Platinum Lantz Project (plus more)

Tropicana Cookies has probably been the biggest surprise of this entire run. She started nine days later than the first four plants and about four days later than Toof Decay × Walter White, but she never acted behind. Germination was fast, early growth was aggressive, and at some point she just took off and became the largest plant in the tent. She grew so hard that she ended up reaching into the light, so I had to bend her over about 12 inches below the top. Even after that, she kept throwing new growth upward and rebuilding the canopy around the bend. She did not just recover from the training—she basically used it as an opportunity to make more tops. At this point she is a total beast. The flowers are one of the best-looking parts of the run. She has deep purple buds, heavy frost, chunky calyx stacking, and a really nice natural fade against the yellowing leaves. The resin coverage is excellent, especially on the sugar leaves, and the whole plant has that sweet, fruity smell I was hoping for from Tropicana Cookies. What is interesting is that even though she started later, she looks more mature than some of the older plants. She still has some fresh pistils and looks like she is finishing one last round of swelling, but overall she is much further along than I expected based on the calendar. This plant really showed me how little the start date can matter when the genetics are vigorous. She came in late, passed almost everyone, outgrew the space, handled aggressive bending without slowing down, and still ended up as one of the prettiest plants in the tent. Between the size, color, frost, structure, and sweet fruity aroma, Tropicana Cookies has absolutely earned a spot as one of the standout plants of this grow.

Strawberry Gorilla RF3 #1 has been the most consistent standout of the three Strawberry Gorillas from the very beginning. She was the first of the original group to germinate, the quickest to establish herself, and she stayed ahead through basically every stage of growth. What I like most about this plant is that she never really had an awkward phase. She grew with strong vigor, responded well to training, and built a wide, productive structure without turning into one giant crowded mass. After LST, she filled out with long spear-shaped colas and a lot of evenly developed tops. She has always looked like the plant most likely to give me the biggest combination of yield and quality. Visually, she is different from #2. She never went nearly as dark purple, but instead developed these really pleasant pink and lavender tones that I honestly think are just as beautiful. The buds are dense, the calyxes have swollen nicely, and the resin production is ridiculous. The frost is not limited to the flowers either. It runs across the sugar leaves, edges, and smaller bracts until parts of the plant almost look dusted in powdered sugar. Out of the three RF3 plants, #1 feels like the complete package. #2 may have the wildest color, and #3 is still a very solid plant, but #1 combines the best vigor, size, structure, frost, and overall production. She has been the plant I kept noticing from the start, and she continued proving that first impression right through late flower. If this were a photoperiod, this is exactly the kind of plant I would want to keep around and work with. She has the traits I would want to see carried forward: fast growth, strong branching, heavy resin, attractive flower, and serious yield potential. Even as an autoflower, she gives me a very clear picture of the kind of Strawberry Gorilla expression I would want to chase again.

Gorilla Zkittlez has been one of the biggest plants in the tent from early on. For a while, she was actually the largest of the group until Tropicana Cookies eventually caught up and passed her. Even now, she is still a huge plant with long branches and some seriously large colas, so yield-wise she looks like she is going to do very well. The main difference with this plant is timing. While most of the other ladies are clearly moving into the final stretch, Gorilla Zkittlez is still actively filling out. She has continued throwing fresh pistils and building flower while the others are already fading and maturing. Since she is an autoflower, it is not really a problem because I can just let her keep going until she is ready. At the same time, it has shown me that a slower-finishing plant could become inconvenient later if I were trying to move an entire room into the next generation on a tighter schedule. Structurally, she has done well. She built a large traditional shape with a strong main cola and plenty of secondary branches. The buds are stacking nicely, and she should still end up with a respectable amount of flower once everything finishes swelling. The biggest drawback for me has been the smell. I cannot describe it perfectly yet, but there is a slightly chemical note that I find a little off-putting. It is not necessarily a bad plant, and visually she is still impressive, but the terpene profile has kept me from getting as excited about her as some of the others. Overall, Gorilla Zkittlez has proven herself as a strong, high-yielding plant with excellent size and solid flower production. She just is not one of my personal favorites because of the slower finish and the aroma. She may end up producing a lot, but this run has reminded me that size alone is not enough. For me, the full experience matters, especially the smell, structure, and how much I actually look forward to consuming the flower.

Strawberry Gorilla RF3 #3 has been the quieter sister of the three, but not in a bad way. She has grown very similarly to #1 in both size and structure, especially after training, and she has handled the run well from start to finish. She never stood out as dramatically as #1 or #2. #1 had the strongest overall presence and #2 had the wild purple color, while #3 stayed more green and a little less flashy. But once the flowers really developed, it became obvious that she was still a very solid plant. The buds have good structure, plenty of frost, and a strong Strawberry Gorilla smell. She just does not have the same immediate “wow” factor as the other two. What I appreciate about #3 is how balanced she has been. She responded well to training, built a productive shape, and filled out evenly without giving me much trouble. She has a nice mix of size, resin, and flower quality, even if none of those traits are quite as extreme as they are on her sisters. She is also a good reminder that not every great plant has to be the loudest or prettiest one in the room. #3 has been reliable, healthy, and productive, and I think she will still end up with very good flower. In a tent with so many standout plants, she is easy to overlook, but that says more about the competition than it does about her. Overall, Strawberry Gorilla RF3 #3 feels like the dependable middle ground of the group. She has much of the size and structure of #1, some attractive color and frost of her own, and a good aroma, but she expresses everything in a more subtle way. Maybe not the first plant I would point to for pictures, but definitely one I expect to enjoy once she is dried and cured.

Toof Decay × Walter White has become my favorite plant of this entire grow, and honestly one of my favorite cannabis plants I’ve ever grown. From the first time I started smelling her in flower, I knew she was something special. Every time I open the tent, I’m drawn straight to this plant. The aroma is just addictive. If someone made an air freshener that smelled like this, I’d have them all over my house. It’s one of those scents that makes you stop what you’re doing and go back for another smell. She has also been one of the easiest plants to train. After the initial bend for LST, she naturally grew into exactly the shape I was hoping for. In fact, I found myself using her as the model for the rest of the tent, trying to train the other plants into a similar structure. She made the whole process feel easy. As flower developed, she just kept getting better. Thick, dense buds, incredible trichome production, and a greasy layer of resin that covers almost everything. The frost on this plant is unreal, and every time I look at her she seems to have gotten even more coated. She isn’t the biggest plant in the tent, but she doesn’t need to be. Everything about her feels complete. Great structure, beautiful flowers, heavy resin, and my favorite terpene profile of the run. This plant has honestly helped shape my breeding goals. If I could carry one plant’s overall quality into future projects, this would be near the top of the list. That’s exactly why I’m so excited about eventually crossing something like this with Strawberry Gorilla RF3 #1. Whether or not the genetics line up the way I hope is part of the adventure, but Toof Decay × Walter White has absolutely set the standard for the kind of flower I want to keep chasing in future generations. 🤙🌱

Strawberry Gorilla RF3 #2 has been one of the most unique plants in the entire tent. She may be the smallest of the three Strawberry Gorillas, but what she lacks in size, she more than makes up for in character. I actually had to raise her pot just so she could keep up with the canopy, but once flowering started, she absolutely exploded with bud development. She was the first of the three RF3s to really start flowering and never seemed to slow down. While the other two were still catching up, she was already stacking buds and bulking out. Even though she stayed compact, she packed almost every branch with dense flowers, proving that bigger doesn’t always mean better. The biggest surprise has been her color. Early on, she became so dark purple that I honestly questioned whether I had somehow mixed up a seed and accidentally grown a Lemon Cherry Cookies. As the flowers developed, though, the aroma made it obvious she was exactly what she was supposed to be. She has that unmistakable Strawberry Gorilla smell, just wrapped in a completely different look than her sisters. Visually, she has become one of the stars of the tent. The deep purple flowers, bright green sugar leaves, swollen calyxes, and heavy frost make her one of those plants that immediately catches your eye. She’s the kind of flower people would probably pick up first if they saw a jar full of different strains. If I could change one thing, it would simply be her size. I would love to see this exact phenotype on a larger plant because I honestly think it would be close to perfect. Even so, she has become one of my favorite expressions of Strawberry Gorilla and is a great reminder that every seed has its own personality. Sometimes the smallest plant in the room ends up producing some of the most beautiful flower.

Also, sadly enough both of those seeds I just tried didn’t make it so I’m starting two new seeds. I’m not sure if it’s me or just some of the seeds unlucky but I have one plant from this pack that went great from the get-go so I’m continuing the project. My attempt was to just do three at a time and now I have one plant and I’ve used seven seeds. These next two, I’m hoping work out.

A few more angles of the 4x4 here. Back row from left to right is Strawberry Gorilla RF3 #2 (plant order not rank), Toof Decay x Walter White, Strawberry Gorilla RF3 #3, center row is actually unknown I rotated them and moved them from the 2x4 when old enough and was tracking them but I am not confident I know which is which, front row Tropicana cookies, Strawberry Gorilla RF3 #1, Gorilla Zkittlez I love the original Strawberry Gorilla and this is my first grow of the RF3’s. Toof Decay x Walter White is my actual favorite of all time currently! This is my first grow of Tropicana cookies and she’s large, beautiful and smelly :) also first grow of Gorilla Zkittlez, also pretty large but the scent and terpenes are not as exciting, the scent is not my style but I haven’t chopped and cured so I don’t know yet about her. This has been fun and the most plants I’ve done in my 4x4 but I moved the Evo3 in here and got the 2x4 Grand Master Tarantula, its own light that actually fills the space. All in preparation for large pheno hunts eventually (large as my setup handles).

Current timeline

Snapshot of my conditions. Master and playroom are managed by the portable AC’s. I have 2 4” inline fans feeding air directly from master into the 4x4 or 9 would not be possible lol. First few days I was struggling with humidity. Crawl space is air feeding lung room and I have an additional 6” inline fan & charcoal filter exhausting into the playroom towards the AC. Multiple steps of airflow and redundancy in case one fails somehow.

Hi there, thank you for running this diary. We look forward to your updates. Happy growing 🌱🌱 & Good luck 😃

Good luck and happy growing 😊