Budders Grow: Chiquita Banana

08/02/2021 The seedlings were getting very long, with a couple falling over, so I decided to go ahead and transplant them into their two gallon fabric pots. I made a mix of 80% Ocean Forest soil from Fox Farms and 20% perlite, transplanted plants, and fed a mixture of Real Grower's Recharge, along with some CaliMagic and ArmorSi. This grow will be different, as I will be experimenting with Real Grower's Mondo One and Done Garden Food. I am one of the lucky 100 people who were able to order this product for the price of shipping so people could run trials to see how well it works for growing. So, I mixed 36 grams of this plant food per each two gallon fabric pot, but only for the four plants on the left side of the grow tent. I will feed the four plants on the right side of the tent the General Hydroponics regimen that I used for my last grow. I am interested how the Mondo One and Done will perform next to General Hydroponics. If it works well, I will probably use Mondo for my future grows.

08/09/2021 I removed the two T5 florescent lights and dropped down the two Bloom Plus 150 watt LED lights about 20 inches above the tops of the plants dimmed down to 50%. I also added 2 60 watt 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 8 inches above the plants. 08/14/2021 I must remind that the 4 plants on the left are getting the Mondo One and Done. The plants on the right are getting the GH schedule listed above. All plants are getting ArmorSi and CaliMagic, and Real Grower's Recharge, every other day.

The grow looks good so far. The four plants to the right are being fed every other day with the General Hydroponics nutrients listed above. The four plants to the left have Real Grower's Mondo, and get some ArmorSi and CaliMagic every other day. All plants get Real Grower's Recharge watered in once a week. The blue LEDs have really helped to keep plant nodes very close. I will perform the first FIMing tomorrow.

These girls are growing great. I FIMed and defoliated them a couple of days ago, and decided to flip them into flower today, as all of them are about 12" to 14" tall. I also sprayed them with some Regalia Biofungicide spray yesterday. 08/25/2021 I must give credit to these wonderful genetics from WeedSeedExpress.com. I vegged for a total of 26 days, and they were all about 14" or more tall. They are also beginning to become more fragrant, which is very welcome, because the Bruce Banner I grew last time had no smell really until the nugs were cured. I must say, these girls are growing like weeds, lol. I really look forward to harvest and cure. 08/27/2021 The four plants on the left side of the tent have 72 grams of Mondo/Grow Dots plant food from Real Growers, the same guys who make Recharge, so I give them a gallon of water every other day with just Armor Si silica and CaliMagic. The four plants on the right side get a gallon every other day with the General Hydroponics nutrients listed above. As a side note, Scotty Real from The Dude Grows show said he was informed by his lawyer that he would not be able to use the name "Mondo", so he is calling them "Grow Dots" right now. Who knows what the final name will be, lol. This grow is proof that you do not need seven or more weeks of veg growing indoors if you have the proper genetics, lighting, nutrients, and basic grow conditions, including paying very close attention to the VPD (Vapor Pressure Deficit). If your environment is really dialed in, and you still need more than seven weeks of veg, you should probably look for different genetics.

08/31/2021 I put a third fan underneath the canopy along with 2 T5 grow lights. I had one T5 under the canopy of my last grow, which I think definitely helped develop the lower buds. I also removed a few more large fan leaves. 09/02/2021 Sprayed plants with weekly application of Regalia Biofungicide from Marrone Bio Innovations. This spray is made from the Giant Knotweed plant, which helps prevent powdery mildew. 09/03/2021 Added second layer of trellis netting.

Three of these plants were almost four foot tall, so I added a third layer of trellis netting and bent three of the tops over, underneath the netting to make a more even canopy. I don't expect these girls to stretch much more. The buds are really starting to develop. It looks like I should have a good yield, as there are definitely more buds developing compared to my last grow of Bruce Banner.

I once again had to tuck the tallest tops under the trellis netting. I sprayed the plants with their weekly spray of Regalia Biofungicide from Marrone Bio, so even though my plants are quite bushy, I do not expect problems with PM, as air constantly moves, humidity is kept relatively in check, and these genetics are know to be very mold resistant. The best buds will be kept for flower, and the lower buds left for live rosin concentrate.

Once again, this is a comparison grow between Real Grower's Mondo/Gro Dots and General Hydroponics nutrients. The four plants on the left side were given Gro Dots, and the four plants on the right are being fed the GH nutrients listed above. All plants receive ArmorSi and CaliMagic, along with a weekly dose of Recharge. I also spray all plants weekly with foliar spray of Regalia Biofungicide from Marrone Bio. 09/23/2021 Today I fed the nutrients listed above, removing the Liquid KoolBloom, and replacing it with GH KoolBloom Dry. I also exposed the plants to two hours of UVB light with my T5 UVB florescent grow light. Currently holding a temp between 82°f - 84°f, and between 62%-64% humidity, keeping a VPD around 1.5.

I removed the General Hydroponics KoolBloom Dry, and replaced it with General Hydroponics Ripen formula, adding 7 ml per gallon. Once again, this is a comparison grow between Real Grower's Mondo/Grow Dots and General Hydroponics 10-Part nutrient system. The four plants to the left have the Real Grower's Mondo/Grow Dots, and only get fed water with Armor Si and CaliMagic. The four plants on the right get fed General Hydroponics nutrients. All plants get a weekly dose of Real Grower's Recharge, and all get sprayed with Regalia Biofungicide from Marrone Bio each week. I will weigh all plants after harvest, and keep track of the dry bud yield for each plant, and post my findings at the end after dry and initial cure.

I am now only feeding water to the four plants on the side side of the tent that has the Real Grower's Grow Dots. The 4 plants on the right are now only getting the GH nutrients listed above. The plants look like they may be ready to harvest in a week or two.

The buds are still packing on weight. I checked the trichomes and most are now cloudy, so I am thinking it will be another week or two before harvest. I would estimate I will get about 12 ounces out of this five square foot space, which I will be very happy with. I have four more Chiquita Banana seeds, and some Symbiote seeds from Dark Horse Genetics, so I think I will grow four of each strain next grow. I am extremely happy at how these Chiquita Banana plants are growing. Absolutely awesome genetics from #WeedSeedExpress. 10/15/2021 It is difficult to see, but I have about four colas that have given up, and can no longer support their weight. I really look forward to seeing what the actual harvest weight may be, but it is not a huge concern, as most of this harvest will be just for myself, and a couple close friends. 10/16/2021 Some of the buds have become so heavy that I need to support them. It is hard to tell by the pictures, but some of these buds are huge, and very compact and heavy. I am looking forward to seeing what the final dry bud weight will be. Very solid genetics from WeedSeedExpress for sure!

I checked the trichomes with my small USB microscope camera, and most of the trichomes are cloudy, with just a few beginning to turn amber. I am thinking it will be harvest time by this time next week.

I decided to harvest halfway through week 9 of flower, as it looked like about 15% or more of the trichomes were amber color. The total weight of the four plants that got the Real Grower's Grow Dots was around 26 ounces, and the four plants on the right that got the General Hydroponics nutrients was around 29 ounces. So, I must lower my dry bud estimated weight to be around a half a pound. I was thinking it would turn out to be a little more, but I am very happy with the quality of this Chiquita Banana strain and grow, and think that the yield is not bad for a small 20"x36" tent. I will give a final update after the dry and cure is finished. It was very surprising, I ended up with the same exact bud weight for both strains. I will say that the buds that were given the GH were larger and more compact, but I think this is to be expected. I would use Grow Dots as a replacement for a three part nutrient system, and still add silica, cal mag, and things like Liquid KoolBloom, Ripen, or any other bud enhancers like Green Planet's Massive, which I plan to try next grow. I am fairly happy overall with this grow, but I feel I have also learned lessons that I will take into account into my next grow. A sneak peak, I will be growing two Humboldt Seed Co strains next grow. I am waiting on them to show up in the mail in the next couple of days. Can we say Pineapple Muffins and Jelly Ranchers? Lol. Sounds sweet and tasty. We shall see.