The Great Grow Experiment

This is my very first grow of my first clones, grown from C99 seed by a lovely friend -- my many thanks to the generosity of @FairyBudMother for the clones and patient guidance. The Girls look good today. They were transplanted from airpots to their large growing pots with added mycorrhizae on 6/24. I watered for the first time (~1/2 cup plain water each, per instructions) yesterday (6/26), and the plants are distinctly perky today. I measured my tap water on 6/22, finding the 5.86 (PH) & 186 (PPM) sufficient to use without tinkering with it. So far that seems to have been a fine choice.

Plants were watered with plain tap water yesterday (7/1) with a little under a cup of water each. On their 6/28 watering they were treated with a small sprinkle of mosquito bits and some additional mycorrhizae. I'm not sure how often to add these to their diet, so input is appreciated. I also have Neem Oil for pests and a sprayer that I'm not entirely sure when or how to use, but it's here when I need it. Slight yellowing and curling on lowest leaves, so I picked those off the other day and the plants seem happy. They'll get their first meal (1/2 tsp Bud Bread with 1/2 gallon water split between them) on Wednesday (7/4). Plant #1 has a crooked stem, making it difficult to measure her true height, but her leaves are growing full and stretching upward. She has noticeable new growth near the base of the stem that I hope will become a strong additional stalk. Plant #2 looks a bit like a palm tree at the moment, but I think I see a tiny baby leaf starting to grow near the base. Her leaves are growing slightly unevenly, growth favoring the right side. Neither plant has darkened much in color.

A massive heatwave hit Southern California this past week and I was concerned about the plants when it hit 117º, but with careful monitoring and a little extra water, the ladies were fine. Twice a week they're receiving Bud Bread supplements in with their regular watering schedule. I'm currently watering every second day (Monday, Thursday, Sunday, etc.) and splitting about a half gallon between them, with any extra going to the neighboring tomatoes. I've been adding mosquito bits and a little mycorrhizae once a week to prevent pests and keep the roots happy. I'll likely treat with Neem oil for the first time in a few weeks to make sure no critters are bugging them. As always, guidance and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

It has been really exciting to watch the tiny clones I received from @TheFairyBudmother grow this week. They have shot upward in growth after topping, with both plants starting to really stretch horizontally as well as climbing skyward. Plant #1 has a cute little second stalk that I hope will be a beautiful cola for me to train into a fun bouquet. Plant #1 is also leaning slightly forward in the pot, though the stem feels strong. Plant #2 seems to be thriving on the schedule of watering 3x/week with meals 2x/week and looks happy, with little red hairs starting to form at the joints where stems form on the main stalk. I'll see about adding a little soil and some mycorrhizae to both pots in the coming days. It has been suggested I look into a fan to turn on the plants to challenge the stem a little to grow stronger because they're not getting a ton of natural breeze. We'll see what I can find at the dollar tree.

Busy week for me and the little ladies. While they were busy growing an inch+ a piece, I studied for a Spanish final with a blunt in my fingers trying to remember conjugations. I digress. Plants #1 & #2 have such unique growth between the two of them. Since it's my first grow, I'm trying not to compare the two and have to keep reminding myself that they are not going to grow identically. Plant #1 is a bit shorter than #2, but has a second stalk growing from the base of the plant which I imagine takes a lot of her energy. In addition, this week she suffered a little bug attack, which may also explain why she is so much shorter than her sister. One leaf had distinct damage, pictured, and one looked like it may have been nibbled on, but I removed both and treated both plants with Neem oil (1tsp:1gal) in my sprayer last night (7/25). Plant #2 is taaaaalll. She has such a happy upward reach that looks like prayer hands, which are just so damn cute. After topping last week, it looks like there has been considerable growth to four main stems which I hope will be bushy, heavy colas when they're ready.

Well, it looks like we're flowering a little early! I've been told this is not surprising given my late-season grow and I've just been thrilled to keep the plants alive, so I'm a happy camper. Ultimately, the plants are doing their thang and I'm happy to watch and help a little in the process - I'll work on improving my yields next grow, once I have a better understanding of how the whole process should go. I've been working on two feeds & one plain watering per week and one spray with Neem oil/soap every Wednesday. Each plant is getting about 36oz of water (~1/3 gallon) each week, plus the light spraying of water, which seems to be working right now. All the wisdom I've absorbed has been that watering is a type of 'by feel' measurement and what I'm doing seems to be working. I'll slowly increase as they grow, going by feel. Plant #1 is happy as can be this week; I moved her into more sun and that seems to have been a smart move. Plant #2 is shooting skyward, as she does. The neem treatment seems to have gotten rid of the majority of the bugs on both plants, but I check every day to make sure there aren't any anywhere. I usually find one or two and get rid of them and I'm not seeing any damage. I'll remain vigilant on this. EDIT FROM THE FUTURE: this tricksy little plant is not flowering after all, it's just got a funny growth pattern. Thanks @thefairybudmother for your guidance!

The last two weeks were busy for the plants; each had a little sun damage from the heat wave last week, so I removed the effected leaves and have continued to treat them for pests on Wednesdays. I gently wrapped a pipe cleaner around Plant #1's main stalk because it wouldn't stop leaning and it seems like it's getting more even sunshine now. Plant #2 keeps shooting skyward, happy as can be. I ordered the rest of the Cold War Organics line to see me through the rest of my grow and will be adding Angel's Touch to the feed schedule - 1 tsp/half gallon, which should go nicely with the two feeds a week I've been going on.

Plant #1 seemed really happy with my adding the pipe cleaner this week and seemed to stretch out a bit more than previous weeks this time around. The whole grow she has seemed a bit less developed than her sister; a little shorter, fewer preflowers, slightly different grow structure - I've been trying not to compare the two, but... Plant #2 is preflowering like crazy and seem to be developing thicker stems than her counterpart. Time shall tell how the differences play out when harvest comes. This week I added Angel's Touch to one feeding and that'll be the new schedule. 1 tsp: 1/2 gal, in keeping with the proportions suggested on their feed chart. Upped the Bud Bread to 1 tsp: 1/2 gal, because the girls hit their 13" mark and need a little extra food.

8/27/18 - Added tomato cages two days ago to help the ladies prop themselves up as their leaves stretch out and get heavy. They seemed fine with the new additions and are on their regular feeding schedule, according to the Cold War Organics chart.

9/3 - Seeing a lot of rapid growth with the addition of the Angel's Touch to a weekly feeding. The ladies are growing taller and the preflowers are going nuts. Just a ton of future flowers running crazy, which is really exciting to see. I'm finding the process of watching the plants grow to be really meditative; I like going out onto my patio to smoke and watch them sway in the breeze and think about the life cycle. 🙌

9/11/18 - WHEEEEEE!!!! We're in flower, we're in flower!! I started seeing buds forming weeks ago but this funny little strain didn't switch into the flowering stage for quite a while longer, which was apparently the case for other growers of C99 so it seems the type that just likes to play tricks. Now the ladies are growing and I've seen huge growth. Plant #1, which I was worried was so much smaller throughout the beginning of the grow, shot upward and overtook #2 in size over the last weeks. I'm impressed and excited by it. Plant #2 has much bushier buds and is crystallizing much more than #2 so far. I'm just excited to keep seeing the ladies grow. Plants were fed on Sunday and according to the CWO application chart I should up my Bud Bread to 1.5 tsp: 1/2 gal (3x/wk) and add the flowering supplement Coming of Age at 1.5 tsp: 1/2 gal (1x/wk). I'll keep the Angel's Touch at 1 tsp: 1/2 gal (1x/wk) on my Sunday feedings and put Coming of Age in on Tuesdays to prevent burning the ladies with too many nutes too fast.