Black Gum 2019 (I)

This is a new diary growing Original Sensible Seeds’ Black Gum! Starting new strains is literally my favorite thing, this one sounds delicious. The genetics are Black Domina x Bubblegum. Day 4 from seed. I seeded in a peat pod, in a cup filled with VPW20 soil and Myka microculture. It is my intent to grow this plant alongside a straight Bubblegum variety and directly compare.

Day 11 from seed. My tent has had fungus gnat problems. The seedlings are no exception and this plant has experienced some. Its clear that Black Gum had some troubles as some leaves got spotted, and frilled/ruffled. Was it the fungus gnats searching for foot and eating some roots? Was it just my poor own water logged irrigation? Both? I did not panic and have let it dry, it actually appears like it has grown and recovered slightly. Normally I abort damaged seedlings but this one will probably recover. So far, Original Sensible Seeds have given me some issues starting or have been susceptible. My pests are clearing by using sticky traps all week for passive adult fly collection. I have also been using a pure ethanol spray bottle to sanitize the tent and kill adults on contact. It kills microscopic life too. I got this from Max Pointy as he made a still for THC extraction and edibles, the moonshine/ethanol have doubled for this. He has had no issues after weeks of use. I am a couple applications in with no problems. I lightly coat all surfaces, pots, leaves, soil, etc. I do not saturate the soil. This has been very effective. I have read many bad experiences with peroxide or alcohol online, and I have two thoughts: 1) pure ethanol evaporates at room temperature and faster than water so the plant is uneffected 2) almost all online usually dilute with water which likely leaves a residue and slows ethanol evaporation or prevents it altogether. Hang in there, I have faith! Go Black Gum!

Day 17 from seed. Still a little sickly, I’m hoping this doesn’t abort the whole grow. I have solved the pest problem in my veg. tent and I repotted Black Gum to a slightly larger pot. I used VPW20 soil, Myka microculture, sheep manure compost, worm castings, and a small amount of blood and bone meal. I expect it will take awhile to really come on, if it recovers. Just water. *Edit: forgot to add the picture of the root structure when transplanting. I have now added the pic.*

Day 24 from seed. Black Gum is looking stronger and more lively. It is riding nitrogen excess, but that was me applying plant food. I gave a baseline, dilute feeding of 24-8-16 All Purpose Miracle Grow to my entire veg. tent. A bit of water and time and that will clear up. I was more concerned with the streaking stems on many of my plants and staying ahead of deficiencies. I’m a bit concerned with the overall pace of Black Gum, but it is just a little more stocky, and is in fact healthy.

Day 31 from seed. I was actually a bit concerned for Black Gum for a bit, and a bit of overnuting didn’t help. But things have been better with water and time. I have now transplanted to a larger container. I used HP Pro Mix soil, and the last of my VPW20. Also, sheep manure compost, worm castings, myka microculture, and blood and bone meal. I feel confident so I defoliated the tent, this is documented in the last couple pictures.

Day 38 from seed. Just chugging along. I suspect this plant was a bit overnuted with transplant, and certainly suffered early on - but no matter! Its back and doing well. Just patience needed. Still a way out from any LST or cloning. So ... another plant in the tent got spider mites. I had to totally nuke everything and spray 99% ethanol everywhere. This usually doesn’t effect things too much other than kill pests. You will sustain some damage on the fan leaves, usually brown splotches. This plant got the side effects bad because it is shorter and not directly in line with the fan. You can see the leaves are shriveled and brown. I will take this damage on lower fan leaves all day every day in exchange for no pests. This likely just degrades the quality of clones at the outset of tying the plant.

Day 45 from seed. Black Gum is just slowly chugging along. After getting sprayed last week for mites and having damaged foliage removed, this week was quite uneventful. Nothing doing but just growing and adjusting to me chopping off foliage. I constantly defoliate and reveal branches or bud sites. Totally unrelated strain and provider, Black Gum has totally underperformed next to BlackJack. More of a compliment to the latter, or more indicative of the former? Gum did struggle out of the gate. I said I wanted to go head to head with two totally unrelated strains Black Gum and BubbleGum, that competition has been one sided as the latter was the plant with mites. “There’s always a bigger fish.” Just water and waiting for a final repotting and cloning in the coming weeks.

Day 52 from seed for Black Gum. Nothing dire, but nothing positive. I’m awaiting for a new heating system as my current oil tank expired. Unfortunately, the install isn’t for another eight days, its November 10th and there is snow on the ground. My entire house is freezing let alone my basement - ask my kids. Plant growth has taken a hit and nutrient absorption is out of whack. I have been consistent with my mix since summer, but the temperatures severely alter the availability of nutrients. I am getting some claw and other signs, but I won’t jump to rectify anything before I’m able to heat the basement again. Last winter I had similar issues as I just learned about growing in general, and some degrees Celsius can help alot. Because my tent runs 24 hours a day it can build up to 18 or 19 degrees Celsius, but its much colder near the floor and no doubt in the soil. Outside the tent is probably like 10 degrees or colder. I’ve been topping and defoliating at will. Just sort of responding to what I see as I go. Original Sensible Seeds is going to get a good run here soon, but I will not plant seeds until I get a new furnace. Once the plants get cozy again then its on like Donkey Kong. I have not been able to take any Black Gum clones yet.

Day 59 from seed for Black Gum. The story remains the same: no heat. Should be rectified early this week but for now my entire house is cold and my basement is frigid. Not much to say other than growth is slowed and absorption low. Hangin’ in there... But there is some good news for this particular plant. Black Gum is the first beneficiary of my local grow store upgrading to selling cannabis specific products (soil/nutrients)! I’m sure my repeated sales helped. Big time Fox Farms promotion so I got some soil (Happy Frog) to add into the amendment game. It will be particularly useful for the early repotting stages when I am looking to feed a little but would rather go with a premix. Less valuable right now for Black Gum because its redundant with alot of what I mix in the end anyway, but still exciting. I got some great amendment in addition. In the spirit of detail here is the non scientific just random main ratio; 25 HP Pro Mix: 5 Fox Farms Happy Frog: 5 worm castings: 2 ASB Greenworld Sheep Manure Compost: 2 ASB Greenworld Black Earth: 2 ETI Greenhouse Gold Seafood Compost: 1 Blood and Bonemeal pellets: 1 Green Gaia mineralized phosphate (guano): 1 alfalfa meal compost: 1 dried used coffee grounds: 1 pulverized egg shells; and Myke Herbs and Vegetables mycorrhizae.

Day 66 from seed for Black Gum. I have heat and a new furnace! This is a huge help as my veg. tent is like five degrees warmer. The plants have has five days adjusting back and are starting to look healthier. I had topped and selectively defoliated this one earlier this week so it just needs some time to fill in. I expect it to be reaping the reward of its new soil this week. Side note: though spraying the moonshine seemed to discourage and kill gnats and spider mites in my tents, my moonshine source unfortunately works away from home for days at a time and could not overcome the time away - it is only effective with persistent, regular spraying. So, he was forced to resort to more proactive methods which I reaped the leftover/tail end reward, i.e. he came over and gave me some. 1) Grub Grenade - ordered online. Hard to tell if anything is even active, nor if it even works. We are skeptical but it was immediate help for him. (They have a website grubgrenade .com) 2) at the recommendation of Hellish, he ventured to Halifax Seed which is a gardening and specialty cannabis shop. They ordered him predatory mites - Phytoseiulus persimilis, by BioBest Sustainable Crop Management. These guys were definitely active, and visible! Good success for my friend, and a good proactive clean sweep for me. I can say confidently I have eradicated any problems, especially spider mites.

Day 73 from seed for Black Gum. Just water as it was recently transplanted into nutrient rich soil, in fact I suspect its a hair overnuted. The stem from seed is nice and thick, very stable plant. Still awhile to go as there are many plants ahead in the flowering rotation. Not pictured, are a number of ladybugs I am hoping get established for passive pest control.

Day 80 from seed for Black Gum. Okay, I’ll admit this plant is starting to look good! If you recall, I was pairing it with another plant which has since been flowered - this one stayed behind in the veg. tent. At the beginning, Black Gum struggled a bit. I’ve just been giving water as it works its way through amendment. One more week of veg. and then I am going to move this beauty to the flower tent.

Day 85 from seed for Black Gum. If you have been following, it has been five updates in the current massive container. I am satisfied and will be transferring to flower now ... projected 8-9 weeks. The most recent combination of amendment and soil seems good as this is one of the more healthier plants I’ve flowered in terms of stem size, stem colouring/condition, and branch condition. Maybe a bit too much nitrogen as I have some funky fan leaves, but overall I like the green new growth stem above all else. Just water... I may give another watering to start the flowering food as I don’t want to hit it too hard. I’ll make the call in a couple days.

Day 93 from seed for Black Gum. One week of flowering complete, seven weeks to go. Buckle in, this is going to be a lengthy update. So, overall I’ve been dealing with temperatures, particularly night time swings. I imagine the root zone of my big plants are too cold and slowing things down behind the scenes, but not fatal. My young plants have been struggling and dying. This has forced me to make a multitude of changes. Most recently, I had to shut off my output ventilation. This has risen flowering temperature and humidity. The first night I did not think and didn’t block the output vent, the temperature differential sucked all the heat out and it was 10 degrees at lights on. I have blocked it, but this has raised temps and humidity again especially with waterings. In my flower tent, I’ve realized I’ve overnuted plants. My nitrogen fade has been much too slow, and with temperatures effecting plant growth, and perhaps some persisting amendment, it accumulated and devastated one plant. I realize now across the board I realistically need far less nitrogen and have been just getting away with it with the temps. I am realizing as I am typing this that Black Gum still has alot of hope. To be honest I thought this was the second week of flower, but it is the first. This means I can change course. I still do want to provide some extra nitrogen for stretch, but now I know there is more remaining in the soil, and who knows what to expect with all the environment changes. I will quickly skip the schedule and cut nitrogen already after the feeding I gave today. Today was 2-7-7 Shultz Cactus food with a popsicle stick dip of blackstrap molasses. This is usually a mid fade, now it just becomes a touch of nitrogen in the first two weeks and thats it! I also used and am trying Plant Prod MJ Spike (CalMag) and Earth Alive Big Blue Wave. Lastly, if someone did read this far, I should mention the lighting as this is the first week of flower. In my flower tent I have two of the same blue big boy full spectrum LEDs I use in veg. in my flower tent, spaces out. Alternating I have sets of smaller yellow spectrum LEDs that total 96watts of yellow. This came about after my buddy and I examined the spectrum of our light and noticed a gap compared to HPS in the 500-800nm range. This supplement was incredibly cheap and when my environment and bad skills aren’t crushing me, made a noticeable difference in bud density.

Day 100 from seed for Black Gum. Two weeks of flowering complete, six weeks to go. As mentioned in my other diaries I am cutting back on nitrogen in general. Of course, Black Gum reaps the reward of learning with other plants. Most recently it got water, and the last feeding was reported last week. I will continue food but will be onto nitrogen free food for the rest. Everything is looking good with this one, lots of green. Since I turned off the ventilation I’ve left the tent open a crack to reduce humidity.

Day 107 from seed for Black Gum. Three weeks of flowering complete, five weeks to go. At the other end of the nutrient gradient, moving from fatality to overvegged, to dark green, I may be able to save this one ... I regret a feeding a week ago now. No nitrogen, 0-10-10 Alaskan Morbloom, with blackstrap molasses, Plant Prod MJ Spike (CalMag) and Earth Alive Big Blue Wave, but now that I see the situation of all the plants over time I would have not even given that at all. It has gotten one irrigation since, and it was a massive flush of water. I will continue this for a bit before even attempting any food. If I can get most of the nutes flushed the end result may not suffer as much. I am considering this damaged merchandise at this point and a game of how much can I salvage. So, to total, Black Gum got one 2-7-7 Shultz feeding, and one 0-10-10 Alaskan Morbloom (plus secondary). I even think that is way too much now that I am seeing the remaining amendment levels. We shall see.

Day 114 from seed for BlackGum. Four weeks of flowering complete, four to go. This plant was the least damaged by amendment (read back for recap), so major flushing all week has it looking perky and blooming. There is still tons of veg. from all the nitrogen, but there are also dense buds forming, covered in sweet frost. The trichomes are stick and smell nice and sweet/fruity. It may be one of the more addicting smells I have encountered growing. I shipped a seed of this to a friend on GrowDiaries, I hope they like this aspect!! 🇨🇦 Because this plant isn’t completely wrecked I will continue to feed plant food (without nitrogen), but not before it dries out a bit. I will try to work back to good watering after majorly irrigating all week and drenching everything.

121 from seed for Black Gum. Five weeks of flowering complete, three weeks to go. Based on catching this plant before being severely overnuted, but still possessing too much nitrogen, I will try to go an extra week. The plant has produced nice bud, but its still fairly leafy. No doubt the excess quantity of veg. and leaf matter is from the nitrogen. But, its not dire, there is still plenty of trichomes and density. I will get a decent sense of Black Gum at harvest. It is producing a nice smell at the moment, sort of sweet. I fed food again: 0-10-10 Alaskan Morbloom with a popsicle stick dip of blackstrap molasses, Plant Prod MJ Spike (CalMag), and Earth Alive Big Blue Wave. When I let it dry a bit I will likely just give water here on out to try to get some leaf fade before the end. Last three pics are: middle two plants, whole tent looking towards the further progressed plants, whole tent looking to the relatively younger plants.

Day 128 from seed for BlackJack. Six weeks of flowering complete, two weeks to go. I’m so happy to have recovered this plant from early amendment and overnuting, its nearly back to my standards. I trimmed a large amount of leaf to open the plant up, but on account of the nitrogen there is so much still...There will be alot of trimming to reveal buds that will be much smaller than the bulk that appears, but I have a good feeling it will be dank. The smell is wonderful, sweet with fuel; it snaps a sharp overtone to the light sweetness/smell of Bubblegum. I’m flushing away and will get as much fade as possible. I don’t mind amber trichomes.

Day 135 from seed for BlackGum. Seven weeks of flowering complete, one week to go! Oh mama! Nothing to complain about, periodic flushing with water. Lots of veg., but lots of bud. The smell is unreal, soooo strong. Sweet fuel. Maybe the best, most addicting smell I’ve encountered. I’ve done a good deal of defoliation to open up the canopy, increase airflow, and help the buds finish up. So, my good pal MaxPointy, too smooth for GrowDiaries, but the guy has some talents and various skills. Now he is making light pods from scratch. Real snazzy, with a 3D printed hood, and the attachment plastic (the purple) is all thermochromic ink which turns clear at 46 degrees Celsius, giving an added layer of monitoring. Each pod is 50watts of warm white LED which targets the yellow/red spectra ringing in at around $30 Canadian. This diagram is an approximation of wavelength.

Day 140 for BlackGum. Eight weeks of flowering complete, this is the projected window! I am excited. Truth be told, this plant still got too much nitrogen, you can tell with how much leaf vegetation. This is the last in the string of recent overnuting. That being said, finally! There is bud! Its been a few harvests since I had something to look forward to. I will flush one more time And give some darkness before harvest tomorrow night.

Lots of water leading up. Gave it some extra darkness before chopping. Great harvest, easy to trim. I left so much fluff and popcorn bud to compost, this was just the better quality stuff. I wet trimmed and then budwashed. Two containers: a lemon juice/baking soda/room temp. water mix; room temp water.