Ethos Member Berry RBx1 Organic SIP

At the beginning of Week 1 of veg I noticed seedlings were getting a little too leggy for my taste, at first naturally I would typically blame it on light distance but the beauty of having the PAR Meter is I know they were definitely getting enough light. So then I figured it must be too hot with not enough humidity that's causing these seedlings to stretch. So then I researched VPD, Temp & Humidity in relation to plant stage growth. After researching I figured an adjustable humidity dome would be the most optimal way to control these three variables. All I can say is wow seedlings are growing vigorously since I kept the VPD optimal with the other typical parameters of course. I never payed much attention or even knew about VPD until this grow, I used 3 different charts online to measure ideal VPD for plant stage growth along with Temp Humidity & just used the mean average to determine what would be optimal for these little girls. I'm only giving them purified tap water with a little yucca and EM-1 and plan on transplanting by the end of next week.

Very interesting week , Memberberry seedlings started to show first signs of rootbounding (drooped leaves, small spotting) so I finally got to transplant my 2 keepers into the City Pickers 24x20 SIP. Soil prep was fun but exhausting! The hydrophobicity of the soil was exacerbated by this heat wave (NorCal) so getting the soil adequately saturated took longer than expected , especially the initial wicking corners of the City Pickers SIP , After Top dressing with a bunch of organic goodies I then fan sprayed the top layer of the soil with about 5% of it's volume in my microbial water solution. After day 2 of our heat wave, and RH in the low 50s I decided to lightly mulch with hay and then implement the black mulch cover that comes stock with the City Pickers & add an evaporative humidifier inside the tent to maintain homeostasis. Today day 21 since sowing, approx 2 days after transplant everything seems to be going somewhat fine in terms of growth despite suboptimal conditions (heatwave). Upper fan leaves getting dark green but a few small twisted fan leaves due to the oscillating fan having to work harder with the heat & small water droplet burns on lower fan leaves that were sprayed accidentally when I moistened the mulch layer. Big changes coming in the next week!

So week 3 has been more of a recovery week due to overwatering from the initial soil saturation . I first suspected overwatering the end of week 2 of Veg (droopy leaves/loss of vigor) so I ended up removing the mulch cover at the beginning of week 3 as well as dropping the RH to about 45% and keeping temps at roughly 83-86° in hopes to increase transpiration. After about day 4 of week 3 the growth started to pick back up and once I felt they were rocking and rollin again I went ahead and started my mainline project. Once the root systems have another week or so to properly establish themselves I will then proceed to start bottom feeding.

This week plants finally started to recover from overwatering from previous week. Both plants Pheno#1 & Pheno#2 are responding tremendously well from mainlining and LST. You can see in the pictures how well the plants tolerated being tied down. After tying down both plants, I decided to finally water both planters with 0.4 Gallons of water mixed with Rootwise microbe complete & Rootwise Enzyme Elixir via pump sprayer to help re-develop root system and re-inoculate the soil after letting it get pretty dry, to recover from my overwatering situation. I'm hoping to top water one more time before I reinstall the mulch cover, then hopefully next week I can FINALLY start bottom watering.

Both plants growing after final topping and LST training , only watered 1/4 gallon of filtered water with some coconut powder per plant via Sprayer. Going to wait until bottom nodes are a bit more established before bottom watering...mulch cover will be re-implemented by the end of today to keep microbes and fungal colonies happy until the 1st bottom watering.We should start seeing some real growth these next few weeks

I feel like I can breath again 😂, after a long recovery the Memberberry Girls have started to take off , it's been approximately 4 days since I gave the plants their first bottom watering of Non-Ph'd filtered water and they just took off. Stems have thickened considerably, undergrowth has exploded and I will proceed to bottom water again this evening before next light cycle , PAR range is 510-535 umol/s @ the canopy and will be adjusting accordingly with the new rapid growth taking place.

Both girls still exploding and surpassing my expectations for the SIP method. Adding EM-1 @ 1 oz per gallon when filling reservoir, waiting till it's dry before re-watering approx 3-4 days. Gently stretching mains across 2x4 tent to start filling canopy. Hopefully looking to flip to flower withing next 2 weeks , debating on scrog screen for merely cola support reasons since I only foliar fed silica once so far 🤔. Such a fun and beautiful experience using these methods in tandem and can't wait to hit flower soon!

Last week of veg before the flip & completely taken of guard by the growth of both of these phenos. Both girls were lollipopped and topdressed with 1lb each of BAS build-a-flower and then foliar fed Silica and Buildabloom for post defoliation recovery/ Pre-flower. Plants are drinking approx. 1 1/2 Gal. Of water every 2-3 days and I couldn't be happier with their final week of veg . Flipping this next week so let's see what these babies can do 🤙

Both plants exploding with growth through their first week of flowering. Did another round of lollipopping on day 5 then foliar fed Build-a-bloom aminos x Silica to help for recovery & help strengthen branches. On day 6 I topdressed with Bokashi to help kickstart the build-a-flower compost. I also had to move the fan & filter to the outside of my tent for the extra headroom I'm going to need for these next 2 weeks of stretching. I'm watering each City picker SIP about 1 1/2 g each every 2 days and roots are loaded in reservoir. Enjoying every day of this beautiful process.

These ladies nearly doubled in size this last week! I did another round of defoliation and removed all but 2 suckers from Pheno#1, I noticed shorty's mains are alot thicker and robust, so I believe they will be able to support a plethora of lateral branching, whereas pheno #1 is looking like she just wants to rock 8 donkey dicks. So unfortunately I'am all out of headroom in the AC infinity 2x4, I'm hitting 1000umol/s at the canopy with the lights completely maxed out height wise. I dont want to have to dim my light in fear of losing footprint, so I ordered a gorilla 2×4 for the headroom alone. These SIPS grow trees and I'm sold 100% on their shrubbery production. Such a great way to grow, especially when paired with living soil.

Week 3 of flower was by far the most eventful during this growing cycle. I ended up getting a gorilla 2x4 for the extendable roof to give me plenty of clearance for the trees these SIPS grow. I decided to end the week with a final top water and Bokashi sprinkle to help break down the build-a-flower Topdress I did a few weeks ago. Last but not least I performed a major defoliation to both plants , mainly to provide better light penetration to lower side branching colas under mains. Some frost is starting the form on both plants and while I was defoliating I noticed the smell shifted from gassy to sweet berries on the shorty pheno. Pheno #1 remains Skunky and funky but still very mild. I'm very excited to start watching these plants stack these next few weeks.

Ending week 4 beautifully with both plants getting phatter and frostier everyday. It's looking like it's going to be a 9-10 week flowering cycle on both of these plants, which I happily welcome 🤗. It seems that both plants have stopped their stretch so I lowered the light to 15" from the main colas avg. 1000 umol/s across the tops. Will continue to monitor both plants for signs or symptoms of light stress or bleaching, plants should be able to tolerate higher ppfd due to the elevated amounts of CO2 in my bedroom.

Smooth sailing so far, both phenos showing progression in flower development. Starting to see purple hues on the shorty whereas Pheno #1 is staying mild green (temps have been mid 60s at night so more purple may show up). Another beautiful week down and simply feeding coconut water mixed with LAB once a week in the reservoir and the girls seem to be thriving. Will continue to monitor plants for light stress from uping PAR to ~1000 umol/s @ the canopy.

Nugs are finally starting to swell on both phenos at the end of week 6 of flower! Both plants are drinking about a gallon to gallon in a half a day and it finally looks as if the buds are starting to fatten up. I'm seeing some foxtailing on the Shorty pheno of Memberberry but it seems to be more chunky and squat foxtails opposed to a long wispy typical haze foxtails. Both plants are getting ~1000 umol/s at the canopy but no signs of light bleaching on either plant and temps have been optimal (70-75 lights on) so I presume it's genetic . I very interested to see how's this develops the next 2 weeks of bloom.

Experimenting with FPE (fermented plant extracts) & BAS Coconut Power in the reservoir for an extra boost for these plant's last hoorah here in the last few weeks of flower. Using anything in the reservoir besides water is risky due to the possible buildup of anaerobic bacteria, but I've been using LABs (lactic acid bacteria) in conjunction with the coconut powder in the reservoir at the rate of 1oz x 1 Gal with great success. I mainly think the reason the LABS can be used in the reservoir is its ability to survive in anaerobic environments and actually outcompete some of the less desirable microorganisms. Generally Fermented plant extracts use lactic acid bacteria to help release enzymes and beneficial bacteria from organic matter. Due to the nature of this consisting of LABS I've decided to use it once a week at the rate of 10ml x 1 Gal. in my reservoir to give and extra boost for the plants.So far the response has been positive and I will continue to monitor the plants. Anyways the grow is going phenomenal and I'm just sitting back and letting these ladies do they're thing looking about 2/3 weeks till harvest

End of week flower and plants are still vibrant green and they are looking like they're gunna go another 2 weeks to full ripen , 5-10% cloudy upon trich scoping. Pheno #1 is still displaying more sativa dominant growth in regards to bud development and maturation. Her flowers are greasy and Skunky berry dominant, getting more intense as her trichome development is starting to stack intensely during late flower. the shorty pheno is by far frostier than her sister. Her nugs are smaller but are really starting to reek of bright, pungent citrus berries. I'am very pleased with both in regards to trichome development. I'm letting these girls coast through they're ripening stage and may even ease the intensity of the light to around 850 umol/s @ the canopy. Blown away by these SIPS.

Week 9 of flower ending beautifully with both plants starting to fade into gorgeous purple and magenta hues. Pheno #1 continues to play catch up with her sister in regards to frost production , but she has more of a sweet skunky smell with larger nugs. The shorty pheno is turning almost midnight purple and it's completely coated in trichomes. She smells like grape, lemonade and floor cleaner. Both plants are starting to fall over each other and trichomes are showing 70% cloudy with 30 percent clear , harvest will be sometime next week. I lowered the intensity of the light to around 800umol/s @ the canopy to help ease them into the finish line. All I'm using is coconut powder water once a week in the reservoir to finish these ladies off.

This is officially the last week of the plants life cycle as they were harvested around noon today. Both plants finished great with more than 90% of trichomes being cloudy. By far my favorite grow I've had the pleasure to experience and I'll finish this entry soon with final weights, trimmed nugshots and post-harvest/smoke report! Here's a link to an edit I made of these plants in their final days of flower. https://youtu.be/NK0kL_vePDE

This grow is over. Both plants have been processed & after drying for 14 days (trying to stay 60/60 as much as possible) Each plant has been bagged and locked into it's cure phase via Grove bags. Both phenos were absolutely phenomenal specimens & growing them out was an honor. Pheno one dominated her sister in every aspect except for Terps. She grew faster , was more resilient , developed denser trichome coated flowers and ultimately yielded more @ 220g. Her smell is bright Citrus with Skunky undertones. Now the shorty pheno may not have yielded as much as her taller more vigorous sister, but her terps were off the charts! Pungent sweet Citrus that almost burns the sinuses. She came in @ 147g with 60g of floof that I've arranged for pressing in the nearby future. Her buds were not as dense as her sister's but notably stickier.All in all I'm very pleased with a total yield of 428g. I got both plants divided into four 1/4 LB Grove Bags with RH locked at 60-62%RH . Smoke report coming after a minimum 2 week cure. Thank you to everybody who stopped by to check this grow out. I hope this diary can be used as a reference to those who wish to try growing in living soil and sub irrigated planters. Pineapple Runtz grow underway!