Zookies (Indoor) Clone to Final Harvest

Started with 2 clones, the mango lemon haze had a dry powder mildew problem at the start of flower. I treated both plants every other day with a mild solution of filtered water and apple cider vinegar from the grocery store. It seemed to help a little at first, but never completely got rid of the mildew. I watched both plants very close at this point. The Zookies never showed signs of any spotting of mildew unlike the MLH. No added nutrients to the soil of either plant as they just got transplanted with larger pots and a boost of happy frog and ocean forest soil mix from Fox Farm, medium sized river pebbles in the bottom inch or so of each container for drainage. No other additives to the soil. Water with room temperature filtered water. Air temp fluctuates as I read the plants and see what they like. I thinned the plant at the lower area at the time of the 12/12 switch. I did not defoliate much or any at this point as you can see it does not need it at this point. Plant is stretching hard/fast right now (Zookies), the MLH is much slower growing.

Week 2: was omitted due to the DPM issue I was dealing with and really was not concerned with taking photos that week. Week 3: No nutrients added still, just the soil as when they were transplanted. MLH plant is getting to be a problem with reoccurring DPM. Treatment with the apple cider vinegar and filtered water mix does not seem to be working enough to bring me comfort. Thinking of pulling this one very soon. The Zookies plant is staying strong, no signs of a single area of concern or any DPM. Zookies is growing UP and FAST. I'm starting to get concerned with it this early in the flower cycle and how small the tent is for height.

Started feeding with 1/2 recommended dosage from the Fox Farm feeding chart online. I do not use the instructions on bags or bottles. I always check online what actual growers are currently saying. It was recommended to start with 1/2 the strength mix on the 3 nutrient bundle I am using. 1/2 dose per nutrient bottle per gallon of water. Mix well, room temp water nutrient mix. Water until the bottom water tray is full. I then test a PH strip in the drain pan water. I also want to note, I will remove the drip tray under the plant to wash it every other watering or so. The water drip tray will accumulate salts and other potent materials that will throw off the PH reading if allowed to build up too much, as well as when you water next, some of the lost nutrients that drained into the catch pan might reactivate when wet again from a new watering and the plant may soak up too many nutrients and it could get hurt. Thinking of pulling the MLH now as I am worried it may affect the Zookies plant at some point. Plus there is getting to be too little room inside the small 2x2.

Pulled the MLH and tossed it. I tossed the clones I had too. It was either not good genetics or I just don't have the correct humidity/temp setup to handle the delicacy of the strain. The Zookies is loving the new room and is beginning to so with accelerated growth. I am still giving the 1/2 dose to the plant and it seems to be doing just fine. The smell is starting to be noticeable now, but its more of a 'bad' strong weed smell if that makes sense. It stinks but not a stink I think smells all too good. When I rub the stems however and rub my fingers together and smell, I get a small hint of chocolate and pepper and fuel. Upped the water slightly. Considering a ScrOG type netting soon. Started main lining some of the larger branches to utilize the extra room now that there is only 1 plant in here.

Going smooth. Same 1/2 does nutrients. I want to mention that I do not add nutrients every watering. I add them every other watering. I water with room temp filtered water in between feedings. I do not flush at all. I use straight filtered water the final 2 weeks or so only. No flush in my soil, ever. Considering boosting the night low temp with some A/C very soon to 'adjust' the plant some since it is still summer here in CA.

The main colas are getting heavier rapidly now and they needed to have proper support. The stems are not the thickest and the buds will for sure bend and likely snap them without added support at this point. I handmade a ScrOG style netting out of paracord I had around. The net has give to it and is not super tight. I want the netting to lightly support the flowers when it is absolutely needed. I do not want to heavily prop these flowers as I want the stems to get stronger and larger to allow for more nutrient uptake. I am trying to mimic the look and final product of what a large professional grow in hydroponics would look like. I watched the Stiiizy video online and wanted to mimic their plants with this one. Hence the fewer larger buds than other growers have, but I am hoping that the quality is boosted by topping less, and making this less bushy. Some leaves are showing signs of nutrient loss, but it makes sense as these leaves are mostly on the largest colas. I did start watering with plain filtered room temp water for 3 watering and skipped a feeding. Then I gave it a full dose feeding after it showed signs of nutrient depletion weakness.

Added additional paracord string support criss crossed across the center of the tent to add additional support for the larger colas as the lower netting was no longer enough. The larger colas are getting very heavy at this point. Note in the photo on 7.4 of the whole plant. Notice the larger fan leaves are wilting. I use these large fan leaves as a 'needs water' indicator. When the plant is getting low on water, it will pull moisture from these larger fan leaves to the colas so as to not slow down flower production. I use these clues as a way to water correctly when the plant is thirsty for it and also to not over water. If the plant is not wilting, it technically does not need water yet. I do this method to limit any over watering and it has served me well. I also leave small bud branches on the very bottom of the plant. I use the small branches and buds as indicator branches and buds as well. I want these lower quality parts of the plant to suffer during any emergencies before any of the higher quality branches do. I use this for nutrient signs and water signs, etc... Feeding is every other watering for this week and then I will be starting plain filtered room temp watering only for the remainder of the grow until harvest (roughly the final 2 weeks or less) Smell is getting stronger and smells more finished than the previous weeks. The pistils are starting to change more now to a bright vibrant orange color. There are still plenty of new pistils on the largest of the flowers. A lot of the smaller buds especially those near the bottom of the plant are getting finished with their pistils more than 50% changed now. The bracts are getting swelled now, especially those with lots of pistils or those with pistils already dead. The crystal production has ramped up and I believe it is due to the cold being introduced at 'night'. The buds are all extremely dense and sticky and the larger colas actually are starting to have some unexpected impressive weight to them. This is an Alien Labs (Oakland CA breeder/grower) strain and it is really starting to show. The plant has thin stalks, little leaf material, super dense, large, high quality buds and takes very little water.

Lots of growth this week. Buds gaining good weight fast. Trim amount should be ideal with very great bud to waste leaf ratio.

7.24.22 ------ end of the week, great week, great progress, lots of growth and weight put on this week. the buds took great shape this week with a lot of the points taking much stronger definition this week.

HOME STRETCH! LETS GOOO!

Start of week 12! (This is really start of week 10... of when it first showed signs of flowering) I would guess this has about 1 week or so before pulling, we will see. Will microscope trichs more often now and really time to finesse this grow here in the final stage.

8.9.22 95.00% chance this is pull week... basically first indoor grow, cut nutrients a little too soon likely, will adjust next zookies grow! 8.10.22 ***** CUT THE LIGHT THIS MORNING!!! WILL PULL AND HANG WITHIN ABOUT 48 HOURS FROM NOW!!! ***** 8.11.22 Pulled and hung the plant, took some smaller popcorn buds off the lowest branches to dry separately.

Harvest was slightly rushed. Waited just until the crystals were as close to 100% milky as possible with a little clear and a little more amber than clear. It is what it is. The grow started with 2 plants in a small room. This plant was pretty much halved from the start to make sure it didn't overtake the other plant (was removed later on). With that said, great fun growing this. A lot of work tbh, this is something definitely to scale rather than doing multiple seasons 1 plant at a time at this monitoring level. Never weighed the wet weight, not sure how much it would be tbh, not much but it was a small clone, small branch looking thing that I let grow naturally until about week 5-7. This strain can take abuse and LOVES to explode with growth! I highly recommend this as a starter grow but watch for bugs, and humidity levels as this is a dense plant.