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 ;)
Definitely some male flowers and there seems to be quite a lot of them.. If they only appear on the branch forks of the main trunk and not on the nodes just pluck 'em but keep an close eye on that girl of yours.. If they start coming from the branches of the nodes also I'd say your fucked๐
Damn.. Looks like a straight up trait of OG Kush those pesky ballsacks. Sorry for your loss.. Didn't even realize we were running the same strain but from a different seedbank/breeder. Mine is pushing balls also at the same weeks from the main branch forks and I've yet only plucked about five of them off because they have only appeared on the main stalk and not on the nodes/flowers (keeping a VERY close eye on the nodes.) We'll see if the fucker goes full on hermie but I haven't had the heart to chop "her" off just yet because it's still manageable through a little reparative therapy. Hope your other beautiful ladys won't go Bangkok on you. Pz n luv bro
edit: What is a little interesting detail from yours/mine is that all the male flowers are coming only from the main stalk/node forks.. Now that you decided to chop her off I almost hope mine will start to develop those in the nodes/flowers also and go full hermie so that your sacrifice would have been the right call and have no regrets of losing "her"๐
edit2: Damn.. just went through a lot of journals considering cannabis hermaphrodism and just as I expected the strains that are really notorious for going bananas are the ones with Blueberry (which I already knew from experience,) Gorilla Glue and Kush genetics (OG being pretty much the worst of the Kush family.) Anything having Thailand sativa background also has the tendency of growing a pair.. hmm.. does the environment affect us humans as well since Thailand is pretty notorious of their ladyboys๐
@Budophile, Hi guy !
Yes, so in fact, I found balls on 2 of the 4 plants: The one that I "suicided" and the one that you can now see in the foreground in the setup.
I decided to fire the first one because it showed other more advanced signs of hermaphroditism: quite a few balls (around ten), shorter than the others and a much slower growth rate than the other 3 sisters. This one would have gone into a tailspin, thatโs for sure!
On the other hand, the second one, the one that is still in place, only had 3 well-placed ball sacks, so I carefully removed them.
As for the 2 at the back, they are impeccable. A model of what every grower would like to have in their setup!!!
It's always a question: "I release it / I don't release it...". But when you're 70% sure it's going to go wrong, that's enough to do what needs to be done. And clearly, I would rather lose 15-20% of my harvest than the whole thing.
Why only 15% loss? Because even if I removed 1 out of 4 plants, the ones that remain will be able to grow much better using the space they have at their disposal. It doesn't seem like much, but it makes a big difference in the end, with each buds easily growing 10% more. You can already see what I mean in photo 15. The remaining plant is spreading and growing very well ;)
Chuss bro, and good luck with your growing!
Damn bro, looks like you're gonna haul around the same weight with more than twice less wattage.. and plants! That Lumatek seems like a beast!๐ Can't wait to see what you'll be cooking in the next few weeks. BioBizz nutes FTW. Didn't have the money the buy the whole nutrient schedule since it's around 250โฌ/grow but maybe next time I'll try those fancy ass microbes/activera and whatnot which I don't have any experience on just yet.. Seems like they're doing their job well, very healthy looking plants amigo