“Stella” DarkStar #2

4/16/22 I have been a terrible and inattentive grower the last couple of weeks! I have had some issues lately that kind of made my growing take a backseat. Until today that is. My DarkStar is still holding on, and for that I’m grateful to the folks at T.H. Seeds for her great genetics! She is about 2.5 inches tall, but she looks a little bleached out. I’m using a new light for the first time and I’m still trying to work out the settings. I’ve written down my perspective growth and feed timelines in order to start taking care of her in earnest. So today I began giving her some nutrients to see if that can give her a little kick in the soil! I’ve started at the seedling level of my 6 - part grow chart from General Hydroponics, so today she received the following: CALiMAGic: 2 ml FloraMicro: 2.5 ml FloraGro: 2.5 ml FloraBloom: 2.5 ml I mixed everything into a gallon of water, and calibrated my pH meter prior to starting. The initial pH was 6.4. PERFECT! I didn’t bother with any pH Up or Down. The TDS going in was 453 ppm. I only fed my girl a cup of the solution because she’s still sitting in a solo cup and doesn’t need more than that. She had a decent amount of runoff with a pH of 5.7, and a TDS of 424 ppm. I’ve changed my grow room to another space in my house at my wife’s request, but the only equipment change is the light. I’m using the Spider Farmer SE-5000 that I won in a contest for my first DarkStar plant. I initially had the light at 100%, but have since reduced it to 80%. The light is enormous and easily covers almost the entire 4x4 foot tent. The temperature is a little higher than I like at 86.9F, but hopefully it’s ok. It goes down considerably at night (77F), so I’m hoping for the best. Humidity is low at 30%. Happy growing everyone. It’s good to be growing again! 4/18/22 My baby is looking TERRIBLE!! I’m truly afraid that she’s dying, and I really don’t know what to do to save her. My initial plan right now is to get some more soil and put her into her final home with plenty of nutrient rich soil to help her fight back and survive. Only time will tell if I can save her or not. Today I fed her another cup of the gallon solution I made the other day. She got: CALiMAGic 2 ml FloraMicro 2.5 ml FloraGro 2.5 ml FloraBloom 2.5 ml pH going in was 6.4, and TDS was 453 ppm. Runoff was sufficient for her current home with a pH of 5.8, and TDS of 503 ppm. The weather here has shifted from sunny and warm (80F+), to overcast and rainy in the 60’s. The temperature in the tent was 73F, with a humidity of 33%. My new light, Spider Farmer SE5000 is a heavy beast, and it’s electrical box produces a significant amount of heat. Over the last week, with hotter temps outside, my grow tent got in excess of 102F and down to 92F. I have had to leave the tent completely open nearly every day to decrease the heat inside. I realized (hopefully not too late) that I can remove the large electrical box and keep it outside the tent. It (the SE5000) has very long connecting cables that can (and were) extended outside the tent. The result is an interior with the commensurate heat/temperature of the air outside the tent. I’m hoping that this increases the viability of my lovely DarkStar plant. So far this grow is not going to plan, but I’m hoping that I can save her. 4/19/22 I’m not going to write a long note today (I hope). I moved my sickly seedling into her forever home today in hope that it will help her thrive, and not die. There are some new leaf formations at her top that look normal to good; so I’m hoping that it’s a good sign! I made sure all of the soil in her pot was moist so that she’ll have a comfortable transition. Her pics still look terrible, but 🤷‍♂️, what can one do? Hopefully she turns a corner and keeps moving along well. Only time will tell. Happy growing everyone. 4/20/22 Happy 420 Day!! Just a quick note today. My baby is looking a little better today. Her new leaves seem to be getting a little bigger and are staying green, which is awesome to see. I’m hoping she continues to grow into the wonderful plant I know she can be! Anyway; today she received 1 cup of the same solution she has been getting this whole week. I thoroughly soaked the soil in the pot yesterday prior to putting her into it, so today I’m still focusing on her and her roots. I’m hoping for success, and doing what I can to make it so. Happy growing everyone! 4/21/22 My little girl is looking better today, which gives me a lot of joy. I just hope that she keeps growing and improving. I gave her 2 cups of the feeding solution today in order to give some more of the surrounding soil some moisture to allow better root development in her new home. All of the measurements are the same as previous feeding days. The only difference is the tent temperature which was 81.9F, and the humidity at 33%. I’m hoping that she continues to improve and mature into a wonderful plant. Take care everyone, and happy growing! 4/22/22 My little girl is looking better today! I’m was very happy to see that she is producing new leaves and growing. The improvement is small, but an improvement nonetheless. I am excited again to grow!! Side note of no importance to this journal; I started germinating two seeds today using the glass of water method. The last 2 using the paper towel method didn’t sprout after germinating. I am trying a Dinafem Seeds - White Siberian, and a Rocket Fuel cultivar from a private grower. I hope they make it! My girl got 3 cups of the same solution she’s been getting all week. I’m not going to repeat what has already been written. One only needs to read above. She’s doing better. I’m very happy; I only hope she continues to do so. Happy growing everyone!

4/24/22 I went out of town to attend a friends wedding on Friday, and got home tonight (Sunday). It was only left alone for 1 day, but as bad as she has been looking, I was a little worried. I looked in on her as soon as I got home, and WOW 😮! I was so very pleased to see how she’s bounced back!! My DarkStar is green and healthy again with new fully formed leaves, and a new set already filling out. I was so happy to see her looking well. I gave her the last half gallon of the solution I made earlier this week. She got: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 2.5 ml FloraGro - 2.5 ml FloraBloom - 2.5 ml Solution pH was 6.4, and TDS of 453 ppm going in. I watered all of the soil today and not just the area around the plant because it was looking really dry. There was a decent amount of runoff, and the TDS was 2947 ppm, and the pH - 6.4. I’m happy to see the pH holding steady. I’m using the Fox Farms Ocean Forest potting soil, which is making up the rise of the runoff TDS level. The temp was- 82.3F, and the tent humidity was - 38%. I’m happy with her rebound, and feel invigorated for her future growth. Happy growing everyone. 4/26/22 I’m moving along with the feed chart, so today I’m starting the ‘Early Growth’ step 2 on my feed chart. Today she received 4 cups of the following solution: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 3.8 ml FloraGro - 5.7 ml FloraBloom - 2.8 ml Floralicious Plus - 1 ml Solution had an initial pH of 6.1, so I chose not to adjust it. The TDS going in was 670 ppm. It’s still small, so I decided not to use the whole gallon as to not waste most of it. Therefore, runoff was minimal. Runoff: pH: 6.0 (👍🏻) TDS: 3347 ppm My DarkStar is looking great now! The new leaves that were just starting on Sunday night have already filled out, and another set has already started making there way up. Im very pleased with it so far. The tent temperature was 82.1F, and the humidity was 37%. See you in a day or two. Happy growing everyone! 4/28/22 My DarkStar #2 is doing better and better every day. I’m very pleased with her rebound from near death, to how she looks today. Great new leaf and stem formation the last few days. She’s really doing quite well. I increased her water/nutrient solution from 4 cups to 6, still using the “Early Growth” stage nutrients. She received: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 3.8 ml FloraGro - 5.7 ml FloraBloom - 2.8 ml Floralicious Plus - 1 ml pH going in was 6.1, and TDS was 670 ppm. Runoff: pH 5.8, and TDS 3347 ppm. Tent temperature was 81.5F, with humidity at 32%. Happy growing everyone!

4/30/22 Today is a good day, I hope. My DarkStar is doing wonderful, and I’m so very happy with her progress. Her new leaves are growing and filling out quickly, and several nodes have already started to show on her currently short branches, but I’m just happy that she’s thriving! My hope is for the other plants that I’m trying to grow. I got another seed to germinate, and I put it into soil and a solo cup, but I won’t be happy till it sprouts! My DarkStar here was 1 of 3 seeds I germinated first. She sprouted, but the other 2 didn’t. It was a sad time, but now I’m doing 2 more; one is a “Rocket Fuel” cultivar, which is what’s in the soil and solo cup now hoping she sprouts! The other is my last seed from Dinafem Seeds - “White Siberian” cultivar. I got the first one to germinate, but didn’t sprout 🌱. This one I can’t even get to germinate. There in lies the HOPE! I’m really hoping that I can get my other plants to grow like my DarkStar here. Only time will tell. Today, she received 5 cups of the solution I made the other day. CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 3.8 ml FloraGro - 5.7 ml FloraBloom - 2.8 ml Floralicious Plus - 1 ml pH going in was 6.1, and TDS was 670 ppm. Runoff - pH - 6.0, and TDS - 3281 ppm Temperature in the tent was 81F, and humidity was 36%. May all of your seeds sprout into wonderful bud producing beauties!! Happy growing everyone! 5/2/22 I woke up today and looked in on my plant(s), and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. My other germinated seed sprouted!! So now I actually have plants, and not just 1. My DarkStar is doing great by the way! Absolutely lovely. Her leaves are getting bigger and she’s producing new branches daily it seems. I’m so happy that she’s turned her life around and started growing. Today I finished giving her the last of the solution that I made the other day. Today she received another 5-6 cups, but didn’t really have any runoff. I simply take this to mean that her roots are doing better just like her leaves and will start to require more of the solution. I’m not going to write it all down here. If anyone is curious as to what I fed her today, just look above at the note from 4/30/22. It is all the same. Now I’m going to start the diary for my newly sprouted baby. Today is a good day, and I hope it’s equally good for each of you. Happy growing everyone! 5/3/22 Everything is going well in The_Good_Twin grow room! Keeping the power box for my Spider Farmer SE-5000 light outside the tent keeps the temperature relatively close to the room temperature outside the tent. Humidity has been a tad bit higher than normal, but that’s a good thing. Light is being kept at 70% power. The temp was 82.4F, and humidity was 43%. My DarkStar beauty is bursting with growth. She has a few leaves that have already gotten bigger than my hand, and she’s developing extremely well right now. I’m very happy with her current progress. I’m keeping with the Early Growth stage of nutrients, and I’m keeping an eye out for any issues that may develop. So far so good. I mixed the following nutrients into a gallon of water, and she received 6 cups, or nearly half a gallon. She received: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 3.8 ml FloraGro - 5.7 ml FloraBloom - 2.8 ml Floralicious Plus - 1 ml The initial pH was 6.5 and perfect! The TDS going in was 670 ppm. Runoff was of sufficient quantity. Runoff pH was an amazing 6.3, and TDS was 3955 ppm. This is why I’m keeping an eye out for nutrient burn or any other deficiency or issue. Right now she is doing great and I can’t wait to see her bloom. I hope all of your gardens are doing as well as mine is right now. Happy growing everyone! 5/5/22 Hello fellow Growers! It has been an explosion of growth the last few days. So much that I felt it was time to defoliate her super large leaves. She had several leaves that were getting so large that they had begun to bear down on the branches below them. I decided to take them off. I just hope it isn’t too early and it hurts her. Time will tell. Today she received 6 cups of the solution that was prepared the other day. For its contents, please read one of the entries earlier this week. She had a small amount of runoff, so I believe I’m going to start giving her more in the next week so she doesn’t begin building up dissolved salts at her roots. Her runoff levels today were: pH - 6.3, and TDS - 4661 ppm. Hence the worry about salts buildup. The temp was good at 78.9F, and humidity was 49%. She’s still doing great, let’s just hope she continues that way. Happy growing everyone! 5/6/22 I just added a couple of pics today to show how she reacted to the defoliation yesterday. She has responded very well. 😅

5/7/22 “Stella”, as I’ve decided to call my DarkStar beauty. “Estrella” is the word for “star” in Spanish. Stella seemed appropriate for me. Anyway, that’s not incredibly important, but I felt like sharing. Also, telling others makes it real. She bounced back nicely after the defoliation the other day, so no more worries there. Today she starts week 4, and I ended up giving her the last 5 cups of the solution that was prepared earlier this week. She received: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 3.8 ml FloraGro - 5.7 ml FloraBloom - 2.8 ml Floralicious Plus - 1 ml The initial pH was 6.5 and perfect! The TDS going in was 670 ppm. The runoff was appropriate for the amount given. pH was - 6.3, and TDS was - 4632 ppm. The temperature was 79.7F, and humidity was 44%. My little Stella is doing wonderful. I’m hoping to get some good clones to root from her in the next week or so. I’m going to let her grow a little bit more first. Happy growing everyone! 5/10/22 Half way through week 4, and I switched to the “Late Stage Growth”, step 4 on my feeding chart. The last step till flowering begins. At least in the nutrient schedule. Stella is already mature enough to flip, but her tent mate is a couple of weeks behind, so she’s going to get a little bigger till that happens. Today I gave her 6 cups (or 0.375 gallon) of solution today prepared with the following: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 7.6 ml FloraGro - 8.5 ml FloraBloom - 4.7 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml The initial pH of the gallon solution was 6.4 and perfect!! The TDS going in was 1019 ppm. Runoff was measured with the following: pH - 6.2, and TDS of 2941 ppm. The TDS is significantly lower than before, and I suspect it’s because I got the first bit of runoff produced and separated it from all the rest that continued to drain out. The temperature was 81F, with a humidity of 44%. My Stella (DarkStar) is growing lovely! I am so very happy with her growth and maturity. Now I have to get ready and try to collect some trimmings for clones in the days to come. Wish me luck! Happy growing everyone! 5/13/22 Stella is looking absolutely lovely! She is sooooo ready to flip, but can’t just yet. Today I decided to do some work on her to see if I can slow her down a bit. I topped her, and cut it with enough of the stalk present that I decided to try and clone it. I also took all of her smaller lower branches for clones as well. A total of 5 potential clones set up, so I’ll let you all know if they root or not later on. I also defoliated her lightly. Today, Stella received 6 cups, or 0.375 gallon of her solution I made earlier this week. She received: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 7.6 ml FloraGro - 8.5 ml FloraBloom - 4.7 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml pH going in was 6.4, and TDS was 1019 ppm. Runoff: pH - 6.4 (which is awesome!), and TDS was - 2495 ppm. Tent temperature was 78F, and humidity was 65%. She’s growing extremely well, and at this time I can’t ask for much more from her. I have a lot of hope for her and her potential offspring, and only time will tell the outcome. Happy growing everyone!

5/15/22 Stella is growing wonderfully! She is currently 15 inches tall, and is 13 inches from the light at 80% power. I only had a little over 4 cups of the solution prepared earlier this week, so she hasn’t produced any runoff yet, but I’ll check again in a little while. I know, I know…. I should have made more, but today is a lazy day. She received the following nutrients: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 7.6 ml FloraGro - 8.5 ml FloraBloom - 4.7 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Initial and final pH was 6.4, and TDS going in was 1019 ppm. Runoff not determined at the time of this log. Temperature and humidity have been wonderful with the power connector/box/converter (whatever it’s called) outside the tent. Temp was 80.5F, and humidity was 65%. Her potential clones still seem to be doing well also, so keeping my fingers crossed 🤞 for their continued success. Happy growing everyone! 5/17/22 Stella is still doing wonderful. It seems like she’s begging to be flipped too! From my own experience with growing this cultivar, I know that she is going to almost double in size after the flip. My first DarkStar plant had branches over 50 inches (127 cm) in length. But her buds are awesome, so I really don’t mind if she produces a lot. 🤤 Today I mixed some new solution in a gallon of water. I used the following nutrients: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 7.6 ml FloraGro - 8.5 ml FloraBloom - 4.7 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml The initial, and final pH was 6.5, which is awesome! The TDS going in was 1238 ppm. Runoff was minimal and took a while, and really didn’t produce enough to measure; yet. I believe I may need to start giving more water when feeding. In my previous grows I used to feed the whole gallon each time and deal with the near 1/2 gallon of runoff. This grow I’ve decided to be more economical with her feeding, but I may need to increase the amount to prevent TDS buildup in the soil. 🤷. However, the runoff pH from all my plants this time around has been exceptional, and really close to that going into the plant. Makes me think that the roots are having a great time! I did some more defoliation on her today and took off about 20 leaves or so. I didn’t take all of her leaves, but quite a few. Hopefully it wasn’t too much. Temp and humidity remain good at 80.8F, and 61% respectively. She’s doing great, and the only complaint is that I can’t really flip her just yet. Happy growing everyone! 5/18/22 Stella was looking somewhat dry today, even though I just fed her yesterday. Since she didn’t give me any runoff to measure yesterday, I decided to give her the entire half gallon+ of solution today. Her size, it appears, requires more to sustain her. No problem; if Stella needs more, she’ll get more. Today I finished off the gallon I just made yesterday. So the recipe didn’t change: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 7.6 ml FloraGro - 8.5 ml FloraBloom - 4.7 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml pH going in was 6.5, and TDS was 1138 ppm. Runoff pH was 6.4, and TDS was 2921 ppm. Tent temperature was 79.5F, and humidity was 59%. No pictures today, but she doesn’t appear affected by the defoliation I did yesterday. She still looks wonderful, and her potential clones are still in the fight as well. I’m holding on to my happy thoughts for this grow, and I hope all of you are experiencing magic in your grow rooms as well. Happy growing everyone! 5/19/22 I didn’t feed today, but I did do a little grow room maintenance. I decided to adjust the plants inside along with the light so all the plants are equidistant from the light source (SE5000). Stella has grown two more inches and is currently 21 inches tall. I adjusted the light to be 14.5 inches away at 80% power. She’s still looking good! Happy growing everyone! 5/20/22 Today is the last day of week 5, and she is SO ready to flip! She’s getting so tall, and I can already tell that I’m going to have to support her branches once the stretch starts. However, I’m still waiting for her tent mate to be ready to flip as well. DarkStar Kush is an absolutely awesome cultivar! If she ends up giving me a lot, then I’m okay with it. I defoliated her quite a bit more today. As always, I’m hoping that I haven’t over done it. She’s still getting the same nutrient levels as before this week; if you’re interested in seeing them again, scroll up. Today she received 10 cups (0.625 gal) of freshly made solution. I was going to stop at giving her 8 cups, but runoff was scant. The additional 2 cups helped. The pH going into the plant was 6.7, runoff pH was 6.6. The TDS going in was 1138 ppm. The runoff TDS was 3061 ppm. Temp and humidity have been good at 80.1F, and 62% respectively. She’s ready, and I’m not, but we’ll get there. Happy growing everyone!

5/22/22 Hello week 6! Stella is looking long and lonely. She wants to flower; I can see it! Her tent mate is just about ready to flip, so hopefully this will be the last week of veg, but only time will tell. On a side note: it looks like 4 of her 5 clippings are starting to produce new leaves! 4 more DarkStar Kush beauties!! 🤞 She was given the last of the solution I prepared the other day, which in itself was a problem. There really wasn’t a whole lot left, but we make do with what we have. She received 8 cups (barely) of the following: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 7.6 ml FloraGro - 8.5 ml FloraBloom - 4.7 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Measurements going in: pH - 6.7, TDS - 1238 ppm. Runoff: pH - 6.4, TDS - 2981 ppm. Tent temperature was 78.7F, and humidity was 65%. I started using some of my garden poles (small metal poles with rounded hoops/hooks at the top that help keep branches standing, or change/modify their positions) to move some over lapping branches to a more open position. All I did was put one end in the soil and hook the branch lightly (no pressure) and have it moved to a spot with more light. It’s a form of Low stress training - LST. Stella continues to grow, and is now 25 inches tall. I had to adjust the light height again, so now she’s 13 inches below the SE5000 light at 80% power. I can’t wait to see her bloom! My first DarkStar plant was my first plant ever, and she was magnificent! This time around I’m using different techniques, and I can’t wait to see how she turns out! Happy growing everyone! 5/24/22 Have any of you ever had one of those days when it seems so difficult to mix solution and to get the pH right? Today was one of those days for me. Stella is still using the Late Growth feed stage. It’s the same as before if you look above you can see exactly what. Difference today are the measurements of pH and TDS. The initial pH was 6.0. I added 2 ml of pH UP and adjusted it to 6.4. The TDS was 1111 ppm. Runoff pH was 5.9, and TDS was 2391 ppm. I did some defoliation again today to clear some large leaves from blocking light on lower branches. The tent temperature was 76.5F, and humidity was 74%. A little high for her maybe, but the clones are loving it. Happy growing everyone! 5/27/22 Today is the last day of week 6, and I’m hoping to be able to start the flip to flower tomorrow or the next day. Stella is still doing well, but she’s so big already that the stretch may present a problem later. If it does I’ll deal with it as best as I can. Today I mixed some new solution still using the same level as before this week. Today she received 10 cups and only had a small amount of drainage, but enough. The pH going into the plant today was 6.5, and the TDS was 1133 ppm. Runoff pH was 6.0, and TDS was 3254 ppm. Tent temperature was 78.1F, and humidity was 59%. The humidity got real high this past week, but after adjusting my exhaust and ventilation set up it has come back to a manageable level. Hopefully my next log entry will be to start documenting the flowering stage. 🤞 Happy growing everyone!

5/29/22 Stella is finally going to get what she’s been begging for….. to start the flowering stage! She is so tall already, and I’m hoping she doesn’t double during the stretch because my tent may not be enough at 6.5 feet tall. I must admit that my lazy ass decided to finish giving her the last of the nutrients I had prepared a couple days ago, so she hasn’t started getting flowering nutrients yet, but it will only be a day till I start that. I decided to do some defoliation before making the switch tonight so as to get it out of the way so she’s under less stress when the lights change time. Right now she looks good, although tall and skinny, but I’m sure she’ll do fine. She received only 6 cups of solution today because that’s all I had left. Not nearly enough, but as I stated above, my lazy ass didn’t feel like making more since the nutrients are going to be different from now on. She received: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 7.6 ml FloraGro - 8.5 ml FloraBloom - 4.7 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml pH going in was 6.5, and TDS was 1133 ppm. There was insufficient runoff to do any measurements today. Temperature was 77F, and humidity was 50%. I increased the light power to 100%, and adjusted the height to 13 inches. All the small plants have been moved to another tent to mature. I can’t wait to see her bloom!! Happy growing everyone! 5/31/22 I finally mixed the “Early Bloom” stage nutrients into a gallon of water today. Stella is dry, but still looking healthy. Stringy and tall, but everything is strong, green, and healthy. She received a little over half a gallon of nutrient solution today. 10 cups, or .625 gallon. Her nutrients are as follows: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 5.7 ml FloraGro - 6.6 ml FloraBloom - 6.6 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Liquid Kool Bloom - 1 ml The initial pH was 6.0. I added 2 ml of pH UP, which adjusted the pH to 6.4. The TDS going in was 1019 ppm. Runoff was sufficient. The pH was 6.0, and TDS was 2109 ppm. I also took off all of her lower growing branches and stems. I placed the ones that may be good clones into a red solo cup with a small amount of seedling solution. I then placed them into my smaller tent. I still need to clip the leaves and move them to a rapid rooter starter cube and some soil, but I’m lazy. 🤷‍♂️ I’ll do it tomorrow. The tent temperature was a little warm at 89.5F, and the humidity was lower at 45%. Most of the higher humidity earlier (in the grow) was due to the clones that were sharing the tent. They have their own home now. Today we truly begin flowering in earnest! I can’t wait to see pistils, then bud!! Happy growing everyone! 6/1/22 Stella is soaking up water quickly due to her large size and increased need. Today I decided to give her a great deal more solution than I have been thus far. In truth, this grow season I’ve been giving my plants more measured feeding. In the past I would feed each plant a whole gallon and have a ton of runoff. I like doing it better the way I have been so far. I save nutrients, and don’t spend an hour dealing with runoff drainage from multiple plants. Enough of my rambling. Today she received 12 cups (0.75 gallon) of the same solution of water and nutrients that I gave her yesterday. I’m not going to repeat it all here. Look at the previous note (which you probably already have if you started reading at the beginning. The pH going in was 6.4, and the TDS was 1019 ppm. Runoff pH was 5.9, and TDS was 2501 ppm. Tent is still on the warm side at 88F. It’s been 95F here the last few days; it sucks! The humidity was 52%. She is 37 inches tall now, I have raised my light as high as it goes. Now there is only a 6 inch space between her tallest branches and the light. I may get to try some HST in order to create more distance. I haven’t decided yet. Happy growing everyone! 6/2/22 Stella has been a needy, and thirsty girl the last few days! The outside heat may have something to do with it though. It’s been 95F here for the last few days, and even though she’s inside, the tent has been in the mid 80’sF every day. I’m hoping for a break in the current heatwave. Regardless of the heat, she and her tent mate are doing well. I mixed a new gallon of solution today and gave her nearly the whole gallon. I wanted to make sure that she was well hydrated and fed because I want her to produce some amazing buds. Today she received 14 cups (.875 gal) of the following: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 5.7 ml FloraGro - 6.6 ml FloraBloom - 6.6 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Liquid KoolBloom - 1 ml The initial pH was 6.0. I added 2 ml of pH UP which adjusted the pH to 6.4. The TDS was 1049 ppm. Runoff pH was 5.8, and TDS was 3121 ppm. As I mentioned above, the tent was warm at 85.9F, and humidity was 48%. The journey continues. Happy growing everyone!

6/4/22 Today may be a good day, but it may also be a bad day. It all depends on how things turn out after what I did. Stella is getting so tall that her top branches are nearly touching the light. The problem is that my light is as high as it gets right now. So; I decided to try something that I have never done before. At least on purpose. I tried some high stress training (HST) on her tallest branch. I pinched her stalk between my fingers until she started to bed over. Once she was bent over I applied tape to her stalk to try and prevent it from being exposed to the air and dying. It is now bent completely over, and only time will tell if it survives or not. There are 2 more branches that are nearly touching the light, but I’m not going to do this to them until I know if the first one survives or not. Today I moved up to the Early Bloom step 2, which is the same as step 1, so there is no real change in the nutrients given. However, she is drying out much quicker now, so I gave her the whole gallon to ensure that she is well fed. She received: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 5.7 ml FloraGro - 6.6 ml FloraBloom - 6.6 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Liquid KoolBloom - 1 ml The initial pH was 6.0. I added 2 ml’s of pH UP which adjusted it to 6.4. The TDS was 918 ppm. Runoff was more than sufficient. The pH was 5.8, and the TDS was 2358 ppm. The tent temperature was 84.4F, and humidity was 47%. I hope her branch survives. The thought of me wasting a main stem cola just turns my stomach! Fingers crossed 🤞. Happy growing everyone! 6/6/22 I was in a massive hurry today and needed to feed my girls before I had to leave. I mixed some new solution using the same nutrient level as before. I wanted to give her more, but only ended up giving her a total of 8 cups or half a gallon of the following mixed into a gallon of water: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 5.7 ml FloraGro - 6.6 ml FloraBloom - 6.6 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Liquid KoolBloom - 1 ml The initial pH was 6.1. I added 1.5 ml of pH UP which adjusted the pH to 6.4. The TDS going in was 905 ppm. The runoff was sufficient enough to measure. The pH was 6.1, and TDS was 1489 ppm. The tent temperature was 86.4F, and the humidity was 40%. I didn’t take any pictures today, but I will tomorrow after I feed her again. On a good note; the branch I deliberately bent over and taped survived! The end and all of the other nodes above the bend have redirected themselves upward, and are directed up toward the light again. After seeing how it responded yesterday, I went ahead and bent two more of the branches touching the light over and taped them as well. Today, they too had redirected themselves up toward the light. Wonderful!! I didn’t kill anything! Things seem to be going well with her second set of potential clones as well. It looks like I’ll be putting them into solo cups in a day or two to start to develop into new plants. My grow room is FULL!! It’s a wonderful problem to have!! Happy growing everyone! 6/7/22 Stella is continuing to drink up everything that I give her, and thirsty for more every day. Yesterday I gave her half a gallon because I was rushed. Today I gave her the second half of that gallon and she barely gave me enough runoff to measure. I should have given her more, but if I had made another gallon, she couldn’t take the whole thing which meant I would be in the same boat tomorrow with only half a gallon remaining. I decided to just give her the last 1/2 gallon already mixed, and then make a whole gallon tomorrow and start giving her the whole thing. All of the branches I’ve bent over have redirected themselves upward toward the light. I still had 2 more just under the light, so I bent them over today and taped them so that the light is uniform over the top of both plants in my flowering tent. Thankfully there are no other super tall branches that I have to worry about. Today she received the same nutrients as yesterday. I’m not going to list them again here. I have grown tired of TDS meters!! Mine decided to just measure 6 ppm on everything I tried to measure today, and nothing I could do could change it. Therefore, I won’t be listing TDS values until it starts working again, or never. Honestly I’m sick of buying new ones because they all last for a few months and then break. Thankfully, my pH meter works just fine! The pH going into the plant was 6.4. The runoff pH was 6.0. My tent was 84.4F, and the humidity was 49%. On a side note: I put the second batch of her clones into individual solo cups today to see if they continue to grow. If they do, I’ll start a new diary for them. I’ve already promised a fellow grower friend of mine one of them if they survive. That way I’ll have “Stella’s Trio”, or however many stay healthy. That’s it for today. Happy growing everyone! 6/9/22 I have been busy and got a day behind. In documenting that is. Yesterday was feeding day, but I’m not writing any of my logs till today. In a way, I’m glad I waited. I moved her feeding level up to “Mid-Bloom” step 3, using the Flora-Trio 6 part feed list. Just in case any of you would like to get a copy yourself and follow along. Haha 😂! I crack myself up; as if any of you reading this are following my diaries that closely. Hope anyone ever reading this finds its absurdity as funny as I do. Today I prepared a gallon of water with the following nutrients with every intention on giving her every last drop! CALiMAGic 2 ml FloraMicro - 4.7 ml FloraGro - 3.8 ml FloraBloom - 8.5 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Liquid KoolBloom - 2 ml The initial pH was 6.1. I added 1.5 ml of pH UP which adjusted it to 6.4. My TDS meter decided to work for most of my solution prep today, but fell apart again, which is to say it stopped functioning properly when it came time to collect and measure runoff. Having said all that, the TDS was 725 ppm. Which I don’t believe is correct. Runoff pH was 6.2, and the TDS read 1032 ppm, then shut off. I don’t know if that is the final number or not, but that’s what it read. The tent temperature was 85.5F, and the humidity was 41%. She was looking sad and droopy, in need of sustenance, and she was refreshed! All of my ladies looked bad earlier in the day before I fed them. Stella included, but you can tell the difference in the pics if you look. Note to self: Don’t write your logs after smoking. They get too long. No, I’m not crazy; just trying to be funny. Later, and happy growing everyone!

6/11/22 Today starts week 9, and the 3rd week of flower. I may have a problem in my grow tent! Stella’s tent mate might be a male, or a hermie. I don’t know, because I’ve never grown one or seen one except for pictures. I was planning on going out of town for the Fourth of July for a few days, but I was wondering how my plants would fare. I skipped 1 day between feedings and she looked absolutely terrible! She was so dry, and all her leaves were limp. She truly looked scary. I’m only uploading a couple pics of her today. I’ll add more tomorrow to see how she bounced back. Anyway, the point of all this is that I told my wife that I was going to skip a day and see how they looked. After seeing the results, my wife was not happy. Our trip may get canceled because I’m a responsible grower. 🤷‍♂️ Today I was going to give her an entire gallon, but she only took about 14 of 16 cups before the runoff was more than sufficient. I felt it was a waste to give her more since it would just run out. I’m still using the mid-bloom nutrients. So today she received 14 cups or 0.875 gallon of the following: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 4.7 ml FloraGro - 3.8 ml FloraBloom - 8.5 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Liquid KoolBloom - 2 ml The initial pH was 5.8. I added 3 ml of pH UP which adjusted the pH to 6.3. I didn’t even bother with my TDS meter today. I didn’t need any added frustration. Runoff was sufficient, and the pH was 6.3. Honestly, it seems like the first bit of solution just ran through her. The tent was warm at 86.9F, but humidity was low at 36%. I’m really worried about her tent mate being a male or hermie and spreading that to her and the other plant (Sir Jack - auto) that just joined them in the flowering tent. Hopefully I’ll know for sure by tomorrow. Happy growing everyone! 6/12/22 I wanted to add some more photos to show how she bounced back after feeding. The temperature in the tent was a few degrees cooler today because it’s starting to rain here. The humidity went up to 54% from 36% over night just because she was fed. Her largest tent mate (Rocket Fuel) turned out to be a male and was removed and placed outside last night. He’s enjoying the rain right now. I plan to dispose of that later. Stella has room to spread out for a little bit, but I’ll be giving her more company soon. My other diary, “Stella’s Cuatro” are her daughters, and they will be joining her soon. Happy growing everyone! 6/13/22 Today is feeding time once again in The_Good_Twin grow room. I’m going to try and be brief today. Stella took a whole gallon today, and had a wonderful amount of runoff so I can be assured that she has been thoroughly fed. I kept with the same nutrient levels as on the 11th. Look above to see. The initial pH was 5.9. I added 2 ml of pH UP which adjusted the pH to 6.2. Her runoff pH was 5.9. Temperature was 88F, and humidity was 51%. She has reached 45.5 inches tall and is once again almost touching the light. In fact, the branches that I’ve previously bent using HST, are now righted and almost back to the lights. Oh well. I’ll have to think of another way to raise the light or not worry about it. 🤷‍♂️ Happy growing everyone. 6/14/22 Stella is a thirsty girl! She took another gallon of water today mixed with more of the mid-bloom nutrients. I’ve been trying to keep up with her needs so that she makes some super fat and crusty nugs for me at the end of her journey. All of the branches that I performed HST on have grown longer, and turned up, and once again are at the top by the light. I feel like I’m going to have to do it again, but lower down the branch. She’s not going to like it, but kissing the light isn’t going to turn out well! Enough blabbering on… She received: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 4.7 ml FloraGro - 3.8 ml FloraBloom - 8.5 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Liquid KoolBloom - 2 ml The initial pH was 5.8. I added 3 ml of pH UP and adjusted it to 6.3. I’m still not using my TDS meter. There’s a small sense of freedom there. Runoff was about 20%. Her pH was 5.8. The tent temperature was 83F, and humidity was 61%. She’s HUGE, but she’s going to have to make some room, because there’s going to be a large family reunion this weekend. Stella’s Cuatro is going to be moving in. It’s going to be crowded. Happy growing everyone! 6/15/22 I fed Stella another gallon of water today mixed with the mid-bloom nutrients as the day before. Same nutrient levels as above. I calibrated my pH meter today to make sure it’s measurements are correct. The initial pH was 6.3, and didn’t not need adjusting. Runoff pH was 6.1. I’m not even bothering with my TDS meter anymore. Eventually I will, but I’m not in the mood for the frustration that it gives me. The tent temperature was 84.4F, and humidity was 47%. Her bent branches, and one or two additional ones are getting into the light again, so they were taped and bent over again. So, more HST completed to try and keep her at a reasonable height. 🤷‍♂️ I don’t know how I’m going to fit 4 more of her into the tent, but I’ll have to figure a way. Happy growing everyone! 6/16/22 Another day, and another feeding for Stella. The branches that were bent yesterday, as well as the ones that were bent for a 2nd time have all survived (so far), and their ends have started a slow curve upward again. I mixed another gallon of water with the same nutrient levels as the other day. Look above to see what she received. The pH going in was 6.2. The runoff pH was 6.0. The tent temperature was 84.4F, and humidity was 63%. I know all of you are tired of reading it, but she’s a huge plant! I’m hoping for a nice haul of top notch bud when she’s done. However, right now I’m starting to feel a little burnt out from caring for so many plants. Don’t we all wish we had such problems! Happy growing everyone!

6/18/22 By now I’m sure all of you following along are sick and tired of reading about how large of a plant she is, but DAMN she’s big! She takes up more space by herself than the other 5 plants in the tent with her. She is moving along nicely up the feed chart, and is now on the mid-bloom step 5 stage. Step 5 is the same as steps 3 & 4, so really nothing new to report. She took a whole gallon of water mixed with the following: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 4.7 ml FloraGro - 3.8 ml FloraBloom - 8.5 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Liquid KoolBloom - 2 ml The pH was 6.2, and was not adjusted. The runoff was excellent, and its pH was also 6.2. 🤷‍♂️ The tent temperature was 86.9F, and humidity was 40%. I skipped feeding her yesterday because I was tired and not in the mood. Today she looked dry and somewhat flat before I fed her which is normal if I skip a day. However, she’s usually quick to come back to her normal chipper self after getting fed. It looks like I’m going to have to bend a couple more branches in the coming days ahead, but I’ll deal with all of that later. I’ll be so glad when she’s done growing! Happy growing everyone! 6/20/22 Skipped another day of feeding, but she didn’t get all limp as she has in the past. I finally just sat down inside the tent today after removing all of the other plants and did some serious defoliation. In addition to defoliating her, I also cut off a bunch of smaller branches that didn’t look like they were going to produce much. I figure it’s better to cut the shrubs off, so that the actual nodes get all the nutrients in order to produce some fat ass buds! My previous DarkStar cultivar I grew had some seriously large and dense nuggets, so I’m hoping for the same from her. She took another gallon of water today mixed with the same nutrients as the 18th, so I won’t list them again here. The initial pH was 6.3, and I didn’t adjust it. She had plenty of runoff, and the runoff pH was 6.2. The tent was 84.2F, and the humidity was 52%. Stella was practically naked when I finished with her today, and I’m looking forward to seeing how she looks tomorrow. I’ve cleared out all the clutter, and I was also able to raise the light up a few more inches today using some other bands to connect it to the top of the tents frame. She is about 10 inches below the light now, but she still has a couple long branches that are within 6 inches of the light. It’s still better than it was earlier today when some of the buds were above the light. My grow room is doing great right now, and I hope all of yours are as well. Happy growing everyone! 6/23/22 I’ve been a neglectful grower as of late! I was busy outside the house yesterday, and didn’t have time to feed my girls. They all looked okay today, except Stella. I defoliated her to the extreme the other day, so she looks dryer than usual. However, she is a wonderfully strong cultivar which can withstand a lot of issues; such as high heat, as well as long periods without water. But she does have her limits to which I don’t want to find out. She took a whole gallon today with plenty of runoff. She received the following nutrients: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 4.7 ml FloraGro - 3.8 ml FloraBloom - 8.5 ml Floralicious Plus - 2ml Liquid KoolBloom - 2 ml The initial pH was 6.3, and was not adjusted. Her runoff pH was 6.2, which is excellent! The tent temperature was 85F, with 51% humidity. Stella is mainly bud nodes at this point, and all of them are just starting to fatten up. I love this part of the grow! Watching something turn from nothing, to something amazing is awesome! I love growing weed, and I hope you all have nothing but success in your own gardens, and grow rooms. Happy growing everyone!

6/25/22 Today is the first day of week 11 in Stella’s journey. Just about 6 more weeks to go till harvest. I can’t wait! It looks like the stretch has finally finished, and I can (hopefully) stop worrying about her getting into the light again. I messed up today, but nothing big. I was supposed to start the late bloom nutrient levels today, but I didn’t look at my schedule and just kept with the mid-bloom nutrients. I’ll make the change tomorrow. Today she received a gallon of water with the following mixed in: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 4.7 ml FloraGro - 3.8 ml FloraBloom - 8.5 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Liquid KoolBloom - 2 ml The pH was 6.3, and was not adjusted. She had plenty of runoff, and the pH was 6.1. Temperature in the tent was 84.4F, and the humidity was 45%. Stella has a lot of pistil development, and by the looks of it right now, she’s going to yield a pretty good amount. I’ll just have to keep on keeping on. Happy growing everyone! 6/27/22 I had to do some housework outside today which took forever! I tried to tell my wife that I needed to feed my plants first because it would be too late if I did it afterwards. She didn’t care. So, as a result, I only had time to feed 2 of my 8 plants today, but Stella was one of the lucky ones! Today we started the “Late Bloom” nutrients, step 6 on my Flora-Trio 6-part feed chart. She took a whole gallon of water mixed with the following: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 3.8 ml FloraGro - 3.8 ml FloraBloom - 4.2 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Liquid KoolBloom - 1 ml The pH was 6.5 and wasn’t adjusted. She had a sufficient amount of runoff which had a pH of 6.1. I still haven’t tried my TDS meter again. It’s faster without it, and it never really mean much (till it’s time to flush maybe). Stella has definitely stopped stretching which is awesome! However, her first 4 daughters have already found their way into the light. Not via death, but via their growth! Anyway, this isn’t their diary, so enough about them. She’s looking great, and I’m exhausted! Happy growing everyone! 6/29/22 Feeding time again in The_Good_Twin grow room. Stella is still looking wonderful, and has finally stopped growing at 47.5 inches tall. In this regard, it’s important to remember that her 5 tallest branches were bent over, and 3 of them were bent over twice. The 47.5 inch measurement comes from a bent branch, but the length of the branch was not measured, the height of the plant was. She would be a whole lot taller if it were measured the other way. We’re still using the late bloom feed stage from 2 days ago, so I won’t te-write it here. The nutrients were mixed into a gallon of water, of which she took the whole gallon. The pH going in was 6.5. The runoff pH was 6.1. The tent temperature was 84.2F, with humidity at 41%. My grow tent is super full right now, and Stella takes up the most room, but her 4 daughters from Stella’s Cuatro are quickly catching up to their mother in size! Happy growing everyone! 7/1/22 Today is the last day of week 11. Just a little while longer and she’ll be ready for harvest. But we’re not there quite yet. Stella is a beast, and so are her children! Trying to fit all of them in the same tent is starting to get difficult, but I’ll make it work. We’re continuing with the late bloom nutrient level through the end of next week, so the levels given today are the same as documented earlier in the week. She took a gallon of water with the following mixed in: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 3.8 ml FloraGro - 3.8 ml FloraBloom - 4.2 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Liquid KoolBloom - 1 ml The pH was 6.4 and wasn’t adjusted. She gave back plenty of runoff with a pH of 6.2. The temperature was 85.1F, and humidity was 54%. Stella’s buds are starting to look fatter, but she still has a lot of pistil growth going on right now. DarkStar has such wonderfully large and dense buds! I really can’t wait to see how she and her offspring mature toward the end. Simply lovely weed! Happy growing everyone!

7/3/22 Stella is still moving along with the late bloom nutrient level this week. She’s getting close to the ripening stage, but still a week away. Today she received a full gallon of water mixed with the following nutrients: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 3.8 ml FloraGro - 3.8 ml FloraBloom - 4.2 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Liquid KoolBloom - 1 ml The pH was 6.6, and wasn’t adjusted. She took nearly the whole gallon before giving back some runoff, but it was sufficient. The runoff pH was 6.3. The tent was 80.5F, with a humidity of 60%. She is starting to fatten up and her branches are starting to get weighed down. I’ve already used all of my LST poles on other plants, so I’m going to have to figure out a way to make more space. She sits in the middle of the tent, surrounded by 4 of her daughters, and a smaller auto-period plant sitting on a box in front of her. My tent is FULL! I ran out of time today and didn’t get any new pics of her, so I added one that I didn’t use the other day. Take care, and happy growing everyone! If you’re in the USA 🇺🇸, July 4th💥, happy Independence Day!! 7/5/22 Well, it finally happened! Stella’s branches have gotten heavy enough to tip her over when she has space to herself. She is in the tent with several other large plants (her 4 daughters + 1), so she rests nestled amongst them, so she stands. When I took two of her daughters out of the tent to feed them, she tipped right over. To make a VERY long story short; I tied her upright with almost all of her branches bundled up loosely so that they all get light, then fastened her to the back of the tent. It’s going to make feeding her tricky, but she’ll be stable, and getting full light exposure. It also opens up more space in the tent. Not much, but some. I tied up her daughters branches too. Enough about that. She received a full gallon of water mixed with the same nutrient level as the last feeding noted above. The solution pH was 6.5, and wasn’t adjusted. She gave back plenty of runoff with a pH of 6.3. The tent was 83F, and humidity was 65%. That’s a little high to me, at least compared to my previous grows. However, my tent has never been this full before. I adjusted the fan to a higher height, and with all the plants tied up somewhat using LST methods, I’ve increased open space between them with hope of improving air flow. We’ll have to see how it goes. Happy growing everyone! 7/7/22 I’m just going to write the basics today. Stella is still triced up nicely in the back of the tent so that she doesn’t fall over because of the weight of her own branches. Her buds are continuing to fatten up, and she looks lovely! Orange hairs all through her buds! Yummy!! She’s still getting the late bloom nutrients till next week when we actually begin the ripening stage. Today she took a gallon of the following: CALiMAGic - 2 ml FloraMicro - 3.8 ml FloraGro - 3.8 ml FloraBloom - 4.2 ml Floralicious Plus - 2 ml Liquid KoolBloom - 1 ml The pH was 6.6. I thought of adjusting it, but decided that it was good enough. She gave back plenty of runoff with a pH of 6.3. The temp was 83.3F, with a humidity of 54%. I didn’t take any pictures of her today. I was running between 2 rooms, and feeding other plants and just forgot. 🤷‍♂️ I’ll get pics later. Happy growing everyone!

7/9/22 Today is the start of week 14, and we begin the Ripen stage of nutrients for this lovely giant! Stella has been tied up for about a week in order to keep her standing up. She is lovely, and smells amazing! Her buds are already fat, and will continue to get fatter. Just 4 more weeks till harvest and I couldn’t be happier. Stella received a full gallon of water, and is so needy, that she didn’t start giving back any runoff till she had received 14 of the 16 cups of solution. However, she gave back plenty. Today I got to switch things up a bit. I normally use the 6-part Flora-Trio feed chart to feed all my girls, but when it comes to the ripening stage I start using the more inclusive Flora-Trio recirculating feed chart. It has a more aggressive ripening stage when compared to the usual program. We’ll have to see how she responds. Today she received the following mixed into a gallon of water: CALiMAGic - 2ml FloraMicro - 5ml FloraBloom - 15ml Floralicious Plus - 1ml Dry KoolBloom - 0.5ml (.5 tsp) The initial pH was lower today at 5.9. I added 2 ml’s of pH UP which adjusted the pH to 6.3. Runoff was good with a pH of 6.2. The tent temperature was 79.7F, with a humidity of 54%. She is looking wonderful, and I can wait to see if she changes colors in the coming weeks like my previous DarkStar grow. Happy growing everyone! 7/12/22 Yesterday was the normal feeding day for most of my plants, but as always, life got in the way. Just a hiccup. Today Stella is keeping with the ripening stage, and received a full gallon mixed with the same nutrient levels as the other day. The solution pH once mixed was 6.0, and was adjusted to 6.3 by adding 2 ml of pH UP. The runoff was sufficient with a pH of 6.1. I took the time to disconnect her from the tent and to move her around and adjust some of her branches to provide even more space for the rest of my plants. I also did it so that different parts of the plant are in different positions as to expand light coverage over areas that may have had less coverage since being triced up. Stella’s looking great and fattening up! Her buds are looking huge, and lovely with a smell that is absolutely wonderful. The tent temperature was 82.6F, with humidity at 50%. All is well. Happy growing everyone! 7/14/22 I’m going to try and be quick today, and give you all a break from reading my long entries. Stella’s still using the ripening stage of nutrients minus the CALiMAGic. Neither of my feed charts call for it at this stage, and I really doubt that she’s going to develop any deficiencies in the time remaining. She received a gallon of solution with a pH that was initially 5.4, which is a first time it’s ever been that low. I had to add a total of 7 ml’s of pH UP to get it to just 6.2. I used a new solution to calibrate my pH meter today, and everything seemed out of whack today. 🤷 Her runoff had a pH of 5.7. The tent was 81.4F, and the humidity was 55%. She’s looking good so far. Happy growing everyone.

7/16/22 Today marks the 1st day of week 14, and the start of the 2nd week of the ripening stage. Stella received a gallon of water mixed with the following nutrients: FloraMicro - 5 ml FloraBloom - 15 ml Floralicious Plus - 1 ml Dry KoolBloom - 0.5 tsp. I seem to be having an issue with pH the last 2 feeding days. I think my gallon jugs have reached the end of their lifetimes, and THAT is what is causing my issue. It has happened to me once before, and getting new jugs cleared up the issue. I’m assuming that will be the solution to the problem. However, we all know what “assume” stands for don’t we? If you don’t, leave a comment and I’ll explain. The initial pH was 5.4. That is the lowest that I have ever had simply after adding nutrients. I added a total of 10 ml’s of pH UP, which in my opinion is way too much! But, I did it in 3 separate increments. Not that that makes it better. The final pH after all that was 6.3. The runoff pH was 5.6. She is still looking good, but you can tell she’s getting ready to start getting to her end stage. I wait with baited breath! The tent was 81.7F, with a humidity of 56%. We’re almost there! Happy growing everyone. 7/18/22 Today I’m going to keep this note brief… I promise. Stella is continuing to fatten up getting ready for harvest in a few weeks. She is still doing well. Today she received a gallon of water mixed with the ripen stage nutrients again. I changed all of my jugs, but after mixing everything up the initial pH was 5.5. I added 8 ml’s of pH UP which adjusted the pH going in to 6.2. Her runoff pH was 5.6. The tent was 83.3F, with humidity at 58%. See! A short note is possible!! Happy growing everyone. 7/21/22 Stella and all of her children were fed today. As usual, a day later than planned, but they got fed, and are all still doing wonderful. We’re keeping with the ripen nutrients mixed into a full gallon of water. FloraMicro - 5 ml FloraBloom - 15 ml Floralicious Plus - 1 ml Liquid KoolBloom - 2 ml Initial pH was 5.2. I added 12 ml’s of pH UP which adjusted it to 6.2. She had plenty of runoff with a pH of 5.8 The tent was 83.9F, and humidity was 52%. Her buds are FAT!! Happy growing everyone!

7/23/22 We have finally reached the flushing stage in Stella’s life cycle. I’m so excited to be just 2 weeks away from harvest!! I was meaning to get nice microscopic pics of her trichomes today, but ran out of time. In all honesty, I barely got all of the plants back in the tent before the light was scheduled to turn off, but I made it. But no trichome pics. My bad. At least my little microscope is now fully charged and ready to go. Trichome pics are an absolute necessity if you want to harvest your plants at the right time. They tell you when to harvest, not your growing schedule. However, if you’ve grown a strain/cultivar before, then you can make an educated schedule that may most likely resemble what your trichomes tell you. We’ll have to wait a day and see. Stella received a gallon of tap water today that was adjusted to the proper pH level and nothing else. The initial pH was 7.5, so I added some pH DOWN to adjust it. NOTE: if you’re not familiar with pH UP or pH DOWN; it’s extremely important to know the difference in how to use each. PH UP isn’t that strong and you can expect to use a lot more to adjust your pH up. Usually 2 ml’s of pH UP will adjust your pH up about .3 to maybe .4 of a single point. For example, an initial pH if 5.9 will adjust to approximately 6.2 - 6.3. PH DOWN is much, much stronger. Today is a great example; my initial pH was 7.5, I only added 0.5 ml to it which brought it down to 6.3. I hope you’ve read that clearly and you realize what is written. 2.0 ml’s of pH UP may adjust a level up by just a few decimal points. 0.5 ml of pH DOWN lowered my pH by 1.2 points. That’s a big difference! Stella gave back plenty of runoff with a pH of 5.6. I tried to use my TDS meter today because knowing the TDS level in the runoff is what let’s you know that you’ve flushed enough and that the plant is ready to harvest. However, my TDS meter is still being a useless b!+ch, so I couldn’t use it effectively. I hate that thing! She looks good, and I moved her around a bit today and she was able to support her own weight and not fall over when she was alone in the tent. However, to provide space for all the others she got tied up in the corner again, but rearranged a bit. Her tent was 83.7F, with humidity at 54%. The end is near!! Happy growing everyone! 7/25/22 Feeding time for Stella! She’s continuing to get fresh, properly pHed water today, and will until harvest time. I love when we get to the flush! It’s so much easier and takes a lot less time. I wish my TDS meter was working, but I’m not going to waste money on another one. 🤷‍♂️ Today she received a gallon of water that had an initial pH of 7.4. I added 0.4 ml of pH DOWN which adjusted the pH to 6.4. She had plenty of runoff with a pH of 5.6. I was able to get some Trichome pics today, but none of them are spectacular. I was hoping to get some better pics, but it is what it is. I’ll get some more next time. The tent was 82.1F, and humidity was 58%. Time is ticking, and I can’t wait till she’s ready to cull. Happy growing everyone! 7/27/22 Time to continue the flush with my Lady Stella. She’s looking well, and her buds continue to fatten up. It’s really quite nice. She received another gallon of fresh, properly pHed water today. The gallon had an initial pH of 7.4 like the other day. And also like the other day, I added 0.4 ml of pH DOWN to it which adjusted the pH to 6.4. She gave back plenty of runoff with a pH of 5.7. The runoff solution is clearing up nicely, but that is a poor substitute for a TDS reading. Too bad mine isn’t working properly (still), and I have no desire to spend money on a new one. They don’t last for shit!! Anyway; I took several new Trichome pics of multiple buds located all over the plant today to get a good look at the plant as a whole. The tent was 80.6F, and humidity was 55%. Things continue to go well. Happy growing everyone! 7/29/22 Today is the last day of week 15. Only 1 more week on the schedule till harvest for my dear Stella. Of course it will all depend on how her trichomes look at the end of next week, but per the schedule, we’re almost done. Today she took another gallon of properly pH’ed water to help flush out all the nutrients from the buds built up during the grow. The initial pH of the water was 7.4. Again, I added 12 ml’s of pH DOWN to adjust it to 6.3. She gave back plenty of runoff which is beginning to be more clear-yellow instead of deep amber, which is what we want to see. Her runoff pH was 5.6. Her tent was 82.6F, with humidity at 61%. I didn’t take any new pics today. Next week will have more. Till then; happy growing everyone!

8/1/22 I started feeding my plants yesterday and got half way through before life interrupted me again, so Stella didn’t get fed till today. 🤷‍♂️ Todays feeding is a day later than scheduled, but she is looking well, and still healthy. She’s starting her last scheduled week before harvest as well. I took a lot of trichome pics today to see if she’s ready for harvest or not, and the results are promising. Almost all of them are cloudy with a smattering of amber colored trichomes spread throughout. 👍🏻 She received a gallon of fresh, properly pH’ed water today. The initial pH was 7.4, and I added 0.4 ml of pH DOWN to adjust it. The final pH was 6.4. As usual she gave back plenty of runoff with a pH level of 5.8. The tent temperature was 81.7F, with humidity at 58%. At this point I’d like the RH to be lower, but with so many other plants in there at the same time I don’t think it’s going to get lower. No worries. No signs of mold or any other disease or deficiencies are seen. Her runoff is more clear in color, but not quite perfectly clear. But she’s getting there. Happy growing everyone! 8/3/22 Time to continue the flush with my noble Stella. She has several of her longer leaves starting to turn a little yellow, but that’s too be expected at this time in her life and development. She took a gallon of fresh, but properly pH’ed water today and gave back plenty of runoff. The initial pH was 7.4, as usual, and I added a slight amount (0.4 ml) of pH UP to adjust it to 6.4. Her runoff had a pH of 5.7. I took a lot of trichome pics today which show that she’s doing awesome and will most likely be ready for harvest this coming weekend. I can’t wait! Her tent was 82.3F, with humidity at 52%. I see space opening up soon, and I honestly can’t wait! Happy growing everyone!!

The harvest of my dear Stella was supposed to happen on August 4th, but didn’t begin actually until August 9th. I decided to allow her to dry out a bit before beginning the harvest, but I had some other difficulties which made her dry out a whole lot before I ever even got started. You can tell how dry by looking at the pics and video. Luckily, the dryness was limited to her larger leaves. She was already quite dry on the 9th when I started, and was more so by the 12th when I finished. Even after the advanced drying, her wet trimmed weight was still quite a bit. I’ll list the weights all together in a bit. It took 4 days to get the whole plant trimmed, weighed, and hung up for final drying. She was hung up from August 12th till Friday, August 19th. I got busy harvesting another plant while she was hanging up, and just let her be. On August 19th I took all of her branches down and removed the buds to get the true harvest weight of her buds alone. Let’s get to the weight of the whole thing. The overall wet-trimmed weight of the plant was 18.329 ounces with the buds and branches combined. I was a forgetful idiot and forgot to get the weight of the dry buds on the branches before removing the buds. So all we’re left with is the actual harvest weight of the dry buds alone. The overall dry bud weight, or actual “true” harvest weight of the smokable bud is: 7.317 ounces. That’s a wonderful amount of freshly harvested bud to cure. All of the buds were put into 8 quart sized jars filled roughly 3/4 full, and 1 pint sized jar, also 3/4 full. Each jar has a hygrometer as well as 58% bóveda packs to help aid the curing process. This is the 2nd DarkStar plant I’ve harvested, and both were very large plants. I used a scrog method the first time with a net that spread the whole plant out taking up the entire 4x4 area of the tent. This time I wanted to let her grow more naturally. She got so large that I had to bend almost all of her taller branches over using HST methods. I had to bend 3-5 branches over more than once. By doing that, once her buds began to fatten up she got too heavy and needed to be supported just to stand upright. Toward the end she had to literally be tied up to the side of the tent. Stella (DarkStar) was a wonder to grow, and she gave me a good amount of clones that will soon be harvested themselves. It has been a journey with Stella, and I’m happy that the journey is now complete. Happy growing everyone!