EarthBox [LOS] - Seedsman - Black Sugar

Introduction - Week 01 Summary - Ensign’s log, personal entry, This week’s log was created in an effort to keep a somewhat complete grow reference for this attempt. This was therefore created well after I started my initial re-logging again (a good month or so). I never stopped trying to grow and continued to take photo logs as I failed/learned, just got too lazy/demotivated to write about them all (enjoyed the logging process, but was over logging about failure after failure). This log entry will focus mainly on one plant (the front one in the EarthBox). There are missing entries and details (although relevant) may not be exact. See Week 05 for the introductory week of this grow. Also check out my first grow (over 2 years ago) to learn how this journey to my first harvest all started. Now onto this week’s grow log! Ensign's log, stardate 99932.66, This is the beginning of a new grow attempt! Mid week I decided to do another seed soak. This will be attempt #44. By the end of the week, she was already planted into the EarthBox! [START OF WEEK 01] Day 01 - Monday - 05/02/22 - Total Days: N/A ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.9°F - Humidity: 58.1% - VPD: 1.27kPa ----------------------------------- [No Relevant Log Entries For Today – See Day 04] Day 02 - Tuesday - 05/03/22 - Total Days: N/A ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.0°F - Humidity: 56.9% - VPD: 1.27kPa ----------------------------------- [No Relevant Log Entries For Today – See Day 04] Day 03 - Wednesday - 05/04/22 - Total Days: N/A ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.5°F - Humidity: 58.0% - VPD: 1.30kPa ----------------------------------- [No Relevant Log Entries For Today – See Day 04] Day 04 - Thursday - 05/05/22 - Total Days: 001 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.2°F - Humidity: 62.1% - VPD: 1.17kPa ----------------------------------- - [Supplemental Entry]: This will be grow attempt #44. --- Attempting to grow another seed of some ‘Black Sugar’ by ‘Seedsman’ (bean 00 of 20). --- Unlike the last attempt (which was planted into a 1/2 gallon pot), after germination, this one will be planted straight into the EarthBox. This will be the final home for her and won’t be transplanted anymore. --- My previous attempts at direct sowing (attempt #00) ended in failure due to a lack of CO2 (Dammit Ensign). --- But this time will be my first attempt at direct sowing under growable conditions (I think, damn the ventilation paradox). --- The soil is reused BuildASoil (BAS) Artisan soil. The EarthBox has about 1 cubic foot of BAS 3.0 along just under half a cubic foot of BAS Light. --- To prevent over-watering, the EarthBox’s 3-gallon reservoir does have an overflow. --- To start the seed germination, going to be using the ‘cup of water technique.’ --- At it’s absolute basic, this is simply soaking a cannabis seed in a warm cup of distilled water (water temp around 80F-85F). This cup must remain in the dark and undisturbed for about 3-5 days (sometimes sooner). That’s it. --- I achieve this using a shot glass, a plastic black bowl, and a heating mat (with thermostat). For added insulation (which helps to stabilize temps), I am also using a few towels and a piece of scrap foam from a carbon filter box. This setup has evolved over time and took a few failed attempts to get the full process down. This is not a perfect setup, but works for me. --- Anyways, prior to the bean soak, I cleaned a clear shot glass and filed it with 25mL of distilled water (not even PH’d) and set it aside. - [19:43]: Time to start another bean! --- Selected a bean at random (basically the first one to pop out of the container) and dropped her into the shot glass. --- This seed floated. --- To maintain a warm environment, used a towel and heating mat (mat is under the towel). --- A thermostat is used to control the heating mat and have the probe placed under the towel right next to the shot glass. - [19:44]: Placed the shot glass on the heating mat. --- The starting temp was the current room temperature (which was at 76.8F). --- Covered the shot glass with a plastic black bowl. --- Covered the bowel with a towel. --- Covered the towel and bowel with a piece of foam. --- Lastly covered the foam with a towel. - [19:46]: Set the thermostat to 90F --- Based on prior experience with this particular setup, I know that there’s about a minus 5 degree difference between the thermostat setting and the actual water temp. So to achieved the desired 80-85F (target range), for my setup, I had to set the thermostat to 90F --- Now the waiting begins! Day 05 - Friday - 05/06/22 - Total Days: 002 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.1°F - Humidity: 62.0% - VPD: 1.16kPa ----------------------------------- [No Relevant Log Entries For Today] Day 06 - Saturday - 05/07/22 - Total Days: 003 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.2°F - Humidity: 62.1% - VPD: 1.16kPa ----------------------------------- [No Relevant Log Entries For Today – See Day 04] Day 07 - Sunday - 05/08/22 - Total Days: 004 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 74.9°F - Humidity: 62.0% - VPD: 1.12kPa ----------------------------------- - [10:07]: Checked on the seed soaking in the cup. --- Nice! A tap root was just emerging. --- Time to plant! --- Planting her directly into the EarthBox. --- This EarthBox is filled with soil of both the BAS 3.0 and Light blends. I initially filled the EarthBox back in June of 2021 (wow time flys). --- I am using a living mulch in the form of cover crop (BAS White Dutch Clover and along with a bit of BAS 12 Seed Clover Blend). The clover is mainly there to help keep the soil biology alive. Plus over time, clover is a good nitrogen fixer which is essential for healthy plant growth. --- I am also using (BAS) rice hulls as a top mulch. The clover can easily grow through it while also providing a bit of extra silica as the hulls decompose into the soil. - [10:11]: Filled a measuring cup with 1/3cup of water. --- Added 1/64tsp of the following: ----- Quillaja Saponaria Extract ----- Horticultural Aloe --- Added 1/32tsp of Mycrobe Complete --- Mixed the solution and set it aside. - [10:21]: Before digging a hole, I sprayed the area with a bit of distilled water. --- I just wanted to wet the top soil a bit. --- Then made a shallow hole. --- Well not even a hole, I basically pushed the rice hulls and cover crop aside to expose the fresh top soil. --- Sprinkled in 1/64tsp of Great White. --- Sprinkled it only in the middle area where I planned to place her. The goal was to have the mycorrhizae inoculant to be in direct contact with her tap root. - [10:29]: Time to plant! --- Using a clean dab tool, I gently scooped her out of the shot glass. - [10:30]: Laid her gently onto the top soil just above where I sprinkled the Great White. --- Her tap root was placed sideways. --- Using surrounding top soil, I gently covered her with a layer of soil just enough to block any light (less than 0.25" layer thick). --- Gently patted the top soil to seal her in. - [10:32]: Time to water! --- Using the solution that was prepared earlier, I gently poured it over the area where I planted her. --- Done! - [20:50]: Decided to increase the light intensity. --- The previous value was at 90PPFD - [20:58]: Lowered and re-angled the light a bit. --- New tent readings are 170PPFD [END OF WEEK 01]

Introduction - Week 02 Summary - Ensign’s log, personal entry, This week’s log was created in an effort to keep a somewhat complete grow reference for this attempt. This was therefore created well after I started my initial re-logging again (a good month or so). I never stopped trying to grow and continued to take photo logs as I failed/learned, just got too lazy/demotivated to write about them all (enjoyed the logging process, but was over logging about failure after failure). This log entry will focus mainly on one plant (the front one in the EarthBox). There are missing entries and details (although relevant) may not be exact. See Week 05 for the introductory week of this grow. Also check out my first grow (over 2 years ago) to learn how this journey to my first harvest all started. Now onto this week’s grow log! Ensign's log, stardate 99951.82, She sprouted from the soil this week! She still had the shell on but that was easily removed. To help keep RH a bit higher, I'm using a humidity dome for a bit. [START OF WEEK 02] Day 01 - Monday - 05/09/22 - Total Days: 005 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 74.4°F - Humidity: 59.8% - VPD: 1.16kPa ----------------------------------- [No Relevant Log Entries For Today] Day 02 - Tuesday - 05/10/22 - Total Days: 006 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 74.8°F - Humidity: 45.0% - VPD: 1.62kPa ----------------------------------- [No Relevant Log Entries For Today] Day 03 - Wednesday - 05/11/22 - Total Days: 007 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 74.5°F - Humidity: 48.1% - VPD: 1.50kPa ----------------------------------- [No Relevant Log Entries For Today] Day 04 - Thursday - 05/12/22 - Total Days: 008 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.8°F - Humidity: 44.8% - VPD: 1.68kPa ----------------------------------- - [Supplemental Entry]: She initially emerged a day or so ago with her shell on (unfortunately, no photos). --- Had to remove the shell (gently) with a set of tweezers. - [10:56]: Decided to add a humidity dome. --- Placed the humidity dome on top of her with the vents fully open. - [17:30]: Checked the dome. --- Misted her with a bit of distilled water. Day 05 - Friday - 05/13/22 - Total Days: 009 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.8°F - Humidity: 50.2% - VPD: 1.51kPa ----------------------------------- - [10:23]: Looking good! --- Misted her with more distilled water. --- Her first set of serrated leaves are just about the same length as her cotyledon leaves! --- Still using the humidity dome with the vents fully open. Day 06 - Saturday - 05/14/22 - Total Days: 010 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.4°F - Humidity: 54.0% - VPD: 1.43kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:44]: Nice! Growing along. --- Her first set of leaves are growing in beautifully! Day 07 - Sunday - 05/15/22 - Total Days: 011 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.0°F - Humidity: 68.3% - VPD: 0.93kPa ----------------------------------- [No Relevant Log Entries For Today] [END OF WEEK 02]

Introduction - Week 03 Summary - Ensign’s log, personal entry, This week’s log was created in an effort to keep a somewhat complete grow reference for this attempt. This was therefore created well after I started my initial re-logging again (a good month or so). I never stopped trying to grow and continued to take photo logs as I failed/learned, just got too lazy/demotivated to write about them all (enjoyed the logging process, but was over logging about failure after failure). This log entry will focus mainly on one plant (the front one in the EarthBox). There are missing entries and details (although relevant) may not be exact. See Week 05 for the introductory week of this grow. Also check out my first grow (over 2 years ago) to learn how this journey to my first harvest all started. Now onto this week’s grow log! Ensign's log, stardate [stardate], The humidity dome was removed. This week I gave the EarthBox a watering and started seedling feeding (may have been too much?). Her growth is looking a bit yellow and wonky, but she's still growing along. [START OF WEEK 03] Day 01 - Monday - 05/16/22 - Total Days: 012 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.4°F - Humidity: 68.4% - VPD: 0.95kPa ----------------------------------- - [10:56]: Morning check! --- By this time I have stopped using and have removed the humidity dome. --- Growth is looking good! --- Her first set of leaves are already notably larger than the last check. Day 02 - Tuesday - 05/17/22 - Total Days: 013 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.0°F - Humidity: 68.5% - VPD: 0.93kPa ----------------------------------- [No Relevant Log Entries For Today] Day 03 - Wednesday - 05/18/22 - Total Days: 014 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.0°F - Humidity: 68.5% - VPD: 0.93kPa ----------------------------------- [No Relevant Log Entries For Today] Day 04 - Thursday - 05/19/22 - Total Days: 015 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: [No Data] - Humidity: [No Data] - VPD: [No Data] ----------------------------------- - [Supplementary Entry]: Not sure why, but there is no environmental data for the remainder of the week. --- This could have been caused by using the AC Infinity App on two phones at the same time (I recently upgraded my phone from the Apple iPhoneX to the Samsung S22 Ultra). --- As of right now, I am using the AC Infinity App on only one phone (S22 Ultra). - [17:40]: Time to feed! This feeding is based off of BAS 'Seedlings o Rooted Cuts' schedule. Values have been scaled down from 1 gallon to 1 cup. --- Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of the following: ----- Quillaja Saponaria Extract ----- Horticultural Aloe ----- Big 6 Micronutrients [+ Humic Acid] --- Added 1/16tsp of the following: ----- Pure Protein Dry [Organic Fish Aminos] ----- Mycrobe Complete --- Added 1 drop of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and poured it into a spray bottle. - [18:23]: Misted the solution over the top soil of the EarthBox. --- Sprayed mainly around both plants in the EarthBox (1/2 cup each). - [18:28]: Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water. --- Added 1.75mL of Formula EM-5 [All Natural Garden Cleaning Concentrate] --- Mixed the solution and poured it into a spray bottle. --- Misted the top soil evenly (the entire cup). Day 05 - Friday - 05/20/22 - Total Days: 016 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: [No Data] - Humidity: [No Data] - VPD: [No Data] ----------------------------------- - [10:22]: Morning check! --- Growth is looking kind of funky. --- Over-watering? --- Or maybe because she sprouted with the shell on? --- I dunno. Going to continue to check up on her. Day 06 - Saturday - 05/21/22 - Total Days: 017 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: [No Data] - Humidity: [No Data] - VPD: [No Data] ----------------------------------- [No Relevant Log Entries For Today] Day 07 - Sunday - 05/22/22 - Total Days: 018 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: [No Data] - Humidity: [No Data] - VPD: [No Data] ----------------------------------- - [17:31]: Checked on the growth. --- Wow! Her second set of leaves are already sprouting! --- Looking a bit yellow though. [END OF WEEK 03]

Introduction - Week 04 Summary - Ensign’s log, personal entry, This week’s log was created in an effort to keep a somewhat complete grow reference for this attempt. This was therefore created well after I started my initial re-logging again (a good month or so). I never stopped trying to grow and continued to take photo logs as I failed/learned, just got too lazy/demotivated to write about them all (enjoyed the logging process, but was over logging about failure after failure). This log entry will focus mainly on one plant (the front one in the EarthBox). There are missing entries and details (although relevant) may not be exact. See Week 05 for the introductory week of this grow. Also check out my first grow (over 2 years ago) to learn how this journey to my first harvest all started. Now onto this week’s grow log! Ensign's log, stardate 99990.12, Overall growth was pretty good! This week I started bottom watering the EarthBox. Also increased the light intensity to 427PPFD. As far as feeding, this week was the start of veg week 1. Also top dressed and foliar sprayed. Had to give the cover crop a trimming too. [START OF WEEK 04] Day 01 - Monday - 05/23/22 - Total Days: 019 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 74.9°F - Humidity: 66.9% - VPD: 0.95kPa ----------------------------------- - [10:46]:She is starting to take off! --- Although growth is still looking a bit strange. - [22:50]: Started bottom watering by adding water to the reservoir. --- Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Also gave her a misting of distilled water. Day 02 - Tuesday - 05/24/22 - Total Days: 020 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.7°F - Humidity: 65.4% - VPD: 1.02kPa ----------------------------------- - [10:12]: Wow! She’s getting perky! --- Growth is looking a lot better. - [17:24]: Evening check! --- Growth is looking good! - [17:40]: Water time. --- Filled a measuring cup with 2 cups of distilled water and poured it into the EarthBox’s fill tube. - [17:47]: Decided to increase the light intensity. --- The light intensity was at 247PPFD --- Lowered the light to increase the intensity to 427PPFD Day 03 - Wednesday - 05/25/22 - Total Days: 021 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.7°F - Humidity: 66.9% - VPD: 0.98kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:59]: Wow! Looking good! --- Growth is nice and perky! --- She is starting to gain noticeable height too. - [21:55]:Growth is really starting to take off! --- Her leaf color is starting to look greener too. Day 04 - Thursday - 05/26/22 - Total Days: 022 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.7°F - Humidity: 64.5% - VPD: 1.05kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:51]: Woah she’s getting taller! --- Growth is looking a lot more uniform too. - [17:16]: Growth is looking good! --- Cover crop is starting to really rage! - [17:22]: Time to feed! --- This week will be the first week of veg! --- Using reduced measurements based off of BAS feeding schedule. --- Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of the following: ----- Quillaja Saponaria Extract ----- Horticultural Aloe ----- Big 6 Micronutrients [+ Humic Acid] ---Added 1/32tsp of Mycrobe Complete --- Added 1/16tsp of Pure Protein Dry [Organic Fish Aminos] --- Added 1 drop of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and set it aside. - [17:38]: Gave the cover crop a trim. --- Using scissors, I chopped and dropped all the cover crop that was growing outside the EarthBox. --- The clippings will eventually breakdown and re-nourish the soil. - [17:53]: Applied a top dress. --- For each plant, I gave: ----- 2tbsp of Craft Blend ----- 1tbsp of Kashi Blend - [18:03]: Sprinkled the top dress around the base of each plant. --- To make sure everything was well in contact with the soil, I made sure to agitate it a bit with my fingers. - [18:06]: Okay now time to water! --- Poured the solution from earlier into a spray bottle and misted it over the top soil of the EarthBox. --- Sprayed around both plants focusing on the area where I top dressed (1/2 cup each). --- I tried to avoid spraying the top growth of both plants. - [18:41]: Going to water the reservoir. --- Filled a measuring cup with 2 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. - [18:45]: Now for the foliar spraying! --- As per BAS schedule, this week’s dosage will be double the strength. --- Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water. --- Added 3.5mL of Formula EM-5 [All Natural Garden Cleaning Concentrate] --- Mixed the solution and poured it into a spray bottle. --- Misted the top soil evenly (about 1/2 cup). Day 05 - Friday - 05/27/22 - Total Days: 023 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.8°F - Humidity: 65.1% - VPD: 1.03kPa ----------------------------------- - [21:44]: Growing along nicely! --- She is already on her 3rd set of true leaves with the 4th set just barely starting! --- Hyped! - [22:18]: Time to water. --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water and poured it into the EarthBox’s fill tube. Day 06 - Saturday - 05/28/22 - Total Days: 024 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.8°F - Humidity: 64.9% - VPD: 1.04kPa ----------------------------------- - [20:51]: Just a quick evening checkup. --- Growth is looking good! Day 07 - Sunday - 05/29/22 - Total Days: 025 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.1°F - Humidity: 64.7% - VPD: 1.06kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:48]: Wow! So beautiful! --- Looking very perky! --- I’ve noticed that she tends to be the most perkiest in the mornings just before lights out. --- Whereas in the evenings, just as the lights turn on, her leaves tend to be a bit more droopy. - [20:16]: Looking great! --- Growing along beautifully! - [20:38]: Time to water. --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. [END OF WEEK 04]

Introduction - Week 05 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100012.01, They say failure is always an option.. Well I learn best from my failures.. So I guess over the past 24 months, I've been doing a lot of learning. Ha! Wow a lot has happened! Furthermore a lot has NOT happened as well! This should make sense soon [*smokes a bowl]. Well anyways, I'm back! Since my last GD log entry (seed attempt #15 - 'OG Kush' by Phoenix Seeds), I decided to go organic and continued to log my grow progress and attempts offline. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), I continued to fail, err I mean learn. After several more failures (attempt - #33), I eventually stopped making log entries, but continued to take photos. Skipping on to seed attempt #39 when life happened and had to move. So new room means new grow setup! Just before the move, I started attempt #39 which had just sprouted from the soil (BAS Light in a solo cup). During the whole move/relocation of the tent (which lasted the span of about 17 days), I continued to water and grew the seedling outside of the tent (in regular room conditions -- ~75°F / ~53% RH). To my utter surprise, she started to grow! This was when I discovered that the ENTIRE time I was growing, something was very wrong with my grow environment. But what? I immediately assumed that the lower light levels were helping her grow. So for the new tent setup, I tried to recreate the same lighting conditions. I measured the ambient room light (less than 10PPFD) along with a shaded area outside (~70PPFD). I set the tent up with the same conditions with the light levels lowered to ~100PPFD. Great! Nope. The seedling (#39) started to show signs of the familiar yellowing of the new growth. Damnit Ensign! What could it have been? It wasn't over-watering or under watering. The lower light levels also had little to no effect. So I started to check online for a solution. One search led to another (and another), but I eventually discovered an article that was discussing room ventilation and air exchange rates. Apparently, plants need CO2 (Duh), but I didn't realize how low CO2 concentrations are in the ambient air around us (~400-1000PPMs). CO2 levels in my sealed grow tent were definitely lower. Mainly because my exhaust fan (AC Infinity T6) was only on when room conditions (temperature and humidity) went above or below a set threshold range. For the most part, it remained off. This was the issue. Long story short, my entire time growing, I was suffocating my plants. [*smokes a phat bowl and takes a dab] After learning about fan CFMs and room volume air exchange, I calculated an appropriate speed setting for my particular grow setup (Thank you AC Infinity for the useful article on ventilation). Immediately after making this change, I started seeing growth again. Woohoo! Shortly afterwards, I upgraded the exhaust fan controller (AC Infinity Controller 69) which has new features and modes. Now I have the fan set to a constant speed of 3 (~120CFM). This should be more than enough ventilation for a 4x4x7 grow tent (I think). This new controller also continuously keeps detailed logs of temps, humidity, and VPD which I can easily view on my phone via the handy app. Great! Soo yea.. Because of the lack of CO2 due to no ventilation, every grow attempt was a no win scenario (sort of like the rescuing of the USS Kobayashi Maru.. LLAP). All those lost genetics (RIP). I will probably be paranoid about low CO2 for a long while and have recently considered getting a CO2 meter along with supplemental forms of CO2 like fungus culture grow bags (Exhale CO2 bags). But I'll probably hold off on that for now (or not, I dunno). Anyways, almost 2 years later, I'm still hoping to make it to my first harvest (currently on attempt #44). Due the ventilation issue, I haven't even made it to the bloom/flowering phase (12/12 light cycle). As a disclaimer to anyone who reads any of my grow logs (past, present, and future), all of this content is purely for documentary purposes. I am not an expert in any way or form. Also keep in mind that similar to my past logs, these new logs are written based off of photos taken from my phone. Sometimes I write them as I go, but usually I first take the photos as I grow and write about them later. Also note that my entire written log is still posted but, unlike my previous logs, not all of the photos taken will be uploaded. I may eventually start uploading all the images, but for now I'm picking a select few (plus it takes forever to upload). Overall, I just want you to understand that I'm simply a hobbyist grower logging my runs and having fun. Okay. So now that the ventilation paradox has been solved and my tent's environment has FINALLY been dialed in to a somewhat plant-livable condition, I can start and hopefully finish my first grow! What can go wrong? Join me as I continue on and to try to grow my own medicine while learning about this incredible plant. Engage! [START OF WEEK 05] Day 01 - Monday - 05/30/22 - Total Days: 026 ----------------------------------- --- No plant checks were logged for today. Day 02 - Tuesday - 05/31/22 - Total Days: 027 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.7°F - Humidity: 63.8% - VPD: 1.10kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:55]: Back to grow logging again! --- Going to try grow some 'Black Sugar' by Seedsman! --- These 'freebie' seeds I received from my last order are mainly for learning and I got them as part of a deal. Since she is a indica dominant strain, I am actually a bit curious about the terpene profile. --- Once I achieve my first successful grow, first, I'll get extremely stoned (of course!), then I'll try a few select strains that's I've been saving (OG Kush, Sour Diesel, Bubba Kush, Gelat-OG, Bruce Banner, etc). --- Currently am growing 4 beans of this cultivar (each were separate attempts started at different times). This log will follow my most recent attempt (mainly the front one). --- It's been about 26 days since I started this attempt (#44). The germination process was in a cup of water and she was planted straight into the living organic soil of the EarthBox. --- There was a little bit of a rough start as she popped out of the soil with the shell still on (helmet head). But she seems to be recovering just fine. --- The EarthBox also is roughly2 weeks into veg feeding. I am using primarily Build-A-Soil (BAS) products with a splash of other amendments as well (Great White, CaliMagic, etc). --- Not doing physical temp or humidity checks anymore. Instead will log in daily averages generated from the exhaust fan's controller (AC Infinity Controller 69). --- Light cycle is still 18/6 (on/off), but the time range has been adjusted from 10:00-16:00 to 11:00-17:00 - [18:00]: Watering time! --- Gave the cover crop a bit of a trimming. --- Then filled a pitcher with 4 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/16tsp of Mycrobe Complete --- Added 3 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Checked the EarthBox's reservoir and it was dry. --- Poured the mixed contents straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Misted the top soil with a bit of distilled water. - [20:30]: Height Check! --- She's measuring about 5.5in! --- Wow! She's also already the healthiest and tallest I've every grown. Day 03 - Wednesday - 06/01/22 - Total Days: 028 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.1°F - Humidity: 65.4% - VPD: 1.04kPa ----------------------------------- - [22:10]: Wow she be getting larger (the one in the back)! --- Noticeable growth every day! --- Going to water again tonight! Going to try a bit of CaliMagic. --- Then filled a pitcher with 4.25 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1ml of CaliMagic --- EarthBox's reservoir was dry. --- Poured the solution into the EarthBox's fill tube. Day 04 - Thursday - 06/02/22 - Total Days: 029 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.9°F - Humidity: 66.9% - VPD: 0.98kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:40]: Wow looking good! --- The one in the back is growing along very nicely! Growing in a larger container really does make a difference. --- The smaller ones in the cup are stunted, but seem to be recovering. - [1914]: Great! More growth! --- Going to water. - [20:03]: Watering time! --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/32tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/32tsp of Horticultural Aloe --- Added 1/32tsp of Big 6 Micronutrients --- Added 1/16tsp of Mycrobe Complete --- Added 1/8tsp of Pure Protein Dry --- Added 2 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer - [20:40]: Mixed the solution and began to water. --- I watered by misting the top of the EarthBox. I watered about 2 cups of the solution for each plant (4 cups total). --- The remaining cup of solution I split amongst the smaller ones in the half gallon pots. - [21:23]: Time to foliar some EM5! --- Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water. --- Added 3.5mL of Formula EM-5 --- Poured the solution into a spray bottle and foliar sprayed the top growth of all the plants. Day 05 - Friday - 06/03/22 - Total Days: 030 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.5°F - Humidity: 66.7% - VPD: 0.98kPa ----------------------------------- - [10:15]: Just doing a quick check up for the day. --- Growth looks great! Wow getting larger! --- The front girl is really starting to catch up with the one in the back. - [+01:08]: Late night feeding! Going to try a bit of CaliMagic. --- Filled a pitcher with 4.25 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1mL of CaliMagic - [+01:15]: Mixed the solution and poured the contents straight into the fill tube! --- Going to check tomorrow to see if the extra CalMag makes any difference. - [+01:41]: Nice! Got my BAS order. --- For this order I received: ----- BAS Living Organic Soil (LOS) Oly Mountain Compost - Artisan Soil (1/2 ft3) ----- Premium Insect Frass - Black Soldier (4lbs) ----- Kelp Meal (3lb) ----- Alfalfa Meal (1.5lb) ----- Epsom Salt (3lb) ----- Garden Plant Ties (16ft) ----- EarthBox Wheels (4 pieces) Day 06 - Saturday - 06/04/22 - Total Days: 031 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76°F - Humidity: 66.9% - VPD: 0.98kPa ----------------------------------- - [08:31]: Wow! The front one is really starting to catch up with the one in the rear. --- The one in the rear is looking a bit lime yellow. --- The ones in the 1/2gal cups seem okay. But the bottom leaves look deficient. - [10:13]: Installed the EarthBox wheels! --- Started with the front 2 wheels (relative front) before carefully rotating the whole unit around to install the back ones. - [10:43]: Time to water! --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1mL of CaliMagic --- Mixed the solution and poured 4 cups into the fill tube! --- I split the remaining cup on the side plants. Day 07 - Sunday - 06/05/22 - Total Days: 032 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.8°F - Humidity: 66.6% - VPD: 0.99kPa ----------------------------------- - [08:31]: Just a quick check! --- Nice! She is looking nice and perky! - [21:07]: Both plants are looking quite nice! Stoked to FINALLY start seeing actual vegetative growth! Ventilation is extremely important (Damnit Ensign). - [12:10]: Time to water! --- Filled a pitcher with 4 cups of distilled water. --- Poured the 4 cups into the fill tube! [END OF WEEK 05]

Introduction - Week 06 Summary - "A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory." --- Leonard Nimoy Life happened again.. Well more specifically, death happened. [*smokes a bowl] I lost my best friend.. Sour "Diesel," my dog of 14 years, has sadly past away… This was devastating to say the least. Now I am not a spiritual person so I don’t believe in the afterlife. No Heaven. No Hell. No Sto’Vo’Kor. I’ll leave it at that. Now even with all of this said, experiencing the loss of a loved one was extremely difficult. She literally blinked out of existence in my arms. I couldn’t help but cry for days.. I couldn’t even go to work.. I continued to feel upset that she was never going to be around anymore..Thinking about her made me tear up so I tried to get back into growing as soon as I could. Anything to distract me.. Going back to work also helped. But every time I thought of her, I started feeling weaker and sad again. I don’t want to feel this way anymore.. They say time heals all wounds... Well, I guess this is true.. As the days go by, it is getting easier, I just wish it would happen a lot quicker. Glad to say that I did not drink a drop of alcohol.. But was extremely tempted. Smoking has helped a lot! Her death, has painfully taught me that life is precious and short.. But more importantly, her life, along with all the memories we shared, should influence my life in a positive way. This is the way I want to remember her. So thank you girl for all of the good memories. Now rest in peace.. [*smokes a bowl] Okay.. Now. Back to the growing.. Please keep in mind that this week's grow log was written a bit later that usual and will have missing entries.. Ensign's log, stardate 100028.42.. Overall growth was quite impressive for the front plant. She was pruned and defoliated to expose more top sites and by the end of the week, she has started to really bush out. As for the back plant, she was pretty sick. Not sure what happened to her. Both plants are growing in the same soil. Yet one is thriving while the other is sick. This was probably not the best idea, but I gave the back plant a topping at the end of the week. I hope to clean up the rest of her leaves in the next day or so. But for now not sure what more I can do. Just have to keep growing. [START OF WEEK 06] Day 01 - Monday - 06/06/22 - Total Days: 033 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.7°F - Humidity: 66.8% - VPD: 1.02kPa ----------------------------------- --- [No plant checks were logged for today] Day 02 - Tuesday - 06/07/22 - Total Days: 034 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.4°F - Humidity: 67.3% - VPD: 0.99kPa ----------------------------------- --- [No plant checks were logged for today] --- [Rest in Peace Diesel..] Day 03 - Wednesday - 06/08/22 - Total Days: 035 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 78.2°F - Humidity: 67.6% - VPD: 1.04kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:57]: Checked on the tent. --- Growth looks pretty good. - [14:35]: Going to feed the worms today.. --- Checked the bin and was relieved to find that there are still worms alive in the bin. --- Dug a hole in the bin and filled it with some veggies (slices of cucumber, carrots, and mushrooms). --- Then topped it off with a few slices of strawberries and kashi blend. --- Buried the food with some soil and sprinkled brown shredded paper on top. --- Covered all of that with sheet of brown paper and sprayed the top with a bit of distilled water. --- Finally cleaned and re-covered the bin. Done. - [17:09]: Been a few days away from the garden so giving the EarthBox's cover crop a trim. --- Chopped and dropped all of the clover that was getting a bit too tall. - [17:27]: Going to water. This will be the last week for veg. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/16tsp + 1/64tsp of each the following: ----- Big 6 Micronutrients [+ Humic Acid] ----- Horticultural Aloe --- Added 1/8tsp + 1/32tsp of Mycrobe Complete --- Added 1/4tsp + 1/16tsp of Pure Protein Dry [Organic Fish Aminos] --- Added 5 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and top sprayed 2 cups for each of the EarthBox girls. --- The remaining cup was split amongst the 2 smaller half gallon cups. --- Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [18:31]: Going to foliar spray some EM5. --- Filled a measuring cup with 1 cup of distilled water. --- Added 3.5mL of Formula EM-5 [All Natural Garden Cleaning Concentrate] --- Poured the solution into a spray bottle and misted the top growth of all the plants. Day 04 - Thursday - 06/09/22 - Total Days: 036 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 77.5°F - Humidity: 67.4% - VPD: 1.03kPa ----------------------------------- - [17:13]: Checked the tent. --- Growth for the front plant looks pretty good! But the back plant seems to be sick (Damnit Ensign). --- Not sure what to do. But going to keep on growing. - [17:18]: Going to water the EarthBox. --- Filled a pitcher with 4 cups of distilled water. --- Poured the water into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [17:30]: Going to do a bit of defoliation. Going to only defoliate the front plant. --- Did a quick foliar spray with a bit of distilled water. --- Then using a pair of clippers, I trimmed off a few fan leaves. --- I clipped off the ones that were covering top sites or leaves that were touching the ground. --- Hopefully this will encourage lower growth and bush her out. --- Took the leaves and shredded them into mulch. These will eventually breakdown into additional nutrients. - [21:48]: Okay! Going to top dress a few organic amendments. --- Added 2tbsp of each of the following into a cup: ----- Premium Insect Frass [Black Soldier Fly] ----- Kelp Meal ----- Alfalfa Meal --- Mixed everything up a bit and sprinkled the contents around each of the plants in the EarthBox. --- Using my fingers I gently agitated the soil so the amendments would drop into the soil. --- Then misted the top soil with a bit of distilled water. Day 05 - Friday - 06/10/22 - Total Days: 037 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 79.6°F - Humidity: 66.0% - VPD: 1.15kPa ----------------------------------- - [17:18]: Checked on growth. --- I don't know what going on with the one in the back. She seems sick and yellowing. --- The front one is still recovering from the defoliating/pruning. --- Going to top water. - [17:20]: Filled a pitcher with 4 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Mixed the solution and poured the contents into a spray bottle. --- Misted the entire contents onto the top soil. - [17:41]: Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water. --- Poured the water straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [19:05]: Did a check on the plants. --- Growth is looking okay. - [19:27]: Increased the light intensity. --- Increased the wattage from around 100w to 201.4 - [19:32]: Checked the new PAR levels. --- PPFD readings were at 761 (previous PAR reading was 427) Day 06 - Saturday - 06/11/22 - Total Days: 038 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81°F - Humidity: 65.4% - VPD: 1.22kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:27]: Did a morning check. --- Wow! The front one seems to have fully recovered from the defoliation. Growth is looking nice and perky. - [20:20]: Checked on growth . --- Nice! Getting larger. --- Going to water. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Poured the water into the EarthBox's fill tube. Day 07 - Sunday - 06/12/22 - Total Days: 039 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.0°F - Humidity: 65.7% - VPD: 1.22kPa ----------------------------------- - [08:55]: Did a quick plant check. --- Back plant is sick and stunted. --- The front one is definitely taking over. She is already spanning the width of the box! - [19:51]: Evening check. --- Wow! Growth is looking perky! --- Going to water again. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Poured the water straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [21:59]: Going to do a tiny bit more pruning/defoliation. --- Only clipped off 2 leaves. These were covering top sites and removing them should help to bush her out. - [22:16]: Topping the plant in the back. --- Clipped the main stalk about 3-4 nodes down. --- Hopefully she can recover from this. Plan to prune the larger dried leaves soon but going to leave her alone from now. --- The one in the front is definitely taking over the whole EarthBox. [END OF WEEK 06]

Introduction - Week 07 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100047.58, This week was all about the front plant. By the end of the week, she has completely bushed out and has taken over the EarthBox! As for the back plant, I defoliated her and she basically remained stunted the whole week. I'm just going to let her grow and will observe what happens. For added CO2 I also added an Exhale CO2 bag to the tent. Still paranoid about the past 2 years of growing in a vacuum. This week was also the last week of Veg feeding and the start of Pre-Bloom feeding! Everything was scaled down from the BAS feeding schedule. This will also be the last week for 18/6 light cycle. Wow. After 2 years and 44 separate attempts, have I finally made it to flower? [START OF WEEK 07] Day 01 - Monday - 06/13/22 - Total Days: 040 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.5°F - Humidity: 65.6% - VPD: 1.24kPa ----------------------------------- - [10:55]: Front plant looks nice and healthy! --- The plant in the back has new growth that looks healthy. - [22:13]: Wow! The front one is really starting to rage. Going to water. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Poured the water into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [+00:01]: Going to defoliate the remaining damaged leaves for the back one. --- This defoliation reduced her size way down, but now there are only healthy leaves. Still not sure why she started to stunt in the first place. Day 02 - Tuesday - 06/14/22 - Total Days: 041 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.4°F - Humidity: 65.3% - VPD: 1.25kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:36]: She's really starting to bush out! --- Noticeable top sites and the canopy is starting to fill in. - [07:37]: Gave her a quick measure. --- Wow! Already 10.25" tall! --- To encourage bushier growth, along with the minor defoliation, every day I've been tucking her leaves in a way to better expose top sites. This form of low stress training (LST) is pretty simple and is suppose to help optimize the canopy space without slowing down vegetative growth. --- The back plant is still small, but I think I can see more growth. - [08:00]: Gave into my CO2 paranoia and am going to use supplemental CO2 by giving the Exhale bags a try. --- The bag came with a separator/hanger which split the mycelium spawning pod (white mass) and the hydrated sterile coco substrate. --- This took a bit of finessing, but after removing the separator, I 'gently' squeezed the spawning pod down and onto the top of the moist coco. That's it. --- I don't plan on using the provided hanger. I simply placed a piece of thick foam on the floor and the bag on top. I placed the Exhale bag on the opposite corner of the circulation fan. --- The idea is that as the mycelium mat grows, fresh CO2 is released. Not sure if this will work, but after 2 years of suffocating my plants, any additional CO2 will help. Day 03 - Wednesday - 06/15/22 - Total Days: 042 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.6°F - Humidity: 64.1% - VPD: 1.30kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:06]: Quick plant check. --- Nice! Growth is looking good! --- Can't believe it, but I finally made it past veg and into the pre-bloom week! --- The light cycle is still set to 18/6, but the feeding will change along with increased light intensity. --- If all goes well, I should be flipping to flower next week (12/12 light cycle). - [10:17]: Checked on the worm bin. --- It's been 7 days since the last feeding. --- Nice! More worms! --- With the exception of a few pieces of carrot, everything seems to have been broken down. - [10:26]: Okay time to feed the worms. --- Feeding some overly ripe spinach along with half of a banana and a frozen strawberry. --- I first dug a hole in the bin and place some of the spinach at the bottom. --- Then sliced up the strawberry and banana and layered those on top. --- Next was more spinach and 1 tsp of Kashi Blend --- Covered the top with some dried BAS Light soil (I had some left over soil that was drying out in the tent). - [10:37]: Topped everything with some shredded brown paper. --- Put back the old top paper and resealed the bin. Done. - [17:10]: Okay time to check and feed the plants! --- Growth is looking pretty good! Stoked that she's looking healthy! --- Time to feed! --- This will be a one-time pre-bloom transitional feeding. This feeding differs from the usual veg feeding by adjusting the ratios a bit while adding in coconut and phosphorus mobilizing microbes. --- All feeding values have been scaled down from the BAS feeding schedule (2022 version). --- I also split the teaspoon values up make measuring with spoons a lot easier. --- I don't have any Bio-Phos but am ordering some along with the new 'more shelf stable' Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/16tsp + 1/64tsp (5/64tsp total) of each the following: ----- Big 6 Micronutrients [+ Humic Acid] ----- BuildABloom --- Added 1/8tsp + 1/32tsp (5/32tsp total) of each of the following: ----- Horticultural Aloe ----- Mycrobe Complete --- Added 1/4tsp + 1/16tsp (5/16tsp total) of each of the following: ----- Pure Protein Dry [Organic Fish Aminos] ----- Horticultural Coconut --- Added 5 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer - [17:46]: Mixed the solution and set it aside for a bit. --- Going to do a bit of defoliation and cover crop trimming first. - [17:55]: Clipped a few leaves and trimmed the cover crop. All was chopped and dropped into mulch. --- Top dressed each plant with 2tbsps of each of the following (4tbsp total): ----- Craft Blend ----- Kashi Blend --- Also top dressed each plant with 4tbsps of BuildAFlower Top Dress (8tbsp total). - [18:15]: Time to water. --- The entire 5 cups of the solution was misted onto the top soil of the EarthBox. --- I tried to spray the soil and cover crop evenly while trying not to wet the top growth of both plants. --- Feeding done. - [18:36]: Time to foliar spray. For this initial pre-bloom, going to double the concentration. --- Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water. --- Added 7mL of Formula EM-5 --- Mixed and sprayed the top growth of each plant. Made sure to mist under the leaves as well. - [18:47]: Last but not least, going to add a bit of water to the dry reservoir. --- Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Done! Day 04 - Thursday - 06/16/22 - Total Days: 043 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.6°F - Humidity: 63.6% - VPD: 1.31kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:26]: Quick plant check. --- Wow! Just looking at her makes me feel happy! --- After a not so smooth 2 years of failure, I am finally starting to maybe get the hang of growing? Maybe? - [17:14]: Going to water. But first a plant check. --- Nice! She is easily getting larger every day. Growth is looking pretty healthy too! --- Time to water. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Poured the water into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Also misted the top growth with distilled water. Day 05 - Friday - 06/17/22 - Total Days: 044 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 80.8°F - Humidity: 64.4% - VPD: 1.26kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:27]: Plant check. --- The front plant is looking great! Very impressed on growth. --- Going to continue to check the other plants, but will mainly make log entries for this front plant. - [21:48]: Nice! more growth! --- But I think I can start to see a bit of yellowing (Damnit Ensign)? Some of her leaf tips are also looking a bit yellow. [*smokes a bowl] --- Can it be a lockout due to over-watering? --- Maybe it's heat stress? --- Or is it a deficiency? --- I dunno, most of the growth is still looking healthy. --- Just going to back off on the water a bit. [22:34]: Time to water. --- Filled a pitcher with 4 cups of distilled water. --- Poured the water straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. Day 06 - Saturday - 06/18/22 - Total Days: 045 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 80.0°F - Humidity: 63.0% - VPD: 1.26kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:23]: Morning plant check. --- Great more growth! [20:24]: Time to water. But first a plant check. --- Nice! She is getting both noticeably taller and wider. --- Been continuing to tuck her leaves in a way to better expose more top sites. --- Top leaves are really perky and reaching for the light. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Poured the water straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. Day 07 - Sunday - 06/19/22 - Total Days: 046 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 80.4°F - Humidity: 62.6% - VPD: 1.30kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:34]: Plant check. --- Wow growth is just looking great! --- Getting taller too! - [21:01]: Even more top growth! --- So happy to see that I didn't completely mess this one up. - [21:06]: Time to water. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Poured the water into the EarthBox's fill tube. [END OF WEEK 07]

Introduction - Week 08 Summary - Wow, it's been a gnarly 2 year journey. Both physically (the recent move) and mentally (recent death of my dog.. RIP Dee). All of this while still trying to grow. But as the weeks go by, things are getting better. Anyways.. Back to growing. Ensign's log, stardate 100047.58, FINALLY made it to the flowering phase! Mid week began the 'Bloom Stretch' so lights were flipped from 18/6 to 12/12. To help with the pre-bloom stretch, the relative humidity was also lowered. The light intensity was increased from ~760 to ~1000PPFD. Also gave her a slight defoliation this week. Since I don't have any Bio-Phos, I started feeding a bit of Great White. Also defoliated her again to clean up lower growth. [START OF WEEK 08] Day 01 - Monday - 06/20/22 - Total Days: 047 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.3°F - Humidity: 65.1% - VPD: 1.29kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:19]: Plant check. --- Looking good! Bushing out nicely! - [23:02]: Even more top growth! --- So happy that I didn't completely mess this one up. - [23:06]: Time to water. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Poured the water into the EarthBox's fill tube. Day 02 - Tuesday - 06/21/22 - Total Days: 048 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.6°F - Humidity: 66.5% - VPD: 1.24kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:48]: Plant check. She has taken over the EarthBox! --- From the front of the tent, I can 't even see the one in the back! Really am glad I opted to get wheels for the EarthBox a few weeks ago. I have to rotate the EarthBox to tend to the back plant (she is still stunted, but recovering, I think). --- As for the main girl, there are a few damaged leaves, but I think it may be heat stress caused by the overall higher tent temps. I can't use the AC without the damn power cutting out so just not going to use any form of air conditioning (it is what it is, I guess, damnit). --- Anyways, keep on growing.. - [22:43]: Canopy is really filling in nicely! --- She's just raging. Nice! - [22:49]: Time to water. Also going to add a bit of Great White. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/16tsp of Great White --- Mixed and poured the solution into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [23:02]: Going to do a bit more defoliating. --- Went in and chopped and dropped all the damaged leaves. Also cleaned up her bottom a bit so leaves were not was touching the soil. --- Wow. My first real grow in over 2 years (Damn the ventilation paradox, Damnit Ensign). --- Growth is not the best, but I am still very happy. --- For now, I just want to make it to harvest (please). --- Perfecting the grow comes later. Day 03 - Wednesday - 06/22/22 - Total Days: 049 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 83.3°F - Humidity: 66.2% - VPD: 1.29kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:24]: Wow she is getting larger! --- Almost too large? --- Nah! --- Right? - [21:28]: Looking good girl! --- Wow, just wow. - [21:40]: Time to water. Continuing to use Great White. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/16tsp of Great White --- Mixed and poured the solution straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. Day 04 - Thursday - 06/23/22 - Total Days: 050 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.3°F - Humidity: 58.7% - VPD: 1.52kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:31]: Growth looks nice and perky! --- This will be the last night cycle before the flip to 12/12. --- Up until this point, the light cycle has been set to 18/6 [Hrs On/Off]. The timer was set to have the light off between 11:00 to 17:00 (which is 11am to 5pm). --- After lights out (at 11:00) there will be a longer night before the new 12/12 cycle begins. --- Decided the timer will be adjusted to have the lights off between 11:00 to 23:00 (11am to 11pm). --- As with the 18/6 cycle times, I'm hoping that running the lights during the warm night will be cooler than running them during the hot day. - [16:47]: Decided to lower the overall relative humidity (RH) in the tent. --- Thankfully, using both AC infinity's new 69 controller along with Elitech's humidity and temperature controller, makes this quite simple. --- Within the handy AC Infinity app, I adjusted the exhaust fan's humidity triggers to a lower overall RH setting. --- The original humidity triggers were 75%/50% [High/Low] --- The new humidity trigger values are 60%/40% --- Next was time to adjust the heater and humidifier controller's settings (by Elitech). --- The original HSV (humidity start value) was set to 71% RH. --- The new HSV was set to 55% RH. --- That's about it. --- My goal for now is to basically lower the RH from 65% to around 60%. - [23:27]: Late night. --- Tonight switching to bloom stretch feeding. --- But first a quick check! --- Wow growth is just incredible! She is turning into a beast! --- For tonight's feeding, opting to NOT top dress (yet). But the rest will continue to follow BAS's feeding schedule for the 'Bloom Transition (stretch)' phase. --- To prevent wasted nutrient solution, I have to scale the values down (1 gallon is just too much for what I need). --- Also reducing the feeding to 4 cups of nutrient solution (top fed). I will be adding 2 cups of distilled water to the reservoir. So 6 cups of water total. --- I still don't have any Bio-Phos, until then, going to use Great White. - [+00:02]: Filled a pitcher with 4 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/16tsp of Big 6 Micronutrients [+ Humic Acid] --- Added 1/8tsp of each of the following: ----- BuildABloom ----- Great White [substituting Bio-Phos] --- Added 1/4tsp of each of the following: ----- Pure Protein Dry [Organic Fish Aminos] ----- Horticultural Coconut --- Added 4 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer - [+00:17]: Mixed the solution and filled a spray bottle and set it aside for a bit. --- Did a bit of defoliation and cover crop trimming first. --- Then sprayed the entire 4 cups of nutrient solution onto the top soil. I tried to be careful and avoided spraying any of the top growth (only the soil and cover crop were misted). - [+00:45]: Added water to the dry reservoir. --- Filled a measuring cup with 2 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [+00:50]: Time to foliar spray. --- Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water. --- Added 1.75mL of Formula EM-5 --- Mixed and sprayed the top growth of each plant. --- I made sure to mist under the leaves as well before discarding the rest. --- Done! Day 05 - Friday - 06/24/22 - Total Days: 051 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.8°F - Humidity: 60.0% - VPD: 1.45kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:38]: Looking good girl! --- She is just raging! --- Checked the reservoir and it was already dry. Nice! - [10:36]: Before lights out, I decided to add some more water to the reservoir. --- Filled a measuring cup with 2 cups of distilled water and poured it into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [23:01]: Growth looks great! --- She has completely taken over the EarthBox! --- If this grow goes well, I think the next run will only have a single plant. Depending on the end yield, I wouldn't need a second plant. - [23:05]: Time to water. Also going to add some Great White. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/16tsp of Great White --- Mixed and poured the solution straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. Day 06 - Saturday - 06/25/22 - Total Days: 052 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 80.9°F - Humidity: 60.7% - VPD: 1.38kPa ----------------------------------- - [0723]: Growth is looking incredible! --- Compared to how small she was a week ago, I am very impressed! - [+00:39]: Another late night. --- Wow! She's hulking and bushing out. --- There are a few leaves with yellowing on the edges and tips, but the rest looks pretty good! - [+00:42]: Time to water. Continuing to add Great White. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/16tsp of Great White --- Mixed and poured the solution straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. Day 07 - Sunday - 06/26/22 - Total Days: 053 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.3°F - Humidity: 61.9% - VPD: 1.36kPa ----------------------------------- - [06:55]: Wow! Just raging growth! --- I am starting to actually get a bit concerned about her size. --- I guess it's a good problem to have, but I seriously did not expect this much growth in such a short amount of time. --- There are still a few gnarled leaves and some have burnt edges and tips, but the rest of the top growth is exceeding anything I've ever attempted to grow! - [23:10]: Looking good! --- Checked her height and she was 14.75" tall! - [23:23]: Time to water! Upping the watering by a cup but keeping the Great White. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/16tsp of Great White --- Mixed and poured the solution straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Checked on the Exhale bag and wow! A good half of the coco was already covered with mycelia growth! Not sure how much CO2 is actually being emitted, but any amount is better than nothing. [END OF WEEK 08]

Introduction - Week 09 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100085.88, Started this week off with a package from BAS (see logs for more details)! Began watering with a bit of Bio-Phos. Also added a carbon filter to the tent (still not connected but hanging and standing by). This week was also gave her several waterings of potassium silicate (Agisil16H) for a boost of potassium and silica. Gave the worm bin another feeding. Glad that the worm population in the bin is finally starting to increase! Depending on how this grow goes (seed #44 - this attempt has already exceeded any previous one over the past 2 years), I have already decided on beans for my next grow (see logs for details). Also started using the new and more shelf stable, Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer. To help increase airflow and to open up the canopy, mid week I gave her another defoliation. As far as the feeding, this was 'Bloom Stretch' week 2. Growth has been continuing to amaze me! I understand that she may not be the healthiest (some leaf edges are yellowing), but I am still very happy with this run! [START OF WEEK 09] Day 01 - Monday - 06/27/22 - Total Days: 054 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.7°F - Humidity: 62.7% - VPD: 1.39kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:39]: Woah! She's just raging! --- Growth looks pretty good, but more leaf edges and tips are crisping up. --- I doubt it's over-watering (but I could be wrong). --- Could be a deficiency or heat stress? --- Going to continue on because the rest looks healthy. - [22:30]: Nice! Got my BAS order. --- For this order, I received: ----- Bio-Phos (4oz) ----- Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer (1pint) ----- Milled Mustard Seed Meal (2lb) ----- Carbon Filter (AC Infinity - 6in) --- Glad I finally can finally start using the Bio-Phos. --- From what little I understand, both 'Mycrobe Complete' and 'Bio-Phos' contain a menagerie of beneficial bacteria and microbial life. One is more specific to Veg (Mycrobe Complete) while the other is for Bloom (Bio-Phos). --- Now that she is Bloom, I should be inoculating the soil with Bio-Phos (actually I should have switched to Bio-Phos weeks ago during the Pre-Bloom phase but did not have any). Oh well, better late than never. - [23:16]: Water time. Going to also inoculate the soil from the reservoir with some Bio-Phos. --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/8tsp + 1/16tsp (3/16tsp) of Bio-Phos --- Mixed the solution and poured the contents into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [+00:02]: Going to pre-install the carbon filter. --- Wow, well having owned a 'generic' carbon filter, have to say that AC Infinity's quality is just unmatched! --- Although smaller than my last filter, everything was well packaged and felt premium. --- This carbon filter even came with 2 hanging straps along with 2 black pre-filters. --- First I slid on one of the provided cloth pre-filters. --- Then using the 2 straps, I carefully suspended the filter under 2 bars at the top of the tent (also used a bit of rope). - [+00:17]: Since currently there's no odor in the tent, I plan to simply hang the filter in place for now. --- I'll adjust the position a bit later and eventually connect it once things start to get a bit smelly. Day 02 - Tuesday - 06/28/22 - Total Days: 055 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 84.9°F - Humidity: 62.8% - VPD: 1.49kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:46]: Wow girl you getting big! --- She has completely taken over the EarthBox and has started to take over the tent! --- Growth is just raging (Don't frack this one up Ensign). - [23:04]: Growth is still looking pretty good! --- Definitely getting taller too. There are still a few leaves with yellow edges. But most of the growth is looking great! - [23:10]: Time to water. Also going to add a bit of potassium silicate (Agisil). --- Got some advice from my sister that the yellowing leaf edges could be due to a potassium deficiency. --- Thankfully I happen to have some Agisil16H (potassium silicate) which should give her a boost of both potassium and silica. --- Back in the 'before times' (roughly between seed attempt #33 and #34) I mixed up some 'Agisil water.' --- To make the Agisil water, I mixed 1.5g (about 1/2tsp) of Agisil16H to 1 gallon of distilled water. --- Okay, so going to add a diluted amount of the Agisil water to the EarthBox's reservoir. This should help if potassium is an issue. --- Filled a pitcher with 4 cups of distilled water. --- Added 2cups of Agisil water. --- Poured the solution into the EarthBox's fill tube (6 cups total). Day 03 - Wednesday - 06/29/22 - Total Days: 056 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 83.5°F - Humidity: 62.4% - VPD: 1.44kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:33]: Wow looking good! --- Very happy with the growth! --- Again some of her leaves are a bit yellowish and the edges are drying up towards the bottom, but everything else looks okay. --- I've never had a plant make it this far, so regardless of issue, I'm still very happy! --- Did a height check and she was 17.5" tall! --- Wait, just about a week into the 12/12 cycle and I think I can also see hairs developing on her tops? Not sure though. Will continue to observe. - [11:40]: Okay time to check the worm bin. --- It's been 14 days since the last feeding. --- Most of the paper seems to have been decomposed. --- Wow there seems to be even more worms! --- Just digging around I could feel the worms wriggling in the surrounding soil. Nice! - [11:45]: Made a hole in the worm bin's soil. --- With the exception of the stalk of the banana, everything was gone. --- Going to feed again! --- This time feeding a slice of cucumber and a few bits of cauliflower. Also 2 frozen strawberries and a peel/skin of a mango. --- As usual, going to inoculate with a teaspoon of Kashi Blend. - [11:57]: First I lines the bottom of the hole with slices of cucumber and crumbled up pieces of cauliflower. --- Then added slices of frozen strawberries and topped everything with kashi. --- As sort of a cap, I covered everything with the mango peel. --- I used the rest of the old brown paper and covered the mango skin. --- Then covered the whole thing with the surrounding soil. - [12:11]: Sprinkled on a decent amount of shredded brown paper to cover the top soil. --- Then covered with a fresh piece of brown paper and misted the top with some distilled water. - [12:17]: Covered the bin with a freshly cleaned lid. Done! --- Plan to check on them in another week or so. Eat on little buddies! - [21:46]: I miss my dog Diesel.. [*smokes a bowl] --- IRL update, last week I picked up my dog's ashes and brought them home. Since then I've been trying to find a 420 way to honor her memory. --- I have already decided to honor her by turning a portion of her ashes into a custom glass pipe so I'll always have a 'piece' of her with me and will remember fond memories every time I take a toke. I already have a pipe stand right next to her urn (of ashes) and plan to keep her pipe always freshly packed with a bowl. I am still currently waiting on the ash collection kit. --- With all that said, I think I found an even better way to commemorate her. --- Back in October (around seed attempt #30), I received my latest batch of beans. Amongst that order, I got 5 beans of feminized 'Sour Diesel' by 'Royal Queen Seeds' (Original Diesel x (Northern Lights x Shiva x Hawaiian)). Now I mainly smoke indica dominant hybrids, but this sativa dominant hybrid (70% sativa) has always been one of my favorite strains right next to OG Kush (indica dominant). --- In fact my little Diesel was named after this beloved cultivar. --- So.. Once (or if) I have a successful harvest (hopefully this run I can make it, but still way too soon to tell), I've decided to grow some 'Sour Diesel' to honor my dog, 'Sour "Diesel."' --- But until that day, I'll keep those Sour Diesel seeds resting above her urn in a box (rest in peace Dee). [*smokes a bowl] - [+00:21]: Late night check. --- Nice! Growth is looking good! - [+00:24]: Time to water. Going to add a bit more Bio-Phos and saponin. --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract. --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. Day 04 - Thursday - 06/30/22 - Total Days: 057 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 83.5°F - Humidity: 62.6% - VPD: 1.42kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:24]: Wow growth looks good! --- Checked the reservoir and there was still water. --- She is really bushing out. Plan to defoliate before her feeding tonight. --- Going to give another 'Bloom Stretch' feeding tonight and am continuing to skip the top dress. - [18:35]: Decided to bump up the 12/12 cycles time. --- The timer was previously set to have the lights off from 11:00-23:00 (11am-11pm). --- Now the timer has been adjusted to 10:00-22:00 (10am-10pm). --- I don't feed or do much in the mornings so losing an hour is okay. --- My reason for the time change is because this will also give me an extra hour at night. - [23:10]: Opps. So much for gaining the extra hour. --- Growth is just raging! --- There is still the yellow leaf edges but the rest looks great! - [23:28]: Time for another 'Bloom Stretch' feeding. This time with Bio-Phos (instead of Great White). --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/16tsp + 1/64tsp (5/64tsp) of Big 6 Micronutrients [+ Humic Acid] --- Added 1/8tsp + 1/32tsp (5/32tsp) of each of the following: ----- BuildABloom ----- Bio-Phos --- Added 1/4tsp + 1/16tsp (5/16tsp) of each of the following: ----- Pure Protein Dry [Organic Fish Aminos] ----- Horticultural Coconut --- Added 5 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- This new enzyme elixir is black like ink, whereas the original version was more of a transparent kombucha-like liquid. I guess the added humic acid (which is why the liquid is black) helps to reduce any off gassing (bottle bulge) and thus this new formula does not require any refrigeration. But the added humic acid also stains the fluid black. - [23:59]: Okay time to give a trim to both the leaves and cover crop. --- This was actually a pretty deep defoliation. I think. --- I went in and removed pretty much every leaf that was yellowing on the edges along with a few huge ones that were covering top sites. - [+00:21]: Wow the removal of some of the leaves really does open her up for more growth! --- This should also help with airflow below the canopy. --- The trimmed leaves and cover crop were shredded and turned to mulch. - [+00:23]: Okay now time to top water. --- Misted the soil with the entire 5 cups. - [+00:38]: Filled a measuring cup with 2 cups of distilled water and poured it into the fill tube. --- Wow even with the defoliation, she has already taken over the tent. From the top, she pretty much spans the entire length and width of the tent (don't frack this one up Ensign). Nice! - [+00:41]: Foliar sprayed. --- Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water. --- Added 1.75mL of Formula EM-5 [All Natural Garden Cleaning Concentrate] --- Mixed the solution and poured it into a spray bottle. - [+00:46]: Misted the top growth with the solution before discarding the rest. --- Will check on her in the morning to see how she recovers. Day 05 - Friday - 07/01/22 - Total Days: 058 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.2°F - Humidity: 62.6% - VPD: 1.37kPa ----------------------------------- - [08:21]: Woah she looks perky! --- Growth looks unaffected by the defoliation. Nice! - [09:32]: Another check before lights out. --- Still perky! - [22:01]: Still looking good! --- She is getting quite tall too. --- Been having to raise the light every day or so to maintain a good 10-12" distance from the top canopy. - [22:03]: Checked her height and she's measuring 18.25" tall! --- Going to water some more potassium silicate (Agisl16H). --- Filled a pitcher with 2 cups of distilled water. --- Then added 4 cups of Agisil water (~1/2tsp of Agisil16H to 1gal of distilled water). --- Poured all 6 cups of the solution into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [22:37]: Took a PAR reading and light distance measurement. --- Nice! Top canopy was at 1294PPFD --- The light was also about 11" from the top canopy. Day 06 - Saturday - 07/02/22 - Total Days: 059 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.0°F - Humidity: 59.8% - VPD: 1.47kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:30]: Growth is looking great! --- Plan to water in more potassium silicate tonight. - [22:16]: Still looking good! --- Also the canopy is filling in nicely. - [22:20]: Time to water. --- Filled a pitcher with 2 cups of distilled water. --- Then added 4 cups of Agisil water (~1/2tsp of Agisil16H to 1gal of distilled water). --- Poured all 6 cups of the solution into the EarthBox's fill tube. Day 07 - Sunday - 07/03/22 - Total Days: 060 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.8°F - Humidity: 58.1% - VPD: 1.52kPa ----------------------------------- - [08:38]: Nice and perky! --- Growth is raging, but there are still a few leaves with yellowing edges. --- Tops are also looking like they are already starting to bud! Like little clumps of hair at the tip of each top. --- Still no odor. - [22:27]: Growth is still raging! --- Checked her height and she was 22" tall! - [22:39]: Time to water. Going to feed a bit of Bio-Phos and Elixer. --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Added 2 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [23:08]: Filled up my white board. --- At the beginning of this month, I started to log quick feedings and grow notes on a white board. --- This was really useful as a quick reference. Plus I can just take a picture of the board before wiping it for next month. Nice! [END OF WEEK 09]

Introduction - Week 10 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100103.66, Overall, this was a pretty simple week of growing! I've been trying to lower overall temps and relative humidity (RH) so I started the week off by adjusting the exhaust fan's triggers and also increased the overall speed. Also learned about the 'dehumidify' mode on my portable AC. Now the tent averages are still higher than I'd like, but using this mode this has dropped temps and RH averages by a bit. Plus this mode uses less energy which keeps the power from cutting out. Nice! Mid week, I removed the humidifier and turned off the heater controller. Also adjusted the exhaust fan's triggers again. Side note: Got plastic containers for most of my powdered nutrients. This makes measuring out the feedings a whole lot easier. As far as light intensity, this week, the tallest tops were around 1345PPFD with the overall canopy around 1000PPFD. Feeding this week was pretty straightforward. It was the same as last week's feeding minus the foliar. Also defoliated. Towards the end of this week, I thought of a question to ask (See log for details - Thursday @ +00:31). Also fed my worm bin again. Population is starting to get to where it once was! Gave the bin a heavier feeding. The week ended with a slight modification to the tent. Added a passive intake vent which should help with air exchange while reducing strain on the exhaust fan. [START OF WEEK 10] Day 01 - Monday - 07/04/22 - Total Days: 061 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 78.6°F - Humidity: 62.1% - VPD: 1.23kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:28]: Aye looking good! --- Growth is raging! --- She still has a few dried leaves. --- A bit worried about humidity for flower. More importantly late flower and the fear of bud rot. --- Looking into ways to try and decrease the relative humidity (RH). But most likely I'll have to get a dehumidifier the room (the lung room). From what I've researched so far, this is the most effective way to keep RH stable. --- My main issue is the power consumption. I would be using the AC if the breaker wouldn't keep tripping. I just fear that the dehumidifier will do the same (plus similar to the useless AC, a dehumidifier is an expensive investment). - [22:01]: Lights on. Time for a check. --- Wow! She is noticeably taller! --- Will probably raise the light tomorrow. - [22:06]: Water time. This time only adding more microbes. --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Mixed the solution before pouring it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [23:12]: Decided to lower the RH triggers of both the exhaust and heater/humidifier controller settings. --- Within the AC Infinity app, I adjusted the RH triggers. --- The original humidity triggers were 60%/40% [High/Low] --- The new humidity trigger values are 52%/30% --- Next was time to adjust the heater and humidifier controller's settings (by Elitech). --- The original HSV (humidity start value) was set to 55.1% RH. --- The new HSV was set to 50.0% RH. --- Done. --- Until now, on a daily basis, I've been misting the leaves with distilled water. To help reduce the RH, going to stop misting with distilled water. --- I'm still going to apply EM5 foliar as per BAS instructions, but the distilled water foliars stop now. Day 02 - Tuesday - 07/05/22 - Total Days: 062 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 78.2°F - Humidity: 64.1% - VPD: 1.15kPa ----------------------------------- --- Ensign's log supplemental, --- Since running the AC cuts the power, I've been running the unit in fan mode. --- But after doing a bit of research online about dehumidifiers, I discovered that most portable AC units have a dehumidify mode. --- Apparently, my unit has it as well! --- From what little I understand, this 'dehumidify mode' pulls moisture from the air while actually using LESS energy due to both the compressor and exhaust fan being ran at a lower settings (also the compressor is not always being used). The key point is that the energy consumption is less. --- So gave it a try (why not) and ran my AC unit in this mode all night.. No power outages. Great! --- The unit switches between cold and room temperature air too which in turn cools the room. Not as cool as using 'AC mode,' but still way cooler than using 'fan mode.' --- Going to run the unit in 'dehumidify mode' today to test if the breaker trips during the hottest time of day. - [22:08]: Aye! Growth is just bulking up! --- Nice! I can see more pistil hairs! - [22:21]: Water time. --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Mixed the solution before pouring it into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Wow too soon to tell, but I think I can start to see the formation of budlets too! --- Not gonna lie, but getting hyped! - [22:37]: Going to be adjusting the AC to run in 'Dehumidify' mode from now on. --- Been testing the 'dehumidify mode' on my AC unit and I'm happy to say that the room is now a whole lot cooler and drier. --- Now as far as cooling, it's not as good as running the unit in straight AC mode (Duh!). But this dehumidify mode does cool the room so I'm happy! --- Best part, I ran the unit the whole day in this mode with no loss of electricity! Day 03 - Wednesday - 07/06/22 - Total Days: 063 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 78.8°F - Humidity: 64.6% - VPD: 1.16kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:23]: Growth is just raging! --- She is almost reaching the sides of the tent. Never expected this much growth! --- Wow! More bud growth too! Pistil hairs are popping up everywhere! --- Still no smell. - [23:44]: Late check. --- There are still a few crispy edged leaves, but most of the growth is looking good! - [+00:17]: Water time. Just straight water. --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water and poured it into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Plan to do another round of defoliation to clean up the canopy a bit more. Day 04 - Thursday - 07/07/22 - Total Days: 064 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 78.7°F - Humidity: 63.6% - VPD: 1.19kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:37]: Growth is looking good! --- Going to defoliate the yellow-edged leaves along with some of the lower growth that won't be developing buds. --- Wow buds are looking so beautiful! --- Removed the humidifier from the tent. The average RH has been above 60% so I don't see a reason to have one in the tent. Also disconnected the heater and controller (again, because these don't seem to be needed at the current time). - [10:14]: Increased the max setting for the exhaust fan. --- In the AC Infinity app, I adjusted the maximum fan speed from 6 to 8. --- Now when the fan is triggered, the exhaust fan will run at speed 8 instead of 6. Hopefully this will help to reduce the RH in the tent (current average is around 70% with an overall average that is still above 60%). - [16:07]: Ensign's personal log, --- Received some plastic containers (amber UV protected and BPA free). --- As a quality of life upgrade, I'm transferring 7 powdered nutrient products from their original bag to the new containers (Mycrobe Complete, Bio-Phos, Big 6, BuildABloom, Aloe, Coconut, and Saponaria). - [22:18]: Growth is looking great! --- Checked her height and she was 26” tall! --- Also checked the PAR levels and the top canopy was reading at ~1345PPFD --- Stoked about budlet development! Pistil hairs are everywhere! -[22:57]:Feeding time. Going to continue on with the ‘Bloom Stretch’ feeding but not going to top dress nor foliar spray. Plan to water 7 cups total (2 in the reservoir, 5 top sprayed). --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/16tsp + 1/64tsp (5/64tsp) of Big 6 Micronutrients [+ Humic Acid] --- Added 1/8tsp + 1/32tsp (5/32tsp) of each of the following: ----- BuildABloom ----- Bio-Phos --- Added 1/4tsp + 1/16tsp (5/16tsp) of each of the following: ----- Pure Protein Dry [Organic Fish Aminos] ----- Horticultural Coconut --- Added 5 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and set it aside. - [23:20]: Before watering, I decided to defoliate her. --- Went in and cleaned up all of her yellow-edged leaves. - [Supplemental Entry]: Wow! Now there was still no odor in the air, but the terpene profile I could smell from just rubbing her stems was getting me hyped! --- Mulched the trimmed leaves. - [23:58]: Okay watering time. --- Poured the nutrient solution into a spray bottle and misted the top of the EarthBox. --- To (hopefully) prevent over-watering of the front girl, I mainly focused on watering the back area of the EarthBox. - [+00:12]: Just wow! --- After the defoliation and watering, she’s looking legit! --- Wait, am I finally a grower now (don’t frack this up Ensign)? --- Checked the distance from light and it was about 8” from the canopy. - [+00:15]: Filled a measuring cup with 2 cups of distilled water. --- Poured the water straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube (7 cups watered total). - [+00:31]: ATTENTION ALL HANDS! --- GREEN ALERT! --- ALL HAILING FREQUENCIES OPEN! --- [GROW QUESTION] --- [*Smokes a bowl] --- I understand that this question is quite broad and probably one of the most commonly asked, but going to ask it anyways. Why are my leaves turning yellow? --- Please keep in mind that although I've done considerable grow research online, I'm still a beginner grower (of about 2 years) and am (still) trying to make it to my first harvest. Fairly recently, I discovered that all of my past failures were mainly caused by the lack of CO2 (I was suffocating my plants). With this ventilation paradox finally fixed, growth has been phenomenal! So two year lesson, keep adequate ventilation (Damnit Ensign). --- With all that said, this is my first time going through the flowering cycle (currently finishing up the bloom ‘stretch’ phase, I think). My previous (43) attempts have never made it this far. --- Okay! Back to the question. --- Why are my leaves turning yellow? More specifically why are the edges of my leaves turning yellow? --- It’s not happening on all of the leaves yet seems to be happening throughout the entire plant so no specific localized area (damage leaf edges are found at the top and bottom of the plant). --- Earlier, while defoliating the damaged leaves, I saved a one (see photos). Damage-wise, the rest of the removed leaves looked about the same. --- She’s being grown organically in a sub-irrigated planter (EarthBox) which reservoir has been only watered when it’s completely dry. I think she’s drinking a decent amount of water too. Now pouring 6-7 cups into the reservoir daily during her day cycle (I run the lights at night and she sleeps during the day) and by the next day, the reservoir is dry. To keep the waterings even, on the days that I do top water, I reduce the amount of water that goes into the reservoir (so 6-7 cups total). I know she’s drinking the water because during past attempts, there have been times when the reservoir would take several days to completely dry. Oh since I started growing organically, I haven’t been checking nor adjusting the PH of the water but is usually around 6.0-6.2 before adding my nutrients. --- Exact tent environmental conditions, feeding ratios, and watering amounts can all be found in my previous logs. --- Also keep in mind that I am trying to lower the overall RH and temps, but due to power restrictions, the current conditions are the best as I can do. --- So unfortunately, if the yellowing damage is due to heat stress or anything environmentally related (temp or RH), there’s not much I can do (but would still appreciate the confirmation). --- But if it’s a lockout due to over-watering or just a nutrient deficiency (doubt it’s under-watering nor a nutrient toxicity but can easily be wrong), I would just like to know so I can improve. --- General comments and friendly suggestions are also welcome (but please don’t get angry if I don’t or can’t accomplish them). --- Regardless, considering my past attempts, I am still very happy with the overall growth but would still like to learn how I can improve. Day 05 - Friday - 07/08/22 - Total Days: 065 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 77.8°F - Humidity: 65.7% - VPD: 1.09kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:10]: Wow! Looking good girl! --- Raging growth! - [09:22]: Checked the reservoir and it was dry. --- Filled a measuring cup with 2 cups of distilled water and poured it into the EarthBox’s fill tube. - [14:29]: Checked the worm bin. --- It's been 9 days since the last feeding. --- Both the brown paper and shredded paper was still intact. But there was a clear hole where the food once was. --- Wow! Worms! --- They seem to be bulking up too. Nice! --- There was also no sign of the mango peel. --- Gave the bin a quick mix and made a hole in the middle. --- Going to be feeding more mango a frozen strawberry along with some fresh spinach and bits of carrot. - [14:48]: Time to feed! --- Sprinkled the entire top soil with 1tbsp of Craft Blend. --- Then placed a juicy mango peel at the bottom (most of the meat was still to the peel). --- Then layered slices of the frozen strawberry, carrot, and more mango peel. --- Sprinkled 3tsp of Kashi Blend over the top over everything. --- Layered the spinach in the middle and covered that with bits of the old shredded paper. --- Finally covered that with a fresh mango peel (this one was mainly the peel). - [15:08]: Lastly covered the bin with a cleaned lid. --- Going to check on them again in another week or so. - [22:07]: Growth looks great! --- Pistil hairs are really starting to clump up. --- Budlets are looking bigger too! --- Still no smell though. - [22:22]: Water time! --- Filled a pitcher with 7 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- So hyped on how her budlets are forming! Day 06 - Saturday - 07/09/22 - Total Days: 066 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 77.8°F - Humidity: 66.5% - VPD: 1.07kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:28]: Wow she's a beast! --- Budlets are definitely thickening up too! Too hyped! - [22:04]: Looking good! --- She is still getting taller, but not as fast as last week. - [22:22]: Water time! --- Filled a pitcher with 8 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- The Bio-Phos was added as a slight microbe boost thus the diluted dosage. - [23:34]: Decided to open up a vent in the tent. --- Took a bit of extra 6" venting (maybe 10') and covered both ends with some black carbon filter mesh. The filter mesh will scrub the air and keep dust out while helping to prevent light leaks. --- I decided to open up the vent at the bottom right at the front of the tent. --- Had to move the exhale bag to the back of the tent. --- The added vent should reduce strain on the exhaust fan. Day 07 - Sunday - 07/10/22 - Total Days: 067 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 78.1°F - Humidity: 66.7% - VPD: 1.07kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:31]: Wow! Growth is looking great! --- Budlets are stacking! --- The center stalk along with a few other top sites is starting to get a bit taller than the rest. --- Kind of wondering if super-cropping could be used to slow down the growth. --- There are almost 2 canopy levels now. I don't like raising the light because the lower growth get's less photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). - [22:08]: Raging growth! --- Going to be watering 9 cups. - [22:18]: Time to water! --- Filled a pitcher with 9 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. - [23:04]: Checked her height. --- She was just 28.25" tall! --- Also her highest top was about 4" from the grow light. --- But the majority of her top canopy is about 10" from the light. [END OF WEEK 10]

Introduction - Week 11 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100123.14, Been growing along smoothly! Early in the week she started to give off a bit of a citrus fuel-like terpene profile! So had to connect the carbon filter. Also got a few responses from my sub-space distress message! Err.. I mean grow question. One suggestion was to check the pH of my growing substrate (soil) and nutrient solution. The leaf damage could be a potassium deficiency which could be a sign of a nutrient lockout due to improper pH. I thought that the worms along with the microbial biology in the soil, both till and self-regulate the grow medium which would include taking care of any pH imbalances. None the less, I’ve been testing my soil's pH (using a basic soil probe meter) and based on the probe meter (assuming it’s accurate), my soil was a bit alkaline (~7.5 pH). I have also been testing the pH of my nutrient solution and water which was testing around 6.0-6.5 pH (again assuming the drops are accurate). So been adding a bit of pH down to some of my waterings to help lower pH (which according to the soil probe, has gone down to around 6 pH). Hopefully this helps! While someone else suggested that it’s a possible nutrient burn (toxicity/over feeding). Well I only nutrient feed once a week (the rest of the week is straight distilled water or distilled water inoculated with microbes)so I don’t think it’s overfeeding was my main issue for the leaf damage. Another suggestion was a potassium lockout due to overfeeding(also thanks for the useful leaf diagnosis link!). But a shout out to the grower who suggested looking into ‘Daily Light Integral. 'Thanks growmie! I think your suggestion will be the chosen answer, but first want to wait to see if she improves. Just learning about DLI has been a mind opener! Also major props on using a bit of Trek lingo (🖖). I never thought that plants could receive too much light and how DLI impacts everything (been running the engines at warp 9 when I should have started at impulse and gradually ramped up). I have raised my light higher which has reduced the PPFD by quite a bit. I have now started to monitor my DLI and will try to adjust the average PPFD every week. Based on all the great suggestions and from what little I have learned and researched online, I now think DLI was the main issue along with perhaps a higher soil pH. I am not too confident on the accuracy of my soil testing methods (pH drops and basic soil probe - unfortunately I don’t have a Bluelab soil tester) so not too sure if pH was an issue at all. Whereas my light meter is quite accurate (Apogee MQ-500) and now that I sort of understand DLI, I completely agree that I’ve been giving her overly intense lighting. I have made adjustments for both and hopefully she improves. Thanks again for all suggestions growmies (🖖)! Still too soon to tell, but I think her leaves are looking healthier with less yellowing on the edges. Also the pistil hairs on her top buds are less ‘scrunched’ and are growing longer. Although towards the very end of the week, I did notice she was drinking less water and had to reduce the watering down a bit. Of course, due to the lower light levels, I guess this makes sense. [START OF WEEK 11] Day 01 - Monday - 07/11/22 - Total Days: 068 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 77.6°F - Humidity: 66.6% - VPD: 1.05kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:28]: Growth is looking incredible! --- Ha! Kinda almost looks like I know what I’m doing (don’t mess this up Ensign). --- Budlets are just thickening up and pistil hairs are just everywhere! Overly hyped! - [22:28]: Okay still raging with budlets! --- Upwards growth is still there but has also noticeably slowed. I think. --- Budlets are looking great! - [22:50]: Time to water! --- Filled a pitcher with 9 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. Day 02 - Tuesday - 07/12/22 - Total Days: 069 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 77.0°F - Humidity: 64.2% - VPD: 1.10kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:16]: She still has some leaves that are yellowing on the edges. --- But hey I’m still overly stoked! Overall growth is looking great! --- I am more concerned about finding a way to lower the relative humidity. --- Woah! As the fan blew across her tops, I got a whiff of a slight lemony fuel terpene profile. Nice! Nothing too strong but definitely there. --- Gave her a quick stem rub and the odor profile was definitely citrus-piney. Wow! - [09:22]: Time to attach the carbon filter! --- In a past grow, I completely wasted a perfectly good carbon filter by connecting it in veg (damnit Ensign). Also the humidifier ended up clogging the filter (another lesson, use distilled water in the humidifier, not tap water). --- This time I hope to make this carbon filter last longer. --- Up until now, there has not been any odor so the filter has remained unattached. --- The way I had my exhaust system pre-setup, attaching the carbon filter was pretty straight forward. --- All I did was slide the fan forward into the carbon filter and attached it with a few stripes of aluminum tape (made sure it was an air-tight seal). - [09:40]: Done! --- The exhaust fan was left running during the entire procedure without any issues. Nice! - [Supplementary Entry]: Earlier I sent a distress message (posted a grow question) and my hails were answered by a few people. Nice! --- In response, I plan to half the weekly feeding dosage and am going to check the pH of the soil and solution. --- Thank you all for the suggestions! - [22:22]: Growing along steady! --- Vertical growth has definitely slowed down. --- This is probably the sign of her getting ready to go into the full flowering phase! - [22:38]: Before watering, going to pH adjust a gallon of CalMag solution (back down the pH rabbit hole again). --- From past experience, this will most likely be adding pH Down (never really had to use pH Up). --- First I filled a gallon jug almost to the top with water. - [10:48]: Using test drops (pH Test Indicator by General Hydroponics) I checked the starting pH. --- To do this, I filled the included test vial about halfway with solution (~5mL) --- Then added 4 drops of the testing fluid to the vial. --- Capped and shook the vial to mix the solution. --- Using the bottle’s label as a pH reference, I compared the color of the solution to the colors on the bottle. --- Based on the results, it looked to be around a 6.1 pH. --- Added 2mL of CaliMagic --- Mixed the gallon and topped off the gallon with more distilled water. --- Took another pH test. --- Based on the results, it looked to be around about the same at around 6.2 pH. --- I carefully added 2 drops of pH Down (Get Down by Mad Farmer) - [23:07]: Relabeled the gallon to ‘CalMag H2O’ and retested the pH. --- Based on the results, it looked to be around 5.1 pH. --- A bit low, but okay. - [23:13]: Water time! --- Filled a pitcher and measuring cup with 9 cups of the CalMag H2O solution. --- Poured the 9 cups straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. - [23:17]: Wow! --- Her budlets now looking more like full buds! --- Stoked on the growth! Day 03 - Wednesday - 07/13/22 - Total Days: 070 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.2°F - Humidity: 66.7% - VPD: 1.00kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:48]: Looking good! --- Some of her leaves are still yellowing on the edges. But again, I am still happy with the growth! --- Bud structure is really starting to stack up too! - [23:37]: Wow! She is starting to bush out again! --- Growth is just incredible! - [23:42]: Water time! --- Going to add a mixture of CalMag water and distilled water. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Then topped the pitcher off with 4 cups of CalMag water. --- Mixed and poured the solution into the EarthBox’s fill tube. Day 04 - Thursday - 07/14/22 - Total Days: 071 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 78.8°F - Humidity: 63.7% - VPD: 1.19kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:23]: There are more leaves with yellow edges, but most of the growth is phenomenal! --- Stoked on the growth! --- Plan to defoliate again before her feeding tonight. - [22:08]: Looking good girl! --- Growing along nicely! - [22:17]: Going to test the soil’s pH. --- Using a basic soil probe, I inserted both prongs a good 6-7” into the soil (near the fill tube). --- According to the meter, the soil was around a 7.0 pH. --- A bit high. --- From what I can recall back in the hydro attempt days, a good pH should be around a 5.5-5.8 pH. - [22:23]: Feeding time! --- She’s made it past the ‘Bloom Stretch’ phase and onto ‘Full Bloom.’ --- This week will be week 1 of Full Bloom feeding (based off of BAS’ feeding schedule). --- Wow, another milestone in the same grow run (the first was making past veg). Woohoo! --- Going to use a mixture of the pH’d CalMag water and distilled water. Also upping the feeding ratios to a full 8 cups. Also going to top dress a bit of Kashi. --- Filled a pitcher with 3 cups of CalMag water. --- Added 5 cups of distilled water (8 cups total). --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract (full spoonful) --- Added 1/8tsp of each of the following: ----- Big 6 Micronutrients [+ Humic Acid] ----- BuildABloom ----- Bio-Phos --- Added 1/2tsp of Pure Protein Dry [Organic Fish Aminos] --- Added 1tsp of Horticultural Coconut --- Added 8 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and tested the pH. --- Based on the results, the solution was around a5.3 pH. --- Great! Did not have to pH adjust the solution. - [23:20]: Checked the soil’s pH again. --- Based on the meter’s results, the soil was now more at a 7.5 pH. --- Before top dressing, I gave her a defoliation. - [+00:00]: Basically cleaned up her yellow-edged leaves. --- Wow! She’s so beautiful! --- I’m loving her terpene profile too! Very citrus with a bit of fuel! Been constantly stem rubbing and sniffing my fingers. Just wow! - [+00:13]: Top dressing time! --- Sprinkled 2tbsp of Kashi Blend (heavy spoonful) --- Using my fingers, I agitated the top dress into the top soil a bit. - [+00:17]: Top watering time! --- Using a spray bottle, I misted the top of the EarthBox with 5 cups of the nutrient solution. - [+00:28]: Mulched the leaves that were trimmed earlier. --- Layered them evenly across the top of the soil. Last time, I mulch the leaves first. Unfortunately, this made things difficult while watering. When misted, the leaves repelled a lot of the water and ran down the sides. - [+00:30]: Now time to bottom water! --- Poured the remaining 3 cups straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. - [+00:51]: Her leave edges are still yellowing. --- Leaf damage looks pretty much identical to last week. --- But again, to me, overall growth still looks great! - [+01:22]: Checked the soil’s pH. --- According to the meter, the soil was at a 7.0 pH. Day 05 - Friday - 07/15/22 - Total Days: 072 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.8°F - Humidity: 66.5% - VPD: 1.03kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:19]: She’s growing along like a champ! --- Wow! Just wow! - [10:05]: Oops! --- Sort of forgot to check the reservoir. Had to turn the lights back on for a bit. --- Filled a measuring cup with 2 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- Then turned the lights off. Sorry girl, Sleep well! - [11:56]: In direct response to another suggestion from a fellow grower (cheers growmie! 🖖), I started to research about DLI, or Daily Light Integral. --- Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) is the visible spectrum of light between 400-700 nanometers. --- This is measured in micromoles of PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density) which represents the amount of photosynthetically active photons that hit a square meter every second. [μmol/m2/s] --- DLI is the amount of PAR received in a 24hr period. This is calculated using both light intensity (in PPFD) and light duration (in hours) which outputs the moles of light that hit a square meter every day. [mol/m2/d] --- Mind blown. --- Now I think I understand what I’ve (also) been doing wrong. --- This has also changed the way I understand how growing works. More specifically how light is used by the plant. [*smokes a bowl] --- Now this is just my opinion and not sure on the accuracy. --- Anyways, I always imagined a cannabis plant was like a solar powered engine. When the tent lights are on, photosynthesis starts, and the engine turns on. The greater the light intensity given to the solar panels, the faster the engine runs. When the lights are off, the engine is off. --- Now I think a plant is similar to an engine that is always running and connected to a rechargeable battery (which constantly drained it). Then during the day, the battery is recharged by the solar panels. --- Anyways! ---I learned there’s a specific amount of light a plant can naturally absorb within a 24 period (similar to how a battery has a max charge). --- Apparently going beyond the recommended DLI range does nothing beneficial for growth. ---Also in similar conditions to my case (I think), going above the recommend DLI can even stress and damage a plant (Damnit Ensign). --- Thankfully science has the answer! --- Found a basic DLI chart which has recommended daily light integrals for both with and without the use of elevated CO2 levels. --- Using a DLI calculator, I can now dial in the PPFD to the desired DLI range. Great! - [22:02]: Growing along great! ---Time to hopefully make it even better! --- Filled a pitcher with 9 cups of distilled water. --- Checked the pH. --- Based on the results, the water was around a 6.2 pH. --- Added 1 drop of pH Down --- Mixed and retested the water. --- Now the water was around a 5.3 pH. --- Poured the 9 cups straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. - [22:30]: Checked the soil’s pH. --- Based on the soil meter, the soil was now around a 6.1 pH. - [22:33]: Okay! Finally time to adjust the lighting based off of the daily light integral for week 10 (DLI range of 34-42) on the chart. Since I am using elevated CO2, I will try for a DLI of about 38. Hopefully I got the week right. --- Took a PPFD reading. --- The top of the canopy was at 1584μmol/m2/s --- Using a DLI calculator, --- I calculated the DLI to be at 68.43mol/m2/d --- RED ALERT!!! Warp core has reached critical levels! Radiation levels are exceeding maximum tolerance! Initiating DLI correction protocols (🖖). --- Ha! Anyways! Wow that’s a very high DLI. --- Since I’m able to simply raise my light, I did so. - [22:43]: I raised the light up a good 10” higher and took another PPFD reading. ---Now the canopy dropped to around 854μmol/m2/s --- Ran the numbers through a DLI calculator to get a daily light integral of 36.89mol/m2/d. --- Much better! --- [*smokes a bowl] --- Cheers and thanks again to the growmie who gave the DLI advice! --- I think this will solve the leaf damage, but still way too soon to tell. Day 06 - Saturday - 07/16/22 - Total Days: 073 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 77.2°F - Humidity: 67.0% - VPD: 1.03kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:35]: Looking absolutely beautiful! --- Bud structure is also really starting to look very nice! - [22:03]: Growth is still looking good! --- Hyped on growth! --- Took a height check and she was 29.75” tall! --- Just shy of 30’’ but I’m certain she’ll be taller by the end of the week. --- She was also about 10.5” away from the light. --- I raised the light up to about 12” away from the canopy and took a PPFD reading. --- The top canopy was at 839μmol/m2/s --- Which would make the DLI at 36.24mol/m2/d(target range this week is 34-42mol/m2/d). --- Great! --- Wow her buds are stacking and sugar leaves are getting frosty! - [22:41]: Water time! --- Filled a pitcher with 9 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Mixed the solution and tested the pH using 4 drops of tester. --- Based on the results, the pH was around a 6.2 pH. --- Despite my better judgment, --- Added 1 drop of pH down --- Mixed and retested the solution and the results were closer to a 5.6 pH. --- Poured all 10 cups straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- Next time I decide to feed microbes (Mycrobe Complete or Bio-Phos), I’ll pH the water down first. - [23:25]: Oh what! I am just noticing the trichomes developing on the sugar leaves! --- There’s still not really any odor (I also smoke in my room so I can’t really tell). --- But wow! Definitely can smell a lemon-citrus terpene profile on the stem rubs. Just incredible how a plant can give off such a distinct odor profile (she literally smells like a lemon). --- After 2 years of utter failure.. Err, I mean very insightful and educational learning, I think I am finally getting close to my first harvest!? --- Very hyped! Wow! --- (Don’t frack this up Ensign!) Day 07 - Sunday - 07/17/22 - Total Days: 074 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 78.3°F - Humidity: 65.7% - VPD: 1.11kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:03]: Growth is looking great! ---It’s only been a couple of days since I lowered the canopy’s light intensity, but I think changing the DLI down to appropriate levels has solved the issue I was experiencing (naturally, the issue was me). - [22:05]: Checked down the fill tube and there was still water in the reservoir. --- Even though I don’t log it anymore, I do check the reservoir every morning and night. --- Usually by lights on after a full cycle, the reservoir is dry. --- But I guess because of the significant drop in overall PPFD at the canopy level (1584 down to 854μmol/m2/s), less transpiration is occurring which means less water uptake? --- Or maybe the reduction was too drastic and I shocked her? (Damnit Ensign) --- Anyways, going to reduce the watering for tonight a bit. - [22:21]: Time to water! --- Not going to add anything, just straight distilled water. --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water and pour it into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- By tomorrow night, if the reservoir is not dry, I’ll reduce the watering down to 4-5 cups. --- Regardless, I am still ecstatic about the growth! - [23:24]: Buds are really starting to frost up too! --- Ooweee! So hyped! [END OF WEEK 11]

Introduction - Week 12 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100143.34, This week was yet another good week of growth! Decided to go back to normal feeding and stopped pH checking and adjusting. This made the week even easier! Trying to get the DLI right first to see what improves and or gets worse. This will help to isolate issues by reducing the grow variables down to one change instead of two. I can always adjust pH again if growth gets worse. Out of pure beginner’s curiosity, plan on checking the trichomes soon. But wow! Adjusting the light made a huge difference for overall growth! She generally looks less stressed with far less yellowing. Buds have started to merge into colas and some of her pistil hairs are turning orange too! Also the frost from the trichomes are just coating her sugar leaves. As far as odor, nothing too loud, but definitely getting there! She's still giving off a lemony-fuel terp profile. Defoliated again before feeding (Week2 of Full Bloom, Week 5 under 12/12). Notably, for the first time, my scissors got a bit sticky from the defoliation. Towards the end of the week I discovered that the ideal pH range for living soil is not the same as hydro. Really glad I stopped pH checking and adjusting. Going to continue feeding as per BAS’ schedule. Waterings have been a combination of microbes or coconut water. Not much else to report. She’s just growing along beautifully! [START OF WEEK 12] Day 01 - Monday - 07/18/22 - Total Days: 075 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 78.1°F - Humidity: 64.1% - VPD: 1.14kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:31]: Looking good! --- Bud growth is looking a lot more healthier too! --- Amazing what a somewhat proper DLI can do. - [23:16]: Bud growth is thickening! Trichomes are just coating the sugar leaves. Hyped! --- Okay, since I’m pretty sure DLI was the major issue, going to reduce the variables down a bit. Plan to stop checking my pH and will see how she reacts to the modified DLI under the original soil conditions. --- If thing get worse, I’ll go back to adjusting my pH. --- Also, in terms of accuracy, I am using a proper light meter (Apogee MQ-500)whereas my pH testing methods may not be as accurate (pH tester drops and basic soil probe). --- I’ve been down the trauma of using cheap pH meters back when I was trying to grow in hydro(lesson, don’t rely on cheap pH and PPM meters). - [23:17]: Checked the reservoir. --- There was still water in the reservoir. --- Hmm. Well the lower light levels may have caused this, but not a bad thing. --- I’ll simply reduce the water by another 2 cups. --- So will water 4 cups tonight. Also just straight distilled water again. - [23:35]: Filled a pitcher with 4 cups of distilled water. --- Did not pH adjust. --- Poured the distilled water into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- Growth is looking great! A few burnt leaf tips which could be nutrient burn. Going to continue to check. Day 02 - Tuesday - 07/19/22 - Total Days: 076 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 79.2°F - Humidity: 64.4% - VPD: 1.18kPa ----------------------------------- - [10:03]: Oops! A bit late. Had to leave the lights for a bit longer. --- Growth is looking good! --- Can really tell that the buds are looking fuller. --- Top growth just looks less stressed too. --- Nice! The reservoir was dry again. - [10:05]: Water time! --- Filled a pitcher with 3 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. - [23:17]: Looking good! --- There are still leaves with burnt tips curling upwards. But I feel like the damage has slowed down. --- Reservoir was dry! Good. Going to increase the watering up a bit. - [23:00]: Water time! --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Mixed the solution and poured it into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- Bud growth is just stacking. --- Her sugar leaves are just getting frosty. Terps are smelling great! Nothing loud yet, but still has a good citrus fuel profile. Ooowee! Day 03 - Wednesday - 07/20/22 - Total Days: 077 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 79.1°F - Humidity: 63.4% - VPD: 1.21kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:33]: Growing along nicely! --- More leaf tip damage, but still seems less than last week. --- Nonetheless, I am very happy with the bud development! - [22:09]: Top growth is starting to really stack up! --- Bud growth is just everywhere! Wow! --- I can't stop rubbing and smelling her lemony gas stank! The odor is quite incredible! - [22:19]: Water time! Increasing the watering again by another 2 cups. --- Filled a pitcher with 8 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- Wow! Bud growth is raging! --- Bud growth is continuing to stack and are now turning into bud colas! --- Wow! Her main stalk just looks covered in bud growth! --- Throughout several buds, there are also signs of some of her white pistil hairs turning orange! --- I hope this is normal, I’ve smoked buds with orange hairs so I’m just going to let her grow. --- As a grower going through flowering for the first time, it brings me so much joy to watch her grow from day to day! --- I hope this feeling does not diminish with each grow! --- Plus there are at least another 4-5 weeks of growth to go! I can’t wait to see how she stacks ups! --- Just overly stoked and hyped! --- [Damnit please, don’t frack this up Ensign!] Day 04 - Thursday - 07/21/22 - Total Days: 078 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 78.8°F - Humidity: 62.7% - VPD: 1.22kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:43]: Wow! She’s stacking up! ---Her buds are continuing to merge and more colas are forming! --- All this while the top buds are thickening up. --- Stoked! --- Selected the answer as DLI (Thanks again my fellow grower! Truly appreciated). - [10:07]: Understanding VPD is very important for growth and was reminded to check it out again (thanks again growmie!). --- [*smokes a bowl] --- Now I understand that in order for proper plant growth, there has to be proper transpiration (or water movement throughout the entire plant). Both surface leaf temperature (usually a degree or 2 below the ambient room temp)along with the local relative humidity affect this process and have to be set properly in relation to each other for proper growth and nutrient metabolism (for every temp value, there’s a recommend RH value, vice versa is also true). --- There are ways to calculate this temp to RH relationship, but thankfully, similar to DLI, there are handy charts! --- Unfortunately, currently I can’t fully control my temps and RH. So going to have to settle for the current environment (Summer weather doesn’t help either). ---I understand that to preserve the terpenes, daily temp averages should remain below 80°F (apparently, certain terpenes go volatile and evaporate at temps above this average). --- As for RH, I may need a dehumidifier soon, but due to power limitations (damn circuit breaker keeps cutting out), I can only use the exhaust fan(I really don’t want bud rot, but also can’t run a dehumidifier, so it is what it is). --- For now, all I can do is maintain constant air circulation and ventilation (don’t want any stagnant pockets of humid air). - [14:29]: Checked on the worm bin! --- It’s been 13 days since the last feeding. --- I fed pretty heavily last time so I figure it’s about time for another feeding. --- Wow! Upon first opening the bin, worms were visible in the center of the soil. Nice! --- Digging in revealed a huge ball of worms! --- Seems the population is starting to boom again! --- There was still bits of carrot and mango peels at the bottom (maybe have a mango peel), but the rest of the food seemed completely decomposed. Mangoes, the worms seem to love it! --- May have to consider refreshing the bin with fresh coco and soil soon. --- Anyways, I flattened the soil and made a new hole in the lower left quadrant. - [15:24]: Time to feed the worms! --- Feeding some lettuce and spinach along with a frozen strawberry and bits of carrots and mushrooms. --- Also added 1tsp of Kashi Blend. --- I layered everything in the hole I dug. --- Then replaced the old paper on top and covered everything with some of the surrounding soil. - [15:45]: Covered the soil with a mulch of shredded brown paper. --- Covered that with a sheet of brown paper. --- Finally cleaned and replaced the lid. --- Done! - [22:05]: Beautiful growth! --- Bud colas are just filling! --- Air odor is still minimal, but stem rubs are giving off a noticeably louder citrus profile than before! --- She has not really grown much so pretty safe to say that she is in full bud production right now. - [10:07]: Took some height readings. --- Checked her height and she was 31” tall. --- She was also about 10” from the light. --- Some of her sugar leaves are completely frosty and resin railed out! --- Also more orange pistil hairs! - [22:18]: Feeding time! This will be week 2 of Full Bloom. --- Going to feed very similar to last week. Not going pH adjust. Also not top dressing or adding any additional CalMag. Just sticking to BAS’ recommend feeding chart (under the ‘Flowering Fruiting’ column). --- Filled a pitcher with 8 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/32tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/8tsp of each of the following: ----- Big 6 Micronutrients [+ Humic Acid] ----- BuildABloom ----- Bio-Phos --- Added 1/2tsp of Pure Protein Dry [Organic Fish Aminos] --- Added 1tsp of Horticultural Coconut --- Added 8 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and set it aside. - [22:41]: Before watering, I gave her a defoliation. --- Cleaned up most of her yellow-edged fan leaves. --- Wow she is sticky! This week my scissors started to get a bit sticky with trichomes. Also some of the removed fan leaves had a sugary glisten to them (gave those leaves a rub and they were loud with odor). --- I’m loving her terpene profile too! Very citrus with a bit of fuel! Been constantly stem rubbing and sniffing my fingers. Just wow! --- I’d rather not have to scrub the smell from the tent with a carbon filter so I could smell these terpenes all day! It really is unfortunate about the stigma around cannabis. But anyways, I digress. - [23:27]: Top watering time! --- Using a spray bottle, I misted the top soil of the EarthBox with 5 cups of the nutrient solution. - [23:36]: Mulched the leaves that were trimmed earlier. --- After misting, I layered the trimmed leaves from earlier across the top of the soil. - [23:38]: Now bottom watering time! --- Poured the remaining 3 cups of the solution straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- Done! --- Wow she looks look beautiful! --- Can’t believe that I am finally succeeding (I think). --- Again, she may not be the healthiest, but I am still very pleased with the growth! - [23:49]: Took a PPFD reading. --- This is week 5 of 12/12 lighting. --- This week’s target DLI range is 36-45 mol/m2/d (using elevated CO2) --- This week’s target PPFD range is 833-1042 μmol/m2/s --- The top canopy was at 913 μmol/m2/s --- Under 12/12 lighting, this gives a DLI of 39.4 mol/m2/d --- Great! --- Did not need to adjust the light. Day 05 - Friday - 07/22/22 - Total Days: 079 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 78.3°F - Humidity: 62.9% - VPD: 1.20kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:22]: She’s looking great! --- Bud growth is still noticeable with frosting on the leaves. --- Her terpene profile is starting to get a bit of a piney too. - [16:54]: Wait so ‘ideal’ pH varies depending what substrate the plant is growing in? --- [*smokes a bowl] --- “Living soil does best in a pH of 6.5, however it is fairly tolerant and can handle a range between 6.2 and 7.0.” --- Back in the hydro attempt days (5gal bubble bucket using Advanced Nutrients), I learned cannabis grew at a pH range of 5.5-6.2 with an ideal value of 5.8 pH. --- Well glad I decided to stop lowering the soil down to 6 pH. --- This could also be the reason for less water uptake after a week of acidic watering (damnit Ensign). --- Whelp enforces that DLI was the main issue (also perhaps a bit of overwatering/feeding too). --- I hope I didn’t harm the soil microbes. --- The distilled water I am watering is pretty much at a 6.2 pH so will just continue to water and feed without any adjustments.. --- So unless she gets worse, I am no longer checking or adjusting the soil pH. Going to let the microbes and the worms regulate the pH (damn I hope I didn’t harm the worms in the EarthBox). - [22:04]: Growing along great! --- Wow! This is just incredible! --- Buds are just stacking while some of her sugar leaves getting sticky with trichomes. Stoked! - [22:07]: Upon checking, the reservoir a tiny bit of water in it. --- The reservoir was pretty much empty, just a few drops of water at the bottom (reservoir was not bone dry). - [22:21]: Water time! --- Going to lower the watering a bit more. --- Filled a pitcher with 7 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. Day 06 - Saturday - 07/23/22 - Total Days: 080 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 77.9°F - Humidity: 64.7% - VPD: 1.13kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:27]: Growth is looking pretty good! --- Ooo Nice! Upon opening the tent, I smelled a bit of lemony terps in the air! --- Still nothing too loud, but I am glad I have the carbon filter connected. - [22:02]: Buds are continuing to frost up! --- Just brings a smile and an overall feeling of grower’s satisfaction. She might not be the prettiest, but damn I love her! --- Plus everything I’ve learned from this run I can use for the next one and will try to improve as I grow. - [22:10]: Water time! --- Going to feed the microbes with a bit of added coconut. --- Filled a pitcher with 7 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/2tsp of Horticultural Coconut --- Gave the solution a mix and poured it into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- Wow! I can stare at her all day! --- Stoked! --- There are several main colas all with buds just filling in! Wow! Day 07 - Sunday - 07/24/22 - Total Days: 081 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 78.5°F - Humidity: 65.2% - VPD: 1.13kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:40]: Growth is looking great! --- She still has some burnt leaf tips, but the yellowing has definitely slowed! --- Incredible how she is just covered with trichomes! - [22:10]: Ooowee! Got a bit of a whiff of terps as I opened the tent! --- Her terpene profile is now a subtle lemon-pine with a hint of fuel or gas. --- Hyped! --- Was not really expecting anything from this particular strain (free ‘learning seeds’ that I received through a seed sale). --- But now that she is starting to give off an odor profile, makes me even more stoked for this grow! - [22:26]: Water time! --- The reservoir was nice and dry so increasing the watering by a bit. --- Also going to micro inoculate with more microbes and enzymes. --- Filled a pitcher with 8 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Added 3 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer - [22:36]: Mixed the solution and poured all 8 cups straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- Buds are just frosting up! --- Surprisingly, it’s been a really easy week of growing! --- Now that she is not getting overly irradiated and stressed by the light (damnit Ensign). --- From what little I understand about trichome development, trichome heads go through 3 stages of visual color changes which starts at clear, then cloudy white, until finally amber. --- Checking the trichomes is from I understand is the best way to determine when to harvest. --- Looks like there is still a ways to go before harvest, but plan to check the trichomes soon (mainly beginner grower’s curiosity). --- Most likely the trichome heads will all be clear (doubt I’ll find any cloudy ones). --- Hopefully, in about 3 weeks to a month or so, I’ll start seeing more amber trichomes before harvest time. Not critical, but if I can, I’m going for a goal of 40/60 ratio of amber to cloudy (30/70 would be great too). [END OF WEEK 12]

Introduction - Week 13 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100161.12, This is getting sort of strange and unusual.. But had yet another great and simple week of growing!? What!? Ha! Usually something goes wrong, but things have been growing along smooth and steady! Been very pleased with the growth! At least for now, growing in bloom seems way easier than growing in veg. Aside from a minor defoliation (just before her mid week feeding), I've been letting her just grow naturally. Even started thinking about harvest time! Going to (hopefully) be my first time fully drying and curing inside the tent so been deciding how I'll do that. I may also re-amend the EarthBox at the same time (EarthBox will be outside the tent, but in the same room). Of course I still have a few more weeks to go, but so far so very good! Early in the week she started to get a bit louder as the air started to smell more like citrus fuel! Stem rubs are also starting to give off more of a menthol sort of funky profile too (similar to a Vick's vapor rub). Stoked! Been hyped to check growth each day! Very exciting time for this grow as I watch the bud colas just thickening each day! Anyways, earlier in the week I redistributed the electricity from my room to be shared amongst a heavier load bearing circuit. This has fixed the power outages! But has also uncovered a possible fault with the AC unit itself (AC doesn't cut out anymore, but makes an occasional rattling noise). I can't replace the unit right now (too damn expensive), so just going let it be. This mid week's feeding (Week 3 of Full Bloom - Week 6 under 12/12) was more or less the same as last week. Gave her a top dressing as well. Also increased the top a canopy's PPFD to 999 μmol/m2/s which now gives a DLI of 43.12 mol/m2/d Also started to started to check the trichomes. Got some surprisingly clear shots using a USB microscope (attached to my phone via an adapter). Yes, I understand it's still way too early to harvest but I checked them anyways! Of course, mostly all the trichome heads were clear. Also started to look into a bud ripening technique known as 'bud swelling' (see logs for full details). Supposedly, if applied properly, this should increase trichome production and bud density. Most likely won't use this on the entire plant. But if I do decide to give bud swelling a try, I'll probably apply this technique to a few bud colas. This way I can compare the difference between treated and untreated growth. Keep in mind that this particular grow attempt started as a 'learn how to grow' run with no idea on what to really expect terpene-wise (to be honest, I selected these 'freebie' seeds because I got tired of losing my choice genetics). But now that my tent's environment is dialed in better and growth is finally going a lot smoother, I'm just loving this hobby as each grow day seems to feel like less of a struggle to keep things alive and now feels more like a therapeutic and enjoyable experience (as it should be). But I guess without the failures, I wouldn't have learned as much as I have. Anyways I digress again. Definitely stoked with the growth and hyped for next week! [START OF WEEK 13] Day 01 - Monday - 07/25/22 - Total Days: 075 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 77.7°F - Humidity: 64.6% - VPD: 1.12kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:21]: Growing along smoothly! --- Her bud colas are just fattening up! - [22:15]: Growth is looking good! --- She has a few bottom leaves that are yellowing from the tip and a few top leaves with burnt tips. But all else looks green and healthy! --- The reservoir had a bit of water still in it. Going to reduce the watering by a bit. - [22:34]: Water time! --- Also going to feed a bit of coconut. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/2tsp of Horticultural Coconut --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Just a forest of bud colas! Wow! --- [*smokes a bowl] --- Over the past 2 years, it's been both an educationally fun and emotionally draining grow struggle, and I understand that there's still a lot that can go wrong with this grow attempt, but starting to look like this one is going to make it to harvest! --- Someone told me that my grow failures have taught me 43 ways how not to grow weed. --- But as fun as that has been, damn it feels good to actually start succeeding and growing. --- Hopefully I'm not too optimistic, but already starting to plan out the drying and curing process (even have a trim bin on the way). --- Now I've heard that after a few successful harvests, trimming will be less fun and more of a chore. --- But not right now! --- Since this will be my first harvest, I am actually looking forward to trimming! --- Also planning on re-amending and re-using the soil in the EarthBox for the next grow run so been researching this as well. --- Still also deciding on 1 or 2 plants in the EarthBox. Regardless, I'll be skipping the solo cups and will be planting straight into the EarthBox after germination. Day 02 - Tuesday - 07/26/22 - Total Days: 076 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 80.1°F - Humidity: 61.6% - VPD: 1.32kPa ----------------------------------- - [08:59]: Wow growth is looking great! --- She hasn't grown taller, but those bud colas are just thickening up nicely! --- Getting terps in the air too! Still nothing pungent, but wow she smells good! - [16:20]: Attention all hands! Warp power is being redirected from the main deflector to primary environmental controls. Ensign420, please report to main engineering for further instructions [🖖]. --- Anyways! [*smokes a bowl] --- My current residence has 2 rooms sharing the same 15amp circuit (my room along with the master bedroom). Unfortunately when both rooms are using electricity (desktop computer, television, the AC unit, grow light, exhaust fan, etc), the breaker trips while the rest remain unchanged. --- In an effort to fix this issue, I had the idea to redistribute the electrical load from my room to a higher amp circuit (the same circuit as the washer and dryer). --- Using a fairly heavy gauge extension cable, I re-routed the AC to run on a different circuit. The logic is that if the unit is running on a higher amp circuit, the AC should work without overloading the breaker. Plus now that the AC unit is on a separate circuit, both rooms can have everything on without the circuit overloading. Nice! --- To my surprise, I think it worked! --- The AC no longer cuts off while running on the higher the amp circuit! --- Still have to test the circuit strength, but for now everything is running. --- But solving this has uncovered a new issue. Now when the AC unit's condenser cuts off (I think it's the condenser), the unit makes a pretty loud rattling noise. I think whatever is making this noise is also creating some sort of a electrical surge which causes the breaker to trip. --- This also now confirms that my portable AC unit may be faulty and either should be repaired or replaced soon. - [22:14]: She is so beautiful! --- Growth is looking good! --- Buds are just frosted with trichomes! --- Getting more and more hyped to get from work to check on progress! - [22:23]: Time to water! --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Added 2 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Just wow! the growth is amazing! Day 03 - Wednesday - 07/27/22 - Total Days: 077 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 79.1°F - Humidity: 61.5% - VPD: 1.27kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:25]: Growing along nicely! --- Orange pistil hairs are just everywhere. - [22:16]: Buds are growing thicker and she's looking great! --- She is definitely in full bloom right now. --- Sugar leaves are just getting coated! Can't stop smelling the terps. - [22:21]: Time to water! --- Since the reservoir was dry, going to increase the watering a bit. --- Filled a pitcher with 7 cups of distilled water. --- Poured the water straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- She is looking just incredible! --- Growth has been way less stressful and is steady. --- Turning into another very easy week of growing! Day 04 - Thursday - 07/28/22 - Total Days: 078 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 80.1°F - Humidity: 62.0% - VPD: 1.30kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:17]: Growth is still looks stunning! --- Multiple bud colas just reaching for the light! - [09:43]: Took height measurements. --- She was still 31 inches tall. --- Growth has been dedicated to bud production. Nice! --- She was also still about 10 inches from the top of the light. --- Tonight will be another feeding. Will take PPFD readings then. --- [*smoke a bowl] --- Still way to inexperienced to make any educated guesses on final weights, but I am getting curious. --- Since this will be my first harvest, not too sure if this is a realistic goal, but basically would like enough dried flower to last me through the next grow cycle. Which would be about 4-5 months of smoke. --- Because of this, I am going for quantity over quality. --- For this grow, like many beginner growers, I'm trying to go for quantity before quality. --- If I conservatively smoke, I can make an ounce of flower last about a month (depending on quality). --- Based off of this, I would consider this grow a success if I can achieve at least 5oz of dried and trimmed flower. I'm not too sure if I can reach this goal, but am going to try. --- Any more in terms of yield will just make life easier. --- This grow would be considered a complete success if the yield is double (a bit of an impossibility for can hope). --- Of course I'll consider this a perfect grow if that dried flower was top shelf quality (I really doubt it, but hey I can dream). - [22:04]: Wow she looks incredible! --- Growing along smoothly! - [22:21]: Feeding time! --- This will be Week 3 of Full Bloom feeding (Week 6 under 12/12). --- Going to nutrient feed exactly the same as last week. --- Except going to top dress a bit of BuildAFlower and Kashi Blend. --- Filled a pitcher with 8 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/32tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/8tsp of each of the following: ----- Big 6 Micronutrients [+ Humic Acid] ----- BuildABloom ----- Bio-Phos --- Added 1/2tsp of Pure Protein Dry [Organic Fish Aminos] --- Added 1tsp of Horticultural Coconut --- Added 8 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and set it aside. - [22:44]: Time to apply the top dressing. --- There is a second plant growing in the EarthBox (in the back), but am only top dressing the large one (in the front). --- Top dressed 4tbsp of BuildAFlower Top Dress around the base of the big plant. --- Top dressed 2tbsp of Kashi Blend --- Using my fingers I worked them both into the top soil a bit. --- On to defoliation! - [10:57]: Using a pair of trimmers, I starting clipping off a few leaves. --- This time around, not many yellow-edged leaves to remove. Great! - [23:32]: Top watering time! --- Using a spray bottle, I misted the soil with 5 cups of the nutrient solution. - [23:45]: Mulched the leaves that were defoliated. --- After misting, I layered the trimmed leaves across the top of the soil. - [23:46]: Now bottom watering time! --- Poured the remaining 3 cups of the solution straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- Done! - [23:49]: Took a PPFD reading. --- The top of the canopy was at 924 μmol/m2/s --- I lowered the light until the distance between the top of the canopy and the light was about 8.5in --- Took another reading. --- The canopy was now at 999 μmol/m2/s --- This gives a new DLI of 43.12 mol/m2/d --- This week's ideal range is 38-48 mol/m2/d --- Great! --- Going to keep the top canopy at these higher light levels and will check to see how she grows. Day 05 - Friday - 07/29/22 - Total Days: 079 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 79.3°F - Humidity: 61.2% - VPD: 1.30kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:27]: Growth is looking great! --- Terp profiles are really starting to fill the air and she’s starting to get a bit loud. Nice! --- Buds are continuing to thicken up under the brighter condition! - [22:15]: Hello beautiful! --- Growth is looking incredible and the air is smelling great! That lemon citrus terpene profile is getting me stoked! - [22:22]: Water time! --- The reservoir was dry so going to increase the watering for tonight. --- Filled a pitcher with 7 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. - [22:30]: Decided to check a leaf for trichomes! --- Back when I first started growing (over 2 years ago), I got a USB microscope. --- Had the arrogant notion that I would make it to harvest during my first attempt (wow was I wrong). --- Anyways, --- Time to finally use this microscope on one of my plants! --- As far as harvest time, I understand she probably has a few more weeks to go, but going to check the trichomes anyways. --- Screw it. Why not!? - [22:41]: Using a pair of trimmers, I carefully clipped a fan leaf. --- I tried to choose a leaf that was fairly close to a bud which was covered in trichomes. --- Using a USB adapter, I was able to connect the microscope to my (android) phone so I could check and take pictures of the trichomes straight from the phone. Cool! --- Tried to examine the leaf over a white background, but couldn’t see a damn thing (Oops). --- But after trying to check the same spot over a black background, I could clearly see many trichomes! --- Wow they looked like mini mushrooms growing out of the leaf. Hyped! --- From what I could tell(and as expected), I think all of the trichomes were pretty clear. --- Got another overwhelming feeling of grower’s happiness. I grew this! Wow! Overly hyped! --- From now on, plan to check weekly to see how trichomes develop. Day 06 - Saturday - 07/30/22 - Total Days: 080 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 80.5°F - Humidity: 61.8% - VPD: 1.32kPa ----------------------------------- - [06:39]: Aye! Looking good girl! --- Bud colas are just everywhere! --- Smells are definitely louder than last week too! - [22:03]: Still growing along beautifully! --- Buds are frosty and just getting thicker! Wow! --- There are leaf tips with a bit of burn, but the yellowing has pretty much stopped! - [22:14]: Water time! --- Since the reservoir was dry, going to increase the watering a bit more. Adding a bit of microbes and saponin too. --- Filled a pitcher with 8 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/32tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/8tsp of Bio-Phos --- Mixed and poured the solution straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- Done! --- Growth is just incredible! --- She makes me so happy! Wow! - [22:38]: Re-positioned the EarthBox a bit. --- Just rotated the EarthBox so it was more at an angle. This is mainly to keep the back cola further away from the circulating fan (noticed it was getting hit by the fan pretty hard). --- May re-angle the fan later, but for now this should be fine (again very glad I got the wheels for the EarthBox). Day 07 - Sunday - 07/31/22 - Total Days: 081 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.3°F - Humidity: 64.5% - VPD: 1.27kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:16]: Just incredible! --- Growth is looking great! --- Very happy with the bud colas! Just stacking! - [22:10]: Looking pretty damn good! --- Buds are thickening up with more frost! --- Those terps are also smelling pretty dank too! --- Towers of bud colas! Ooowee! --- There was a bit of water in the reservoir, so going to decrease the watering tonight. - [22:24]: Water time! --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Done! --- Been a very simple week of growing and am just stoked with how she is growing! --- If all things go well, next week should be more or less the same as this (and last) week. --- [*smokes a bowl] --- Started looking into a bud thickening/ripening technique called 'bud swelling' or 'bud pinching.' --- Also known as 'backbuilding,' this technique requires the tops of each bud cola to be snipped about 0.25-0.5in (less is more). --- By removing the tips of each bud cola (in veg, these are the bud sites), this initializes a growth reaction inside the plant which promotes more lower bud growth and biomass density. Bud swelling also triggers an auto immune response which causes the production of more trichomes. --- Not sure if this is 'grow-science or bro-science.' --- Bud pinching seems to replicate tissue damage that may have been caused from a wild animal attack or natural disaster. This sends the plant into a sort of 'fight-or-flight' mode which halts vertical growth and causes the production of denser bud structures and stickier trichomes. --- The grow logic seems similar to a vegetative technique known as topping (but more closer to FIMing - Fuck I Missed). Both techniques help to promote more lower growth, so sounds like it might be worth a try. --- Again, not too sure on the validity of this technique, but might try it on one or two colas soon. --- Just hyped that a successful harvest is finally looking like a possibility! --- Steady as she goes Ensign! [🖖] [END OF WEEK 13]

Introduction - Week 14 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100181.64, Steady as she goes Ensign! Yet another smooth week of growing! Smells have been getting louder and bud growth is looking pretty good! As far as vermicomposting, this was harvest week! Both fed and transferred my worms to a new bin. Later I applied a layer of the harvested castings to the top of the EarthBox's soil (during her mid-week feeding). This was the last week of Full Bloom feeding too. Also did another minor leaf defoliation (probably one of the last before harvest). Also checked the trichomes and wow! Found both cloudy and amber trichomes! Unfortunately they were only present on the leaf. Got a tip to check the buds instead of the leaves (thanks again growmie 🖖). When I checked an actual bud (this week checked a bottom pop-corn bud), all the trichomes were still clear. Harvest time begins once the trichome heads (on the buds) get to a ratio of 70/30 cloudy to amber. Or at least this is the current plan. Next week's feeding will begin the Bloom Ripening phase. Similar to a flush, until harvest, won't be feeding anymore fertilizer nutrients. I'll only be feeding doses of Horticultural Coconut (and maybe a bit of microbes and saponin too). To help with structural support, I started using garden yo-yos. Started with one, but by the end of the week I added 2 more. Makes it a lot easier to raise and guide bud cola growth. Towards the end of the week her terpene profile also started to change to more of a sweeter berry-like aroma. She still has the citrus-fuel terps too, but I'm liking this new scent as well! Stoked for next week which starts the 'bud ripening' phase! Going to begin lowering the overall daily light integral and the feedings will be even easier. The lowering of DLI levels is suppose to be a form of bio-mimicry which simulates a seasonal change from Summer to Fall. If all goes well, harvest time should be less than a month away! [START OF WEEK 14] Day 01 - Monday - 08/01/22 - Total Days: 082 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.6°F [27.6°C] - Humidity: 61.6% - VPD: 1.38kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:25]: Well good morning beautiful! --- Again, there's leaf tip burn. --- But overall growth is looking pretty damn good! --- Wow! Her main bud cola is just fattening up! - [22:33]: Growth is just amazing! --- Buds are just coated in frost and her sugar leaves are all resin railed out with trichomes! --- Wow! Out of curiosity, I squeezed a bud cola and was surprised on the biomass density! --- Also wow those terps were loud! Smelled straight up like a very familiar OG piney funk followed by a strong lemon citrus undertone! VERY HYPED! --- And Ooowee! Did not expect this, but she felt greasy!? More like a waxy grease. Not sure if this is a good thing, but I am utterly stoked! --- Currently I can barely sustain a single 4x4 tent. So at the moment, I doubt there's a way to preserve genetics perpetually (or at least I don't think there's any way). --- But now I wish there was a way to save a cutting or something because wow her terpene profile smells like OG dankness! --- Until I can get a second tent, going to have to just let these one-off gems go and just appreciate them as I continue to learn and improve. After all I'm still a beginner grower so there will definitely be better. - [22:57]: Time to water! --- Reservoir was dry so going to increase the watering a bit. Adding a bit of coconut too. --- Filled a pitcher with 7 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/2tsp of Horticultural Coconut --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Growing along nice and steady! Day 02 - Tuesday - 08/02/22 - Total Days: 083 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.4°F [28°C] - Humidity: 62.3% - VPD: 1.39kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:29]: Growing along nicely! --- That center cola is just towering with growth! --- Buds are just frosty! Hyped! --- Not much to do in flower but just keep up with the watering and hope for best as she grows along. --- Very easy growing! --- Since this grow is in a low-till living organic soil, I plan to continue to reuse and re-amend the EarthBox for the next run (if all goes well, next grow run will be a bean of 'Sour Diesel' by 'Royal Queen Seeds'). - [22:23]: Growing along nicely! --- Bud colas are starting to get a bit heavy. Especially the one in the back. If it gets too heavy, I can always use either a garden yo-yo or just a piece of trellis netting draped over the canopy. But for now just going to let it ride. --- Reservoir had a bit of water so going to reduce the watering by a bit. - [22:39]: Time to water! --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. Re-inoculating with more microbes, enzymes, and saponin. --- Added 1/32tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Added 1/16tsp of Great White --- Added 3 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. Day 03 - Wednesday - 08/03/22 - Total Days: 084 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.0°F [27.2°C] - Humidity: 62.4% - VPD: 1.33kPa ----------------------------------- - [08:56]: Looking good! --- Bud cola growth looks great! - [22:48]: A bit late, but hello beautiful! --- Wow! Buds are just thickening up! --- There are yellowing leaf tips but just going to continue on. --- This is my first time through flower, so this attempt will sort of set the basis for the next grow run. I am stoked for this harvest, but am even more stoked for the next grow run! - [22:58]: Water time! --- Reservoir was dry so going to increase the watering a bit. --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Yea that back bud cola is really starting to droop. Too much weight? --- Going to continue to let her grow, but tomorrow, I'll probably attach a garden yo-yo to help give more structural support. Day 04 - Thursday - 08/04/22 - Total Days: 085 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.8°F [27.7°C] - Humidity: 64.1% - VPD: 1.30kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:24]: Stacking up with bud growth! --- Wow! Getting whiffs of some pretty loud terps too! --- Tonight, depending on how she looks, going to probably help the back bud cola by attaching a garden yo-yo. - [11:46]: Decided to transfer my worms to a fresh bin. --- The current bin has been through several feeding cycles and the coco and peat moss has fully been processed into organic castings (worm poop). --- Using a cleaned plastic container (exactly the same size as the current bin), I began prepping the coco coir. - [11:47]: Going to be hydrating more of the coco brick. --- Using a hammer and flat head screw driver, I 'gently and gracefully' chiseled out a few chunks and placed them in the new bin (there has to be a better way, made such a mess). - [12:06]: Filled a measuring cup with 1.5 cups of distilled water. --- Plan to add more water, but better to add less first (easy to add more to the medium if it's too dry but difficult to take back if overly saturated). --- I want to ensure that the worms have some nutrition so re-hydrating and inoculating the coco with a bit of microbes and food. --- Added 1/32tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/2tsp of Pure Protein Dry [Organic Fish Aminos] --- Added 1/8tsp of each of the following: ----- Mycrobe Complete ----- Great White --- Added 3 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the bin. --- Fluffed the dried coco which more than doubled in mass. --- To further hydrate the coco, I added 1/2cup of distilled water. --- Re-mixed the coco which felt perfect (like a moist sponge). - [12:42]: Time to check the bin! --- It's been 14 days since the last checkup and feeding. I like to wait a bit longer before a worm bin transplant so the worms can really go through and decompose any organic food matter that may still be present. --- Wow! --- There was nothing! --- No trace of neither the food nor paper. Great! --- Mixing the bin revealed a lot of healthy worms! --- The soil was a dark black humic color with more of a muddy or clay like consistency (black gold). --- As far as smell, aside from a very slight 'pond water-like' odor near the bottom of the bin (which was more still more of an earthy wet smell rather than a rancid pond-scum odor), there was none. Great! --- A healthy bin should have an abundance of moisture, yet should not stink at all. --- Anyways, now the bin can be harvested! - [13:20]: Harvested the worm castings! --- I plan to use these casting in the EarthBox later tonight. Until then, will place the castings back into the bin for storage. --- Started by gently mixed and removed the castings and put them into temporary containers (started at the top and removed the castings layer by layer). - [13:28]: As I removed the castings, I gently picked the worms out and placed them into a smaller container. --- Afterwards I dumped them into their new bin with the hydrated coco. --- I also included about a 1/2 cup of the original castings. This will help to inoculate the bin with additional beneficial microbes and soil biology. --- Then added about a solo cup of dried BAS Oly Mountain soil on top of everything. This will give more material for the worms to move through and breakdown. - [13:46]: Time to top dress! --- Treating the worm bin similar to soil, so going to top dress some basic amendments. --- Sprinkled 1tbsp of both Craft Blend and Kashi Blend. - [13:51]: Filled a spray bottle with 1/2 cup of distilled water --- Misted most of the bottle onto the top soil. Plan to save a bit for later. --- Covered the soil in the bin with a bit of shredded brown paper. --- Misted the paper with a bit of distilled water. --- Covered the top with a sheet of brown paper and wet the top with the rest of the distilled water. - [14:03]: Sealed the bin with a cleaned lid. --- Going to let them sit for a bit before giving them a feeding. - [16:31]: Going to feed the worms! --- Was planning on waiting a few days before feeding, but had a fresh mango pit and some peels which were going to be thrown away. --- Why not!? Time to feed the worms! --- It's about 2hrs since the bin was last opened. --- Nice! Worms were already exploring their new home! --- Incredible how fast they can move too. --- Peeled the top paper back and dug a hole in the center of the bin. Since the soil and coco was nice and fluffy, so this was quite easy to do. --- Layered a few mango peels at the bottom of the hole. --- Sprinkled 1tsp of Kashi Blend on top. --- Then placed a fresh mango pit (with a decent amount of mango still on it) in the hole. --- Sprinkled 1tsp of Kashi Blend on top of that. --- Then covered the whole thing with half of a mango peel. --- Covered everything with a bit of the surrounding soil and shredded paper before re-placing the sheet of brown paper and re-sealing the bin. --- [*smokes a bowl] --- As an organic grower, vermicomposting is both fun and rewarding! --- For the bin I am using, after each weekly feeding cycle, I'll check the medium which will start to break down and become less fluffy and more clay-like (as everything gets digested into worm poop). Once the medium turns closer to a muddy clay (worm castings - black gold), I'll let the bin go about 2 weeks without feeding before harvesting the castings. At the same time, I'll transfer the worms to a new bin to start the process over again. --- Shredded newspaper and cardboard can also be used too, but I've found a mixture of coco coir and soil as better alternatives (I top dress with shredded paper and kashi). --- Depending on the type and amount of food given, I'll sometimes go 2 weeks or longer between feedings. --- A healthy worm bin should not give off any bad smells. A foul odor is the sign of too much moisture and bad microbes. Also a healthy bin shouldn't have any flies or gnats but instead should have beneficial bugs such as rove beetles and predator mites. This is the main reason why I use a plastic container with an air tight lid. Of course the lid is perforated with small pin holes (took a good amount of time to make all those damn holes. Ha!) along with about a dozen 1/8in drill holes (bin itself has no holes). --- The most challenging factor about this bin setup is to not add too much moisture. I've done it and it's not fun. The bin just wreaks of decay and pond scum (a bin transfer fixed the issue). --- Because there's no drain on the bin, all the moisture that goes in can only escape through evaporation through the lid. --- Adding bokashi can really help to inoculate the medium with beneficial bacteria and microbes such as Lactobacillus and Streptomyces to help keep the bad bacteria away (Streptomycin is the first amino-glycoside antibiotic discovered which is from the bacteria Streptomyces griseus). --- Adding fruits and vegetables with high moisture content such as melons and strawberries can easily provide more than enough moisture to keep the medium hydrated between feedings. Keep in mind that even when using a lid, be sure to also add some sort of top mulch such as leaves or shredded paper. This will encourage the worms to crawl at the surface of the soil. --- Spacing the feedings apart prevents the soil from getting too wet (don't over feed). --- Yes there are alternative bin styles which can have drains and can produce more castings, but I don't need a ton of worm castings so this small setup works just fine. - [Supplemental Entry]: Getting stoned and watching some worm bin time-lapse videos can also be mesmerizing (the internet has everything). - [22:05]: Looking good! --- Back bud cola is drooping and there are burnt leaf tips. But wow she looks good! --- Filled a pitcher with 8 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/32tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/8tsp of each of the following: ----- Big 6 Micronutrients [+ Humic Acid] ----- BuildABloom ----- Bio-Phos --- Added 1/2tsp of Pure Protein Dry [Organic Fish Aminos] --- Added 1tsp of Horticultural Coconut --- Added 8 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and set it aside. - [22:55]: Using a pair of trimmers, I clipped off a few more leaves. --- Like last week, glad there were not that many leaves to remove. Set the leaves aside. --- Sprinkled 4tbsp of Kashi Blend onto the top soil of the EarthBox. - [23:16]: Prepped for a worm bin top-dressing by inoculating the top soil with some bokashi. --- Sprinkled 4tbsp of Kashi Blend onto the top soil. - [23:21]: Time to apply the worm castings that were harvested earlier in the day. --- The entire bin was emptied and the castings were spread evenly over the entire top mulch. --- Also made sure a few worms were in there as well. There are already worms tilling away in the EarthBox. Adding a few more to the population to help further till and regulate the soil. - [23:36]: Time to top water! --- This time only top watering 4 cups. --- Filled a spray bottle with 4 cups of the nutrient solution and misted the top soil evenly. --- Worm castings were very fresh and hydrated so the top was sort of muddy and clay-like. I hope I didn't add too much. --- Then topped a portion of the castings with the leaves I trimmed earlier. - [23:51]: Time to bottom water! --- Poured the remaining 4 cups of the solution straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Overall growth is beyond amazing! There is always room for improvement. - [23:54]: The bud cola in the back is really drooping now from the weight, so going to help it out by attaching a garden yo-yo. --- In essence, a garden yo-yo is a support line that can be adjusted to variable lengths to help raise branches they are attached to. --- First I attached the hook end of the yo-yo just below a bud node on the drooping bud cola. For a more secure grip, I used both hooks. --- These yo-yos are spring loaded and are naturally retractable, but they can also be locked down to specific lengths. --- While keeping the string pretty loose, I attached the yo-yo end to the rim of the light. Then tension was gently applied to the string until it was at the correct length before I locked the length down. - [23:59]: Nice! Now the back bud cola is at a better height and is pointing straight up towards the light (which will increase the amount of photosynthetically active photons the buds can absorb). --- The only minor drawback with using a yo-yo in this way, is now the EarthBox is now anchored to the light (also the reason why I waited until later in flower to do this). So even with the wheels, I can't really rotate the EarthBox anymore. I eventually plan to fix this issue, but for now just going to go with it what I have. --- I don't really plan to do much defoliation anymore so this shouldn't be an issue. - [+00:05]: Took some height readings. --- She grew a bit and was 33 inches tall! --- Also the distance between the top canopy and the light was 7.5 inches. - [+00:10]: Took PPFD readings. --- The top canopy was at 1020 μmol/m2/s --- This gives a new DLI of 44.06 mol/m2/d --- This week's ideal range is 40-50 mol/m2/d --- Great! PPFD levels are okay so no need to adjust the light. - [+00:34]: Getting late, but hyped as ever! Time to check the trichomes! --- Checked a freshly cut leaf which had some frost on it. Under the microscope she goes! --- Wow! Trichomes look incredible! On some areas of the leaf I can start to see some amber heads. - [+00:43]: Clipped a lower popcorn bud to check for trichomes on the buds themselves. --- For a more accurate sign on when to harvest, got a tip from a fellow grower to check the buds instead of the leaves (thanks growmie! 🖖). So checking both! --- Under the microscope all of the heads were pretty clear with no sign of amber. --- Big difference from the leaf sample which already had portions with amber trichome heads. Fascinating. [🖖] --- To check a top bud, I may apply bud swelling on a cola next week (snip the tip of a top bud cola) and will check trichomes on that, but for this week a larfy bud was good enough. --- Besides, still way too early for harvest. This was mainly for fun and grower's curiosity. Day 05 - Friday - 08/05/22 - Total Days: 086 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 80.5°F [26.9°C] - Humidity: 60.9% - VPD: 1.36kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:24]: Growing along nicely! --- The garden yo-yo has really helped. Her back cola is now about the same thickness as her main cola (maybe even a bit thicker). Will be adding more yo-yos soon. --- Buds are continuing to thicken up! --- This week will be the last week of Full Bloom and will start Week 1 of Bloom Ripening. - [22:04]: Top growth is looking nice and frosty! --- Her center bud cola is getting pretty fat too. - [22:12]: Time to water! --- Filled a pitcher with 7 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- As far as growing, seems to be another easy week! --- Keep on growing girl! Day 06 - Saturday - 08/06/22 - Total Days: 087 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 80.7°F [27.1°C] - Humidity: 61.3% - VPD: 1.34kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:26]: Growing steady! --- Wow! Her terpene profile has slightly changed now to more of a sweet berry-like profile. Still has the citrus, but not as much. I'm digging it! --- Not much to do except just wait! Stoked! --- Bud growth is looking very nice! - [22:18]: So beautiful! --- Wow! Just towers of bud colas. Nice! - [22:25]: Water time! --- Going to also inoculate more microbes and saponin. --- Filled a pitcher with 7 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/32tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [22:39]: Decided to add 2 more garden yo-yos. --- These will help to raise the 2 side colas (left/right) a bit closer to the light. --- Nice! Now she has a more uniform canopy. Day 07 - Sunday - 08/07/22 - Total Days: 088 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.4°F [27.4°C] - Humidity: 62.5% - VPD: 1.33kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:28]: Wow good morning beautiful! --- Her buds are just getting larger by the day. --- Getting that sweet berry terpene too which is getting me even more hyped! - [08:41]: Another grow board filled! --- Using a white board has been a huge help with keeping track of feedings. - [22:05]: Aye looking great! --- Wow! Growing along! --- The reservoir did have a bit of water so reducing tonight's watering. - [22:14]: Time to water! --- Filled a pitcher with 4 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Another easy week of growing! --- May add 1 or 2 more yo-yos next week. --- Wow! Nutrient-wise, almost at the end of Full Bloom. Next week will start the bud ripening phase. --- As far as DLI, this is going to be the highest PPFD she'll be getting in flower. Will begin to reduce the DLI from now on to simulate the season change in weather (Summer to Fall). I should also be lowering my temps, but can't control what I can't control. --- Regardless, --- Hyped for next week! [END OF WEEK 14]

Introduction - Week 15 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100199.42, Well another easy week of growing! Been researching more about vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and have been attempting to lower the RH to help achieve a better VPD. I think I'm suppose to go for a range of 1.5-1.7 for this stage of growth. To help better keep track of goals, adding 'estimated goal ranges' for both DLI and VPD to these weekly log entries (not sure if these ranges are correct, but this will at least give me a general goal to stay within). Also added meter readings and the week's averages for these goals too (surprised that GD doesn't have a way to track VPD, DLI, or PPFD). To help lower RH, I added another passive intake. Also increased the exhaust fan to run at max (from level 8 to level 10). Until I get a dedicated dehumidifier, this is the best I can do. Controlling VPD is way more of a challenge than DLI. What makes thing worse is the way my current residence's electrical circuits are wired. It doesn't make it easy to add any more equipment to my current grow setup (pretty much maxing out the circuit breaker). It just baffles me to see countless home grow logs with multi-tent setups each running far way more powerful lights and equipment (easily more electricity than my setup), yet I can barely sustain a single grow tent with a 300 watt light (not even max settings) in a 4x4 tent. Meh. Whatever. [*smokes a bowl] Anyways, VPD environmental issues aside, this week has been extremely easy! This week also began the Bloom Ripening phase which means feeding was a extremely easy! Simply a bit of BAS' Horticultural Coconut during her mid week feeding. No microbes, no fertilizers. The rest of the week was straight distilled water. To keep the top soil hydrated, started daily top waterings (1 cup misted). Waterings have been 1 cup top misted and 5 cups in the res. Tried bud swelling on a top cola. Simply snipped about 1/2in off the top of a bud cola. Will continue to check back to see if it made a difference. Checked the snipped bud's trichomes and this week looks a bit cloudy! Nice! Ripening along! As a beginner grower, it's been exciting to observe trichome development! As far as vermicomposting, checked and added more food to the worm bin! Wormies are looking quite healthy and am happy with the current bin's moisture levels. Will let them do their thing and will check back in another week or two! Just overall an chill and easy week! Oh! Buds are just thickening up! Added more garden yo-yos. By the end of the week, she had a total of 8 yo-yos attached. Anyways, steady as she grows Ensign! [START OF WEEK 15] ========================================================== Full Bloom Wk4 → Bloom Ripen Wk1 [Flower] 08/08/22 → 08/14/22 This Week's Mid-Week Estimated Goal Ranges [for elevated CO2] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DLI: 36-45 mol/m2/d PPFD: 833-1042 μmol/m2/s VPD: 1.5-1.7 kPa This Week's Meter Readings & Averages ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DLI: ~44.5 mol/m2/d PPFD: ~1030 μmol/m2/s VPD: ~1.38 kPa ========================================================== Day 01 - Monday - 08/08/22 - Total Days: 089 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.5°F [28.1°C] - Humidity: 63.3% - VPD: 1.37kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:17]: Growing along! --- Buds are continuing to stack up! --- May add more yo-yos tonight. - [22:56]: Hello my beauty! --- Growth does have some yellowing but buds look nice and frosty! Starting this week, nutrients and PPFD levels will be lowered. Hopefully this will help with the yellowing. - [23:03]: Time to water! --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [23:12]: Yea going to add a couple more garden yo-yos. --- Attached one to the front left side and the other on the front right. --- Raising bud colas to the same top canopy level should give a more even PAR absorption. Plus I think the added support will reduce stress on the branches so the plant can focus more on bud growth and trichome production. --- Ooowee! Wow! --- Smelling my fingers after handling the buds gave off a dank and unexpectedly new terpene profile! --- Still getting that lemon fuel but the sweet berry terpene has matured a bit more and she's definitely giving off a grape-like terp! --- Wow getting a sweet granddaddy purple sort of profile on the bud squeezes! Very nice! Digging it! --- And the buds are getting powder coated in trichomes! Wow! --- Starting off to be a nice and easy week! Day 02 - Tuesday - 08/09/22 - Total Days: 090 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 83.4F [28.6°C] - Humidity: 62.2% - VPD: 1.44kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:26]: Good morning beautiful! --- Growth is just stacking up nicely! --- Not much left to do but wait! Keep on growing girl! --- [*smokes a bowl] --- Been researching Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD). --- Since overall temperature can't really be controlled, going to try to adjust the RH to create a better vapor pressure deficit. --- I don't have total control over my humidity neither, but will try. --- As I dove deeper into what the ideal RH is for my average temperature (going to use 84°F as a general base temp), I've been getting conflicting chart data. VPD charts seem to have varying ranges for ideal temps and RH. --- At 84°F, one chart will show an ideal RH of 55% whereas another shows an RH as high as 75%. I am not sure which is correct. --- So just going to use the BAS recommend VPD which states that the ideal VPD is 1.5-1.7 kPa for flower and ripening. Based off of this, at 84°F with a VPD goal of 1.6 kPa, the ideal RH would be around 60% which seems a lot safer than increasing the RH to above 70% (really don't want bud rot). - [22:02]: Good evening gal! --- Cola tips are getting more arrow shaped. Plan to try bud swelling soon and will snip off a few bud tips to see if it makes a difference. This will also give me a chance to check the top buds for trichomes! --- Growing along just great! - [22:07]: Water time! --- Using a small Chapin sprayer, I sprayed the soil with 1 cup of distilled water. Since I can no longer rotate the EarthBox, the sprayer wand makes top watering way easier. --- Then filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- At least to me, the bud cola growth is just incredible! --- Yea, there are yellow leaf tips but my current goal right now is to just make through one complete cycle. - [23:40]: Decided to add another passive intake vent. --- Took a piece of spare 6in ducting (about 3 feet). --- Using 2 sheets of 0.25in carbon filter (about 8x10in each), I quickly covered both ends and secured them with rubber bands and aluminum tape. - [23:47]: This duct was then added to the top and now extends just under the grow light. --- That's about it (a bit crude, but works). --- May decide to move this exhaust to the bottom. --- This extra passive intake should help reduce strain on the exhaust fan while also providing another source of fresh air. Hopefully this new intake helps to reduce the RH as well. --- Current tent temps are at 85°F with an RH of 63% which is at a 1.52kPa (but would like to lower the RH closer to 60%). Day 03 - Wednesday - 08/10/22 - Total Days: 091 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.4°F [28.0°C] - Humidity: 62.1% - VPD: 1.40kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:43]: Hello beautiful! --- She looks a bit burnt, but hey looking incredible to me! --- Continuing with the top watering. --- Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water. - [22:09]: Water time! --- Using a sprayer, I misted the top soil with the cup of distilled water. --- Then filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [22:19]: Another bud cola is starting to droop, going to apply another garden yo-yo. --- Great! Her main colas are now nicely grouped and are at a pretty even canopy level! --- Keep on growing girl! Day 04 - Thursday - 08/11/22 - Total Days: 092 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.8°F [28.2°C] - Humidity: 60.2% - VPD: 1.48kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:47]: Beautifully growing along! --- That grape-terp is really getting louder too! --- Tonight will be Week 1 of Bloom Ripen! - [15:28]: In a further attempt to bring RH down, I increased the setting on the exhaust to the max. - [22:07]: Good evening beautiful! --- Wow! Really getting louder! Just incredible how the carbon filter just scrubs the smell. --- Bud colas are frosty and all resin railed out! - [22:47]: Water time! --- Filled a pitcher with 7 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/32tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/2tsp of Horticultural Coconut --- Mix and top sprayed 2 cups of the solution (Chapin sprayer). --- The rest (5 cups) was poured into the EarthBox's Reservoir. - [23:05]: To both flush out the sprayer and to further wet the top soil, I sprayed 1 cup of distilled water onto the top of the EarthBox. --- Watering done! - [23:14]: Adjusted the DLI down. --- This week the target DLI range is 36-45 mol/m2/d (or 833-1042 μmol/m2/s) --- The PPFD was at 1030 μmol/m2/s --- This gives a DLI of 44.5 mol/m2/d --- A bit on the high side, so going to raise the light up a bit. --- Before raising the light, I had to loosen all of the garden yo-yos. --- Adjusted everything until the top canopy was at 969 μmol/m2/s --- This gives a DLI of 41.86 mol/m2/d --- Perfect! - [23:48]: Took height readings. --- She was pretty much at the same height at 33in tall. --- The distance between the top canopy and the light was also still 9in. --- Noticed that there were 2 lower-side buds that were starting to droop. - [23:54]: Added 2 more garden yo-yos (why not). --- Attached them to 2 drooping lower buds. Not sure it will help but going to help raise them up. - [23:59]: Okay going to do some bud swelling! --- Only going to be clipping one bud cola and will compare it against the rest. --- Using a pair of trimmers, I clipped the tip of a bud cola (front left). --- That's about it. - [+00:14]: Time to check trichomes! --- Under a USB microscope I could see that the majority of trichome heads were pretty cloudy while some were clear. --- I did find a few amber ones too, but only around the tips of leaves (they were all pretty much cloudy). --- HYPED! - [+00:43]: Oh I also have a jeweler's loupe. Might as well give it a try! --- For the most part, this works too and I can check multiple areas without cutting buds! --- But would not recommend the one I have. --- One major downside is taking photos is pretty much impossible (at least with what I am using). --- Also in general, it's a hassle to get a clear and steady inspection. --- I don't have the steadiest hands and due to the refractive properties of the lens, everything is inverted (so up is down and left is right). --- So I still prefer taking a clipping and using the USB microscope (way clearer and easier), but will also use the jeweler's loupe for checkups too. Day 05 - Friday - 08/12/22 - Total Days: 093 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.2°F [27.9°C] - Humidity: 64.9% - VPD: 1.29kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:12]: Good morning my beauty! --- Steadily growing along. --- Checked the cola that was topped and so far not much change. --- Regardless, all buds are continuing to frost up! - [22:05]: Growth is looking good! --- Those yellow leaves are starting to really curl up. May go in and trim the yellow edges off a bit later. --- She's smelling incredible with that grape terp really starting to take over the odor profile. Personally prefer the lemon citrus, but stoked for this as well! - [22:10]: Water time! --- Filled a measuring cup with 1 cup of distilled water. Then using a sprayer, I misted the top soil with the entire cup. --- Then filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Easy growing! Day 06 - Saturday - 08/13/22 - Total Days: 094 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.6°F [28.1°C] - Humidity: 63.3% - VPD: 1.36kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:39]: Aye looking good! --- Terps are smelling incredible! Again more of a sweet grape profile. --- Still too early to really tell, but I think the bud cola that was snipped is sort of looking a bit more frostier than the rest? - [22:11]: Why hello there beautiful lady! --- A bit burnt, but still looking good to me! --- Wow! If all goes well, my first harvest is less than a month away! - [22:23]: Water time! --- Continuing on with straight distilled water. A cup top fed and 5 cups in the res. --- Using a sprayer, I misted the top with a cup of distilled water. --- Then filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water and poured it into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- At least in my current grow conditions (summer time and crappy AC), getting the tent to a viable VPD range is tough. --- Difficulties with environmental conditions aside, been very easy growing! Day 07 - Sunday - 08/14/22 - Total Days: 095 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.7°F [28.2°C] - Humidity: 63.9% - VPD: 1.35kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:31]: Growing along nicely! --- Quick bud check. Growth is looking good! --- The cola that was snipped has pretty much stopped growing vertically. The top bud is starting to also look a bit fatter! I think. --- The rest of the bud colas are getting more spear-shaped. - [20:15]: Checked the worm bin! --- It's been 10 days since the last checkup and feeding. --- Nice! Fresh Gagh! Err, I mean worms [🖖]. --- Wormies are crawling along the top soil and look nice and healthy! --- Surprisingly the mango was still there. It was mainly the pit, but there were still chunks of decaying mango on it. There was no foul odor. Sort of smelled sweet (like mango). --- I set the mango pit aside and dug a hole in the middle of the bin and prepped for the next feeding (soil felt moist and aerated). - [20:27]: Feeding time! --- Feeding a (frozen) strawberry, part of an overly ripe plantain, and a bit of spinach. As usual, going to inoculate the food with bokashi. --- First layered a bit of spinach at the bottom of the hole. --- Then sliced and placed chunks of plantains and strawberries on top of that. --- Sprinkled 1tsp of Kashi Blend. --- Layered more spinach on top. --- Placed the old mango pit on top of everything. --- Sprinkling another 1tsp of Kashi Blend on top. - [20:35]: Gently covered the whole thing with the surrounding top soil. --- Covered the soil with some freshly shredded brown paper and misted the paper until moist (about 9 sprays of distilled water). - [20:43]: Finally covered the top with a piece of brown paper before sealing the bin with a clean lid. --- Going to probably wait another week and a half or so before the next bin check. --- I usually feed more perishable organic matter, but this mango pit is an excellent slow decaying food source which can easily sustain them between feedings. - [22:16]: Aye looking good girl! --- Growing along nice! - [22:31]: Water time! --- A cup top fed and 5 cups in the reservoir. --- Using a sprayer, I misted the top with a cup of distilled water. --- Then filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Another easy grow week complete! --- Gotta say that bloom has been way easier than veg. --- Took me 44 attempts to make it through veg and onto to my first bloom cycle, but I think I am going to make it through bloom on the first go? --- Not going for perfection. Yet. --- Just overly stoked to finally be within viable reach of an actual harvest! --- Anyways, next week will be another bud ripening week (Wk1 → Wk2) so hopefully it will be just as easy! [END OF WEEK 15]

Introduction - Week 16 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100218.58, VPD aside, another easy week of growing! Vapor pressure deficit continues to be a struggle. Still need to raise the DLI up but the current temps and RH are the best I can do. Still need to add another passive intake. Will do so next week. Anyways, beginning of this week, I added the last of the 10 garden yo-yos (may need to get more, but not for this cycle). Waterings have been simplified as well. I've stopped top watering and have been bottom watering through the reservoir. Gave her a minor trimming during her mid week feeding. Trichome check was a bit different than last week. Now the trichome heads are all pretty milky white and opaque! Ambering should begin soon! Wohoo! Almost harvest time!? Gave her an extra day before lowering the DLI even further. Now the PPFD is around 839 μmol/m2/s at the most intense spot (top center cola). Wish this light gave more even coverage, but again, have to go with what I have. At the end of the week, to re-inoculate the soil, I fed a bit of Great White. That's about it! Just another easy week of growing! Getting hyped for harvest! [START OF WEEK 16] ========================================================== Bloom Ripen Wk1 → Wk2 [Flower] 08/15/22 → 08/21/22 This Week's Mid-Week Estimated Goal Ranges [for elevated CO2] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DLI: 32-40 mol/m2/d PPFD: 741-926 μmol/m2/s VPD: 1.5-1.7 kPa This Week's Meter Readings & Averages ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DLI: ~36.24 mol/m2/d PPFD: ~839 μmol/m2/s VPD: ~1.34 kPa ========================================================== Day 01 - Monday - 08/15/22 - Total Days: 096 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.3°F [27.9°C] - Humidity: 64.3% - VPD: 1.36 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:20]: Getting closer to harvest! --- The bud that was snipped does look a bit frostier, but hasn't grown much. --- The rest of the bud growth is continuing to create spear-shaped colas. - [22:52]: Why hello there my beauty! --- Buds are looking good! --- Terps are smelling of that sweet grape profile too! - [23:03]: Water time! --- One cup top fed and 5 cups in the reservoir. --- Using a sprayer, I misted the top soil with a cup of distilled water. --- Then filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [23:17]: Noticed a couple more drooping buds. --- Attached the last 2 garden yo-yos. --- Wow! Just sticky with trichomes! --- While attaching the yo-yos, got some pretty strong terpene odors and my arm got coated in trichomes. Wow! She wreaks of a strong grape terpene (Myrcene?) with a slight citrus undertone (Limonene?). Ooowee! Hyped! Day 02 - Tuesday - 08/16/22 - Total Days: 097 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 83.1°F [28.4°C] - Humidity: 63.8% - VPD: 1.36 kPa ----------------------------------- --- [Skipped the morning checkup] - [23:02]: Evening girl! --- Growth is looking good! --- Wow! Terpene profile is getting louder too! --- Bud colas are just frosty! - [23:16]: Water time! --- Going even simpler and only bottom watering. --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube! --- Done! --- Very easy day of growing! - [*smokes a bowl] --- As far as the VPD struggle, the current levels are still too low (at 1.36 when should be around 1.5-1.7). To raise the VPD, I still need to reduce the RH even more. Been researching about using desiccant beads of silica or calcium chloride. --- Based on what I've found, I'm doubtful. Makes sense to use for a room with limited humidity to absorb (like a wet room after painting), but not for a room which has an abundant or continuous exposure to high humidity levels (like a bathroom with a shower). Plus I doubt that desiccant beads can remove more moisture than the current AC unit (set to dehumidify mode). --- May need to invest in a proper dehumidifier soon. --- If I can lower the lung room's RH, the tent's exhaust fan should be able to do the rest. --- I may even try adding another passive intake too. There are several vent holes I can easily open up. This should help to reduce the negative pressure inside the tent while also increasing the efficiency of the exhaust fan. --- Of course, for optimal air flow control, an intake fan should be installed, but not for this grow run. Day 03 - Wednesday - 08/17/22 - Total Days: 098 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.5°F [28.1°C] - Humidity: 64.2% - VPD: 1.33 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:15]: Stacking up nicely girl! --- The cola that was snipped is looking a bit thicker too! I think. --- The rest of the colas have pistil hair growth just sprouting everywhere! - [22:09]: Hello beautiful! --- Buds are continuing to grow with more visible growth! - [22:12]: Water time! --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube! --- Another day of easy growing! --- Not much left to do but wait and let her ripen up as she transitions into the beginning stages of senescence. --- Harvest day should be less than a few weeks away! --- Of course to best way to determine how many more weeks to go is to check the trichomes. Plan to do so tomorrow. Day 04 - Thursday - 08/18/22 - Total Days: 099 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.7°F [28.2°C] - Humidity: 63.4% - VPD: 1.37 kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:29]: Good morning girl! --- Wow! That grape terpene profile is getting louder! --- Supplemental note. Although grown from the same genetics, there seems to be two very distinct terpene odor profiles amongst the four plants in the tent. Two of the smaller plants have a more earthy fuel funk (very nice!) with the fourth plant giving off a similar odor to the main plant (more of a grape-citrus). --- Anyways, tonight will begin Week 2 of the ripening phase. --- Plan to also check the bud trichomes as well. - [22:03]: Growth is growing along! --- Bud growth is still stacking - [22:10]: Time for the mid-week feed! --- This will be Week 2 of Bloom Ripen. --- Going to reduce the cups from 8 to 7 and won't be top watering. --- Filled a pitcher with 7 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/32tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/2tsp of Horticultural Coconut --- Mixed the solution, and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [22:19]: Decided to trim off a few yellow leaf tips. --- Just a little trim off of a few bud colas. --- Top mulched the trimmings. - [22:40]: Time to check the trichomes! --- Woah! For the most part, trichomes now look pretty cloudy! --- Clear to an opaque milky! --- Incredible! Hopefully will see signs of ambering next week! --- Harvest time is another week closer! --- Once ambering is detected on the buds, I'll check more often (maybe every 2 or 3 days). --- Going to give her another day before lowering the PPFD. --- Plan to raise the light up a bit to lower the DLI to the final levels for this grow. Day 05 - Friday - 08/19/22 - Total Days: 100 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.6°F [27.6°C] - Humidity: 62.6% - VPD: 1.35 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:16]: Growing along nicely! --- Buds are getting taller! --- There's noticeable top growth. Not sure if this is normal or maybe the lower light levels is causing a stretch? I dunno. --- The bud that was snipped has minimal upward growth, but does seem to be swelling up a bit. --- Since this is my first time through flower, going to stick with the lowered DLI. --- I doubt this run will produce any top-shelf buds, but the grow will be better! The overall weather will be cooler so hope to have more stable temps and RH. --- Also learning about the importance of DLI and VPD has been an absolute game changer! Thanks again grow buddy (whoever and where ever you are, best of luck on your journey and many thanks for helping me with mine [🖖]). - [22:07]: Why hello there beautiful! --- Buds are looking very nice! --- Wow, the snipped bud is sort of looking frostier than the rest!? --- Unlike the rest of the bud colas (which are mainly producing pistil hairs and upward growth), there are patches of opaque trichomes coating the top. Nice! --- Checked the reservoir and there was a bit of water still at the bottom. - [22:12]: Water time! --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [22:32]: Okay! Lowering the DLI. --- This week the target DLI range is 32-40 mol/m2/d (or 741-926 μmol/m2/s) --- The PPFD was at 1062 μmol/m2/s --- This gives a DLI of 45.88 mol/m2/d --- Yikes that's high! Raised the light up a bit. --- Again, before raising the light, had to loosen the garden yo-yos. --- Adjusted everything until the top canopy was at 839 μmol/m2/s --- This gives a DLI of 36.24 mol/m2/d --- Great! - [23:18]: Took height readings. --- She grew a bit and is now at 34.5in tall! --- The distance between the top canopy and the light was about 10.5in. Day 06 - Saturday - 08/20/22 - Total Days: 101 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.4°F [27.4°C] - Humidity: 62.2% - VPD: 1.35 kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:42]: Morning beautiful! --- Top growth is starting to even out. --- Gonna be an easy day of growing! - [22:04]: Bud growth is looking incredible! --- Not much to do but water and wait! --- There was a bit of water in the reservoir. Going to lower the watering a bit more. - [22:11]: Water time! --- Filled a pitcher with 4 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube! --- Yep, another day of easy growing! Day 07 - Sunday - 08/21/22 - Total Days: 102 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.2°F [27.3°C] - Humidity: 62.1% - VPD: 1.35 kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:50]: Hello beautiful girl! --- Buds are just frosting up! --- Gonna inoculate the medium with more microbes tonight. - [22:01]: Wow she's stacked! --- Terpene profile is also getting louder too! A sweet grape profile! Nice! --- There was still a bit of water at the bottom of the reservoir, so lowering the watering even further. --- Also adding a bit of Great White to help add more beneficial microbes. - [22:12]: Water time! --- Filled a pitcher with 4 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/16tsp of Great White --- Mixed and poured the solution straight into the EarthBox's fill tube! --- Great another week just flew by! --- Easy growing indeed! --- Still have the overall VPD way too low for flowering, but hope to improve this on the next attempt. Have to go with the current conditions for now. --- Based on the trichomes this week, I may easily be harvesting in about a week or two! --- Gonna probably be boof, but hey! For my first harvest, I don't really expect much. Perfection will develop over time. For now, just trying to make it to harvest (Ha!). --- Stoked for next week! [END OF WEEK 16]

Introduction - Week 17 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100239.1, Wow what a journey it has been so far! On stardate 98189.83 (08/03/20) I logged my first entry and started my grow adventure. Well after just over 2 years with 44 separate germination attempts across 8 different strains, I finally hit an important milestone! It finally happened.. HARVEST TIME! Wow! Just wow! Better late than never I suppose (damnit Ensign), my very first seed to harvest! Whether it's a successful harvest, I dunno yet, but wow! Finally made it through my first grow! Over the next week or two (or three), going to be drying and curing for the first time! Woohoo! Then there's trimming! Apparently bud trimming can be done either wet or dry. Since I plan to slow dry in the tent (around 14 to 16 days), I'm opting for a dry trim. As like most beginners (I assume), I'm excited for my first trim! Although I'm certain this excitement will soon fade. But not now! Hyped! Going to be hand trimming each bud and will cure in multiple mason jars. As for the curing, probably going to cure for at least a week or so before trying the first jar. Plan to open and 'burp' the jars daily. Using multiple jars will help to stagger the curing process and as I go through each jar, each one should get better. Also, since I already have them, going to be using hydrometers (humidity meters) and (Boveda) humidity packs to keep the jars at around 62% RH. So drying is the process of removing moisture from the buds whereas curing is the process of redistributing the moisture evenly throughout the dried buds. Anyways... As expected, the beginning of this week went pretty smoothly. Also installed another passive intake for the tent. Mid-week feeding is when things got interesting! After checking the trichomes (which were ambering nicely), I decided to expedite the harvest day to the end of this week! The DLI was also not lowered due to the unexpected early harvest time. Thus this is the last log entry for flower. The next and final log entry for this grow will be in a few weeks which should cover the entire drying and curing process along with a possible preliminary smoke test! As for the next grow attempt, changing the strain and flowering type! Still going with organics and am planning to re-amend the EarthBox (outside the tent while drying this current grow). But switching it up and trying autoflowers! Gonna attempt to grow some 'NYC Diesel' from 'ILGM!' Being a Diesel strain (Afghani x (Hawaiian/Mexican) x Ruderalis), I'm pretty stoked for the terpenes and the smoke! This will also give me time to get the tent's VPD and DLI properly dialed in. I can save my choice photoperiod genetics until I gain more experience and can provide better growing conditions. So until the next grow update! 'Peace & Long Life.' 🖖 [START OF WEEK 17] ========================================================== Bloom Ripen Wk2 → Wk3/HARVEST [Flower] 08/22/22 → 08/28/22 This Week's Mid-Week Estimated Goal Ranges [for elevated CO2] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DLI: 32-40 mol/m2/d PPFD: 741-926 μmol/m2/s VPD: 1.5-1.7 kPa This Week's Meter Readings & Averages ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DLI: ~41.17 mol/m2/d PPFD: ~953 μmol/m2/s VPD: ~1.35 kPa ========================================================== Day 01 - Monday - 08/22/22 - Total Days: 103 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 81.4°F [27.4°C] - Humidity: 63.8% - VPD: 1.30 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:16]: Growing along! --- Going to be another simple week of growing! --- Buds are just frosting up! - [22:05]: Night check! --- Looking good girl! --- Yea there are yellow leaves, but I'm pretty sure this is due to the low VPD. I can't do anything about this at the moment so just going to continue on. - [22:11]: Watering time! --- Reservoir was dry so going to increase the watering a bit. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Done! Not much left to do but wait. --- These down time times over the past few weeks make me wish I had the capability to support 2 tents. Then I'd be able to flower in one tent while vegging in the other. --- Meh! Oh well. [*smokes a bowl] Day 02 - Tuesday - 08/23/22 - Total Days: 104 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.8°F [28.2°C] - Humidity: 62.2% - VPD: 1.41 kPa ----------------------------------- - [06:37]: Early morning check! --- Growth seems pretty steady. - [22:02]: Aye why hello there beautiful! --- Terpene profile has stayed about the same. She still has a sweet grape citrus profile! --- The top growth of the bud colas has started to thicken up now. - [22:05]: Watering time! --- Reservoir was dry so going to increase the watering. Also adding in a bit of Great White for a microbial boost. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water --- Added 1/16tsp of Great White --- Mixed and poured the solution straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [22:11]: Screw it! Added another passive intake. --- I doubt that adding another vent will help, but going to do it anyways (why not). --- Using a bit of extra 6in ducting, a couple sheets of spare carbon filter material (cut to ~8x10in), and rubber bands, I made a passive filter. --- Installing the filter into the tent was pretty straight forward. Just undid the vent straps, slid the filter in, and tighten the straps (also wrapped the edges of the filter with a bit of aluminum tape). Done! Day 03 - Wednesday - 08/24/22 - Total Days: 105 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.3°F [27.9°C] - Humidity: 63.7% - VPD: 1.34 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:20]: Growing along! --- Going to be another simple week of growing! --- Buds are just frosting up! - [22:07]: Night check! --- Looking good girl! --- Yea there are yellow leaves, but I'm pretty sure this is due to the low VPD. I can't do anything about this at the moment so just going to continue on. - [22:11]: Watering time! --- Reservoir was dry. No microbes tonight. but going keep the watering the same at 5 cups. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Let it ride girl and grow strong! Day 04 - Thursday - 08/25/22 - Total Days: 106 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 84.0°F [28.9°C] - Humidity: 64.2% - VPD: 1.39 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:45]: Wow she looking beautiful! --- The cola that was snipped sort of just stopped growing upwards and is looking a bit thicker than the rest. I think. --- But all bud colas are just frosty with trichomes! --- Plan to check the buds under the microscope tonight. Hoping for signs of amber, but still plan to go another week or 2 before harvest. --- [*smokes a bowl] --- Based on my current VPD conditions, I'm not sure if I want to grow the planned 'Sour Diesel' seeds from RQS ('Royal Queen Seeds'). I sort of want to master VPD and DLI a bit more before moving on to a choice strain. --- The next run will also most likely be an autoflower grow. I have 10 beans of 'NYC Diesel' from 'ILGM' which I think is a fitting alternative (it's still a Diesel cultivar). I can't clone right now so preserving the genetics is not an issue so autoflowers might be an easier route. --- The biggest advantage is I can reduced the wattage of the light. Running at 18/6 the whole way at a reduced wattage should save on electricity (or at the very least will help reduce strain on the circuit breaker). --- It's just insane how much electricity costs is in SoCal. Currently paying around $280 a month on electricity (at $0.34/kWh). --- Yea I think an autoflower Diesel will be the next run! --- This will give me more time to master the environmental conditions before attempting to grow the better genetics. - [22:01]: Evening checkup along with the mid-week feeding! --- Yellowing aside, looking pretty damn good! --- Definitely room for improvement, but buds are nice and frosty! - [22:11]: Time for the mid-week feed! --- This will be Week 3 of Bloom Ripen. --- Going to reduce the cups from 7 to 6. --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/32tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/2tsp of Horticultural Coconut --- Mixed the solution, and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. - [22:19]: Snipped a few buds! --- Using a pair of trimmers, I snipped a few buds. --- Started from top to bottom, took 3 different samples from each canopy height. --- Oops! --- When snipping the 3rd lowest bud, I accidentally snipped too much and took the whole branch (Ha! Damnit Ensign). Oh well. Gonna have a 'slightly larger' sample for the lowest bud (Ha!). Setting the rest aside for now, may end up mulching the branch later. --- Anyways, - [22:28]: Time to check the trichomes! --- Checked each of the snipped buds from highest canopy level to the lowest (left to right). --- Ooowee! Wow! --- Amber Trichomes! --- Um.. --- HARVEST TIME!? --- Wow! Uh wow. --- Not sure but there are amber trichomes found on all 3 buds (upper, middle, and lower canopy levels)! --- Of course the top bud had the most amber heads! --- But there were a decent amount found on the middle bud as well! --- The bottom bud, although having the least amount, also had a few amber trichome heads along with areas that look like they were turning amber. --- Should I wait another week? --- Probably not. --- May end up harvesting in a couple days! --- HYPED! --- Okay, - [23:22]: Checked the DLI. --- This week's target DLI range is the same as last which was 32-40 mol/m2/d (or 741-926 μmol/m2/s) --- The PPFD was at 953 μmol/m2/s --- This gives a DLI of 41.17 mol/m2/d --- A bit high, but since I'll probably be harvesting soon, going to keep the DLI as is. --- Wow! Almost harvest time! - [23:28]: Took general height readings. --- She is now at 34.75in tall! --- The distance between the top canopy and the light was about 10.25in. - [23:37]: Why not!? Instead of mulching the accidentally snipped lower bud branch, gonna hang it! --- Hung the branch in the tent to dry (lights on and all). --- Gonna be boof, but hey, until I perfect the VPD, gonna go with what I have. --- Based on the percentage of amber trichomes found today, may be harvesting in a day or two anyways so the branch won't be drying in the light for long anyways. --- At least the RH in the tent is pretty high (around 61% RH right now) so the branch should dry slowly. --- Surprisingly with the lights on, the branch is only getting around 4-5 μmol/m2/s --- Not sure, but since this is a lower branch, drying in the light may help to help turn a few more cloudy heads amber as well? I dunno. Will check the dried bud under the microscope to see if the heads have changed more amber (if any at all). --- Wow! --- So based on the trichomes, harvest day has been officially been expedited from a week or two to a day or two! --- Already have to start planning for the drying and curing process! --- Stoked! Day 05 - Friday - 08/26/22 - Total Days: 107 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.8°F [28.2°C] - Humidity: 64.0% - VPD: 1.34 kPa ----------------------------------- --- [Skipped the morning checkup] - [Supplementary Entry]: Wow! Well time to plan for HARVEST! --- Decided to harvest on the last day of the week on Sunday, 08/28/22! --- For my first full harvest, dry and cure, been trying to plan out the best method for my particular grow setup. --- Plan to harvest the whole plant at the base. May do minor defoliation but planning on hanging the entire plant up to dry. --- The added biomass should help to slow down the drying. --- For drying, I understand that a good general guideline is 60°F at 60% RH for 14-16 days in complete darkness. Low and slow. --- The slower the dry the smoother the smoke. From what I understand, slow drying helps the breakdown of chlorophyll and non-essential sugars and starches. --- Tent lights won't be in use during this time so it will be pitch black. But similar to VPD, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be struggling with the RH and temps. --- Also will be harvesting the 3 smaller ones as well! --- After harvest, but before the drying begins, plan to remove the light and EarthBox. While the tent is being used for drying, to help prep the next grow run, plan to amend the EarthBox outside the tent. --- For added assurance that the RH does not drop below 60%, I'll be adding the humidifier back in the tent with the controller set to 59% RH. --- Wet or dry trimming? --- Been contemplating between dry or wet trimming and have decided to give dry trimming a go. --- Once fully dried, plan to hand trim each bud (also using a Trim Bin for kief collecting). --- Will cure in multiple jars for at least a week before smoking the first jar. --- I hope this first harvest won't be boofy hay, but won't be surprised if it is. --- Still hyped! Quality will (hopefully) get better with each attempt. - [22:04]: Why hello there my amber beauty! --- Two more days until harvest! --- Buds are just coated with trichomes! --- Hyped! - [22:08]: Okay! Water time! --- Reservoir was dry so going to increase the water a bit. --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Wow, nothing left to do but wait until harvest! Day 06 - Saturday - 08/27/22 - Total Days: 108 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.1°F [27.8°C] - Humidity: 61.5% - VPD: 1.41 kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:27]: Good morning beautiful! --- One more day until harvest! --- Wow! --- Both excited and nervous. But more excited! --- Don't frack this up Ensign. - [22:00]: Good evening beautiful! --- Buds are looking very frosty! --- There was a bit of water in the reservoir so going to lower her final watering down to 4 cups. I also want to make sure the reservoir is dry for harvest. - [22:07]: Okay! Final water time! --- Filled a pitcher with 4 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Done! --- Well, --- Tomorrow is Harvest Day!!! Day 07 - Sunday - 08/28/22 - Total Days: 109 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 79.9°F [26.6°C] - Humidity: 63.2% - VPD: 1.25 kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:10]: HARVEST DAY! --- Wow! Bud colas are looking nice and frosty! --- Harvesting tonight! --- Based on what I've researched online, I'm pretty sure that temps are going to be an issue. So the best thing I can do is maintain a dark drying environment with decent RH. --- After harvesting and cleaning of the tent, plan to turn the exhaust fan off with an auto environmental trigger set to 60% RH. This way, once the relative humidity goes above 60%, the fan will exhaust the air until the RH drops back down to the set humidity. --- Also definitely adding in the humidifier which will be set to just under 60% RH. --- For drying, plan to set the oscillating fan on the floor pointed downwards. Since the tent won't be constantly exhausting air, this oscillating fan will (hopefully) keep the RH even by preventing stagnant pockets of air. --- Most online sources give about a 7-10 day drying time, but I'm going to try to slow dry for 14-16 days before dry trimming. --- Not sure how this is going to go but stoked none the less! - [20:00]: Decided to end the dark cycle a bit early! --- Wow she's looking absolutely beautiful! --- Buds are just frosty with trichomes! Too hyped!! --- The reservoir was nice and dry. Perfect! --- Okay, --- HARVEST TIME! --- Ooowee!!! - [20:08]: Before harvesting the whole plant, had to remove all 10 garden yo-yos. --- Incredible how sticky the colas were! --- And wow that sweet grape terpene profile got pretty loud! - [20:13]: Using a mini hacksaw, I easily cut the base of the plant for a quick and clean harvest! --- Flipped the freshly harvested plant upside-down and... --- Oops.. I didn't consider how I was going to remove the grow light while holding a harvested plant in one hand. --- Before removing the grow light, I had to hang the plant outside the tent. --- Ended up attaching a garden yo-yo and hung the plant upside-down from my ceiling lamp (Damnit Ensign, next time, have a better way to hang the plant outside the tent). --- Also harvest the smaller plant (at the back of the EarthBox) as well! I was actually surprised on the terpene odor (like a raunchy skunky almost garlic like funk). Very curious on how this one will smoke! --- Okay! --- At this time I unhooked the grow light but kept one of the panels on. --- For tent illumination, going to lean the light on the front side of tent pointing to the back of the tent. --- The grow light will be kept out of the tent during drying and will only be used for checkups. I may later add some form of supplemental tent lighting (or may just use a flashlight), but this will have to do for now. Another thing to consider for next time. - [20:31]: Took the EarthBox out of the tent! --- Going to re-amend later. --- But until then, the top of the EarthBox will be covered with the plastic mulch cover. --- The reservoir is dry but the soil still has a decent amount of water. The mulch cover should help to redistribute the moisture to the top soil. - [20:34]: Time to clean and rearrange the tent a bit! --- Removed the smaller plants and vacuumed the tent. --- Temporarily removed the Exhale bag. --- Also lowered the oscillating fan to the floor and placed the humidifier back into the tent (filling with distilled water and a splash of Hydrogen Peroxide before sealing the tent). - [20:59]: Finally hung the plant inside the tent. --- Hmm. Don't have a way to weigh the harvested plant (damnit Ensign, will have a luggage scale for next time). Oh well. - [21:05]: Harvested the smaller plants! --- Ha! An entirety of both plants is smaller than the small lower branch I accidentally cut off a few days ago. --- Terpenes for the smaller plants had the same two distinct odors. The one which had a single cola smelled similar to the smaller EarthBox plant, while the other more bushier plant was similar to the main plant with a sweet grape profile. - [21:13]: Placed the remaining smaller plants into the tent. --- Have more than enough room to dry in the tent (extra medicine). --- Removed the grow light and placed the Exhale bag back into the tent. --- Filled the humidifier with distilled water. To keep the tank sterile, added a bit of Hydrogen Peroxide to the water. --- Connected the humidifier's controller. - [21:22]: Set the initial temps and humidity. --- The humidifier's controller was set to 59% RH. --- The exhaust fan's MAX and MIN values were changed from 10/3 to 10/0 --- Exhaust fan's temp HIGH and LOW trigger values were set to 72°F/65°F --- Exhaust fan's humidity HIGH and LOW trigger values were set to 63%/50% --- Over the next few days, going to dial in these values in a bit more. --- Can't really do anything about the high temps, but will try to keep the RH from dipping too low. --- Wow! --- Ending this week with a harvest! --- The next entry will end this grow log and will cover both the drying and initial curing. Also will try to have a final dry weight and smoke flavor profile. --- Now onto drying! Engage! [🖖] [END OF WEEK 17]

[This combined entry contains weeks 18-20 which logs the post harvest for this grow] ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓ Introduction - Week 18 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100258.25, Week 1 of drying has been completed! Temps have been a struggle all week (way to high). But no signs of mold so I'm happy! Did a bit of vermicomposting and fed the worms too. Oh! Also did an EarthBox re-amend for the next grow! That's about it for this week! [START OF WEEK 18] ========================================================== Drying Wk1 [Post Harvest] 08/29/22 → 09/04/22 This Week's Meter Readings & Averages ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VPD: 1.40 kPa ========================================================== Day 01 - Monday - 08/29/22 - Total Days: 110 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 79.4°F [26.3°C] - Humidity: 63.6% - VPD: 1.22 kPa ----------------------------------- - [Supplemental Entry]: Harvest day was yesterday! --- Wow! --- Had a few hiccups, but for the most part, everything went pretty smoothly. --- Today starts.. Day 1 of drying! --- Plan to do nightly checkups to make sure there are no signs of mold. - [21:18]: Time for the first checkup post harvest! --- As expected, everything looks more wilted. --- Odor smells like grass clippings. I hope that is the chlorophyll evaporating away. --- No signs of mold. Great! Day 02 - Tuesday - 08/30/22 - Total Days: 111 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 80.6°F [27.0°C] - Humidity: 60.5% - VPD: 1.37 kPa ----------------------------------- - [17:04]: Time to check the worm bin! --- It's been 16 days since the last check up. --- The brown paper was not completely broken down. --- The soil substrate was still quite spongy and fluffy. Moisture was still pretty good. Not muddy at all. --- Great! --- The mango seed was still there! Worms were clearly inside. A few were crawling out of the crevices. --- Setting that seed aside and digging down revel a few healthy worms! --- Not trying to mix the bin quite yet so just going to feed. - [17:08]: Time to feed! --- Giving half a peach along with some spinach. Also adding more bokashi. --- Layered spinach first. --- Sprinkled 1 tsp of Kashi Blend. --- Placed the whole half of the peach into the bin. --- Sprinkled another 1 tsp of Kashi Blend. --- Placed the rest of the spinach on top along with the old mango pit. --- Added the old paper on top and added a bit more. --- Covered everything with a sheet of brown paper and misted the top with a bit of distilled water (just enough to wet the paper). --- Finally covered the bin with a freshly cleaned lid. --- Done! - [21:28]: Looking good! --- Day 2 of drying! --- That grass clippings odor is a bit stronger. --- Still no sign of mold! --- Temps aside, I think I have the RH at a stable level. --- Not much else to report. Day 03 - Wednesday - 08/31/22 - Total Days: 112 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 80.0°F [26.7°C] - Humidity: 60.4% - VPD: 1.36 kPa ----------------------------------- - [21:13]: Okay another nightly checkup! --- Day 3 of drying! --- Nice! --- No signs of mold! Great! --- The grassy wet odor is less present, but still there. --- Branches and leaves still feel like they have moisture (feels soft and flexible). Nice! --- Going for a slow dry of 14-16 days so at this time, glad that nothing feels overly dried and crispy. --- Have the RH at a pretty stable 60-62% so humidity is perfect! --- My main issue is temperature. The current average is in the 80s so yea. Probably loosing terpenes since most tend to evaporate or go volatile at temps above 75°F --- Oh well. [*smokes a bowl] Day 04 - Thursday - 09/01/22 - Total Days: 113 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.6°F [28.1°C] - Humidity: 61.1% - VPD: 1.44 kPa ----------------------------------- - [Supplementary Entry]: Planning out the EarthBox's re-amend! --- [*smokes several bowls] --- Okay! To prep for the next grow attempt ('NYC Diesel' auto from 'ILGM') going to be top dressing in a cup of BAS Craft Blend. --- Why not. Adding in a few extras amendments as well! --- As a form of bio-fumigation, adding in some mustard seed meal. While provided a bit of nutrition, this should help to fend off thrips, aphids, and gnats. As the seed meal breaks down, glucosinolates start to release chemicals known as isothiocyanates which have fungicidal benefits that can help to prevent root-borne diseases (such as pythium - root rot). --- For added chitin, going to add some insect frass. This will help to rev up the plant's immune system to fend off root pathogens. Chitin basically tricks the plant into thinking it's under and insect attack so the plant will focus more on strengthening cell walls and the production of natural insect toxins. --- Alfalfa meal for added nitrogen. Alfalfa also contains a natural growth hormone known as Triacontanol which helps to promote plant growth and vigor. --- Kelp meal is being added for more natural growth regulators including auxins, gibberellins, and cytokinins. More importantly, the cytokine hormone helps to improve chlorophyll development and cellular growth. --- Of course to jumpstart the whole process, adding in some bokashi and soil microbes. This will initiate the break down all of the above amendments into a form that can be absorbed by plant roots. --- This process takes time, so going to let the soil to 'cook' for about 2 weeks before planting (covered with the plastic mulch cap). This should be enough time for the drying of this current grow along with the germination of the next grow. - [16:42]: Okay! Time to start the EarthBox re-amend! --- Removed the top cover of the EarthBox. --- Before top dressing, I went in and broke up the top soil a bit. --- Broke up the 'worm pie' chunks at the top and dug in about an inch or two to really churn things up. --- I left the original stalks undisturbed. --- The top right quadrant felt a bit moist, but the rest of the top soil was pretty dry. --- Aside from the 'crust,' the top soil felt pretty fluffy and aerated (not muddy at all). - [17:12]: Filled a pitcher with the following ingredients. --- 1/2 cup (8tbsp) of Alfalfa Meal --- 1/2 cup of Kelp Meal --- 1 cup (16tbsp) of Craft Blend [Nutrient Pack] - [very dusty] --- 1/2 cup of Milled Mustard Seed Meal - [sort of moist] --- 1/2 cup of Premium Insect Frass [Black Soldier Fly] --- 1/2 cup of Kashi Blend --- Carefully mixed the ingredients before evenly sprinkling everything onto the top soil. --- Using my fingers I went in and worked the amendments into the top soil a bit. - [18:01]: Filled a measuring cup with 2 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/8tsp of Mycrobe Complete --- Added 2 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and poured it into a spray bottle. --- Misted everything evenly. --- Placed the mulch cover back on and done! --- Not going to add any water to the reservoir. - [22:43]: Nightly bud check! --- Day 4 of drying! --- No signs of mold. Great! --- Humidity is looking pretty good too. Can't do anything about temps. Day 05 - Friday - 09/02/22 - Total Days: 114 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.1°F [27.8°C] - Humidity: 64.4% - VPD: 1.30 kPa ----------------------------------- - [Supplemental Entry]: Been thinking about how I am going to transplant after the initial germination (via cup of water technique). --- Since the living soil will be pretty 'hot,' going to buffer her roots in a pocket of BAS Light soil. --- Plan to use about a solo-cup (or two) worth of soil inside of a brown paper bag. --- The paper bag will be planted into the EarthBox. The germinated seed will be planted into the bag. --- The paper of the bag will be a temporary barrier that can easily dissolve into the soil and should not hinder any root growth. At least that's the idea. --- Also for the next grow, I think I might just leave the mulch cover on the whole grow. If so, then no cover crop. - [21:58]: Another night check! --- Day 5 of drying! --- Again, no signs of mold! --- Buds are smelling less like grass too! --- Nothing else to log for now. Day 06 - Saturday - 09/03/22 - Total Days: 115 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 84.3°F [29.1°C] - Humidity: 60.4% - VPD: 1.55 kPa ----------------------------------- - [21:19]: Hello my beauty! --- Nightly check for mold. --- This is day 6 of drying! --- Nice! No signs of mold. - [Supplemental Entry]: In preparation for curing, got a few wide-mouth mason jars. --- Decided early on to cure in multiple smaller jars instead of one large container or bag. --- For future harvests and depending on yield, I am considering a 5 gallon (food grade) bucket for the initial cure. This way moisture can be distributed a bit more evenly throughout the entire harvest before being placed in the mason jars for the final cure. Day 07 - Sunday - 09/04/22 - Total Days: 116 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 85.4°F [29.7°C] - Humidity: 61.5% - VPD: 1.57 kPa ----------------------------------- - [20:45]: Yet another bud check! --- Today is day 7 of drying! --- No signs of mold! --- Tried the 'stem snap' technique. Pretty straight-forward. Took a small branch and bent it. --- No snap sound. --- Being a week into the slow dry, this is great! --- With 8-9 days left, I'm glad the buds still have moisture. - [21:17]: Logging this week's tent controller settings. --- Adjusted the humidifiers controller HSV from 59% down to 58% which is not much. Adjusting the differential value from 5% down to 2.5% has also made the RH in the tent way more stable. --- As for the exhaust fan's controller, adjusted from 72°F/65°F - 63%/50% to 75°F/65°F - 62%/50% [temps HIGH/LOW - humidity HIGH/LOW] so not much change. --- 'Low and slow.' Well, in my case, it more like 'high and slow.' --- Temps are just horrible. --- Of course, this has to be the hottest week of the year (damnit). --- But the relative humidity has been pretty good at percentages above 60% throughout the whole week! --- The next harvest should be in way cooler conditions so this will just have to do for now. --- Temps aside, been a very easy week of drying! [END OF WEEK 18] ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓ Introduction - Week 19 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100276.03, Wow this week was another hot one! This is September right? Feels like July. Even the nights were toasty. Of course this happens to be while I require overall temps to be at an impossible 60°F So.. Similar to last week, humidity has been spot on, with temps being way too (damn) hot. Early in the week I noticed that the humidifier's tank was getting a bit low, so I refilled it. Top dressed a bit more bokashi onto the top soil of the EarthBox. Did more vermicomposting and fed the worms. Also transplanted a few into the EarthBox. Anyways, to my surprise, all buds have no mold! With a few days left for this dry, stoked for the trimming and final dry weight! Really wish that during this harvest, I had a scale to weigh the freshly harvested wet weight, meh, oh well. [START OF WEEK 19] ========================================================== Drying Wk2 [Post Harvest] 09/05/22 → 09/11/22 This Week's Meter Readings & Averages ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VPD: 1.56 kPa ========================================================== Day 01 - Monday - 09/05/22 - Total Days: 117 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 83.7°F [28.7°C] - Humidity: 59.8% - VPD: 1.55 kPa ----------------------------------- - [20:08]: Nightly bud check! --- Already day 8 of drying! --- Just about halfway through the dry! --- Still no signs of mold. Great! Day 02 - Tuesday - 09/06/22 - Total Days: 118 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 85.2°F [29.6°C] - Humidity: 60.6% - VPD: 1.59 kPa ----------------------------------- - [14:42]: Checking the EarthBox! --- Removed the plastic mulch cover to reveal the top soil! --- Nice! Had a bit of white mycelia growth (white fungal fuzz) and soil moisture was nice and damp. --- Not going to add any more moisture. But will add more bokashi. --- Sprinkled 4tbps of Kashi Blend onto the top soil. - [14:52]: Giving the worm bin a checkup as well! --- It's been 7 days since the last checkup and feeding. --- Plan to transplant a few wormies into the EarthBox. --- Opened the bin. --- The brown paper had clear signs of decomposition, but was mostly still there. --- Nice! Worms were visible underneath the paper. --- The worm bin's moisture levels were also pretty good. --- Scooped up some worms and placed them into a small plastic container (about 10 worms). --- There should still be worms in the EarthBox so don't need to add much. - [14:56]: Dumped the container of worms into the center of the top soil (EarthBox). --- I did not mix the worms in, I just let them naturally wriggle down into the soil. --- Shortly after the worms disappeared into the soil, I re-covered the top of the EarthBox with the plastic mulch cover. Done with the EarthBox! - [15:00]: Back to the worm bin! --- Both the mango seed and most of the peach was still there. But the rest was gone! --- In preparation for another feeding, I dug a hole in the center of the bin. --- The bin's soil substrate felt very fluffy and aerated. Worms also were everywhere! They seem to be liking the current soil/coco blend. - [15:03]: Feeding time! --- Since most of the peach was still there, just going to give them some overly ripe spinach. --- Pretty straight forward. Just filled the hole with the spinach. --- Then covered that with the peach. I tried to soften and broke it up a bit with my hand. --- Sprinkled 1tbsp of Kashi Blend on top of everything. --- Placed the old mango seed and brown paper on top of the peach before covering everything with the surrounding soil. Sort of had to mound it. --- Added freshly shredded brown paper on top of the soil along with a cover sheet. --- Misted the top with a few sprays of distilled water. This was only to wet the paper. - [15:21] Cleaned the lid and covered the bin. --- Done! --- May wait a bit longer before the next checkup. Eat on my little worms! - [21:04]: Nightly bud check! --- Day 9 of drying! --- Passing halfway point through the dry. Nice! --- Still no signs of mold! --- Did a stem snap and still no snap sound. Good! Buds are not overly dry. - [21:05]: Humidifier was getting a bit low. --- Refilled the tank with more distilled water. Also added a bit of Hydrogen Peroxide (~30ml). Day 03 - Wednesday - 09/07/22 - Total Days: 119 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 85°F [29.4°C] - Humidity: 60.0% - VPD: 1.61 kPa ----------------------------------- - [22:12]: Nightly mold check! --- This is day 10 of drying! --- Sweet! No mold. --- Hmm. The hay smell is significantly less too. --- Did another snap test and stems still have moisture (no snap). --- Not much else to do but wait! Day 04 - Thursday - 09/08/22 - Total Days: 120 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 86.4°F [30.2°C] - Humidity: 59.5% - VPD: 1.69 kPa ----------------------------------- - [21:54]: Another quick mold check! --- This is day 11 of drying! --- Still no mold. Great! --- Nothing else to log. Day 05 - Friday - 09/09/22 - Total Days: 121 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 83.0°F [28.3°C] - Humidity: 62.1% - VPD: 1.42 kPa ----------------------------------- - [21:37]: Mold check! --- This is day 12 of drying! --- No mold. Cool! --- Stems are looking more brittle, but still not snapping. Glad that there is still a bit of moisture left. --- Nothing else to log. Day 06 - Saturday - 09/10/22 - Total Days: 122 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.4°F [28.0°C] - Humidity: 60.4% - VPD: 1.45 kPa ----------------------------------- - [19:41]: Day 13 of drying! --- Mold check! --- No mold. Cool! --- Wow! --- Only 3 more days until the big trim day! --- Countdown begins! --- Plan to use trim bin and already have the jars. --- Also have a trimmer, a silicon brush, and plenty of disposable gloves and isopropyl alcohol on standby. --- Will probably practice trim on the smaller plants before starting the main one. These smaller plants are extra and won't be included in the final dry weight. Day 07 - Sunday - 09/11/22 - Total Days: 123 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 84.3°F [29.1°C] - Humidity: 58.8% - VPD: 1.60 kPa ----------------------------------- - [20:43]: Another full board! --- Time to wipe and reset for another month! --- Getting hyped for the next grow! --- Growing autos for the very first time is going to be interesting. What can go wrong!? --- Also, if everything goes smoothly, the next grow will have a winter harvest (about 15-16 weeks from now), so very hyped for the cooler drying and curing conditions! - [20:26]: Two more days until trim day! --- This is day 14 of drying! --- Another quick check for mold. --- Great! No mold! [END OF WEEK 19] ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓ Introduction - Week 20 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100296.55, This final week was a short one and was all about the trim! Bud trimming was overall an exciting experience! Trimming took the entire day and have to admit that towards the end, it did get a bit tedious. But wow what a difference! Once the leaves were trimmed off, I did not expect the terps to be that loud! Ooowee! Into the jars for a good 3 week cure! Plan to later update this post with the final post cure smoke (see final post 3-week cure update). Obviously, had to sample and smoke a bit of the initial dry flower. Wow! Definitely not top shelf kush, but very surprised on how smooth the smoke was! I was completely expecting 'brick weed' hay or mids, but instead I got a decent chronic smoke profile! As far as terpenes, although not overly pungent, the sweet grape myrcene profile was present (similar flavor profile as Granddaddy Purple or Grape Ape). This will hopefully improve after the 3 week cure. In the meantime, I have a good 18-19g of extra shake to keep me nice and medicated! I'm just relieved the hot drying conditions did not completely ruin the harvest. Pretty sure that the stable 60-62% RH along with the slow dry time helped a lot. For this grow run ('Black Sugar' by 'Seedsman'), the final dry processed weight is 64.2g (this does not include any extra trim shake or the smaller harvested plants). This is less than my 3-5oz goal, but hey, I'm completely okay with the results! After over 2 years of utter failure, even a slight success is huge step in the right direction. Already have the next log in the works with a bean of 'NYC Diesel' from 'ILGM' planned for germination in a few days (via glass of water method). Overall, very pleased with this round, but I'm already onto the next! Always growing, always logging, always learning! PEACE & LONG LIFE 🖖 --------------------------------------- - [Final Post 3-Week Cure Update]: --- [Pending Log Update] --------------------------------------- [START OF WEEK 20] ========================================================== WEEK 20 - Drying Wk3/Trim [Post Harvest] 09/12/22 → 09/13/22 [END] This Week's Meter Readings & Averages ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VPD: 1.51 kPa ========================================================== Day 01 - Monday - 09/12/22 - Total Days: 124 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.3°F [27.9°C] - Humidity: 59.4% - VPD: 1.49 kPa ----------------------------------- - [22:28]: Day 15 of drying! --- Last day for mold check! --- Great! No mold! --- Wow! Tomorrow is TRIM DAY! --- For practice, plan to start with the smaller plants first before the main one. Although I'm only logging the dry weight of the main plant. --- Not sure what to expect, but still hoping for 3-5 ounces of smoke-able flower. --- Gonna start early afternoon, and plan to trim all day long! Day 02 - Tuesday - 09/13/22 - Total Days: 125 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.8°F [28.2°C] - Humidity: 58.8% - VPD: 1.54 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:26]: Good morning! --- TRIM DAY!! --- [*smokes a dab] --- Ending this dry and starting the trim a bit early! --- Everything has been drying for a solid 15 days. - [09:28]: First I had to gathered the supplies! --- Trim bin (with kief brush). Check! --- Silicon brush. Check! --- Pair of trimmers. Check! --- Also have isopropyl alcohol on standby. --- Not going to use any gloves and will hand trim every bud before jarring. --- [*smokes a dab] - [09:30]: Before I begin trimming the main plant, going to practice on the smaller ones. --- Ha! --- All 3 of the (significantly) smaller plants easily stacked in the trim bin. Compared to the main plant, they looked like branches. --- First, I plucked off and discarded the dried fan leaves. --- Then, while over the Trim Bin and using the silicon brush, I gently brushed the buds and the sugar leaves just fell off. Nice! --- Had to also use my fingers for the more stubborn ones, but overall a simple way to trim! --- Surprisingly, I did not need to really use the trimmers. These were only used it to cut the buds off the cleaned stalks. --- It was mainly the brush and my fingers to clean and manicure each bud. --- Really glad that I opted to use a trim bin because this would be quite a mess trying to do this on a table. Plus after trimming is all done, the built in kief catcher rewards a bonus dry sift hash of kief. --- For the smaller plants, I ended up grouping them based on terpene profile. There were 2 distinct odor profiles. One was similar to the main plant (grape profile) while the other was an earthier funk. --- Final dry weight for the trimmed buds was 4.4g (0.7 grape + 3.7 earth). Not much, hey! Extra medication. Placed them in separate half-ounce mason jars (each with a Boveda 62% two-way humidity pack) for a 3 week cure! - [12:46]: Okay time to tackle the main plant! --- [*smokes a dab] --- Also still have the branch that was accidentally cut off a few week earlier. --- Trimmed that one first and will add it to the final dry weight. --- Each branch I trimmed got a bit easier, but the overall steps were the same. First pick off and toss the fan leaves, then brush off the sugar leaves into the bin. Occasionally using the trimmer to cut the buds off of the branch (mainly the uppermost bud of each branch). --- At least for me, this was a very therapeutic and gratifying process. --- Wasn't in any hurry and just took my time! --- [*smokes a dab] --- Okay, now time for the main plant! - [13:00]: Round one! --- Great! --- [*smokes a dab] - [13:55]: Round two! --- Getting faster at this (I think). --- [*smokes a dab] - [15:12]: Round three! --- Cool! --- Another batch done! --- Been also starting to smoke the extra trim (shake) on the side. --- So far the smoke is surprisingly terpy! - [16:15]: Round four! --- Another batch complete! --- Wow, these jars are filling up! Already have 3 jars full! Not sure on the weight but am stoked! --- [*smokes a bowl] - [16:59]: Round five! --- Another batch done. Keep going! --- [*smokes a bowl] - [17:39]: Round six. --- Going for larger batches for the final rounds. --- Think maybe one more round to go after this one! --- [*smokes a dab] --- [*smokes a bowl] - [19:29]: Round seven. Last batch! --- [*smokes a dab] - [21:35]: Done! --- Ooowee! Wow! --- What a trim! --- After all the trimming was complete, I mixed the entire harvest (only the main plant) in the bin for a final dry sift before placing the buds into one-ounce mason jars for curing. - [21:54]: Time to weigh the whole lot! --- Had to weigh each jar separately. To this, I placed an empty mason jar on the scale and zeroed-out the weight. Then I carefully emptied each jar one at a time and took the readings accordingly. --- First jar had 10.4g --- Second jar had 11.4g --- Third jar had 10.6g --- Fourth jar had 11.5g --- Fifth jar had 10.3g --- The sixth jar had 10.0g --- This gives a total dry processed weight of 64.2g! --- This is 2.26oz of fully dried flower. --- Hmm. --- Less than I was expecting based on the jar count, but still very happy! --- Also did not make the 3-5 ounce goal, but oh well. --- My first harvest trim was a good one none the less! - [22:00]: Each jar got a Boveda humidity pack (62%) before being sealed. --- Also, to measure the actual RH inside the jars, added a hygrometer. --- Unfortunately, only one jar got a meter, but plan to have more for the next harvest. - [22:02]: Time for the big cure! --- During the cure, the internal moisture from the buds is pulled out and distributed evenly throughout all of the biomass which will give an even and clean smoke. Unfortunately, during this curing process, stagnant moist air can accumulate in the jars which can eventually lead to mold. --- Plan to open the jars to release the built up moisture and to cycle in fresh air. This process is more commonly known as 'burping the jar.' --- This is going to be a 3 week cure. --- Going to 'burp' each jar daily for the first week. --- For the second week, will burp every two days. --- As for the third and final week, every three days. --- After these three weeks, depending on how the RH has been, I should no longer need to burp the jars (monthly burps at most). --- The hygrometer (placed in one of the jars) will help to keep track of average RH within all of the jars. This is not the most accurate and will get a meter for each jar, but this will have to do for now. --- The ideal environment for a good cure is dark cool place with the jars kept at a relative humidity of 58-62% --- These jars all have humidity packs to help keep the RH even and will be kept in a dark plastic tote in my room (currently the average temp is ~80°F). A bit warm, but this is the best I can do. --- Okay! --- Now the only thing left to do is wait! --- For 3 weeks. - [22:06]: Glad I saved the trimmings which have of all the sugar leaves and larfy buds. Been smoking it throughout the day and still ended up with 18-19g of extra trim shake! Nice! This shake does have a bit of a chlorophyll funk to it, but this is not in the smoke which has a slight grape terpene profile. - [22:07]: Oh yea! Time to check the bin for some dry sift kief! --- Wow! Got a decent amount of kief! --- Using a business card, I scooped the kief up and placed it in a plastic joint container (pop-top kind). Not sure what to do with it (a good problem to have). Probably will use this a bowl toppers. --- Anyways, - [22:17]: Time for the final trichome check! --- During the last round of trimming, I made sure to set aside a bud that was cut from the main center cola. --- Wow! --- All trichomes were cloudy and amber! --- Barely any clear heads with a ratio of around 35/65 amber to cloudy. --- Not bad! - [22:26]: Time to smoke it! --- Took the same bud and packed a fresh bowl! --- Wow! --- Not top shelf, but hey, smokes a lot better than I ever expected! --- The grape-like myrcene terpene is a lot louder in the buds whereas the shake has less of a flavor profile. --- Thought the heat destroyed the buds and was expecting the terpenes to be hay-like and harsh. --- Nope! --- Of course, I'm pretty sure if the temps were lower, the buds would have been even better but so far, the smoke has been nice and smooth with a hint of sweet grape! --- Hopefully this flavor profile will ripen a bit more during the cure (flavor could be more terpy) but initial post harvest smoke is un-harsh and smooth! --- Let the cure begin! Engage! 🖖 Day 03 - Wednesday - 09/14/22 - Total Days: N/A ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: N/A - Humidity: N/A - VPD: N/A ----------------------------------- --- [No further entries were logged for the remainder of the week] [END OF WEEK 20]