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Germination started on Tuesday with 3 seeds using the paper towel method. Super simple and the most effective method that I have found to date. Simply placed the seeds between two sheets of paper towels and sprayed with water. Gently put the paper towels inside a bag and sealed it up around 80% before blowing into it to create a humidity bubble for the seeds. Closed it off quickly to keep as much air in the bag as possible. Placed them in a dark cupboard and waited.
....And 48 hours later they had sprouted. Straight into soil plugs that had been soaked in a Plagron Power Roots solution of 1:1000ml and put under the lights dimmed to 30% power. The height of the lights is about 75 cm or 30inches from the stand (not the seedlings). Light schedule is on 18hrs / 6hrs with an automatic humidifier set to 70% and a small fan to keep the airflow consistent.
24 hours later (Friday evening - start of day 3) - the little seedlings had really found their way towards the light, but they were struggling to get rid of their shells. Sprayed a fine mist over the leaves to soften the shells and removed them gently.
Day 4 - The best of the remaining two unnamed seeds were chosen, being "CG 1". "Cheech" and "CG 1" were repotted into the hydroponics system. We decided to use two different systems (same as in the Mother Gorilla grow) because of a "friendly bet". One system made from a simple black car wash bucket with a lid and the other from a more expensive brand, specifically designed for hydroponic growth. The substrate used in the netted buckets are clay pebbles. Air pumps have been placed into the bottom of each of the buckets with an air stone. In the black buckets, extra care was taken to try avoid any light entering the holes that were made for the air pump by using tape. The water has a solution of 1:1000ml of Plagron Power Roots solution as well. The seedlings were looking healthy with their first leaves starting to show.
Day 8 - First official day of veg and both ladies are right on time for a small adjustment in lighting, PH and nutrients. 10ml of Hydro A & Hydro B were added to both buckets (10L of water in each bucket) and the Milwaukee PH controller was set to work. Starting at a PH of around 7.8, it slowly worked down to a perfect 6.0 over about 50minutes. The lights were readjusted to be 60cm from the seedlings who are all between 8-10cm tall and the intensity of the lights increased to about 70% brightness.
Day 9 - Cheech is taking nicely to the adjustment in light and nutrients, but CG 1 is looking a little bit too perky. Going to give her 24 hours to adjust.
Day 10 - We have finally renamed CG 1. Fellow enthusiasts, meet Venezia.
Day 12 - The root systems are clearly visible in the ladies today
Day 13 - The ladies are looking well today. Venezia seems to be showing some light signs of heat stress with slight curling of the leaves. The lights are due to be adjusted tomorrow to account for the seedlings growth over the last week.
Day 15 - First day in the second week of veg cycle and I am generally happy with both ladies. Cheech is looking like she is bending over a little with the weight of her leaves, so I’ve given her a bit of help to keep her steady and strong.
I’ve also noticed that the roots on Cheech are sticking together and a bit darker than I would like. This could mean that the air stone left a “dead spot” where the water wasn’t circulating properly. I’ve adjusted the air stone to be more centre in the bucket and made sure that the water is cold enough to prevent potential root rot. Will need to keep a close eye for the next week or so.
Lights have been not been adjusted (still at 60cm from seedlings) because there has only been about a 2cm growth in the last week. Changed the water (10L), buckets and nutrients to keep everything healthy. The tubes for the air bubblers are wiped down because the nutrients stick to the pipe. Milwaukee PH controller is running for about 1 hour to bring the PH down again from the addition of the nutrients and change in water.
Day 17 and we have a clear front runner in Cheech. Her third node is open with a fourth clearly visible. Venezia has a clear third node, but it isn’t fully open yet with the fourth just barely starting.
Day 20 - Cheech has a clear fourth node now and the fifth is starting to show whereas Venezia is one node behind. They are looking healthy and they will be ready to be topped in the coming week of veg
Day 22 and there have been significant changes in the size of the fan leaves. The stems are looking much fatter and more sturdy as well. Cheech has her 5 nodes, perfect and ready for topping. I am going to put off topping her though until Venezia is ready and that should be in the coming couple of days. Other than that, changed water and adjusted the lights about 3cm higher to keep them at 60cm from the plant. Again I left the Milwaukee PH controller to run for about an hour to get the PH down to 6.0
Day 25 and ladies have been topped at node 4, keeping node 3 and cleaning node 1 & 2. Light LST on Cheech’s axillary buds which are already well developed
Day 27 - following up with gentle LST twice daily, tightening up the formation of the mainline. I’ve noticed what seems to be a bit of stress on the leaves of Cheech (see photos) which is affecting both plants under the same light. So I’ve moved the light up a few centimetres and rechecked and adjusted the PH which was at around 6.4.
This was a good week to learn a few things about what I want to do for the next grow. This grow, I let the ladies grow to 5 nodes before topping to the third - next grow, I would top to the third when the 4th is clearly visible. I am about 1 week behind schedule, waiting for the nodes on the mainline to grow so they can be topped again. Going to top them into 8 main cola’s.
Reduced water in the buckets to 7l so that the roots have to work a little harder because Cheech was showing signs of being over-watered.
Lights remained at 60cm about the plants, 1ml of all nutrients per litre of water.
Day 37 - both ladies are ready to be topped at the first node on each of the mainline stems. From four sites, we will create eight.
Cheech is definitely more developed than Venezia at this point. Gently bent the stems and fastened them down to the buckets. Change of water, nutrients and control of PH. For the rest, everything remained unchanged. Changing over to flower in the coming few days, just waiting on the plants to recover from topping.
Day 42 (first day of week 6) lights off for 72 hours to switch the plants into flowering.
Before lights went off: left the main fan leaves on, spread them out and tied them down to create additional tension on the mainline. Tied the axilliary bud stems to the fan lines to help spread the new stems.
Day 45 lights back on: trimmed off fan leaves to allow nutrients to be directed only to bud sites. Changed water, nutrients and lights adjusted to full intensity and lowered to 45cm above the plants. Trained plants to adjust for growth.
Day 48 and the ladies are receiving a final cleaning to allow for maximum light to bud sites. Removed the fan leaves and the axillary buds, leaving only the 8 main bud sites prepped earlier in the veg stage
Day 52 - In general the ladies seem happy and have recovered from topping and defoliation. I have noticed some markings on some of the leaves and initially I thought it was a bit of light stress, but looking at it more closely, I might need to get some spray for spiders. I am seeing (very few) what appears to be a thin web starting to form closer to the stems and leaves. It is very minimal at the moment and I think we’ve caught it early enough.
Day 59 and there are mixed feelings. The spider spray ruined some of the leaves and now cautiously waiting to see results after extra defoliation to freshen the plant. We will note the difference in the end yield because of the additional light on the smaller sites in these early stages.
Both ladies are looking good this week. I am seeing the bud sites clearly along the stems with pistols and all 8 nodes have started flowering as well. Expecting them to stretch a lot in the coming days
The ladies are stretching for the light, so the addition of the scrog net is definitely helping to get light to those smaller bud sites down the stem. Pistols and buds are looking and smelling beautiful.
Other real changes - no longer adding Power Roots to the weekly nutrient change. Lights still at approx 45cm from plant top
Gentle defoliation of lower fan leaves and leaves shadowing other bud sites, especially in the centre of the mainline.
Cheech finally looks like she is starting to really recover and bud sites are starting to mature.
Everything looking good this week. Smell is getting stronger and bud sites are growing every day. No longer removing the scrog net, just maintenance on the water and nutrients.
Flushing the ladies this week - water only. The bud sites are thickening, the flowers are fat and sticky and pistols have changed colour significantly.
Ladies are smelling strong and ready to be harvested. Chopping Venezia to be hung out to be dried tonight. Cheech can still go another day or two under the light with the lower pistols still a little blush.
Buds are still very wet. Cleaned off the excess leaves and left them in a drying rack in an extra tent to protect it from bugs and to be able to control the humidity a little better.
When they are dry enough, we will store them in jars with humidity packs.
Alice_in_Wonderland
