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Oct. 04 - I've seen Magic Melon do well in a fairly small pot, a tiny pot may be pushing it but I'm willing to try, even if it takes some extreme measures I wouldn't otherwise perform on an auto like topping and heavy defoliation.
At 6:00am I put a seed (fresh from the refrigerator) into a moist paper towel, sealed in a baggie, sandwiched between two magnetic sheets, on a plate with a smaller plate overturned to cover then placed on top of a refrigerator.
Oct. 05, 7:00am - The shell has cracked and a small taproot has started growing. I placed the seed into the soil in the tiny pot, covered loosely and gave a little plain water.
Oct. 07, - The sprout broke through the surface.
Oct. 09 - Week 1 begins.
Oct. 12 - Can almost watch it grow.
Oct. 13 - Photo update. Gave 70ml nutrient solution. Time lapse uploaded.
Oct. 14 - I have moved the tiny pot to the "cold room" which ranges between 17 and 20°C depending if the door is open or closed. Hopefully this stunts her a little.
A preview of the light I put together a couple years ago in which I plan to use. It consists of a Makers LED Slim heatsink, an Arctic 120mm fan, 4 Cree XT-E 5000K, 9 Cree XT-E 3000K driven by a MeanWell LDH-45A-1050 driver and powered with a MeanWell GST90A12-P1M power supply. Being driven at 1050mA each LED runs a bit less than 3.5 watts for a total of around 45 watts. The heatsink becomes warm to the touch but far from hot. If you look closely, some of the red wire has become white on the side exposed to the light, so they're pretty powerful diodes. I use other lights I've assembled, both identical and similar to this one for some of my succulents and cacti which respond very well, the one cactus is growing at an amazing rate.
Time lapse videos should be considerably better now since the new location is much lower traffic and I've learned how to stitch the photos together using PhotoShop in a much simpler way than how I had done it with iMovie. I'm pretty new to making time lapse videos so there are going to be some mistakes. I also have figured roughly how long my batteries last (2 days) so I switch them every other day.
Oct.16 - Week 2 begins.
I need to stop editing my diaries high.
Oct. 18 - Looks like a slight calcium deficiency on the oldest leaves, I'll watch the newer leaves for spots before I increase CaMg though.
Oct. 20 - I have been watering with 20ml twice a day, growth rate seems to have increased, but still developing spots so I will increase CaMg today.
Oct. 22 - It's growing pretty well considering how sick it seems. Time lapse uploaded.
Oct. 23 - Week 3 begins.
While watching the time lapse from week 2 I noticed the plant would perk up right after receiving nutrient solution so I have decided to increase from 20ml twice a day to 30ml 3 times per day. I keep the solution in a 1L bottle and shake thoroughly before applying to ensure it is well oxygenated. This is hopefully temporary as I hope to figure out some sort of mini drip irrigation system for the near future or soon I won't be able to leave her side.
Oct. 29 - It grew fairly well this week but still has spots appearing on older growth.
Oct. 30 - Week 4 begins. I removed some of the lower fan leaves and branches.
Oct. 31 - Photo update.
Nov. 1 - Photo update. I am trying to water more frequently, doing so is much easier with some lower leaves and branches having been removed.
Nov. 3 - Photo update. It's growing pretty well, all things considered.
Nov. 6 - Week 5 begins. I am seeing calyx in a few spots so I expect pistils at any moment. Her smell is also starting to develop and I suspect she'll be a real stinker in the near future.
Nov. 11 - It is not doing good but is still growing.
Nov. 12 - I moved her to the 3'x3' I considered putting King Tut in, with some better light. I also removed 6 or 8 fan leaves from the main stalk and almost took off some lower branches but decided against doing so.
Nov. 13 - Week 6 begins.
Nov. 17 - It continues to do better than I had thought it would, but this morning it was wilting 😬 I can't keep letting that happen.
Nov. 20 - Week 7 begins. It still clings to life despite occasional neglect.
Nov. 27 - This week went really fast. One of my Nikon batteries decided to expand and even got stuck in the camera, lucky for me I have some 3M VHB tape kicking around and after several attempts managed to pull it out. I ordered a couple non Nikon replacements that seem to be doing the trick, and at half the price of the elusive, $90CAD, Nikon EN-EL14a. I really aught to get the dummy battery that plugs into the wall and not muck around with batteries, but again, the Nikon parts are elusive and if found, quite expensive.
The little lady continues to surprise me with her determination to live despite repeated under watering.
Nov. 27 - Week 8 begins.
Nov. 30 - It is amazing how resilient this plant is, the will to live is strong in this one.
Dec. 3 - Week 8 comes to an end. I've been watering the nutrient solution down hoping to stop burning the leaves.
Dec. 4 - Week 9 begins.
Dec. 6 - I removed some dead and dying leaves.
Dec. 7 - Photo update.
Dec. 10 - Timelapse uploaded. This poor girl, the sometimes infrequent waterings may yet be her demise. In the video after the plant droops the leaves come back much more yellow since they're being sacrificed for the greater good. I've been aware that plants do this for many years, but I think it's still pretty neat to watch happen over just a few seconds.
Dec. 11 - Week 10 begins with a fresh sachet of Cucumeris and lots of plain water.
Dec. 15 - I have removed the majority of the crispy leaves. Watering is a slow process now, 5ml takes almost 5 minutes to absorb into the soil, and about 25ml before there is any runoff if the soil was allowed to dry at all, like when I sleep. During my waking hours I just give it 4-5ml here and there as I go about my day. There are a few trichomes showing up so she's still progressing, still growing. This is such a hearty cultivar, it's a shame Humboldt Seeds may be retiring it, but excited for what the'll introduce next.
Dec. 17 - While applying the first bit of water today I noticed something moving on the can, often it's a droplet from spilling, but this was different so I looked closer. It was what I assume to be a fairly young thrip (3-5 days) being harassed by a couple cucumeris, something I presumed was happening, but never actually thought I'd witness. Unfortunately for the cucumeries I squished the bugs they were after.
Dec. 18 - Week 11 begins. Trichomes are beginning to appear more abundantly and I now just give it some weak nutrient solution on a much more frequent basis.
Dec. 25 - Merry Christmas! Week 12 begins.
Dec. 31 - I gave her 1 Litre of nutrient solution and about 500 mL spring water over the week, starting the day with a spring water flush then continued the day with nutrient solution.
When I began the contest I had only grown Magic Melon once before (last winter), it grew in an 18 litre pot, became around 4 feet tall, and completely filled a 3'x3' tent. A friend of mine successfully grew a seed I gave them this summer in a container about 4 litres and the plant was considerably smaller. The fact that it can be successfully grown in less than 250mL is astonishing, I have buds from the one grown last winter that are bigger than the can I grew this one in.
Harvested 91 days from sprout.
4chuk
