Strawberry Gorilla and Gorilla Cookies

November 22, 2023 Day 78 This week will focus on bud building and watering. I'm going to try to avoid any leaf removal and just focus on letting these ladies grow and finish up. All plants got a full top watering today. Each one got a full gallon of nutrients and recharge. Strawberry Gorilla: Number 1 looks fantastic. She is nearly ready for harvest. Maybe another week or so. Maybe two with fade. She is covered in trichomes and is super sticky. The aroma is getting louder now. Wonderful. For the size of the plant itself, her colas are massive and super dense. I maybe will get 3 oz of dried and trimmed nugs. I don't count the trim. Maybe I will for this run. I may even weigh out the kief. Number 2 is looking better now that she has some light. Leaves are reaching nicely and she is definitely looking like she will have some fat buds as well. They are already nice and dense. Just needs to pack on the weight. She was pretty light, so the full gallon really helped her out. Maybe she will kick off and build her buds even faster and bigger. We shall see. Gorilla Cookies: Number 1 is impressive to say the least. She has buds from top to bottom and they are all getting big and fat. They stacked really well, so I can only expect monstrosities of colas. Her reservoir was almost empty. So when I top watered. I went until the whole gallon was gone and the runoff gave about a quarter gallon. That will hold over til tomorrow when I refill the reservoir. It will definitely need a cleaning next week. She is definitely a happy plant. Lots of air flow. And light penetration near to the bottom of the plant. Maybe even more when the Strawberry Gorillas come out of the tent. Number 2 has a ton of tops. No idea how many. I'm not counting them all. Not to mention the plethora of buds within the canopy and the plant. I will attempt a defoliation next week as she should be finished up growing by then. Bud structure looks spectacular. Internodal spacing is pretty good as well. It will make for some insanely dense colas. The gallon top water barely had runoff. I also topped off the reservoir with half a gallon of nutes from a couple days ago. Everything looks absolutely fantastic. I pulled a few leaves and a few of the lowest branches that didn't even have pistils on them. Definitely not worth growing and wasting energy on them. That being said, I won't be pulling anymore branches off. Unless I find one I missed. But I've been pretty diligent thus far. On another note, the super cropping seems to be a success. She is around 45" tall but still may be growing and stacking I also increased the light intensity back to 50% power. Definitely will keep an eye out for any stress. So far everything looks fine. The leaves are darkening like they should and no signs of stress. None that I can tell. Grow System Environment: Temp: 73.2° RH: 51.8% VPD: 1.30 kPa November 23, 2023 Strawberry Gorilla: Number 1 is getting ready for the last bit of flower. She's moving smoothly and is getting more and more trichomes. Nothing else for her today. Number 2 looks pretty good. Definitely not much in light, so I'm not expecting anything impressive. Although 2oz would be impressive for this plant. We shall see. Buds are still super chunky and will pack on a lot of weight. We shall see. Gorilla Cookies: Number 1 is packing on weight now. She's definitely swelling up in earnest now and her main colas are deep and robust. Watering was a great success. She should be good for another couple days. Number 2 is ridiculous. She is stacking and growing buds everywhere. I accidentally snapped a tiny lower branch taking a single leaf off. It's ok though. The branch was too low to provide anything of substance. I really couldn't count all the tops in the canopy. With the super cropping and just the shear size of her makes it super hard to count. So I'm not bothering. I can say that the entire canopy is covered in buds. She will need water tomorrow or later today. So thirsty. I'm also not seeing any signs of light stress. Even with the increased power output. If anything I feel like it's boosting bud production. It could also be the early addition of Big Bud. I don't think it's early though. This is an autoflower. It makes no sense to follow a photoperiod feeding schedule. So I added the Big Bud about 10 days into flower. It seems to have worked. So I may be correct in my own feeding schedule. I'm keeping the Grow Nutrients in for one more watering. Then I'll take them out after that. Based on the rate of flowering and slow down in growth, I'd say everything is looking great for this plant. Update: I ended up feeding Gorilla Cookies 2 both a gallon top feed and reservoir refill. The wick system didn't seem to be active. Maybe the plant is too big and the wicks are drying out faster than they can absorb the water. I dunno. She should be good for a couple days now. Another Update: Turned the light back down to 40% power. The leaves are drooping and it still has a little under 4 hours left of light. Grow System Environment: Temp: 72.4° RH: 54.3% VPD: 1.21 kPa November 24, 2023 Strawberry Gorilla: Number 1 is nearly done. Not much in trichome colors yet. A decent amount of cloudy, but still a lot of clear. She seems to have stopped swelling. I can only assume over the next 2 weeks she will pack on more weight and fade quite nicely. We shall see. The fade should start in about a week I think. Number 2 is just sitting alone by herself under the rest of the plants. She's starting to get orange pistils now and she looks like she is ready to swell up even more. Still not a big plant, but definitely a potent one coming up. Gorilla Cookies: Number 1 is absolutely amazing now. She has buds up and down and they really started swelling last night. Big ole buds coming up. Massive colas and just an overall a producer. She also has some fantastic trichome production. Lots of stickiness. I can't wait to see how the turns out in the weeks to come. Number 2 has grown a bit more in the back above the light. A couple of the super cropped branches are starting to stand up again, but not too tall. Just about level with the canopy. I'd also like to add that the plant has taken over about 75% of the tent space. The only plant that isn't overshadowed is Strawberry Gorilla 1. She is across from this lady. Anyway, the watering system is back in order. She's cruising through it like crazy. So she will need a watering in the next couple days. She also has crazy stacks already. The picture for today shows how many tops and colas she is going to have. Internodal spacing is about an inch. Perfect for big fat colas. I'd say she has a nice 5 weeks left before harvest. I'm honestly kind of anxious about how long it will take the other plants to finish up. The faster I can get this lady alone in the tent, the better the yield will be. Only good things. Update: So I'm thinking Gorilla Cookies 2 is a Super Auto. Is that a phenome or something? Or is it just a healthy plant? I don't really understand why it took so long to flower. 9 weeks was a very long time. I'm not complaining, but I'd still like to know. I feel like she's a Super Auto. Does anyone have any insight? Grow System Environment: Temp: 71.8° RH: 51.8% VPD: 1.24 kPa November 25, 2023 Strawberry Gorilla: Number 1 got a reservoir refill today. She's lookin good and producing more trichomes. I really can't wait for this one to finish up. I'm definitely excited to taste the final product. Number 2 doesn't seem to be drinking that much at all. Her reservoir is still nearly full, and the top feed hasn't really cleared up yet. Interesting. Just a small plant in a too big container. She has about 2 weeks left. Gorilla Cookies: Number 1 got a full reservoir refill today. I didn't let it dry out this time as it doesn't need a cleaning yet. I think the nutrients are doing the right things with this plant. Not only are her tops getting nice and fat and dense, but she is also shedding the lowest leaves. Not a lot, but it's starting. That must mean the fade is right around the corner. Maybe another week or two before flush. Number 2 needs nothing today. She is also shedding lower leaves, but as there is more plant, there are more leaves. I assume this is a good thing at this stage with her nutrient regimen. She will most likely shed a few leaves here and there for the rest of the grow. I needed to super crop one more top that hit the light last night. The rest are mere inches away. Some even around one inch. Nothing seems to be burning. I also don't see signs of plant stress. The only thing is they droop about two hours before lights out. Definitely too much light, but will it burn? Who knows. I can say that the new growth up top is still turning a beautiful shade of green. So I'm not really concerned yet. My concern is the stacking. From what I have seen so far with the other Gorilla Cookies, they stack hard and stretch so they can fatten up. When those hit the light, then I will be concerned. And this time I really can't super crop anything else. It's the whole plant and not just a few tops. Maximum distance is maybe three inches. Now, the light is at 40% power and doesn't seem to be causing that much havoc. I think I may be able to turn it up to 50% when the rest of the ants are out and I can stretch this lady out. I may gain a couple inches of I do it right. If I even can. The first super cropped branches were pinched at the SCroG net, so moving this around will be an absolute chore. I'll see if she needs it. As for watering, she has gone through about half of the top feed from what I can tell and about half way through the reservoir. So roughly a gallon a day. With the bottom feed working again, I can back off a bit from the top feeding as I wish to. What's the point of having a bottom feed system that doesn't actually feed enough? It could also be the caked on nutrients. I really need to swap this reservoir with a clean one. That should put the bottom feed system back in order. I'll need to wait again for another reservoir to dry out. Grow System Environment: Temp: 71.4° RH: 50.5% VPD: 1.26 kPa November 26, 2023 Not much going on today. No watering needed. I'm not going to bother plucking any leaves. Strawberry Gorilla: Number 1 looks good. She's at the final stretch I think. Next week will get the flush. That should start the fade and give me a beautiful plant. Number 2 got even more covered last night. She's still chugging along though. The main tops are getting orange pistils and buds are still putting on weight. They might even be swelling more. Gorilla Cookies: Number 1 looks great! Her main tops are getting nice and fat now. I can tell she has weeks left to go before harvest, so only bigger buds to come. Number 2 has a lot going on with her. Her tops are hitting the light again. 2 of them were super cropped. I understand why they needed to be tied down, so against my better judgement, I redid the super crop on each. There is also one that is not only above the light, but is also hitting the carbon filter. The whole back of the plant is like that. It's the only place she doesn't have direct light. So now that I see she needed a much bigger tent, I'm hoping she stops growing in the next few days. I have minimal grow nutrients in her which will stop next week. Then it's 2 more weeks of Big Bug then 2 weeks of Overdrive before flush and then harvest. So a total of 4 weeks left? Probably 5 to 6 though. With her size? Definitely will take a bit longer to flower all those bud sites. She doesn't need watering today which is kind of surprising. The reservoir is looking well drained though, so she looks to be working wonders now. Tomorrow I think she'll need the top feed. Hopefully she doesn't and can stick with the bottom feed system. I doubt it though. She's just too big and too thirsty. Awesome! Update: As always, I can't resist and removed some top leaves and found already shed leaves stuck in the branches of Gorilla Cookies 2. I also need to figure out a way to get to the back where there's a lot of big leaves doing nothing. Those need to be removed as well. I'd also like to add that the internodal spacing is perfect on this plant with whole branches of buds that will make some insane colas. They are everywhere. I was reading about this strains maximum yield and it's an impressive 650 grams. I don't think I'll get that, but I may get close to it. With the amount of bud sites and speed at which the buds are swelling, I'd say they will be as big as ping pong balls. Finally, I noticed the top branches hardening off. I believe that means she is finishing up with her stretch. Grow System Environment: Temp: 71.5° RH: 49.2% VPD: 1.30 kPa November 27, 2023 Strawberry Gorilla: Number 1 will start her flushing next week. Nothing today. Her leaves are still a nice deep green, but the fade isn't anywhere in sight. She's not even dropping leaves yet. I'm hoping the flush for the next week or so will do the trick and we will get a nice fade in the end. Number 2 is doing nothing. She will need a top water next week. It will be the last week of nutrients for this one. The week after next will be flushing for this one. Depending on how far along she is in the coming few days, I may just start flushing early and get that fade going and hopefully it will speed up the flowering process and I'll be able to harvest all the Strawberry Gorillas at the same time. Then I can leave the main tent to the Gorilla Cookies and free up the overflow tent for the drying period for each plant. Gorilla Cookies: Number 1 is still shedding her leaves. What a good sign. I can only imagine that this is how it's supposed to be. No nitrogen and just bud production now. She will still need a few weeks before harvest. It's the same with the Gorilla Cookies in the overflow tent. She will be joining when the Strawberry Gorillas are ready for harvest. Number 2 is getting a bit insane here. More tops are touching the light and the outside branches are nearly 2 inches above the light. Hell, one of the tops is bending at the carbon filter. It's crazy. So I have a couple tops that may get light burn. Not much I can do about it now. The branches are hardening off and fast. Either way, this plant is going to yield so much. She got a full top water with recharge. Honestly I thought it was day 7 of the week, so I did the recharge early, but I did remove the micro and grow base nutrients. I left the cal/mag in and upped the Big Bud to 5 ml/gallon. So in two days when the new week starts, I won't be doing any recharge. I'll also take out the Cal/mag or drop it down from 4 ml to 2 ml. Although, I did t think 4 ml will do anything to such a big plant. I may have to buy more overdrive for this lady though. She will definitely use quite a bit. Hopefully it lasts me a while. I removed some of the loose lower leaves. I also shook the plant a bit to help the shedding leaves fall. I got a few that way, and popped off some more that were just barely hanging on. I even removed some new growth. Removed some of the top leaves as well. I'm trying to open the canopy up without causing stress. So far it seems to be working. At least from the leaf removal. I'm not sure what the light is doing to those tops. Regardless to shedding leaves and light issues, I can say the stacks are stupid tight and the internodal spacing is around 3/4". I will certainly be expecting some massive dense colas from this lady. 16 oz. Hahahahaha. Grow System Environment: Temp: 72.1° RH: 51.0% VPD: 1.28 kPa November 28, 2023 I finally fixed my lighting issue. I ran the exhaust outside the tent instead of inside. So now I have the fan on top of the tent and the duct work running to the great outdoors. Unfortunately I don't that the carbon filter attached anymore, so I hope it's not too much outside. Now with the light strapped to the tent ceiling, I have a good 9.5" of space for Gorilla Cookies 2. So I turned the intensity up to 60% to make sure the DLI stays roughly the same. It wasn't too bright, but too close. Now I have more coverage throughout the whole tent. Finally! Took me long enough. Strawberry Gorilla: Number 1 is happy with life. Her reservoir is nearly empty which is perfect. Tomorrow will start of the flush stage and the reservoir needs to be cleaned out. She's not shedding any leaves yet, but she is also still loaded with nitrogen. So the flush should turn that around pretty quickly. Number 2 unfortunately has not emptied the reservoir yet, so I'll have to dump and clean it out. She's definitely ready for flushing. Her pistils are nearly all orange now. Her trichomes look to be a mix of cloudy and clear. More so clear than cloudy. The flush should speed up maturing time as well. In about a week or two, I'll have both of these ladies to harvest as well as the one in the Overflow Tent. Very much excited. Gorilla Cookies: Number 1 is still packing on the weight as expected. She has a good two to three weeks left, and I'm very happy for that. She should end with some really dense buds and some big colas as well. Her reservoir is nearly empty as well. Perfect timing for the next top feed and reservoir refill. Number 2 is looking great! Now with the light up higher, I was able to reach in the back and pluck a few massive leaves. I'll probably pop a few off tomorrow as well. Just a few. It's nearly the end of the time I can do so without stressing her out. She has a good four to five weeks left to go. And I cannot wait to see how big these colas are going to be. There are so many bud sites all throughout the plant. With the light higher up, it should do a better job at penetrating the outside edges of the tent. In turn should also reflect happily with the lower parts of the plant. Of course, once the Strawberry Gorillas are out, I'll have much more space to open up the canopy and really penetrate deep into the lower parts. Grow System Environment: Temp: 72.3° RH: 49.1% VPD: 1.34 kPa