Lemon Tree & Lemon Cherry Gelato

All the seeds have come out of the soil and the next few weeks will show how they will fare. I'm particularly curious about Black Cherry Gelato, as I haven't grown or smoked this strain yet.

The second week is over and the plants are growing at a rapid pace. The strongest individual seems to be Lemon Tree #2, which is growing really strong. Not much to write, except perhaps that I plan to have the vegetative phase for four weeks, and then switch the plants over to flowering.

The third week is over and the plants are growing and growing. Lemon Tree #2 is still in the lead, but the others are catching up. Well, except for Lemon Cherry Gelato, which is still in last place, but maybe it will move up. I defoliated the lowest leaves because they were in the way of watering. I also did some topping, because I'm going to switch the plants over to flowering in a week. Note: TH-9 fertilizer was spray applied exactly ten days before the switch to flowering.

The fourth week of the growth phase is over. The plants have pulled up and are over half a metre tall and have leveled off in height, even LCG has caught up with the others. Only Lemon Tree #2 is a little taller. No significant problems have occurred, so I'll switch to flowering tomorrow. I'll change the lamp to one more suitable for flowering.

The first week of flowering is over. The plants have pulled up a bit and I am now threading the twigs through the individual meshes of the net. I have removed most of the leaves and twigs from under the netting, as with minimal light getting in, they are there for nothing anyway. I have also started using the CO2 Boost Natural CO2 Box to keep the CO2 levels up, because the bigger the plants get, the more CO2 they use. I can already see the first bright white pistils and the scent, which is still faint - thankfully :) In the next two weeks I expect the net to fill up and then the plants to be oriented exclusively towards flowering - the formation of buds. Note: TH-9 was spray applied on the first day of flowering.

The second week of flowering is over and it was not a very happy week :-( Lemon Tree #1 turned out to be a hermaphrodite, so he had to get out of the round. You can see the empty spot in the photos, which is all I have left :-( I don't think the hermaphroditism was due to stress, as the other plants are fine and I can't even think of what would have caused the stress. So 99 percent bad genetics. Nature puts all the obstacles in our way :-) The flowering of the rest of the plants is progressing well and I just hope I've had all my bad luck. Note: TH-9 was added to the other fertilizers this time exactly 10 days after the last spray application.

The third week is over. The plants have pulled up again and continue to flower. Compared to last week, there don't seem to be any problems. The flowers are forming calyxes and the trichomes are already visible, giving off a pleasant lemon scent.

The fourth week of flowering is over. The plants have pulled up a little, but that is over and they can now concentrate on flowering. The blooming phase is slowly moving into the fattening phase, which will require a slightly different fertiliser composition from next week onwards. But Cannaboom is ready for anything :-) In the photos you can already see the different phenotypes of the Lemon tree, where one has already darkened pistils, while another has pistils that are still white and also nicely strained. I'm curious which phenotype will eventually produce a more suitable crop for my taste.

Fifth week of flowering behind us. The growth in height has definitely stopped and the plants are flowering at full speed. Compared to last week, the flowers have increased in volume and size. The scent is also much more intense and when you look at a Lemon tree #4 like this, it's no wonder - this plant is a trichome factory :) I've already examined the ripeness with a microscope, as LT #4 seems to be the furthest along in terms of ripeness, but it's going to take a few more weeks. So the next weeks the plants have a clear task: to mature and to increase the flowers to the maximum.

Week six is over. The plants are slowly approaching full maturity and the flowers are growing in size, which makes me particularly happy for Lemon Cherry Gelato as I have one plant of this variety. A look under the microscope shows that some trichomes are already turning white, but the ideal is still some weeks away. So we can only wait :) Happy Easter!