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[Start date Seedling: 09/19/24]
So, I started a new run, focusing only on automatics. One of the seeds is from Fast Buds. I already had one Gelato, that i gave to my mom, and it performed very good. So i wanted to try one of the new strains of Fast Buds. The Lemon Cherry Cookies looked soooo good, that i had to try.
I soaked the seed in Black Forest still water for about 48 hours. After that, a taproot appeared, so I planted the seed directly in the pot. The pot is a 20L fabric pot made by AC Infinity. The quality of the pot is really, really good. The seed wasn’t planted right in the middle, but off-center. I want to train my autos in this run to gain more experience with LST.
The soil is made of:
20% Pumice: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0CQM61X8S/
About 8/9% of activated Biochar/Charcoal: https://www.amazon.de/DIMIKRO-Pflanzenkohle-fein-gemahlen-Liter/dp/B07PNPQSXR
20% Worm Castings: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07SQDRXGC
50% of soil (Torffreie Kräuter und Aussaaterde): https://www.raiffeisenmarkt.de/gaertnerglueck-torffreie-kraeuter-und-aussaaterde-p-73816145
09/26/24 Short facts:
- watered 2 x 0.2l
- VPD @ 0.6
- Light @ 30% - ~370ppfd (AC Infinity ION Frame EVO 3)
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The plant is growing really well, no problems at all.
On Day 3, I decided it was time to plant some clover as a cover crop. I now spray the top of the soil with a little water in the morning and evening. As you can see, the clover is already growing, it looks nice and more lively. I also don't have her under the humitidy dome anymore.
This is my first grow inside my grow tent, so I’m happy to be able to control more environmental factors, especially the humidity and therefore the VPD (Vapor Pressure Deficit). I’m using the AC Infinity Cloudforge T3 (2nd Gen.). The VPD is currently set to 0.6. I programmed an offset of -2 degrees for the leaf temperature, which I measured. The actual difference is more like 2.6 degrees. (I use distilled water for the humidifier and added a few drops of tea tree oil to prevent the growth of bacteria or fungi, and it also repels insects. Plus, it smells quite good.)
I watered the plant twice this week, 0.2L each time, with Silica Force, CalMag, and Root-Juice added.
She is now 6 cm tall, and I’m totally happy with the growth. Right now, i think she is the best and most healthy looking of my 3 plants.
10/03/24 Short facts:
- started LST on day 13
- Lessons learned: Should have waited a few more days before starting to do LST
- watered 2 x 1l -- 2l
- VPD @ 0.7 -- raised by 0.1
- Light @ 40% - ~460ppfd -- increased by 10%
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Sorry for being late with the second week update, but I was really sick. I'm happy that I managed to keep up with taking care of the plants.
This week, I increased the VPD by 0.1 because it wasn’t necessary to maintain such high humidity anymore.
Unfortunately, I’ve got problems with fungus gnats, which is probably no surprise due to the fast-growing clover. Since I’ve been keeping the top layer of the soil moist every day for the clover, it allowed the fungus gnats to lay their eggs. To combat this, I used nematodes.
On Day 13, I decided it was time to start with LST. I used some soft garden wire to stretch the plant to the other side of the pot, exposing the side branches directly to the light. But honestly, I think it was a mistake, and I started a few days too soon with my Lemon Cherry Cookies. She wasn’t as big as the other two plants, and the distance between the internodes is quite small. I guess this is strain-dependent. I should have waited a few more days before starting LST. But I didn’t. Lesson learned. She’s still doing well, though. 😏
10/10/24 Short facts:
- did continue with LST
- watered 1 x 1,5l; 1 x 0,3; 1 x 1,2l
- VPD @ 0.8 -- raised by 0.1
- Light @ 50% - ~560 ppfd -- increased by 10%
- Bio-Grow dosage was increased
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Sorry for not forgetting to post the third week, i completely forgot to post the pictures for the Lemon Cherry Cookies...
Not much to report this week. I raised the light intensity to 50% and increased the VPD.
LST is going great. (It’s the first time I’m really trying to do it properly.) Nearly every day, I’ve had to adjust the LST. I also had to cut off some leaves because they weren’t getting much light anymore. Right now, she is a little bit behind the other two plants, and I'm not sure why. Could be the genetics, but maybe she doesn't like, that right next to her is the only air intake, that I'm using. So the roots could be a little bit colder, than the roots of the other two plants, and the air should also be a little colder, although the temperature in the room is always between 20 to 22.6 degrees. But still she is doing good, so nothing to complain there. (Also I have to buy some heating mats for the winter, so the root temperature probably won't be any problem in the upcoming future.)
10/17/24 Short facts:
- Continued with LST
- Watered: 1 x 1.2L, 1 x 0.3L, 1 x 1L
- VPD @ 0.9 — raised by 0.1
- Light @ 50% ~500 to 560 PPFD
- Removed 2-3 leaves
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As promised last week, i made a video and explained the progress so far, and did show you the plant.
Not much to report. I continued LST, though I’ve stopped for a few days now since the branches are well spread out, and that should be enough for the time being.
The Lemon Cherry Cookies is lacking behind in her development, maybe she got a little bit less light, because she is a little bit smaller than the other two plants.
10/24/24 Short facts:
- Continued with LST
- Watered: 1 x 1.2L, 1 x 1L, 1 x 0.8L — 3L
- VPD @ 1.0 — raised by 0.1
- Light @ 70% ~580 to 720 PPFD
- Defoliation
- Nutrients increased and added: BioBizz Top-Max and Bio-Bloom
- No Root-Juice anymore
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I don’t know what happened, but my pictures are not very good this week. It’s probably time to buy a good camera, maybe a used one with a decent lens.
I defoliated the Lemon Cherry Cookies this week. I had to remove some leaves so that the branches and their tops could get direct light. But honestly, she looked pretty bad afterward. I really don’t like cutting off branches or leaves; it hurts me to see them like that. Sadly, I accidentally cut one of the better branches in half, which was really devastating.
On that occasion, I also did a bit more LST, but that was the only session this week. There probably won’t be much more LST to do in the upcoming weeks.
I increased the light intensity and also upped the nutrients.
The LCC (short for Lemon Cherry Cookies) is the smallest plant in the tent and has fewer branches than the others. She also doesn’t use much water. But it was incredible to see how fast she went into flower, it basically happened from one day to the next. Her buds are the biggest and prettiest in the tent.
Because she was the smallest plant, I put something under her pot on Day 28 to ensure she had the same distance to the light as the other two plants.
10/31/24 Short facts:
- Watered: 1 x 1L, 1 x 0.7L, 1 x 0.5L — 2.2L
- VPD @ 1.1 — raised by 0.1
- Light @ 80% ~700 to 1050 PPFD — increased by 10%
- Temperature has increased, dehumidifier and increased light output had their effect
- BioBizz Bio-Bloom increased to 2ml/L
- Deficency in phosphorus and potassium
- Added some Bonemeal
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Lessons learned:
- How a phosphorus defficiency is looking
- I need to water her more, than i thought
- I have to improve the soil I'm using with more additional fertilizer, when mixing it in the beginning
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She doesn’t look good. My first thought was that she was lacking potassium, but thankfully, a user on GrowDiaries named “Dendegrow” commented and pointed out that it looks more like a phosphorus deficiency. A friend and I did some research and agreed that Dendegrow is right. Thank you, Dendegrow! (The cannabis community is really great and helpful, probably the most non-toxic community I know. Sharing knowledge and helping each other out. An awesome community!)
I added some bone meal as a first attempt to help her out. I also gave her some diluted urine from myself 😂. Additionally, I ordered some phosphorus fertilizer.
Her pot is always quite heavy compared to the other pots. Something must have gone wrong when filling the pots with soil. Maybe I compacted the soil more than in the other pots, but I can’t remember. I’m going to try giving her a bit more water in the upcoming week.
Sometime next week, I’m planning to buy supplies for the Blumat drip system. (I’ll be gone for about a week soon, so I need to test the system beforehand.)
11/08/24 Short facts:
- Watered: 1 x 1.L, 1 x 0.5L, 1 x 0.5, 1 x 0.3L, 1 x 1.0L, 1 x 1L — 5.3L
- VPD @ 1.2 — raised by 0.1
- Light @ 80% ~700 to 1050 PPFD
- Added some Bonemeal
- Temperature has decreased to 25 to 26 degrees
- BioBizz Bio-Bloom increased to 2.5ml/L
- BioBizz Bio-Grow increased to 1.5ml/L
- Added some Hesi Phosphor Plus
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She’s still the plant I worry about the most. She showed signs of a phosphorus deficiency, which is why I added 1.5L of water with 2.5ml/L of Hesi Phosphorus Plus. Since then, the symptoms haven’t progressed further.
But maybe it’s also a sign of senescence? It’s really surprising, the buds are already quite big, and the trichomes are mostly milky, with about 5 to 10% already amber! This is insane; it’s only the third week of flowering! It seems I somehow have a phenotype that’s incredibly fast. I’ll probably end up harvesting her in one to two weeks. (It’s really a shame there’s no way to “save” an automatic like you can with a photoperiodic plant. I would have saved this plant and tried to dial in the parameters.)
I was able to decrease the temperature inside the grow tent by 1 to 2 degrees Celsius. I achieved this with a new setting in the AC Infinity app and by bringing in more air from the outside (it’s gradually getting colder; winter is coming!). I also increased the VPD to 1.2.
(Overall, I still need to improve my soil mix with more nutrients for the next run, as I’m sure she could have been bigger. There was a lack of nutrients in the soil to begin with.)
11/14/24 Short facts:
- Watered: 1 x 1.0L, 1 x 0.5L, 1 x 1.0L — 2.5L
- VPD @ 1.3 — raised by 0.1
- Light @ 80% ~700 to 1050 PPFD
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There is not much to tell this week. No special events, except she lost two more of the bigger leaves. The buds are getting bigger and are quite dense.
I'll probably going to harvest her sometime in the upcoming two weeks.
I want to start another Lemon Cherry Cookies after her. Only minimal LST, and i want to use her with the new soilmix and also with Blumat Drip watering.
11/21/24 Short facts:
- Watered: 1 x 0.75L, 1 x 0.75L, 1 x 1.5L, 1 x 1.75L — 4.75L
- VPD @ 1.4 — raised by 0.1
- Light @ 80% ~700 to 1050 PPFD
- BioBizz Bio-Bloom increased to 3ml/L
- BioBizz Bio-Grow increased to 3ml/L
- Getting colder! At night between 18 to 19°C
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There isn’t much to report this week. She’s doing fine, buds are getting bigger and thicker!
Since the weather is getting quite cold for the region - and we’ve already had a bit of snow - the cellar where my grow tent is set up is cooling down, with nighttime temperatures dropping to 18–19°C. Therefore, I’ve ordered some heat mats, which should arrive tomorrow. I’m aiming to stabilize the root temperature at around 22°C consistently, so the nights won’t be too cold anymore. I’ll go into more detail in next week’s update.
11/21/24 Short facts:
- Watered: 1 x 0.75L, 1 x 0.75L, 1 x 1.5L, 1 x 1.75L — 4.75L
- VPD @ 1.4 — raised by 0.1
- Light @ 70% ~700 to 850 PPFD
- Getting colder! At night between 18 to 19°C
- Heat mats are warming the roots
- Harvestet on Sunday 12/01
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I only watered the Lemon Cherry Cookies during her last week and harvested her on Sunday, 12/01. I was quite impressed by how thick her buds turned out. And there were even more buds buried in the clover! 😂
I’ll update the report with the final harvest details in about two to three weeks so you’ll know how much she yielded. I’ll also add some additional thoughts and critique about my grow, including the mistakes I made.
Beautiful flowers! After drying, I ended up with a yield of 46–47 g, which is quite good considering the mistakes I made.
It could have been a bit more, but there was no point in cleaning every small flower since I already had to destroy a lot of my harvest from the Wurlz F1 to stay below the legally allowed 50 g of cannabis. As a result, I also discarded some cleaned buds.
My mistakes:
Insufficient watering: The soil in this pot seemed more compacted than in the others, so it felt heavier. This made me think the plant had enough water when, in fact, it didn’t.
Lack of nutrients: Because I watered her so sparingly, she didn’t receive enough nutrients, which I believe led to the deficiencies she showed.
Excessive light intensity: I think I increased the light intensity too much. Combined with the temporary nutrient shortage, this likely contributed to her staying smaller than expected.
I’m trying to learn from my mistakes, which is why I’ve started another Lemon Cherry Cookies grow ( https://growdiaries.com/diaries/242405-fast-buds-lemon-cherry-cookies-auto-grow-journal-by-mrgoonai ). This time, I’m using the Blumat drip system and a digital sensor to monitor soil moisture. I’ll also be more cautious with the light intensity and avoid doing too much LST too early. Additionally, I’ve switched to a different fertilizer designed for long-term nutrient release.