3 Bears OG & Sour Stomper

So far so good. The 3BOG is a bit derpy, one of the second leaves is half the size of the other. But they’re both growing at a good rate. Watering is one thing I never feel confident about. I’ve been giving them 500ml every other day, watering evenly around their perimeter. I’m guessing that the soil towards the bottom of the pot is drying out somewhat. Once they’re bigger and I can water heavier I’ll use some Recharge to be sure there’s plenty of microbes alive down there.

🔆 Day 10 - All is well. Just watering, keeping the VPD in the zone. I sit down and have my morning coffee with them every day. We chat. They enjoy music. Max Richter’s recomposition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is a favorite, and anything by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. 🔆 Day 13 - I’m seeing discoloration again, just like in my first grow. It’s mainly affecting the 3BOG. I haven’t used any nutrients. My water shouldn’t be the problem, I bought meters (ugh) and the TDS is good, pH is 7. That’s a bit high but the soil should buffer it. So it’s got to be the soil. Just a bad bag?… is that a thing? Anyway, their growth is rate is still good, so I’ll just keep at it. I realized that the 3BOG and the Cream Caramel from my first attempt are both Indica dominate strains. The Sour Stomper is 50/50 Indica/Sativa and isn’t showing much discoloration. Maybe Indica’s aren’t liking this soil or are very sensitive to pH.

🔆 Day 15 - They’re both chugging along. 3BOG is still pale but no worse really. I watered to runoff, pH in was 7 and runoff was 6.6, so the soil is buffering down at bit. But I’ll start pHing my water down and see if that helps 3BOG. I top dressed both with a little Stonington dry food and added CalMag in the watering. 🔆 Day 18 - I’m pretty sure Magnesium deficiency is affecting them both, worse with 3BOG. But their growth seems fine. I was planning to do some LST, but I’ll probably leave them alone and not risk stressing them. I don’t want to slow them down (or worse). My goal is just to get a harvest (as soon as possible), I’m not concerned with big yields. I’ve been pHing the water down, suspecting that lockout might be the cause of the deficiencies. I’m also going to try a foliar spray of Epsom salts and add a bit to the next watering. 🔆 Day 20 - I haven’t done anything with them since the last update. I posted in the sick plant forum at Autoflower.net and got lots of advice. One of the old-timer gurus said don’t do anything right now, just water. So that’s what I’m gonna do despite wanting to do something, lol. They are growing well and look very healthy if I stand back and squint 😜. So tonight after lights-out I’ll just water. And I really want to LST or top but I’m not gonna do it. Just going to let them do their thing.

🔆 Day 22 - Nothing but watering still, trying to get the soil pH balanced. The consensus from the pros at Autoflower.net is that nutrients are being locked out. But their growth doesn’t seem to have been impacted too much. New growth looks better than the old so maybe I’m making progress. And I thought growing in organic soil would be simple and hard to screw up. Wrong, lol. The Sour is definitely outpacing 3BOG now. They’re getting pretty stinky already, which I’m loving, but I might have to put on the filter soon. And they’ve both shown to be girls btw, yay! 🔆 Day 25 - Both growing well. I think the pH issue or whatever it was is resolved. Their structure is really nice. Side branches are growing fast. I did a little leaf tucking to help them out. I gave them a top dressing of Stonington dry amendments today and watered yesterday with Recharge. 🔆 Day 28 - Well, the struggle continues with the pH issue. Runoff was 6.8 on the Sour and she has some leaf tip burn. Nevertheless, she’s growing fast, looks like the stretch is starting. 3BOG is doing her indica thing, no stretch yet (and no tip burn on her). I’ve just been watering with lower pH water. I gotta figure out how to bring down the damn soil pH. No need for a humidifier now. It’s nice having one less thing to deal with. And I had to put on the carbon filter, they were stinking up the place big time!

🔆 Day 30 - The Sour Girl is well into the stretch (20”) but I hope she slows down soon, running out of headroom. 3BOG is taking her time (15”), no stretch yet. I think my pH problems are due to excess calcium which is also locking out Mg. I hope I can fix it, or at least not make it worse. 🔆 Day 32 - 3BOG has started to stretch a bit (19”). Sour seems to be slowing down some, I hope (24”). I can only raise my light another 2”, and that’s if I take it off the hangers. They’re looking healthy enough I guess. Still some issues showing in the leaves, but no worse. I watered yesterday with Recharge. Also gave 3BOG a strong foliar of epsom salts (magnesium). It didn’t kill her, lol. I don’t know if it helped either. 🔆 Day 34 - Not much change, both are still stretching. The Sour is 28” tall and I’m hoping it’s gonna stop real soon (I should’ve topped her). Buds seem to be coming along well. I watered both with a light dose of CoM Liquid Squid today. It’s 2-3-0 and almost no calcium. I haven’t checked the soil pH lately, but it’s probably ok since I’ve been careful with the pH going in.

🔆 Day 36 - It’s a jungle in there. The stretch continues; Sour 30”, 3BOG 25”. If the Sour grows more than another 2” I’m going to have issues with the light. Just been watering, no nutes. I feel like flowering nutes should be going in about now, but I consulted the organic gurus at AFN and they said just water and watch them for the next 10 days or so. 🔆 Day 38 - It looks like the Sour’s stretch is about done, only an inch in the last two days (31”). Whew. 3BOG is still going (27”), but she won’t be a problem. Their buds are coming along. Still just watering. 🔆 Day 40 - Sour Girl is done stretching. 3BOG is 29” now. I didn’t think she would get this tall being mostly indica. I put some bamboo stakes into the bags, I have a feeling some branches may need supporting eventually. I’ll probably need to defoliate at some point too, to help with airflow. I couldn’t resist tinkering a bit and made a tea with Dr. Earth Flower Girl. I diluted it way down to about 90ppm and watered twice with it. Next week I may top dress them. For now back to just plain water.

🔆 Day 43 - The 3BOG caught up to the Sour, both about 31”. It’s interesting how their structure is almost identical, you’d think they were the same strain at a glance. The bud development on 3BOG is a little behind the Sour though. Some frost is appearing on both 😃 I’m seeing a new problem on both plants. The newer leaves are showing some yellowing. My guess is iron lock out. It could be high soil pH, so I’ll do a runoff check. Gave them both a light top dressing of Flower Girl yesterday. 🔆 Day 45 - The soil runoff pH was the same as my last check on day 28, Sour 6.8, 3BOG 6.6 So I guess that’s how it’s gonna stay. The newer leaves are no worse and the plants look happy. I’m not gonna worry about it. I’ve got them this far, I’m sure I can manage them for another 30 days or so. 🔆 Day 48 - My advisors at AFN seemed to think the plants were just hungry in general, not any specific deficiency. So yesterday I gave them Flower Girl tea. Today I top dressed a bit more of it and gave them a Recharge watering. The buds are coming along. 🌷

🔆 Day 51 - They’re both doing well. You can definitely see a difference in the buds between the two strains now. They both seem to be progressing at about the same rate. It would be nice if they finished at the same time. 🔆 Day 55 - The Sour has been looking a bit hungry, I think. So I gave her Flower Girl tea for her watering today. The buds are building pretty well on both plants. I’m trying to keep the humidity down and airflow flowing. I added a second small fan, down on the bottom of the tent. I’m paranoid about mold or bud rot. Lol 😥

🔆 Day 60 - Both are doing great. The Sour still has a few yellowed leaves but the extra feeding with tea has helped I think. Gave them Recharge on day 58. I’m also watering twice a day instead of once. Organic soil needs to stay moist and I think it was drying out too much. 🔆 Day 63 - Just another week or so to go I’m guessing. It looks like the fade is starting. The 3BOG might be a little further ahead, trichomes look a bit milky to me.

🔆 Day 66 - The wait continues. No amber trichomes on either plant yet. They’re getting pretty chunky and the leaves are still fading. Just watering, they don’t seem to be drinking as much lately. 🔆 Day 69 - The Stomper has some cool coloration going on. The buds on both are still building. Trichomes mostly cloudy on 3 Bears. No real amber on either yet. Just watering.

🔆 Day 74 - They’re fading pretty hard and I’m seeing fewer white pistils. The trichomes haven’t changed much. Patience.

🔆 Day 79 - They must be getting close, but the trichomes don’t look ripe yet. Few more days?

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