Sour Diesel Fem - First Time

Finally starting this diary at week 5. This is my first time growing, and its been great experimenting. All numbers are approximations based upon approximately how many brain cells were burnt prior to any measurement. Started out by soaking 5 CK Sour D seeds 22 hrs in glass of spring water. All 5 cracked in the water, and after one day or so using paper towel method the taps were a good 1/4 inch long. Planted in plastic cups (like Solo but clear), with clear plastic domes, and then put them on the platform of my Aerogarden Bounty, just sitting there among the lettuce. Ruining the neighborhood. From those plastic cups to slightly larger quart sized plastic containers and once root bound (I think about week 3.5 or so), transplated to 3 gal grow bags. And rthen a Leason grow Tent from Amazon, and a week later, after weathering several death glances by my wife, a Spider Farmer 4" inline fan and duct. May go up to 6" soon. 18/6 Lighting with two SF1000 at 50%, 18" away at week 5. Having some trouble with LST. Tried these pipe cleaners but they are not strong enough and there is quite a bit of give in the grow bags. Going back to plastic coated wire. These are growing in amended Happy Frog soil, which I am super familiar with as it graces all of my raised beds. This is THE SHIT. So, no nutes till week 4. Nutes once a week and plain watering in between - so about every 2.5-3 days; erroring slightly on the moist side. Moist. Moist. People hate that word. Tonight the plant moistening commenced, with plain water until next feeding in a couple of days. If anyone is bored enough to be reading this and has any helpful tips, tricks or encouragement, feel free!!

What a week! Started off strong, like a herd of turtles. I live in a place where the usual humidity level is -150%, but still I somehow managed to leave the humidifer unattended and high enough that it stuffed up the carbon filter and tanked the ventilation. And yep, I pulled the whole thing- fan and ductwork- down before I realized that. And, after reinstalling the ventilation and getting more fans on the girls, and despite it only being a few hours, I think the girls now have a coke habit - but - it doesn't rub off. Thrips? Treating with an insecticidal soap which is supposed to work on both. Only one plant affected and I am keeping humidty lower and watching them all intently. I fed Sunday evening at lights on, and all week it has been great. No real increase of mildew, one more treatment of soap (3x week), and some defoliation. And then watered last night - so once a week feed with watering every other day. I must have watered slightly early, because although I am watering the same amount (about 1 liter per plant) and it seems I overwatered. Woke this morning to either mild light burn on some leaves of one plant, or - is it possible that this plant had unactivated nutes or something and the watering affected it and somehow created a nutrient burn? Is this thinking in the right direction? Pictures from later in the week are after some defoliation and resultant stretch.

Girls are beautiful but high maintenance. I have struggled this week with ph, and two plants have calcium deficiency. Even at 6.8 adjusted tap water ph runoff was 5.5 -5.9. I'm sure the ph swings are causing the deficiency, Finally was able to bring up ph to most plants by tap water adjusted to 7.4, with half of normal feed, which gave me good runoff at 6.5. In two suffering plants, I used only 2ml Calmag in tap water adjusted to 7.4, which gave me runoff at 6.5. But, as can be seen, lots of different shades of green in that canopy. TDS meter just arrived so next feed I am going to again try half dose of nutes on the healthy girls, with tap water adjusted to 6.8, and test the runoff with the meter, see where it lands. Then I will have a better idea whether I am going to need to flush. Hoping to get this straight very soon, and consistent over next two weeks, and then flip. Oh yeah, also struggled with keeping canopy even, and I know that I will outgrow this tent. If I can start flower at end of week 9 (two more weeks) and manage the stretch for 2 or 3 more weeks, outside temps might be perfect for me to take some of these outside for the remainder of flower. I have no idea if that is even a good idea. If anyone is reading this and has experience at this, please let me know - I would appreciate any advice! More pics later.

Still difficult with one of the girls and a slight cal deficiency. I know I will outgrow the tent, so still considering moving her outside. Outside temp right now is still a little high but humidity is perfect. Going to give her one more week. Didn't have any pics this week. Did some more supercropping and defoliation. I'm pretty sure I've stunted their growth, but hopefully that will be okay since the tent is so small. Watering every 3 days; 2 liters per girl.

Flushed the plant with cal deficiency, but most not have flushed enough. Flushed her again outside and outside she stayed. Down to 4 in the tent! Outside temps are still a little high - 97 daytime, 80s at night, around 35-45% humidity. She took to it well, no problems! So far so good. By end of Week 9 - two plants are outside. Flipped to flower in the middle of week 9...

Middle of week 9 and flipped to flower. A cold front came over and outside temps dropped beautifully- two girls tearing up the town now. Rain today but girls were protected. Outside temp - 81 / humidity 8% - a whole day of rain. All 80s outside next week with humidity dropping considerably since the rain has stopped. Perfect conditions outside next week! Three inside girls are gorgeous. Flower nutes started this week, waiting for the stretch... Bought a larger fan and filter to prepare to for Maximum Overdrive diesel stench, and moved it outside the tent to prepare for the stretch. Here is hoping I can contain three in this 4 x 2 x 5 tent...

Big stretch througout week 2 - outgrew my tent, as expected. And, some troubles with outdoor light pollution. I was very conconcerned that my outdoor white trash contraption made from blankets, shade cloth, rebar, and elk skulls and whatnot, was not sufficent to keep the outside girls in total darkness. All it took was a few applications of 50 year old Dad logic to convince myself, and then Ms. Anon - that I needed a new tent - proactive, you see. Went with an AC Infinity 3 x 3 x 6. So I lost a foot of width and gained a foot of depth and, especially, height. And this solved the issue with outside light- I simply now have my old tent outside to keep those girls safe. Ah, the illusion of safety... PH coming in low at 5.9; having trouble getting it higher, even watering at PH 7 water. But, the inside girls are gorgeous. Outside girls - one looks lanky, and the other fat and boisterous, but with a calcium deficiency, I think. Going to flush soon- I can't get PH in the runoff above 5.5. Illusions of safety...

The insiders are still just gorgeous - lots of bud sites, although the canopy isn't exactly even. Tried to put in a scrog net but failed- try again next time. PPFD aroiud 600 across the top, less throughout the lower sites, of course. DLI around 35-70. A little more trimming; asked a question this week about the lower branches - wondering if I should trim those, or if it is too late to make muhc of a difference. Outsiders had some drama. Weather has been a little warmer earlier in the week, then rained softly one day, and threatned rain for a few days- so humidity up, but slightly overcast and hot. Then, a cold front rips through, in middle of the night, winds howling and rain pelting - completely overturns the outside tent, drops it forward despite the weight of the two girls inside, and the bags of soil and dead bodies I had piled up in front of it. Needless to say, but I'm going to say it - even in the darkest recesses of sleep, my endocannabinoid system is jolted suddenly by their frightned screams, and I rush outisde, dressed only in my Sponge Bob skivvies, and wrestle the traumatized girls out of their tomb of despair, drag the tent up onto the covered patio, and reinforce it with much accoutrement: patio furniture mostly, and voodoo charms. Then I went back to bed. Wake up to low 60's high temps - and now - upper 40s at night! WTF. Outside tent is on the patio, covered and safe, but the night is cold, and full of terrors.

Week 4 and further fun with the fantastic funkies - these girls stink! More drama - I read somewhere online, or more likely heard on a podcast, that covering soil with a thin layer of rice hulls (food grade; I use these in my garden instead of mulch) not only helps with water retention but also feeds the soil silica. Since I had some, I decided to try it - what I did not hear on a podcast was that birds are apeshit for cannabinoid infused rice hulls, I guess. Kept finding both my outside pots disrupted with hulls and soil all over the place. Finally caught the culprit; a bird wallowing in my freakin' Sour D plant pot like a buffalo on the high plains. I caught that bird, strung it up outlaw style, beat it with a piece of LST wire, and set it on fire. Noooo, I didn't. I ran out of the house cussing and shaking my fist, dressed only in my threadbare skivvies until it flew off laughing. Then I utlized bird netting to keep them from further assaults and more free buzzes. Inside girls are strong - since I fucked up scrogging, went with bamboo stakes to hopefully strengthen stems to allow for bulky buds. Looks good! I think.

Catching up on diary. Stats are from mid-week 5 of flowering. 10/30 will be first day week 6. Finally got Ph from insiders above 5.9 for two weeks straight. Only a few more weeks of nutes...already researching flushing. The outside girls don't seem to have been bothered by the bird assault at all. Replaced some lost soil, and the bird netting works just as intended. A week of solid sunny days - perfect mid 80s temps, cooler nights (so no fan on in the outside tent), and low low humidity. Broke out the Canon 5D classic for these shots. It's, what - 15 years old? Still my favorite portrait camera.

11/5 - the day before the beginning of week 7 of flower. The CK Seeds Sour D page here on GD shows 8-9 flowering. Debating one more nute feed and then from then on- every other day watering with only PH'ed water. Everything static and colorful. The wait is on! Outside girls might be a week or two behind, logically. I have purchased a "Max-see" little hand microscope, recommended as a budget device that will work for identifying the cloudiness of the trichomes. It is, instead, an exercise in frustration.

Way far behind on my diary!

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I lost track of the diary, but I did harvest right at the end of 10 weeks of flower. Learned lots! A bit lower yield than probably