The Grow Awards 2026 🏆
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Week 9 of Flower and the Punchberry Cookies Rbx just about ripe at 63 days of flower today (5/12). I've never had to time a DWC bucket flush before, so going purely on instinct. Specifically, Trichomes are mostly milky with amber development. I am hoping a 3-5 day flush with ph'd RO water will bring out any potential color AND that Trichomes will continue to ripen bringing amber to about 15-20%. As for the week in review, I'd say pretty uneventful, which is good. Continued daily water and ppm level drops with stable ph range readings - zero wild swings. She's kicking up some incredibly strong smells of fruit. She's frosty and does smell a bit like Hawaiian Punch as advertised. Looking forward to completing the DWC bucket flush and harvesting the girl. She and I got off to a rocky start. Fortunate that she recovered and produced the way she did. Next couple of posts (i.e., Harvest & Cure) will end this spring 23 run.
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@Swanbergs
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Everything must go!!! Day 66 can’t imagine the cheese, the gift, and straw to last much longer. Trellis was removed and you can really tell how heavy some colas are damn near uproots some of plants without the support. I needed to save my trellis ;). Anyways Skittlez in dark period ready to be chopped, tropical fuel is on day 3 of drying and looks to be retaining that “fuel” smell ( no woody buds here!) made some awesome canna butter from the trim of white widow. Happy growing!
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SATURDAY 8/11: It's late Friday night..early Saturday morning..might as well start week 8! All systems are 'GO', and it's looking like I'm about 10-14 days away from starting the flush on WW#1 and maybe EM#1. I'm salivating 😍 I just gotta get these temperatures down a bit more.. SUNDAY 8/12: Yesterday I ordered a couple of 15.0 UVB 26w CFL bulbs to suspend over the girls that are the closest to finished..try to get them to ooze some more THC for me. Today I started germinating 7 more White White Autos from CKS and 4 more Candy Cane Autos from CKS. They will also be planted in 5gal fabric pots. They will be grown in the veg tent and moved into the main tent as space becomes available. The current crop will be harvested in waves, so I'll just employ stools for the new arrivals until everybody's been harvested from the current crop and I can lower the light again. MONDAY: I'm really starting to see the effects of the heat stress from this past week. So many dead or dying leaves. Temperatures are staying below 90 at the canopy and closer to 80 at the floor during the day..varying between 83 and 87 for most of the day and climbing to about 89 by sunset. It drops to 78-80 for 5 hours of nighttime. That's a shitload better than the mid to high 90's of last week, but the damage, I'm afraid, has been done.😢 EM#1 and WW#1 aren't gonna have enough vegetation left to do much else and I want to trim away the necrotic shit before it reaches the sugary stuff. There might be enough lower leaves left alive that I can just harvest the main colas and let the lower regions be for another week of swelling and flushing, but if not, they will get one more dose of tiger bloom and cha ching in 2 days, then two days later I will flush them really well and trim off all the dead shit. Let them dry for another day or two and flush them one more time really well and put them in the dark for a day before harvesting. EM#2 still has a good bit of green in her big fan leaves and will probably perk up and show me some more bud development.🙏 EM#3 hates anything above 85 degrees, so I'll probably never make her happy..😟 WW#2 and EM#4 don't seem to have been bothered by the heat near as much.👍 CC#1 and CC#2 don't like the heat at all..but they are killer dwarves and will pull through just fine.👌 I mixed up 7 gallons of ph'd water with calmag, bud candy, big bloom (no nitrogen), and a very heavy dose of boomerang and douched everybody really well. TUESDAY: The crispy girls got a big haircut today. I cut away most of the necrotic stuff on EM#1, EM#2, and WW#1. Buds should stay pretty for another few days...and wow are they pretty! The 3 plants still have enough foliage that I've decided to let them bask under the UVB lights for a day or two between flushes...see if I can't get them to ooze a little more of the good stuff. I moved them into the areas in the garden with less PAR..mainly 660nm reds and the UVBs. I also raised the lights about 2 inches. Pretty sure that EM#4 and WW#2 are within a week of finishing as well. So far, I have 3 new WW and 2 new CC sprouts planted. One WW has emerged thus far. She shall be called "WW#3" unless she earns a nickname. New photos and video clips were taken today. WEDNESDAY: I had a 100% germination success rate with the 7 new WW's and 4 new CC's! They all got planted today, but I ran out of soil (still waiting on Amazon shipment) so I had to plant several of them in smaller pots and will have to transplant them to 5 gal pots when the Happy Frog and Coco Loco arrives. They are in the veg tent for now, but it looks like I'll have plenty of room for them all in the big tent within a week or two. WW#1 and EM#1 got flushed with 6 gallons of ph'd spring water today and will have another day/night to bask in the UVB and deep red lights, then I'll put them in the dark for another day before lovingly hacking them to bits. 😜 EM#2 isn't quite ready yet..various up-close looks at her 14" cola told me that she still has time..probably only about 20-30% cloudy trichromes now, so more Cha Ching for her tomorrow! EM#4 is in a hurry to finish..betting tomorrow will be her last nutrient dose. EM#3 is a slow-poke..maybe two more weeks or more to fully fatten her up. CC#1 is gonna be a quick one for sure..maybe another week or 10 days at most. CC#2 might be 2 more weeks. THURSDAY: Mixed up a 2 gallon batch of early flowering nutes for the CC's and Bush Bitch, 2.5 gallons of late flowering nutes for WW#2, EM#4.. and I decided that EM#2 just isn't ready yet, so she got late flowering nutes as well. The pots on WW#1 and EM#1 were still very heavy, so they were allowed to soak up the reds and UV's for another day to hopefully dry out a little more. FRIDAY: WW#1 and EM#1 are still hoping for a reprieve from the Governor, but it's not looking good for them...their sentences are set to be carried out at dawn. Last night they were stripped down and taken into lights-out solitary confinement to await their execution. They were given no last meal and when asked if they had any final requests, they asked only that they be cremated in a series of small fires spanning a couple of months. 😏
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So where I live we had a really bad storm it had knocked out my power for a full 24 hrs so I had to give them some extra attention to insure there was no mold or any pest with no fan rotation. Then I also had to put them back on there proper timer to get things back on a roll so far so good they still look and smell amazing wish me luck
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@nonick123
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Día 6 (29/04) Spray solo agua el top del sustrato. DLI 13 Día 7 (30/04) Spray solo agua el top del sustrato. DLI 13 Día 8 (01/05) Spray solo agua el top del sustrato. Subo a DLI 17 Día 9 (02/05) Elimino la cúpula casera de humedad y empiezo a regar con 300 ml solo agua Día 10 (03/05) Empiezo a luchar con una ola de calor inesperada para esta época, que me trae temperaturas exteriores de 30 ºC y humedad relativa del 30%... Mantengo la cúpula casera de humedad Día 11 (04/05) Hace muchísimo calor.. 30 °C. A ver como lo llevan Hago un invento casero para aumentar la humedad Día 12 (05/05) Primera alimentación con Aptus! 300 ml H2O + Regulator 0,15 ml/l + CaMg-Boost 0,25 ml/l + Startbooster 0,25 ml/l - pH 6.2 Creo que las plantas se ven un poco pequeñas para tener 12 días... esperando por explosión de crecimiento en los próximos días.... 💦Nutrients by Aptus Holland - www.aptus-holland.com 🌱Substrate PRO-MIX HP BACILLUS + MYCORRHIZAE - www.pthorticulture.com/en/products/pro-mix-hp-biostimulant-plus-mycorrhizae
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@Canadian
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The plant has continued to stretch into this week and I don't think it's going to stretch anymore it looks like it's starting to build up their flowers. The plant does not need a lot of nutrients in fact it's not one of those very hungry just a standard diet will be sufficient thank you for reading I will continue to update have a happy grow.
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D49 - Today is the first day in the seventh week of veg for #2 and the sixth for #1. It has been a week since I topped the first girl, so I went ahead and topped her for the third and final time. #2 is thriving, and I'm using LST to spread her out while keeping her flat. With the toppings now done, I can install the scrog net soon-ish. As for the thrips, I haven't noticed any additional damage, and hopefully, the mites are doing their thing. I realized, though, that I had one extra package of mites. Instead of waiting for slow release, I went full Rambo by cutting up the package and sprinkling the mites/sawdust all over the girls and soil. I also redirected the airflow to not blow directly on the plants. I'll leave the sawdust there until tomorrow and then brush it off. The slow-release bags are still on the plants, so there isn't much to lose with additional shock-and-awe tactics. DIE THRIPS!!! Finally, I started a compost tea heavy with neem meal, which should help create an inhospitable environment for the thrips. Worst case, I have neem oil, but I don't want to go down that route unless I have to. D53 - I did some additional LST to both girls and removed a few leaves and branches on the underside of #2. I also cut back the cover crop and gave each girl 2.5-liters of water @ pH 6.3. D55 - I gave both girls around 2.5-liters of compost tea @ pH 6.5. The first girl has bounced back strong after her final topping, and in a few days, it will be time to flip, but I need to do one last defoliation before that. Sorry about the porn-light pics. I was a bit late, and my lights had already gone into sunset mode.
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@Ferinky
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En esta actualización se incluyen 2 semanas ya que por trabajo me fue imposible añadir la semana anterior. El día 15 de Agosto recibió la segunda pulverización de Bacillus Thuringiensis para prevenir el ataque de las orugas. Sigo alternando riego de agua un día con riego de Ascophillum Nodosum al día siguiente. He dejado de regar con Cannazym.
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@Hawkbo
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This is looking okay on day 7 I just gotta transplant it soon.
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@TKush
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Easy to grow, I used a 20/4 light schedule, i'll update the dry bud weitght but it will probably be aroung 150g. The light and the 20L pots made the difference
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@3lementa1
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I realized there may have been a bit of a light leak in the late morning. I taped everything up more. In the future I want to maintain better reflective integrity on the inside of the tent. Everything looks good. The buds are still growing a little taller and filling out. The CBD Blue Shark is super frosty. It's actually absurd. Orange hairs are coming out in all plants. I was hoping to be able to keep the exhaust window open overnight to let the overnight temps drop 10 degrees to encourage the purples in the WC genetics, but it's too humid now to have the window open without the grow light on. Otherwise the rh goes up to 70% overnight and it's not worth the risk. Next year I'll flip earlier when it's still colder and drier out for the harvest window. This flowering period has been really cool. I've really been noticing the process of flowering. The calyxes open up and turn into pistils and sugar leaves, and more keep appearing and popping every day. It's awesome. March 04 watered again with straight water. They're finally drinking more than once a week! The pistils seem more red today than yesterday. I got a $30 micro camera to check trichromes, they all seem clear for now (there is some glare in the pics). No amber for now at least. March 05 found some amber trichromes March 06 lots of leaves are going yellow. We're definitely in the home stretch. March 06 I've been a little worried about the size of the colas. There's not much sticking out past the canopy. I've also noticed a bunch of new leaves that have started popping out and I was a little worried that the buds were foxtailing or herming. I've had temps go up to 30 a couple times in the morning before I open the window. But it seems that the buds are filling out more and getting fatter, not just foxtailing, and I think they're getting ready for one last push, not just getting full of leaves for no reason. It changes a lot every day. Tomorrow is the 23rd week of the grow. I switched the lights on a Thursday so this Thursday will mark 8 weeks of flowering time and the beginning of my harvest window (8-9 weeks for both strains).
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La semaine passé auras était une semaine de repos ! Pas de stress pour ces demoiselles , arrosage uniquement à l'eau , le soleil n'était pas au rendez vous mais il y a eu une belle poussé malgré tout !! L'odeur se fait sentir.. Ps : Aujourd'hui , fin de semaine 7 je décide de couper les apex une 2eme et dernière fois ! Ainsi que continuer à palisser ces demoiselles Voir photo + vidéo
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@P_Silas
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Really loved this. Nothing more to say for now lol, it's been my first grow and grew her with 2 wild dwarfs and loved both, would grow them again. Really excited to try it out.
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@NSCanna
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Not much for feeding this week, accept for the Rezin and some blood meal since she's not as dark green as I would like. Nodes are looking okay so I'm leaving it at current light distance to keep them closer together. Did a large trim and another spray for thrips. Microbe populations are also looking good. Added supplemental CO2
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7/11 Got half in of rain last night. Glad I didn't water. Ph of rain water is very acidic. Added supports to the blueberry cheese in the 50. I just used string and went diagonal and attached to the cage. Wrote a ton but it disappeared. Anyway looking at previous diaries I was wrong about senescence. It wad the life cycle of those earwigs that did that to my plants (see other diaries). This soil mix is amazing. These plants gave only gotten like two small feeds of big bloom. I showed my commercial buddy and I'll keep it between us what was said but it made me feel really good. I'm considering either expanding the cage in one direction with some lumber I already have or moving a couple outside tge cage. That way I have more room. He said he's seen plants structurally similar reach huge heights (14f) so I'm just trying to avoid future problems. I at least need to get the trellis on. I hope poor that's food enough. Did a real nice video this morning but nothing wanted to upload and it just uploaded the same one twice. I'll try again and hopfully it will go up. If not I'll put it up tomorrow. 7/12 Dad has surgery this morning. I did a quick video and took some pictures. I need to do some rearranging with the plants and cut a pallet to fit in the back. Then I can put a vertical trellis up. Haven't decided if I'll add on to the cage, remove a couple plants or just rearrange things but I'm leaning towards the later. They will need water again and I'm wondering if I should start nutrients but everything looks so good. By this time on past diaries I'd be losing all my leaves bu now. MI think it wad part ear wigs and part to many nutes. This soil mix is taking these plants through veg. I'll probably do a feeding soon but it will be organic and it will he small like a big bloom or ancient amber. Im leaning towards not using growbig this year as my plants seem to be doing great without it. We'll see. I'll keep this updated. UPDATE: Went back over and gave plants a full watering. Some were slightly drooping. I was going to add nutes but decided against it as I didn't see any deficiency. So far NO Earwigs! I comed through the plants and I did find a jpn beetle which I happily killed. I mixed up 8 gallons of water and gave it to the 11 plants so it wasn't quite a gallon a plant. I need to rearrange the plants so I have room to move around. I also need to cut another pallet and use the spaces I'm not. Trellis needs to go up. 7/13 I think I've got the watering amount down. Now just to find how often which will depend on weather. I've watered very little this year. They loved that gallon. I was going to use big bloom and kelp me/you but looking at my garden I decided not too. My buddy asked what i was addingvthings for and to wait fir what i added to do what I wanted it to do. I see no nutrient deficiencies so why add anything? I think this soil mixture will get me all tgexway through veg. I dont plan on using much in fliwer either. Definitely good genetics. I really need to cut that palley and move the 1 10gallon to the far back coener. It will open thibgs up so much better. The garden looked so beautiful this morning. Getting very aromatic. I started untangling trellis netting but had to leave. I'll update what I do. Happy growing folks UPDATE: Went back over as I had a slight intuition that I needed to check the garden. I found and killed at least 7 jpn beetles. That's what's been making holes. They tried to escape and bounced off a tarp but I got it. I went through the interiors and found two pillars. If these beetles are gonna be around I'm ordering a net. I'm also close to positive I'm going to extend my cage in the back a few feet. Things are getting unmanageable in here. My buddy said I'll be having problems soon if I don't do something. I'll document what I decide to do. 7/14 Found ONE jpn beetle in the garden this morning. I can manage those well enough. The birds help too. I check my garden multiple times a day so I manually remove many pests. However I've noticed some thrip damage on a leaf and a leafhopper damage on "A" leaf so there are "some" pests around but not enough to spray shit. A couple wasps were doing there job while I was there. Supposed to get thunder storms after three and tonight. Supposed to get over a half inch of rain tonight. I lifted the bags and decided to hold off and let mother nature take care of it as the bags weren't totally dry. Only problem I really have is space. I AM moving that 10gallon (that's the same size as some 20's) in the back. There's 27in not being used and a few feet the other way. My buddy cautioned me that I'm going to have problems since my plants are so crowded. I agree with him. I spoke with me father and we have most materials to extend my cage four feet in the back. I think that's my plan. I'll extend the structure before the stretch then I can put up the supports. We'll see how this goes. UPDATE: Went back over to check the girls as I had a feeling I ought to. When I got there I saw that a couple of the blueberry cheese were pretty light (liftng the smart pot) but the others seemed to be fine. ONE 10th planet was light like that and the purple punch in the 10 gallon was as well. Each plant thar needed it got at least a half gallon of water. I'm waiting to see if we get the thunderstorms and the half inch of rain. I watered the MASSIVE blueberry cheese in the 50 but I only gave it 1 pitcher which is like 1/4 gallon or so. Don't know why I even gave it that. Looked fine but the soil WAS pretty dry. Next year I'm giving myself way more room. I was running trying to chase these jpn beetles. This time I have the dawn and water and a measuring cup to knock them in. This ain't my first rodeo. I did notice some bright yellow streaks on a leaf edge and I'm hoping it's not septoria. I doubt it but I have an anxiety disorder and I worry. I hope I can get the cage extended sooner rather than later. It's getting hard to move in there and more importantly I can't take any more plant pathogen problems. I'm considering starting a plant doctor regimen just to be safe. 7/15 Got a bunch of rain last night. No jpn beetles in the garden and not really much damage. I did notice this (I think it's leaf hoppers) that leave those dots close together on a leaf so it appears I've got a variety of pests. I'm considering how to approach this. I mean the damage is very minimal but I don't want it to get out of hand. Another thing I need to look out for is leaf septoria or any other fungal pathogens. I believe that has been part of my problems in the past. I think that's what caused my earlier grows to drop all their leaves so quick. I think I'm being overly cautious but its very crowded in there. With my father just getting out of surgery the girls will need to wait a little bit before before I can extend the cage. I could still cut the pallet and move the 1 10gallon and that would give more room. I rearranged a LITTLE BIT so they have a little more room but I've really got to get this cage extended. UPDATE: IT Rained so hard I had to pull the car over. We hydroplanned the whole way home. After working ob my house I went to see what the damage would be like. NOT A SINGLE BREAK THAT I COULD SEE. I took a video but since the wifi here sucks I'll have to upload it tomorrow. Walking around in the cage even if I cant get it extended I think I'll be OK. It obviously will open me up to lots more issues but at the very least I can reorganize before I build on. The 10 gal purple punch would fit perfectly in the back and I have a pallet I can cut to fit it in place. Putting that one back and pulling the others forward will be much better than what I've got going on now. I'm also thinking about running an extension cord and putting fans under the canopy or at an angle to keep the wind moving. Just thinking outloud. However after that storm the girls looked as happy as I've ever seen them. All happy praying to the sun, thankful for the much needed rain. Mother nature does a pretty good job with out me messing with it. I've noticed a couple interior lowest leaves turn yellow and die like a nitrogen deficiency but everything else is fine. Also noticed a leaf that looked like a p deficiency but again, it was the VERY bottom leaf on ONE plant. Again the rest of everything looks fantastic. I'll keep an eye out for anymore nutrient deficiencies and if anyone that reads this sees some please let me know. I should've taken stills since they looked so good but I got it on video. 7/16 It POURED last night and throughout the day. TORRENTIAL rain. The branch breaking sheet rain that us outdoor growers learned to fear. My plants aren't trellised currently. I know what I need to do now. I have a pallet to put in the back corner and I'm moving the purple punch in the 10 there. And pulling others forward where there's more room. Then when I extend it (it's gotta be done this week) everything g will be in their proper place and I can just throw on a vertical trellis. I also noticed more (leafhopper) damage on a leaf. Different leaf of the same plant so I'm considering spraying something. I have a number of products but I was trying not to use them. Luckily I have these diaries so I can look back and see certain plants reactions to certain nutes or fungacide/insecticide/nutes and the doses used. I haven't been using much but if my plants will remain cramped I'm going to start the plant doctor. I'm seeing more pillar damage too but BT is super narrow so I'm thinking when I fo spray for pests I might use cap jack and be done with it. Then I can apply the BT in flower if it's necessary. I took a video but I have to wait until tomorrow to upload. I took a quick snapshot though. 7/17 Despite the torrential rain I don't have any breaks. I'm noticing more pest damage though. Another leaf on the same plant had those closely shaped round circles. I forget what pest it is but it's there. Caterpillars are there I'm sure so I may do a preclcentative spray. Just unsure what I'm going to use. I lost a COUPLE very bottom interior leaves that look like they just got used up. After this rain I think think the plants might benefit from a feeding. Probably next water after they dry out. I REALLY need that cage extended. I expressed that today and it should be done this week. I'm looking for pallets today. I have the little one that I can put in the back which will allow me to move the 10 gallon and move the other forward. That will help some but I need more room. I'll update as I go. UPDATE: GOT A SMALL PALLET AND IT FIT PERFECT IN THE BACK ROW. I MOVED THE PURPLE PUNCH IN THE 10 GALLON ONTO IT. I SHIFTED A BUNCHVIF THINGS AROUND. I ROTATED ON BLUEBERRY CHEESE 180 DEGREES SO IT WOULD FIR BETTER. CROP ROTATION IS GOOD ANYWAY. I TOOK VIDEOS AND YOU CAN NOW SEE THE ROWS MUCH BETTER. 2 WITH 3 and 1 WITH 4. IT'S SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN IT WAS. I CAN GET AROUND ALL SIDES OF EVERY PLANT NOW. GRANTED THE LARGE 50 IN THE BACK IS GOING TO HAVE SOME TROUBLE BUT ILL JUST STAKE IT TO THE CAGE. IT WILL GROW TOWARDS THE SUN ANYWAY. IM SUPRISED I DIDN'T LOSE A BUNCH OF LEAVES AFTER THIS RAIN. MOVING THINGS AROUND AND LOOKING ON THE INTERIOR OF PLANTS I FOUND A COUPLE LEAVES THAT HAD BEEN USED UP. I REMOVED A COUPKE LEAVES THAT HAD DONE THEIR JOB. I'LL UPDATE AS I GO ALONG.
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@Tonysmile
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Smell is picking up a little but not bad as she is almost finished. Definitely getting stickier to the touch and honestly an easy grow. Loving it
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There we go, now the diary is all sorted out and the weeks are accurate. Pistils still poppin'! Starting to get the first few brown pistils to show up on the low low plant buds. Tops are still filling out. I might as well raise the dimmer to 10. It's been on 9 about 11 inches from the tops of the plants. I dialed it back to perhaps reduce the stress from the hot dose of nutes. They burnt up pretty good but still rocking! Hopefully the next run i can keep them pretty for the full crop! haha The Nutrient mix i listed is not a feed chart regiment. I've had to dial it back a bit because of the high ppm of my tap water which caused me to give them a hot 2500ppm feed one day and they freaked out lol. So now i test my ppm and i try to keep it around 1000, to 1250ppm MAX Next crop I plan on doing some experimenting. I'm going to grow 3 strains. I want to do a diary for each strain and I'm going to experiment with some different nutrients (Remo Nutrients) and I'm going to do side by side comparisons with Hygrozyme and HygroBen, as well as Resin by Green Planet Nutrients. Next Strains will be; #1 Female Seeds "Lemon Kush" (2 plants) Clones #2 Barney's Farm "Biscotti Mintz" (3 plants) Clones #3 Expert Seeds "Oreoz" (3 plants) Clones 1 of each plant will be treated with Mykos Fungi, Hygrozyme Enzymatic root enhancer, and HygroBen which is beneficial bacteria. So we can draw a side by side comparison of each treated vs. non treated plant to see if Resin really does increase resin output, and if the plants health, vigour and growth are affected in a significant way. These plants on Oct 31, are 42 days into their flowering cycle. I expect them to finish near end of November. Nov 15 i will cut clones off my mother's and prepare for the mid winter run.
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Green light is radiation with wavelengths between 520 and 560 nm and it affects photosynthesis, plant height, and flowering. Plants reflect green light and this is why they appear green to our eyes. As a result, some growers think that plants don’t use green wavelengths, but they actually do! In fact, only around 5 – 10% of green light is reflected from leaves and the rest (90 – 95 %) is absorbed or transmitted to lower leaves [1]. Green wavelengths get used in photosynthesis. Chlorophyll pigments absorb small amounts of green wavelengths. Light that doesn’t get absorbed is transmitted to leaves that are shaded out from direct light. This means that leaves at the bottom of the canopy get more green light than leaves at the top. A high proportion of green wavelengths compared to other colors tells lower leaves that they are being shaded out, so they are able to react accordingly. Lower leaves may react by opening or closing their stomata or growing longer stems that help the leaves reach brighter light [1, 2, 3]. When it comes to growing cannabis, many cultivators are interested in the quality of light used for the flowering stage. In many plants, flowering is regulated by two main photoreceptors: cryptochrome and phytochrome. Both photoreceptors primarily respond to blue light but can also respond to green, although to a lesser extent. Green can accelerate the start of flowering in several species (although cannabis has yet to be tested) [1, 4, 5]. However, once flowering has begun, it’s important to provide plants with a “full spectrum” light that has high amounts of blue and red light, and moderate amounts of green, in order for photosynthesis to be optimized. Green light mediates seed germination in some species. Seeds use green wavelengths to decide whether the environment is good for germination. Shade environments are enriched in green relative to red and blue light, so a plant can tell if it is shady or sunny. A seed that senses a shaded environment may stay dormant to avoid poor growing conditions [1]. Some examples of plant species where researchers have documented this response are: ryegrass (a grass that grows in tufts) and Chondrilla (a plant related to dandelion) [1, 6]. Although green wavelengths generally tell plants NOT to germinate, there are some exceptions! Surprisingly, green wavelengths can stimulate seed germination in some species like Aeschynomene, Tephrosia, Solidago, Cyrtopodium, and Atriplex [1, 6, 7]. Of course, light is not the only factor affecting seed germination – it’s a combination of many factors, such as soil moisture, soil type, temperature, photoperiod, and light quality. When combined with red and blue light, green can really enhance plant growth [1, 8]. However, too much green light (more than 50% of the total light) can actually reduce plant growth [8]. Based on the most current research, the ideal ratio of green, red, and blue light is thought to be around 1:2:1 for green:blue:red [9]. When choosing a horticultural light, choose one that has high amounts of blue and red light and moderate amounts of green and other colors of light. Not many studies can be found about the effect of green light on cannabis growth or metabolism. However, if one reads carefully, there are clues and data available even from the very early papers. Mahlberg and Hemphill (1983) used colored filters in their study to alter the sunlight spectrum and study green light among others. They concluded that the green filter, which makes the environment green by cutting other wavelengths out, reduced the THC concentration significantly compared to the daylight control treatment. It has been demonstrated that green color can reduce secondary metabolite activity with other species as well. For example, the addition of green to a light spectrum decreases anthocyanin concentration in lettuce (Zhang and Folta 2012). If green light only reverses the biosynthesis of some secondary metabolites, then why put green light into a growth spectrum at all? Well, there are a couple of good reasons. One is that green penetrates leaf layers effectively. Conversely red and blue light is almost completely absorbed by the first leaf layer. Green travels through the first, second, and even third layers effectively (Figure 2). Lower leaf layers can utilize green light in photosynthesis and therefore produce yields as well. Even though a green light-specific photoreceptor has not yet been found, it is known that green light has effects independent from the cryptochrome but then again, also cryptochrome-dependent ones, just like blue light. It is known that green light in low light intensity conditions can enhance far red stimulating secondary metabolite production in microgreens and then again, counteracts the production of these compounds in high-intensity light conditions (Kim et al. 2004). In many cases, green light promoted physiological changes in plants that are opposite to the actions of blue light. In the study by Kim et al. blue light-induced anthocyanin accumulation was inhibited by green light. In another study it has been found that blue light promotes stomatal opening whereas green light promotes stomatal closure (Frechilla et al. 2000). Blue light inhibits the early stem elongation in the seedling stage whereas green light promotes it (Folta 2004). Also, blue light results in flowering induction, and green light inhibits it (Banerjee et al., 2007). As you can see, green light works very closely with blue light, and therefore not only the amount of these two wavelengths separately is important but also the ratio (Blue: Green) between these two in the designed spectrum. Furthermore, green light has been found to affect the elongation of petioles and upward leaf reorientation with the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana both of which are a sign of shade avoidance symptoms (Zhang et al. 2011) and also gene expression in the same plant (Dhingra et al. 2006). As mentioned before, green light produces shade avoidance symptoms which are quite intuitive if you consider the natural conditions where the plants grow. Not all the green light is reflected from the highest canopy leaves in nature but a lot of it (50-90%) has been estimated to penetrate the upper leaves at the plant level ((Terashima et al., 2009; Nishio, 2000). For the plant growing in the understory of the forest green light is a signal for the plant of being in the shade of a bigger plant. Then again, the plants growing under unobstructed sunlight can take advantage of the green photons that can more easily penetrate the upper leaves than the red and blue photons. From the photosynthetic pigments in higher plants, chlorophyll is crucial for plant growth. Dissolved chlorophyll and absorb maximally in the red (λ600–700 nm) and blue (λ400–500 nm) regions of the spectrum and not as easily in the green (λ500–600 nm) regions. Up to 80% of all green light is thought to be transmitted through the chloroplast (Terashima et al., 2009) and this allows more green photons to pass deeper into the leaf mesophyll layer than red and blue photons. When the green light is scattered in the vertical leaf profile its journey is lengthened and therefore photons have a higher chance of hitting and being absorbed by chloroplasts on their passage through the leaf to the lower leaves of the plant. Photons of PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density) are captured by chlorophyll causing an excitation of an electron to enter a higher energy state in which the energy is immediately passed on to the neighboring chlorophyll molecule by resonance transfer or released to the electron transport chain (PSII and PSI). Despite the low extinction coefficient of chlorophyll in the green 500–600 nm region it needs to be noted that the absorbance can be significant if the pigment (chlorophyll) concentration in the leaf is high enough. The research available clearly shows that plants use green wavelengths to promote higher biomass and yield (photosynthetic activity), and that it is a crucial signal for long-term developmental and short-term dynamic acclimation (Blue:Green ratio) to the environment. It should not be dismissed but studied more because it brings more opportunities to control plant gene expression and physiology in plant production. REFERENCES Banerjee R., Schleicher E., Meier S. Viana R. M., Pokorny R., Ahmad M., Bittl R., Batschauer. 2007. The signaling state of Arabidopsis cryptochrome 2 contains flavin semiquinone. The Journal of Biological Chemistry 282, 14916–14922. Dhingra, A., Bies, D. H., Lehner, K. R., and Folta, K. M. 2006. Green light adjusts the plastic transcriptome during early photomorphogenic development. Plant Physiol. 142, 1256-1266. Folta, K. M. 2004. Green light stimulates early stem elongation, antagonizing light-mediated growth inhibition. Plant Physiol. 135, 1407-1416. Frechilla, S., Talbott, L. D., Bogomolmi, R. A., and Zeiger, E. 2000. Reversal of blue light -stimulated stomatal opening by green light. Plant Cell Physiol. 41, 171-176. Kim, H.H., Goins, G. D., Wheeler, R. M., and Sager, J. C. 2004.Green-light supplementation for enhanced lettuce growth under red- and blue-light emitting diodes. HortScience 39, 1617-1622. Nishio, J.N. 2000. Why are higher plants green? Evolution of the higher plant photosynthetic pigment complement. Plant Cell and Environment 23, 539–548. Terashima I., Fujita T., Inoue T., Chow W.S., Oguchi R. 2009. Green light drives leaf photosynthesis more efficiently than red light in strong white light: revisiting the enigmatic question of why leaves are green. Plant & Cell Physiology 50, 684–697. Zhang, T., Maruhnich, S. A., and Folta, K. M. 2011. Green light induces shade avoidance symptoms. Plant Physiol. 157, 1528-156. Wang, Y. & Folta, K. M. Contributions of green light to plant growth and development. Am. J. Bot. 100, 70–78 (2013). Zhang, T. & Folta, K. M. Green light signaling and adaptive response. Plant Signal. Behav. 7, 75–78 (2012). Johkan, M. et al. Blue light-emitting diode light irradiation of seedlings improves seedling quality and growth after transplanting in red leaf lettuce. HortScience 45, 1809–1814 (2010). Kasajima, S., et al. Effect of Light Quality on Developmental Rate of Wheat under Continuous Light at a Constant Temperature. Plant Prod. Sci. 10, 286–291 (2007). Banerjee, R. et al. The signaling state of Arabidopsis cryptochrome 2 contains flavin semiquinone. J. Biol. Chem. 282, 14916–14922 (2007). Goggin, D. E. & Steadman, K. J. Blue and green are frequently seen: responses of seeds to short- and mid-wavelength light. Seed Sci. Res. 22, 27–35 (2012). Mandák, B. & Pyšek, P. The effects of light quality, nitrate concentration and presence of bracteoles on germination of different fruit types in the heterocarpous Atriplex sagittata. J. Ecol. 89, 149–158 (2001). Darko, E. et al. Photosynthesis under artificial light: the shift in primary and secondary metabolism. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 369 (2014). Lu, N. et al. Effects of Supplemental Lighting with Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) on Tomato Yield and Quality of Single-Truss Tomato Plants Grown at High Planting Density. Environ. Control Biol. 50, 63–74 (2012).
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Respect for all of you, brother farmers! masters and beginners! thank you again for gathering on the pages of my diaries! we carry out our work with dedication and live on ambition! This will be the last week of feeding before moving on to rinsing the roots in the soil One of the girls is developing artichokes on the tops... nothing but gems😉😄😋💕
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May have stayed in veg stage to long lol #myfirstsativa #photoperiod