Budders Grow: Bruce Banner Fast Photo

On day 13, 04/29/2021 I added three Genesis Max Cool 6 inch fans, one bringing air from bottom vent, blowing on plants. The other two were attached to the LED lights, blowing to cool top of the lights. The two T5 lights were removed and turned on both CoolBloom 1500 LED lights and lowered to 24 inches above top of plants. These LED lights are dimmable, so they were dimmed to 50%. Tent holding at 82% F and 50% humidity.

On 04/30/2021, day 14, I transplanted 7 of the plants into 2 gallon fabric pots, but I ran out of soil before I could transplant the last 4 seedlings, so I ordered more Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil. On 05/01/2021 I added 2 Red and Blue LED clip lights to add supplemental lighting. Turned on only the blue lights to help keep the nodes close and set them about 4-5 inches above plants. I am currently watering with a gallon of water between all plants every other day.

On 05/07/2021, Day 21 I received new bag of Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil and a bottle of General Hydroponics Diamond Nectar. I transferred the remaining plants into larger containers also. On 05/08/2021 I trimmed lower fan leaves and branches and FIMed all plants. On 05/11/2021, day 25 I turned up the LED lights to raise the temperature from 77 degrees F to 82 degrees F, with humidity ~70%.

I FIMed all plants a second time on 05/14/2021, day 28 and removed about 20 large fan leaves. On 05/20/2021 I took clones from the largest two plants and made a box for the clones, using CloneX gel, and watered with only distilled water. I also flipped all plants to a 12-12 light schedule.

Since temperature and humidity has been high, I ordered a Waykar 4,500 sq ft dehumidifier and a LUKO 9,000 BTU A/C on 05/21/2021. Received new dehumidifier and AC on 05/25/2021.

Trimmed plants again and added two more layers of SCROG netting, and am now able to keep temperature between 68-84 degrees, and humidity between 50-70%. I also added one T5 florescent light underneath plants for some supplemental under lighting.

I am currently feeding plants every other morning at the beginning of the light cycle, keeping temp at 77 degrees, and humididy at 57%, with a VPD (Vapor Pressure Deficit) at 1.53. I also sprayed some Regalia Biofungicide from Marrone Bio Innovations to prevent Powdery Mildew and Bud Rot. This foliar spray will be used once a week. I use the VPD charts and calculator on www.pulsegrow.com website. Below are links to learn more about VPD (Vapor Pressure Deficit), along with links to their charts and VPD calculator: https://pulsegrow.com/blogs/learn/vpd-charts-in-fahrenheit-and-celsius-with-leaf-temperature https://pulsegrow.com/pages/vpd-calculator https://pulsegrow.com/blogs/learn/vpd

Grow seems to be coming along nicely. I have been able to keep temperatures during the day between 77-82 degrees, and humidity between 55%-65%, with VPD around 1.4-1.5. The four clones cut from my #3 phenome is much larger than the others that I cut from my #5 phenome, but that was to be expected, since #3 was by far the most explosive grower of all the plants I grew from seed. Since I will be using my room to dry after harvest, I will have to cut the tops off all the clones and re-clone them, as they will be way to big before I can transplant them an get them in the tent. 06/12/2021 Some of the leaves and buds on phenome #3 are beginning to show trichomes. I foliated with the weekly Regalia solution. I have confidence I will not have bud rot issues, even though the canopy is quite crowded. I have seen side by side comparisons, and there is no conclusive proof that major defoliation during this stage of growth has any effect on bud mass or quality. 06/13/2021 I noticed that these ladies are taking up much more water now, so I gave two gallons of plain water that I collect from my A/C, which is always around 35 PPM with a PH of 6.5. I will feed two gallons of nutrient solution tomorrow morning.

I have noticed that these plants can really drink up the nutrients without any issues, and I feel it is time to begin adjusting the nutrients for the later stages of flower. I have decided to remove the Liquid KoolBloom, and add in the KoolBloom Dry at 1/2 Tablespoons per gallon the first feeding, then add 1 Tablespoon per gallon for the second feeding. I will only give KoolBloom Dry for these two feedings, then will replace it with General Hydroponics Ripen formula at 5 ML per gallon for about another week and a half until it is time to flush the plants. I am using KoolBloom Dry to shock and boost the plants into heavier bud growth with more resin and essential oil production, and hopefully more fragrance. I checked my stealth clone box and noticed that two of the clones were touching the top of the dome, so I had to cut them, pull out the stem and roots, and re-clone them back into their bag using some Clonex gel. I also added some pictures of my stealth grow box as well as my grow tent and closet set up. I hope this helps some people out their looking for a cheap and easy way to make their own clone box set up and hide it, as well as how to hide a small tent in a small closet out there in prohibition land. Keep up the good grows! 06/19/2021 I decided to break out a T5 with a AgroMax Pure UV florescent light. I don't have enough space over the plants, so I had to hodgepodge a setup outside of the tent with it open, with the light pointing in a little over 2 feet away from the canopy. I let it run for an hour and will see how the plants react. If I see no adverse effects, I will add more UV light in a couple of days for an hour or two again. I also sprayed the plants with the weekly solution of Regalia Biofungicide. Between the Regalia and the UV light, bud rot and powdery mildew should not be an issue. 06/21/2021 Mixed nutrient mixture listed for this week, but removed the General Hydroponics Dry KoolBloom and replaced it with 6 ML per gallon of General Hydroponics Ripen formula. I set up the UV light about two feet from canopy and exposed the plants for exactly two hours. 06/22/2021 Fed nutrient mixture at 12:30 pm. The flowers, sugar leaves, and even some fan leaves are beginning to get quite frosty. I took my small handheld digital microscope and took some pictures of the Trichomes. It is very hard to keep my hand steady enough to make a good picture, lol. The Trichomes on the most mature buds I checked look to still be clear, as expected. I am thinking it will be harvest time in about two weeks, can't wait😊

This is now week six of flower, and the buds and leaves are adding more and more Trichomes, and definitely think the the UV light is helping to do that. I exposed the plants to exactly 3 hours of UV light yesterday, and will continue to give them three or more hours of UV light every other day until harvest. The trichomes are still clear, so it looks like they will be ready to harvest in about a week or two. 06/27/2021 I mixed nutrients listed above, and gave 3 hours of UV light.

This should be the last week of flower. I definitely think the supplemental UV light helped pack on more Trichomes, but after a couple of weeks I definitely think the lights must be three feet away from the canopy at all times, and that the light should not be exposed more than two and a half hours at a time. Because I don't have much room vertically, I was forced to expose the UV light from outside the tent with it zipped open. Some of the flowers at the very front did get burnt because they were about two feet from the light. Also, only expose the UV light to the plants every other day. 07/03/2021 Most trichomes are cloudy, and I can see just a couple that are becoming amber, but some of the plants still have some clear trichomes. I am thinking it will take another 4 - 6 days before it is time to harvest. 07/04/2021 It has become apparent that these plants will not be ready for harvest for another week or more. This wait is killing me. 07/06/2021 I checked the Trichomes again, and I am beginning to see a little more turning amber color. I will keep checking each day. It looks like it may finally be harvest time in three or four days. I will cut and hang the whole plants, giving a 12 - 14 day slow dry. I will also use some flowers to experiment on a vacuum freeze dry method and vaccume cure in jars. I will share results during the Dry/Cure phase.

I have been checking the Trichomes every day, almost all cloudy, with few amber in color. Dark Horse Genetics created Bruce Banner. I have seen a video that the breeder put out just about Bruce Banner, so he could get the definitive story out about how the strain was created. He stated that almost every grower harvests BB two to three weeks too early, and I can definitely understand that. It looked like my grow was ready for harvest two weeks ago, but close inspection of the trichomes proved otherwise. He said he intended this strain to be more of a stonie buzz, and not so much of a racy buzz. He said he prefers to have plenty of amber heads before he harvests this strain. I will take this suggestion to heart, as I would rather have a more stonie buzz as well. This will also give the plants more of an opportunity to produce more secondary metabolites, and other THC compounds which have a high medicinal effect and value. 07/09/2021 Children, do not try this at home. My plants now have an intense amount of "sunscreen" or trichomes over almost every part that is exposed to any type of light. I decided to go very heavy on the UV today, and exposed my plants to over four continuous hours of UV light. We will see how these plants fair after such abuse. 07/11/2021 After checking the Trichomes again I decided to harvest the girls this morning. I cut them at the base and hung them upside down. The total weight for all eight plants was around 70 ounces, so I am thinking I may get about 7 to 8 ounces of dried bud. I will add a harvest update once dry is complete.

I honestly surprised myself. I must give plenty of credit to Homegrown Cannabis Co, and the Bruce Banner genetics I got from them. I really, really learned a TON during this first grow, and it has honestly been a dream come true. Thank everyone for your support. I will begin my next chapter of my journey, as well as my next diary tomorrow, as I will be planting my next cycle of straight dank. Can anyone say 'Chiquita Banana'?