Critical & Mainlining

Day 6 After germination.

I have repoted the girls in a 1.5L pot. Now they should be good for a couple of weeks. Usually it's going very fast during the first weeks. I think I'll start nutrients next week.

Each of the five plants looks very good ! I'm really surprised how vigourous they are. Didn't start nutrient yet. But next feeding, I will. I'll use Biobizz as I did for my two last grows.

he plants have taken well, but there is one that is not growing symmetrically. On one side, the leaves are slightly misshapen and the side branches grow much more slowly. Maybe as the plant grows it will fade. For the moment, we are at 5-6 knots of growth. This morning I did the first topping and fed them with Biobizz. I'm going to give them a short week to regain their composure, then I'll repot them before the 2nd topping.

This week I started LST a little more seriously with a bit of the super cropping technique to help the plants head in the right direction. They all behave well. The one who had a slight tendency to emiplegia, I pushed the disabled side. As we can see in the photos, she is recovering well and is now growing completely normally! Well, she is 8-10 days behind the others, but she will follow the same route. Maybe if I see that the timing is a little tight, I'll top it up in months. It doesn't matter, at worst, it will make a little more room for others. The important thing in main-lining is symmetry. So we're going to make sure that everything starts flowering at the same height. It will be ok !!! I think these 30L pots will really make a real difference. And the fact that, this time, I'm waiting for the right moment before starting flowering. In this way, the plants will have recovered at least 2 weeks of health since the last training before switching to flo, they will be taller and more robust. It can make for a really fun session if everything goes as planned! But that's always the question: will everything go as planned? Surely not ;) Day 32, time for a second topping. Next in 7 to 10 days...

Last week I did my second topping at the 3rd knot. I wanted to test what some mainlining methods said: leave the shoots from the 1st node. But, during the week that followed, I realized that if indeed these shoots from the 1st node were developing quickly and strongly, those from the 3rd nodes were developing significantly more slowly. So yesterday, first day of week 6, I decided to remove the shoots from the 1st node, and return to the method I used during my last session. I can see this morning that the growth of the 3rd node has resumed! These plants are magical :) All plants develop normally. even if they have a bit of a punk side at the moment, they are in great health and growing vigorously! The one that was broken and therefore has a late topping has a funny shape, but it is growing. The breaks have solidified and are now very hard. Well, let's be clear, if she shows any sign of stress or isn't developing as she should, I will remove her mercilessly. In a 1m2 growing room, it is better to have 4 plants in excellent health with room to grow than 5 plants, 1 of which is a little... doubtful. Let's just say that for the moment, she's on borrowed time!

I did the last topping 2 days ago. Now the plants will be able to grow upwards. No more torture, hello growth! And that's good, because by adjusting the tension of the links downwards a little, I split one of the manifolds :/ It's a shame, but I'm not worried. The plant is vigorous and 12 hours later, the split branch was pointing even higher! Everything is fine :) Here is the 7th week beginning and, if all goes well, I should do the last topping at the end of this week and move towards 16 branches (future heads) per plant. Once this is done, I will allow another 2 weeks of rest and growth. I will put the plants into flowering when they are at least 50cm high. There we are at 20... At a minimum, there are 3 weeks left to wait.

Well, there you go. The 4 toppings have been done. The last topping of the last plant was done this morning, for the other 3 it was a little faster. So I have 16 shoots starting to appear. It’s these 16 shoots that will turn into nice, plump buds! Well... if all goes well. Unlike my previous sessions, I leave more leaves so that the plants have maximum energy. I maintain the brightness at 75%, and the position of the light at 50cm height. From today onwards, the plants should grow upwards. No more torture and beheading! I will let the plants recover and grow for 1 full week, then I will start to orient the 4x16=64 heads a little so that they cover the entire future support net that I will position. Ideally, I will have them flowering in 2 weeks. But the starting point will be when all my plants have reached 50cm high. They are 26cm at the moment. A little more journey, a little more patience ;)

Everything is fine ! The plants are resplendent. They grow fast and strong. The future heads are well formed and point towards the sun, which is Lumatek! I don't have much to say actually. That's the good thing about main lining: all the effort is done during the first weeks, but after that, all you have to do is sit back and watch it grow! Of course, you have to water from time to time, but no more pruning, not even leaf removal. Well yes, I will make a light one when it comes to flowering. Probably in about ten days.... For now I can literally watch them grow because it's going very quickly: 11cm in 7 days! That's all for today ! Oh yes ! The plant I removed, you know, the 5th. I didn't have the courage to kill her. I just left him in his potty outside. I didn't worry about it at all. Well, she refuses to die. She keeps pushing, she fights. So I let her do it. I think it won't last long because it's 5 or 6 degrees outside here at night. But for now, it doesn't seem to be a problem for her, and she's growing well! I will take a photo this week if she survived.

We're almost there, growth continues at the same pace as last week: 11cm in 7 days. We are now at 48cm on average. Bbut patience being what was lacking in my previous crops, I prefer to wait a little longer before starting flowering. If the majority of the branches are at the level of the net that I placed 50 cm from the ground, some are still too low and puny. If I started flowering now, these branches would be a problem. So I prefer to wait a few days, or maybe even a whole week. On the 2 plants in front I detected balls which could be the manifestation of hermaphroditism. I immediately removed them and checked each plant carefully to make sure there were no others. At this stage, they are easily visible. The plants are healthy, so I don't think these polein bombs will come back. But I'll keep an eye on it during the first few weeks of flowering. If I ever have a doubt, I will go out and destroy these plants. We'll see ! Following next week. Happy growing to all! Update from 08/11: Wow, the plants have all passed above the 50cm net. To optimize the coverage of the net by the plants a little, I used a bit of LST, and I did some super cropping too. I also defoliated what was below the net, and also removed any shoots that were not going to reach the net in time. As a result, not only do have a good distribution of flowers, but I'm also able to free some secondary shoots which are now developing well, as a main shoot should do. In total I counted around 80 heads ready to flower, compared to 64 planned initially (64 = 16 x4 plants thanks to main-lining). 80 heads on 1m2 and with only 4 feet, it should be a productive session! To ensure that the start of flowering goes well, I started adding nutrients specific to flowering during my last 2 waterings. Indeed, in my last sessions, I had deficiencies a few days after flowering. Everytime ! So, I decided to anticipate a little by loading the soil with the nutrients that the plants will need very quickly. We'll see if it works, but if I want nice big buds, I need to ensure good nutrition from the first days of flowering. Thus, the stretch period will not be polluted by a potentilla deficiency. Well, all that... it's theory, right? I'm starting flowering tomorrow, we'll be sure soon ;)

So. Today is the end of growth. We are going into flowering. The plants are in great shape and have reached the size I wanted. There are a few shoots (5) left under the net, these will have difficulty fully expressing their flowering potential. But the others are... perfect! I anticipated the transition to flowering by 1 week by providing the plants with flowering nutrients while they were still growing, only during the last week. I also added a little Light Mix soil from BioBizz to cover some beautiful roots that were emerging! We have around 80 shoots ready to flower. On 4 plants, it's not bad! Long live mainlining!!! Now we sit, watch it grow, and water from time to time. We left for a minimum of 7 weeks of flowering. So in 5 weeks I will see where things are to know when I should anticipate rinsing the plants. I plan 10 days of rinsing. But we'll see when the time comes...

What can I say... the plants continue to grow. Not a single sign of deficiency yet. If it's going to emerge, it will be within the next week, but so far so good! On average the flowers are 56cm, but the largest peak at 73cm. I think they won't grow much now, maybe another 10 or 15cm. We see the very beginning of flowering, the first hairs appear on the flowers and at the intersections of branches/shoots/leaves. The nutrition program is impeccable, the temperature at 20°C at night and 25°C during the day, ideal, the 400w Lumatek does its job. Next week we should see the heads better. So we'll wait until next week! Chuss!

We had a tragedy a couple of days ago 😪. In fact, I realized that on one of the 4 plants, male flowers appeared. After checking with the community (thanks to @Budophile), my plant had clearly turned hermaphrodite. So it was with a broken heart that I tore her away from her compatriots and ended up cutting her head off and throwing it into my compost. Well, I admit that it sounds a bit like a horror film, but in fact, it's rather good news because I noticed it in time! If that hadn't been the case, I would have lost my entire harvest!!! The other good news is that the neighbor of the decapitated one has now all the space she wants to make beautiful, plump flowers :) As you see in the photos, exactly 15 days after flowering, the flowers appear. It's crazy, these plants are really set like clockwork... Apart from this tragedy from which I had to recover by using a little of my previous harvest (😁!!!), everything is fine :) The plants took a good stretch. What's also crazy is that I have absolutely no signs of deficiency (wich is the first time in my very very very short grower's carrier. I think that anticipating the flowering nutrition during the week before set to flowering mode really did its job. Well... there is also this "Critical" variety (thanks @RQS) which is reputed to be robust and easy. After all, the gardener only takes half the job! Chuss guys, we'll talk again next week! (Hoping there isn't another death...)

Ok we had a tragedy last week, but now, everyone is doing wonderfully and I actually think that the plants are developing much better with a little more space. A beautiful demonstration of “Less is More”!!! That said, we're not at the end yet. There are still 5-6 weeks of flowering left, so anything can still happen. What I dread is yellow bananas! This is what forced me to rush my last harvest. But on this last harvest, I had deficiencies that I was unable to manage. There, no deficiencies. Beautiful plants like in their first days!! Well I talk a lot, I embroider a little because in fact, I don't have much to say!!! This is the whole principle of the mainlining technique, when you start flowering, all the work has been done. All you have to do is sit back, light a spliff, and watch them grow! Chuss guys, we'll talk again next week!

I continue to scrupulously look at each of the branches of the plant which had a few polein bags, and I do well. Every 2-3 days I have the appearance of a polein sac on the lower branches, but nothing in the flowers, so everything is fine and under control. The plants no longer grow, or very little. This is rather good news since the largest is already 92cm high (from the ground to the apex). Now the flowers are blooming nicely. In any case, during the last week the flowers are made to smell really very strong, it's impressive! A priori, there are 2 full weeks of nutrition left. After that, we will have to consider rinsing for around ten days. Then, if we get there safely, it will be the long-awaited moment of harvest and tasting the fresh weed (I really like it!). Chuss guys, we'll talk again next week!

Everything is perfect. The plants no longer grow in height, but begin to get bigger. They have 3 weeks left to produce very thick and full flowers, it's impeccable. The 2 “twin towers” ​​rise to almost 93cm. The others are more around 80-85 cm high. The plant that gained space following the death of its sister produces larger, thicker but lower flowers. The others have relatively thin flowers (for now!), but I'm really not worried. With 3 weeks of flowering remaining, the harvest will be excellent! I no longer have the appearance of a polene sac, which is also a good indicator of good health. The harvest should be done around 03/01, which will be precisely 8 weeks of flowering. Knowing that for this variety we must be between 7 and 9, it will be simply perfect! I plan to do 7 days of flushing. But I'm already starting to monitor the tricômes. So another 2 weeks full of nutrients and after that (around 12/27), it will be clear water until the end. Come on, just for the game, I bet the harvest will be around 250g of dry weed. I'm a player :) Chuss guys, we'll talk again next week!

Height growth has completely stopped. We remain at 93cm. On the other hand, the flowers swell day after day. Beyond the main flowers which are already very beautiful, there are all the secondary branches which emerge. So, I'm going to find myself with close to a hundred heads! So yes, not all of them will be this big, but at this point, even the secondary heads are a really decent and acceptable size. We are already far from the ponpon format. the only thing that bothers me is that I have one of the plants that seems to ripen a little faster than the other 2. So at some point, I will have to make a choice: either it will be harvested late, or the other two will be harvested early. Well, said like that, the choice is quickly made! Last night I just did a little defoliation, very strategically, so that the secondary branches had a little more light. In any case, everything is fine! It smells strong, it sticks well, still no deficiency. I will continue to monitor the maturity of the tricomes. There are 1 to 3 weeks of maturation left. If the flowers continue to grow like this, I may exceed the weight of my last harvest. Except that here, I have 3 feet instead of 7!!! Strongly! Chuss guys, we'll talk again next week!

The flowers grew a little smaller than expected due to my radiator breaking down. The temperature rose to 20°C max during the day and 13°C at night. Obviously this slowed down growth. Fortunately I had a plan B, but I was only able to put it in place once I returned from vacation :/ On the other hand, I actually noticed that as soon as they found the ideal temperature, the fattening resumed as if nothing had happened. This variety is definitely very resistant, it's amazing... Thank you Royal Queen Seeds!!! There you go, this is the home stretch. We are entering week 8 and I have done my last watering with nutrient. From now on, I will water them exclusively with clear water, controlling only the chlorine and Ph. The countdown is on. This is truly the last phase of maturation. Harvesting can now occur anytime between now and 10 days from now! Chuss guys, we'll talk again next week!

Plants are in dry pode since 8 days Now. I decide to stop flowering besause a few yellow bananas start showing up. That was time. By the way, I taste the fresh weed before making my decision and… damned, it’s a great one !!!!! 😁😁😁😳😳😳😎😎😎