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Everything went smoothly this week. I started her off on a 14/10 light cycle the first two days, then bumped it up to 18/6 for two more before finally settling on 20/4. I only bought 1 seed of this strain so I wanted to be careful & not kill it! Also only using one 42-watt CFL this week to get her acclimated to light before adding another in Week 2.
Week 2 is in full effect! I added the 2nd CFL bulb this week and put the oscillating fan on her to strengthen the stem. Still watering 2x per week & misting 3 days per week with a spray bottle to keep humidity levels up & mimic Springtime conditions. I added a bit more soil to help support the lanky stem & will keep adding gradually until the container is almost full. I've been using the 20-watt blurple LED gooseneck lights sporadically for about 3 hours per day for added lumens.
Feeding & training start next week! 😹
Week 3 will be starting with some gentle stem-pinching--a modified version of supercropping. Just doing 1 spot on the main stem and only working it hard enough to break the inner hurd...not the outer skin. She'll be left standing up straight. I'll repeat this process again in Week 5. Stem pinching is supposed to create bigger buds without the repair time of supercropping. We'll see!
I'll be watering with diluted urine* later this week for a nitrogen boost. This worked great last time, though I've bought some all-purpose potassium ferts for flowering since it's too much guess work using homemade feeds the whole grow. I almost killed my last plant with homemade banana tea! I removed the LEDs until later to save on electricity & make my grow space more stealthy for a while. Will reinstate them once pre-flowering has ended.
(*If you think diluted urine is icky as a fertilizer, sorry. It's the cheapest, most abundant source of nitrogen out there & works great at any stage of growth. And it goes into the soil; not on the plant itself. The response is nearly instant with the plant looking perkier & greener every time. Can't argue with results!)
Week 4 already!
This is the last week of veg before flipping into 18/6. I'll be doing some ponytailing of the top leaves to get light to lower bud sites and applying a couple rounds of Humic Acid via foliar feeding. (This will be my last week of misting since flowering is starting & I don't want moldy buds). She's already got a flower forming in the center & is definitely female, which is good since that's what I paid out the arse for, lol.
Feeding went great last week. I added some Humic Acid to my aforementioned "golden" fertilizer & the plant loved it. Stem pinching went a little sideways; I accidentally made a small hole in the stem but it was easily closed up with a pipe cleaner.
I am concerned about the size of this plant for stealth reasons! My only other grow was in a Solo cup so I'm not used to a full-size plant. I plan to keep the lights low to avoid stretching & lollipop as many leaves as possible, but still. There's no denying what kind of plant this is; it's got the most stereotypical looking pot leaves ever. Also hoping the smell stays manageable. We shall see.
Flowering is under way! Or at least Pre-Flowering. The first bloom popped up last week but now it's official. The light schedule will be 18/6 from here on out & I'll increase watering to 3x per week with no misting.
I'll be feeding some Tetramin fish flakes in water to supply phosphorus & additional nutrients this week. I used this on my last grow & it didn't seem to hurt anything. The flakes contain 1% phosphorus as well as a long list of ingredients like fish & shrimp meal, brown rice & alfalfa. She's starting to look a bit pale on cotyledons & first leaf set so I'll definitely give her another shot of 'golden fertilizer' this week too for nitrogen. (My last plant developed a serious N deficiency in Week 8 so I learned to keep supplying it through all of pre-flower). I suspect the Humic Acid with its pH of 9.0 might've thrown off the pH balance a bit as well. Ponytailing went well last week; some leaves look ugly & crinkled but I expect them to bounce back just fine.
I plan to prune ("lollipop") some bottom fan leaves this week to decrease humidity & help more light get to the bud sites. Hopefully this will make the plant stink less & be more stealthy in general by cutting down on size. I'm also gonna do another stem pinching session mid-week but will be careful not to do as much damage this time. This will be the 'final pinch' so to speak. She will likely look VERY different by the end of this week since I'll be taking off most of the huge fans, but I expect the buds & upward growth to start filling in soon. Irie! 😎
I have symptoms of both N deficiency AND toxicity. Paleness is spreading up from the lower leaves, but there's also downward clawing & "burnt" tips on other leaves. Plus some weird brown ends on the larger fans. Haven't fed any bottled nutes. Halp?
Hey Kaya, you have all sorts of symptoms happening at the same time because of PH fluctuations probably due to the Kelp and a bit too much P in the urine causing a bit of lock out perhaps. The main thing is controlling the PH - maybe buy a PH strip it's very cheap ! Kelp will raise your PH quite a bit that's why you want to PH down it. Good luck with the flowering man ! 🚀
Week 6 is upon us, ladies & germs! Last week was kinda rough: my plant was having some suspected pH issues due to the humic acid I applied strongly in Week 4, and there was some burning of fan leaves due to their proximity to the CFL bulbs. I didn't realize that humic acid could cause "sunburn" when applied to the leaves so I think that played a role too.
Gonna be checking the pH of her feeds more closely going forward. 4 drops of lemon juice seems to work great to bring the pH of diluted urine down from a 7 or 8 to a 6. I also pruned her biggest fans so she can get closer to the lights without burning up. As for the downward leaf curl, I saw the exact same trait in another grower's IPCBD grow journal, so maybe it's just a genetic thing with this strain!
On this week's agenda is some lollipopping of the lowest budsites & some more diluted urine + Tetramin for sustenance. Gotta get that final nitrogen & phosphorus boost in before starting the potassium. Her growth last week was tremendous! The buds have doubled in size in 7 days though she's not getting much taller yet. Despite the fugly burnt up leaves, the flowers are healthy & fat which is what really counts. I'm also seeing some faint frost forming around the pistils. Giggity. 😈
The skunky smell was noticed by one of my roommates upon entering my room...and this roommate has nearly lost her sense of smell entirely. Must keep other roommate OUT at all costs because the stench is starting to become a thing. We're past the halfway stretch now if I harvest on Week 10 or 11, which I plan to do.
Wow. This grow has flown by. She didn't grow (vertically) much in pre-flower but her buds really took off, which is exactly how I wanted her: short & sweet.
I'm adding the LED lights back full-time & starting my potassium humate feeds once a week for the next three weeks to supply potassium. Will have to check the pH on that stuff religiously because it's so high (9.0). But first, I'm starting the week off with a mini-flush w/ plain water to wash any excess fertilizer out of the soil. Her leaves are looking funky & I want to start with a clean slate before feeding anything else. I know yellowing is supposed to happen in late flower but it seems too early. Same thing happened with my last grow! Overnight yellowing of most of the plant in Week 7. So weird. 😶
I clipped the very bottom bud sites last week since they'd never amount to much. Pretty sure I'm done pruning. She's small & airy as it is. The leaves are starting to worry me a bit with how fast they turned yellow, but the buds are flawless & the pistils are starting to mature. As long as the rest of her can hang in there until Week 10 or 11, should be okay.
On the plus side, there's lots more frost developing around the bigger buds now. Exciting! I was comparing this plant with pics from my last grow & her buds are twice the size of the old one's at the same point. So no matter what happens I think I'll be pleased with the final yield (if she doesn't die, lol). She should start really filling out from this week on which is my favorite part!
Whew! Last week was a bit dramatical. I went to check on my plant & she had turned yellow literally overnight. This has happened to both of my grows in Week 7. Some sort of sudden nitrogen deficiency that happens when the buds plump up & the LEDs are added back? I assume so. A few fan leaves fell off when touched which was...sad. Several more have crinkled up & are dying. I fed her some strong (1:4 dilution) golden fertilizer but don't have any other nitrogen on hand so I'm gonna be stretched thin until harvest.
This week will consist of just the basics: Another potassium humate feeding & plenty pH checking. This plant is also drinking way more water than the one in the Solo cup which contradicts everything I was told about smaller containers. She's a real diva! Keeps wilting due to underwatering despite giving a whole giant cup of water 3x per week. I never expected this grow to be as stressful as my Solo cup project but it's been MORE demanding. Will definitely pick up some all-purpose fertilizer next time around. At this rate it'll be a miracle if she makes it to harvest in one piece. 😱
Drama aside, the buds are looking more luscious than ever. Sparkly & fat with more shrunken orange pistils every day. And the top few layers of leaves are turning an odd pinkish maroon color, which is probably a deficiency or heat issue but it sure looks neat. And she had noticeable new growth after the Potassium Humate feeding, which was cool.
Getting antsy for harvest! She's not much to look at by this point but I'm confident the buds will look pretty when trimmed. Conditions are obviously not ideal but my yields will be bigger than my 1st grow so I'll take it. She's a short & stocky gal with a pungent skunky smell that can be smelt down the hall with the door shut. It's a real blessing she didn't get any bigger. 😮
This week will consist of the final Potassium Humate feeding plus a splash of Epsom salt for magnesium. I'll start the week with a drizzle of maple syrup in her water for carbs. (They didn't have the right molasses at the store...I tried). Last week I gave her a whole 16.9 FL Oz. bottle of water--pH 6--to flush out anything that might be contributing to the yellowing. Not sure if it helped but it sure didn't hurt. She drinks up water quick at this stage & sprouts new white pistils on new calyxes after every big watering.
Week 10 will likely be her final week of life before harvest. (These CBD strains supposedly do best when harvested before the trichomes turn amber). I want to let her mature as long as possible but don't know how long she'll hang in there. The pistils are about 65% ripe at this point. Day 77 is my goal date for harvest. We're at Day 63 now.
Despite the hardships I'm impressed with that fat main cola that just keeps growing with impressively colorful hues--pink, green, yellow & even some orange. She's got a spicy citrus aroma when the buds are squeezed. I'll break out the magnifying glass soon to check the trichomes more closely & get some better photos before chopping, hopefully.
Well, it's here: the last week of IPCBD's life. Last week kicked off with a power outage that lasted about 8 hours but scared me pretty good. My grow room is cold so I put my gal under the window for light during the afternoon & wrapped her in a warm blanket for insulation. (Thanks, GrowWeedEasy.com).
This week will be busy: going to start off with a couple 24-hour light periods to maximize her last bit of potential before tapering down to 20/4, then going dark for 3 days to help her finish up. I'll be feeding her another shot of maple syrup & Epsom salt before doing a final ice water flush & letting her get dehydrated for a few days prior to harvest. Will likely damage her a little bit again before the chop: piercing the stem & cutting the leaves up to mimic an animal attack. Harvest is scheduled for Sunday, November 25th right now. That'll be Day 76 from seed.
The trichs were mostly cloudy on the lower buds & glassy on the main cola last week but they're definitely frosting up now. Should be perfect by Sunday! There are a few white pistils left on the main cola but the trichomes are definitely at their peak milkiness on most of the plant. She keeps sprouting new clusters of white pistils on the center bud so I can see how you could end up waiting forever if you're going by the pistils. I pulled off some dead leaves & touched the center bud, causing her to release the most mouth-watering fruity smell ever! Can't wait to get her dried & reviewed. 😵
*Standout Traits: Thick middle cola, downward clawing leaves.
*Positives: Rapidly-growing fat buds, fast maturation, short & stocky, amazing tart/fruity smell.
*Negatives: Asymmetry, prone to yellowing & leaf trouble (spots, burns), sensitive to underwatering, small yield.
IPCBD appears to take on many different heights & shapes depending on grow conditions & phenotype. I went into this expecting a taller & more robust plant since I was growing in a regular sized pot as opposed to a Solo cup. Was a bit surprised she stayed so short & stocky, though this wasn't a bad thing since stealth was important. However, I was somewhat bothered by other weaknesses in the form of orange leaf spots, crispy tips & leaves that yellowed rapidly in Week 7. She also exhibited some major asymmetry--the left branch grew much bigger & farther out from the main stem than the right & several buds were smaller on one side despite frequent rotation to ensure equal illumination. She was actually *more* finicky than my Solo cup plant and yielded a mere 0.3g more in dry weight, which was disappointing. Despite the cheap-o grow setup I expected an increased yield due to the larger container if nothing else...more room for the roots to stretch out.
That said, I'm pleased with the overall quality considering the conditions I was working with. Once the budlets formed they exploded quickly & never slowed. She responded well to ponytailing & leaf-tucking and bounced back from stem-pinching even when I accidentally perforated her stem. I also appreciate the short grow time very much. Would gladly grow this strain again if I had the seeds.
Overall, IPCBD is a sensitive plant that likes frequent feeding in flower but will reward growers with a thick main cola even under less than ideal conditions. She finished in 75 days under weak CFLs & created quite a stink for such a small girl. She would make a great addition to any grow room, even if it's just to fill a small corner of your tent.
Great ratio of THC:CBD for my needs. There is a head lift but not enough to induce that racing heart anxiety I get from today's weed. Feels like a throwback to '90s pot but in the form of neatly-manicured, trichome-encrusted modern dope. I can take a couple hits & enjoy myself without four hours of ensuing negative thought loops & paranoia. Just an easygoing, sunny mood and pain-free body stone in which my limbs feel light as air. Perfect.
Where IPCBD really shines is the aroma. While growing the smell was a typical cannabis stench: skunky & dank and could be smelled down the hall w/ the door shut. But when I accidentally bumped a bud I was shocked by the complex fruity bouquet that hit me. I had to wash my hands & try again to be sure I wasn't smelling something other than the plant! I couldn't even begin to guess which terpenes this strain contains aside from limonene, as the smell is so unique. It literally smells of Sweet Tarts, Twizzlers or another sour fruit-flavored candy. It's a shame the 'Zkittlez' name is already taken because it would've been a perfect fit. Taste is harder to pin down as I generally smoke out of a dirty pipe & this time was no exception. I'd describe it as decent though it'd be smoother with a good cure.
I don't find IPCBD to be sedating at these low doses, though most would probably consider it more of an evening strain due to the slight Indica dominance & high CBD content. (I react backwards to Sativas & Indicas so keep that in mind). I immediately wanted to do yoga after sampling it, and I haven't done yoga in over a year. It felt sublime! There's definitely an uplifting mood/energy effect here but it mellows out pretty quickly. I'm sure it would get one "high" in larger doses but I'm not interested in that so I'll leave it to the pros. This strain is on par with my 14% CBD hemp bud in terms of relaxation & pain relief but with an extra jolt of cerebral energy that's just my speed.
I'd recommend IPCBD to anyone looking for a more mellow recreational experience and those suffering with muscle/joint pain, epilepsy, migraine, anxiety, depression or addiction to depressants like alcohol or benzos. And any of you terpene queens in search of bold new flavors for your palette.
In this age of super-potent weed, it ain't all about the THC. 😇
Post-Cure Update: Now that it's completely dried & cured for at least a week, I've sampled more & can give a better description of IPCBD's characteristics. The smell when curing is like a pot of strong black coffee roasting in the kitchen as a family of skunks sprays up the backyard. And the effect is even more potent! I smoked half a joint the other day & was completely monged out for the whole afternoon. This is the "heaviest" strain I've ever smoked, and by that I mean the body stone feels like you've melted into a comfy puddle of goo. As a daily kratom/opiate user, this strain knocked me out harder than those substances & actually surpassed them in the muscle relaxation department. No joke. Pain & anxiety sufferers take note.
Kaya666
