Blue Ox

7 Jul 2021 I’ve run into a little problem. It’s not really a problem, but more of a decision I need to make. The funny thing is, even as I write this, I haven’t completely made up my mind. I ordered some new nutrient supplements, and as I was doing the research on how to best use my new nutrients, I came across some information that made me stop and say, “Huh?” Note the question mark at the end? I found a new feed chart on General Hydroponics website that is SPECIFICALLY made for the exact nutrients I’m using. Every last one of them. The thing is, is that it is ONLY for the nutrients I am, and have been using since I started growing. It’s not a long time, seeing how I’ve only harvested one plant so far, but still… I’ve been using them for months! The specific feed chart is their 6-part feeding chart, which happens to be for the 6 that I use. The feed chart I have been using has a whole bunch of nutrients that I don’t use as well as the ones I do. Also, the strengths on the one I have been using is way stronger than what this new (and more precise) feed chart recommends. Even the “Aggressive Feed” uses less than I have been to this point. Maybe that’s why the runoff is always so much higher. 🤔 Decision is made! I’m going to start using the new chart that is specifically made for my nutrients. This is going to be the first time I’ve ever shared an entry with another diary. I have been feeding my 2 current plants the same solution mix (separate gallons), so to address the change, this note is going to be copied and pasted to both notes today. However, I will also include individual notes for each plant. I went out of town for 4 days, so my Blue Ox is dry, dry, dry! I swear I’ll be lucky if either of my plants produce much with the neglect they’ve been given, but it does say something for the resiliency of marijuana plants! I took a look at her this morning after I woke up and she and her tent mate are both still alive!! I’m going to try and adjust her height some by straightening her up. She has developed a little backward lean, so I enlisted the help of my daughter (she’s 22, not a child) to help me fix some issues. She (Blue Ox) needs more support for her colas than she’s getting right now, so my daughter helped me tie up some branches and make the plant seem tighter and providing more support. Today I’m going to give her her new nutrient levels, and add the Liquid KoolBloom to the mix as well. She’s getting 1 gallon of chilled water (49.2F) with CALiMAGic 5ml, FloraMicro 4.7ml, FloraBloom 8.5ml, Floralicious Plus 2ml, and Liquid KoolBloom 2ml. The initial pH was 6.8, so I left it alone. The TDS going in was 745 ppm. Runoff pH was 6.3, and TDS runoff was 2197 ppm. The temperature in the tent was high at 86F due to this wonderful heat wave we’ve been having. Humidity however is still low at 38%. My daughter noted a lot of drying leaves on the fan side as I did in a previous note. I really don’t know what to do to fix this because it needs air circulation 🤷‍♂️. The buds look fine, but I still worry. I also pruned off some smaller branches near the bottom that really aren’t doing anything except taking up nutrients and space. I believe that’s it for today. Hopefully all that we did today pays off. 7/10/2021 I learned a good lesson today! I learned that you should truly respect what a seed company tells you about THEIR own strains. I’ve only ever grown one other plant before starting Blue Ox here, and her tent mate, Blueberry Muffin, so my experience with different strains doesn’t exist. Well, it does now actually since I’ve been growing these two. Anyway, my point is that according to the seed company Ox’s tent mate was supposed to be ready for harvest yesterday, 7/9/2021, but by looking at it, it was so different from my DarkStar that I just thought it wasn’t developing as it should due to my neglect. However, I decided to look at her trichomes with my microscope and BAM! She IS ready for harvest!! So now I find myself in a jam because I was thinking I had another month maybe, but I need to flush, flush, flush to get ready to harvest her before it gets too late and she starts to lose potency. I know it seems strange for me to be writing so much here about another plant, but I assure you there is a reason. According to Rare Dankness Seeds, my Blue Ox should be ready for harvest on or about August 16th-25th. It’s too late to start today since I already fed both plants, but I plan to adjust my schedule up for the next time and move her along to the ripening phase of nutrients. I’m going to do it so that I may be better prepared with Blue Ox when it’s time to start her flush, so she has an easier time than her tent mate is going to have. At this point both plants look good. Blue Ox has begun to adjust to her new positions that my daughter helped with a few days ago. Today I was still feeding the Aggressive Feed stage of the Flora Trio’s 6 part feeding plan. She received one gallon of water chilled to 60.7F, with CALiMAGic 5ml, FloraMicro 4.7ml, FloraBloom 8.5ml, Floralicious Plus 2ml, and Liquid KoolBloom 2ml. The initial pH was 6.8 and wasn’t adjusted. TDS going in was 814 ppm. Runoff pH was 6.1, and TDS runoff was 2891 ppm. The temperature in the tent was 84F, and humidity was 45%. 12 Jul 2021 Today I switched Blue Ox here to the ripening stage of the feed cycle. Completely skipping the late bloom stage all together. I also came upon a problem with feed charts. In the new 6 part Flora Trio chart I started using, it’s ripening stage doesn’t include any of the other nutrients I’ve started using (Floralicious Plus and Liquid KoolBloom), however the first chart I had been using for months does. So, I’ve decided to use both in a way. I don’t want to increase the nutrients to the levels of the previous chart, so I’m keeping the trio from the 6 part chart, and adding the Floralicious Plus and substituting the Liquid KoolBloom with the Dry KoolBloom according to the previous feed chart. I’m hoping to give this for a couple weeks, then will start the flush with time to be ready for when Rare Dankness says it should be (according to their documented “expected” flowering time). Today I fed her a gallon of water chilled to 65.1F, with CALiMAGic 5ml, FloraMicro 2.8ml, FloraBloom 4.5ml, Floralicious Plus 1ml, and Dry KoolBloom .5 tsp. The initial pH was 5.7, so I added pH UP 4ml to increase it to 6.4. The TDS going in was 943 ppm. The runoff pH was 5.4 (too low), and TDS runoff was 2944 ppm. The tent was very warm at 88F, and humidity was 53%. She is still looking good, and her buds have begun to start fattening up. I’m hoping for a good harvest in about a month or so from now.