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Since my early days as a stoner I have been wishing and dreaming about the day that I would be able to be fortunate enough to have enough free time, resources and funds to conduct my own science project at home. That day finally came after I had opened a bag from my local dispensary and found ONE tiger striped seed in a 30% GMO Cookies, and 6 seeds from another extremely flavorful strain from a different dispensary where its entire room had been seeded. I threw these into the wet paper towel inside a Tupperware container and waited around 2-3 days for them all to sprout. They ALL sprouted and I carefully placed them in the dome seedling kit.
This was where things were still going relatively smooth - at least I thought at the time. The seedlings had sprouted up and were looking healthy. I realize now, in hindsight, that this was time to transplant them into literally ANYTHING with some soil in it - unfortunately, at this stage in my Cannabis growing career, I had little to no knowledge of growing cannabis - and to illustrate just how little I knew, I was giving them water straight from the faucet without pH adjustments or tests! I soon read up and realized my mistakes. However, this was just the beginning of the story. To make things even more dramatic, I had no good place for them to go into yet, as my tent I had ordered was still not here. No lights. No fans. They were imprisoned in the seedling dome until further notice.
AND - to stack things up even higher - I was about to leave on vacation for California to celebrate 420 in Coachella - and was leaving the babies under care of my teenage stepdaughter - who was very annoyed that she had to look after them while we were gone. A recipe for disaster? Perhaps. I like to think of it as the beginning of a good story!
This was close to worst case scenario upon my return from the vacation - they had stayed the same size, wilted off their first leaves, curled up and turned purple. I feel as though they were on the brink of dying. The dramatic light stress of 24 hours, high pH watering and lack of growing space, they barely made it through. I wish I had taken a photo of the root ball when I popped it out of the dome kit when I finally did transplant them - one big ball of roots with a little leaf on top! With a little more care and education on my part, they started to make a small comeback. I adjusted the light schedule to 18/6 and pH all of my water from that point forward. My tent was arriving soon and I was eager to transplant them into their new pots.
Talk about some HUGE growth and some Happy Plants! Used 1/2 Fox Farms Ocean Forest and 1/2 perlite. First Week in New Tent and 1 Gallon Pots! On a 2 Cup / 3 Day Schedule for each plant. NO NUTRIENTS. Water Only. Super interesting structure with the stunt - Would love to hear more info and feedback about how this all developed. Do these close ups look normal?
Running Smooth - Sent away to get my genders tested in a lab locally here in town, they came back ALL FEMALE. Should I be worried about Herms? The grower at the dispensary says I should be good. Would love to hear your input here! Still maintaining watering schedule of 2 Cups every 3 Days per plant. No nutrients besides what is in soil - Water Only!
Very promising! Very proud of the comeback - 4 were adopted to new homes and will post photos of them when I get pics - Down to 4 plants - 1 GMO and 3 Cherry Gorilla - you can see the GMO is Short and BUSHY!
Very happy with how these are turning out - Notice the difference in overall structure - GMO is at the top right (when looking in the tent) - Topping and LST has resulted in WAY more flowering sites
Last week of Veg - I feel I went way overboard on the Veg phase! I would love some input - I see the plants structure is small, tight and compact, especially the GMO - Is this due to the stunt early on? Raised GMO up 2-4 inches to meet the rest of the canopy. Added the Trellis net in anticipation of the big buds! We shall see. Increased water to 4 cups each plant every 3 days, then every 2 days on 7/3/23. Changed Light Schedule to 12/12 on 7/5/23 - Adding Nutrients to Next Water - stay tuned for more updates
Is the structure of the plant at this stage affected by a stunt when they are in the seedling stage? I am curious to know if my plants seem too small or if they are average size - I chose not to defoliate due to them being so short - would appreciate any input here! Thanks
There are many many variables that can determine the size of your plants, genetics, pot size, lighting and so on, they don't look stunted to me and they look healthy and thriving to me...Just keep doing what your doing BUT if you feel as though they're stunted or not as big or want to do more, I would increase the intensity of your light if possible, move it closer but your going to have to make sure your DLI is on point as well, RH and temp..You can download VPD buddy to get your parameters
Very interested to hear everyone's input about this - Do you pH your water to 6 and then add the 2 tablespoons of GO BioThrive Bloom? OR do you add the BioThrive Bloom to your water, mix and then start the pH process?
Absolute Explosive Growth in the first week of flower. This being my first grow, I have been told to expect a huge boost during the flowering phase but wow, I wasn't expecting this much! I am sure I have more to go as well! I couldn't be happier with how they are going, and what a great first grow to look back on! I have documented every change and each milestone so I can easily look back and make changes or replicate. I also just received my North Atlantic Seed Co order for my next run, and I am very excited to experiment with new and different strains. The first week of flower has been eventful to say the least - two days from flipping the lights to 12/12 I noticed them wilting a little more earlier than usual, and added an additional 1/3 of the water I have been giving them and they seem to be much happier. The white pistils are just starting to come out of the main flowers. I began to mix in 2 tablespoons of BioThrive Bloom by General Hydroponics during the first water in their first week of flower, and plan on continuing this throughout the rest of their lifespan (until the final flush). I have General Hydroponics Bio Bud which I plan on mixing in also at the beginning of their third week. Looking forward to big changes! Thanks for reading and appreciate the follows :)
Defoliation. Do you all think that I should defoliate below the canopy? I relatively haven't touched them or defoliated for quite a while, and was planning on perhaps leaving them alone, especially now they are in the flowering phase. Would you suggest I defoliate the lower 1/3?
I like how yan402 thinks, however I was told no direct light should touch the floor of your tent/medium or its wasted wattage. always a leaf catching something.
the whole process of defoliation is to increase airflow between bud sites to prevent budrot. If you got good airflow and fans penetrating the canopy moving air past everything I would not worry about it. Getting extra light to the lower buds is also good but unless you supplement with under canopy lighting its never gonna be all that even with defoliation. The sun can do some of that. its much more powerful.
Good Luck!
VERY Happy with the developments, all the while going through some pretty significant changes! I made a BIG and much needed defoliation on the 15th of this month - it opened up the under canopy quite a bit which completed eliminated any watering/visibility issues - it also allowed me to collect over 10 cuts from the GMO which I am VERY happy about! Appreciate all those who commented and suggested for the defoliate. :)
Things are starting to get very humid in the tent, and my grow room overall. Not too sure if it is the weather outside (ranging from 50-70 degrees), my room being on the second floor of the house, or the plants just doing their thing but man, it is humid in there! I added the small dehumidifier in between all of the pots to accompany my big overkill $250 dehumidifier that sits in my room where my tent is located now - it almost works too well! I am still in the process of getting this dialed in. I hesitated when making this purchase, but know it will be worth it in the long run. I also added another AC Infinity Oscillating Fan that also accompanies its twin on the opposite side of the tent. My plants look very happy, no signs of anything negative so I think I am heading in the right direction.
As far as the changes in the actual plants are concerned, WOW! - This being my first grow, and having been self medicating since my teenage years, this is SUCH a fun time watching them go through their stages, react to their environment and change as they grow. The white pistils appeared the first week of changing the light cycle to 12/12, now they are EVERYWHERE! Each flower/bud site contains multiple while pistils all shooting in the air, some are even crawling up to their buddies on the stem above them! I made sure to get a photo of that - VERY cool! I also was able to get a shot of the top of one of the bud sites with my Magnifier/Light - Crystals are starting to form already! I truly couldn't be happier with their progress, and only look forward to more changes each day.
I plan on sticking to my current regiment until the first watering of the 3rd week of flowering - at that time I will be adding an additional 2 tablespoons of Bio Bud to accompany the current 2 tablespoons of Bio Thrive Bloom. They are currently receiving 6 cups of water each every other day. Appreciate all the comments and follows!
More Incredible Developments this week! I started adding General Hydroponics Bud on the first watering of the third week of flower - it has resulted in some surprisingly big and fast growth over the past week. You can see from going to the previous week and this one, the bud sites seem to just getting fatter and searching out for their neighbors above and below them with the white pistils - I know I keep saying this but as a lifetime cannabis user, this is the first time I have had the opportunity to watch my own garden closely through the entire plants development and life cycle, and so far this is VERY exciting and entertaining to see the developments each day. The topping and LST techniques I used (no experience, only watching videos and researching) have resulted in my plants taking on almost a bowl or basket shape, where the outside branches have reached far far above the middle canopy during their "final stretch" or first week or two of flowering. Now, the middle of all of my plants have numerous smaller bud sites that are developing - I am looking forward to how the lower canopy buds develop!
I am currently watering them every other day - 8 cups of water each. This past week I increased their water intake from 6 cups to 8 cups - So far I am seeing no sign of stress in any way shape or form - only VERY happy plants working on bulking up on their flowers. I plan on letting them do their thing and working on maintaining their environment so it stays consistent. Definitely a big increase in smell this week - the Cherry Gorilla x Sol Sonic seem to be moving along and bulking up a little more than the GMO. When picking leaves off the GMO, I can already start to smell and recognize hints of the tremendous gas garlic stank I have been looking forward to - Appreciate the Likes and Follows! Look forward to more photos and developments from my First Grow :)
More Big changes this week! The flowers seem to be growing and getting bigger every day - I anxiously look in my tent each morning to see the new developments and there seems to be new changes each time - very cool to smoke a bowl in the morning and go check your garden! I was able to get some pretty cool photos with my macro lens - I found the ONLY flower site and first signs of red colors on one of the lower flowers of Cherry Gorilla #3 - I was able to get some pretty sweet pics of that. If you have a smart phone or tablet, definitely check out some of the macro shots and pinch/zoom in! I did add a fan on the bottom blowing underneath the canopy, in efforts of opening up the stomata of the ladies. We are finally having our first relatively hot week up here and it has absolutely tested my environment management skills - AC, Dehumidifier, Fans, Window open and close - this silly temp VPD and humidity control dance all day will not be too much longer, very much looking forward to the lower temperatures of the fall and winter months!
When opening up the tent - you are blasted with a unfamiliar smell that can be explained as a sweet dank. I have touched some of the lower buds on each of the plants and WOW! - They are SWEET and Cherry flavor like crazy - The GMO is just as I expected - Garlic Gas Sweetness when touching her leaves - You are left with a very sticky goo on your finger that absolutely smells of its particular strain. Again - I could not be happier with the garden, and especially this being my first grow ever. Looking forward to more changes and absolutely some input from the Grow Diaries Community!
Are the tips of my plants looking normal? I had a random comment from someone that I may be going overboard on my nutrients - the very tips of my plants are turning white-ish neon green and I am wondering if this is due to the plants natural process in flower? Can I correct?
Na man I think you’re fine. It is a sign of overfeeding but I see it slightly on almost all my grows in flower. You want to push it right to that threshold of being too much IMO.. just keep an eye for other signs going forward and monitor runoff to be sure.
Things are still going strong! I think this is the official halfway point of flowering, and the plants are in high gear bulking up and focusing on creating big, dense buds. I did notice a few brown spots on all of the Cherry Gorilla’s leaves - most notably CG#3 - I consulted some of my local grow buddies as well as the manager of my local store and they gave me some very detailed instructions - I am going to be adding 1/2 teaspoon of Cal-Mag to my water mix until week 7 AND stop diluting my food mixes - my plants are HUNGRY was the official diagnosis! I think that should be a pretty easy fix and am looking forward to the results. So I am told, I should be able to see results from the Cal-Mag flush within a week or so. Also - I was also given some words of encouragement from some long timers who saw the videos of my tent, and they are saying everything looks great and I should be proud! Again - super stoked on the progress. Planning on a big defoliation after next water to get the girls focusing mostly on the flowers, and significantly removing all of the newly developed undergrowth and under canopy buds. Stay tuned for more updates! Appreciate the views, likes and follows!
More Fantastic Grow News! They have been still doing great and developing the flowers and buds - I am VERY happy with how everything has been turning out! When opening the tent you are immediately hit with the subtle smell of maturing, ripening ganja - Each flower has a mixture of white hairs, orange hairs and an incredible amount of frosty leaves and trichomes. I notice that my Cherry Gorilla x Sol Sonic #2 is sprouting the red hairs faster than the rest - I hope she can hold off until the rest of the girls are completely finished!
The Cal-Mag seems to be working - I am noticing dark, dark green leaf color right next to the biggest buds - I am guessing that this is the Cal-Mag doing its thing. I see that the leaves that were damaged from the deficiency are slowly turning back, however I feel as it is this far along, the plants are most likely focusing on the flowers rather than the leaves - which seems to be what I wanted. The dark color next to the buds give me hope it was a good remedy.
When touching each of the flowers, you are left with a VERY sticky, leftover goo than stays on your fingers. Each flower smells extremely distinct - which is somewhat unexpected. This just goes to show you the power of phenotypes! These seeds came from the same dispensary bag, and each one seems to be just a little different. You can especially see what I am talking about from the Macro shots I took this week - look at the descriptions for the full breakdown. Wish me luck! I am slowly approaching week 7 - 8 when I am going to be starting my flush process (I think?) Appreciate all the input, likes and follows!
It's Flush Time! Officially in their 7th week - The last day of feeding was on 8/23 - They have been receiving water on their normal feeding schedules and plan on keeping this water regimen until it's over - I am anticipating some of the plants to finish before others. Cherry Gorilla x Sol Sonic #2 definitely (front left looking in the tent) looks as though she will be the first to finish. I think that the GMO (back right when looking in the tent) seems to be the late finisher - she will most likely go 9 weeks. As stated previously - super happy with the results of my first grow. I have to tip my hat to AC Infinity for their trigger system and their sensors - man they make it so much easier!
As far as how all of the plants are going - all I can say is how proud I am to have cultivated these ladies and how much character and different traits they are showing this late into their cycle - each one seems to have its own unique smell - one smells much frutier, while another smells much more gassy. The GMO is on another level in terms of how she smells - I truly cannot wait to harvest and see how the smell changes during the curing process. Right now, she smells like GAS - with a hint of sweet.
Out of all of the plants, I think I am the most happy with how the GMO has grown and how its buds have developed I am VERY happy that I took 9 cuts of the GMO and have them in Solo Cups currently, they are going into the tent as soon as there is room :)
Appreciate the likes and follows!
Harvested the first plant this week! Cherry Gorillla x Sol Sonic #2 was much further along than the rest - I took many macro shots with my nice camera to examine the Trichomes and they were exactly as all of the resources said! I even waited an extra watering just to make sure. She came down on September 1st! Now for the slowest hang and dry as possible :)
The other ladies are also approchaing their harvest time - the GMO in the back right still has MOSTLY white pistils, which makes me think she will go 11 maybe 12 weeks - VERY good to know since I took 4 clones of her and plan for her to be my next run! Cherry Gorilla x Sol Sonic #’s 1 & 3 are looking GREAT! They still have a few white pistols here and there, and am watching them closely for when they will be harvested. Appreciate the likes and follows!
Walter_the_Ragamuffin
