Mimosa x Orange Punch scrog

Foxtail89 Good start...fast germination...

Foxtail89 Got hungry early, yellowing of the first leaf pair, and got new shoes.

Foxtail89 Good growth with very tight internodal spacing.

Foxtail89 Slower growth (busy with roots) after repotting into the final 20 L pot. Bottom 2/3 of my soil mix, top 1/3 (50% my soil mix, 50% coco).

Foxtail89 Mulch and netting were added.

Foxtail89 Very tight internode spacing... it will take a long time to fill the net and then I'll have too many tops. But I have to get through this now...

Foxtail89 ...

Foxtail89 Just water, no deficiencies in sight. Bends down very well, extremely elastic despite the short internode distance.

Foxtail89 It's getting tight...still just water and no deficiencies in sight. Soon it has to go into flowering. But I want to take out one more batch.

Foxtail89 I've decided to go into flowering. The net got too full and I can't accurately gauge the stretch, hoping for 10-20 cm above the net, so more than you'd typically aim for in a normal SCROG. I'd prefer 20-30 Minicolas rather than 60 uniform buds. In hindsight, with the extremely tight internode spacing, not the best strain for this endeavor.

Foxtail89 Stretch is fully there...

Foxtail89 It got way too tight... had to radically defoliate and did it the opposite way than usual... removed everything above the net! Basically, I actually swazzed right at BT 21 (not my original plan). Hope I didn't overdo it and she doesn't hermie on me. I think that was 50-60% of the leaf mass. The rest of the leaves under the net are actually getting light again and serve as a nutrient buffer that she needs now. The top dressing with added guano should "kick in" soon.

Foxtail89 No bananas have appeared yet...but there's also no strong growth of the buds. Just slight yellow tips on the remaining top leaves. The lower leaves are slowly dying, which is okay after 13-14 weeks of life...I think reserves are being mobilized and drawn upon to compensate for the leaf loss.

Foxtail89 BT32...Luckily, I still don't see any bananas, but a few pistils have turned brown, could be a sign of successful pollination, but it could also just be a normal aging phenomenon after 4 weeks of flowering. Buds could be growing faster, but they are definitely putting on weight. A few days ago, I had some light stress after I cranked it up a bit (about 75%). Yellow tips and curling leaves. Turned it back down to about 60% power and the symptoms were gone the next day. I did one last organic top dressing with guano, eggshells, and rock dust mixed into some lean soil. The mulch was topped up with new leaves and some grass clippings (Green:Brown/"N:C" 1:3). Tomorrow, I'll make a compost tea (compost, molasses). The lowest leaves fell off yesterday, but they weren't completely yellow and drained, rather they dried out. I kept the top layer quite moist, but the whole pot was too dry. It's a fine line between consistently moist (purely organic grow with lots of life) and overwatered. I hope the nutrients get to work relatively quickly. From week 7, it's just water.

Foxtail89 Looks good! Still no bananas... The leaves under the net have now fallen off except for 2-3 sun leaves in the back. Not due to a one-sided N deficiency (just yellow then gone) but with real wilting with brown parts; when it gets too dry, they show me the stress first. It was the right decision to leave them on before defoliating. At that time (BT21), ventilation is not the problem, and now that it's slowly getting there (BT30+), they have dropped off by themselves and could work a bit longer (of course on low power without much light). So I'm planning the probably last feeding. The day after tomorrow, there will be compost tea with molasses, rock dust, and a bit more guano... if you let it bubble longer, more phosphorus becomes directly available than if you do a top dress or water it directly without biological implementation. Some color is coming into play... dark red/purple tones on the sugar leaves (nice and frosty)... I think it will be pretty :-)

Foxtail89 I'd say it's going well... The bottom layer is basically completely gone at BT45. Some of it has dried out because I think I'm being a bit too stingy with the watering. Always right after the stress point (the bottom leaves lose tension) and not before. But everything above the net is a nice, vibrant green. The yellow tips were from light stress last week but have gotten a bit "worse" despite the dimmed light. So it could also be a slight excess (tea last week), but the fact that there are no yellow tips on the leaves in the shade argues against that. So I'm taking it slow with the nutrients. During the last watering, I added a bit of molasses, a tiny bit of ash, and even less guano with pond water. Next round, I'll give a banana tea and maybe some molasses. That all really kicks in about a week later. Then she should start to starve from the beginning of week 9. I usually count on a week more than what the breeder says. So 10 weeks with 1-2 weeks of strong hunger at the end. (Other suggestions with reasoning! welcome) Humidity is at 42%, which is important... I'm a bit worried about bud rot... I won't be removing any more leaves, as I cause too much damage and create entry points for gray mold.

Foxtail89 They're developing well! Autumn has started... last week was the last time I used compost tea with banana tea and molasses (just a little! Guano to "balance" the K a bit)... From now on, just water. I'll check the trichomes this evening, and the pictures will follow. I suspect she's further along than I hope... Breeder says 55-60, and normally I always add 1-2 weeks to that. With her, maybe not, although she still seems quite juicy to me. I might have left the last teas if the lady is already going to be ripe in a week... well, we'll see. I'd prefer to harvest her in 2 weeks when autumn has also arrived in the buds. But let's see what bud rot risk/ripeness has to say about that...

Foxtail89 Tough decisions are ahead... Since the buds are already a bit longer than in a standard SCROG, it was clear that each harvest has to be a compromise of different ripening levels. Up top, foxtailing is slowly but surely starting, and my gut tells me that bananas can't be too far away. The upper leaves are already shimmering bronze because all the trichomes are brown. On the small sugar leaves, it looks mixed, and on the bud pieces, the trichomes are consistently milky with a few brown ones. But those are "only" the upper buds. Below, there's still a lot of just milky stuff. At the very bottom, 30% milky, the rest clear. I'll be watching the changes in the next few days. At the moment, I'm leaning towards Thursday for the last sunrise, then 1-2 days of darkness, and Saturday for the chop. That would be day 63 (55-60, according to Barney's Farm). Still feels a bit strange to me. I've never had a grow (once with an Auto BBK) where it was this precise, and I've been doing this for a while ^^ I would have preferred if they could stay at least another week and turn yellow/red/whatever and break down carbs for improved smokeability and fewer aftertastes. But then I probably would have produced a better sleep aid. Maybe I'll let them go for another week, accepting that the upper buds will be hard couch-lockers, but a large part of the rest will be just right... definitely good for smokeability.

Foxtail89 It's coming to an end... just water in the last little while and less and less light. Up top it's getting a bit overripe now, foxtailing is starting and fresh calyxes are breaking out. Trichomes on the buds are still in the green range. Complete middle layer with clearly more than 50% cloudy/milky. The lower buds (which will be processed anyway) have more clear than cloudy trichomes. Starting tomorrow or the day after, there will be 2 days of darkness and then it goes onto drying nets. I usually cut it with 20-30 cm stems (wet trim) and hang it up with the net it's currently in. But something tells me that I still won't have enough space in the closet.... so multiple layers. I'll check back in 2-3 weeks with the "dry weight.