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Started Both beans in room temperature tap water placed in a dark room with ambient temp around 75f 9/17. Successful Germination 4 days later 9/21. Sorry no pics of germination :/ On 2nd day checked on beans they were floating but sank to bottom with a little tap with my finger. Transplanted into 2 different sized containers to experiment.
Tent setup is a zazzy 2x4 with 4 inch inline fan and filter for exhaust and a 4 inch ac infinity intake fan. Since I dont have Oscillating fans set up yet I had the tent exhausting more than it was taking in to create negative pressure in the tent. My lung room temp at night would go down to about 67 degrees and up to 80f during the day. and I worked to keep the humidity around 55-60%
Transplanted one bean into a 3 gallon FABRIC pot filled with Miracle-Gro Performance Organics All Purpose Container Mix, 16 qt, And I mixed with 3 Tablespoons Earthworm castings. I also topdressed the pot with Espoma seed starter mix That has Calicitic and dolimitic lime stone to help the soil buffer for ph. There is also some mycorrhizae in the seed starter but i sprinkled on 1/4 tsp Recharge on the outer edge of the FABRIC POT. I popped the seed in a tiny depression lightly covered it with seed starter and watered with a spray bottle until the soil was saturated. I kept the soil moist with a spray bottle for the following days never letting it dry out. The other bean i started in a solo cup with espoma seed starter top dressed with recharge and worm castings. First time so I went into this experimenting.
Both containers were mixed and watered a day before and allowed to sit to get the medium evenly saturated.
Set under light at 24 inches dimmer at 50% which I then lowered to 30% once seeds broke surface of soil. I kept the soil moist with a spray bottle filled with room temperature tap water , and also would spray the plant directly to keep the humidity up since I dont have a humidifier for this grow. I did not notice any negative effect on the leaves while spraying directly while the lights were on. I wouldnt drench them, just a very light misting. The plants seemed to enjoy it. Humidity would go up between 60 and 70% while spraying in the tent and then drop down to around 50 % after a while. The pics are of the 2 seedlings 7 days in. I also popped 3 photoperiod blue dream seeds that i kept in the tent until abt week 6 but theyll need a different diary entry. Them being in the tent helped me keep a higher humidity later in the grow. The picture of them all together is 7 days in. The empty pot has a blue dream seed planted in it thats a week behind the rest.
End of week 1 top dressed with worm castings 2 node forming. Watered each plant with 32 ounces mixed with 1/4 tsp Recharge. Watered with 32 ounces every 3 days or so during this week. Adjusted light height and intensity around day 10 to 50% dim maintaining 24 inches from top of canopy.
Day and night temps range 68-83f humidity started increasing at night 70-80% and would decrease during day. I would add humidity with a spray bottle lightly misting over top of plants. Maintained a humidity avg between 60-70%.
Day 13 Solo Cup Transplanted to 3 gallon pot of FOX FARM ocean forest/ happy frog mix 50/50 , sprinkled in some recharge . Top dressed 3 gallon pots with espoma seed starter.(Lightly covered top)
She did not like being transplanted one bit. Showed signs of being overwatered and stunted.
Watering bases from Ac infinity added At around 14 days. I top water with 32 ounces and i fill the bases with about a gallon for the next week slowly increasing amount of water given to them.
A lot of growth between weeks 2-3 Started Light LST and leaf tucking and added an oscillating fan on the lightest setting. 1 fan at first. A 2nd fan was added later
Maintained RH between 50-60%
Avg temp 79f
Watered every 4 days steadily increasing to 64 ounces from 32. Recharge every other watering at 1/4 tbs mixed into 32 ounces tap water at room temp.
Maintained light distance of 24 inches at 50% intensity.
At day 22 "Kala" was given a couple drops of bloom city Cal mag mixed into 64 ounces of water. I dont know why I did that but it seemed to help it along since it was lagging behind the others after being stunted at transplant.
I also top dressed all plants with Dematiaceous Earth on day 22. This had to be reapplied multiple times over the course of the next few weeks up until flower. No bug issues so far.
Up until now my main work has been maintaining a consistent environment and watering every 4 or more days depending on how quickly the plants need it. And applying DE... It gets everywhere.
Maintaining environment Temp and Humidity within 5-10 degrees night and day. 18/6 light schedule Light at 24 inches 50 percent intensity.
Lst Leaf tucking. Mothership seemed to enter flower about day 29. Recharge added at 1/4 tbs in 32 ounces tap water every other watering.
Watering every 2-3 days now with a half gallon give or take from top of pot. And Bases filled with 1-1.5 gallons every watering.
Light defoliation of a couple lower fan leaves on mothership Day 31
On day 33 I used a lst clip to bend the main stem of Kala down. In hindsight I should've done this to her sister but I waited too long before I decided it was a good idea. It would end up being a really good idea.
The two autos are growing vigorously now and have been showing preflower signs(Hairs) since the end of week 2 beginning of week 3. Node sites beginning to form on Mothership.
Feels like Kala( Fox farm soil blend transplanted from solo cup into 3 gal) is 1 week behind her sister even though they Germinated at the same time.
Day 33: Kala Topdressed with 2 tablespoons Gaia green power bloom and a scoop of ocean forest soil
Continued recharge every other watering, Probably overkill but the plants love it. Light intensity gradually moving up a notch everyday, running out of vertical space in the tent so i might not be able to raise the light to max intensity.
Both plants stretching But one is and has been growing alot faster than the other. Mothership seems a week ahead of Kala in terms of size and growth.
Continued leaf tucking.
Removed lst clip from Kala on day 36. Stem was standing back up by day 38
On day 38 Mothership was watered with a tiny dose of Flower Fuel. Instead of a 1/4 tsp I barely filled 1/4 in the scoop and mixed it with 32 ounces of tap water. I believe I went too long inbetween waterings and this resulted in her showing signs of being overwatered by drooping her leaves. She was praying the next morning. She really started bulking up after this. Maybe I shouldve just given a full dose?... hmm
On day 41 I added 2 tablespoons of gaia green bloom to mothership and added one more tablespoon to Kala. I also added 1 tablespoons worm castings to each. The blue dream is getting big so Im going to be moving them into the new tent soon. GG4 x Tangies will continue through harvest in the 2x4. By the end of week 5 both were Happy ,Praying and growing.
Day 41 Mothership started showing signs of deficiency. Started as Magnesium, then seems to show multiple deficiencies in the lower fan leaves. Possible lockout?... Or is she growing so fast she just hungry?...
On day 42 The blue dream plants were moved to the new 5x5... Maybe theyre story will be told in another entry. For now we go into week 6 Chugging right along....
Temp During the day 77-81F RH 45-55%
Watering with half a gallon every other day and filling the bases to max.
Tiny dose of Flower fuel mixed into 32 ounces every other watering. Started Flower fuel "microdose" (1/8th of a 1/4 tsp mixed into 32ounces of tap water. Day 40 on mothership and day 44 on Kala.
Day 47 Mothership showed clear signs of deficiency in Middle Fan leaves. Watered with a 32 ounces of plain tap water and 32 ounces mixed with 1/4 tsp reacharge at room temp to get some run off I collected in a bucket.
Day 48 Mothership seems to be recovering well. Still think I locked it out with too many nutes... Or I got the root zone too cold with cold water at the start of flower.. Not sure.. Monitoring closely but she seems to be on the up. Always praying even with the signs of deficiency( Calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous on Mothership). They both only droop slightly by the end of the day and are praying every morning.
Kala still seems a week behind in terms of size and stage of growth even though germinated same day. But after bending the main stem and allowing the other tops to catch up she has bushed up nicely. Stretch seems to be slowing down with Kala and shes bulking now.
Through the duration of the grow I have been rotating the plants a quarter turn everyday. 16 inch full spectrum light bars added to tent in the corners for lower canopy at 6 inches at max power, I run them 1 hour after main light turns on until lights off.
Also experimenting with the uv light bars , i run them in the middle of the day for 30 mins increasing 30 mins each day from the start of week 6. I might increase the time I have them on even more in the coming days. I have noticed increased trichome production on areas I expose to Uv but its inconclusive at this point whether they are providing a positive effect or not. My biggest worry now is the health of mothership. The fan leaves have been the only leaves showing deficiency. Going into week 7 growing strong and praying.
Week 7 Days 49-56 Battling low humidity without a humidifier... Watering, rootzone temp and ph lockout issues settling. Both plants fattening up flowers and showing increased trichome production by day 56. In the future I would make sure the Plants are a little better fed by this week and that I have better control on Humidity and watering( i.e temp, ph , amount of water) The watering bases from ac infinity are great but if you are using soil that holds on to alot of water it could lead to overwatering and lockout issues.
Signs of deficiency progressed through the week then slowed down after flushing and removing watering base from mothership. I believe Mothership showed deficiency even though she had everything she needed because of lockout due to the rootzone getting too cold and also being too wet because of the water base and the soil containing a wetting agent.. These conditions are what led to what I believe to be a lockout and why the plant exhibited multiple symptoms of deficiency even though all nutrients were available to the plant. Also GG4 is a hungry girl so the lockout combined with being in a period of rapid growth is what led to the plant showing deficiency. Fortunately, the plants seem to be doing okay after a small flush and allowing them to dry out slightly and then watering with 75 degree water and increasing bloom frequency and adding cal mag.
Day 56 the plants seem to be recovering and packing on size and trichomes. I also moved one of the fans to blow directly on the pot that mothership is in to help the soil dry out faster. The soil type definitely retains more water than is needed for cannabis but I do believe it to be a good soil so far and can be made better in the future. The plants are sticky and smell like sweet lemony, Earthy gas. Im sure theres atleast 2-3 more weeks remaining before harvest... How to keep the plants happy until then without overloading them on nutes?... Ive been spoon feeding an 1/8 of a 1/4 tsp of flower fuel and a 1/4 tsp recharge last 2 waterings. Ive also given 4 drops of cal mag to each plant over 2 waterings( at the time of watering 2 drops mixed into 34 ounces but top watered with 65 ounces altogether) which seemed to help the plants start greening up again especially the new growth. Ive also continued to take leaves here and there that have gone yellow or started to dry up. Its helped expose bud sites to more light. I also sprayed the top soil of the pots with foop mist , to help deter bugs. Ill be looking into adding a foliar spray earlier in the plants life cycle to help deter bugs in the future but Im pretty happy with avoiding bug problems so far. I increased the light intensity to full and turn it down to 75% when I have the UVA light bars on for an hour everyday sometime mid day. I cant really say if its made a difference or not as I do not have a baseline for what it looks like without. All I can say is after coming out of this lockout the plants are getting sticky, frosty and increasing in size. Mothership seems to be a week ahead of Kala in terms of Maturity even though Germinated on same day.
THEY WERE BOTH FLUSHED AT THE END OF THE PREVIOUS WEEK.
Now that its coming out that flushing is unnecessary towards the end of harvest , does allowing the plants natural process of senescence hurt final yield or does it lead to better quality flowers?
Final flushing with only water is bad practice because it deprives the plant of food while it has to expend a lot of energy producing cannabinoids and terpenes. The longer it takes, the more it affects the quality of the flowers.
Using a finishing product, such as Power Clean from Bio Tech or Flawless Finish from ADN, will help the plant to assimilate the remaining fertiliser in the soil and clean the substrate for subsequent crops. But a whole week is too long, and I generally cut back after 3 or 4 days.
However, a more effective technique for improving the taste is to cut your plants in the dark, just before sunrise, and wait half an hour before showing your cut flowers the light. The plants will then have less sap in their system and therefore less fertiliser and less chlorophyll.
> Ppl who say don't flush. Usually are not smoking it.
Smoking ruins the taste anyway, try dry herb vaporizer. 😍
Harvest at once and accept what you have.
Partial harvests never work properly in my experience, the metabolic shock caused by removing most of the plant and then leaving only a little bit to struggle finishing always ends up poorer in quality than earlier harvested flowers, even though they may not be quite ready.
Experiment yourself and draw your own conclusions may be a better option, but I do not recommend partial harvests.
Day 57:Ms watered with tiny dose flower fuel(1/8 of 1/4 tsp mixed with 32 ounces water) recieved 64 ounces total
Kala watered plain water. Both plants very sticky and smell like sweet lemony pepper, as the days go on the smell is taking on a more sweet lemony gas with less pepper. Kala has a higher resin production than her sister as shown on her sugar leaves.
Day 58: Ms watered with 1/4 tsp recharge mixed in 32 ounces tap water. Watered with 72 ounces to get some runoff.
Kala didn't need water as I still have her on the ac infinity watering base. She's greening up again
Day 59: I made a mistake today and gave Mothership some recharge and a couple drops of cal - mag with a tiny dose of bloom. This would prove one of my biggest mistakes of the grow. Mothership eventually showed signs of nutrient burn with leaf tips curling up. I noticed this the next day.
Kala also got the same mix. 2 drops calmag, tiny dose flower fuel. Shes in Fox Farm OF/Happy frog mix and seemed to enjoy her feeding.
Day 60: Noticed the burn on Mothership and immediately gave her a flush. I also turned down the intensity of my light to 75 % from 90%. And have been working on bringing my temperature and humidity to have a vpd around 1.20 getting the humidity which was at 40 and raising it to 50 seemed to help the plants during this stressful time. I've been giving mothership plain water ever since and intend of finishing it out this way.
Day 61:Kala watered. Seemed hungry for sulfur but seems to be packing in weight now.
Day 62:Mothership watered plain water. I've also been defoliating burnt leaves as the week goes on. The trichomes have all mostly turned cloudy and there are even some amber trichs on the sugar leaves of the topmost flower. I know she can go longer but she might be finishing early due to all the stress.
Kala still going strong...
considering gradually harvesting mothership soon. Was hoping to get 3 more weeks out of her but it's looking like she might be done on the next few days. Watching tricks closely and ensuring a stable environment. My drying space is also prepared and ready for harvest when the time comes with Temps around 60-65 and humidity 55-60. The flowers are actively growing rn and she seems to be recovering from all the stress... we shall see how long I can let her go before the chop...
Overall this week has been a learning week. Growing medium is very important and I believe while it's possible to use miracle gro organic soil to grow quality it does make it more difficult in flower to feed with ph/ imbalance issues. Mothership won't reach her full potential but she's not done yet...
Arabian3Knight
