Atlas F1 & Epsilon F1 (no1)

ChronicNerve This grow I am using lights with more reds as I want these plants to grow as big and as uniform as as possible. I have not grown either of these strains before so I want to see how they grow naturally and only intervene when necessary. So far I have not touched them. I have also decided to go with 50% perlite this grow as I think my worm castings mix with plagron was too dense for the roots to grow down the bottom. So far so good, they have just started to stretch.

ChronicNerve Big stretch in 7 days, they are growing nice and uniformly so there has been no need to do anything other than water 3 times, the last with nematodes. I have been measuring the lux to ensure 40,000 starts at the canopy and have had to raise the light an inch or two every morning. Easy grow so far, very impressed.

ChronicNerve Both plants have just finished their final stretch. The Atlas has almost tripled in size over the last two weeks and now stands about 75 cm, while the Epsilon and its more dominant Indica rest at about 60 cm. The only thing I have had to do in five weeks is measure the lux amount to keep it at 40,000 at the top of the canopy by raising the lights, and I have watered both five times, with the last watering adding bloom and top max. I am very impressed with the node spacing and uniformity. Up to this point, these are the easiest plants I have ever grown, so I have already germinated another two Epsilons and am in the process of starting another Atlas F1, Gaia F1, and Apple Fritter. I estimate about 4-5 weeks flowering left for the Epsilon and 5-6 for the Atlas.

ChronicNerve A few changes this week: Co2 tank added providing 600-800ppm 18 hours a day ( first time I have ever supplemented Co2) 2 x HLG Quantum boards added to provide light coverage to bud sites Temps have ranged from 24-27 Celsius. 0.25 Litres per day for each plant Both the Epsilon and Atlas continue to impress, they are being pushed pretty hard now, with light intensity and bloom feed operating at optimum levels. I look forward to seeing their progress.

ChronicNerve As I posted last week, both plants started to strip the bottom fan leaves for nitrogen and nutrients. This makes perfect sense, as the perlite makes up 50% of the mix, after giving it some more thought. To remedy the situation, I ordered the Biobizz line, and both plants are now taking in 1 litre a day of the full Biobizz line recommended for All-Mix. This immediately stabilised both plants, which then enabled me to take the advice from Atomik_water in the comments and raise the temperature in the room to 29°C, while the plants remained around 26–27°C. Both plants are now receiving a DLI of about 55 and show no signs of problems under the current watering and nutrient regime. I therefore intend to keep things the same until they finish.

ChronicNerve Bit of a cursed week in the grow room. One of my girls (cat) fell and crushed my vegging Atlas F1. The good news is both are fine, no problems. Secondly, I'm a bit disappointed in myself because I've stressed the Atlas and the Epsilon. It's either too much DLI or the increase in room temps, or maybe a bit of both — however, the plant VPD has always remained around 26–27 °C, so I'm assuming it's the DLI. I've dialled back the lights and brought the room temp down to 26 °C, and I've decided to let them flower for another week, take a look at the situation, but I'll probably harvest early. Apart from that, they started to strip the lower leaves again, so I've upped the nutes and now give the Atlas 1.75 L a day and the Epsilon 1.5 L a day. I'm really interested to see how this develops over the next week.

ChronicNerve Since I have stressed and fox-tailed both the Epsilon and the Atlas, I will document the daily process and add pictures each day to show the incremental consequences of stressing the plants. They still look and smell beautiful, but I am now just trying to get the timing right between adding weight and risking bud rot. I have dialled the lights down to 26°C, and the plants are running at about 23°C on a 17/7 light cycle.

ChronicNerve The Epsilon now has a nice frost on it and in the Harvest window. I am going to run it for another 7 days as this is when the F1 Atlas is fully cured. The foxtailing is minimal and the terps are smell like a minty forest. No problems.

ChronicNerve After monitoring the aggressive foxtailing, I decided to harvest today. There is more than enough for me, there is no risk of bud rot, and the plant was starting to produce small leaves, which are a real pain to trim and ultimately lower the quality of the buds. This plant would have been an absolute monster if I hadn’t stressed her with too much DLI. I definitely don’t intend to make the same mistake with the other Atlas F1 I have growing. The only small difficulty was keeping up with the plant’s nutrient requirements. As I was using a 50% perlite mix, I had to use the full recommended BioBizz organic range to keep up with her needs. Even though the plant stressed, you wouldn’t have realised it from the leaves, as they were still perfectly healthy when I cut them off. She has now been loaded into the Vcure for a 14-day craft cycle. Once that is finished, I’ll be harvesting the Epsilon F1. I’m hoping this strain will be a suitable replacement for Medical Mass. If it is, I’ll have one growing constantly in my room. Edit - I just checked and it only took 64 days from seed in water to harvest. That is ridiculously fast. Thanks for following along with this grow. It has been very enjoyable and a pleasure from start to finish.