25 Tropicana Cookies Fast

Northern_Ent May 19: starting a bit late as a replacement to keep me at the legal limit of four plants. Good fast germination with Day 1 starting on a Saturday to coincide with my other diaries. Had started earlier seeds using soil blocking which was great for tomatoes, okay for peppers, and not good for cannabis. The soil was too wet. So, this round started in normal Pro-Mix in a small container and everything went fine. off to a good start. May 23: still pushing my luck but transplanted out this evening.

Northern_Ent May 26: looks good. May 30: later start than the other plants but she’ll be a fast grower and will do just fine.

Northern_Ent May 31 Day 15: Tropicana Cookies FF was the last one started of my domestic four plants but she is a fast grower and will catch up quickly. She might be up to five nodes and ready for the first topping later this week. This was supposed to be the Sativa Wagon, but without Durban Poison it’s really more another Hybrid Wagon. June 1 Day 16: compost tea video but i seem to have lost the audio in the upload somehow. Compost, molasses, coco coir for the bacteria to grow on and a serving of Monster Maxx. Leave overnight for bacteria to grow but not so long that the dissolved oxygen is used up. You want the aerobic bacteria that need oxygen to live. Some of the brew was diluted 1:1 and used as a foliar spray. The air is very dry here during the day and misting the plant leaves is equivalent to a higher humidity that you could control indoors. June 6: Tropicana Cookies is doing great. She staryed late but she’s catching up to the other plants.

Northern_Ent June 7: Tropicana Cookies is growing quickly after the late start. Should be a good strong plant. June 9: warm today and she’s ready for the first topping to build the manifold. See video. Tip: spray hose water on the leaves to compensate for the low relative humidity during the daytime. Plants grow much better in the dry air when their leaves get wet. Maybe a couple times a day. Makes a big difference. June 10: wildfire smoke is back but not as bad as in 2023. At least not here, and not yet. Tropicana Cookies FF growing fast after being topped yesterday. This is going to be a very good plant, I’m sure.

Northern_Ent June 14: going good but weather is cool and rainy. Layed a loose Scrog net to keep the fan leaves from shading the growth tips. June 15: weekly foliar spray of Extreme Blend this morning. Looking good with one week to go to the solstice. Big veg growth coming over the next couple weeks with the extended sunlight hours. June 18: rain day. June 20: happy summer solstice. Tropicana Cookies was started a bit late but she’s doing fine. With the long sunlight hours at this time of year she’ll now head into the rapid vegetative growth phase that is so much fun. Expect over an inch per day soon as long as the weather stays warm enough. High of only 16 C tomorrow is a bit cool.

Northern_Ent June 21: first day of summer and Tropicana Cookies FF is doing fine. Foliar spray in the morning of Extreme Blend, and potassium silicate to toughen the stems. Using Dr Bronner’s Peppermint soap as a wetting agent. Started a lazy compost tea this afternoon. Third tea so far this year. June 24: almost ready for the second round of topping. Likely tomorrow. June 25: video show second round of topping to make the manifold.

Northern_Ent June 28: Tropicana Cookies FF is progressing nicely and well timed for the end of June. Supercropped (HST) the two main stems to bring the outer growth tips to the same elevation as the four inner ones. Taped with floral tape to stabilize after supercropping. watered with about 0.5 tsp/gallon of Extreme Blend which is half strength. June 29: plant looks very happy today and it’s warm and sunny. July 2: did final (third?) round of topping to get from 8 to 16 colas. Unlike some others I’ve grown, this plant is nicely symmetrical which should be easy to manage. Fairly tall which is fine.

Northern_Ent July 5: Tropicana Cookies FF is very nicely symmetric and fast growing. She’s on schedule and doing great. One more week of veg and then I will start force flowering on July 11. July 7: grew 3+ inches in two days.Lower leaves showing a deficiency that seems to be a lack of phosphorus. Added a 1:1 mix of Power Bloom and barley as a top dressing. About a week early for first flowering nutes but she’s asking for it. July 10: still growing evenly after the final round of topping. I was going to start force flowering (12 h darkness every night for 20 days or so) in two days but I’ll let this wagon (paired with Lemon Cream Kush) veg for another week to get a bit bigger.

Northern_Ent July 12: Tropicana Cookies FF is doing fine. One more week of veg and will start force flowering on July 19. July 13: used barley instead of malted barley a few days ago as a flowering nutrient. Barley is sprouting so i replaced it with malted barley. Malted Barley (malt) is great as a bloom nutrient. Google Clackamas Coot talking about barley and cannabis growing.

Northern_Ent July 19: first night of force flowering last night. Plants in dark garage at 9:30 pm and out again at 7:30 am for 10 h darkness. Also using 730 nm far red light at transition to dark which puts the plant into dark mode two hours faster so it’s like getting a 26 h day with 12 h of darkness. Force flowering for 2-3 weeks to make a solid transition into flowering and to get the buds ripening under the stronger summer sun. July 22: Foliar spray with Epsom salts and potassium silicate this morning. The magnesium in the Epsom salts seems to help with yellowing on the new growth. July 23: added another loose Scrog net layer. Tied to water bottles to open up the canopy to sunlight. July 25: watering yesterday included some water leftover over from steaming beets for dinner. That likely contained lots of N because beets are high in nitrate and the plants are very green this morning.

Northern_Ent July 26: Tropicana Cookies is now done a week of force flowering and is continuing to stretch. Both plants in this wagon will be tall despite being manifolded. She is well matched in the wagon with the two week older Lemon Cream Kush. Did another compost tea. It’s been a while but this is the fourth tea this season (?). See video where I explain how I make a bucket of lazy compost tea without any air pump or aerator. Seems to work. The bacteria also moderate water uptake by the plant and you really don’t need to water as much if you have been doing compost teas. July 27: noticeably stretched in the garage overnight. Right on. July 31: defoliated lower fan leaves and small bud sites. Aug 1: added top dressing of malted barley and Power Bloom as the cannabis plants were showing signs of P deficiency. Blue-ish leaves and reddish petioles showing on another plant.

Northern_Ent Aug 2: Tropicana Cookies FF is three weeks younger than my two biggest plants (Sunday Punch EV and Mimosa Shot) and two weeks younger than Lemon Cream Kush. This is a very strong plant and is progressing very well. This wagon with LCK started force flowering a week later than the other wagon and will go another week longer. TC is now the tallest of the four plants despite being the youngest. Aug 5: now done force flowering after 2.5 weeks. Plants in this wagon are getting too big to easily get into garage. Continuing to use far red light as a bloom booster at dusk. Back to 15.5 h of daylight in the backyard now. Aug 7: now 51 inches so she’s had a quick vertical growth spurt. Looking very happy with leaves ‘praying’ upwards nicely.

Northern_Ent Aug 9: Now done three weeks of flowering for Tropicana Cookies EV. She is the youngest plant but also the tallest and looking quite happy. Got the UV led lights from AC Infinity going for the first time. Used these last year and they seem to work. UV lights stimulates trichome production and makes up for weak sunlight this far north. Aug 12: has stretched again but the bud sites are filling nicely. Pistils have started to turn pink. This plant is looking very happy and will likely be a big producer. Added another top dressing of malted barley and Power Bloom. It has been about two weeks at least since the last round, and this will be the final round. Stopped using molasses about two weeks ago. Great for growing but I don’t want to be smoking sugar. Use during veg stage but only 2-3 weeks into flowering.