Strawberry Gorilla and Gorilla Cookies

December 6, 2023 Day 92 This week will focus one a couple of things. It is the last week or so for the Strawberry Gorillas. Gorilla Cookies 1 is about 3 weeks out while Gorilla Cookies 2 is around 6 weeks out. That's including flushing. Strawberry Gorilla: Number 1 looks great! She's kind of fading, but not much. Another week of Flawless Finish should do the trick. She will also need a top flush in the upcoming days. Just waiting for the reservoir to empty. Harvest is right around the corner. Her buds are purple, but the leaves are still a deep green. She has a very loud aroma. Hard to clear up when I open the tent up. Yay! Number 2 is looking pretty good as well. Buds are hardening up and she seems to be going pretty strong still. Just as her sister plant, she will be getting a full top flush when the reservoir dries out. That should definitely speed up the maturing process. Other than that, she's kinda just hanging out in the back with nothing to do. Gorilla Cookies: Number 1 is looking super nice. Big fat colas. Side branches are putting on weight as well. I'd say another 3 weeks left. 2 more weeks of flower then another 1 to 2 weeks of flushing. She's definitely getting super loud and pungent. Sweet and gross at the same time. Haha. Number 2 is coming along like a beast. She is stacking and connecting buds on colas. They are already starting to fatten up in earnest. I can't wait for this one to finish up. She has a good 3 to 4 weeks left of flower and another 1 to 2 weeks of flushing. So 4 to 6 weeks left. But that's my estimate. She is already getting an aroma and her trichomes production looks really good for her stage in flower. I can expect some frosty fat juicy buds. Chunks of delicious smoke. Just overall a very happy plant. I hope I can enter a contest with her. She would certainly win. Grow System Environment: Temp: 73.5° RH: 47.1% VPD: 1.46 kPa December 7, 2023 Strawberry Gorilla: Number 1 looks great! Her buds are purple with deep green leaves. They are starting to get more purple on them, but I don't know if this one will fade that much. The leaves are too dark I think. I pulled the wick system out of the reservoir today. She will be getting just top feed of Flawless Finish for the rest of the time. She's really moist right now, so I'm going to wait for a day or two and let her dry out. She smells amazing and is super loud now. I also checked the trichomes today. There's a few amber on the sugar leaves, but none of the buds themselves. There is still too many clear ones anyway, but I think she will be ready by the end of this week. Number 2 is looking alright. She has some pretty dense buds, but not as dense as I would have hoped for by now. But the lack of light has either slowed it down or she just won't have super dense buds. I'd say she has maybe 10 days left. However, her pistils are all orange and starting to shrivel. So who knows. I'm going to over estimate this and say 10 more days. Just a few more than her sister plant. Her reservoir is still fairly full, so I'm going to wait for it to empty out before I pull the wicks. Then I'll flush with 8 ml Flawless Finish one last time I think. I don't think she will dry out more than once before she finishes up. Maybe twice, but the possible extra top water will just be plain water. Gorilla Cookies: Number 1 looks stunning. Her buds are big and getting heavy. Super dense and they smell amazing. She'll need a reservoir refill tomorrow. I believe she is pulling in just under a half gallon a day now. I'm not really sure when she will slow down her intake, but I'm guessing it won't be for a couple of weeks. Number 2 is even more of a beast now. She is basically wall to wall. Just the front of the tent hasn't been overtaken. But that's not by much. The branches are now overshadowing Number 1's lower canopy. I'm not really sure what to do about it. If there's anything I can do. I may be able to move her to the front right corner of the tent when the Strawberry Gorillas are out. I'll still have another Gorilla Cookies coming in as soon as they leave though. It's not girthy, but it is tall. It may actually fit pretty nicely in the front left corner. We shall see. She will be needing a reservoir refill tomorrow and maybe a top feed. She's definitely drinking a lot now and I need to keep a close eye on it. My question is feeding. Is she getting enough? Is it not enough? How can I tell? Her buds are stacking like mad. They are getting super long and connecting the the rest of the buds on each top. I can tell the colas she will produce are going to be a thing of wonder. Seriously cannot wait. She definitely has at least 4 weeks left. Maybe 5 or 6 with flushing. So I have been thinking and comparing yields of my past diaries and I come to my award winning Zkittlez Autoflower. This plant had a dry trimmed and cured yield of 6.5 oz. This plant was 34" tall with a fantastic canopy. However, Gorilla Cookies 2 is larger, has more tops and has larger buds already. They are prepping to be massively heavy colas. That being said, I really can't express how much I believe this plant will yield around 10 oz. If not more. It just makes sense. A bigger plant and so far compared to the bud size of Gorilla Cookies 1 bigger denser buds. Zkittlez is a sativa dominant hybrid. So her buds were dense, but also a bit long and skinny. So they didn't pack on as much weight as expected with this plant. So all in all, I think I'll get between 10 oz to 16 oz. Let's hope for the full pound. Stoked! Grow System Environment: Temp: 72.8° RH: 48.1% VPD: 1.39 kPa December 8, 2023 Strawberry Gorilla: Number 1 is nearly ready! Her buds are rock hard now and her aroma is super loud. Due to the other strain in the tent, I can't get a full appreciation of her Terpenes profile yet. She doesn't need any watering yet. I'll flush one more time with Flawless Finish I think when she dries out. Then if she needs it again, it will be plain water. Number 2 has really dense buds now. She is super sticky and from what little I can tell, she is quite loud. She hasn't started to fade yet, but I don't think I should expect that yet. I still think she is a little bit behind her sister plant. I may go another week of flushing if she needs it. Either way, I won't have to harvest her right away. Gorilla Cookies: Number 1 is super loud. Her buds are swelling even more and hardening off as well. Pistils in the lower part of the canopy are turning orange now, but they are still sticking straight out. Again, I think 2 to 3 more weeks total before harvest. She got a full reservoir top off today. She is doing the best with the bottom feed system out of all the plants. Number 2 is so covered in buds, the pictures make it looks like there are barely any leaves. There's a ton of leaves, but still a ton of colas. It's insane. In my personal opinion this is a plant of awe. A truly awesome plant. And based on what I've seen, one of the better of the strain itself. She got a full gallon top feed today with recharge. She also got a full reservoir top off. Happily nothing dried out except for the top layer of soil. Kinda. Either way, she was dried out at 18% saturation. Now she is sitting at 41% saturation. That won't last more than an hour. Thirsty girl. She also has a pleasant aroma now. Nothing loud yet, but definitely a wonderful scent. I can definitely tell this plant will be an extremely pungent and powerful plant. Can't wait! I think I'm going to leave the few lower branches that aren't doing anything. I don't want to risk any stress whatsoever. No chance I'm going to do anything to mess this grow up. Nope. Not happening. Oh, I noticed that she isn't drooping anymore from too much light. That must mean she needs it now. I think it's perfect for her needs. No stress that I can see yet. No more drooping, no yellowing, nothing wispy yet. So I think she's good now. Infact, some of the outside colas have leaves that are turning inward toward the light, so again, I think it's on point now. We shall see. Another thing I'd like to note is the cola structures. They are very long. At least 18" with some being up to 24". They are covered in buds, top to bottom of the canopy. There will definitely be a decent amount of popcorn buds, but those are stacking as well, so they may be some hard little nuggies. Either way, she will have an excellent yield. Lots of tops so the popcorn won't matter all that much. Update: I decided to cut those lower auxiliary branches off today. Most answers to my question suggested cutting them and it won't hurt. So I did. An hour later and the plant looks fine. Good to know. Grow System Environment: Temp: 73.6° RH: 47.8% VPD: 1.44 kPa December 9, 2023 Strawberry Gorilla: Number 1 is looking really good. She is almost ready for another flush. Last one I think. I don't think this one is going to fade. Not much at least. No idea why though. Everything looks pretty good. Trichomes are still chugging along. I'll start posting pics of them when they look better. Number 2 had a bunch of dead and dying leaves on the bottom. I'm guessing it's from lack of light and nutrients. Unfortunately, the buds there all suffered as well. Like there aren't any. Just little budlets up a tiny stem. Oh well, the tops look good. I also wasn't expecting much out of her anyway. She needs no water and I'm not sure that she will. Again though, she may need an extra week. She my infact get another flush. I'll see when the time comes. For now, she will just hang out. I did turn her around so the other side of the plant could get some light. Nothing else to do with her sadly. Gorilla Cookies: Number 1 has some pretty hefty colas. Club like even. Her reservoir and water intake seems to be perfect for her. Nothing else to do but let her finish up and clean up any shedding leaves. Her pistils are all turning orange now. It's only a matter of a few weeks left. Maybe 7 to 10 days of flower and then up to two weeks of flushing. She looks great. Number 2 is stacking like crazy. Her colas are all shaping up to be big and cone shaped. A bulbous cone that is. She doesn't need anything today. No leaves to pull off, no branches to cut down, no water to fill. Everything looks fantastic. I did notice some outside branches are already starting to lean. So I'll be ordering some trellis netting to drape over for support. I'll have to wait a bit to order it though. Like a week or so. Hopefully that's not too long. Anyway, I still can't wrap my head around how wonderful this plant is. I can, but it still leaves me in awe. Anyway, she's looking great and needs nothing. Grow System Environment: Temp: 73.8° RH: 49.8% VPD: 1.39 kPa December 10, 2023 Strawberry Gorilla: Number 1 is looking great. More purple hues on the buds. No fade though. I wonder if she will even fade. Well, now that I finally did a top flush with 8 ml Flawless Finish, hopefully we will see results in the next couple of days. She also isn't shedding a single leaf. Like she still has plenty of nutrients to go and has no intention of finishing up. Wow. Anyway, I'll check trichomes tomorrow. No sense in looking today. Number 2 is doing well, all things considered. Her top buds are dense and tight. Her smell is pleasant and sweet. She finally emptied her reservoir and now it's just a matter of her drying up a bit. Then I'll be able to do a top flush with Flawless Finish. Maybe 2 more days? 3 with her size before she needs the watering. Gorilla Cookies: Number 1 is getting really heavy. I have to pull it out of the tent every day to check on the Beast. Today she almost tipped over when I lifted her up. All the tops just leaned to one side and wow. She's heavy. Seriously can't wait for the end for this one. She'll be needing a reservoir refill tomorrow. I was thinking about just topping her off, but I like to let the water get just to the bottom. That way, I can use a full gallon every time. She is definitely thirsty and I believe getting a bit more so because of the bulking stage she's in. Number 2 has colas! All of the tops are forming beautiful colas. I seriously love this plant. She received both a top watering without recharge and a reservoir refill. Definitely drinking more than a gallon a day. Her leaves are still shedding and I'm pretty sure that's a good thing. However, more and more of the lowest auxiliary branches are wilting. I know it has to be from all the tops taking all the energy. I'm not complaining, but I don't know what it means. And should I continue to remove them? I don't think it's a problem. If they die out, then I'll remove them. For now, I'll let them be popcorn and put it all with my my trimmings. Then I'll have to figure out a way to make concentrate. All the steps. Grow System Environment: Temp: 74.5° RH: 52.2% VPD: 1.35 kPa December 11, 2023 Strawberry Gorilla: Number 1 looks fantastic! Her buds are all purple and leaves are a lush green. However, one would think the fade should have started a week ago. Anyway, maybe she won't or maybe she is just a little bit behind? I doubt it though. Her pistils were all shrivelled up weeks ago. No watering needed today. Maybe tomorrow. I may let her dry out instead. It all depends on the trichomes. I'm looking for a solid 10% to 15% amber before the chop. Number 2 is a sad little mess. She is definitely underdeveloped. I think it will be another week before she is ready for harvest maybe even 2. She hasn't started to fade either. So that must mean she has plenty of nutrients left in the soil. Could be good or bad. I'm not sure yet. All I know is that she does not look ready. Gorilla Cookies: Number 1 is super heavy. So heavy in fact that she started to pull the roots up a bit. So I needed to anchor her down. My only concern is how it will effect her for the rest of the grow. I still have to remove her everyday to get access to the Beast. She got a full reservoir today. I I think she drained it in 2 days. She's not light though, so that's a great sign of her ability to constantly drink. Very happy with that. Anyway, her buds are massive and HEAVY as I said. She still has about 10 to 14 days before flush. Most of the pistils have turned orange in the lower parts of the plant. It's all sticking straight out though, so definitely not ready. I'll wait for the main top to finish before I consider the flush stage. She is still shedding her leaves at a decent rate. Not entirely sure if that's good or bad, but she is big enough for it to be ok I think. But they are just falling off. Hopefully that's not a very bad thing. Number 2 is doing absolutely fantastic! Her colas are forming quite nicely and are super long. She had a few dead leaves in the lower part of the canopy that I found today. Not too much, maybe five or so. I expect her to stack even more over the next week. Just like her sister plant, I'm expecting long stacks as I'm already seeing. And the amount of time left is awesome. Another 5 weeks I think before harvest. It's a super long time, but it will be well worth it. However, this is the longest autoflower I've ever run. And I really can't be mad at the ant with such a bountiful harvest coming up. It might be four weeks. Who knows. I say three weeks left of flower than two weeks of flushing. So five weeks. Grow System Environment: Temp: 73.4° RH: 49.6% VPD: 1.38 kPa December 12, 2023 Strawberry Gorilla: Number 1 has a day or two left to go. My biggest issue is trying to figure out the right time to chop. I might be too early. Definitely not too late, but I don't want to go into the realm of too many amber trichomes. She also has a ton of purple trichomes. So I can't tell if those are ready or not. Either way, I'll be harvesting in the next couple days along with the Strawberry Gorilla in the Overflow Tent. No flush needed today. Number 2 I believe sadly has bud rot. It wouldn't surprise me at all considering how deeply covered she has been. No light. The weird part is the air movement. There's plenty just below her, so that definitely was never a problem. Anyway, the symptoms are brown and gray buds and leaves all along most of the bottom and on one complete side. They will all have to be removed. The funny part is the branches themselves are a very flexible green. So very much underdeveloped. Well, the lesson I have learned with this plant is to not just try, but find a way to keep all plants at a level canopy. No idea how I would have done that with this particular situation, but I'm sure I could have figured something out. She needs absolutely nothing now. I'll probably remove all the bad stuff later today when I'm feeling up to it. Depression is a bitch. Lol. Gorilla Cookies: Number 1 looks amazing with her big fat buds. The anchor I setup yesterday seems to be working perfectly. No more massive swaying when I pulled her out. Now that it's fixed, I wonder if she will put on more weight as she is less prone to tipping and can handle the weight. If I didn't have to remove her daily, I'd put her in the SCroG net and call it a day. But alas, no dice. No water needed. Her reservoir is still pretty full to be honest. She definitely took in a lot less than I thought she would. Interesting. She's definitely not done bulking up yet and absolutely does need the water. I wonder if she just started focusing more on the moisture in the soil. Or not. Whatever, she is healthy, happy and heavy. Only a leaf or two shed off today. So it's a good thing. Number 2 is beastly as ever. Her stacks are amazing and already getting dense just from the shear amount on each stalk. The very tops of each cola is made up of at least ten buds in the first three to four inches. She has a slight aroma. Nothing strong, but still loud enough for me to smell over the other plants in the tent. And they are LOUD. I found a couple of dead leaves within the center of the canopy. So they got pulled out. Nothing else really shedding, just a couple dead leaves here and there. She also got a full gallon top water without recharge. I'm starting to think I don't need to do it every week. Maybe every ten days or so. Her reservoir is about half full, so it's still going fairly strong. With the top feed, it should keep the wicks active now. She will definitely need a reservoir top off tomorrow. Update: I decided to cut off all the rot from Strawberry Gorilla 2. There was so much of it, I cut off entire branches and buds everywhere. Such a shame. So she is now back in the tent in her same spot but without an entire side that is now facing toward Gorilla Cookies 2. I've also lifted the SCroG net up in the front of the tent. It works two things. Keeping the outside tops of the Beast from flopping over and also makes it easier to remove the other three plants when needed. I should have done this weeks ago. Oh well. Grow System Environment: Temp: 74.3° RH: 47.7% VPD: 1.47 kPa