The Sensi Crowd in the Sanlight

Just started my first grow. Well, kind of. In fact I already witnessed two grows as observer. But now I really want to do a grow on my own. Seeds were germinated by putting into a glass of water for 24 hours and after that into a wet paper towel. After two days 3 out of 4 had germinated, the last one (Big Bud) followed one day later. So they have been planted last Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, Super Skunk and Hindu Kush broke ground, Shiva Skunk and Big Bud followed on Monday. Tent size is 60x120x180cm (about 2x4x6 feet). Lights are five Sanlight S2W with 62 W each (actual draw). Really love those lights and I prefer several smaller ones over a single big one because it provides much more flexibility and even if one of them should fail my ladies will not sit in the dark. As I'm too lazy and unexperienced to mix my own soil I'm using BioBizz Allmix. That's all for now. Let's see how things will evolve. Update: Today is the end of first week. Super Skunk and Hindu Kush are above ground the seventh day, for the other two it is the sixth day. Nothing special to report. They seem to be quite happy so far.

We are two or three days into week 2. Girls are developing fine. Last Saturday I added the second light and decreased distance a bit, so now the girls are enjoying 124 Watts of light. Also added one yellow sticker for monitoring purposes. In case gnats show up, I want to know as early as possible. Big Bud is looking somewhat strange. The second pair of leaves seems to be growing much faster than the first one. Meanwhile they are almost the same size. As conditions are identical for all the girls, I'm assuming this is just the genetics. ========================================= It is the end of week 2 since breaking ground. I'm very happy so far. The biggest challenge for me is watering. I do not want to give too much water but also want to make sure it is enough. Not sure if the lower parts of the pots already are wet enough because so far I did not have any runoff. But as long as the girls are looking that happy, it cannot be totally wrong, so I will continue what I'm currently doing. Big Bud is still looking a bit weird and growing slowly. In contrast, Super Skunk is exploding! I added a little bit of BioGrow; simply following the playbook. In the next days, I am going to add a third light. Also pondered to top or fim Super Skunk, but decided to let them all grow naturally. I want to gain some more experience and feeling for the plants before trying such things. Maybe in the next grow. Sorry for the strange colors of some photos. They are all taken with the grow lights on, so I have no idea why sometimes colors look ok and sometimes not. Thanks for looking and see you next week.

Some days into week 3 and everything seems to be fine. Super Skunk is really fast and Big Bud still a bit slow. But all the ladies seem to be happy. I was pondering very long if I should use any nutrients. But I wanted to know how fool-proof the schedules are, so I decided to use them. Also I read a lot about those BioBizz nutrients and I liked what I read. They are purely organic, so I see them as liquid compost. Let's see if my ladies agree with me. On Sunday I switched on the third light, so now we are at a total of 186 Watt (real). Probably I will need to switch on the remaining two lights in the next days if the plants continue to grow at the current speed. Smell is quite noticeable meanwhile. Did not expect to need the carbon filter that soon. Like it 😋 ============================================================= It's the end of week 3. The plants are doing what they are supposed to do: They just grow. I noticed a tiny little bit of light burn on the Super Skunk. Could as well be nute burn, but as only the topmost leaves have been affected, I think it was the lights being too close. So I raised them by 5 cm (Super Skunk got very close already) and will not yet add the last two lights for now. Also it seems I underwatered them which could also be responsible for the burn. For the first time I gave them water until I could see some runoff. This took almost 1.5 liter per plant, so they have been quite dry already. Of course I only used plain water and will not add any nutes for the next days. It will take some days anyway until they will need water again. Apropos nutes: Usually I add the nutes to a big jug that can hold 10 liters of water, as it is not easy to measure extremely small amounts such as 1 ml. I let this big jug stand in the tent, so the water has room temperature when I feed the plants. However after some time it starts to stink like p*ss and sh*t. Hope that is ok. But when I go outside and see what our farmers are doing, p*ss and sh*t seem to be a good thing. And the smell of my ladies is much stronger anyway 😊 A nice detail about the lights: The DC cable is the long one, so the drivers can stay outside of the tent. This eliminates an unnecessary heat source and helps keep temperatures low. And it makes the lights so lightweight one can use cheap easy-rolls for hanging, so changing light distance is a non-issue: Just put them at the height you want. Thanks for following and see you next week.

Some days into week 4 and the ladies are still enjoying life. I removed some of the huge fan leaves that were shadowing lower parts of the plants. Left the lowest ones in place since they are not doing any harm. Super Skunk still is the leader, it is a bit more than 30 cm tall. The others are around 27 to 28 cm. Nice development of side branches meanwhile. Big Bud has surprised me: One of the lowest branches now is taller than the main stem. Seems she wants to grow two main colas. I do not mind. ============================================================== It's the end of week 4. Plants have grown nicely in the last few days. Meanwhile Big Bud is the tallest one, even a little bit bigger than Super Skunk. But it does not have a nice structure; it is growing only vertically and the four biggest side branches are all taller than the main stem. I think I made a mistake: Too many plants for the tent. Super Skunk and Hindu Kush could use the whole space for them alone. I did not expect them to get so big so fast. So next time I will only grow two plants on this space. I'm quite a bit lucky about the way Big Bud is growing as this is saving a bit of space. I also switched on the last two lights, so now the ladies are bathing in an abundance of light. They are looking perfectly healthy. Super Skunk is still growing little yellow tips on every new leaf. But it never makes any progress, the leaves are growing just fine, so I will just live with it. Plants are not showing any signs of deficiency or excess, so I will continue giving them what they are getting. I expect that flower will start in the next days. Already looking forward to it because there are tons of side branches meanwhile. I tried to make some better photos with the grow lights turned off, but it's not really that much better. Sorry, I'm a lousy photographer and my eyes are not the best any more 😟 Thanks for reading and happy growing. Summer is coming!

Some days into week 5; flower starts. Everything is fine. Big Bud has exploded. But it is an ugly lady. As you can see, all the side branches are taller than the main stem. And everything is growing almost vertically. But in this particular case, it is a good thing as this is going to save some space. The other three are looking like from the picture book. While Big Bud has taken the lead and is now 54 cm tall, the others are around 45 cm or even smaller. But I expect this to change this week. ================================================================== End of week 5. Big Bud has almost doubled in size this week. She is 74 cm tall, the others are around 54 cm. I hope she will stop stretching soon or I will run into space problems. My monitoring yellow sticker caught 4 or 5 gnats. So I added yellow stickers to every plant and gave some neem oil. I increased the bloom nutrients, simply following the schedule. The ladies seem to like it. I almost cannot believe how many leaves I already removed, but they are still growing like mad. I hope the next week the three other plants will stretch to a similar height as Big Bud. See you!

We are in the middle of week 6 and all ladies are flowering and stretching. Big Bud seems to have stopped stretching, and I really hope the others are catching up, as Big Bud currently gets light from only one lamp. If the height difference persists, I might raise the smaller ones and/or re-arrange them in order to optimize the lighting. The girls are drinking almost one liter per day now. Shiva Skunk and Super Skunk are 59 cm tall, Hindu Kush is some cm smaller. I'm a bit angry about myself: During defoliation I accidentally cut a small branch from Super Skunk. I really need to be more careful! Also it seems I won my first battle against the gnats. Did not see a new one for quite some days now. Apart from that, absolutely no issues. ====================================================================== Week 6 is over and they are still stretching. Big Bud is now 81 cm tall, Super Skunk reaches 69 cm. The other two are some cm smaller. Today I soaked them until I could see some runoff which needed 1.5 l per plant. Normally they get about 1 l per day and I will continue this way. Nutrients are still strictly following the schedule. Super Skunk is no longer growing yellow tips on new leaves for whatever reason. They all are looking perfectly healthy. Again I noticed some gnats and applied neem oil again. It does not concern me at all as it are really just a few. I just hate them. Space is a little bit tight, but it's not as bad as I expected. The available space gets used almost optimally by the ladies. That's all for now. Thanks for following and see you!

First half of week 7 is over. Plants are mostly done with stretching. Big Bud is 83 cm, Super Skunk 74 cm and the other two are 65 cm tall. Big Bud is the most advanced one and Super Skunk the slowest. But I like it because this plant is growing branches and bud sites like crazy. And buds on Big Bud are starting getting big :) From now on it will be mostly waiting and waiting... ========================================================================= Kind of off-topic, but illustrates the importance of the growing medium: I'm using BioBizz Allmix soil for the plants. As I had more than needed, the rest has been used for other plants. The two plants in pictures 10 and 11 are exactly the same age! The difference is almost breathtaking. It definitely pays off investing a little bit into good soil. ========================================================================= Week 7 is over and the plants have reached their final heigth (85, 76 and 66 cm). I raised the smaller ones by 10 cm to get a more even canopy. Biggest issue this week was the very high humidity. If this continues, I will need to switch on a dehumidifier, because the airflow is suboptimal due to the crowded space and I don't want to take the risk of mold once the buds get more dense. I hope this will not be needed, though, as it will increase the temperature in the tent by at least 2 degrees and it draws insane amounts of electric power. Today I noticed some brown spots on some leaves of the Hindu Kush. I have no idea what it is. It looks a bit like potassium deficiency, but it is not really clear. Also it is just four or five leaves that are affected and the other plants are looking absolutely happy. Will do some research on this.

Today is the last day of week 8 and buds are starting to swell. Hindu Kush has a calcium deficiency, so I have been adding Cal-Mag Xtra twice at low doses. Hope the issue will be solved soon. For my next grow I need to remember to add Cal-Mag earlier, but I want to find something organic or at least a supplement that does not add that much nitrogen. Funnily enough the "youngest" plants (Shiva Skunk and Big Bud) are the most advanced ones. Super Skunk and Hindu Kush decided to grow taller and more branches before entering full bloom mode. So my hopes are that at least Big Bud can be harvested significantly before the other ones, so they can at least enjoy one (maybe even two) weeks with sufficient space. It is a shame they cannot get the light they deserve due to the tight space. The tent would be of perfect size for Super Skunk and Hindu Kush alone. Lesson learned. Super Skunk definitely is the queen of the tent. She has a perfect structure and never caused me any problems. Some days ago I unintentionally touched a bud of Big Bud and I was surprised how sticky it is already. Now I need to be just patient. I tried to provide photos both with growlights on and off; but colours still are looking quite strange and do not reflect their true beauty. But you might get an idea. Thanks for reading and happy growing!

Week 9 is over, buds are swelling nicely. Hindu Kush still seems to have calcium deficiency, but at least it seems to have slowed down significantly. Meanwhile Shiva Skunk also is showing the first brown spots, so I will continue giving Cal-Mag. Many leaves of all the plants are showing slight signs of nutrient burn, but with the finishing line almost in sight, I do not care that much. Super Skunk seems to be about one week behind the others, but I checked with the breeder and Super Skunk is supposed to need 10 to 15 days longer than the other strains, so I'm fine. In fact I'm looking forward to free up some space for her. Can't wait to see her in full beauty. Probably Shiva Skunk will be the first one to finish. I started taking a closer look at trichomes. Sorry for the bad photos. RH still is a bit high for my taste. But on the other side I managed to keep temperatures below 26°C even during the latest heat wave with outside temps reaching 38°C. Hopefully I can improve airflow soon when space is no longer that tight. I like the fact that the branches are forming almost an even canopy; the main branch of each plant is just a few centimeters taller than the large side branches. This was achieved without any training, just kept the lights at the right distance during every stage of the grow. Keep in mind that Super Skunk and Big Bud are standing on the floor while the others are on a shelf in order to compensate for the different height. Now back to waiting and waiting... Happy growing!

Shiva Skunk was harvested on day 68. Trichomes are mostly cloudy, almost no amber and some still clear. So this is a bit early, but I wanted to free up some space and improve airflow and light coverage for the other three. Will update in some weeks with dry weigth and smoke report.

With Shiva being gone, the others now have more space. I wonder how all those four plants could have fit in there... Weather has been crazy in the last two or three weeks. First a major heat wave, and now it is cold and rainy. RH is fluctuating like crazy, so I'm happy the plants can enjoy decent airflow now. The ladies are doing fine. Maybe in one week the next one can be harvested. Need to stay patient...

Hindu Kush is almost ready. I think it's just a matter of a few days now. Not much visible growth any more. Trichomes are mostly cloudy, some still clear and no amber. Big Bud and Super Skunk still are showing growth and buds are filling up every day. Looking very promising.

Hindu Kush was harvested on day 79. Buds are rock hard and trichomes mostly cloudy. At least this is how I interpret it. Still having a hard time checking the state of the trichomes. It seems just taking photos and then checking the magnification is what works best for my old eyes. If somebody thinks that I'm wrong and trichomes are not cloudy but clear, I would be happy to learn, so I have something to compare for the next time. Yield seems to be bigger than expected. It definitely will be more than Shiva Skunk. I do not weigh the wet plant as I do not really enjoy fiddling with this extremely sticky stuff. So expect an update in a week or so. I expect six to seven days of drying. With a new heat wave approaching it might even be faster.

I discovered mold in one of the top buds of Big Bud. I'm a bit angry about myself for not reacting fast enough. Some of the leaves wilted overnight. And one day later I noticed that the inside of the bud also became crispy. At this point I should have immediately cut the bud. But I waited for one day longer because I did not understand what's going on. I hope the rest is not infected. It is a bit strange as this bud always had perfect airflow and humidity also was not especially high. So maybe this strain is susceptible for mold. But it could also be my fault because last week I overwatered the plant. I had runoff water for three consecutive days. Did not realize how much less water she needs compared to Super Skunk because she has way less leaves. Super Skunk needs more than double the amount of water daily. Anyway, apart from this issue things are still going nicely. My plan is to harvest Big Bud in two days; Super Skunk needs at least one additional week. So the lower buds also will receive a good amount of light for the final days.

Big Bud was harvested on day 85. I lost one bud to mold (wet weight was 17 gramm) and hope the others will make it through the drying process. Humidity is very high currently. Update on dry weight and smoke report will follow.

Only some more days to go for Super Skunk. She now has the tent on her own, so I can provide some more light to the lower buds. They have already shown impressive development. Temperature and humidity have fallen to almost ideal levels in the last days. So it seems I have been lucky: No more additional mold. I overdid it a bit with the lights; she is starting to foxtail on several buds. So I switched off one of the lights. 248 Watt is more than enough for a single plant. Big Bud is quite dry already. But since the buds are very big and dense, I prefer to give it one additional day for drying. Thanks for reading and see you on the harvest of Super Skunk in some days.

Super Skunk was harvested on day 95. Buds are even bigger than the ones of Big Bud. Just for fun I weighed the main bud and it came out as 82 Gramm wet (it was already drying for some hours at that time). Now I just hope I do not lose something to mold. Weather is relatively cool and rainy, so RH is very high (around 80%). So I decided to switch on the dehumidifier; with all lights off, there are no temperature problems anymore. Update: For illustration of the drying process I added some pictures taken at an interval of 1 day. It nicely shows that in the first hours the main cola is losing big amounts of water and thus weight. This process is slowing down more and more and when there is no noticable loss in weight anymore, they are ready for going into jars. The dehumidifier keeps RH at 55% and temperatures at 26°C, so the drying goes quite fast. Probably they are ready for curing in only five days. After five days of drying there is almost no weight loss anymore and a tiny amount of humidity is needed for a good cure. So I cut them from the stems today. I decided to treat them as two different plants: The hard top buds and the fluffy lower ones will be cured separately. Yield was 41.72 gramm for the fluffy stuff and 209.63 for the "good" buds. Grand total for the whole grow: Shiva Skunk: 81 g Hindu Kush: 122 g Big Bud: 140 g Super Skunk: 251 g ======================= Total: 594 g That is 1.9 g/W and 825 g/m² Smoke report to follow...