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Hello Everyone!
This is my first grow (since a failed week-long attempt in 2011), and my first Legal Grow in Canada! :D - For this grow i have chosen Gorilla Zkittlez from Barney's Farm.
Since we are allowed 4 Plants, and i had a pack of 5 Seeds, i decided to germinated all 5 Seeds to play it safe in case one didn't sprout, but alas, all 5 popped and are doing well!
One plant is definitely the "runt of the litter" and will be given to a friend who is also starting his first grow (sticking with 4 in order to play within Canadian Law... yes i know, i think i should just grow all 5 too...)
My Garden Set-up:
Tent: 4x4x6.5ft from Growneer
Lighting: Four (240W) Viparspectra Reflector Series 600 LED (960W Total)
Ventilation: One 6' Inline Fan with 6'x 500mm Carbon Filter
Pots: Four 5 Gallon Fabric Containers
Growing Medium: B'cuzz Hydromix HP
Nutrients: Green Planet 4-Part Hydro Fuel Kit + Terpinator
Week 1 Notes:
Just running a single light for now, (3 More on their way)
Running into a little bit of low temps/low humidity issues; slowed exhaust fan a bit, added a tray of water infront of intake fan, misting every 6 hours, temps should increase when i introduce the other lights. might purchase a small humidifer.
I apologize for the inconsistent photo quality, finding the right exposure/white-balance with these LED's is tricky, may get a filter for my camera or a different light for photos in the future.
Equipment added:
Second ViparSpectra 600 (240w)
Humidifier
All went extremely well this week, exponential growth all around!
Will be Topping them on the 20th (Day 15) so stay tuned! :D
Beginning of Week 3, So starts the manifold!
Going to be doing a total of 2 tops for each plant, for a total of 8 cola's (Nebula's Style)
Started off with a rough little break on Plant 1, propped it up with some soft-wire and mended it with a small straw and some tape and adjusted every few days to keep it from strangling. seems to be recovering quickly
Day 18 - i started to notice a little browning on the lowest fan leaves, presumably due to lack of Calcium/Magnesium from my R/O Water source.
Promptly Added 1.25ml/L of Pro Cal and then lowered it to 1ml/L thereafter, seems to have made a great recovery.
Day 21 - End of Week 3, Looking great :D 2nd Topping next week!
Thanks for following :)
Week 4! Manifold/Main-Lining complete!
Day 22 - Plant 1 is just exploding! decided to top her today, leaving sisters for one more day; more LST
Day 23 - All plants topped, left fan leaves on nodes for the time being
Day 25 - Removed fan leaves from first 4 nodes of each plant, leaving outer fan leaves for now, added bamboo to help with LST
Day 28 - End of Week 4
Removed all fan leaves from lower nodes, manifold is ready to grow!
Added more Bamboo and readjusted the softwire for LST
Had an accident with #2, it being the smallest of the 4, wasnt quite ready for how much i wanted to train...accidentally snapped the nodes at the base. Added a brace and splint using a straw like i had done before, hoping for the best.
Next Week or Two will be growth and the beginning of the ScrOG, Can't wait to see what theses lovely ladies can do.
Thanks for Following :)
Week 5!
Overall excellent week! added Co2, ScrOG Trellis, and sorted my fan mounting situation out by the end.
Day 29-32 - Pushing for growth! Adjusting the mainfold as they grow, removed the broken stems on Plant 2 hoping it will focus on remaining stems and catch up growth a bit
Day 33 - Defoliation, Fan leaves removed from lowest 2 nodes of each stem
Day 34 - Rotated plants twice clockwise. More Defoliation, Fan leaves removed from next 1-2 nodes depending on growth. Added the ScrOG trellis.
Day 35 - Added a small CO2 Diffuser which is dispersed at the top of one of the circulation fans. Added 3 more circulation fans and mounted them to the tent poles. (photos of upgrades/configuration coming next week)
Next Week i will be adding my 3rd ViparSpectra V600 (260w) and i cant wait to see how these girls do with the CO2, hoping next week will be the final VEG week and i can get these girls flowering :)
Thanks again for following!
Final Week of Veg! A.K.A Week 6 Plus 2 Days :P
i apologize for lack of pictures this week, extremely busy with work, and have also fallen ill the passed few days :( BUT! expect more pictures with a new camera in the following weeks!
Added this week - 2 more Circulation fans for a total of 4. Two lower fans blowing across the bottom, slightly upward and two blowing across the canopy towards the back.
Day 36 - i noticed a slight discoloration towards the inner most parts of the leaves, which looked similar to a magnesium deficiency...i doubted that was the case and checked my run off for PPM/PH suspecting it was more of a lockout than a deficiency, and was horrified to find the PH at 6.9 and the PPM at 1300!
Day 39 - after letting my soil dry out completely i hit the plants with a 1/2 nutrient semi-flush (as reported in this weeks nutrients) with a PH of 6.1, the runoff was closer to 900 with the PH dropping to 6.5.
Day 41 - plants looked extremely happy and healthy, and as i plan to switch to Flowering tomorrow night, i did another flush with a PH of 6.0 and PPM of 80 consisting only of a bit of cal-mag and terpinator.
Day 42 End of Week 6 - Supposed to be my final day of Veg, but with my PPM still quite high after 2 flushes, and the plants not quite being the size i had hoped, i decided to push 2 more days and for continuity i have added those 2 days to this weeks diary
Day 43 - Final Flush! PH 6.0 PPM 80, run off was 6.25 and ppm was down to ~300.
Day 44 - Final Day of Veg, did some Defoliation, cut a few straggler nodes that weren't getting much light, and sorted them out into their final homes amongst the ScrOG :)
Next Week! - will be adding my fourth and final light for a total of 4 Viparspectra V600's (240w each for an actual 960w of light) also hoping to purchase that new camera i've been talking about this week :) so stay tuned!
And thanks for following :)
Week 1 of Bloom!
The growth this week has been crazy, starting to think i should have started 12/12 sooner!
Day 1 - First Watering with full Bloom Nutrients
Day 3 - I have been monitoring runoff, as expected its a little high because my soil drys up in just 2 days my plants don't have a chance to use as much as i had been putting in, so i have switched to a feed regiment where i only do 1/4 the amount of nutrient every other feeding, in a sort of "One-On, One-Off" system which seems to be keeping my run-off PPM in the optimal 700-850 range, and the plants seem to be thriving!
Day 7 - New Camera! Expect more of these close-up's to come! (especially once i get the feel for the new equipment!)
An overall hiccup-free week!
Next Week - Final light gets here in 2 days, and I will be doing some much needed defoliation!
Thanks for following! :)
Flowering Week 2!
Much better pictures here on! going to be taking a day or two in between photos but will be filling the void with more close-up shots! (Love this camera)
Day 8-10 - Easy Days, Responding well to new feeding plan (outlined last week)
Day 11 - Major Defoliation! much better airflow, more space. Re-arranged Scrog to even out the canopy
Day 12 - GROWTH! mustve popped up 2 inches since defoliating
Day 13 - Last feed of Week 2, and would you look at those hairs! :D
Next Week - will be re-introducing the rest of the nutrients back into rotation, going to have to find a way to raise these lights a bit higher aswell.
Week 9 - Bloom Week 3:
Absolutely amazed how well these girls are doing, despite my current battle with nutrients!
Day 15-19: Just keeps getting hairier!
Day 20-21: just look at those baby Trichomes!
*Another Nutrient Revision*
From what i could tell by measuring my runoff PPM, my plants are using approx 300-400PPM of nutrients every 2 days, (which is when growing medium has fully dried)
This week i've switched from my old routine: Day 1-950PPM - Day 3-200PPM Cycle
to a new balanced 450PPM Every Watering...maintaining a (hopefully) constant soil PPM of ~900
My new issue is that due to the plant caddy's im using, im afraid that i may have an excess salt buildup under the pot (between the pot and the driptray), of which my runoff water may be picking up, and thus may be throwing off my runoff PPM/PH Levels.
Im going to address this tomorrow to be safe, before watering i will be removing the caddy's one by one and giving them a full clean, allowing them to dry before applying tomorrows feed, and then again, checking the run-off.
Week 10 - Bloom Week 4
Things going fairly smoothly, having a little bit of heat issues during the night, ive since redirected some of my exhaust to solve the issue. still attempting to balance my nutrient regiment, ive been spacing out feedings a little farther instead of every 2 days, ive been doing a 2day/3day cycle, and using 665ppm. on a side note, ive ordered a flood table and will be doing Ebb-and-Flow on my next grow, ive "grown" to despise drain-to-waste these last few weeks. XD
Day 25: i was starting to notice browning on the tips of the leaves, at this point i suspected it was heat related.
Day 28: the browning worsened a bit, starting to match up with nute burn, going to flush next feed, then lower my feed ppm again. *EDIT* Also looking like low humidity may be an issue, increasing back to 55% asap*
Bloom Week 5!
After increasing the humidity, lowering temps and re-balancing nutrients (3 feeds per week at 1/3 strength) after a good flush, the dry browning seems to be receding and they're bouncing back and happy again, although the damage to leaf tips has already been done, kind of a bummer for photographs but a happy week none-the-less.
My apologies for the single days worth of photos this week, attempting to make up for it with a few extra close-ups :)
Planning to add Dense by Green Planet to every 3rd Feeding starting next week.
Bloom Week 6!
All around successful week, calyxes are really stretching this week and I'm starting to get some nice purples coming through.
Will be slowing down nutes near the end of next week, might only be 1 or 2 more feeds until i start to flush, will be hitting it with dense at least once more.
Bloom Week 7!
Another successful week, the smell is starting to get really fruity, and i cannot wait to try them.
Plants arent using nearly as much water since handling the humidity issues, i increased feed a bit near the end of the week to compensate, yellowing really noticable on Plant 1 (Sarah), did one Dense feeding aswell at 700ppm.
Getting great colours coming out, aswell as some crazy stretching calyxes, cant wait to see how this turns out.
Bloom Week 8!
Absolutely loving these colours! and the smell, So fruity! :D
Did 2 last feeds (2/3 and 1/3 strength) and my first big flush. lowered runoff to 450-550ppm, will Flush again in 2 days, and once more before 48H Dark
The trichomes are absolutely glistening, mosttly between clear and milky, though there are quite a few browning already... i'm thinking i should have started my flush a few days sooner...might end up a little more orange than id like. although, we will see in the end!
Next week is the final week before the chop! :D
Week 9 Bloom - Final Week!
Flushed plants until runoff reached < 100 PPM, set lights to bloom only for the last 3 days, kept temps lower, did 48Hours of Darkness before the cut!
The trichomes are all milky white, a with a few pushing towards orange, the smell is unbelievable fruity, and they're SO sticky
Next Update will be Harvest + Dried Weights!
Barney's Farm's Gorilla Zkittlez is really quite a strain, took all LSTraining without fuss, almost 0 recovery time from topping and manifolding, and was quick to let me know when something was wrong and responded well to my fixes. (Humidity/Nutrient Control).
Absolutely amazing plants with a total yield of 513 Dried Grams from 4 Plants in a 4'x4' Tent
I'm only a few days into my cure, but i figured id post now and update this page as it goes along.
Before Cure:
The smell is very Fruity when held close, at first when opening jars there is an almost chocolaty smell
*The plants are dry and currently curing. I will do a progress update; editing the Taste and Effects (with more photos) once cured in a few weeks*
This was my first-ever successful grow, and has been one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had!
Dry Weights:
Plant 1 "Sarah" - 139g
Plant 2 "Monika" - 104g
Plant 3 "Bree" - 141g
Plant 4 "Murph" - 129g
Total: 513g/18.3oz
*The listed Wet Weight is only an estimate, i didn't have a chance to weigh them before they dried*
Did a very small test joint of each before jarring (for research purposes) ;)
Tastes quite wonderful, light and fruity with hints of citrus. (although im sure curing will bring these out much more). It Burns Smoothly and evenly, Ashes are white as a ghost!
I really appreciate all the kind comments that were left, and all the likes and follows i received, the community here has been extremely helpful, and thank you all very much :D
@bigbudsplz, thank you! :)
I don't plan to do any outdoor this year. But, i will be starting my next grow soon, just getting my new Ebb and Flow system assembled and tested.
Going to be growing Barney's Farm's "Blue Gelato 41".
Amazing results BigMike420! I found and read your whole journal last night and came back again tonight to read again. This should be up there for an award imo.
How are you finding the 4 600w LED's for temperature, energy usage and in general? I've always used 600w MH?HPS lights when growing indoors (Barneys Farm - Blue Cheese & Pineapple Chunk).
Followed and Liked, keep up the great work!
@bigbudsplz, Thank you very much :D
So the 4 lights im using run at an actual wattage of 240w each. which leaves me at 960w's Total (side note: i absolutely hate that they market them as 600w "replacements") because from what ive learned, is that they don't give off light in quite the same way and cant really be measured as such.
With the LED's they may give off as many lumens as a 600hps directly beneath them, but the fall off can be terrible depending on the type of reflector the LED Light employs (Vipar Reflector series aims them almost straight down) when compared to say a horizontal burning HPS with Double Parabolic (gull) reflector.
i accounted for this by instead of going with one big light for the whole room, i spread it out, giving each plant a smaller light of its own. Where as with an HPS system i might've gone for 2 400w HPS or 1 1000w with a large reflector, to achieve (potentially) the same effect.
As for the temps, i did struggle a little bit to keep them down near the end. I feel i may have overdone it a bit using the "600's", in retrospect maybe the "450w" lights would have been better suited for a tent this size. ill be introducing a better intake fan and redirecting my exhaust directly outside for my next grow (summer is coming) we'll see how the temps fair then.
Thanks again for the positive words and the questions :)
3 quick questions 1.did you use the recommended amount of terpinator? 2.do you really believe that it helps with the smell does it make a difference? 3.and when you added it to the water did you add it with the nutrients in the same container or did you add it separately?
@ChefGreenThumbGardenofWeedin, 3 quick answers :P
1. i stayed within the recommended amounts written on the bottle, increasing as i went.
2. its hard for me to say personally if it has made a difference because i didn't do a side by side comparison with and without it. that being said my plants smell AMAZING, and even after only handling the plant briefly, the fingertips of my gloves smell fruity, just amazing
3. i add it to the same reservoir as the rest of my nutes, adding it last. i found it lowered PH quite significantly. decent trick when i accidentally get a bit too happy with the PH UP.
@Greazy77, Thank you :) Well...as this is my first grow, ive only ever used these nutrients :P but, as far as i can tell, they're great!
I just had to work on adjusting the feed from the "suggested" schedule included in the 4-Part Kit, adjusting my feed depending on how often i was watering, and by how much ppm my plants were using.
Ialso i realized later on that due to my low humidity levels and possibly too much light, my plants were using more water than normal, which led to them using more nutes, and thus nuteburning. temps/hum/light may have also led to some of the foxtailing that happened later on...
ill be switching to an ebb and flow hydroponic system for my next run and we will see how they fair in a recirculating setup! :D
BigMike420
