: 350- 500 grams/m2
Holland Outside/ Greenhouse harvest time: 15-31 October

Notice the harvest time, mid to late October, in The Netherlands. Checking LAT/LONG, The NL is considerably more northern than VT, so you probably can add a week, maybe two. My theory is that because VT is more south than AMS, there will be more dayz with longer periods of sunlight. Does make sense... Also something that can shorten the season is frost. Check Poor Richards Almanac or similar.

Happy farming...