HulkBerry AKA Kush Banner 3

Week 1 Veg Next up in The Fox's Den is the second brand new release by Royal Queen Seeds, Kush Banner 3 💪 another highly anticipated strain by RQS 💪 I germinate in a wet paper towel, in an open freezer bag which I place in a dark drawer. 48hrs later we have a nice tap root poking through, ready to be transplanted. She is transplanted into a cup of coco and perlite. I try not to over use the perlite otherwise there isn't much coco to retain enough water/nutrients for long. Approx 3-4 parts coco to 1 part perlite is plenty enough. The germination bag is sprayed inside and placed on top until she's had her first full day above the coco. This is just to keep her in high humidity conditions while she finds her feet. After this, it can be taken off. Unfortunately I still use tap water (I know.. 😒) which is perfectly fine if left to sit/bubble for 24-48hrs before feeding, but RO water will always be the best option for Cannabis. My tap water doesn't carry too high a ppm value at between 150-190, so it's acceptable. Anything over 250ppm isn't very ideal and probably shouldn't be used. She was given only water and EM1 until day 4, where she was started on a light feeding of Cal-Mag. It's crucial not to give her any high strength feedings straight away as she's only tiny and we don't want to burn and kill her. So far she's a happy, healthy little seedling 🌱💪 Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 2 Veg Now she's had time to grow up a little and find her feet, it's time to start her on her base nutrients. Cal-Mag was also increased to full veg strength. This time I started her close to the 3:2:1 (G:M:B) ratio for veg, rather than the usual 1:1:1 for the first feeding. Be sure not to over strengthen the mix/res too much too soon as it will burn or even kill a little seedling like this girl. She's taken well to this feeding, so next time I'll increase it. She's doing well so far, so looking forward to next week! Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 3 Veg This week her nutrients have been increased to my usual veg strength. Liquid Silicon is being added to increase strength and thicken cell walls, making her more immune to pests. It also makes your plants slightly bendier for training. Epsom Salts (magnesium sulfate) is also being added for another source of Mag. Sulfur is also key for faster growth, in the production of amino acids, but I stop feeding by day 35 flower (8wk strain) to ensure it is properly flushed. She was then transplanted and topped on Day 20. As you can see, she filled her cup pretty well with healthy white roots. When transplanting, ensure the pot is slightly drier than you'd usually let it get; this helps keep all of the coco together without breaking apart. I also decreased the nute strength slightly to prevent burning the root tips straight after transplanting. Once she was in her new pot, I watered with just a bit more (in vol) than when in the cup. I find doing this gives the roots a chance to shoot out in search of water in her new pot, rather than not having the need to grow further into the pot due to having as much water as it needs already there. So far so good 💪👍 Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 4 Veg She recovered from her topping very well and has now been tied from her main stem at the top. I don't like to completely lean her over at a crazy angle as this can stress her roots. From tying her at the top, it reduces the lean and creates a nice bend. You'll find that as she grows bigger and stronger she'll straighten up a bit more. But by this time the two lower nodes have already caught up with the top of the canopy so I cut the string off at this point. I also pinched off the two fan leaves from the two new shoots that were covering her stem and lower nodes. Doing this will very slow down the two tops very slightly, whilst also exposing her lower nodes to direct light, encouraging quicker growth lower down. She's a happy girl in veg, with nice fat leaves. Looking good so far. Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 5 Veg Nothing has changed for the Hulk Berry this week. She's been left to grow and fill her pot with roots before she's transplanted next week. I've been bending each of the tallest tops down to let the lower side branches catch up with the top of the canopy. By the end of the week she's become a nice even bush and still looking happy and healthy. She's got a busy week next week. Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 6 Veg She was given a maintenance flush this week and also transplanted into her new pot. I believe it's important to give them a maintenance flush at about this stage as there's about 4 weeks worth of nutrient build up that the plant hasn't taken in. This can solidify into salt and build up in the pot, around roots and in the coco. To keep on top of this, she's given a good enough flush to take her final run off ppm to around +100 of your starting water. After flushing, she's immediately given a fresh, full strength nutrient feed to replace what has been flushed. Doing this is also a great way to check her pH, and adjust if necessary. She was transplanted into a 5gal Root Pouch towards the end of the week. This will be her final pot throughout the rest of her cycle. I don't use fabric pots until the final pot because they're a nightmare to transplant from. I LST'd her main branches to keep her small and bushy. She might be given an extra week in veg, in wait for a spot in the flower tent! Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 7 Veg Another week in the veg tent. She's now got the main space in the tent, giving her a bit more room. The Hulk Berry isn't getting tall, which is a good thing as she'll be in here for an extra week than usual due to a full flower tent. She's thickening up and turning into a great little bush. She gets a quarter/half turn every day to ensure even growth allround. I still remove any big fan leaves covering the centre of her, to allow the lower side branches within her to grow quicker by having direct light. Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 8 Veg An exciting change for the Hulk Berry this week.. She's been switched to Urban Remo's Remo Nutrients Supercharger kit that I won here on Grow Diaries! I've wanted to change my nutrient line for some time now as I know there's better out there, so this was the perfect opportunity for me to do the full switch. I know this is supposed to be a great nutrient line-up so I'm definitely happy to be using them! It's quite strange for me to be using the same amounts of everything as listed in Remo's feed chart, but I'll stick to it for a bit and see how it goes before changing anything. I'm adding less than the chart, as I normally would with any new line-up and then taking it from there. I'm still using the same Cal-Mag as I have been previously, just to use it up. There's no point in wasting any nutes. I'm also finishing my General Hydro line on all plants further along their cycle in my garden. This girl will be the first in the Den to be ran with Remo' s line. I'll also be running a green gelato clone on the new line-up so it'll be a good comparison to the current one in flower, that's on GH. A healthy looking girl, she's getting thick, strong and turning into a nice bush. She's not getting overly tall either which is good as she'll be vegged a little longer in wait of a space in the flower tent. This wasn't planned, but shouldn't be a problem. Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 9 Veg Another week in veg for this girl. I wasn't planning on vegging her for this long but she's still awaiting her space in the flower tent. It not that big of an issue as she's quite a small girl in veg so she's easily manageable. Pulling a few big fan leaves is a good way to slow her down a bit if neseccary, and also frees up some space for the other plants in the veg tent. She's taken to Remo's Nutrients very well and still looking great. I've increased the strength slightly to see how she copes and see whether it has any positive affect on her. She was thrown in the flower tent on Day 63 veg/0 flower once her spot was open. Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 1 Flower She's finally made her way to the flower tent! As I said last week, I didn't want to veg her for this long and I know she'll become a big girl, but her space just wasn't ready for her until now. That's one thing to be careful of when running a perpetual garden, and I've become a member of the over veg club a couple times of recent, so I think I need to start being more patient with the bean popping and veg for less 😂 a more powerful light should also keep their stretch down in flower a tad more too. With her being my first plant in flower on Remo Nutrients, I'm keeping to his chart but still not at the high strengths he's listed. I did increased them slightly in comparison to last week now she's in flower and under a more powerful light, as she'll be feeding more, and much quicker too. The base nutrients were increased gradually, as I'm new to this line so still testing with every feeding. As a little added PK boost I added a small amount of bud explosion. I've found doing this early helps them stack more bud sites, with tighter node spacing throughout stretch. She's looking a little bit squished at the back, behind the Green Gelato, but I've made sure all main tops have direct light and she's not being too overshadowed. She'll soon reach the top of the tents average canopy. On day 7 she was given a decent lollipop and a slight defoliation. This is to stunt her growth so she won't get too tall, and also brings the humidity of the tent down. She's looking very healthy and a beautiful green allround. Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 2 Flower She seems to be in perfect health on Remo's Nutrients. I honestly thought I'd come across more deficiencies and nutrient problems after making the nutrient switch, (just until I dialed it in anyway) but so far everything seems to have taken very well to the switch and looking happy and healthy. With that being said I started adding a small amount of remo grow this week as she was looking slightly pale, but now she looks even healthier and a perfect green. Cal-Mag was also upped a little bit. Now that she's into her second week of flower and well into stretch, I've started giving her a small dose of greenleaf nutrients bud explosion to increase bud sites and shorten node spacing. Remo's Natures Candy is being added, although not at full strength until we see some frost. The sugars feed the microbes and other beneficial bacteria and fungi in the root zone which in turn feed the plant. She's growing strong and slowly starting to flower. Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 3 Flower On day 16 she was given a maintenance flush and then a fresh nutrient feed straight after. I flush around 20ltr through her pot to flush away any unwanted old salt build ups in the coco and from around her roots. Doing this cleanses the root zone and prevents her root tips burning from the build up of salts. Now that she'll soon be in full bloom we want her to be drinking as much as possible! It's also a good opportunity to top up with a higher PK feeding; I increased Remo Bloom and added a small amount of Astro flower to do just that. I'll still be playing around with the nutrient strengths and ratios for a few cycles before finding what works best in my setup. She's looking very healthy and growing well. On day 18 her tallest branches were supercropped to shorten her and slow down her stretch. Even though she's flowering well, she's still growing fast and strong, so we can use this stress as an advantage to slow her down and hopefully get her to concentrate solely on her flowers. Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 4 Flower Her base nutrients have been adjusted slightly, stopping remo grow by the end of the week and increasing the others a bit. Astro flower was increased a lil bit now she's flowering up and building nicely. Liquid Silicon is stopped by day 28 to ensure it is properly flushed from the plant by the end of her cycle. It's the hardest/longest nutrient to flush, so I don't like to go any further than that to make sure it'll have a nice clean burn in the end. Now that she's starting to show frost, the sugars have been increased. This is to feed the microbes even more, to provide more carbohydrates and amino acids to the plant. This increases nutrient uptake and can increase trichome production and improve the aroma and flavour. Her flowers are slowly growing and she looks like she's could be a pretty tall girl as she's not stopping just yet. She's a little bit pale but looking very happy and healthy, praying towards the light. Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 5 Flower Small adjustments with the nutrients this week. Molasses is being added now she's showing frost, and also because I finally remembered to buy some! Sugars feed the microbes which in turn feed the plant carbs and amino acids. This boosts nutrient uptake, health and trichome production. Cal-Mag was stopped by day 35 to ensure a proper flush by the end of her cycle. Even though she'll be going for around 10 weeks, I don't like to feed Cal-Mag any further than this so I can guarantee a clean burn. She's going on a super stretch and still not stopping, but she's heavily stacked with bud sites. Hopefully she doesn't get too tall, but if she does then at least it'll all be full of flowers! I've been plucking big fan leaves to try and slow her down. She's looking very happy and healthy, slowly growing her flowers and still shooting up with more bud sites. I tied a couple of strings around her biggest cola's to the top ceiling poles in the tent for support when they put the weight on, and also to move them away from the light now they're getting too close for comfort. Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 6 Flower This week there's been a huge boost in PK, with bud explosion being added again and an increase in Astro Flower. Now that she's building plenty of calyx's and really concentrating on her flowers she needs a nice PK boost so she can grow big, healthy flowers. Apart from the sugars, all other nutrients have been stopped so she can start to fade quicker when she hits flush. Her cola's are getting thick in the middle with an insane amount of bud sites, but still growing taller so she thins out towards the top. She still looks like she's got quite a long way to go, so hopefully she'll start the fatten up and ripen soon enough. A couple of her cola's are way to close to the light for comfort, but I've tied a few strings around them to pull them back. Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 7 Flower With this week being her last week of nutrient feedings before flush, I've reduced the overall strength and stopped feeding bud explosion as she doesn't need such high amounts anymore. Nature's candy and molasses are still being added at the same amounts, for optimum nutrient uptake and to also carry on feeding the microbes. They also help with trichome production and increase flavour/aroma. Her buds just keep on growing and growing and she's forever getting taller and taller, to the point where her tallest cola's are extremely close to growing taller than the light! Only an inch or two to go and she'll surpass the reflector! Although this doesn't bother me in the slightest, because every inch below that, all the way down to the net is nothing but flowers! She doesn't smell too strong at the moment, especially with other strains in the tent giving off different scents, but she's unbelievably huge. She has arm length cola's filled with buds. The fattest parts of a few of her cola's are almost coke can width! She's not going to stop putting on weight and swelling just yet, so I've tied a few more branches up similar to how the yoyo style strings to keep them from flopping all over the Surf Purps. A couple of branches at the back corner are getting pounded by the fan; their flowers aren't showing any damage but there's a few wind burn marks on some fan leaves. Of course this isn't ideal, but I'm unable to move the fan at the moment with another plant being in the way, and there's also no better position in the tent for it currently. It's not doing much damage so I'm not too worried at the moment. Next week she starts flush! 🚽💦 Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺

Week 8 Flower My favourite part; Flush flush flusshhhhh 🚽🌊💦 This is the time where you will see the most swelling and ripening of the buds, and also it's winter colours in its leaves and possibly even flowers (strain dependent) as the plant cannibalizes itself of all of its stored nutrients. Many strains will fade into a bright yellow, but a lot of strains can turn to many stunning colours such as purple, orange, red or even black! Purpling can also occur on your flowers throughout flush, which only adds to it's bag appeal! I believe it's extremely important to include a flush period at the end of each cycle. I don't necessarily mean you have to flush copious amounts of water through them like I do, but the end goal is to have a cannibalised plant before harvesting, regardless of your system, methods or medium. Having a proper flush is what gives you the clean burning, smooth smoke in the end. If many nutrients are left in the flowers, it can create a hard black ash that can spark as you toke 💥😷 and would be quite toxic for you to smoke. I start by pouring just enough water through the pot to get a decent run off in the catch tray below. I then take a note of the ppm/EC and pH of that run off to see how she's doing, and then adjust the pH of the rest of the water to be flushed if required. This girl's run off was a little high, at approx 6.2-6.5pH so I adjusted the rest of the flush water to around 5.5-5.6pH. This should bring it back down a bit more, although it doesn't really matter so much later in flush as she's only feeding on herself anyway, not what is in her pot. Once adjusted, I pour around 30ltr through her pot to reduce the salt contents in the coco. I then take another reading of her last bit of run off in the catch tray and make a note. I find that flushing a large amount of water through the coco speeds up the process because it has taken away many more nutrients from the coco than with not doing so. This gives the plant no choice but to instantly start to cannabilize on the only nutrients available; it's own. Once they're fading fast I'll simply feed them enough for a decent run off as I know there's nothing left in the coco. The amount of buds on this girl is absolutely insane! She's a monster! She's swelling up but still getting taller, with her tallest cola almost touching the reflector now. I'm definitely glad I supported her! I'm going for a 3+ week flush as I can't take her any further with plants in veg waiting for spaces, so hopefully she'll ripen up! Thanks for following and happy growing! 🦊

Week 9 Flower Continuing to flush 💦 To pH the water is optional. This is because it no longer needs any nutrients within the pot, and should only be feeding on its stored nutrients in order to fade/cannabilize properly throughout the flush period. A few cola's at the back are stacked and flopping all over the place, thankfully I secured the huge main cola's before they got too heavy. She's looking good and showing a little bit of colour due to the colder temps. Thanks for following and happy growing! 🦊

Week 10 Flower Her last week of flush 💦 and her last week of life. She was taken down on Day 70 of Flower, totalling a 21 Day Flush. She ripened well and faded to a pale green/yellow. She could have gone another week but I couldn't keep her in there any longer. I simply cut off each branch and hang them in a cardboard drying box. With this girl being so big, and with a lot of foliage, I had to trim as many fan leaves off as possible before hanging, in order to avoid mould or rot. It's also placed in a cool area out of light. This is to prolong the drying period. Quickly drying the buds in less than 5 days will only impair the flavour, making it taste like grass. Try to dry as slowly as possible, avoiding mould or rot, to maximise the terpene level/profile. It's unbelievable how much bud she produced under only a small light. She smells very piney and earthy with a subtle fruityness to her. She's not the most frosty strain but she definitely yields! 💪 Harvest update coming up next. Thanks for following and happy growing! 🦊

Another thank you to RQS for providing the genetics. She was a fun plant to grow, and watch her cola's forever get bigger and bigger! Thanks to all that follow, like and comment. I'm extremely grateful for everyone's input 👊✌️🤙 Once she was down, her fan leaves were cut off and each branch was hung in the drying box and left to dry for 8 days. It was left in a cool dark place to slow drying time. Once the outer leaves were dry her buds were given a close trim and jarred for curing. I put a 62% Integra Boost pack inside each jar to ensure the humidity is stable during curing, although it's not crucial. The jar is burped once a day for a few days and then left approx a week inbetween the next couple of openings. After 3 weeks or so, you don't have to worry about burping if you wish to store for a while, or you can tuck right in like I do! Because I have 4 seperate quarters for other plants/strains in one tent, under one light, I've had to calculate these by dividing the conditions by 4 (4 sections in total sharing same conditions). This is the fairest and only way to work it out on average as a full tent. If you multiply by 4, it gives you the average amount for a full tent worth. Happy growing! 🦊