The First Hello Diary

The little seedlings are moving amazingly well.

After day 15, plants literally exploded in growth. Day after day, sometimes between dusk till dawn visible growth.

Plants are moving along at a incredible pace. Or maybe is just me. It's been a decade since my last indoor and things are moving along also in the canna industry. I defoliated 5 plants , the third real leaves layer, to increase the light penetration to the lower branches. Topped one.

Right. First, we had 30+ cm of heavy wet snow during the night which broke the city power lines. Had no electricity for 2 days and a night, dealt with the situation to the best of my improvising abilities. Second , decided to remove 2 virus infected plants, so now I am down to 6. They are moving excellently, stretched though a little during the power outage. Third, I caused a slight nutrient burn, following the exact recipe, instead of using my gut feeling and halve the dose for the first 2 weeks. Last but not the least, made and used this week my homemade organic fertiliser, who supports the substrate with targeted species of bacteria and plays the role of the best BudCandy I ever tried. P.S. Day 27 topped and lightly defoliated all 6 plants. P.S. Day 30 finished LST-ing all plants.

Well, plants look amazing, moving well especially with the full moon coming up these days. Took the opportunity and flushed / re-fertilised the substrate. Also added home made compost to the pots, saw a lot of baby earthworms in there! And I decided to enter the grow in flowering stage, possibly Wednesday. Update: day 36 I realised I can bump the heat radiator for an 600w Hps light. I've gotten slow :-) 2nd update: decided to switch onto flowering on day 38, tomorrow.

Since the introduction of the Hps light, humidity and temp rose as expected. But plants have begun to really take in water and the growth is explosive! Also I check weekly my run-off temperature/ph, and this days was slightly higher, due to the introduction of the liquid hummus and hummus top, so I reduced the solution ph with half degree and all went back to normal. And finally spotted the roots shooting out of the airpots, at all levels! Fifth day I defoliated and further Lst-ed the plants. It will be the last stress for the next couple of weeks. Also added a few dozens earthworms in the pot of the weakest plant. Update - eighth day into flowering, 2 plants are showing pistils!

The plants have begun to stretch a little, the foliage has recovered in merely 4 days and there is an explosion of bud sites. The knuckles/joints are just obscene. Sturdy, robust, excellent Barney's genetic! On the eight day, 3 out of 6 are showing clear signs of flowering. This couple of weeks I will play autumn a little, meaning will mimic rainy season by spray shower 3-4 times a week, 10 litres per shower. This has proven highly efficient in the past, as long as you can get rid quickly of the excess humidity. And drop a notch the night temperature. Also, the end spray of each shower will have a liquid hummus solution. Furthermore, noticed positive changes in the substrate enriched with living worms. The way it drains is just...wonderful! So I did the same with all the pots. (Heads up, if You ever spray shower, make sure to turn off fans and/or ventilators cuz it will get misty!) Update: remembered to mention I have managed to use so far rain or snow water, stored days before usage. The first couple of weeks noticed the appearance of algae, pretty common as I have seen browsing through diaries 😁, so I corrected it by lightly scratching the surface (say up to 3/4 of a cm, going any deeper will disturb the roots and the effects are disastrous) after each watering, a technique I use either way to keep the substrate aerated and as close to natural as possible. Now that I have the worms, may not be needed. Also uploaded two photos with the watering solution (before/after), love the way the coco coir holds the goodies! Update day 50: the growth is so explosive I had to re-LST and re-defoliate, removed also the weak branches. Running low on Cannazym so halved the dose.

Two weeks after the introduction of earthworms and compost, I have lost control over the substrates PH. The run off test consistently at 8 , no matter if I water with a 5,5/6/6,5 solution. That means the organics have taken over and I have complete confidence in the process. In the end, its all about the plants and their life quality. I will keep a steady 6,5 for the next couple of weeks and see how it goes. Water retention has grown, the scratch surface looks aerated, no sign of algae as still using rain water. Flowers are forming beautifuly and in abundance. Not my best work shaping these ladies, so I had to change the setup in order to give the plants more room to feel at ease and some extra light penetration. I´m going to slightly increase the night temperature and monitor the effect. Also had to put in use during night hours a dehumidifier, since we had rainy weather outside and the readings rose to 80%. Feeding wise, started using Cannaboost in foliar spray, at the beggining of the night cycle to avoid scortching. Today will start an old school CO2 generator, involving yeast and sugar, having received a best formula from a sciency friend of mine ! Day 59 update: decided to lower the watering solutions Ph to 6. Found a way to use less Ph Regulating Solution, since there is a margin in that too like any other chemical, by mixing my homemade fertilizer with the liquid hummus in the tank 24 hours prior and adding the rest few hours before use. Was doing this to increase the quality of the "soup" and noticed I have to use 30/40% less Ph down solution.

The start of this week was a 5 hour power outage for unannounced repairs. Great. Fortunatly I was spot on and reacted quicly and moved the plants outside. Partially cloudy, chilly wind but when the sun shined...it shined. Seeing them out in the open was heart melting. They really belong under the naked skies... Basically just tweeked a little here and there : raised the lights 10 cm for variation, changed twice a day the fan direction and speed, also every 3rd/4th day I rotate the pots (say clockwise) for a relative even exposure, brought the night temperature to 20°C. The first CO2 burner run out in about 5 days, so made 3 more and now you can deffinetly feel that particular smell of fresh CO2 in the air. Feeding wise, made some biochar witch I intend to powder and top the substrate. Would like to mention that I feed accordingly to the biodynamic moon calendar. For example, there are 2/3 days a month where fertilizing is counterproductive, and 1/max.2 where if you prepare in advance, it really makes a difference. It goes the same for watering : there are zodiac signs when is best not to water and avoid the installation of parasites and viral attacks, and days when you can go as much as the plant/substrate can take. It is just as much science in it as in everything else and the plant responds in consequence. And again for pruning/defoliation/transplant. But the outstanding thing I learned is about seeds : there are particular days to germinate plant seeds in accordance to the end game - plants for flowers or fruit or leaf, in order to achieve maximum potential. And my germination rate has gone through the roof! P.S. Today I felt for first time a hint of that sweet smell I keep reading about 😄. 3rd day Update : Defoliated as much as possible all plants according to the moon calendar. So I crancked up the water and feeding soution volume : prewashed with 50 l rain water and followed by 50 l light feeding solution. Will water 2-3 times a week/2 waterings per day with the same amount of feeding solution for the next 2 solid weeks. Increase of the night temperature from 18 to 22 proved a smart move, flowers have visibly paced up! Also added trace amounts of a yeast&sugar formula, on roots and foliar spray. No negative side effects so far, since yeast feeds on pottasium but I have plenty in the Basic Bloom Feed solution. Concerning the CO2 burner, I was wrong. Is still going strong and the emission stabilized. The new double in size one is just picking up. Somehow my humidity level came down to 55, is not the best but outside is cold (10°C and wet) so fully satisfied. The dehumidifier works round the clock. Last weekly Update : my phone broke down so I have no other pics for the end of the week. Stopped the daily foliar shower because the flowers are fatting up and the mold risks are proportional. Finnaly the humidity came down to 50%. Night temperature stabilized at 20°C .

This week is starting crazy, the weather outside pushed the max temperature indoors yesterday at 29,2°C , whilst managing to keep the humidity at 45%. Watered counsciously. I´ve already made changes in ventilation to keep that as much under control as possible, my targed being 27°C tops. I know this strains enjoys cooler temps like 21°C, but I´m doing my best. Raised the lamps 5 more centimeters and will another 5 before the end of this week. The desired effect is the rising of leaves. Resin production has increased, some of the fan leaves are showing signs. Two slightly different phenoes, the darker one flowering a few days earlier and incresed resin amounts. The lighter coloured leaves pheno is a little strechier or opened to say. One dark coloured in particular has an amaizing terpene profile, already. Moutwatering really. Would have made a top cloner! Today I noticed I´m in that stage where plants have stopped growing in height so will introduce a little more Phosphorous and CannaBoost. Some of the worms have begun to exit the substrate, I reposition them outdoors in my LittleGreenhouse. For safety, as my substrate is still at Ph 8 , lowered the feeding solution from 6 to 5,5 . Also thinking about reusing the runoff. Will do my research and see how it goes. Update day 4: today I´ve stopped the main ventilator at "day break" and let the temperature rise for a few hours to further dehydrate the plants as have not watered for 60 hours and counting. Followed by a "wash" with 15L each pot (1L water per 1L soil) fresh water then 15L feeding soution that has been brewing for 72 hours. It´s been aerated thoroughly and it smells incredibly good.

This week started with last nights yeast & sugar formula which was given at 26°C. I regularly feed at daybreak ( cycle starts at 6am ) but my gut feeling urged a "right before dark" watering. The plants really seem to enjoy it, use this once every 2 weeks. My runoff Ph is at a staggering 9,2 ! I figured it will rise a little due to last treatment of yeast but wow, sounds a lot in comparison! It seems to be rising though at steady pace and the plants show me they are thriving. Eventually convinced myself and gently pressed a few buds between my fingers. Pffff. Hard. No stress. Feeding wise, run out of pretty much everything and spot on. This will be the last fertilizing week for 2 of them , as they definitely are the 8 weeker pheno and for the remaining week of the other 4 will rely on my humble brews. I´m going for a Ph of 6 this week then 6,5 for the final period. No further physical stress will be applied, especially no defoliation. Will start lowering the lights at the end of the week , roughly 2 cm per day. Now...the smell. Not too strong in the sense of "weedy" but overwhelming now and that sweet tang is increasing with each plain watering that I do (every third watering). Each of the 6 plants has a distinctive note (if one has the nose for it) , from fruit candy bar to cotton candy and one reminded me of some Greek homemade candied grapes ! Resin production has reached the fan leaves and I think I won´t further remove the last of the sucker buds as intended and use them all together for bubble hash. The trichomes on these ones are just outrageous in size. #update Day 81 : I realized that my last statement concerning the ''not'' plucking of sucker buds would go against my initial thought of lollipopping 2 weeks before finish and synchronized with the last solid fertilization. So I did.

After the quite extensive budding I've done, the Ladies show no sign of stress, on the contrary. Already 48 hours later the buds look bigger and denser, with a strong odour exuding. Some of the trichomes have turned dark ripe orange, very pleasant to the eye. Eventually 2 of them cached up and now there are 4 plants that will finish in 8 weeks, the first 2 possibly a few days earlier. The latter look like classic Afghanis. Very beautiful small round shaped hard rock buds. And the last 2 are the largest ones by far and a solid week behind, (shown in photo) with large top buds still showing signs of growing. I actually very much enjoy these variations in a strain, as long as there is a solid base in it. And Barney's never failed me. Now... when I plucked the sucker buds the other day, I have found ONE tiny male flower, opened . Just The One. For me is like the best present. I can only hope will find some viable seeds that I can further play around with. Who knows where the intricate genetic web can take us! Finally got to the point where I used 180 litres of water and 180 of feeding solution in a week. The dehumidifier takes out 10 litres per 24 hours, witch is very satisfying. P.S. Almost forgot, this week I've changed the schedule to 13 hours, with the one to follow at 14 and for the remaining two plants the last few days or week a full 15 hours long night. Update : I´ve dried the buds using the brown bag for 3 days and decarboxilated at 120°C for an hour, checked constantly until beautiful golden crisp. Then sampled old fashion combustion way 0,25 g.......taste wise there was none but none expected. I only felt a slight nutrient or chlorophil or both tingle in the back of my throat after the fourth toke. Considering the conditions...top shelve.After the first couple of minutes, a smooth indica body melt begins immediatly. My back loosens and I get a lovely healthy smile on my face. Barney´s and their afgani genetics strikes again! Three quarters of an hour later, the sativa side showes off and brings me back online, only far more relaxed. Second run of another quarter brings my muscles to a melting point and peace of mind. So all I can do is wish You All a good night ... #Day 88 update : as I was browsing throu the questions area, realized I made a classic rookie mistake - I was watching the calendary since the light flip instead of counting the weeks from the point of actual visible flowers. So I found out my calculation is off by 8 days. Started immediatly a fertilizer solution with what I had left from Canna and completed with my own and fertilized this morning. Checking the runoff ph, it was at 7. This must be a direct consequence relative to the large amount of water and solution used in the last 8/9 days at a steady 6,5 ph. So after 4 solid washes , the runoff came down from 9+ to 7, witch counts as a personal achievement ;-) ! #Day 89 update : so far into this grow, I must take a pause and make the admittance that LED lighting is so much better than HPS ( I have about 1000 days under this kind of lights) all things considered. From the quality of light itself to work temperature to the dimming and daisy chain option on my Mars, plus the plants really look great under them. Less power consumption with more output and therefore enviromental conscious. I must say I´m impressed twice over. More than a decade ago it was not as great. Now I find myself surfing the internet for more and more intel and found some crazy lights out there! So I got rid of the HPS light bulb Today.

Taking out the Hps light bulb was a wise decision. Day temperature lowered to a steady 20,5°C whilst night temp is 21,5. Must be due to the fact that the pantry has solid brick walls that act as a heat buffer. This strain really enjoys this cooler environment. Today, first day of the 7th flowering stage, is flush day. Prepared in stock 400 litres of rain water that I will serve without any Ph regulation. Pure water. The ladies have also been prepared with a 72 hour dry spell, yet none of them are showing any sign of real dehydration, especially being in coco coir. My guess is the earthworms have clustered around the main pivoting root and formed a mucus to protect themselves and in consequence the plant. So I started the heater for a few hours just to crank things up a little. Bought a new phone the other day with excellent camera lenses (3 of them) and rediscovered the thrill of taking pictures. And yesterday, as I was zooming around, found a yellowed leave on the side of a flower. Pulled gently and came right off. Nice, bud rot ! Removed the infected top and treated the wound with hydrogen peroxide 3% undiluted. Changed the angle of the fan, set on maximum and thus begun a heavier airflow. Will monitor carefully. The thing is, I checked yesterday´s pictures, there was no sign what so ever. So all it needed was 12 hours! The cut stem shows clear signs of the infection as it moved through it. The one stem next to it, that is situated lower on the branch, looks fine for the moment, although it has a curled fan leave that I must keep an Eye on. The plant on discussion was the one in the far right corner and the air just didn´t get that far, as discovered. Monkey fan added to the list. And also considering the implication of the used yeast to the problem. Which is why, after the flush, will give a solution enriched to the limit with hydrogen peroxide, to clean out as much contaminants as possible. #48 hours after the bud rot incident, the one stem next to it remains intact. The curled leaf apparently its just a curled leaf, most possible a physical stress from the air flow. Nice. Lighting wise I´m down at 10 hours per day. It always panned out for me and my way of handling these Plants of Power, so if it works don´t fix it. Improve, innovate, play around but stick to the ground You covered. And every now and then be wild and do something unexpected! Update : eventually went out and bought another 35 cm diameter oscillating fan. Now they are working on two separate height levels, on low speed and the air flow is magnificent. Not too much, just right there. Should have done it ages ago instead of working the only one at full capacity the whole time. The infected flower shows no further signs and the buds have changed beautifully their colour now under direct exposure (see photo). I´ve sampled again some of the sucker buds that have been curing nicely since the decarb. Breaking apart a tiny flower, a really sweet smell came out. Can´t believe my nostrils, I thought the entire game was lost during the 100°C bake. Inside the grow, the smell is rather overwhelming with dank sweetness. It´s like passing through a candy store, one of the old fashioned ones that sold Turkish honey treats , or rather a cotton candy cart :-))). And there is no residue taste that I can feel. Means I did I great job fertilizing. Modesty aside 😚. Day 98 update : found another two rotted leaves just in time. I removed the flower just in case and the stem showed no sign of infection itself. I really did my best but i´ts been raining for two days, humidity outside is 92% and 18°C. Indoor it stayed below 48% but at the cost of running a heater and that means mold spores had everything they needed - heat and moisture. So I defoliated all plants as much as I could and will monitor again intently. If symptoms continue to appear I will just harvest them. They are heavy with flowers, the density is outrageous, potent, tasty so there is no reason for me to risk any further. All this aside, I had as much fresh rain water as needed. Flushed again using 420 liters. Get it? ;-) Day 100 : two days ago I was very very close to taking the decision of harvesting the ladies. Yesterday I brainstormed and moved things around and eventually found 2 flaws : mistake number one- forgot to do the cleanup and filter change of the dehumidifier, it was working at half capacity I estimated. Mistake number two - forgot to adjust the night air intake, as I have one for daytime when air is less humid and one for nights or rainy days. So Today I have a steady 45% humidity and two oscillating fans and proper air intake and oh my am I happy! I could swear the flowers have engorged in less then 24 hours! Anyway from this point forward I may water the plants once maybe twice with as much as 1 and a half liters , just to keep them online, so we should be safe from further rotting issues. My Thank You´s, to than One !

Day 101. Has a really nice ring to it. I'm all out of comments at the moment, must be the narcotic effect of blissful endorphins circulating my nervous system after avoiding a potential mould disaster. Plus the cloud sealing outside calls for a little silent meditation on....nothingness. P.S. Brought the light schedule to 9 hours daylight / 15 darkness. Day 103 update : although the night humidity is down to a surprising 36% , have found yet another moldy sugar leaf on the initial plant with issues. So after much consideration I removed the top flowers for drying. Watered and fertilized with Organic Booster Solution and Molasses. Day 104 update : I can swear for the past three days the flowers have increased in size, smell and density. So I made a brew of my special Fruit Molasses that I have saved up for this moment (if ever had arrived) and fertilized all the plants. Upon mixing, it exuded a lovely raspberry cider smell. Lowered further the lights, we are now at 52 cm, no sign of light burn. Also I must bring out a little secret that for the past 4 weeks I have been simulating sunrise and sunset, half an hour each . All this after I found out that Lumatek and another I can´t remember the name have a controller device that can do that !! Wow, what an upgrade that would be ! Day 105 : taking the decision not to give up and mend this thing was the best decision ever. The flowers have reached a whole new level that I have never personally as a gardener experienced. A amber-ish tone noticed a couple of days ago has turned into a full patina. I gaze at them in aw and silence... Last night the humidity dropped to a staggering 32% and the overall temp 26°C !! As it was really cold outside last night, I turned the house heating system on and there I have it. The feeling that I got entering the room was that of a mid august night, with a sweet candied smell dominating the space. Day 106 : Today I have taken three of the ladies out in the Sun, the first sunny day in quite some time....so they will sit in the great outdoors and I will gather them at dusk. I'm speechless as I gaze at this marvel. The flowers are encrusted in a thick layer of resin witch gives them the snowiest appearance I have witnessed growing , except maybe for Pineapple Chunk, also a Barney's Special. Day 107 : First real sunny day in weeks! Took the opportunity and the ladies are now in the sun , bathing. The resin is glistening, slight color change after 6 hours. Tomorrow morning, after a night out, will be the moment of gathering. Day 108 : it rained all through the night. A new purple-ish shade was feasting my sight and as I shook the plants, a pungent weedy smell filled the clear morning air. Exhilarating, it filled me up from head to toes. I have long, long awaited for this moment... Thank You.

If I had a wish....I wish I vegetated these plants 3 more weeks. It would have been a real game changer. Either way, the flower mass versus plant size is bedazzling. One of the best strains so far. Would definitely grow again, anytime. Not a three cup winner for nothing lol ! Concerning Grow Diaries....what can I say other than Thank You for this opportunity. Thank You. It seems like a distant dream coming to life. We owe this to all our fore bearers and the path is widening. And a big chunk is of Your doing. Excited to be here, hope I can help and Happy Growing !!!