First Grow

1 GB (LaFawnduh) and 1 GC (Gwyneth) in big pots and one each directly into soil (GB = Shaniqua, GC = Henrietta) The seeds were germinated weeks prior but for the purposes of this diary Day 1 = May 25 when they went outside. The Gorilla Bombs were germinated by me and I foolishly didnt provide enough light, causing them to grow so tall and stretchy that they couldn't support their own weight. I didnt have much hope for them but when I transplanted them to their future homes I was sure to plant them deep enough that only the leaves were above the surface.

The Green Crack was started by my brother-in-law who gave sufficient light, unlike my stunted dwarf Gorilla Bomb plantlings Day 18 - FIMmed all four plants

Shaniqua is healthy but not increasing much in size, hopefully devoting her energies to root growth

Added tomato cages for support and something to anchor branches during flowering if necessary

Started Miarcle Gro 20-20-20. 1.5 tbsp per 6L water, 3L per plant per week

June 30 - July 6 Increased nutrients to 6L per plant for the two in the ground, Henrietta and Shaniqua

July 7 - July 13 Gwyneth and LaFawnduh graduate to their own Big Girl Photos, Henrietta is thriving and even Shaniqua The Malingerer is coming along nicely. She's more sparse than the others, even her sister GB and the branch nodes are more asymmetrical, perhaps why shes growing somewhat crooked.

July 14 - 20 Added some LST to Gwyneth and LaFawnduh to encourage more lateral growth for extra stability during flowering. Gwyneth and LaFawnduh were looking pretty parched on the afternoon of Day 51 (they looked fine in the morning) and looked much better a few hours after watering. This led me to think maybe I should be watering more and hopefully over-watering is the cause of Shaniqua's shameful discolouration on Day 56. OR Day 54: spotted small clouds of what I believe are whiteflies on Shaniqua, sprayed with insecticidal soap in late afternoon

July 21 - 27 Suspect Shaniqua's leaf discolouration is due to overwatering and/or nutrient imbalance so I'm gonna ease up on water and fertilizer for the time being ti see if it makes a difference. Added soil to Gwyneth's pot, a few of her top roots had become exposed tho they seem healthy and hardy. Day 58 - Lafawnduh was parched at picture time, gonna have to watch her more closely to make sure she has enough to drink. It occurred to me last night that I'm fucking retarded (happens more than you might think) - Shaniqua was the only plant I sprayed with insecticidal soap and shes the only one that developed brown/black leaves. Coincidence? Bloody eejit Day 60 - after watering I noticed Shaniqua's branches struggling to support the weight of wet leaves. This does not fill me with confidence about her ability to support big thick resinous buds of happiness. Without a doubt, Shaniqua is the problem child of my little family :-/ Day 61 - did some lollipopping on Henrietta, still new to the practice so I'm afraid to go too crazy

July 28 - Aug 3 Day 64 - all is well, everything growing nicely, nice thick stems on all the girls. As the girls in the pots get more and more top heavy, I grow more nervous about the wind. Gonna try and secure them to the retaining wall with some string. Day 66 - from my fingertips to god's ears....Gwyneth and LaFawnduh both took a tumble today, fortunately my compulsive checking paid off and neither were down for longer than 15 minutes before I came to her rescue. They've now been secured to the retaining wall with some string, we'll see how that holds up Day 70 - as week 10 draws to a close, everything is going well...seems quiet, almost _too_ quiet....

Aug 4 - Aug 10 Day 71 - gonna start watering Gwyneth and LaFawnduh in the morning and afternoons while the heat is bad. As they've gotten bigger they seem to need more water every 24 hours than the soil in their pots will hold. Day 73 - all four girls showing pistils (I believe). According to everything I've read, I should be seeing some rapid vertical growth :) Day 74 - noticed today that Gwyneth's LST was a little more stressful than I'd thought - there's a significant split down the main stalk where two branches merge. It's not fresh, actually looks pretty well healed and may explain why her growth had tapered off lately. Shes the picture of health otherwise, as long as I can prevent any further damage I think she'll be ok

Aug 11 - 17 With pistils clearly showing on all plants and a surge in growth, I believe flowering has started :-) Day 78 - Shaniqua the problem child is certainly growing great but very asymmetrically. Day 79 - Gwyneth took another tumble. Moved her to what I hope is a more level spot and propped a coupla bags of soil against the pot. Day 80 - leaf discolouration on Gwyneth developed brown spots and spread. Started flowering nutrients. Day 81 - heat wave broke so I tried skipping LaFawnduh's morning watering, was very wilted by afternoon so I'll be watering twice a day from now on Day 83 - Gwyneth seems to be about a week or 2 ahead of the others in her flowering. Day 84 - end of week 12, sprayed Gwyneth, LaFawnduh and Henrietta with epsom salt solution, 1 tsp/L water

Aug 18 - 24 Day 85 - girls are coming along nicely, have really seen the tops created by FIMming stretch and stand out. Nice little budlets forming on LaFawnduh and esp. Gwyneth. Will be monitoring closely this week to be sure the Mg deficiency has been corrected. God I love weed :-D Day 87 - sprayed all but Shaniqua with epsom salt solution again, for some reason shes the only one not showing any signs of Mg deficiency...maybe because she didnt get pruned as much and has more old growth to draw extra Mg from? Day 91 - one of Shaniqua's branches snapped under the weight while being watered. While removing the branch I noticed how crooked she's grown, like she's trying to get away from my shithead neighbours lol. I've deliberately let her grow unchecked, the only pruning I've done was FIMming throughout to maximize tops. Shaniqua: my problem child *sigh*

Aug 25 - Aug 31 Day 92 - the ungodly heat wave continues...I water LaFawnduh at 9am and by 3 shes starting to wilt and needs the soil saturated again. Fortunately I have the time for the watering but it's crazy how much water she goes thru. Day 94 - cooler weather so I tried skipping the morning watering but they were wilting again by the afternoon so they're just thirsty girls regardless ofthe heat. Started Advanced Nutrients Big Bud today, hard to believe such a small amount of liquid can make a difference but it seems pretty popular on GD so I'll try it out. Tied LaFawnduh's 4 lowest branches to the tomato cage for some support un the wind. Now I see why I shoulda pruned them early on; I'll be amazed if I dont lose at least 2 branches off her before we're done Day 95 - leaves keep turning yellow, I believe its Mg or N deficiency but with regular nutrients I find it hard to believe it would be nitrogen. So I sprayed again with Epsom salt solution and will keep spraying every few days Day 98 - end of another week, the girls are looking good except for the yellowing older leaves which I'm hoping will stop now that I'm applying extra Mg. The buds are unaffected so far and already sticky and delicious smelling :-)

Sept 1 - Sept 7 Day 99 - Now that its cooled off some and the air conditioning is off I can catch whiffs of glorious ganja on the odd breeze :-) I'm watching closely to see if there are any more yellowing leaves; I'm still not sure if its sign of a deficiency or nothing to worry about. The girls look good but this is my first time making it to flowering, I dont have any past experience to compare it to... Day 100 - sprayed with Epsom salt solution Day 103 - a sad but not unexpected day has arrived, Shaniqua lost a major branch in a storm last night, about 1/4 of the whole plant. I've deliberately let her grow her own way with minimal pruning except Fimming and shes huge but a little spindly. I was expecting to lose something but it still stings. The important thing is that the bags of soil against LaFawnduh and Gwyneth 's pots for stability seem to be working. Day 104 - windy again, LaFawnduh fell into Henrietta, snapping one of her (Henrietta) lower branches, LaFawnduh seems unscathed. Added a rotted chunk of railroad tie to brace her pot. Trimmed the fallen branch and hung it up, doubt itll be worth smoking but what the hell, when life gives you lemons...

Sept 8 - 14 Day 106 - the girls made it through the storm last night. It's still windy and makes me nervous as hell watching those long beautiful colas swinging wildly in the breeze, especially on LaFawnduh where I shoulda pruned the lowest branches. I'm trying to accept that I'm gonna lose some branches and as long as the plant survives to harvest and I get something, I'll be happy...ish Day 110 - LaFawnduh took another fall last night, fucking wind :-/ Moved her again, this time next to a clothesline post that I tied the pot and her main stalk to. Right now, there's a looooot of weed on that plant, hope it stays that way Day 112 - listening to a storm rage outside while I write this, I'll have to wait til morning to see if there's any damage. Gonna be a long night...

Sept 15 - 21 Day 113 - fucking storm....lost about half of Shaniqua last night, remains to be seen if the remainder will be ok. LaFawnduh made it without any damage...until I tried to adjust the branches for better support and cracked a low branch half off the stalk. I immediately held it in place while fastening 2 zipties tightly to hold it in place. Maybe the extra stress will promote trichome growth? Its good to have dreams... Meanwhile, both Green Cracks are completely unharmed. I'm very impressed with them, plants are sturdy and uniform, great genetics Day 115 - dropped the miracle gro from the feeding schedule and I'm gonna give LaFawnduh double doses of the Overdrive to try and get her to the finish line, her leaves are turning yellow at an alarming rate. My working theory us that using so much miracle gro has caused nutrient lockout from ph and/or salt build up. Henrietta is healthy as a horse, no worries there. Gwyneth still seems to be struggling for Mg but even so I think she'll make it to harvest before running out of fan leaves to draw on. Shaniqua is... who knows. Shes behind the other three in flowering and lost a few branches along the way, I dont know that she will make it to harvest before the frost and I can't bring her inside. She was always an experiment so its not an unexpected loss. If I can keep LaFawnduh whole she'll have enough Gorilla Bomb to keep me bombed :-)

Sept 22 - Sep 28 Day 151 - the monsoon continues....been raining for the past 24 hours with no sign of stopping soon. So far the girls are holding up, very glad I tied so many of LaFawnduh's branches, they would've broken for sure. Shaniqua has apreviousky cracked branch that is still functional only because its resting precariously on the retaining wall beside it. Day 152 - rain finally stopped thru the night, all the girls look ok tho the Gorilla Bombs had their branches pretty stressed. Tied another of LaFawnduh's branches up to the main stalk, it was hanging pretty low, so low I'm surprised it held on - yay LaFawnduh! Those buds are looking plump and sticky :) Day 153 - good god those buds are beautiful! Trichomes have really developed this week, they sparkle like diamonds in the sun :) Day 154 - end of flowering week 7, everything seems good tho I have to admit I'm getting impatient for harvest time.

Sept 29 - Oct 5 Stopped the nutrients part way thru last week, the flush has begun! After a few days all girls began showing yellow leaves so everything in the soil has been used up and they're drawing on the reserves in the fan leaves. Theres some odd leaf discolouration on Henrietta that I'm keeping an eye on. I'm terrified of getting some mould or bud rot, that and theft from the teenagers next door are my only real concerns at this point. I swear to god if those fuckers steal my plants I'm going on a full bore Archer-style rampage...if I stop posting and you hear a news story about a mass murder in eastern Ontario, you'll know why Shaniqua is showing some purple on her leaves. I believe that can happen from stress and/or cold temps, both of which the poor girl has suffered thru. The purple is appearing in blotches that spread into a whole colour, not what I was expecting. By my uneducated guess, LaFawnduh will be ready next week sometime, Gwyneth, Henrietta and hopefully Shaniqua the week after. Not sure I'll be able to leave them any longer, depending on frost Oct 3 - Shanuqua has a nice purple on her leaves now and shes been maturing fast, shes gonn from the slowest to looking ready sometime next week. The Green Cracks are opposite, first to flower but still showing more than 50% white pistils. I don't mind them waiting longer, they're both sturdy; the Gorilla Bombs I want to harvest before more weather ducks them up worse. Shaniqua woulda been a beast if she hadn't lost two bug branches, she 7-8' wide but only about 3 feet tall lol Oct 5 - and to finish out week 8 of flowering, I discover fucking bud rot on one of LaFawnduh's lovely buds :( I cut the branch immediately and I dont see anymore but I'm sure I've not seen the last if it. Supposed to rain in 4 days so I'll chop her in 3 and hope for the best

Oct 6 - 12 Oct 6 - LaFawnduh gets an emergency harvest today after discovering bud rot last night. Cut all the big fan leaves in the morning to get a better look and ventilation, too dewy to chop right now. Found another smaller patch on a bud near the original one :( I'm gonna have to keep that area of the plant separate from the rest while drying, not that I have a lot of space. Upon checking the other girls I found a big withered cola on Gwyneth - oh the horror! I cut it along with the 3 other gorgeous top colas sprouting from that branch. I excised the infected cola and set the others aside for closer inspection later. This is like watching a slow motion car crash - disaster slowly unfolding before my eyes and I have no idea how bad its gonna get :-( Later - cut LaFawduh's branches, was able to trim about half today and put it all in the drying shed to keep it dry (appropriately enough) I found small patches of bud rot about half a dozen times, not an encouraging sign. Other than that, it all looked so beautiful, I'd hate to think it could all go to waste. October 8 - got LaFawnduh broken down and drying, found and excised about a dozen small spots of mould all told. They look so enticing, the trichomes sparkling in the sunlight like tiny gems of happiness. I hate to believe there is more insidious botrytis lurking in some of them, waiting to gobble up all my hard work....fuckers! Shaniqua is looking ripe so I cut her damaged branch and trimmed it, in the process I found a small spot of bud rot on the underside that was practically on the ground. I'm honestly surprised I only found that one spot. She is just _covered_ in crystals, when I handle one of her buds my fingers are oily with resin before it dries to the usual gluey ganja goodness. Combined with the dark purple foliage, I really hope I get to sample some of her. Theres just gonna be so much bud, I'm having a hard time accepting it could all end up ruined :-/ I'll continue to break Shaniqua down but Henrietta and Gwyneth both look to have at least another week, still about 50-60% white pistils Oct 10 - fuck bud rot, fuck rain and fuck God for good measure. Two more big beautiful colas pruned from Gwyneth to try and stem the bud rot from spreading. They were so sticky and stinky and bug that I could just cry. Henrietta is the only one I haven't found mould on but she's had a funky cola for over a month with brown wilted leaves. It looks suspicious but even with extensive examination I havent found any sign of rot. Oct 11 - another infected cola removed from Gwyneth :-( and now powdery mildew too, this time on Shaniqua...."if I only could I'd set the world on fire" I'm so fucking annoyed right now I could cry. ...on a positive note, early potency tests of LaFawnduh's buds are promising. A surprisingly pleasant taste, especially considering it's not even cured. Bud smells very nice, hardly any grass smell and no sign/smell/taste of mould. Theres no way it will all be mould-free but maybe I'll manage to salvage something. As I write this it occurs to me: I'm pretty stoned :) Oct 12 - end of week 9 of flowering. Moved the drying buds from shed to garage. The shed had shit ventilation and has a few holes in the roof, it turns out. The garage is less ideal due to cohabitant complaints but tough shit, I need weed

Final Dried Yield: approx. 26 oz. As advertised, Gorilla Bomb produced big heavy buds that required a fair amount of extra support. The smell was strong and wonderful. Bud rot became a problem at the end of flowering, prompting harvest a little earlier than I woulda liked. I dont think GB can be blamed for the bud rot, it had rained for almost 3 days and 99% every night for 2 weeks and the other strain i was growing was also infected. Fortunately I was able to spot it very early and cut out all affected parts prior to harvest and haven't seen anymore since.

Oct. 13 found a very small patch of bud rot on Henrietta, the final holdout. It was one of two of her biggest colas so excised the rot and the buds surrounding it but the very top of the cola. It's about half the size of my fist and I couldn't bear to throw it away so I'll dry it in another room and pray for some good luck. The loss of such a magnificent cola prompted me to harvest the tops off Henrietta a few days earlier than anticipated. Once trimmed and manicured, the are easily the biggest and best buds I have ever held in my hands. I explained to a non smoker that they are the equivalent of a bottle of Johhnie Walker Blue, something I could never afford to buy (I'm strictly in the AA-AAA price range) I never woulda guessed a novice could produce such huge dense buds. Hopefully they're potent and taste as good as they smell, if so I'm in for a treat Oct 16- been cutting branches and trimming as I go. LaFawnduh and Shaniqua are trimmed and about 3/4 dried and curing in jars. I've got about 3/4 of Gwyneth and Henrietta cut, trimmed and hanging. I've been cutting the branches with the biggest buds, trying to harvest the best before the bud rot can get them. I've found a few very small patches which would've grown very quickly in the damp weather had I left them to ripen any longer. I think I can officially say I now have more weed than I ever dreamed I would - woo hoo! It's gotten to the point where I just trimming and tossing any buds smaller than a gram or so, they just dont seem worth the effort compared to plum-sized buds - good problem to have :) So far no sign of mould in the drying colas, fingers crossed. I find the differences between two strains interesting, with almost identical growing conditions, I have to presume these differences are due to genetics. The Gorilla Bomb stretched out more, with more space between the bud sites along the branch. The buds themselves are looser and not nearly as dense as the weed I purchase. This made it more difficult to trim effectively, leaving more leaves on than I would like, resulting in a somewhat less appealing appearance. Ultimately, it required extensive support to keep the branches from breaking, something I was expecting from this strain going in. The Green Crack  is sativa dominant from my understanding but it grew much more like an indica, with the branches growing close together and the buds more tightly grouped than the GB. The buds themselves are humungous, they make the GB look like what it is, home grown weed by a novice. But the GC looks amazing, tight dense buds packed together on a branch so tightly they look like one 6 inch solid green nugget. If my dick was this big I would be a proud and boastful man.