Zkittlez Soil VS Hydro

5/9 P1 and P2 are ready for Vegitative, will allow them to ride an extra week in Seedling mode while we bring the 2 Hydro seedlings up to speed. Full Vegitative shift for all 4 plants will be 5/15-16. Soil plants did not shock out, slightly over water on P1, but both have recovered and growing daily. Hydro plant never broke tap root on rockwool, so I started 2 more seedlings which took off like rockets; will nurse them and hopefully move to buckets on 5/16. 5/11 P1 and P2 are settling in to their soil, P1 seems a little locked at the moment and P2 is thriving. Going to try and dry P1 out for a few days, nothing really different was done between P1 & 2. Moved the H3 and H3 to their proper DWC buckets, both had tap root showing on Day 5 post germination. H1 continues to live, but still has not broken tap root through the Rockwool, how is that even possible after 24 days.

Well I got 2 struggling seedings in the same grow bag, while P2 is thriving in another grow bag of same contents. They are the same strain, zSkittlez but 2 different batches. The test run I did was the same as P1 which doesnt seem to be as tolerant to the heat. Heat is the big thing i am watching as the temperature continues to rise; tent reaching 90F and water temp was 82. Hydro plants are actually as expected, these guys moved right along just like the tester did. I am trying to shave a week or so off the seedling time and these guys should be all caught up in 2 weeks. Then we can start looking at Flowering.

All system go, had to make some mods to bring water and tent temperature down. The hydro water after 2 weeks had a slight odor, the roots on both plants were clean. Today. I performed a complete water change on both buckets. Added hydro guard and refreshed nutrients, got temp to 3 degrees difference and made the change. 8 hour post change and no visible signs of shock, will monitor through the night. The hydro plants are doing wonderfully at 16 days, have many straws each and are settling into Vegetative mode just fine. The Soil plant is doing awesome, it is more mature at 36 days and the water straggler is catching up fine. Will top S1 as the layer clears the leaves and prepare for flowering,...est 6/4 Happy Family.......Soil = Day 40......Hydro = Day 21 Topped S1, she is thriving nicely in Veg mode, beautiful lush green growth and now branches are starting to spread. The S2/H1 candidates are catching on and it looks like we will keep H1(renamed to S3); S3 is same strain but different lot of seeds and does look distinctly different then the 3 other plants. It matches the lot used in the test run, so it should be viable. Hydro plants are thriving... made some changes to support. Leveled both buckets water level to 2 inches below the basket AND raised the light up to around 30" to stimulate some upward growth. While H2 is doing okay, H3 is looking like a head of lettuce and I need it to raise up a bit. This routine brought upward plant growth in 4-days.

Day 43 - For Soil and Day 23 for Hydro: Looking great all the way around, plants seem to be thriving and should be ready to flower on 6/4. The soil plant looks nitrogen rich, just need to watch for stalling because that is rich soil. Not making any adjustments and watering twice a week at this point. Hydro plants are quickly catching up in size and will be sent to Flower 30 days after germination, pretty solid. Love this strain, seems to produce solid and hearty plants. Day 47 - For Soil and Day 27 for Hydro Full speed ahead, the hydro plants are starting to stretch now with H2 now larger then S1,,, 20 days apart in germination, shows the power of hydro!

Day 1 on the shift to Flowering mode, plants are thriving, really have had no problems with them. The hydro plants are starting to drink more water which drive the levels and ph down for me. Water is staying pretty cool, on average maybe 71 and root balls on both Hydro plants are growing and solid white (thank you hydro guard). The Hydro plants are young, at 29 days so i expect it may take them a week longer before showing gender, expect to see some puffballs on there by 6/26. H1 was topped. The Soil plants are 49 days and i expect we will see gender on these 2 by 6/16... both of these gals are thriving as well. Can definitely tell the nitrogen rich soil with the darker leaves but Ive seen no sign of lockout. Watering every 3rd day and just tap water at this point, will start feeding it later this month, when i take a TDM on the soil. Hydro = 33 days Soil = 53 days Day 5 for Flowering Averted a disaster on H1, went into a see saw situation balancing PH, which resulted in a full bucket change. During which, i submerged my PH wand which led to questionable results when balancing, So it appears she sat in 4.x PH for around an hour and then in 8.x PH for a 12 hour stint.... wow, she was droopy to the point I thought death was eminent. Fortunately, she seems to have recovered, but one side of the plant seems to be wilting so there is likely light root damage. All of the other subjects are doing fabulous.... S1 has some nice topped crowns emerging and H2 has crowns emerging. I see some pre-female indicators on the older soil plants, but im still thinking we will be another week or so before we see hairs and by months end nice puffballs forming at all of our prime locations. Learnings for the weekL Be careful balancing PH, dilute the dilution and add sparingly when going up or down. One heavy move one way or another could start a spiraling volley. Regardless of your experience, accidents happen, Have a spare PH wand at minimum and might as well grab the TDM wand. You simply cannot do Hydroponics effectively without measuring PH, lose this ability from your plants for a couple days and it could be game over,

Happy Family = Hydro at 36 days; Soil at 56 days; Day 8 of Flowering sub branches starting to emerge, i will likely defoliate some later in the week. No real concerns, size is fine, all plants seem healthy and are thriving. PH has not been flakey requiring just slight adjustments every other day, water looks and smells good and cool, roots are clean. So week 2 of flowering, we should see the sub branches popping further and calyx emerging. Every plant has pre-female indicators and S2 does have calyx on the main top now as expected (slightly older)

Happy Family = HydroPlants = 46 days SoilPlants = 66 days and Day 18 for Flowering both Remarkable difference with the Hydro Plant size vs Soil Plants overall; the Soil plants are obviously easing into Flowering much nicer, they are 20days older. But I would imagine that the size may limit the harvest, as compared to the Hydro siblings. So the big challenge of the week was leaving the plants on Auto Pilot for 5-days while I went out of town. For future references, the DWC buckets dropped 2 gallons each, the Soil plants each were wilted, but bounced back quickly with 1/2 gallon of water each. H1 Plant grew about 8 inches on the recent topped crowns and one seemed to burn into the light. If that was the only pushback, the autopilot test was considered a success. Talk about "The Monster" as this thing is moving towards 3 foot pretty fast. Thought about another topping to push it back while it is flowering, but for now i have moved it to a separate LED so as to keep the other 3 normal sized plants under the MarsHydro Lamp. Need to research some options on this as that plant will be 6 foot by harvest if I let it ride.

Happy Family Hydro = 50 days Soil = 70 days Day 22 for Flowering Soil plants well into flowering with many points emerging, building and now filling in. Watering every other day at this point, just supplemented with 2.5ml/gal CalMag other then that straight water. Will introduce some TigerBloom this week at 5ml/gal. Hydro plants are both exploding with "Mother" looking beautiful with many flowers emerging, foilage and size appear to be in the sweet zone. "Monster" on the other hand is ridiculous coming in around 3 foot tall now... too late to top, got the 100w LED above her but will need to modify raising because of her height. Bud production is numerous on Monster, but smaller in size. Debating sacrificing Monster to open up grow area of Mother and the 2 soil plants as yield becomes negotiable. Day 72/42 - 24F We have visible frosting of trichomes now on Gecko and S1 "Churchill". Prompted a closer look at Momma and trichomes have started on her but not as pronounced. Toping off the DWC tanks w/ 1/2 Gal of water each daily now and watering the Soil plants every other day as needed. keeping the soil mostly dry but moist 2 inches deep.

Happy Family Hydro = 57 days Soil = 77 days Day 29 for Flowering Both soil plants appear to be finishing fine, they both have visible bud frosting and are filling out and bulking up. My guess would be harvest in 2 weeks for these guys and yield will likely be not much more then 3 oz dry on both plants. Both Hydro plants are approximaely 3 times as large and they are still early in flowering with likely a month left before finishing. Monster is out of control, the gameplan is to control it the best I can over the next 2 weeks and the soil plants finish and are removed. That will open up some tent space as we are pretty tight with 4 plants on this run. Still watering the DWC buckets 1/2 gallon per day and the Soil plants 1/2 gallon every other day/ Full Speed ahead at 3-days later. flowers are getting bigger and filling out now daily. No amber showing up in trichomes of the soil plants, they will finish first as they are older. Will check again at the end of the week.

Happy Family Hydro = 64 days Soil = 84 days Day 36 for Flowering Still topping off the DWC with approximately 1/2 Gallon per day, will be reducing the feedings to every other day the next week. Monster has finally stabilized growth and flowers are exploding now. Momma is about 2/3 the height of Monster, but has a main Cola Flower twice as big as the topped towers Monster presents. Momma has many flower growths that have emerged and growing daily. Soil plants are finishing up, still exploding with sugar and flower size. TRICHOME CHECK .... still about 75% clear on the Soil plants, maybe a little more on the Hydro. Seems like we have another week to go with the Soil and maybe 2-3 for the Hydro plants. Update Hydro = 68 days Soil = 88 days Day 40 for Flowering Harvested Gecko tonight. Scope check shows all clear trichomes on both Gecko and Churchill (soil plants) but no Amber present. There are amber hairs but not the reason for harvest. We spotted evidence of forming Male Flowers in bottom limbs and during trimming we found possible evidence of an open Flower. We watch closely for this when they reach the ends of flowering cycle as the plant in desperation to reproduce will respond as such. Harvest looked like it will be around 1.5 oz dry on Gecko, no official weigh in until drying completed. Smell is very citrus like and has a touch of purpling on a few of the top sugar leaves. Updating Bud of the week and this one is from Churchill (soil) and is beautifully frosted, smells very strong and probably 1.5 week from finish.

Happy Family Hydro = 71 days,,, Soil = 91 days ,,,,, Day 43 for Flowering We harvested Gecko 3 days back, which leaves Churchill holding as the single soil plant finishing up, She is very think with sugar now, and trichomes are clear but no amber showing and no male flower signs... will leave it online a few more days. To close the soli grow out, been watering approx 1/4 gallon of water every other day. Now if you are not convinced that Soil is not match for Hydro, we look at those plants. Monster stands nearly 4 foot tall now with 5 colas close to 10in and 3in diameter, with many other colas about half the size. This plant is looking around 3 oz dried easy right now. Momma was the untopped plant and has a main cola that rivals 12 inches and 5in diameter with many peripherals and all still growing. The main cola is going to be an ounce dried itself and this is and easy 3 oz dried. Sp the plants are doing great, topping DWC every day but PH stays a constantly between 5.7-5.9.... roots are solid white (thank you Hydro guard). no signs of algae and water is always cold to touch. HOWEVER, all of the trichomes i have viewed on all 3 plants over the last 2 days are clear.... very few cloudy, but nothing amber yet. Update from Day 96 of growth (76 on Hydro) and Day 48 of Flowering for the Family. Hydro daily consumption is slowly tapering, still doing 1/3 gallon (each) but backed off nutes to 3 feedings/week. Folliage has startened to lighten so I added some CalMag to tonights feeding. The plants are stable, trichomes are probably 60% cloudy and 40% clear, not seeing any ambering. Hairs are turning red now, probably about 50/50 at this point on top flowers. Calling 2 weeks on harvest for these guys...Aug 6 Soil is drinking 1/2 gallon of water every 3rd Day and last 2 feedings were clear water,... we are flushing now. This plant is older and have more trichome distribution with a 80% cloudly look, but no amber present. Churchill appears to be harvest ready at any time now. Keeping an eye on all 3 plants for any Male Flower actrivity.... we dont want none of that. Gecko update.... she's dried, pitiful yield of 15 grams dried going into Curing now. Soil plant #2 yields a measly 1/2 oz of dry bud. Yes this plant was taken early, but we did so because of the Male Flower presence. This plant started as a Hydro plant that would not thrive, transplanted to Soil and she struggled.... refused to die and yielded weak, kinda expected.

Happy Family Hydro = 78 days,,, Soil = 98 days ,,,,, Day 50 for Flowering There there were 2 . Churchill was harvested on day 97 and 49 flowering. Had some purpling, deep frosting and 80% of trichomes are milky. Did not weigh the wet yield... I never do, but my guess is right around 1 oz dry. On to the 2 Hydro beast that are still online,,,, on week 8 now of Flowering, this should be it. As i back off the nutes the foliage has lightened, and we now have some yellowing and corrosion spots showing on Momma. All the flowers are beautiful and seem to be spitting more trichomes as there still is a healthy mix of clear trichomes on these plants. Will try and ride them out for another week as the plan but I dont see them going much farther. Back to watering 1/2 gallon each the last couple days as the temp is up. Fed with tigerbloom and calmag tonight, likely their last meal. ******************* Harvest Report ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Plant 1 Soil - Churchill = Harvested 7/24 and drying Plant 2 Soil - Gecko = 15 grams dry; curing (I sampled after 10 days drying, hard but nice) Plant 3 Hydro - Momma = Flowering now Plant 4 Hydro - Monster = Flowering now

Happy Family Hydro = 85 days,,, Day 57 for Flowering...... and we are done. Took both Momma and Monster down, trimmed foliage and hung for dry. They were both bulging and not really growing the last few days. Mostly milky trichomes 75% with about 5% amber... flowers are extremely sticky. Churchill finished drying and was weight and jarred for curing. ******************* Harvest Report ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Plant 1 Soil - Churchill = 25 grams dry; curing Plant 2 Soil - Gecko = 15 grams dry; curing.... sampled after 8 days cure.... definitely zSkittlez, wonderful taste and buzz Plant 3 Hydro - Momma = Harvested 7/31 and now drying Plant 4 Hydro - Monster = Harvested 7/31 and now drying

Happy Family Hydro = 85 days,,, Day 57 for Flowering...... and we are done. Plant 1 Soil - Churchill = 25 grams dry; curing Plant 2 Soil - Gecko = 15 grams dry; curing. Plant 3 Hydro - Momma = 92g (3 oz 8 g) Plant 4 Hydro - Monster = 107g (3 oz 23 g) 239 grams dry total... 8.5 oz total In summary.... the Hydro plants both topped 3 oz dry..... the 2 soil plants combined for 1.5 oz...... spend some time and learn Hydroponics, well worth the small investment.