Royal Gorilla

I use tap water which has a ppm of approx 150-190. I feed with only water for its first 10-12 days. Once she was out of the ground the light was lowered slightly to increase light intensity. I believe it's crucial not to over water in this early stage as it will prolong its fast growth considerably.

Still healthy in this early stage, I only give light feedings to prevent any burns while she's small. Feeding enough to just about soak the cup, making sure there's no run off (or very little) while the root structure is still small. This will make the cup dry out quicker, meaning she can be fed sooner in order to also grow quicker. My tap water is approx 150ppm so in the second feeding my nutrients added approx 217ppm. 1 drop of Honey was added to this feeding. Looking forward to next week!

This week I've added silica into my feed, although not full strength yet. I've also adjusted the ratio of my Base nutrients closer to 3:2:1 (G:M:B) but not quite. Still just shy of the strength she'll be given throughout veg but not far off. About half of a small pinch of Epsom salts was added per ltr too. Altogether, the nutrients added approx 351ppm to my tap water. It also may be worth mentioning that I leave my tap water to sit for 24-30hrs before adding nutrients, pH-ing and feeding in order to let the chlorine evaporate. All in all she looks very healthy, happy and really praying towards the light for the last few hours of her day, every day! 🐺

This week she was micro topped, transplanted into a 2gal Smart Pot and given a light feeding. Base nutrients were kept at a 3:2:1 ratio of G:M:B (not mixed in that order). I decided to trial micro-topping earlier in the week on this girl as I've heard it causes less stress on the plant, due to it being a very small topping. In theory it's plausible, but after testing for myself I can say, for me, it doesn't provide quicker growth. Actually the opposite. I'll just be topping as usual in future. As you see in the pics, she is missing her middle finger on one of her leaves. This is because I was a little bit rough during micro-topping and killed that part of the leaf when it was slightly smaller than pictured. I pinched it off and it doesn't seem to have affected her at all so she'll be ok. Overall she's not doing too bad but lower growth is slightly yellowing and her stems are quite purple. In hindsight I should have given her a stronger feed, but also didn't want to shock her roots during transplant. Her new tops are coming in slowly but we should see her back to health soon and growing quicker than ever. Her Base nutrients were doubled and other nutes were increased on her next feeding (particularly cal-mag), on Day 29 as you will see in next week's update.

Late updating as I've been away for a week but before I did, the girls were given a couple higher dosage feedings and the main stem was LST'd down to encourage the lower growth to shoot up and start making a nice canopy. This girl was LST'd a few days after the other plants as by want the happiest of the bunch. Since these photos, I have added another string towards the Base of the plant, pulling in the opposite direction to the one above to maintain a nice straight stem at the Base. It's important not to cause stress on the roots when LST'ing. The next week will be updated in only a couple of days as I'm late posting this week's diary. I'll also be adding Mammoth P to my feeding schedule starting late into week 6. Thanks for looking/following 🐺

While I was away in Mallorca, enjoying the sun and smoking some Sativa Landrace, the girls were given a more simple feed to make things easier for my friend whilst he was taking care of the garden. The feedings came to around 700ppm (Including 150-190ppm tap water). As you can see in the video I've been bending her down for a couple of days instead of tying a string to her. It's just a lazy LST that should basically do the same thing. This girl has really bounced back and shown great growth since increasing the feed strength. She's keeping a good structure and should make a nice bush. Every second feed from here on out will also contain Mammoth P for the first time in my garden! 🐺

First week running Mammoth P. After being topped a few times, this Royal Gorilla girl has turned into a nice bush. I've also been bending her down daily instead of tying her to create more of a bush and to spread her out. I'm now waiting for the Girl Scout Crack to get to a decent size before flipping them to Flower, so probably one or two more weeks veg at the most. Thanks for following 🐺

She was transplanted into her new set of shoes; a 4gal Smart Pot. She was given a weaker feed after transplanting to avoid shock. She's coped very well, continuing to grow strong and healthy. I've still been bending this girl down to open her up, widen her and get more light into her lower nodes. After growing in Smart Pots a few times now, I think I'm going to use them only for their finishing pots because in my opinion, transplanting from a Smart Pot damages way too many roots for my liking. Because the roots poke through the bottom, taking the pot off without ripping them is unavoidable, for this reason I'll be using a plastic pot before a 4-5gal Smart Pot to finish in flower. The last image was taken from my new phone and looks a bit lighter and not quite the same colour as real life, unlike my old phone. So I guess we'll have to get used to the new shade of green! It has many adjustments and settings so it may just be a case of tweaking to perfection. Thanks for following 🐺

Flipped to 12/12 on Day 60. Base nutrients have been levelled at 1:1:1 ratio during transition. Silicon and Cal-mag have been increased slightly. Sugars will stay the same until we see trichome development. I've increased Mammoth P as recommended on the bottle. She was given a slight defoliation and cleaned up underneath on Day 7 of Flower. Depending on her growth and stretch, I'll give her a good defoliation and possibly lollipop her a bit more in just under a weeks time. The Royal Gorilla's had a decent stretch so far; not as much as I was expecting, but there's still a week or so of stretch left in her. Happy with her growth and transition into flower so far. Sorry for the terrible pics, I think I'll be swapping my phone for one with a better camera soon! Thanks for following! 🐺

Second week of stretch. I took approx 5% of the leaves off her and kept taking a few off here and there every other day, where ever I thought necessary. I've not quite done a huge GML style defoliation but took off enough, and will be plucking a couple here and there as she flowers. At the end of the week her base nutrients ratio was adjusted closer to 1:2:3 (G/M/B) as she gets towards the end of her stretch. The Royal Gorilla has been happy and healthy throughout her stretch and is now slowing right down to start her calyx formation. She's managed to keep a pretty even canopy; at the start of this week up to mid week I gave a couple of her tallest stems a slight pinch in between the 2nd and 3rd node down instead of super cropping. This was enough to keep her even as a super crop wasn't necessary. Looking forward to seeing her flowers grow from here! Thanks for following! 🐺

Week 3 Flower Base nutrients ratio was gradually adjusted to 1:2:3 G/M/B by the end of the week, and also slightly increased overall. Silicon was decreased and will be stopped by day 28. Stopped stretching around mid week. The Royal Gorilla is still looking very healthy and always happy. Her flowers are growing well so far and she's already packing on the trichomes. Looking forward to seeing her build. Thanks for following! 🐺

Week 4 Flower Silicon was stopped at day 28. Cal-Mag and Epsom Salts will be stopped at day 35. I tied a net in the tent, not as a SCROG, but just for support as they put the weight on. She was given a small maintenance flush on Day 28 and then topped up with a fresh nutrient mix without silicon. The Royal Gorilla has continued to be extremely healthy and praying for all hours of the day. She's building very well and really piling on the trichomes. Thanks for following! 🐺

Week 5 Flower The last feeding of Cal-Mag and Epsom Salts were given on Day 32 as that's just how the watering day fell. I've also started using General Hydroponics Ripen for the first time in my garden so using slightly less than half that is recommended on the bottle for now. I'll increase and test in future waterings/grows to see how much the optimal amount is for my feeding plan. Other than that not much to update this week. Overall, the garden is ticking away smoothly 👍 The Royal Gorilla is still looking good, building and piling on the trichomes ❄️ and smelling stronger by the day. Thanks for following! 🐺

Week 6 Flower I was hoping they wasn't but I'm pretty certain all 4 girls in this flower tent were stunted for a couple of days due to me not realising my new extension lead in the room has a red and green light on it! It was a few weeks ago now, I black taped it a couple days after it was plugged in, once I realised. It wasn't in the tent but it's in the same room and the flower tent has one vent half covered. No herm issues at all but I think it was enough to slow em down for a little bit. The Royal Gorilla has continued to frost up and fatten. She's smelling great and looking very healthy. Frost tacos everywhere! Only a couple of feeds left before we go into flush. Thanks for following! 🐺

Week 7 Flower Not much to comment on this week other than she started flush on Day 49. The Royal Gorilla is looking as frosty as ever. And even her lower nugs are nice and fat too. First two pics are some seriously frosty lower nugs and frost tacos 😉 Thanks for following! 🐺

Week 8 Flower The Royal Gorilla is now well into flush and looking great. She's fading very well and she smells amazing. Annoyed that I didn't take any cuts from this girl but I'll definitely be running her again soon! She'll be taken down between days 63-65. (My tap water is between 150-190ppm and left to sit for 24hr before watering). Thanks for following! 🐺

Week 9 Flower Sorry for the late update guys, I'm sure you'll understand when I say Christmas was a hectic time! I also like to update my diaries together so I was waiting for all but the MasterKush to come down. The Royal Gorilla was first to get the chop. She faded extremely well and was taken down on Day 63. She was given a wet trim because I like my bubble hash, and this girl should be perfect for it as her trim is ridiculously frosty! All of her buds are fat, frosty and looking nice! I definitely want this girl to be a regular in my garden, that's for sure! I also hadn't noticed when she was in the tent but her buds have taken on a nice purple tone, which was a bit unexpectedbut a nice surprise haha. Thanks for following this run and sharing the love and commenting, it's always appreciated ✌️🐺 I'll be doing the harvest update as soon as they're all ready for jars 👍

Very impressed with Royal Queen Seeds for producing this girl for us all to enjoy! She'll be popped again as soon as I can and will be staying in my garden for a long time. Her buds are too fat and frosty to say no to! And she yields very well. Looking forward to running her under the new 315w CMH. I've enjoyed doing this diary, and all my others, on grow diaries and will continue to start more. If even one person has learned one thing from my presence on here, then that makes it all worth it in my opinion! From where I stand that's all we can do for each other our community. Because I've created 4 seperate diaries with 4 different strains, I've had to calculate these by dividing the conditions by 4 (4 plants in total but only one of each strain). This is the fairest and only way to work it out properly. I also want to thank Royal Queen Seeds for creating this partnership between us and I definitely look forward to growing more of their strains. All of which will be on Grow Diaries! Thanks for following and happy growing! 🐺