Pineapple Express 63W/100W Run 6

Welcome to a new run. Just to get the bad news out of the way, the 4th strain, which will remain unnamed, did not sprout and I decided to just have 3 plants this time. Now, for the first time, I’ll try using light mix soil, hopefully this will allow me to feed according to whatever deficiency I’m seeing without the worry of nute burn due the soil been too hot; which, I believe, has been a persistent issue I’ve been having.

Second week. Around day 7, the color of the leaves is somewhat yellow. I gave a light feed of cal max (0.26 EC) Day 12: it is both transplant day and TOPing day. The leaves are looking kind of sad and discolored; plant is becoming root bound. I gave the plant it’s second feed, much stronger than I would feed on a pre fertilized soil (0.9 EC), lets see how the plants like it. I think I should have started feeding earlier.

Third week. A rather boring week, since TOPing the plant took most of the week to really take off; but all the new growth looks great, no sign of nutrient burn. The plant took its first feed really well and the color of the new foliage is vibrant green, not like it was a few days ago. At day 20, I fed again, with a stronger dose (1.2 EC). At the start of next week, I will change to the 100 watt @ 2700 K light and will soon pick the three stronger shoots of each plant.

Fourth week. Day 22 I changed to the flowering lights as stated last week. Day 23. Everything looks vibrant green and signs of calcium or magnesium deficiency like last run; no signs of nutrient burn either. That first feed at the end of week 1, should have been stronger; but been the first time I use light mix, I would rather err on the side of caution. Also, I removed a shoot of each plant, leaving each one with 3 tops, for a total of 9 tops. This should give me 3.9 tops per sq ft, which is spot on. Day 26 and 27: I did some LST to open up the canopy, so to prepare to fill all the grow space. Day 28: The plants looks kind of dry, so I watered and fed again with an EC of 1.7 (I started the bloom nutes). In case you haven’t realized, I’m only taking pictures every 5 days. Why? Because it is easier to appreciate the difference in growth / flower development every 5 days and because my ACDSee database has pictures of every run on days 5, 10, 15, etc. which allows me to compare with past runs.

Fifth week. Wow, you can really tell how the plant has taken off, both in growth and flower development. The last feed was just a tiny bit too high, not much, but just a bit, probably should have been around 1.4 or 1.5 EC. Buds are finally starting to form.

Sixth week Plants have become both more hungry and thirsty. They went from drinking 166 cc of water a day last week to 250 this week; I also had to up the feeding from 1.86 EC to 2.3 EC, we will see how they react to it, since there were signs of both P and K deficiency. Day 41: Three days later I had to water/feed again, it seems that the daily water intake has risen again to 333 cc a day. I also upped the biogrow dose, since there’s some yellowing at the bottom. All in all the feeding strength is at 2.5 EC. Day 42: I’m still seeing dome P and K deficiency, so I will up the Solotek Bloom dose once again next time in a couple of days. Other than that, they look great.

Seventh week. The plants had a growth spurt this week, stretching to 18 inches tall. Day 45: There are still signs of nute deficiency, so I upped the feeding strength to 3 EC (1500 PPM). Day 49: The vertical growth has finally stopped, they are putting all their energy into flowering now. The plant is drinking less water now

Eight week. I probably did not mention this before: I would usually use a 18/6 or 20/4 light period, but this time I’m using a 24/0, not because I think it will yield more or be done quicker, but to prevent the temperature from dropping during lights out, which would rise the RH. It’s been a success, the RH ranges between 40% and 50%, even in full flower. Day 52: I guess when they say that light mix soil only has nutrients for a week it is no joke, I’ve pushed the feeds strengths to levels that would normally burn my plants to a crisp when using complete mixes. The plants are drinking less than last week, since the 1 liter watering lasted 7 days, contrary to the previous 4 and the EC was 3.9 (1950 PPM). Day 53: Today I did some maintenance. I plucked quite a few leaves, you know the ones that come off with barely a tug.

Ninth week Day 57: Plants are looking a little dry, so it’s watering day again. I’m planning to harvest at the 65 to 70 day mark, so I reduced the feeding from 3.9 EC (1950 PPM) to 2.9 EC (1450 PPM). Next watering should be at 62 days, that should give me a week to give water only and since I’ve kept the plants just above the deficiency line, it should be enough. I actually expect to get yellowing quite fast. Day 58: Plants are fading fast, I plucked some more yellowed leaves that came off with just a touch, all of them went into the worm bin. Day 60: There’s some smell leaking, so I opened some ONA gel to mask the smell. I uploaded a picture of the stem, it’s looking really thick. Day 61: Plants were given plain pH’ed water. Day 63: Only 2 days since I gave water only and the fading is going even faster; I think they are going down this weekend, that is on day 66. Heads up, from week 4 to 9 I confused the pictures of this strain with the Crystal Meth; I've corrected it now.

Plant remained short, which is good for me. Easy to train. Took 65 days from seed, just as advertised which is something I really like. It was an easy grow with a good harvest. I'm not sure I like light mix soil, I think I will try coco next time.