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Greetings my dear Jungletamers,
So a major surprise came when @MarsHydroLED contacted us and asked if would like to try out their new SP 3000 light. Being a fan of Mars Hydro for years, we of course accepted their offer. We are totally in love with this light. I was when I saw it in another grower's setup and was in awe of its output and results.
So with much pride and thankfulness for the presents the Universe bestowed on us, in the form of MarsHydroLEDS offer and the bountiful harvest of the last grow, (which I am thoroughly enjoying btw, such a great weed to have grown ourselves) we start out on a new adventure that we can't wait to share with you.
With many lessons learned from the previous grow, a mighty producing strain in the form of Expert Seeds Gorilla Glue #4, a.k.a Expert Gorilla's and a tweaked super soil mixture, we are setting out to hopefully get over a gram per watt, preferably 1.5.
The Setup
A 4.5 (140 cm) x 2(70) x 6.2 (200) grow tent, giving me a .98 m2 workspace. This space is customized to my needs.
A standing fan will provide airflow through the whole grow, a top fan will help guide cooler air past my lights onto the grow.
3 56 ltr pots will be the home for the plants when they are 2 weeks old, up to then in smaller jars.
The Light
The leading role and star of the show will be played by the Mars Hydro SP-3000, so kindly provided by MarsHydroLED, which we will test and review here and I might say, endorse.
I'm very careful with who I endorse and support these days, but a company with that many wins in design, I'm talking ever since their first range came out in 2009 these guys have been raising the bar for the whole industry, I did not hesitate to support this leading brand.
If you want to compete with these guys, you better bring some quality AND affordable pricing. Why do I endorse the SP-3000 without ANY hesitation?
It is seriously THE BEST light on the market in this price range and size group. It has an enormously effective output in U/Mol and with 30% less energy waste comparing to older LED lights.
Prove me wrong!
And with a company holding a considerable market share selling thousands of units every month, competing on price and quality, one would think that customer service would suffer. Of course, also Mars Hydro is not perfect, but check the sheer amount of people that not only praise the light but also the service received, should the light somehow not perform up to par. It is this dedication to their customer base that made this company have a fanbase... Yes, a fanbase with a website and a wiki.
So if you are looking to buy new lights, check out the END OF SUMMER OFFER at the Mars-Hydro Global Store on Aliexpress:
https://marshydroled.aliexpress.com/ 👈 Check their offers but also their score, they ship from a warehouse near you so you don't have the extra import fees!! Cut out the middleman and have a deal on these lights!!
At the moment I write this in August 2021, the lights are 408,20 euro when sent from Germany to the rest of Europe, that's 40 euro cheaper than the other Mars outlets, BUT EVEN 60 euros cheaper than ordering at a grow store!!
The Strain:
Experts Seeds - Expert Gorilla feminized regular.
Don’t let the name fool you because Expert Gorilla is suitable for growers of any skill level. However, you do need to be an experienced smoker because Expert Gorilla is one of the most potent strains on the market.
Lineage: Chem Sis x Chocolate Diesel x Sour Dubb
Popularity: Extremely Popular
Flavor/Aroma Profile: Chocolate, Earthy, Fuel
Yield: 400 g/m2
Stress Tolerance: High resistance to disease
Potency: 24% THC
Flowering time: 58 - 63 days
The Soil:
Those who saw my Monstercropped Gelato #33 grow (you should see it if you didn't, I'm so proud of that grow), know about my super soil and organic nutrients/ permaculture tea combo that starred in my previous diary.
Because of the great results, we are going to use the same recipe, adjusted some more with some new ingredients that will complete the mix and give an even more sustained super soil buffer.
20% Atami Bi-grow (very similar to ocean forest)
20% Atami worm castings
20% Atami Coco Coir
10% Hydrocorn
10% Peat powder
1 cup Fossil seaweed chalk
1 cup bonemeal
1 cup bloodmeal
1 cup Microlife
3-4 teaspoons of epsom salt
3 cups of activated biochar (activated with our own permaculture tea)
I just made layers, starting with hydro corn on the bottom to aid airflow/run-off. On this I started layering the coco coir, Bi-grow, peat, castings, and amendments in a way that the more mature the plants get, the more phosphorous and less nitrogen they will find. Every time I made three layers, I would mix them by hand. This way we simulate natural soil, which consists of humic layers, composting plant waste, fungal and microbial life, and nutrients from fossilized sources.
The Nutrients
I will start with just adding 6.4 PH water, although this soil should buffer ph itself and regulate, after 4 weeks, I'll slowly be adding:
- Biobizz Grow
- Plagron Alga Grow
- Biobizz CalMag
- Biobizz Flower
- Plagron Alga Flower
- Biobizz Topmax
- Melasses
The Tea
Some of you might remember the permaculture tea from my previous grow, I have a short video in my harvest page showing how we make it), it will star again in this grow.
- (Rain)water
- Comfrey (whole plants)
- Dandelion leaves
- Roots and leaves from the earlier grow
- Minor periwinkle (Finca minor) is a plant we have in our garden, it contains an alkaloid that is associated with increased brain function but also is a light toxin for wee beasties and other unwanted guests like gnats (who hate it).
- When flowering I add some wood ash to this mix
Thank you for checking in on one of my grows again! Thanks for all the love on my previous grow, check it out if you haven't seen it!!
Hug
Bud
Well after the sobstory of last week, one of them seems to have gotten the life.. Not much life but life none the less. It has sprouted... It looks like a bit of a runt... It doesnt grow very fast so if it doesnt recover soon, I will replace her with either another Orange Hill Special or an XtraKush, an obscure Dutch landrace creation by Weedseeds.site. More of a try out.
But well see...
Many thanks to @MarsHydroLED for letteing us use their SP 3000 during coming grows, were very happy and amazed with this sexy light so far.
Don't forget the end of summer deals @ https://marshydroled.nl.aliexpress.com/
Thank you for checking in again!
One seedling has made it out of the 5 we started with. Not a great score but we fixed it by planting another kind: XtraKush by Weedseeds.site. A very obscure little site. They are unfeminized, so I planted two in hopes at least one will be female.
Im still feeding plain water, bit of PH- but thats it. At least Orange Hill Special is doing fine on it, another week maybe and its time to repot them to the hot supersoil!
For now we shall see what the Expert Gorilla will do, will she grow up to be a female silverback or does she stay a baby. Still very happy with the Mars Hydro SP-3000, what a beast of a ligth. You must wear eyeprotection with this cause it will tear your retina off. What a sea of light. Thanks again to @MarsHydroLED, for letting us try it. Also very very happy with the 6th by diary of the month August, didnt expect it and this does motivate to do an even better job on the coming diaries. Thank you GD and FastBuds!!!
Thank you for following and see you next week!!
After all her sisters never germinated, this one also has had a lot of trouble from the start. She remains small, flimsy, and sickly. I've tried less acidic water, lights less strong and it's a bit of a fight to keep her alive.
We shall see where it leads but so far she is a week, maybe two behind by the looks of it.
Now she seems to recover and her roots have reached the bottom of the pot.
I'm going to start with some nutrients and set her in a bigger pot next week, if she recovers.
The one thing I am very happy with is our light. The SP-3000 is such a delight to work with, we are getting to know each other well and we are very thankful to @MarsHydroLED. Ask them anything and you'll get an answer. Check: they have great deals now at the end-off-summer deals at the Mars Hydro Factory Global store, they have discounts up to 20%. Im sure that whatever is hindering my grows at the moment, my light and soil are what is keeping them alive.
Thank you for following see you next week!!
Everything seems to turn around this week. My grow didn't go well and also a lot going on in our lives. That's why it took a while for the diary to get back on track. Sometimes all we need is some good news and this came two-fold this week. First I woke up to see my favorite coin go through the roof (go Shiba) and later to be surprised by the doorbell, with a bigger surprise: my prize came in!! A great care package by the guys of @Fastbuds, thanks so much, and totally enjoying it! It really made my month.
So to find my girls thriving this morning is the third gift in a week that keeps on giving. My soil recipe combined with this great light, the SP-3000 by Mars Hydro (thanks so much @MarsHydroLED) are the reasons all is getting better even with this runt girl, the sole survivor of a pack of 5 Expert Seeds Gorilla's, bought at Zamnezia.
See my soil recipe on the germination page if you want to see how I do it or create it yourself. It is unreal how much it aids recovery in severely stressed plants. If you live in Europe, I have accidentally stumbled upon and elaborated on a European Master Mark and Subcool Super Soil recipe.
The problem is that Ocean Forest soil is very hard to get by in Europe. Also, some of the amendments and tea mixtures are sold only in the US.
After searching online, asking the guys that make Atami and other organic medium specialists I have made a recipe that comes close and definitely matches the super soil recipes we all have seen.
So please use it to your advantage. Ask me anything if you have a hard time finding stuff you need and don't worry it works excellently without the permaculture tea as well!
So see how she is going back to thriving, in a couple of days after replanting. Instead of stress, they are recovering. Another proof this soil is the European answer to Supersoil.
THank you for checking in again! Happy growing and see you soon!!
She seems to thrive in the new soil, I'm checking her regularly because of the darker ridged leaves, could I have overdone the bloodmeal content? It should not have overfeeding effects with organic super soil. But we'll see.
The FIM seems to have taken hold with her and today I started training, although it is more main-lining.
For this, I just used some microwaved bamboo from the garden. Now we go towards flowering and I'm getting more excited after the first few weeks were a bit sad.
Some of you might have seen my super soil recipe in my other grow, the Orange Hill Special, if you didn't, check it out here in the images!
I designed it out of frustration that products like Fox Farms etc are not readily available in Europe.
Those who saw my Gelato Monstercop grow, know that soil was pretty good, that soil became the base for this recipe, amended with some organic precursors to make it less dependent on feeding and after amending.
I would recommend amending some before flowering starts without the bloodmeal.
Hope you can use it!! Thank you very much for checking me out again this week!
Hapy growing and big hug
BioBuds and Sunshine
She truly might be becoming the Gorilla that was promised, huge leaves. Not as pungent or bushy as the Orange Hill beside her but she seems to get there. I'm finally seeing some exponential growth, I'm going to give them as much rest as I can coming weeks to maximize growth before flowering and to prevent (hopefully) them going hermie on me, which both Gorillas and Orange Hill Special are prone to.
I have made a video to thank them for letting me use their SP-3000. What a beast of a light!! Thanks again @MarsHydroLED for letting me test this awesome light!
I have made a new layer of topsoil made of organic coco-peat, which should help me prevent more fungus gnats. They already seem to hate it and are wandering around in agony trying to dig in... Good for them, freeloading beastards.
Now we go to flowering coming weeks, and I can't wait... Thanks for checking in and the likes and support!
This week I tried to let them go, only did some gnat hunting with the vacuum to keep populations down. Sunshine found a great way to hold the plant down with some thrift store Christmas light fixtures.
At the end of this week, I tied the remaining upward stalks down and away. The final bits of training before we can hopefully go towards flowering coming week.
I did some foliar feeding also to help the soil dry out a bit, also to fight the gnats. Maybe overdid it a bit with a few yellow points on the leaves.
On to flowering!!
Gorilla, gorilla, my problem child. The only one popping out of 5 but she is weaker than her roommates. She stays behind compared to them. But what can I do other than TLC, she has the best conditions, which are optimal in this grow room, also judging by the other two plants. Until I have a bigger operation, which in the current political climate, is not soon, where I can make mothers and clone them, breed my own strains, and root out runts like this, we do it like life. We play the hand as it is dealt to us and we love all our children the same... although this one is special.
So not a genderfluid Silverback yet, but it ain't over till the voluptuous lady sings. We shall nurse this little runt until adulthood, who knows she might surprise us, she should have the mighty Gorilla Glue Number Fouh genes in there somewhere. Now come on out here and show daddy what you're made of...
This week we spread out the leaves and branches, some leaf tucking and gentle LST, to prepare for some higher stress and super cropping today. Two days back we made the switch and set the lights to 12/12. Now the flowering stretch will begin, thus we bend the branches further outward in preparation for the canopy. When I do this I notice the branches are thick and sturdy, with no breakage at all unlike my previous grow, the gelato 33. I snapped some branches applying the super cropping and just normal bending with those. It seems like the fan (I didn't have a good option previous grow, hence the flimsier branches there) but also this lighting and soil regime are topnotch, asides from outdoor I haven't seen such lush bushiness yet, even on a more runt-like plant.
This MarsHydro SP3000 is still performing great, such controlled temperatures, such an ocean of light. I only wish I started growing with this earlier. Thanks again @MarsHydroLED for trusting us to test your mighty flagship light. It is so well made, it oozes quality, I just want to touch it every time (also to check if it stays cool) and it is just sexy, slender, and compared to my other 300 watt light, a completely different spectrum and clarity. If you are looking for new lights, look no further. At www.mars-hydro.com they have excellent and unbeatable deals on tent and light combinations where you practically get a tent for free, it is ridiculous.
I was afraid the light wouldn't cover the sides of my tent with my 4.5-foot space. Penny at MarsHydro had to laugh at this a bit, said not to worry. What an understatement. This light could signal to other galaxies. I sincerely recommend good sunglasses with this light.
Only thing I'm adding is an infrared light Sunshine found. With this I'm going to simulate sunrise and sunset and try to prevent stress by easing the light in and out, like in nature.
We are in flowering now, very excited to see what she will do here. What can she perform? Will she cover the net? Will she deliver gorgeous buds, like she is known to do? On these cliffhangers I hope you will tune in next week for more gorilla-related plantporn... go on... you know you want it.
Hug Bud!!
A week with lots of activity from my side, from the Gorilla's side, not so much. She stays behind and I can't find any other reason than genetics/seed quality. She is in exactly the same conditions as the other girls. I'm letting her do her thing. She will give some weed, well see how much. Maybe she is a late-bloomer. She does look lush and healthy so we do not understand but are learning. I put in the scrog net since her roommates need it and lowered the lights and started giving more flowering feed.
The light is still awesome, the amount it puts out. This SP- 3000 rocks and, wallet permitting, we will go for a second one. @MarsHydroLED might be so happy with the amount of coverage we give them, they'll send us another one 😏
If you haven't seen it yet and you are in the market for new gear, check out the Black Friday super sale on www.mars-hydro.com!!
We are gonna see what happens coming weeks with this strain. So far I am a bit disappointed and didn't expect this from this strain. We will never know if it was the age of the seeds or something else.
What I do know is, it was the last time I use a third party seedbank, it is apparently too hard to keep fresh stock with too many strains. Until breeders put a production date o the packaging. Isn't it time someone said that?
Cause lets keep it real, we are talking seeds that in any other case would have a cost of production of fractions of cents per seed. We pay what? 3 to 5 to maybe even 20 dollars a seed for an exceptional strain?
Is it then too much too ask to put a friggin expiry date on the package? Or store them cooled?
The breeder that does that and arranges a deal with third-parties that overstock can be sent back, packaging recycled, in exchange for fresh stock. Like any other fresh trade.
For an industry making what, a billion worldwide, it is remarkable how many are still in the stoner with a garage / 80's trailer park, backwater funfair warranty, kinda customer service.
Me: i grow organic weed for 30 years, these seeds were old
Seed dealer: Yes but you failed to do a raindance on the rising moon, no refund.
Me: but its for cannabis?
Weed industry: Yes why we charged you double!
Me: wow no germination after paying 20 bucks for seeds?
Industry: They are all stoners, they won't notice....
Me: but this bong is made from toxic plastics?
Headshop: yeas but it has this crumbling image of a leaf, 20 dollar!
Can they get their shit together? For god's sake, I've seen crack dealers with better PR and customer care.
Someone do sumtin, take us out of the car boot era please?
Well, she keeps disappointing me a bit. If you see her development compared to the two other strains, she is miles behind. Not stretching that much, and flowering stays behind. Im checking for male signs every day as I suspect she might go on me.
All conditions are the same. This is a 9 euro seed. 4 of them didn't germinate. 50 bucks down the shitter. The plant right next to her comes from a one dollar seed, xtrakush at weedseeds.site.
That's why I plead for the growers to share their lucky shots and give the small-time breeders a break.
Also a plea for an expiry date on the products, for the price vs cost of production, we can expect that service.
that way renowned breeders also protect their name when third parties sell old seeds to growers that leave bad reviews.
Maybe she surprises me yet, but we are long way from the silverback we wanted.
Thanks for checking in, see you next week!!
Bud
Gorilla gorilla... my problem child. It has a mind of its own, doesn't want to fit the scrog, seems way behind on her roommates, and is so far a little bit of a disappointment. We will see where she will go, something smokable might come of it.
So I defoliated a little, amended with solid nutes: worm castings, bone meal and some extra micro life. Over this, I poured feed, see the liquid feed schedule above.
Overal this plant is cramping my stylo a little. Again enforcing my resolution to only grow top genetics, it costs a lot of time and I have only so much space within the legal framework, why bother with inferior strains?
We shall see where she takes us... For now, still not impressed much.
See you next week!!
Hug Bud
Last week I finally did some lollipopping and defoliation. I had too cause humidity went through the roof and foliage was dense and wet in the mornings.
Also fed with the amendment. 5 liters of worm castings, with bone meal, some microlife.
Some bud growth started but also trichomes are forming and a strong weed smell is developing in the tent.
The growth is far behind compared to the other two though. Not as many buds and the plant is overall more flimsy and has hollow stalks.
The very slender leaf growth leaves me to believe that next to being the runt all the grow, the gorilla doesn't seem to enjoy the high feed environment.
It also really doesn't respond well to scrogging, it keeps reaching for the light,
It remains the odd one out in the tent.
The buds are few and far between, I'm not very hopeful this one will produce the grams needed to keep my grams per watt score high.
The other two might well compensate for it, we shall see.
Thanks for checking in!!
When we had so many problems with the other two strains. This strain keeps pushing out buds like the little engine that could. Closest to the light, it handles heat and light way better than her counterparts.
It also has some major trichome formation starting covering the entire top leaves.
It is starting to smell and form real compact dense buds, although not very pronounced yet.
We shall see but she promises to deliver some nice danky bud after all.
Nice to see she still pulls together, also nice to see how different this strain behaves from others I have grown.
Time will tell the total tally... We shall see if there is a Silverback in the making, but at least she is not staying behind any more.
Also here, 3 to 4 more weeks... Cant wait!
Thank you for checking in! More budshots follow of this one!
Hug Bud
Another week on the Gorilla, she is forming bud, but real irregular and she seems to not fill out like she is supposed to. The plant is way smaller than her roommates too, in this case thankfully cause this will compensate a little for the loss of total weight she will cause.
I had made a video but decided not to put it up, with too much strong language and questions of the integrity of the third-party seed bank in question.
Remember that Expert seeds probably cant help this much, except not dealing with third parties messing up their good name.
Well enough words for an so far underperforming plant. We did as much magic as we could, I think Im lucky if she yields 30 grams, lowering my total and average gram per watt score so thanks...
Merry Christmas everyone from Sunshine and me! Thank you for following another update and I hope you and yours are enjoying yourselves!
She is still filling out her bud sites and the buds have grown considerably so in my case she seems more of a late-bloomer, she is covered in trichomes and smells like exotic fruit.
Removed some more leaves, she had some more humid areas that could go moldy.
Started only giving plain water since a couple of days. The previous time with the final shot of perma tea.
She is clearly ending her run and my guess is that the soil still has high nute level, coming days will start flushing with more water
I don't know if I can give her days of darkness since shell probably go first. I will try, but no clue how yet.
Thank you all and have a good one!
Hug Bud and Sunshine
Wow, she did turn out to be the silverback we aimed for. Look at that frosting. The strange and wonderful growth has made it look like something primeval.
She is taken out of the grow room for a couple of days of darkness and tomorrow she will be harvested.
Have been giving just freshwater for 1.5 to 2 weeks now.
Will keep you posted with results in the coming weeks and the harvest video and photo's tomorrow.
Thank you for checking in again!
We could not have done this without our trusty SP 3000, check www.mars-hydro for deals on them!
An here we are. At the end of another cycle. The end of another year, and what a year it was. For Sunshine and me personally, it was a tough year, with our families sick on multiple occasions, life-threatening. We are very thankful for many things but most of all that all our parents are healthy again.
We wish your families are as fortunate in the coming year.
So we end this Gorilla's life with a swift cut of the scissors, after thanking her again for the companionship, the well-needed distraction, and all the love she has given me already.
I sometimes read that people won't go near their plants when they are angry or sad. Please do go to your plants when you are sad or angry!
They are millions of years old. They have been healers of animals and humans since they were around. Our emotions can not taint something so pure as the spirit of this plant.
She will heal us, give her life for us, sacrifice herself for our healing. She is all-powerful and all-knowing, there is nothing we mere humans can do, except disrespect her powers.
Bask in her glowing light, enjoy her soothing energy, her creative spark when you are in need of love, just don't smoke her at that time, for she will soothe you bit not give her treasures, she will seduce you.
Next to thanking Santa Maria for her healing, we would like to thank our friends here, all who shared their kind words, advice, and attention.
I had made a video to share my thanks on video, but every time I got very emotional. You guys have no idea how tough this year was.
The gorilla is real easy to clean and sticky and cristally. Its amazingly great to smoke!
So a special thanks to: @Sailormoonflowers for being a buddy to talk to, @JamMAKEcan for being there with ideas and always a lot of love, @Roberts for being an inspiration @Cannabeast and @LegendarySeedThumb for always checking out my grows, to all who I forgot who are always here to greet me! @Growdiaries for being an awesome site and community and last but not least: @MarsHydroLED for letting us try their SP-3000.
VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR XXX
We wish all of you freedom, love, happiness, but also the awareness to see many of us are still being repressed, with growing but also with our human rights.
Jah jah gave us life to live, so let us live brothers!
It is time the rastaman made a plan!
We are 99% loving people on this planet, we need no 1% to fuck it up with wars and strife.
We need to stop cooperating, peacefully resist. If you can buy local, ban exploiting multinationals.
Help your local businesses, help your neighbors, we need to wake up and stop funding this black stain on our planet.
Sell your stock in multinationals, invest in local businesses.
Buy local products, speak out when you get taxed higher than millionaires (and you are).
The day is coming my brothers and sisters. Soon a handful of CEO's will find out when billions are done with them.
For now thanks for everything!
BioBuds
