Joe's Citrus Grove

A buddy from work (Joe) did some cloning in his own home grow and kicked me a couple extras! Tangerine Cookies & Key Lime Kush, from Deschutes Growery in Bend, OR. First grow with my new light: FC-E3000 by Mars Hydro. Super pumped for this light. I've been suspecting that the lackluster results I've gotten from the last few grows are due largely to lighting. My best light was only 100W, and the 200W flower light I've been using is a cheap, chinese p.o.s. For nutes, I'm using a BioBizz lineup I scored at a convention. The stuff appears to be various types of molasses--each formula is thick, dark brown/near-black, and smells sweet (even the Fish-Mix!) Measuring them out with a pipette is horribly tedious. I also find it really weird that both the base bloom formula and the bloom booster (Top-Max) are added starting week 3. The feed schedule has flowering starting at week 3, but...I dont really know any growers that only veg for 2 weeks. 😕 Think I'll hold off on them until I properly flip. Light is at about 60% power (~200W). They came in 1 gal's, were immediately up-potted into 5 gal's. The TC was yellowing out and showing signs of other deficiencies. The KL was green, but mopey and showing signs of root-bound. Both improved a few days after the up-potting and watering-in + food. I guessed these gals to be at least far enough along in veg to handle the week 3 regimen on the BioBizz feed chart, so that's what I watered in with. Added the Root-Juice to help with the up-potting. Joe said the KL will stay short & bushy its whole life, but warned that the TC will stretch like a mofo. Going to try to manage that with some supercropping. Tangerine and Key Lime, courtesy of Joe--welcome to Joe's Citrus Grove!

Joe warned me to expect the TC to stretch somewhere near 3x her veg height. Given the height she was at when he gave her to me, I figured I should lower her height so she doesnt force me to hoist the light up to the tent ceiling. The branches had lots of little side branches--a good sign this would do double duty as both height control and yield enhancer! Not 24 hours after the supercropping, her tips were bending upwards and her new canopy was much neater. Additionally, it was now even with KL's canopy line. TC seems like a vigorous and resilient plant; begging to be trained, recovering quickly from training, and responding significantly well to it. Her canopy has about doubled in overall area, and the side branches are quickly growing in size and prominence. There's no doubt in my mind their colas will be every bit as large as those of the original main branches. Gave another round of late veg schedule nutes to prepare the soil for the stretch. At the rate these girls grow, they'll probably drain the soil of nutrients in a few days during flower. Going to flip them at the end of the week because, quite simply, I cant afford to gamble with letting them grow much bigger! Downsides of having a 32 x 32 tent 😒 Turned the lights up to 75% (225W) at the beginning of the week, and up to about 80% (240W) the last two days of the week. I'll crank it up to full power for the first 12-hour day. I better hurry too, the TC is already getting taller, and she hasnt even been triggered yet 😮 Stripped them down nekkid the day before the flip, and not 24 hours later they had sizeable fan leaves again. The plants are beasts...I can only imagine the kind of flower they're going to put out. I hope the smell doesn't get too bad. Joe warned me his got pretty stinky when they entered the later weeks of flower. Only one way to find out: Let the games begin!

First week of flower down, and they're coming along nicely! TC has responded brilliantly to her training and has begun her infamous stretch. Despite being bent down to KL's level, TC is already taller now. I just hope she won't shoot up into the light. Earlier in the week, TC was showing signs of both mild nute deficiency and light burn. Raised the light, and began feeding every watering. Organic nutes mean I dont have to worry much about burning. TC is definitely the heavier drinker; probably because it's definitely the bigger stretcher. KL isnt stetching as much or as fast, but looks healthier. KL has a very weird shape--I wish I'd had the time to veg her more and correct it. Her colas are likely going to be uneven...but that's homegrowing! At the end of the day, I'm just glad to have two healthy, fierce plants in my tent. As long as theyre green & thriving, I dont care too much about some uneven branches!

Week 2 down. TC has taken off, as promised, I had to raise the light. KL hasn't stretched much, but has developed a high density of bud nodes. By the looks of it, she's going to grow into a bouquet of fat colas. As expected, their thirsts/appetites have increased, I'm watering about every other day, and they show no signs of any nutrient excesses. I plan on stripping them either this week, or next--preferably this week, so those lower & inner bud nodes can get maximum light exposure as early as possible. With a light this strong, I'm not worried about aggressive defoliating impacting photosynthesis. These girls are tips-up happy happy happy, and if I can keep this up, I'm fixing to see some fire buds!

And that's a wrap for week 3! TC continued her stretch, had to raise the light again by latching it directly into the top frame of the tent. TC was showing signs of light stress though, so it was a necessary maneuver. KL's bud are developing noticably faster & thicker than TC's. What she lacks in stature she makes up for in structure. Their drinking slowed a bit this week, hoping it picks back up now that the light has been raised.

Week 4 down. Her drinking is steady, her bud growth is steady, her trichome production is increasing. Everything is headed in the right direction, and I feel like I've got a good rhythm. Added Mag-Pro from the Dyna-Gro line. Had it kicking around, and it gave me pretty decent results in other grows. Still would like to see TC's buds get a little more size to them. They look tiny next to KL's impressive baby colas.

Week 5 in the books, ready for week 6! TC s older leaves are turning yellowish, hope that's the old light stress and not pH lockout. My nutrient solutions have been running acidic, and I really hope that's not causing this yellowing. KL is killing it, despite drinking slower than TC. Both smell great and are continuing to pump frost into those buds. Getting closer and closer!

Week 6 done, heading into week 7...and what a week it was. The timer tweaked, and the ladies got a full 19 hours of light. Just about panicked, diligently inspected them every night all week. I haven't spotted any male parts to date, I'm thinking I may have gotten off scott-free 🤞🤞 Visited family over the weekend and drenched the ladies before I left. When I came back, TC was wilty, and KL looked ok, but her pot was very light. Gave them both a generous feeding, and they seemed to perk back up the next day. Their drinking has been gradually increasing, and so have the size of their buds. I'm all too happy to throw as many nutrients & supps as they can handle, just get those buds as big as botanically possible! Monitoring trichomes now. Just about 50/50 clear/cloudy. Still a couple more weeks to go, gotta keep it steady. Steady, stick to the plan, remember the basics, leave the plants alone unless it's an emergency or watering. May week 7 bring more mass, vigor, and no nanners!

Halfway thru week 7, and my buddy Joe asks how much longer I'm going to wait. I asked him how long till they mature, and he said only like 60-someodd days. These ladies are well older than that. He said it looked like the TC was starting to get pale, and the KL was getting purple around the fringes--telltale signs of ripening for these strains. As such, the executive decision has been made to harvest in 2 weeks. Week 8, no more nutes, only minimal bloom boosters and calmag. Week 9, plain water. Dimming light to 75%.

After mulling when to harvest, I remembered the lessons I learned from my previous grows: Stick to the basics, and read your plants. The basics of when to harvest are checking trichome ripeness, no? Reading my plant for harvest readiness involves reading the trichomes, no? The answer was clear, and upon inspecting the triches, I decided it was time for both to come down. TC had few amber, mostly cloudy (good for her sativa qualities). KL had about 20-25% amber (good with her kush qualities). I had to take down TC in pieces, she was too big to hang whole. KL could fit whole, but only barely. An impressive harvest--certainly the desnsest, frostiest buds I've grown yet. It was also nice to have my buddy Joe to consult about strain specifics. He gave me the heads-up about TC's stretch and KL's quick ripening time. The aromas are unreal. TC is like candied orange peels and KL is like pure lime oil. Crazy how breeders can get cannabis to smell like this.

After mulling when to harvest, I remembered the lessons I learned from my previous grows: Stick to the basics, and read your plants. The basics of when to harvest are checking trichome ripeness, no? Reading my plant for harvest readiness involves reading the trichomes, no? The answer was clear, and upon inspecting the triches, I decided it was time for both to come down. TC had few amber, mostly cloudy (good for her sativa qualities). KL had about 20-25% amber (good with her kush qualities). I had to take down TC in pieces, she was too big to hang whole. KL could fit whole, but only barely. An impressive harvest--certainly the desnsest, frostiest buds I've grown yet. It was also nice to have my buddy Joe to consult about strain specifics. He gave me the heads-up about TC's stretch and KL's quick ripening time. The aromas are unreal. TC is like candied orange peels and KL is like pure lime oil. Crazy how breeders can get cannabis to smell like this.