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Seed germinated in soil on warming mat under CFL grow light in late April. Planted outside after average last frost day in early May. Soil is standard high grade garden soil with a fair amount of perlite added in the mix.
Lots of rain and cool weather this week. Lows of 3-4 C with highs only about 20C. Had to move plants under cover a few times cuz of rain.
Natures Souce plant food and molasses for fertilizer. I tbsp molasses in 4 cups warm water seems to work and I’m also try it on my tomatoes and peppers.
Nice weather.
Bought pH meter to deal with city water ph of 7.5 which is way above optimum for cannabis of 6-6.5. One capful of vinegar in 7 L of water does the trick for this water. This is Fast Buds number one tip for new growers.
Girl Scout Cookie is definitely a bit faster growing now.
Same molasses and Natures Source.
This plant is on the verge of starting to flower. Like the GSC it seems the cold nights here slow it down a bit, but it still seems happy.
Starting to flower. Didn’t top this plant but it developed 3 main stems which seems good.
Still molasses and Natures Source but switching to bloom nutes now.
Added a round of Epsom salts to the alternate day fertilizer concoction for one day. Plants loved it. PE and the GSC both gained about 8” (20 cm) in the last 6 days.
I think Polar Express needs a better press agent or something. Seems like a really great strain so far.
Cool rainy and humid this summer. Worst in ten years of routine gardening here but the “legal 4” are doing great 😎
Trimmed lower canopy on July 20 in attempt to improve airflow and sunlight around buds.
Plant still getting taller...now 45 inches. This is actually the tallest of the for plants, and the only one I didn’t top.
Still looking good. Similar size and blooming rate as the GSC I’ve got going.
Still using bloom nutes for a few more days but a flush will happen soon.
Used Big Bud for first time on Day 77.
I think I took a few too many leaves off and now they’re yellowing early. The buds look good though. 😎
First week using Bud Bud. See week 12 comment on GSC diary.
Day 82 ready for flushing I think.
Day 83 flushed with about 25 L of pHed water. Done in increments to let soluble salts dissolve into the porewater before being flushed out by the next 7 L flush.
Day 83 later harvested main cola for a total of 60 g wet weight. This is a fairly small potion of the plant and I will harvest the rest in the next few days. 😎
I know you’re supposed to flush a week or two before harvest but my timing is messed up cuz of a trip in a couple of weeks.
Day 84 harvested.
Nice indica stone which I usually prefer over sativas. Northern Lights and Kush heritage means to me it’s a good classic stone. Excellent choice for one of the legal 4 plants in Canada. The name might put people off thinking it’s a compromise, but it’s really good dope.
Loved it. Polar Express is very well suited to backyard or patio grows. It is discrete with minimal odour. The strain is listed as getting to 80 cm in height but this one reached 117 cm outdoors with no topping or training.
All four of my plants are about 50% bigger than advertised and it looks like the final yields will be equally high. 😎🇨🇦
I harvested this one early but the trial smoke so far tastes great. Not dry yet but should have in the 100 g range which seems pretty good. But Newbie mistake of harvesting too soon after big water flush elevated wet weight and takes longer to dry.
Aug 11 trimmed from stems to jar for curing. Buds could have gotten bigger and more mature but I got pretty close to 4 oz (111 g) of airy buds on the first try by early August. Nice indica stone. Polar Express is highly recommended for backyard outdoor grows in Canada. Small enough, low odour, productive, autoflower that can handle cool nights and produces good weed.
@Fruitgrower, yeah, I suppose. Live and learn after newbie mistakes. It still works though and tastes great.
Can you have a look at my Gril Scout Cookie diary? I’m wondering about timing for that harvest. Super humid here this year and I’m not around next week so thinking about harvesting that one soon.
@CoastGrower, yeah it might be too soon but I think I might have defoliated a bit too much and all the leaves were turning yellow. Also 14 days past the breeders time to harvest. The other factor is that I’m away for a week soon and I was trying to time it as best I could with drying and curing. Newbie mistake I suppose but I’ve got 3 other tries to get it right. Girl Scout Cookie is up next and it looks to be double the yield of this plant.
I should have more than enough bud to make it through to next year which was always the plan😎
It’s a peat pot with the bottom cut off and three slits along the sides to open it up before being planted. Done this way after reading about how autoflowers don’t like to be transplanted. This turned out better than the three Northern Lights seedlings I started in the final containers that were lost to birds and/or dog.
Had the dates wrong. Started in soil in peat pots (ungerminated) after soaking overnight in distilled water on May 11 and poking up by May 15. So that makes today day 11 I suppose.
Planted peat pots after gently cutting off the bottom with a utility knife.
Northern_Ent
