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This is take two of this diary. In the first one, I had fungus gnats from hell in the lightmix I used as the base.
Usually, gnats are easy to deal with, but these fuckers were something else. Neither neem nor nematodes affected them.
I also had a stunted plant, which the gnats might have caused.
In any case, I dumped the tiny plant and soil in a garbage bag and threw everything in a dumpster. Good riddance.
I cleaned the tent, bought a different light mix, and even used a different pot. I’m not giving the gnats a second chance!
I’m going with Mephisto - 4 Assed Monkey for this grow.
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Mephisto - 4 Assed Monkey
Genetic Heritage: Gorilla Glue #4 x Grape Crinkle
Seed Type: F4 Feminised Automatic
Indica/Sativa: 50/50
Cycle Time: 60 to 65 days from sprout
Size: 50 to 70 cm
Yield: 60 to 90 grams
Aroma: Gas, Rubber, Chemicals, Grape
Flavor: Earthy-sour to a fruity, totally tropical taste
Effect: Euphoric buzz
Medicinal effect: uplifting and relaxing, can help with anxiety
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Bio Tabs are sponsoring me with their full range of products, and it will be fun to test it out.
I started by soaking the seed overnight and then putting it in a folded paper towel inside an old CD case, and finally placing the case on a heat mat.
I used an organic light mix from Terra Aquatica for my growing substrate and mixed in additional pumice to increase aeration.
I added Startrex and Silicium Flash to this base mix, as this will be a water-only grow, and finished off with four Bio Tabs.
The seed showed a tap root after 24 hours, and I transferred it into a solo cup, using a bit of Mycotrex at the bottom of the hole.
Another 24 hours later, she poked out of the soil.
We’re on the way!
The first week has passed, and she is looking good.
She is growing in a pure light mix without any additional nutrients, and I would prefer to leave her in the solo cup for another week, but I'm off on vacation tomorrow, so I need to transplant her tonight already.
I doubt she will need any care while I'm gone, but a friend will check in on her.
There isn't much to report as I'm not at home.
I transplanted her into her final pot just before I left. It was a bit early, but I had to since I was going on vacation.
Now she is on her own until I'm back home, although I had a friend come over and increase the temp in the lung room as our outdoor temps dropped hard, which turned a bit cold in the tent.
I returned home a few days ago after a ten-day vacation trip, and she looks great.
She is healthy but has a slightly weird growth pattern. The top of the apical meristem started to grow at an angle, which caused a lower branch to shoot up. It now looks almost like she has been topped.
Other than that, there isn't much to report. Being left alone for ten days without even watering hasn't phased her one bit, although the temps were a bit low, which threw off the VPD.
I'll start to train her in the coming days as she is large enough.
The monkey girl is coming along nicely while looking healthy and vibrant.
Early in the week, I top-watered her with Bactrex for the first time since the transplant and added some straw mulch.
Due to her bushy growth pattern, there was no need to train her, but now it was time, so I did some LST using soil staples to spread her out.
At the end of the week, I filled up the reservoir, so now she has free access to water whenever she wants to drink.
She is showing pre-flowers, so I expect her to start flowering soon.
Another week has passed, and she is looking great. She is healthy and vibrant, with no disclosed leaves or even tips. She clearly loves life right now and enjoys every second of it.
This was her final week of veg as she is now showing pre-flowers and has started her stretch. She hasn't grown as much as anticipated, so the canopy has an empty corner. It's a bit annoying, but it's not a huge deal, as it creates space for the fan. There is only so much room in a small tent, so all space is at a premium. (This reminds me I should install a carbon filter soon.)
I'm still pleased with the canopy, as it is pretty flat. Due to her growth pattern, I didn't even have to train her much. Win!
Since I pre-mixed all nutrients into the soil, I only have to provide water. However, since the plant is in a sub-irrigated planter, she controls the watering herself, and all I do is fill up the reservoir when it is empty.
All the work upfront, and then just coast.
I'm a lazy bugger, so this hands-off style suits me perfectly.
The first week of flower has passed, and she is rocking it in the tent.
There's some interveinal chlorosis in newer leaves, but it isn't bad and is probably related to her explosive growth lately.
Otherwise, she is as healthy as she can be.
She has stretched and bushed out quite a bit this week, and the tent's getting a bit cramped.
I'll let her do her thing for a few more days before lollipopping and defoliation.
I want her to finish her stretch before starting to remove biomass.
The tent was upgraded as I did some Black Friday shopping: a light, a fan, and a controller. New toys!
One of the problems growing in a tiny tent is the circulation fan. It's always in the way and there isn't anywhere to place it where it isn't in the way.
Or so I thought until I saw the Vivosun AeroLight with a built-in fan in the middle of the light. It's a perfect solution in my tiny tent!
I bought the light as it was on BF sale, and I also picked up a controller and fan.
Finally, remote control of my tiny tent. I use AC Infinity for my big tent, but have been low-tech in the tiny tent. However, I travel frequently, so being able to check in on things and switch things up if necessary is a life-saver.
Putting a 150W light in a 40x40 cm tent might be ridiculous, but running the light dimmed low is more efficient, and the diodes live longer. Win-win :)
I also fired up the small side/under-canopy lighting LED strips, now that she has the height.
There is NO lack of light in the tent, lol, and I'm pushing her hard with a DLI of almost 45.
Another week has flown by, and all is well in the tent.
She has stretched a bit more but has now started to form hedgehogs, so the stretch should be almost done.
She is still displaying slight interveinal chlorosis, so I decided to give her the first Bio PK 5-8 feeding. It was perfect timing, as her reservoir ran out a few days prior.
I also cleaned up the lower canopy this week to ensure better airflow.
Another week has gone by, and an eventful one at that.
A few days ago I brewed some compost tea by mixing PK booster with Orgatrex and then letting the mixture brew for 24 hours with an airstone in the bucket and a heat mat underneath the brewing bucket to increase temperatures and microbial activity. Finally, I added a tiny amount of Bactrex about 30 minutes before the tea was finished.
I chopped all the plants except one in my bigger tent, so I moved the 4AM girl into the big tent to use the space and big light better instead of having it light up an almost empty tent, wasting energy.
I converted the small tent to a drying tent, and now, I have some plants hanging to dry there.
The 4AM girl looks great; seeing how she will take to this new space will be exciting.
I started this week by building a bamboo frame around the plant to use for LST. It's too late in the cycle for proper training, but I was able to open her up and allow deeper light penetration.
I also installed an under-canopy light on top of the bamboo frame.
It was feeding time again this week, so I gave her some Bio PK 5-8. I'm alternating her feeding with Bio PK 5-8 one week and PK Booster Compost Tea the next.
Overall, she looks pretty good, but I'm starting to see some leaf discoloration here and there. No idea what is causing it, so I'll just monitor it for now.
It looks like the leaf discoloration was simply an early sign of senescence, as leaves are slowly fading and shriveling up.
We're approaching the home stretch, although she still has some bulking up to do.
I brewed another batch of compost tea and fed her this week. I suspect that was her final tea since she should be done in two to three weeks.
There's not much to do now but wait.
Another uneventful week has passed as we are approaching the chop.
The plant got her final feed with Bio PK 5-8. From here on out, it will be water only.
I'm removing fan leaves as they are dying and shriveling up. Beyond that, it's just a waiting game.
She is done. I'll chop her in a day or two when I have some time for it.
She. Smells. AMAZING! Opening the tent makes me grin like a fool, enveloped in a sea of terps.
It's like someone went fruit-ninja on a pile of grapefruits. Hmmmmm, screw that! She smells more grapefruit than actual grapefruits!
Seriously. I have had some grapefruit terps in the past but nothing on this level.
Mouth watering.
Touchdown!
I let her ride for another five days before she got the chop, although it took some work to get through her stalk. She's a chunky girl.
What aren't chunky are the buds. They look alright in pics, but they are super-fluffy and airy. They do not have much substance or weight and are probably the airiest buds I have ever grown.
The yield won't be amazing, and the trim will suck, but boy, those grapefruit terps are to die for. Fingers crossed that they survive the dry.
Now, we wait.
She was a breeze to grow but also a little wonky. She sort of self-topped herself, and most of her leaves only had three fingers. There were some with five, but a bunch looked weird with only two or four fingers.
The buds were super airy and fluffy - the airiest buds I have ever grown. Because of that, it took forever to trim her. The yield was good, but that trim suuucked, and the buds have terrible bag appeal as they are so airy.
Towards the end of the grow she had AMAZING grapefruit terps, which has mellowed out a bit after the dry, but the grapefruit is still there.
Tested with my tCheck 3 to 18,9% THC.
I left her drying for 14 days. Unfortunately, she lost some of the intensity of the fantastic grapefruit terps, but the terps are still there after the dry.
The trim was a complete nightmare due to her fluffy and airy buds. The yield was good but with terrible bag appeal.
Overall, this was an easy grow. Besides a bit of training, I didn't do much. Perfect for a lazy stoner like me.
@Biotabs, Yeah, she is doing fantastic right now as she is going into flower. She looks healthy af, without any signs of deficiencies, and all I'm doing is to make sure she has water :D
@Biotabs, It was good that they showed up and closed the window so the tent wasn't too cold, but that is all they did. The rest is down to genetics and nutrients 😀
@Mrs_Larimar, I think you may be right. I only see interveinal chlorosis on a few top branches closest to the light. I recently changed to a more powerful light, so I guess I overdid it. In any case, she has now moved into another tent under a different light, and I made sure to drop down the DLI to see if it'll help. Thanks for the heads-up ❤️
Btw I finally bought a simple tracker for humidity and temperature, ThermoPro. I think you recommended it to me, once. It already helped a lot. More important in the bigger tent, as the loss is much higher now if something goes wrong.
We reached the finish line, or rather, reached it almost two weeks ago, but I've been too busy (lazy...?) to update the diary until today. The harvest report should be up in a day or two.
love_2_grow
