Greenhorn Grow - Candida (CD-1)

Yes, I'm a total greenhorn! First grow purely for medicinal purposes. Going for a totally organic grow. From germination to harvest. Organic plugs, soil & nutrients. Watered using filtered rain water. Using a 450w VIPARSPECTRA in a 90cm x 50cm x 160cm tent (3' x 1'6" x 5'2"), vented through carbon filter with slight neg pressure, passive air intake and two desk fans for breeze. Germinated in the plugs and planted in the soil today - day 7. Wish me luck! :)

End of week two today! Both the CD-1 and CBD CM plants are looking healthy. Master Chief is for visual scale (he is 2.5 inches / 6.5cm). Both plants are around the same height but the CD-1 definitely has a few more leaves on her. Probably too early to tell but I'm hoping my CD-1 is indica dominant which will make for a much easier grow next to her CBD CM indica sister in my 5'2" (160cm) grow tent. I've rolled the dice putting them in at the same time so hopefully I'll get lucky ;) Started them on nutrients this week as well. Using BioBizz products for the entire grow as I want to keep things completely organic. The past 7 days they've both been getting Bio-Grow at 2ml per litre. I'm following the nutrient schedule on the BioBizz product sheets (that I downloaded from their website) for the nutrients I'll be using. I'm not sure if they're getting too much or not enough liquid right now but they're growing and not showing any signs of getting too much water so I think we're good for now. There is still so much that I feel like I don't know. Reading diaries here has definitely helped fill in some of the blanks. So cheers everyone for collectively creating such an awesome resource :)

Another week down and the good watering advice I received from everyone seems to have worked a charm! So thank you :) My CD-1 looks like she is starting to thicken up already and the CBD CM has exploded outwards. I haven't moved the light up yet, they both seem to be liking the current distance of 10" (25cm). I misread the product info sheet for the BioBizz Top-Max and Bio-Bloom so that resulted them in getting 1ml per 1L of each a week earlier than they should have. Can't say it appears to have done them any harm, if anything it appears as though it has given them a bit of a boost. I've also adjusted my little desk fans today to make my lovely ladies dance a little more :) So far so good - only week three though. I'm am confident (perhaps foolishly?) that I should be able to handle any curve balls thrown my way with the help of the community here and the great online resources that have made this project possible. Kudos to growdiaries.com and also to growweedeasy.com that gave me enough good info to get cracking! Happy growing :)

My girls are officially 4 weeks old today :) My dream of having two indicas has been shattered by a leggy CD-1 starting to strut her stuff. The leaf shapes are also considerably & noticeably different, so there's that. My CBD CM is still spreading sideways and is not quite as tall as her sister... yet. On the very sage advice of @Jon_Do I did a deep dive on the weekend in to training techniques. I'm definitely planning on topping them some time this week. I'm also planning on some low stress training and using a scrog net. I'm a total greenhorn (as the title suggests!) so I need to do a bit more reading on manifolding and defoliation before making a decision on that. It certainly would be ideal to keep them as short as possible with the limited vertical space I have. Also, as per suggestion from @Larimar I've got some equipment arriving this week that will mean next weeks diaries will have temp, humidity & PH stats. Yay!

Another week of firsts! Topped both plants mid week, even put the CD-1 top in to a plug to attempt to clone it (also my first attempt) cos why not? :) Since topping, the CD-1 is sprouting new nodes all over the place. I think I might have hurt my CBD CM's feelings though because it hasn't really done much but get yellow leaves at the bottom of the plant. I've checked my PH every other day and it hovers between 6.5 - 7.0 so I don't think it's that. My soil is a little bit dry so I gave them both a big drink today. Hopefully CBD CM will perk up with some more moisture. My measuring equipment also arrived, so I've been keeping an eye on temp, humidity & PH levels. So far so good, I think :) Am I the only one that feels like a bad plant mom when topping and using LST? I started a little bit of LST on both CD-1 and CBD CM this week to expose the nodes to light and I feel like I should be apologising to them for (wo)man-handling them :P I think I'll need to deploy my SCRoG net soon too. I may need to make two separate nets. CD-1 is charging upwards while CBD CM is still sulking post topping. Onwards and hopefully not too far upwards!

Both ladies have recovered from their topping and seem to have a new found zest for life ;) CD-1 is looking VERY rangey now and CBD CM is heading both outwards and upwards. HURRAH! The SCRoG net went on yesterday and seeing as though I am growing in a short tent (1.6m or 5'2") I will probably flip the flowering switch this time next week to avoid any major growing pains. The extra water seems to have done the trick as there is no more yellowing leaves at the bottom of either plant. My PH levels are still sitting between 6.5 - 7.0 and the temps are holding well. Humidity is a little low (30%) but nothing too drastic. My CD-1 clone didn't make it. I blame my butterfingers and some unexpected plant trauma that it never seemed to recover from. Oh well, hopefully I'll have better luck and be less clumsy with my next one :)

Holy growth spurt phatman! Both ladies have really grown up (and out) in the past week. I've been giving them both some extra water and that seems to have really done the trick. CD-1 has really started to fill out her section of the SCRoG net and CBD CM is doing the same but doesn't seem to need as much elbow room just yet. She's keeping it compact for now. Unfortunately Master Chief no longer cuts the mustard for scale, so there is a bonus image featuring Balloonicorn (12 inches / 30.5cm) for all of your TF2 nuts out there. Seeing as though both ladies are looking super healthy and have made it this far I think I can declare "victory" on my first ever vegetation stage... or as Pyro would say ""Mrfer!" I have switched my light schedule over to 12 / 12 and turned on the bloom light on my VIPARSPECTRA today to get the flowering stage going :) Oh, any general advice on defoliation would definitely appreciated. I have a feeling it is going to be needed :)

Charging along now... the SCRoG is almost full! CBD CM's stems are getting mighty thick and she's definitely bumping elbows with CD-1 now. CD-1 hasn't wasted anytime in claiming SCRoG real estate and I'm especially impressed with her progress this week. I've taken clones from both of them moreso for my own practice in cloning than for any actual need. I've also added BioBloom & TopMax to the nutrient schedule this week, in addition to the BioGrow they were already getting. BioBizz really seems to be doing the trick for them. It's important to me that they're not only organic but also animal product / cruelty free :) I've noticed a bit of discolouration of the fabric smart pots, moreso at the base of my CD-1. My resident botanist, Dr G.Oogle suggested it was either from the nutrients (salt?) or mould (egads!) but both plants are otherwise look super healthy with no sign of mould on the actual plants themselves. Should I be concerned? Other than that it's been super smooth sailing thus far. I have a sneaking suspicion I am going to run in to space problems soon - they're getting hard to photograph individually and they need to start heading upwards and not too much further outwards now!

Both girls had a good week, although I suspect CBD CM is sulking a little after I did a bit of light defoliation of the larger fan leaves that were covering her other flower sites. CD-1 is starting to weave her wiley sativa ways and stretching upwards quicker than her indica sister. I think my first real challenge is just around the corner in keeping them both relatively happy under the same height light. We'll see, maybe CBD CM will stop sulking and catch up - I've been told multiple times that she's a helluva grower. Both clones seem to be doing OK. They're still alive and have a little bit of new growth on them. We're coming in to Spring here in the southern hemisphere so if they make it I think I'll try them outdoors :) My immediate concerns this week are: 1. The amount of flowers on the CD-1. She's stacked. Part of me thinks this is a wonderful thing, but then can too many flowers be a problem later on? Time to do some more reading methinks! 2. My SCRoG is looking messy and I'm not sure if I should continue to feed the larger stems through the net to try to maintain an even canopy while they're flowering. Maybe I need to build a better frame & net for next time! Thanks for reading and happy growing :)

Another good week here, with only one minor hiccup. The weather is starting to warm up a little and my humidity levels jumped over 60% inside my grow tent after watering. I've read conflicting opinions on humidity levels, some say it's ok to get up to 80% as long as air movement around the plants is good. Some say anything over 60% is dicing with icky moldy bud death. Luckily for me in my part wisdom / part dumb luck I bought a two speed exhaust fan. Switching it up to the next speed seems to have done the trick for now :) They haven't had much upwards growth at all this week, thank goodness. But the flowers are definitely starting to thicken up! CD-1 is a bit of a wild & wiry beast trying to muscle her way in to CBD CM's lane. But CBD CM is going to be my dark horse I think, she's starting to look very thick. I also did some very light defoliation of CD-1 to expose some flowers to more light and ended up with an accidental clone. Speaking of, my clones are still going strong, they'll be transplanted this week in to organic soil to a warm sunny spot inside, then in a few weeks they'll graduate to the garden hopefully. Onwards and outwards! :)

Everything is progressing really well! The blooms are starting to thicken up very nicely. They've even started to get a little sticky :) I did a little bit more very light defoliation on the CBD CM but from here on in I'm going to leave them both alone. I noticed today that some of the pistils are starting to turn brown as well - hooray! Still technically a month away from harvest though. I'll be picking up a USB microscope in the next week or so to keep an eye on things. I'm also getting some organic molasses to use in 3 - 4 weeks time when they're ready to flush. I've read it helps with their flavour. My clones have been transplanted in to small pots and seem to be thriving in the sunny spot I found for them outside in the garden. I'm still a little amazed at just how easy this whole process has been so far and am kicking myself for not doing it sooner!

Everything is coming along nicely - in the home stretch now! CD-1 is starting to get frosty and CBD CM is continuing to thicken up. A lot of brown pistils on the CD-1, not as many on CBD CM yet. I know it was a bit of a rookie mistake to grow an indica and a sativa in the same tent at the same time, but I'm glad I did as I've learned a lot about the differences between the two and how they grow :) It is starting to get very stinky in the tent. CD-1 has a much lighter scent than the CBD CM but they're both definitely getting much more fragrant than they were a couple of weeks ago. They're also getting very sticky 👌 As soon as I get my USB microscope I'll update with some more images. Getting very keen to harvest!

Another week down, another week closer to harvest :) Absolutely nothing remarkable happened this week. Everything is just getting thicker and thicker, including my excited-to-harvest grin! I'm busy collecting supplies to harvest, dry & cure right now. I'd say I have two more weeks with nutrients, then one week to flush with water and a little organic molasses, then the hard work starts. USB Microscope photos added to last weeks & this weeks diaries. For the life of me, I can't tell the difference between clear and milky, but my best guess is they're a little bit milky. I had to rush my photos this week. We have visitors at the moment and opening the tent makes half the house smell like a very happy garden so I snuck a few snaps while they were outside enjoying our southern sun :)

I have a crisis! We had visitors last week, so I wasn't paying as close attention to my girls as I had been & somehow in the space of 7 days they've gotten sick :( I suspect leaf septoria or a calcium deficiency (see photos - argh!). I'm in a bit of a spin and need some good advice now. I'm two weeks away from harvest, and I'm not sure what the best course of action is. The smell in the tent has changed in the past 24 hours from thickly weedish to a little sharpish sour. This week was meant to be last week of nutrients, then the flush the following week, then harvest. The top leaves are definitely affected. So that's where I'm at. All advice appreciated! EDIT: After doing a total deep dive, I'm confident it is a calcium deficiency and not septoria - phew! From what I've read, this is a common problem when using BioBizz nutrients and rainwater. I don't have a cal-mag nutrient in my arsenal here and it could take up to a week to get my hands on some. I also want to keep things organic so I'm improvising. Ground up egg shells (calcium), epsom salts (magnesium), unsulphured molasses (more calcium, magnesium, iron & some other good stuff) to the rescue! Unfortunately, this means my grow is no longer vegan but the chickens that are responsible for the eggshells being used are our own very happy chooks. Wish me luck!

Well, this is my last entry before harvest! I've been keeping a close eye on my trichomes. The leaves of my CD-1 have a significant amount of amber, but the trichomes on the buds appear to be turning milky with one or two amber in there. My CBD CM is mainly milky on the buds with a few amber trichomes on the leaves. A few more days and they should hopefully be at that perfect balance :) Both girls are sucking the last of the nutrients out of the leaves. You can see significant yellowing of the CD-1 leaves in one of the pictures I've uploaded. The CBD CM in the same picture doesn't appear anywhere near as yellow but there is definite deficiency showing in the leaves at the bottom of the CBD CM plant. Next time I'll definitely be ready for the cal-mag monster in my last few weeks of flowering ;) I've continued to use the unsulphured organic black strap molasses and will do so up until harvest. I stopped all other nutrients last week, which gives them both a good 7 day flush before the chop. I'm almost a little bit sad that my first ever grow is coming to an end. I say almost, because I'm already planning my next one (autos!) and the promise of a new adventure takes the sting out of this one coming to an end :)

CD-1 shall forever be known as 'the popcorn machine' to me. Trimming this baby was a true labour of love! It took twice as long as the CBD CM I grew with her. For some strange reason the cat was absolutely besotted with the CD-1 aroma. Dry weight total was 62gms (2.18oz) in bud and 32gms (1.13oz) in trim. Very keen to see what kind of pain relieving properties this strain has as it is my primary reason for growing it. Also planning to make some oil or tincture with her :) Huge thanks and kudos to the community here. I couldn't have done it without you