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I'm back! After a long summer break, it's finally time to grow again. Woooooo!!!
I will grow three cultivars this time: Royal Gorilla Automatic, Purplematic CBD, and Imperium X, and each cultivar will get its own diary.
This diary will cover the Purplematic CBD. Royal Queen Seeds were kind enough to sponsor me with these seeds - shoutout to James from RQS!
Purplematic CBD
THC: 0,5%
CBD: 17%
Yield Indoor : 375 - 450 gr/m2
Height Indoor: 70 - 120 cm
Flowering time: 7 - 8 weeks
Harvest Month: 8 - 9 weeks after sprouting
Genetic Background: Kush Rose Auto CBD x Afghan Rose Auto CBD
Type: Sativa 5% Indica 90% Ruderalis 5%
Effect: Calming, Clear
Flavor: Candy, Fruity, Pineapple
I will grow in my small (75x45 cm/2.5x1.5') but mighty auto tent. My last run in this tent got me a harvest of 274 grams with autos from RQS. Not bad for such a tiny space.
One of the problems with small tents is high temperatures. However, I bought an extension cable for the driver, allowing me to place it outside the tent, and I hope that will bring down the temps a bit.
I started by scuffing up the seeds by putting them into an old matchbox, that I had lined with sandpaper and gently shaking the box. The seeds were then dropped into a glass of water and left in a dark place until the next day.
While waiting for the seeds to soak, I prepared the coco pellets by soaking them in water with a mycorrhizal inoculant. The brand I use also has seaweed, shown in studies to improve germination.
The next day I rolled the soaked seeds in more myco before planting them in the coco pellets.
Now we wait.
D1
Boom! We have a lift-off. After 2.5 days, the Purplematic germinated just fine. The Gorilla also germinated, but the two Imperium X ladies are still shy. I keep the coco pellets on a small propagation tray, standing on a heat mat under a fluorescent tube light that I usually use for my tomatoes and peppers.
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D2
The Purplematic lady is off to a strong start. Shooting up five cm in day.
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D3
She had already outgrown the small propagation tray, so it was time to transplant her.
Usually, I don't bother with up-potting several times, so she went directly into her final pot. I placed her off-center for two reasons: I have a Blumat carrot in the center of the pot, and by placing the plant off-center, I gain a bit more room when I start the low-stress training in a couple of weeks. As usual, I added myco in the hole before putting in the whole coco pellet.
Finally, I turned on the humidifier and set the Inkbird controller to 80% RH (+/- 2%). That way, the humidity is nice and high without using a humidity dome.
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D7
It's been a few days since the last update, but I'm sick with Covid and haven't really been up to posting. Also, there isn't much to report, really.
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D8.
The first day in the second week of veg. Nothing to report, really.
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D10.
I mixed up and gave the girl some nematode water as part of my IPM. Usually, I do that before I transplant, but it got delayed due to covid.
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D12.
Uneventful. Basically, we're in waiting mode until she is big enough to start training.
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D14.
Today was the last day in the second week of veg. She is still too young to start training, so it's pretty hands-off at this stage.
I foliar fed for the first time today. I mixed up some pure fulvic acid with a drop of soap to act as a surfactant and sprayed her just before lights out to avoid any burn-in issues. I plan on foliar feeding like this, once per week, up until the start of flower. My first grow with fulvic acid, so I am curious to see the results.
Another thing I'll be testing for the first time is watering with humic acid once per week. However, the soil still has a lot of moisture (41 mbar), so it'll be a while until I water next time.
However, I put some alfalfa seeds in water, and in a few days, I will turn that into a sprouted-seed tea and give her.
The light is dimmed to 25% (no IR or UV), and the measured DLI is around 22. I should slowly ramp that up now that she's out of the seedlings stage. She has some growing to do in the following weeks and will love getting more light.
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D15.
The third week of veg starts, and all is well in the tent. She is 12 cm tall and 17 cm across so she is definitely out of the seedling stage. I turned up the light to read around 350 PPFD at canopy level, which translates to a DLI of 25. I also decreased the Inkbird controller to 75% RH (+/- 2%.)
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D17.
There isn't much to report as I'm still waiting until she is big enough to start training. I adjusted the Inbird and dropped the humidity in the tent to 66% (+/- 2%.)
I also fed the worms yesterday with some leftover lettuce that I chopped up really fine and tucked under the straw mulch. Gotta keep my worm buddies happy and well-fed.
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D19.
It's been five days since I put the alfalfa seeds in water; today, they had sprouted enough. I threw the sprouts into a blender with some water and blitzed everything into a slurry. I added humic acid at half-strength to the slurry and then gave her around 500 ml slurry @ pH 6.9. A bit higher than I would prefer, but good enough when you're lazy like me.
I also turned up the light to a DLI around 32.
I already notice a smell when I open the tent, even though we still are far from flower. I'm not sure if it's the Gorilla or the Purplematic, but based on my experience in growing CBD strains, my money is on the Purplematic girl.
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D21.
We're at the end of the third week of veg, and everything is rocking along in the tent.
Today, I decided that she was old enough to be tied down, so I started the LST. She also got a fulvic acid foliar spray just before lights out.
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D22.
Starting the fourth week of veg, and everything is just trucking along in the tent.
Today, I tightened the LST wire and added one higher on her.
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D23.
Another day, more LST, but nothing major; I only tightened the wires a bit, as it will still be a while until I can start spreading her out.
I've noticed some minor chlorosis on a couple of leaves, so I thought I'd give her a nutrition boost with some compost tea.
My old set-up had gunked up, so today, I replaced it with a much more powerful system I built. The good news is that it is plenty powerful, and the bad news is that the pump is too noisy to leave running overnight. Not a massive deal as I can start brewing in the morning and then use the tea before bedtime.
I mixed worm castings, rock dust, biochar, lime, bentonite, kelp, and neem meal, put that mixture in large tea bags, and let them steep for 10 hours in water with a bit of molasses as food for the microbes.
Finally, I added a bit of humic acid and adjusted the pH to 6.3 before giving her 1 liter of tea, which is around 5% of the container volume.
I also diluted some of the tea and used it as a foliar spray just before lights out.
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D25.
She is healthy and has grown enough to start spreading her out with additional LST.
I moved up the light to increase the spread and set it to a DLI of 36. More photons will keep her happy as she is just about to flower.
Increasing the light means a hotter tent, so I installed the old fan controller I built. More exhaust should bring the temp a bit.
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D26.
Additional LST to spread her out and a fulvic foliar spray just before lights out. Most likely, the last foliar spray as she is about to go into flower.
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D28.
We're at the end of the four and final week of veg. She is now in flower!
All is cruising along in the tent. Some additional LST, but that's it.
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D29.
We're at the start of the first week of flower, and all is well in the tent.
Today, I made some minor adjustments to the LST wires and tucked a few leaves to bring more light to the bud sites.
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D31.
She loves life and is starting to spread out over the Gorilla pot. I noticed a few yellow leaf tips on a single bud. No idea what is going on, but I'll keep an eye on her. Otherwise, she looks healthy, and I already see purple in her young flowers.
I did some minor defoliation low down, but other than that, she is low maintenance now. All I do is tighten an LST wire now and then to maintain a flat canopy.
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D32.
I brewed up a quick compost tea using oat flour as the food source. Some people claim that that will result in a fungally dominant tea, so I thought I'd try it out. I also added humic acid and a teaspoon of myco because why not?
Honestly, I'm not sure it is even possible to create a fungally dominant AACT, as the constant water movement will most likely tear the fungal hyphae apart as they form.
In any case, a different food source should promote other bacteria than the molasses I usually use. Diversity is the name of the game in living soil. Well, in life in general.
I gave her around 1 liter (5% of container volume) of tea @ pH 6.1.
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D35.
We're on the last day in the first week of flower.
All is well in the tent, and there isn't much to report. One thing I did was buy a mushroom grow kit to keep in the tent. I figured I'd test it out and see how it works. The mushrooms produce CO2 that the plants love, and hopefully, I'll get some tasty Oyster mushrooms to eat — two birds with one stone and all that.
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D36.
The first day in the second week of flower, and everything is moving along great in the tent. It's my first purple grow, and I have to say that she is already looking fantastic.
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D38.
It's only been three days since I put the mushroom-growing kit in the tent, and it has already exploded with mushrooms. I will do the first harvest tomorrow and enjoy fresh and yummy oyster shrooms.
Other than that, there's not much to report. She is looking great, although a few branches are a bit out of control, making it hard to maintain a flat canopy. I tightened the LST wires, but I will probably supercrop the branches tomorrow to slow them down a bit.
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D39.
I defoliated her by removing some branches and leaves down low and some leaves that were blocking bud sites. Nothing extreme, a simple trim to increase light penetration and air circulation. All material got cut up and added back into the pot as mulch/worm food.
I also super-cropped a couple of branches as they were getting unruly, and removed a few LST wires.
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D40.
One of her fan leaves had transformed entirely overnight. Yesterday it was a perfectly healthy leaf; today, it's necrotic. It was the leaf closest to where I super-cropped her yesterday. Maybe the plant moved resources from the nearest source to repair the damage done by me? (Totally guessing here.)
I'll monitor her closely to see if the problem spreads.
I brewed a simple compost tea (worm castings, rock dust, molasses) and gave her 1 liter @ pH 6.4.
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D42.
The last day in the second week of flower, and all is going well. I removed a few LST wires as they weren't needed anymore.
She smells fantastic, like orange juice mixed with gasoline.
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D43.
The first day in the third week of flower, everything is great in the tent.
She looks terrific and smell fantastic. There seems to be something with CBD plants that makes them smell outstanding.
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D45.
There's nothing to report, really. She is quietly doing her thing, and there isn't much for me to do at this point.
The mushroom kit seems to have just died after harvest, and today, I noticed some mold and removed it immediately. It was a fun experiment that didn't work out as I'd hoped. Oh, well :)
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D47.
Zzzzzzzz... flower is so dull as there's nothing to do but wait.
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D49.
There's not much to report at the end of the second week of flower.
Yesterday, the entire tent was without power, so there was no light or exhaust for five hours. Ugh!
Fortunately, I was making some compost tea and discovered the lack of power when watering. I gave the girl 2.5 liters of compost tea and humic acid @ pH 6.6.
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D50.
The start of the fourth week of flower, and all is well in the tent.
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D51.
I noticed a few necrotic spots on a couple of leaves. I suspect that it's a Calcium deficiency. I ordered some Biobizz Cal-Mag, hoping to stop the problem from spreading when it gets here in a couple of days.
I also calibrated my Hygrometer since I've noticed lately that it seemed a bit off. Sure enough, it was off by 7%.
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D54.
There's not much to report as she is just doing her thing without any help from me. The necrotic spots haven't spread even though I haven't added any cal-mag. What I see, though, is senescence starting, but according to RQS, Purplematic can finish in as little as eight weeks.
I haven't checked her trichomes yet but will once I get back, as I'm going out of town for a week, and she will be left to her own devices.
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D60.
I'm back again after being out of town for six days. I doubt the Purplematic girl missed me, but she looks great! The flowers are a deep, DEEP purple, and her senescence has progressed, resulting in pretty purple/yellow leaves.
I had a first look at her trichomes, and she is getting ready. Most trichomes are cloudy, and I even see an amber one here and there.
Won't be long now :)
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D63.
We're at the end of the fifth week of flower, and this grow is almost at the end.
She is fading beautifully, and the trichomes are ripening. I would love to let her go another week to watch her senescence, but I need to move the light from this tent to the photo tent since I'm running out of space there, and this Kingbrite light has a much lower profile.
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D64.
Chop day! I would have liked to let her go for another week, but I had to cut her grow short since I needed to move the light into my other tent.
I removed all fan leaves, hung her whole in my tiny drying tent, and set the Inbird controller to 60% (+/- 2%.)
Now we wait.
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Boom! Touchdown! I let her dry for 13 days before the trim. The humidity in the grow tent was maybe a bit lower than what I usually prefer, but I wanted to be extra cautious against budrot in the other plant drying in the same tent.
It was a breeze to trim her and the final result was 84.4 grams of pure flower with no larf at all. In fact, I didn't even bother keeping the trim as there wasn't all that much of it.