Dark Star Diary

13 Jun 2021 Continuing to flush my DarkStar Kush probably for another week at least. If I were following my original plan, I would be cutting her down today and starting the harvest. However, the runoff is still colored (not as much as it was, but still), and the TDS runoff was higher today than yesterday by almost 200 ppm. I’ve added new pics for this new week to show how she’s changing colors later in her life. She’s begging to be harvested, but I want to smoke her and not her nutrients! I’ve already waited this long, what’s another week or so. 🤷‍♂️ Oh well. I gave her a gallon of water chilled to 49.2 degrees F, and gave her 20 drops of pH DOWN which adjusted the pH from its initial 8.2 to a final pH of 6.7. The TDS going in was 76 ppm. Runoff pH was 6.3, and TDS runoff was 1740 ppm (up from 1462 ppm yesterday). Tent temperature was 82 degrees F, and humidity was 42%. 14 Jun 2021 Continuing with the flush today. Feeding a gallon of 45.5 degree F water with nothing more than 22 drops (gtts) of pH DOWN to make it just right. Initial pH was 8.4, and adjusted down to 6.4. The TDS going in was 85 ppm. Runoff pH was also 6.4, and TDS runoff was 1377 ppm. Working in the right direction at least. TDS runoff yesterday was 1740 ppm, so a reduction of 363 ppm today, but still a ways to go. Tent temperature was 82 degrees F and humidity was 47%. She’s looking more and more ready for harvest each day! Uploaded some pics of her colorful foliage today along with some new trichome pics. They’re almost all cloudy/milky with some amber interspersed here and there. Come on flush!! Do your job! 😜 16 Jun 2021 Went out of town on a day trip yesterday, so no watering was done, but I’m back today to continue the flush. The tent temperature was 81 degrees F, and humidity was 43%. Thought I’d start off backwards today in my note from the norm. I gave a gallon of cold water (51 degrees F) with 20 drops of pH DOWN to adjust the initial pH of 8.2 to 6.5. The TDS going in was 83 ppm. Runoff pH was also 6.5, which to me is promising, and the TDS runoff was 814 ppm. That’s a decrease of 563 ppm since the last watering/flush on the 14th. Hopefully in just a couple of days I’ll be able to start the harvest because she is READY!! I took more trichome pics today which were marvelous! They are perfect (to my untrained and inexperienced eye)! Hopefully I’m just days away!! 17 Jun 2021 Continuing the flush another day. The TDS runoff is still decreasing a little bit every day. Today I’ll be uploading a video instead of a bunch of pics. I already have a lot for this week, so I figured I’d do something different. I’m still giving chilled, and properly pH’ed fresh water. Nothing else. So, today I gave a gallon of H2O chilled to 51F. The initial pH was 8.4, so I added 22 drops (1ml) of pH DOWN to adjust it to 6.4. The TDS going in was 85 ppm. Runoff pH was 6.5, and TDS was 758 ppm. There is a 56 ppm decrease from yesterday, and I was hoping for much more, but it is what it is. I’ll keep going till it is better till harvest. Looking at the plant, it’s losing several leaves that are just drying up and falling off. Not a lot, but about as much as should be expected at this stage. The plant, trichomes, and buds are ready for harvest, but I want to make sure that I get all the nutrients out before I do it. Thankfully, I’m a patient person! 19 Jun 2021 I’ve been doing the flush for 2 weeks now, and the TDS runoff is still measuring 647 ppm. Honestly, I don’t know what the level should be for the harvest, but I’m getting to the point where I just want to go ahead and do it. Her buds are looking awesome, and many of the sugar leaves have turned dark purple, but she’s losing a lot of her bigger leaves. None of the ones around any buds, so I’m not concerned with it that much. However, I don’t want the trichomes to get more amber. The vast majority are milky, which is what I’m looking for with only a smattering of amber here and there. She’s just right!! Anyway, I gave a gallon of water at 48.7F with an initial pH of 8.3. I added 21 drops (1ml) of pH DOWN to adjust it to 6.7. The TDS going in was 71 ppm. Runoff pH was also 6.7 (it has consistently been the same or just a decimal point off from that going in for the last week or so). The runoff TDS was 647 ppm as noted above. Tent temperature was 84F, and humidity was 48%.