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Here we go, after a minor haul with photoperiods I have decided to give it a go with autos, I think this is due to the height of my tent being 1.6m high and 75cm wide each way, the plants do not have luxury of space to grow. Despite the disappointing yield the product itself was incredible, Kookie's Kush and Strawberry Lemonade both by Barney's Farm, I had tried the kush in a coffee shop in Amsterdam back when it was the latest cup winner it was really great, and having it been my first grow it tasted all the sweeter the second time around, but this time I had an ounce of it! I decided to go back and have a look at their catalogue and picked 3 strains I've never tried.
If I can get an ounce per plant I will be happy
I germinated these straight into plastic cups I had cut down to a small size, this was because I needed a homemade method of fitting all the plants under the light until they had grown out. I waited a week as they looked ready to move, the seedlings roots had reached the bottom of the shallowed cups so hopefully they will continue in their permanent new homes, I sprinkled mycorrhizae on the roots, placed them on the pot and leveled off with plain soil.
The medium is a 50/50 mix of soil and peat, with worm castings, bat guano, mycorrhizae, Humic acid, and perlite. This time round I have not used any epsom salts or bone meal, but I have additional liquid nutrients from Fox's Farm and some CalMag, I will probably be using the CalMag often to make up for the lack of epsom salts and bone meal. I have 2 5 gal pots and 3 3 gal pots, originally the 5 gal pots were for photoperiods but have been repurposed here 1) because I'm lazy and cheap to buy another 3 3 gal pots and 2) I wanted to see how much of a difference the container size will impact the growth of the plant, and which size to run in the future.
I have free seeds also I planted, nl x critical is in the back left 5 gal, purple kush in the front 3 gal, gg#4 in the 1 gallon for shits and giggles I expected at least 1 seed to fail and I only have enough room for 5 plants, it is just filled with substrate maybe it will be useful to see how it will manage with liquid nutes and will be handy to keep around for now incase something goes wrong. The NL x C has had about a week's head start as I impatiently germinated it whilst waiting for my actual order of BF seeds.
My current aim is to just keep on top of the water, the water is Ph 6.5 which is within range, I leave my water in a bucket to de-chlorify as my water comes from the tap, hopefully the calcium present in the water will be enough for the plants.
My tent is in a cupboard above the stairs in my bedroom, air extraction isn't optimal, the extraction fan blows air into my room and I have no inlet fan, just a fan inside the tent to help shift the air around. I believe air should still enter the tent via the bottom and exit at the top through the carbon filter.
Just another week in the dunya, watered focusing at a 6.2pH, Runtz fell over Friday after watering, 1ml of seaweed extract was added to a liter spread to all plants this week, moved onto my little watering can now. Nothing of interest really to say, gradually increasing the height of the light, p1000 set to 75/80% power
Another week in and it looks like everyone has settled in, the plants are stretching to get the most light but are still a little weak and need some help standing up, I may have let these stretch too much or waited a short while before transplanting so they could grow more foliage and not have to stretch, or perhaps just a larger light.
Purple Punch stands at the front in the middle and is getting the benefit of being able to stand straight up and get the best light, she has taken the lead, possible candidate for topping maybe?
There is already purple stems I've spotted that makes me think my pH pen isn't accurate, I had also ordered a device to measure soil pH and moisture but I'm not sure if this can be trusted but the pH will always be between 7 and 7.5
Everyone will be starting on liquid food this week so hopefully I can resolve this issue, see you next Sunday!
Not as much growth as I was expecting this week, but everyone is doing okay with their food and LST, most of which is to get the plants into better positions under the light and help keep the plants down low.
Switched the positions of Purple Punch and GZ but she hasn't popped off as much as her 3 gal counterpart.
I am enjoying the NL x C getting bigger pretty impressive for a free seed, the Purple Kush however looks to be suffering even though she's being fed and getting light.
Up the feeding again to double next week, hopefully the green will cover more area before we hit early flower next week.
Day 35 since seeds was placed into pots except the NL x Crit and the tent has filled out quite nicely, there is a lot of overlapping growth but I am not sure if I want or need to defoliate, I may consider lollypopping.
The size of the leaves on the Runtz is almost overwhelming, most likely due to the 5gal pot compared to 3gal.
I am just doing my best to tuck leaves out of the way to give bud sites the maximum amount of light, there is not any more LST beyond this.
We will be entering next week as flower I believe, as white pistils have appeared on most of the plants, thanks for looking.
All of the girls have started to flower now, some are more developed than others, Runtz is probably the least developed but is the largest plant and the Purple Kush is not going to yield hardly anything but a few nugs maybe.
There was some last moment LST to help spread out the canopy and expose the plants, next week I'll put up the trellis to help keep it level. A few lower leaves not receiving enough light were removed, maybe a few more once they have stretched a bit more.
I had encountered what looks like calcium deficiencies on the Zkittlez at the start of the week, so I decided to up the CalMag, not encountered any further discoloration however the new growth is slightly twisted, I had noticed the leaves are now slightly sticky again. Removed the Grow Big this week and the seaweed extract is now gone for good as I use it to aid root development.
Thanks for looking, hopefully next week I'll have some bigger flowers to show.
Another week on and plenty of flowers are starting to develop, the plants are still flexible enough for LST so I opted out of puting the trellis up this week and just tied down the main colas in towards the light to keep the canvas more level, the Runtz is too thick to bend however. I can only raise my light another 4 inches so I hope they won't stretch much more.
A few leaves were removed which were covering bud sites, not a worry as there is plenty of foliage, more of which needs to be altered and removed. Runtz has large leaves which are covering it's own growth, it is tempting to remove the a couple of the larger leaves on top to help the lower bud sites get light to grow up towards the top of the canopy.
Molasses is added to the feed to help improve the flowering progress, this is a good perk of growing in a solid medium, and Tiger Bloom is added for flowering nutrients.
I have noticed pink stems and darker leaves, I am wholly under the impression there are no watering problems, excess nutrients or temperature and humidity problems. I had dialed back on the CalMag this week and every other feed has been pH'd water, I had also left a longer period between watering as last week there were also burnt tips on a few leaves causing a user to believe I had been overwatering or had a root problem, the leaves are still bendy and sticky and have a soft toilet paper like feel I believe the plants are healthy.
Thanks for looking, same time next week
We are now at the end of the 3rd week of flower and things are going well:
A fair amount of large fan leaves and undergrowth was removed from the whole tent, I'm hoping this will help humidity issues as I can't get the RH to drop below 55% in stealth mode level of air extraction.
A highlight this week is the Purple Kush exploding upward, on the other hand the Runtz plant could've benefited from some better LST earlier as there are few bud sites in contrast to her neighbors, hopefully the defoliation will encourage the lower bud sites to stretch upward.
The purple on the leaf stems is only present on the top side and dominantly present towards the top of the canopy I believe this is still not an issue and just sun screening.
I had noticed the pots drying out a lot quicker, the pots were bone dry today I may be underwatering however this allowed me to take the pots out of the tent and made defoliating easier, I'll be sure to up the feeding schedule especially now the plants have less storage space for water with a small bag full of leaves gone.
We are doubling down on Tiger Bloom and tweaking up the Big Bloom, I will re-introduce Grow Big at 0.5ml/l for 2/3 weeks to top up the N levels as I believe the bat guano remaining in the medium isn't supplying enough due to the way some of the lower growth was deteriorating.
Thanks for looking, hopefully we get some denser flowers to show next week.
Week 4 of flower, not too much to note other than the addition of a trellis, re-introducing Grow Big, all the plants are drinking more.
Small amount of trichomes are forming but nothing is frosty yet.
Another week on and not much to say again, we are just cruising to the finish line now, getting a bit of colour in the tent, I'm hoping the flowers will continue to fatten up until the chop.
The heat wave this week managed to make the tent peak at 28C which became worrying.
The tent is now getting colourful, the plants look to be finishing up, I expect another 2/3 weeks, I will keep feeding everyone for the time being
Many buds are still light and airy, I was hoping they would be denser as about 50% of the pistils are brown in the tent.
NL x Critical is looking great, the seed bank describes it as an XL that takes 8-10 weeks to flower, a little longer than the others but it was planted 1 week earlier, it should be finished around the same time as the others.
Thanks for looking
Another week in and I cut all nutrients (except the GZ), I have been using Ph balanced water only. I don't think they will take longer than 2 weeks now.
I'm pulling off more dying leaves to save them falling off.
This week is 2 days late so +9 from last update, thanks!
Posting on Sunday again, Day 56 of flower (63 for NL x C), I'm suffering from a heatwave this weekend which is why some of the ladies have limp leaves, hope this won't cause any problems during the last week or 2 but I'm putting my fans on max to try and keep temps down.
I am getting excited for the chop, wondering if they'll be ready next week as I haven't spotted any amber trichomes.
This week I added some pics of the main colas, I will try and get some good pictures of the finished plants before I chop and trim them.
Thanks for looking, I will have some end product soon!
Harvest time incoming in the next few days so I'm starting this weeks entry 2 days early and edit until next Sunday where I should think we will be done. I have a few snaps which I can see the trichomes under a USB microscope (please forgive the quality as I was holding the microscope whilst taking these)
The heat wave during the week seems to have stressed the plants a little and many leaves have shrunken considerably, they may also be suffering from deficiency as I have flushed too early.
Some of these images of trichomes are from the top colas as they were easiest to capture, I had a peruse of other lower down buds and can still see some clear trichomes, I am thinking tomorrow I will remove the Runtz and the trellis so I can free up a little space and I could rotate the ladies to help them finish up.
Runtz has around 80/90% red pistils, and I can see amber trichomes around the larger buds, I can't see much more benefit of letting her ride.
I thought the Purple Kush would be ready from it's appearance, however it is still lacking any noticeable amber trichomes that aren't on the sugar leaves, maybe about 60% red pistils, I will let her ride another week.
I expected Purple Punch to be one the last ones out along with the Gorilla Zkittlez, PP looks like she'll benefit another week for sure, GZ however I'm not too sure as she still looks a little premature judging from the pistils but the trichomes are starting to peak, she's also listed with the longest flowering time out of the bunch.
NL x C looks ready, many red pistils and plenty of milky trichomes with a few amber ones, I will check around the plant tomorrow before deciding to chop.
Saturday Update:
Runtz and NL x C have been removed and are going to get chopped and hung, I will provide a detailed write up when I have a taste in about 2 weeks
I have come to file out my results, I am overall pleased I reached the end of harvest with hardly any issues.
GZ - 22inch peak, 45g wet bud, 26g after 12 days drying (will update again in a week with dry bud pics)
PP - 2inch peak, 62 grams wet, 29g day 12 drying
This was a real treat to chop, dense buds all hidden in the middle of this one, probably benefited most from being front and center in the tent
There is a smell of marzipan and earth, very potent stuff, beautiful violet coloured bud.
This strain is unique to me, I would love to grow this again!
Runtz - 18inch peak, 26g wet bud, 14g after 12 days drying
I really fucked up on this one, lack of training bares the weight of crushing my potential end product, I feel trained properly I could've doubled my grams
What can I say about this plant other than it's a real treat, the smell is distinctive but pleasing, it produced the nicest looking buds.
I can't wait to smoke this, the edges are getting crispy so nearly there.
This one was the runt of the litter and she wasn't placed optimally in my tent, my buds came out light and airy but still it's bud. The smell is the most pleasing out of the 5 strains, fruity and sweet comparable to palma violets sweets
PK- 24 inch peak (#1), 32g wet weight, 16g after 12 days
Weed is weed was my thinking watching this weak thing grow, I'm glad I kept it around. The product is so airy the bud is already almost dry through, heavenly aroma of palma violet sweets now it's in the jar.
This one was 1 of 5 others and the only one that sprouted, the plant grew out nicely and was one of the more aesthetically pleasing to watch develop in it's flowering stage. The smell is very woody.
NL x C - 22inch peak, 44g wet bud, 26g after 12 days drying
This was really easy to grow (if you can get it to sprout), I did minimal training and the plant adapted well, even the mids are dense.
Hey there friend. Would you be alright with me offering some pointers? So cannabis plants LOVE heat and humidity. It is the buds that hate it. In veg we want to take advantage of this fact to help our plants grow along much quicker and more vigorously. In veg we can look for temps of 79-84 MAX with lights on & no more than 9 degrees less with lights off. If we allow for too much temperature swing between lights on and lights off while the plant is still growing vertically up to day 20 of flower, We will cause the plant to stretch ALOT which we do not want. So in veg & early flower, Keeping our temperature gaps nice and close between lights on and off is key. Utilizing humidity in our rooms during veg will also help out a lot with more rapid growth but we must introduce it properly. In our rooms we have our temperature and humidity set-points, But when we combine those 2 it forms a third set-point which is the most important & that is called VPD, Vapor pressure deficit.
I strongly recommend every new grower or old grower who has not learned it yet, To study and understand it & implement it into your room, Logging your numbers daily.
https://cerescann.com/importance-of-measuring-vpd/
For soil, We generally want to go for a PH of 6.1
This website does a GREAT job of illustrating it with a nice graph & very good detailed explanation for soil.
https://autoflowerseedshop.com/cannabis-ph-chart-guide/
As we briefly touched on before, During veg & early flower we want our temperature gap's nice and tight to avoid stretch. Why exactly our plants stretch in response to this is a genetic trigger being activated by the environmental stress essentially telling the plant the end of the season is closer than it really is. In veg & early flower the plant is still in its first stage of development which is to grow up wide and tall so when it produces seed, It can cast them out nicely. Remember, Whether we are growing our plants for seed or bud their genetic responses do not change as they gh sidedo not know any different. Once the plant has finished that first stage of growth by weeks 4-6 of flower with most strains, It is by day 20 of flower. Autoflowers you have to watch for it, But once the plant has finished this goal its new mission is to focus 100% on producing nice big flower clusters & to get very sticky so it can attract pollen to it successfully.
So once that vertical growth is finished, We actually now want to begin to expose our plants to larger temperature swings between lights on and lights off. This will help activate that genetic response and allow us to draw out the most potential from the strain utilizing the plants genetic triggers to environmental stresses at the right times. We can also take this a step further with doing light deprivation in the last 2 weeks using less light to simulate cloud cover. Very cold feed temps on the last flush is very good too. If you do not have them already, Get yourself a good PAR meter & thermal laser temp gun to monitor your plant top temperatures & optimize how much light your plants are getting. We are currently in the middle of producing a very comprehensive tutorial series for everybody to learn from & understand how to grow the highest level craft cannabis all on their own. If this interests you please check out our youtube and subscribe. The first 2 episodes are out the next one is coming in a few days. If you should ever have any questions or need any help, Please feel free to follow my profile and shoot me a DM. I will gladly help you with the pull down & make sure you get the best quality harvest possible as it is the most important step of the entire process. I really think you would benefit from our tutorial series on youtube, Our channel is linked off our main grow diaries profile. We just put up week 3 of plant life care so you got time to subscribe and catch up before the next episode is out! I look forward to seeing you over there and hearing your feedback to better help me shape the tutorials
Happy growing friend!
Dang, should have harvested a bit earlier, amber trichs means you lost some thc potency. Being locked in the couch with cbd filled amber trichs doesnt mean the weed is stronger :/ You want 90% cloudy trichs with 10% still clear, and you want 70% of your hairs to be amber, with 30% still being white. Once harvested and while drying, the trichs and hairs will continue to mature, and by the time they are dry they should be perfectly ripe with 0 amber trichs but 100% cloudy and 100% amber hairs with none white or brown.
Goblinman
