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With the seeds being in the fridge for a year now I was a bit tense while waiting for them to germinate. That's why I opted for the germination in water, to soften the shells and have visual confirmation before planting them. Both seeds germinated and so "Anastasia" (AK-420, named after a Slash song) and "Giulia" (Girl Scout Cookies, song by Gianni Togni) were born.
I learned from my last year's mistakes and levelled the playfield for both by providing two equal 15L geotextile pots. I filled them both with gardening soil (for citrus fruits) and a handful pebbles each. Additionally I threw in one of Zamnesia's Monster Bud Mixes per pot, hoping this will last.
After this first week of targeted manual watering I put them under a DIY dripping rig.
After a week of absence I returned to my lovely ladies and was more than just happy to see how they set off. Both Anastasia and Giulia seem to be en paire, indicating to me that last year's conclusions were right and the second 15L geotextile pot was more suitable. Plus the 5min of dripping every 6h surely don't hurt and I am happy to see that my dripping rig is working well. Plus I think it's safe to say that by now the nutrients of the Monster Bud Mix have come into play as well, giving them something to chew on.
All in all I'm very, very happy and surprised by the day about their rate of growth. Loving it ♥️
Another week off the calendar and in this week they really sped up growth while still being on their 5min every 6h dripping cycle. As of now both of them give off a distinctive scent that is noticeable in their vicinity.
After being absent the first couple of days of this week I returned to two ever growing beauties that seem to enjoy their stay in my garden. Anastasia (AK-420) reached a whopping 74cm (63cm last year at harvest) of height and Giulia (Girl Scout Cookies) is at 59cm (67cm last year at harvest). So while Anastasia has already scored higher than her predecessor, Giulia still has some room to grow. However, both ladies started their flowering phase, with Anastasia being a couple of days ahead as she already started trichome-development on her sugar leaves already started.
What else has happened in the last few days? Well, now Giulia's scent is also noticeable when nearby, but not nearly as dominant as Anastasia's. Additionally, the lower nodes' fan leaves of both girls have started yellowing/browning but I'm not worried just yet. It is definitely hotter/drier this time around and both seem to have progressed further in their respective lifecycle - compared to last year's grow (the season is almost exactly the same, this year I germinated them one week earlier). But that is something that I'll definitively keep my eye on.
This week I decided to move my fair ladies to a place that's shaded at noon. As of late the overall temperatures rose and I was preoccupied that this, in combination with the high-standing sun, could become too much to handle for them. Now they're getting morning and afternoon sun and are better protected against high winds from all but 2 directions.
I changed the dripping irrigation to twice a day for 10 minutes (~7 a.m/p.m), hoping to get a better and prolonged water distribution inside the soil. Apart from some older leaves yellowing they both look healthy and in good shape. Giulia (Girl Scout Cookies) is slightly ahead in the flowering process, but Anastasia (AK-420) started developing trichomes on her sugar-leaves as well this week and is now giving off a distinctive, yet lovely, scent.
Other than that I had to remove a couple of leave-munching locusts from Giulia, as she seems to be quite popular among that audience. On the other hand, Anastasia doesn't seem to have a problem with them. However, I highly doubt that the miniature praying mantis (< 1cm) in her top cola has anything to do with that but I'm sure she'll deal with a couple of other unwanted guests ✌️
After more or less two weeks I finally got back to my lovely ladies and I'm ecstatic! They are such beauties that I find myself way too often crouching next to them, just admiring every single detail.
Upon my arrival I had to get rid of a lot of leaves that were already dead or circling the drain and while I was already at it I defoliated them a bit as well. Plus I had to exterminate two grasshoppers 🦗 that just didn't seem to have gotten the message last time (there's just no way those weren't the same 😂). Now, with only smaller leaves and the sugar leaves remaining, I doubt that their siblings will return - however, as stated above, I keep a close eye on them now that I'm back.
Watering is still the same, 10 minutes dripping twice a day (7 a.m./p.m.) which seems to work fine for them. Before I left I had to move them to a place where there's shade during noon, to keep them out of the scorching sunlight and temperatures. Their home is next to a couple of Yuccas (canopy at ~2m) that provide shade and some protection from morning dew, in a well ventilated spot. Currently the weather's rather dry so I'm optimistic bud rot won't be a problem anytime soon, but just in case I still have last year's shack with electrical ventilation.
Giulia (Girl Scout Cookies) is still ahead of Anastasia (AK-420) in terms of ripeness, but both are covered in loads of trichomes that already started getting a bit milky. According to the breeders both are about a week from harvest which seems reasonable given their current state. A lot of Giulia's pistils are already amber, while there's still new ones growing out of the top of the buds. Anastasia's pistils too are turning amber, but there are loads of fresh pistils growing still ♥️
Wow, what a (last) week! Those two ladies really came along beautifully. Giulia (GSC) got very dense in the last days, with dense trichomes all over the colas, both buds and sugar leaves. Anastasia (AK420) was a tiny bit behind but has put a lot into her buds as well, which in direct comparison stayed airier, lighter while growing taller. In terms of scents Giulia knows how to entice me with a lovely pine aroma, combined with fresh sweetness. Anastasia on the other hand smells earthy (reminds me of last year's Crystal Candy) and a bit like fresh cut grass, overpowering a subtle sweetness.
I defoliated them heavily over the last few days, knowing harvest time would come around soon. Additionally I got rid of (read: dried and successfully degusted) the tiny buds at the insides of their lowest branches, hoping that whatever they're doing, they'll put it into the buds. I switched to manual watering (read: the dripping tube burst) which came in handy when moving them around into/from the sun into/from the shade, trying to protect them from the midsummer heat and dew at dawn.
After harvest she's been hanging out in an actively ventilated cardboard enclosure in my not-creepy-at-all basement for 3 weeks in about 25°C with a varying but relatively stable humidity between 45%-60% RH. Since a lot of her sugar leaves made it through quality control (yours truly) she definitely needed that extra time in there. What came out of the box the other day was nothing short of fantastic. While the chlorophyll still created some of its harsh, grass-ish smell, her underlying, sweet scents already pierced through and gave away what a some curing could do. And a lot it did do, already, after just two weeks. The fine aromas of the flower are already predominant and especially smaller buds are already deliciously persuasive during the daily airing routine. So what had to happen did happen and she found its way into me. Both through a vape (VapCap) and by more traditional meanings - as joints (Damiana). While the latter doesn't fully do her flavours justice, vaping her absolutely does. The heavier base, sweet and kind of earthy with an overlaying sweetness reminding me of raspberries and a almost tropical, mango-esque high-end.
Other than that she hits me like a steam locomotive, both psychically and physically. On the physical side she's very relaxing and kind of heightening my tactile sensibility. On the mind-side she focuses me, locks me on a thought, and let's my mind wander down that path. Which, in combination with the physical relaxation, makes for great evenings with tasty food, good music, something to dream about or a guitar.
Overall I can say that from seed to harvest to curing she's been great and I'm really happy with what has become of her - and looking forward to see what she'll become. Since a couple of days she's chilling in her glass jar alongside a 62% Boveda 8 humidity control.
leone
