CKS Purple Kush / Gelato

Note: I have acquired a medical license to grow up to 25 cannabis plants since my first diary and am moving from 4 plants to 12 per run going forward. I should not have transplanted the smallest ones yet, as the root structure, while present, was not full. Since my last diary's plants were about to be harvested, I wanted to get these situated in the new 4x2 even though it was early. These plants were all sitting in a propagation dome for a couple weeks prior. The PK (Purple Kush) were all clones, and the Gelato were popped from seed. They are all in various stages of having been over-watered or nutrient deficiency. They are also home to some Fungus Gnats. I have learned that I will be dealing with these critters on the daily, and that's OK because they are easy to deal with. I use yellow sticky traps and diatomaceous earth, but the latter is far less effective than I had hoped. I could use a lot more I guess, but it is expensive. The sticky traps do a good enough job to manage the gnat population easily. When they were transplanted I used 3 tablespoons per gallon of Gaia Green's All Purpose 4-4-4 and 5 tbsp of worm castings. This was about +200% of the recommended dose of the Gaia Green, which I only realized later. I used the same ratios last run and top-dressed half way through flower, and the plants did not senesce (deteriorate with age) before harvest because they were so well fed. The buds were very potent and very frosty, but harsh. At most stages throughout my last grow TDS was over 3000 when I checked, which is too high and must have led to the harshness. I have converted much of that grow into flower rosin and I can almost taste the Gaia Green... This time around I did it again! Only after transplanting to 1 gallon pots, and over feeding by 200% did I realize our boy Mr Canuck (Matt) was using 1 tablespoon per gallon - not 3. Realizing this, it is clear why the first run's buds are harsh. Experience tells me they will be fine, and actually thrive, even with this hot substrate. When I transplant to 3 gallon pots, I will feed them 1 tablespoon per gallon. I'm excited to see how the Gelatos do alongside the Purple Kush. Last run I had a hermaphrodite (from overfeeding?) and the buds stopped swelling on all of the plants once they were pollinated. Maybe thsi time around they will be bigger.

Plants had been topped once and minimally Low Stress Trained over the past few weeks, removing any low branches and low node growth on main branches. While last run I had to fill the canopy with 4 plant, this time around I am hoping to reduce veg stage time, while increasing strength of plant branches to more easily support mature buds. Aiming for 8-12 colas per plant at this point in the grow. Things change in later weeks as more plants are added. Note, fungus gnats are thriving in the soil of these pots - once I even saw a fucking crowd of them crawl out of the side of the red pot when I watered. This is just before I went out to buy diatomaceous earth. At first I planned to run 9 PK. Then decided to run some Gelatos alongside for variety. 2 Gelatos are still in the 4x2 but are added to this tent in later weeks. Front and centre you see a clone in a red pot that is in bad shape compared to the others. I threw it away this week, and will end up with 11 plants instead of 12 as a result. Just couldn't be bothered, as it was too far behind the others.

We are now 1 week from flipping to flower. Transplanted to 3 gallon pots (and a couple 2.5 gallon), using 1 tablespoon of Gaia Green All Purpose per gallon, 1 tablespoon of Gaia Green's Power Bloom (2-8-4) per gallon, and 3 tablespoons of worm castings per gallon. Hopefully these ratios will lower TDS to an appropriate amount and the plants will consume all of the nutrients before harvest - properly senescing and helping the flavour of the buds. I added 2 more Gelato plants and ScrOG netting. Plants are growing vigorously. Some of the plants smaller than others (1 weak clone and 2 of the gelatos). Hopefully the smaller plants will stretch enough to catch up while I super crop the largest stems slowing down the larger plants.

Flipped to flower and raised the smaller plants to even canopy height. Also raised the ScrOG net as the plants were stretching very fast. Also purchased some DE (diatomaceous earth) to try and reel in the fungus gnat population; but the truth is, the sticky traps do most of the work. I guess if I used way more DE they may not be able to crawl into the soil and lay eggs, and the larva may dehydrate from the incisions caused by the DE particles. Who fucking knows... sticky traps for the win! DE is very expensive.

Removed plant elevators today, adjusted ScrOG height and did some super-cropping to lower the height of some of the tallest stalks. Gnats are under control again.

Plants grew tremendously this week. They are just coasting along on Gaia Green's amazing dry amendments. Lots of defoliation this week, as humidity is going nuts and temps are a little wonky. While I enjoyed the AC vent all summer long in my grow room, it didn't occur to me that it is now spewing heat into the room! Oops! Future weeks will be dialed in to about 50 RH and 24 C. I prefer 60 RH, but thought I should accept some advice for a change and try lower RH during flower.

Not a lot going on to discuss here. No signs of over feeding, and no signs of deficiency. Look at the sugar on the PK bud though. This phenotype was picked from 5 seeds I popped last run - and its already producing a nice amount of trichomes while the gelato plants are basically devoid. Cool to see the variances.

Very happy with how things are progressing. As you can see the canopy is looking fantastic! I would say at this point my PK buds are larger than those that I harvested last run. The Gelato plants are doing great as well. One of them is a little smaller than the others, but they are all producing mad buds, and fat!

The Gelato are starting to produce more trichomes now, but still not like the Purple Kush plants. I will need to do some research to figure out good strains for producing Flower Rosin. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I broke a top cola almost clean off from a PK plant (front middle), but taped it of course. This was barely hanging on, but it is still growing. Just below the break the bud seems to be producing more trichomes than anywhere else.