2nd Time Pineapple

After my first experience with photoperiod plants I decided that Pineapple Express really performed above and beyond compared to the other results I saw with the strains available to me. Denser buds, higher yield and a generous gleaming coat of trichromes! Going off this conclusion I have rebooted my grow chamber with only two plants this time instead of the previous three, both girls being Pineapple. I will save a place in my heart to fall in love with new strains but until they come my way, PE is the girl for me 😌 If I had to summarise the main thing I learnt from my last grow, it would be how much I under-utilized the space I have available in my grow cabinet. Taunting thoughts of what my yield could have, SHOULD have been keep me awake at night, so this time around, it's slow and steady when it comes to the vegetation stage with these girls! I plan to train them until I am content that switching to flower is the right thing to do. So join me on this journey, but I warn you that it may be a tedious one!

Week 2 elapsed rather slowly as my clones developed their root mass, something I saw for my own eyes when I transferred them into their new 1 litre pots (An intermediate transition before their final homes, 15 litre fabric pots). As the week continued I topped them both, and what you see here is the bounce back from that, which is looking good! One of my clones has been from day 1 significantly larger, and to keep them even height wise I have begun the first of her training by bending her over and securing her with some string. hopefully I can use her lateral offshoots as many different colas down the line. Other than this, not much to report, as leaf growth is picking up a little and they seem very happy. I also notice they have a small appetite which is easy to quench, and I am making an effort to water infrequently although regularly. Lately they can go two days between drinks quite happily. They are receiving rhizotonic for root development, a slurry nutrient mix for general growth, and a trace element booster to keep deficiencies at bay. Smooth sailing thus far 😊

Another week has passed, and the plants have well recovered from topping. Branches are looking longer now and i've begun to shape them a bit every day, smaller girl has a 4 branch structure going on and taller girl is long and many armed. They drink a little more and I notice their growth speed has really picked up, so far so good! soon i'll begin tying down more branches, and when they're taller I will drop them down to the floor level and start using the trellis.

Another week has passed and all is well. So far I have only encountered one hiccup; my power cut out for 24-36 hours, plunging my plants into darkness for this time. They seem to have begun preflowering within this small accidental window, but I have ramped their sunlight hours up to 20 per day to make sure they get the message to continue vegging for now. However, there are as a result a larger amount of pistils than i've seen before at this stage. I have undergone a second round of tying down just yesterday, and their lateral growth is going really great. Once they cover the width and breadth I desire, I'll start to train their upward growth. I have trimmed the occasional fan leaf here and there to allow for all tops to receive light equally. I'm also experimenting with my air circulating fan blowing up through the plant's leaves as a said friend it makes a difference, I figured it's worth a try 😀 I will give them a couple more days to make themselves at home in these pots, then scale them up to something larger. This is with the thought in mind that keeping them confined to a smaller size for now will help a tight root ball to form which will then better utilise a larger space when upgraded.

Although I attempted to continue vegging, the existing buds just continued to bud. So I figured I will cut my losses and see these plants through, and start on my next grow sooner rather than later. It's a shame because i'm definitely not fully utilising the space I have available, but something good will come of this nonetheless! I am continuing to give the girls vegetative nutrients for another week or two to encourage a bit more size increase If I can. Other than being small, they look healthy and happy.

Over the last week I've seen a lot of changes in these two girls. For the last few days I have tried to eliminate all fan leaves which were blocking direct light from hitting any budsites, and as a result I have noticed a massive increase in growth over the last 48 hours. Defoliation is something i've been hesitant on in the past and i'm testing out its effects with this grow. I have continued to give her vegetative nutrients and may do so for another week, just to see some more size added to her colas before I start packing them out with flowering nutrients. I am noticing even the less dominant bud sites developing significantly and feel this is a result of the direct light they are receiving. Trichromes have also started to become apparent, and on the larger of the two girls, extending down fan leaf stems and onto the fan leaves themselves. 'Little girl' is a bit behind in the bud development, but seems to be stretching moreso than her big sister. The smell is apparent on both plants to the touch, and has that beautiful pineapple smell I know and love. Most of the bud photos this week are from the big girl. One thing I mean to do this week is add a second fan to create even more air current, I feel a breeze really helps buds to proliferate

Hello hello my internet acquaintances, another week has elapsed and it's time to type up a lil report for whoever looks at this stuff. To recap, these plants begun flowering earlier than I wanted because of an unforeseen circumstance - to be more specific, a mouse, for whatever reason climbed into my fuse board and short circuited the power to my grow tent, plunging them into a period of darkness long enough to begin their flowering. What are the odds right, just when you think you have all the factors dialled down. It always pays to stay humble 😋 So now you see that it hasn't gone as expected, you can understand my willingness to treat these girls somewhat experimentally. The yield is not going to be what it could have been, and I feel it gives me a license to try something new as a test for my next grow yet to come. Predominantly, what I am trying is heavier defoliation than ever before. My Pineapple Express clones seem to have very robust genetics, and so far they have taken two rounds of defoliation, and the only result I have seen so far is accelerated heavy bud growth. Today I have completed a third round of defoliation. This may not sound so experimental but allow me to digress - whenever I have previously practiced this technique I have focused on the more mature leaves of the plant. This time, I am defoliating from the top down, meaning what I am trimming is predominantly new growth. My thinking behind this is that the plants can detect what bud sites receive direct lighting, and appropriately developed these places more than those which are shaded. By removing the upper leaves I am eliminating any shaded spots on the developing buds, and instead of ending up with pyramid shaped colas they all seem to be rounded out and bulging. See for yourself, but for three weeks into flowering they are certainly more developed than my previous grow with identical conditions and genetics. If you want to try this out too I'd love to see how it goes for anyone else out there. The girl's still have a reasonable canopy of leaves, but none of them are interfering with the light that reaches the buds 😊 I have also fully switched over to flowering nutrients now, and in the weeks to come I expect the bud sites to continue to grow, develop and swell. Already trichrome growth is major and is even spreading down stems and onto fan leaves. The smaller of the two pineapple's appears to be a bit behind in development and she isn't so covered yet but her budsites also seem to hold great potential, time will tell. Thanks for stopping by ~

Hey All. Another week has elapsed and the girls have recovered from my intense trimming. I continue to water every third day and am watching the buds develop, with fingers crossed that their growth just keeps on going! Bigger girl is certainly looking a bit more mature than her smaller sister, and I can't help but feel she will be ready before the 8 weeks flowering mark. I'll keep an eye out for that though, the longer the better as more time to pack on the size and weight. Trichromes are more further reaching then any grow I have completed, which is promising seeing as these still have some ways to go. I have 2x pineapple express and 1x ak48 ready to fill up this space once these girls are out too, so feeling good!

These girls sure are looking delicious. The larger of the two is looking almost finished and is giving me more of an idea of how much flower development took place while I thought she was still vegetating to be done so soon. The trichromes are bountiful, the terpenes are tantalising and I could've sat and stared all day.

Due to a pesky mouse short circuiting my power, these girls started flowering a good month earlier than I would have liked. Luckily, the potency remained unaffected, with quantity being the main factor that left me with a yield that was my smallest to date. I treated this grow slightly experimentally and was pleased with the finished product, it certainly is a nice treat to provide myself with over the christmas holidays. I don't think i'll ever get sick of her scent, and i'll let her cure for a few more days before posting a smoke report. I find it to be great for the evenings before hopping into bed, and even with only a few days in she is still very smooth.