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Getting my grow started this week by germinating two strains:Grand Daddy Purple & Blueberry CBD.
Had my first seed pop through on the 2nd day of germination, should see the others in the next day or so.
Germinating in my tent. The girls will call that their home until I can put them outside near the end of May.
Lights are on an 18/6 cycle, trying to keep temps in the 70-85F range, humidity as high as I can keep it.
Three of the four plants germinated & popped up through the peat pellets within 72 hours. Tried to patiently wait on the remaining Blueberry CBD to show... it made its first appearance by the afternoon of Day 6. Hopefully it’ll be okay - just slow.
Do I need to remove the mesh around the peat pellets when I put them in soil? Will the roots pass through them? I was told today that I should cut it away. Thoughts?
By removing the outer mesh you risk damaging/stressing the roots of the seedling. As other have stated the roots will easily find their way through that mesh and that little root plug will become a nice anchor for your roof ball. Sometimes less is more! But everything is looking great so far, keep it up 👍
Girls spent most of the week in pellets. Roots were poking through the mesh by Day 13, so I transplanted them into 1-gal pots the next day.
Day 14 was beautiful, sunny, and 74F... took the opportunity to bring the girls outside and do some sunbathing.
Girls got some nutes this week to help stimulate growth.
Doing well in their intermediate pots.
Continuing to monitor temperature, humidity, and airflow.
The girls are continuing to grow nicely in their 1-gal pots.
Following the Fox Farm feeding schedule and added in Grow Big to the feeding.
Added molasses @ scant 1 TBS/gal for watering a between feedings.
Lights are set @ 24” and balancing between the other grow I have in the tent.
Another week of veg for the girls.
Added molasses during the regular waterings: approx. 1 TBS/gal.
Getting them outside in the sun on days when weather permits and counting down the days until I can transplant them into their final pots and keep them outside.
Noticing one of the CBD plans is more “bushy” than I’m accustomed to... almost like it was fimmed from the very beginning.
Topped three of the four girls this week
In addition to feeding nutes, continuing to add 1 TBS/gal molasses during watering.
Continuing to grow nicely... starting to get a bit cramped in the 1-gal pots.
Girls were getting crowded in their 1-gal containers, so I repotted them into 3-gals with 2/3 Ocean Forest and 1/3 Happy Frog.
Topped the main stems and watching fir new growth.
Feeding with Fox Farm nutes per the feeding schedule once per week & watering with 1 TBS/gal molasses in between.
Weather starting to warm up over the next few days, so I’ll get them outside to get some natural light while I can. They’ll move outdoors in a couple weeks.
Took advantage of some warm weather and moved the girls outside for some natural sun. Weather permitting, I think we’re outside for the duration.
Flushed the pots.
Planning to upsize the pots to 15-gals this coming week.
Week 8
The girls graduated to their final pots this week (15-gal).
Earlier this season, I whipped up several batches of organic soil using Ron Johnson’s recipe on The Cannabis Gardner website: How to make organic soil for Cannabis - The Cannabis Gardener. I did take a few liberties with his recipe and added some bat guano and a few other nutrients I had on hand. I used bagged compost, old soil, and earthworm castings along with peat and coco coir as my base materials and let it “cook” for about 60 days before use. While it worked out okay timing-wise, going forward I think I’ll mix up my soil in the fall after harvest and have it ready for the spring seedlings. I used about 10-gal of the organic soil, about 3.5 gal of Ocean Forest and the rest is Happy Frog... just in case the organic soil is hotter than I think it will be. We’ll see how it goes....
Continuing to use the Fox Farm nutrient schedule (basically holding on the vegetation plan until flowering begins). Watering with molasses (1 TBS/gal) between feedings.
Dosed the girls with need oil as a preventative... had aphids pretty bad last year - would rather not repeat that.
Comparing to last year, I started late last year and didn’t get my plants outside until late July. ( Cut me some slack... it was my very first grow.) plants this year are more than twice the size of my plants last year by the time I put them out... and I thought I had some big plants last year!
The girls will pretty much be outside from this point on, the pots are too big for my tent!
Bonus Info:
I name each of my plants. This years’ names are inspired from the Louisa May Alcott novel, “Little Women”. In order of germination:
Meg (Granddaddy Purple), current height: 19”
Jo (Granddaddy Purple), current height: 17”
Beth (Blueberry CBD), current height: 12”
Amy (Blueberry CBD), current height: 16”
Weather has been a bit crazy but the girls are doing well: over 5” growth over last week.
Trimming was effective, new growth coming through.
We got some rain so they only got one watering with molasses this week, otherwise the normal veg week feeding for Fox Farm.
Another week of growth. It’s been raining here quite a bit lately, so I’ve let Mother Nature do the watering.
Added plant stakes to help support the growing girls - they grew an average of 4” each. All of them are over 24” now except Beth - she’s the runt at 18”.
All of them look good & healthy. Topping has been effective and will probably ready for another round by next week.
Another week of vegetative growth this week... but slowed due to some cooler overnights.
Noticed a few leaves with evidence of some sort of pest, but not continuing so I think need is keeping it at bay. I plan to reapply neem oil tonight.
A little cooler weather this week and some rain so my feeding and molasses schedule has been off a little bit.
Previously topped areas are growing back nicely... probably top again in the next week.
Treated the girls with neem oil this week - starting to see some evidence that pests are chewing on a few leaves. Regular neem treatments are in order now.
Added support cages - we’ve had some strong winds here recently.
Continuing the Fox Farm nutes, but the watering schedule has been a little funky due to rain. I let Mother Nature do the watering if she wants.
FIM’d the girls and thinned out the lower leaves quite a bit.
Lots of hot weather here this week; probably heat stressed the girls a bit and had to increase watering between feedings.
Still adding 1 TBS molasses per gallon when watering.
Trimmed the girls up a bit and topped where appropriate. I seem to get better results with topping vs FIMing. Did some lite defoliation as well.
Still some signs of insect activity, but not seeing bugs n the plants. Another dose of neem coming up next week.
Grew about 4 inches.
Mother Nature has been doing most of the work this week. After the normal nutrient feeding, I haven’t had to water them at all due to rain. In fact, I tucked them under the eaves of the house to ensure they didn’t get too much and there was some concerns if hail.
Some light defoliation… mostly just damaged or shaded fan leaves.
Another round of neem oil to keep the critters away.
Grew an average of 3.5 inches this week. As we enter in to flowering (still probably a couple weeks out), these girls will likely get really tall, at least the two GDP girls will. The CBD plants are supposed to be more compact.
Another good week…. Girls are getting pretty big. If they stretch during flowering, these girls will be really tall!
Lots of rain this week and warmer weather so I didn’t have to do much watering. Continuing with FoxFarm nutes per schedule.
Watching for any signs of pests/insects. Neem oil this next week just to be safe.
The stems are getting really think - over an inch at the moment.
They all need another haircut, continues process right now!
Trimmed the girls up quite a bit this week for better airflow & light.
Saw some evidence of pests: chewed fan leaves, etc. Found a couple of little caterpillars - which I eliminated and then dosed the girls with some neem.
Mother Nature did most of the watering this week. I just did my regular feedings & watered them once.
GDP plants are averaging about 47.5” in height.
CBD plant are averaging about 38.5” in height.
Continuing to increase in size - each plant increased by a couple of inches this week. Beth & Amy are starting to catch up a bit with Meg & Jo.
Pruned out a few leaves, but that’s about it. We had lots of rain, but these girls were still thirsty for a drink on their regular schedule. Added a TBS of molasses per gal for each watering.
In addition to their regular nutrient feeding, I flushed the girls with regular water. Watered with 1 TBS molasses per gal of water.
Another dose of neem to keep pests away.
Just beginning to show signs of flowering: “hairs” starting to show at a lot of bud sites.
Meg & Jo are averaging about 51”; Beth & Amy are about 43”.
We are officially into flowering now; buds are beginning to form on all of the girls.
Thinned out the leaves a bit more & removing yellowing leaves is pretty much part of the daily routine.
Lots of hot weather & rain over the last week. Haven’t had to water the girls much - Mother Nature taking care of that. - except on the hottest days where the they were getting stressed a bit.
FoxFarm nutes per usual.
It looks like something called septoria to me 😔
I read in your diary these are outdoor plants and it's been wet and humid and those are ideal conditions sadly so go Google leaf septoria on cannabis and it will tell you the steps to try to treat it if you have more than one plant be very careful as the spots have spoors and you don't want it spread around
They suggest several things including removing every affected leaf and depending on how early you have caught it right upto spraying with neem oil but get on Google have a read there is alot of growers affected by this atm probably because of the weather pattern.
I hope you are able to treat your plants and nurse them back to health 🙏
Week 2 of Flowering
Lots of heat, humidity, and rain this week. Other than the regular nutrient feeding, I’ve only needed to water the girls once.
Noticed a lot of yellowing leaves - initially thought it was just an energy shift due to flowering. But then noticed a lot of the leaves had brown spots as well. GD community indicated this was likely septoria… so I spent a couple hours today defoliating all four of the girls - removed as many of the spotted/yellowing leaves as I dated and thinned out the plants for better airflow.
Will be neeming the girls this evening and checking for spotted leaves daily for awhile. Damn humidity!
Been quite a struggle with septoria this week. High humidity & heat statewide have caused major issues with outdoors grows and I’m no exception.
Been defoliating twice a week to remove sick/yellow leaves and dosing with neem oil weekly. Don’t want to defoliate too much, but may lose the entire crop to septoria if I don’t.
These girls had a rough week, but I think we’ve made it through pretty well. We’ve been battling the septoria and I think we’re starting to turn the corner.
Been removing yellowing/sick/spotted leaves on a daily basis and spraying with neem weekly. Not seeing near as many sick leaves now.
Thoroughly flushed the girls at the beginning of the week. Feeding weekly, water & molasses between feedings.
Still struggling through the septoria. I’ve removed sooo many leaves: yellow, withered, spotted, etc. I’m concerned that I’ve had to remove so many that I’ll lose the plants, but they seem to be hanging in there.
Trichomes are forming at most of the bud sites, so that gives me hope. Still kinda touch & go.
Still struggling with septoria. I’m removing dead/dying/sick leaves several times a week. There are days when I think the worst is behind us, then the next day I feel like we’re still in the downward spiral. I know that I need to remove the dead leaves, but the more I defoliate, the more concerned I get that I will stunt the growth/ruin the grow.
Buds have formed; most are still pretty small. Harvest is at least 2-3 weeks out.
Still struggling through the septoria. Seriously defoliated a couple of the girls and am worried that I’ve taken off too many leaves.
Trying to hold off on harvesting for at least another week or so, so I’ve begun a final flush.
Buds look pretty decent, nothing big or special - but plenty of them.
So… I decided to harvest a couple of weeks early over concerns about weather, bud rot, & septoria wide-spread throughout our area. Buds were plentiful, but small overall.
Weather conditions this year were not real favorable for a great harvest. I may do okay as far as yield, but the buds aren’t very high quality and I’m curious about how potency will be affected.
Feel like I did okay as far as yield, but at the expense of quality. Not sure how the earlier than expected harvest will affect quality. Some buds looked great… others, not so much. Frustrating grow overall.
SurlyMahn
