'Blue Cookies' by i49

x1 Blue Cookies by i49, experimental Grow. Breeder Notes: Dominant Origins- 90% Indica / 10% Sativa Parents of Blue Cookies- GSC x Blueberry Typical Effects & Medical Applications- Relaxing, happy, and euphoric effects combine to relieve stress, depression, pain, insomnia, and muscle spasms. Terpene Profile- Ocimene Aroma & Flavour- Sweet, Fruit, Berry, Orange Impediments (from most to least likely)- Dry mouth, Dry eyes, Paranoia, Dizziness, Anxiety CBD Range- 0-1% THC Range- 14.5-25% Physical Characteristics- Dark purple fan leaves and thick stems produce purple and green pyramid-shaped flowers with orange pistils and sparkling trichomes throughout. Growing Information- Requires a moderate to warm environment Height: 5 FT Indoor- Flowering time, 56-63 days Yield: 12-16 oz/m2 Equipment Listings as follows: Germination and Seedling Set-up equipment: -"Mammoth" standard 35x24x24" propagation tent (90x60x60cm) -x1, 10x20 inch tray and dome set -x2, square tray elevators -x2, low draw computer fans (No name, clearance from Staples) -x1, "Sunblaster", 18 inch, 32 Watt Florescent, T5Ho, full spectrum lamp -x1, "Sunblaster", 18 inch, 16 Watt LED, full spectrum lamp -Misc. items. include light ratchets, tye wires, wicking matt and temperature gauges (covered in Vegetation set-up) Vegetation and Flowering Set-up: -"Mammoth Pro-120", 47x47x79" propagation tent (120x120x200cm) -"Can-lite" 6x24", 600 CFM Carbon Filter -"Hurricane" 6 inch inline exhaust, 435 CFM w/ black lined, 6" ducting -"Vivosun" 6 inch inline intake, 390 CFM w/ black lined 6" ducting -x2 variable, inline motor speed controllers by "Active Air" (For use on squirrel cage, brushed motors only. Brushless motors will not operate with these) -x6 outlet, 15 amp surge protection power bar (Any kind with warranty and rigidity rated for no less then 1200W) -x5 outlet, 15 amp power bar, slaved off the surge protected power bar. -x1 "Zephyr-5" inline temperature controller with probe -x1 "Ink-Bird IHC-200" 2 stage, inline Humidity and temperature gauge controller with probe -x1 "Hysure" 2 liter de-humidifier (DO NOT BUY! Bad purchase!) -x1 "Hurricane" Clip on fan -x1, 12 inch oscillating fan (under-canopy circulation) -x1, 36 inch oscillating fan (under/over canopy circulation) -x1, "Accutemp" indoor/outdoor humidistat and temperature reader -x4, "No-Name" humidistats placed throughout tent at different heights and locations to assess averages. -Misc. items and devices such as ratchet straps, 18 awg wire, hemp twine, paper clips, tye wire, bamboo, sticky traps, etc... are also within the unit. Lighting and Specs in Vegetation Tent: -"Spider Farmer-2000" Quantum Board LED. SPECS: ✔️DB: 0dB ✔️Veg Footprint: 3 x 4 ft ✔️Flower Footprint: 2 x 4 ft ✔️Max Yield: 2.2g/watt ✔️Humidity ≤90% ✔️Lifespan: ≥50000 hours ✔️View Angle of LED: 90°-120° ✔️Spectrum: 660nm,3000K,5000K and IR 760nm ✔️Replace other red and blue light: 2000W ✔️Frequency: 50-60HZ ✔️Input Voltage: AC100-277V ✔️Lumen:34500Lm±5%@AC120V, 34460Lm±5%@AC240V, 34530Lm±5%@AC277V ✔️Amp: 1.67A @AC120V, 0.84A @AC240V, 0.73A @AC277V ✔️Draw Power: 202.3W±5% @AC120V, 196.7W±5% @AC240V, 196.6W±5% @AC277V Work Temperature：-4°F ~115°F (-20°C ~ 46°C) -"Phlizon 1200" Blurple Dual Switch Series LED SPECS: ✔️241 Watt, true wattage ✔️972.5 umol/m(squared) s ✔️Core Coverage Veg 3x3, Flower 2x2' ✔️120 piece, 10 watt, high capacity diodes, full spectrum (79pcs 630-660nm, 34pcs 460nm, 4pcs cool white 6500K, 1pcs UV 380-390nm, 2pcs IR 740nm ✔️Input: AC100-240V, 50-60Hz ✔️Lifespan: ≥ 50,000hours ✔️Material: UV protection and fire-proof PC Cover + metal frame Staging Area Set-up (Nutrient dosing, mixing and testing area): -x8, 5ml syringes. One syringe per supplement to eliminate cross contamination -1000 and 1400ppm Calibration fluid by "Grotek". (2 ranges for proper calibration) -7.0 pH calibration liquid by "BlueLabs" or "Grotek" (prefer Grotek if available. Cheaper solution with the same purpose) -x3, 60ml "Master-Measure" syringes w/ additional tubing -x2, 100ml "Master-Measure" syringes w/ additional tubing -Multiple pipettes (1ml) for micro dosing or high concentration supplements -"Milwaukee" pH pen (High quality, mid range price) -Manual "GHE" pH, "Liquid and Vial" test kit (Used in conjunction with pH pen to ensure accurate readings) -x2 TDS meters. One no name and one by "Realgoal" brand TDS. (Used in conjunction to ensure accurate readings) -x2, 5 gallon buckets (One for mixing & one for RO waste. Kept separate at all times) -250, 500 and 900ml measuring cups w/ two sets of measuring spoons (metal and plastic) for dosing, testing and sanitizing. -Roll of water proof, counter cover, White. (Keeps nutrient dies and stains from surfaces. Dollar store. Very cheap) Nutrients: -GHE "Floragro" series (Micro-Gro-Bloom, Base NPK supplement) -GHE Diamond Nectar (Fulvic/Humic Acids) -GHE Floralicious + (Molasses and terpene Dev.) -Emerald Harvest's King Kola (PK Booster) -Emerald Harvest's Sturdy Stock (Potassium Silicate for plant cell wall structure and strength) -Botanicare's Cal/Mag Plus 0-0-2 (Base Cal/Mag supplementation) -Advanced Nutrients Flawless Finish (Flushing agent) -Future Harvest's pH down and pH up (Much cheaper solution with higher concentration, larger amount and half the price) -Gaia Green's Bone Meal 2-16-0 supplement (Phosphorous and Cal, acting as a natural soil pH buffer) -Root Stim #1 for soft-wood applications (Used only in transplants, sparingly so) Medium: -Canna-Terra Medium 50% (Heavy Peat moss) -Dutch Treat Potting Soil 50% (Base soil with better retention) -Dutch Treat Perlite conditioner. Ratio of 1:10 in soil mix. Haven't tried to grow anything from the 'Blue' family yet and thought I'd give er a go. Blue Cookies happens to be more indica dominant vs some other members of the blue family, so I picked her to try. Looking forward to see what these 2 plants can offer.

Blue Cookies is coming along just fine. After an non-viable Do-Si-Dos I decided to throw in a Blue Cookies to make up for the loss and to experiment with the "Blue" family for the first time. She was 1.5 days behind her sisters but has now surpassed them in height and has matched the same surface area of foliage that the others have. Already impressed with this girls strength and will to live! Looking forward to seeing what she will do in the coming weeks and how she will react with LST. She will be the tallest (or should be) out of the 3 strains in this project but will train down as best I can to create an even canopy b/t it and it's sisters. Thanks for reading! Happy growing and Cheers!

Week 3 for Blue Cookies was 50/50. Out of the four plants I'm growing she seems to be the fickle one. Everyone else is happy. Under the same conditions, feeding regiment and overall treatment, but she just seems to be a bit off. Showing some concerning spots and blemishes on the tips of her fan leaves, working it's way back towards the vein and base. After transplant, some minor surgery of her effected leaves, a full first feed and some time, these symptoms seemed to have halted and new growth isn't showing any signs of stress or markings. If this continues or comes back I will be on here super quick to look for an answer from the community. Notes: *See collage picture to see the markings I am speaking of. If you have any advice, other then what I have already done, please drop me a line! Thanks!*

SF-2000 received, tested and in operation for the remainder of this grow. 1200W Blurple has been decommissioned as of Dec. 5th. Blue Cookies and the rest of the girls only spent roughly 2.5 days under the blurple, so I will be assessing and reviewing the SF-2000 based on the entirety of this grow through Veg and Bloom state. More info and specs about light listed in 'Northern Lights' diary. Week four was a pleasant one compared to week 3. Had some concerns about spotting and blemishes forming on the fan leaves ( same with the Do-Si-Dos) last week but as you can see from the pictures she has grown almost completely out of the condition, has grown 4 times the size in 7 days and is in full Veg mode. Happy and healthy girl for sure. I kind of expect more issues with her in the future, but with the solid advice through members of this site, I know I can rectify those problems and move on👍 Notes of the week: -I am going to experiment with this specific girl. I would like to see if I can create a high yielding beauty using ONLY LST. I have no plans to top or fim. Initial bends are in place and will incrementally 'corkscrew' her around the perimeter of the pot. This is just an experiment and if she gets out of hand (have to do this for a full 20-23 weeks) I will top her to slow her down. BUT, I want to practice my LST and see just how far I can go with it. I'd describe what I'm thinking, but I can't. I'd draw a picture, but I can't draw worth poop. The image of what I want is in my head and I'm hoping I can show you rather then tell you (In time of course). See how this goes! -Lighting cycle dropped to 20/4 from 24/0. Advice from the community is unanimous and I accept that giving the girls a night cycle is far less stressful for them and can/will promote healthier root structures. Will move to 18/6 if things change but the 20/4 (on 4 days now) seems to be working just fine. No heat and/or light stress noticed. No new markings or blotches as a result. -Next feed will be light flush w/ 3 liters of balanced tap w/ a small amount of Cal-Mag. Next nutrient feed will be moving to early Vegetation w/ the introduction of Flora-licious by GHE.

Had a pretty good week with Blue Cookies. The pure LST build is actually working out better then I'd expected and she's growing at a very satisfying rate. So far corkscrewing the main and some lite LST has currently given her an even canopy. Planning ahead for what I will be keeping and what will be taken away in future, as well as cleaning up the bottom 3 " of my main in order to bury her about 1-1.5" on the final pot up into 5 Gallon. Unfortunately, I've noticed I MIGHT have a small fungal-gnat problem and will be taking the steps to remedy this via the advice I received through very helpful members of this site. Will be using neem oil but have not decided whether or not I will be applying direct to soil or through a foliage spray. I'll update that next week and we will see how she goes. For all I know it's fine and this is just a precaution. SF-2000 is absolutely kicking booty and the plants are thick with a capital "T". Still have it backed off to 32-36" from the canopy to encourage a little bit of stretch for easier LST. I have a good amount of space to use (6'7") and can afford to let them move upwards a bit but do plan the end game plant to be no taller then 32-36". SF is still a 10/10 for me. Zero issues and still amazed by the lights purity every time I open er up in the morning. It's a huge bonus to be able to see your plants clearly when they're not in their night cycle. Notes of the Week: -Was negligent for a couple days and did not rotate the plants. One of the fans was blowing a little too much in Blue Cookies direction for a prolonged period of time and she got a nice dose of wind-burn on the blades of her largest fan leaf. -Pulled really high PPM's and really low pH on my runoff (4.8-5.2 pH and 1700 ppm. Mix applied was 6.1 pH and 930 ppm) but she's not showing a single sign of nutrient burn or toxicities. Yet, I guess. Putting her and Do-Si-Dos on the same schedule at 6.2-6.3 pH and tap-flush for next feeding. Do-Si-Dos was showing the same low/high numbers and both will be treated differently then the NL's (6.1 pH and 1300 ppm) until these numbers start to line up a bit better. -Introduced Flora-licious + to the feed schedule this week, moved to GHE 'Early Veg ' dosing, upped Cal-Mag to 3.5ml/gallon (Botanicare), reduced heat from 28 to 26 degrees (reacting to the high heat) and bumped RH up from 40-45% to 55-65%. Still working on optimizing the tent conditions as it's officially cold as hell outside and I'm learning how to tackle the lower temps/humidity. I think I'm getting there... Cheers! Thanks for reading and happy grows my friends. Update: Added photos of dead gnat found in tent. Catching w/ sticky yellow tape, currently drying out, removed all water sources, tilled top 2 " of soil to expose any larva and burn them off. Trying my best with small solutions but will have to look for a permanent solution sooner then later...

Week 6 with Blue Cookies went very, very well and I'm very happy with what I'm seeing. The Good: -Accelerated growth rate and filling out very quickly. Comparisons between my first grow @ this stage vs this grow is night and day. Plants roughly twice the size then their first grow counterparts at the same period of time. -Pre-flowering has begun and I should be able to officially sex them within the week (hopefully) -Pure LST is going far better then expected. Corkscrewing her has made a very unique shape and form and I'm looking forward to see how far I can take it before I run out of room. -Run-off readings after a 1.3 gallon, Tap flush w/ Cal-Mag has evened out from a 5.3pH and 1700ppm to 5.7pH and 1300ppm. (I am happy with this drop and will feed full schedule at 6.2pH next feeding) The Bad: -Still small blemishes on leaves, new and old, but I believe this is a result of the maladjusted pH of my soil. As I raise it these blemishes pull back or completely stop. Very localized and not concerned for her. Very minor, no worries. -Running out of room as my projected LST schedule has changed since they're growing so quickly. Need to adjust schedule and LST to ensure an end-game, even canopy with all the girls (three strains). The 'Meh': -Fungal gnat problem is under control, but they still do exist within the tent. Measures taken to mitigate the spread/kill them off is outlined in 'Northern Lights Week 6'. I am not worried about them at all and the problem is very minor but will have to perform continued maintenance and sanitation of tent to keep it that way. As precaution I do have non-cold pressed Neem oil coming in the mail, recommended specifically for cannabis use from other growers. -Trying to figure out what the plants are going to end up looking like, what lateral branches I will be keeping and what I will be pruning/defoliating. I did harldy any of this in my first grow, so this is my new learning curve. Planning on defoliation and pruning after final pot up and 2 weeks from flip to flower. Will be seeking advice from community for this. Great week, very happy. Thank you for reading! Happy grows and Happy Holidays to you and yours, no matter where you are or what you celebrate!🙏😉

Another 50/50 week with Blue Cookies but all is well and some changes have been made. The Good: -Exceptional growth, no signs of stunting or stopping. Gaining about .5 to .75 inches of new growth, daily. New node points occurring every 1-2 days. -Training has gone far better then expected. I mentioned very early on that I had a plan in my head but didn't know how to describe it and that I would be able to show everyone in time what I was seeing in my head. This isn't exactly what I was going for, but it is very, very close. The main is off by about 2 inches from where I'd planned to end her but now another lateral branch will fill that space and has been trained already. We are growing upwards now. -Transplant and subsequent feeding went very well and she did not react negatively at all. Changes to feeding schedule in "Notes of the week" below. -Not putting heavy emphasis on runoff #'s anymore, but I was very happy to see the readings come back at 6.1pH and 950PPM. Optimal for P/Cal/Mag absorption. -SF-2000 is a GOD and I know a lot of what I'm seeing is the result of this device. I have a friend growing with the exact same everything (literally everything. From nutrients to doses to schedules), except he uses MH and HPS, 600W. He started his plants 9 days prior to mine and my girls have surpassed them in terms of width, foliage surface area and growth rate by about 20%. I do not regret picking this up one bit. Continued 10/10 for me and looking into 2nd SF-2000, as I type. The Bad: -The bad isn't necessarily bad, I just needed to implement a new feeding schedule tailored for her specifically. I had a very long and informative conversation with an extremely competent grower on this site and they taught me some valuable lessons on how to treat my plants, strain specific. Don't want to mention any names, but they know who they are and I know they will be reading this. THANK YOU!!!👏😉 -Concerning symptoms on fan leaves (older sets and newer sets) were continuing to rear their ugly head. Never out of hand and was more of an eye sore then a serious problem, but none the less changes have been mad. I'm not putting too much weight into my runoff readings anymore, but I do trust that her 5.6/5.7pH readings were accurate and was causing an issue with Phosphorous/Cal/Mag take up and am convinced that I have been adding too much micro formula that contains significant amounts of zinc, copper and iron, all while ignoring the need to up my P/Cal and Mag and cut the micro. The 'Meh' -Out of room, but this is a good problem. 2 foot bamboo stakes will be put into place to control growth and form as I come up to flower here. Will slowly be releasing or removing training tyes and replacing with support tyes, off bamboo, and to pull them gently inwards a bit. -Looking at flip at end of week 10 if all things stay healthy and in order. (Between day 65-70) Notes of the week: -*********After a long and great discussion with veteran cannabis grower, I have realized that I have been treating my feeding schedules as a 'one size fits all' and applying the same feedings to 3 separate strains. Was also putting way too much emphasise on my runoff numbers instead of tackling the actual symptom's the girls were showing. This has now changed and Blue Cookies is now on a different feeding schedule and will be tailoring this feed specific to her. Problems with P/Cal/Mag uptake are now being addressed and screw the numbers. Changes include feeding half dose micro then before, full late veg bloom (twice the dose from previous sched), full late veg Cal/Mag supplements (x1.5 the dose of previous sched) and added a new soil conditioner with slow release 'Gaia Green' 2-14-0 bone meal powder. Yes, the bone meal should have been added at the beginning, but for this scenario it has been added to the additional 2 gallons of transplant soil to help condition and carry the girls through flower. Will not be adding this bone meal to feeds unless it calls for it. Starting low and going slow to see if these changes make a difference and if the deficiencies/markings I see pull back. If symptoms do not stop or slow by end of week 8 the schedule will be adjusted again, but slowly.******** -I'm probably beating a dead horse here, but I wanted to emphasize just how much I appreciate the help and guidance I receive from specific individuals on this site. This grow vs my first is night and day with what I've learned from all these fine people. They give me their time, the most valuable commodity, and I don't take that lightly. Thank you for paying it forward and sharing your passion with me. And of course, thank you to Grow Diaries for helping me make these connections and contacts. Don't know where this grow or my last would have been without all of you. Cheers and thank you. Happy grows to all of you. Enjoy your time and peace with your plant babies. And, of course, continued success to you all.

Welcome back to the pure LST, photo-period Blue Cookies Grow. I can't believe I can say this, but fantastic week with B.C.!! The Good: -After the adjusted feeding schedule where I halved my micro doses, upped cal/mag and bloom w/ additional Gaia green 2-16-0 to additional 2 gallons of transplant soil; she is very happy and very healthy. -All negative symptoms of P/Cal/Mag deficiencies have pulled back and/or halted completely. -Gaining roughly an inch in height per day now w/ new offset node points still occurring every 1-2 days. She's going full bore and the time to pull the trigger and flip is very close. -Addition of bamboo sticks and bracing for flowering weight has been completed (I think. We will see) and she has taken a very nice and mostly even canopy with a great 'bubbled' form. Very, very happy that this little experiment to practice my LST has gone this well and I'm already looking at ways to refine this method in my next grow. I like it that much it a bunch and the form is spectacular to me. The Bad: -First time I can say this about B.C since the beginning of this grow...there is no bad. The changes I made with the help of veteran growers has rectified the only concerning issues I had with her. This is for now, of course, but I feel like I have a much better handle on what she wants/needs and when she wants/needs it. The 'Meh': -Completely out of space and while bracing I pulled in each lateral gently to form and to avoid the girls getting caught up on one another. Looking into a tomato cage for a couple of the girls and see how that goes... -After transplant she stayed water logged for a little longer then usual (5-6 days) and she is in dire need of a feeding. She will be dried out by tomorrow (Jan 8th) and will get the full meal deal of the GHE 'transitions' feeding schedule, but with higher P/Cal/Mag supplementation and dumping some of the 'floragro' supplementation. Will go back to normal schedule after flip to flower and see how she reacts to that specific schedule and the needs she will have by then. Notes of the Week: -I love this plant.... She has been the hardest to grow by far, but with that she has forced me to learn many, many new growing practices. From the feeding schedule, lighting schedule, lamp distance, heat and RH control. I feel like I have a better handle and higher confidence in growing! now that I've encountered this girl and with all the lessons she's taught me. -My max height allowed for flip is a plant height of 32 inches (this does not include the 12 inches of pot, tray and elevator) and they're currently sitting at 18ish, gaining an inch a day. Going by this, I see that End of week 9 or mid week 10 will be the official flip (should gain about 12 inches in this time). This all being said, I will probably end up triggering flower at 28-30 inches just in case. Leave myself a little play room for my lamp and devices. -So, this is Officially what I saw in my head when I started this girl/LST project. I'm very pleased with how the LST went and I may be bias, but I truly love the concentric bends and form she took. Not jagged or hard 90 degree angles, just a smooth and incrementally corkscrewed main. Not to mention, her main stalk is the largest and strongest of all 4 girls. Extremely impressed with her and how she took all my bending and screwing around.👍 -Began pretty substantial pruning and cleaning up of the under-canopy + any potential larf and laterals that won't make it. I did not do this in my first grow since I wasn't really sure what would become what and if any of this was valuable... After pulling 2 ounces of larf and milled flower from my first grow I see that this isn't optimal....at all. Would like to avoid the majority of this larf and under canopy growth before I throw her into flower. I'm keeping the fan leaves. I do not take these, they have a purpose and will be cannibalized by the plant when or if she needs it. Will take away any dead growth after she is done with it. Makes the plant less 'pretty' but this is for functionality, not glamour shots. -This week was just a flush with some bloom and Cal/Mag to carry her till her next nutrient feed. As I am going into flower, the next feeding will be full nutrient and observation (Jan 8th) -Dropped temperatures by 1-2 degrees Celsius to 21 night and 24 day, while upping the RH slightly to 60%. Girls (especially the BC) was noticeably reacting to the extended 20 hour day cycle I run and by hour 18, everyday, she would start to dip out/ stress out. I made these quick changes and she has stopped reacting negatively. Will be running lower temps for the remainder of Veg and into flower. Thank you for reading!!! If you have any suggestions/comments please leave them below or contact me through PM. It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Happy growing my friends.

Hello and welcome to an early addition of the Blue Cookies, Pure LST Diary. I am doing this early, Veg, Week 9 (Day 60) because I have to flip. I do not have a choice. I was looking to mid week to end week 10, but I have lost control of the growth rate of two of them. One the B.C and the other NL #2. They both gained, roughly, 5-6 inches in 4 days.... (since Tuesday-my last update) and have surpassed my flipping mark by an inch. They have to go to flower as I'm pretty unsure on how the stretch is going to go. Fingers crossed I don't exceed 60% or I may be in trouble. These are officially the last pictures of Blue Cookies before the flip tonight, 9pm, Dec 11th, 2020. Updates will now be posted every Saturday/Sunday from here on out. Pictures include a new silica base supplement that will be added to the schedule next feed, the 3M non-residue duct tape I use to mitigate light leaks and how I apply this tape. Lastly, since this is a rushed update, I will pretty much just be copy and pasting this info between diaries. So if you read the log here, there's no need to read the others. It will essentially be the same info but with their strain name subbed in. Any differences or additional notes will be noted in "Notes of the week" Thank you! Notes of the past 4 days: -Except for DSD, all plants are now hovering at the 23-24" mark (60cm) excluding the pot. My trigger was going to be 75cm (planned awhile ago), but with recent growth spurts I see I can't afford to risk it. 60cm became my new mark. -I highly recommend 3M, Non-Residue duct tape if you ever feel paranoid about light leaks. My tent still isn't really broken in yet, so the dual zipper flaps do allow light in and out. I use this tape to cover the zipper track so nothing can get in or out. Advertised no residue if applied for no more then 6 months. I have only had it applied for 4.5 months, but when I took it off there wasn't a single spec of glue or residue. This stuff is expensive, but for me and my concerns, it's wholly worth it. It doesn't stick as well as normal duct tape because the glue is weaker, but it does the job and can be removed/re-applied anytime without a problem.👍 -Potassium Silicate supplement "Sturdy Stock" by Emerald Harvest will be introduced into the feeding schedule next feed. This should have been in the regiment from the get-go but I actually had no idea about it. Once again, a great acquaintance on this site has directed me to pick some up and give her a go. Had no idea what this was or that it could help the cell structure of my plants to better carry their flower weight. Will be starting low and slow with this (half dose start) to see how the girls react to yet another addition to their feed. -Re-commissioned the 240Watt Blurple LED. It is now hung further in the back to help supplement any light in 'dead (er)' spots in the tent that the SF-2000 cannot reach (3x3 footprint in 4x4 tent). Activated yesterday to ensure it wasn't too much for the girls and they were fine. I figure by Flowering Week 2, the blurple will be on for the entire day period along side the SF. -Second Titan Digital Timer has been programmed to operate during the night cycle. This will turn on a small ceramic heater and 32 Watt heat mat to keep temperatures @ optimal levels. I don't want this heater or mat to operate during the day cycle as the power draw and heat is too high. Never will both lights and the heaters work at the same time for fear of tripping the breaker. The lights give off the adequate heat I need in the day so there is no use for the ceramic heater and mat anyway. If heat gets to high in the night cycle, the intake and outtake are mechanically interlocked to trigger at 21-22 degrees to disperse that excess heat and/or humidity and will continue to cycle as needed (roughly 2-3 times an hour it seems). Inline variable motor speed controls are inline with both the intake and outtake as well. When triggered the tent pressure is balanced so it does not puff out or suck in during the fresh air cycle. Trial and error to get that balance, but well worth it. -Last feed and full prune with a very small amount of defo (2 plants, 4 fans each) has been completed 3 days ago. The girls have fully recovered with no signs of stress (anymore) and this is another reason I feel it's appropriate to flip when they're in such a healthy and vigorous state. When pruning, for the first time, DSD and NL #2 actually did react negatively to the cuts and the subsequent feeding afterwards. I have pruned and watered before but they had never done this. B.C and NL #1 did not react at all with the same treatment.... Anywho, DSD and NL #2 were pretty pissed at me for a bit and it took about 6-8 hours for them to come back to full health (They dipped right out after the cuts and feed. Just super un-happy with me). I apologized profusely to them. I didn't think this was going to harm them as much as I projected it would. Sorry girls, but thank you for coming back and recovering👍 I think that's it (?). I genuinely ask for well wishes during this flip! I'm excited but also nervous on how this flowering period will go, especially considering it's my first indoor-winter grow and that has thrown a lot of sticks in my spokes, lots of trial and error. Any suggestions or comments, please let me know as soon as possible in the thread or through PM. This would be greatly appreciated and constructive criticism is welcome (I mean that). Happy grows and good luck to you all this week with the girls. I shall see you again on January 17th/18th for "End Week 1 Flower". Cheers my friends.✊😉

Hello there! Welcome to Week 10 and Week 1, flower w/ Blue Cookies. The Good: -Blue Cookies is growing extremely well...almost too well. Her flowering stretch has been in full force and is gaining .75" a day (min), starting to form internode growth and pushing pistils @ a very quick rate. -Very happy with the main top. I was hoping it would outgrow the lateral mains surrounding it in order to let it pop and become my largest Cola. This is happening! Her main cola (No topping, pure LST) is starting to tower above the rest and I'm excited to see how she will form and look in the coming weeks -I've mentioned it before, but she is my favorite and kinda always has been😊. She is my challenge and LST project that has been very good to me. Had a lot of issues up until now (and probably more to come), but I feel good about her and she's given me a good show and a tonne of lessons for future grows The Bad: -Yah. I'm going to complain about the weather in every diary entry. It's blistering cold outside and I've been seeing -35 to -45 degree Celsius weather (w/ wind-chill) for about 12 days now. The world is static and there is no humidity to be had (Should see the back of my hands. Using lotion and they still dry, break and bleed. This cold will evaporate all moisture off you in an instant). Struggled with temperature and RH everyday for these past 12 days but hopefully it'll lighten up and everything will be ok. Notes on symptoms and remedies will be down below. -A little concerned about BC's height and current rate of stretch😐. She's going like absolute crazy and I love it, but...please slow down. In notes of the week I have my projected plant height and measurement's, based on 50-60% stretch. It's tight. Very, very tight. The 'Meh': -Leaves pretty dry and she's eating a bit too fast due to the RH issue, but she seems perfectly fine for the most part. -Had a good conversation with another grower about the concerning leaf symptoms that had been occurring since week 3 (2 pictures of this @ end of Week 9). With all things known, including my atmosphere and schedules, we both concluded this is a simple mutation and is/has proven to be harmless. There is and has never been spread or cross contamination from this, even when directly in contact with her counterparts. She has never been stunted and is, in fact, the largest plant (the healthiest right now too, imo). From my research and from a few other members, I was being told I was looking at mottling or HSV and I got scared, but it just didn't add up.... That was 5 weeks ago now and here we are, looking pretty healthy. Thank goodness👍 -Stop growing so fast....please ***Weather Conditions and simple remedies*** As stated, the weather is bad; very bad. The cold isn't that bad to mitigate and it was relatively easily to do with a small ceramic heater or using my lights as my primary heat source. The issue lies with the relative humidity. The world is pure static and my home is seeing about 20% RH (25%) if I'm lucky. I noticed all plant leaf edges burning, top to bottom and didn't know low humidity could cause faster eating, or that our leaves will siphon whatever they can from the soil when in this state. So, even though I didn't have a Nitrogen issue, all plants burned slightly as they were taking too much from the soil, too quickly. After this research I knew that RH had to be adjusted...or else. Symptoms of low RH: -Fast eating, fast drying. -Leaves lose majority of moisture and they become very papery to the touch. -All plants started to 'pray' and cup, even though my light buffer space was at 28" above canopy -Plants start taking up too much Nitrogen (or anything it can) from the soil which resulted in a top to bottom leaf tip burn (If left alone, it would persist) Remedies (Cheap and/or free): -I don't like to have standing water in my tent (especially after my gnat issue) but I had to add a pan of water, placed on top of my 32 watt heat mat. This gave me about 7-10% additional RH but wasn't enough. -Hung large tea towel close to, but not touching the light. Clip on fan is cascading air over this tea towel and I can achieve 40-45% total with these two methods -There is always the tea towel, bowl of water and hanger method too, that I may implement if RH continues to fluctuate so wildly. ***Height and Space Calculations*** Height's of each device/object and BC (She is the tallest so these measurements are based on her): -Tray, pot and elevator = 12" -Tallest plant (BC) before stretch = 21.5" -Projected 50% stretch based on 24" trigger height = 12" -Buffer space above lamp (heat dispersion) = 4" -Buffer space below lamp (above canopy) = 24" -Plant stretch based on 1 week observation = 5" -Projected total stretch over 3 weeks = 15" Projected Total: -After stretch based on 12" stretch = 73.5" -After stretch based on actual growth rate = 76.5" Tent Height Total: 79" From above you can see I'm playing with fire 😐. 2.5" to spare and that's only if she stops where I think she will. Only time will tell how I need to proceed on this. Right off the bat, all I can think of is to reduce the SF-2000 intensity to 85%, but I really don't feel like that'll do anything and would still burn if too close. LED's man. I love 'em but they can wreak havoc with that intensity. Notes of the Week: -Moved to my early bloom schedule and BC did not react negatively. I will continue with this schedule and slowly increase my phosphorus/Cal while reducing my N/K. -Blurple is installed but still off. Waiting for the weather to get a bit better before I operate it and burn off the only humidity I have. Projected to turn on at end of week 2 and will remain on for the remainder of the grow. -Applied Emerald Harvest's Potassium Silicate supplement and I'm awaiting the results over consecutive doses. Was going to start at half dose but was told not to worry about it and it wouldn't cause any harm to apply full dose, first shot👍. I did this with a flush through w/ Bloom agent and Cal/mag @ full dose. (I'm reading that I should only do on full dose feeding (including N/K)...so I'll be aiming for that from now on) -Put a quick picture in of a blanket clipped to the side of my tent to stop any possible light leaks. Might be over kill, but I feel comfortable having it That was long. If you read that, I'm sorry. Hahaha. Thanks for dropping by and I hope you have a good week out there. Enjoy your grows and happy trails!😉👍

Welcome to week 2 of Bloom with Blue Cookies (Day 68 to 74). This will be a short one, promise. The deets: The Good: -It's all been very good. BC hasn't given me an issue this week and is growing out /up very well. Fast stretch to start but has slowed down in the last 3 days. Only gaining .5-.75 inches a day instead of 1-1.25 inches a day. (projecting a total of 70-80% stretch) -Good RO, good soil pH, great health and color. I have zero complaints with her, and I'll leave it there. The Bad: -No bad at all. No stress, no further mutations/deformaties. She's doing a very good job and I liked that I could just watch her grow this week instead of fixing problems... The 'Meh': -Height of NL #2 got a little out of control this week and has actually matched Blue Cookies height. I still have enough space for the continuing stretch but I did have to make changes to my lighting set up to ensure I had enough room and didn't burn/stress them. Changes made in 'Notes of the Week" Notes of the Week: -Changed lighting to mitigate light/heat stress as the girls are stretching further and further. They're slowing but I needed to make these changes to feel comfortable with what I'm seeing. Blurple, 245Watt is back in action and will be on for the remainder of the grow. SF-2000 has been moved further to the front of the tent, over top of the two smallest girls (NL#1 and DSD). The blurple has been placed further in the back with the tallest girls (NL #2 and BC). Blurple is less intense and I'm able to get it closer to the canopy without burns or stress, so she's going to take care of the big girls. I now have a solid flowering footprint and all girls should be seeing relatively the same amount of light/light intensity. -Back to operating ceramic heater at night but not in the day, anymore. Blurples on and will give me that heat, so heater is only for night time, and even then it will be decommissioned soon because I would like slightly lower night temperatures... -Cleaned up my wires and cables. As an electrician I was not happy with my sloppy cable management and fixed it up. Aesthetic only, but it drives me nuts when things aren't square. -Weather has sorted itself out, finally. Had a literal 25-30 degree Celcius swing in 2 days, from -35 to -5/-10. Girls are much happier, RH/temp is in order and everything seems to be coming up millhouse. -I took roughly 11 small shoots and 3 small flowers that were going to be LARF. I had a feeding 3 days ago and realized that if I want to take them, now is the time. Anything past two weeks in flower and I'm nervous about taking anything at all. Thank you L. for guiding my hand on this one. Solid advice as usual👍 Wow, that's literally it. Just watching her grow and keeping her happy and well fed. Thank you for dropping by and reading. I hope and trust you will all have a great week with your girls and your projects. Best of luck and happy trails to all of you😉👌

Hello and welcome to Week 3 of bloom with Blue Cookies. If you all actually read these things, I've decided to add a short "What I learned this Week" section at the bottom. This will be a short blurb on new techniques, methods or general cannabis knowledge that has helped me. Most importantly, it will include the information I've gathered from other members that have helped me see past false information and notions about cannabis growing that I had believed... Anyways! The deets: The Good: -The stretch has come to an end.... This is the most important thing I have to report. By mid week she noticeably stopped pushing upwards and started to flower/bulking outwards. This saves me from having to make some serious changes and jury rigging to the tent system I currently have set up. If I had to make those changes, it would be if she reached an 80% stretch, but she seems to have tapped out at 60ish%. So happy! I still have 6 inches of play room with the current set up! Note too self: Don't let them get this tall, ever again. -With the stretch ended and the lights at their recommended buffer space, the tent space has a quality 4x4 flowering footprint. Not perfect, but a vast improvement from grow one👍. -Her being the first thing I see when I open the tent every morning is the best way to start my day. She is consistently impressive to me. When I feel she can't get bigger, lusher or stronger....she does. Blue Cookies is a goddess to me. That's bias, yah, but I love her the most😍 -Under-Canopy is cleaning itself up well. I leave my sugar makers and give them a little tap everyday to see when they're ready to go. If they're rotting, I take them. But if they're still green and being cannibalized I let her tell me when It's time to take them. A little tap and the ones that fall gotta go. -I've officially deemed Sturdy Stalk as a successful addition to my personal grow feeds. Three weeks now, and the strength of her laterals is very evident. It has fantastic tensile strength but is still malleable enough to move when needed. Great stuff. Personally, it took about 2 weeks before I started to notice a difference, but it is doing it's job. Would recommend a potassium silicate supplement to any one thinking about it. Doesn't need to be Sturdy Stalk, but something you're comfortable with. You won't regret it. Credit to Larimar for pointing this out and recommending this application. Great results. The Bad: -No bad with BC, I think. I noticed a couple circular burn marks that were reminiscent of septoria. Very localized and only affecting 3 blades (5 spots in total, mid section of plant). My humidity is good but my circulation was lacking. As a precaution, I removed these 3 blades (and they were small blades too...no biggy at all), upped my intake and outtake ventilation and added another fan to keep air moving constantly. Really high chance it was nothing, but I took these steps anyways. Been 5 days and nothing has popped back up👍. I don't have pictures of it too show you either, and I really wish I took some so I could officially diagnose it and if it was anything at all. If it comes back, I will take the blade and post some update photos. The 'Meh': -Still the same meh's mostly. That random mutation keeps popping up. It does nothing at all. Will affect a single blade of 7-9 blades and doesn't spread. Just a random discoloration/mutation. It's not aesthetically pleasing, but it is nothing. Notes of the week: -After a suggestion by another member I have changed my lighting set up...again. SF-2000 is now over the largest two girls and are placed in the front, now (BC and NL #2). The blurple will be taking care of the two smallest ladies from here on out (NL #1 and DSD) and will be rotated, but stay in the back for the remainder of the grow. I didn't think this through too well and the advice I received made total sense. More intense light over the big girls to slow stretch and less intense blurple over the little ones to encourage a little upwards movement, evening them out a little better with the rest of the canopy. -Stretch is essentially over, thankfully. All girls have seemed to tap out and have maintained the same height (maybe an inch here or there). It stopped at the perfect time... -Increased intake and out take airflow/fan speed and have put vent line under the canopy. Previously it was blowing above to reduce wind burn, but the girls are tall and have cleaned up bottoms. This air flow doesn't hurt them anymore and I really need to keep that circulation under there since they're so bushy. -Defoliation of every plant is going very well. Taking a bit at a time and I can now see light penetration to the soil on all girls. Not much, but open enough to allow light to pass through. A few more sessions and it will be all said and done👌 -I see some shoots I could have taken, even after taking 11-12 last week, but I feel it's too late. Even if it's not, I would prefer to leave them be and it is what it is. I will simply have to adjust for my next grow and defo/pruning will still be another learning curve of mine. This is waaaaay better then the first and already less LARFy, but it could be better and I know that. Next time's the charm👍 -I have been a little complacent with my update photos! All photos posted are end week 12 with no progression pics throughout the week. Need to up my pictures and details. -Lastly, I have a new friend that's into photography on the macro level. She loves taking shots of plant life, most of all, and also loves her cannabis. I offered to have her come over to take pictures of the girls and she agreed. Hopefully at end of week 13 or 14, there should be some much better pictures, on the macro level, showing her beauty far better then my phone can... I'm really excited about it, actually. I want to see what they look like up close, too😊👍 New things I learned: -Two weeks ago, when humidity was very low, my plants started to pray and I immediately took this as a bad sign. Then I found an article to justify my concern. Though the article was right about a few things and that praying can be bad, they do NOT explain that praying is also good, pending on parameters. If your plants are praying, it's a sign of vigorous health and happiness, not a symptom of light stress/intensity. If the praying is accompanied by burning, bleaching or there's furling of leaf tips and leaflets, then yah! that's not good and is a sign that the light needs to be backed off or turned down. -Took a suggestion and have been doing a trial run with new feeding methods. It is working very well... I am no longer allowing my plants to go into complete drought. Between feedings I have started to add about 800ml to 1 liter of balanced tap (or distilled at 6.0). I may also throw the smallest amount of one or two of my supplements in, pending on what I feel her greatest needs are. It's not much but it carries her through to the next feed and with re-moistening the media, it re-activates the uptake of nutrients already in the soil. I'm finding it's helping the girl take up the essential nutrients that may be left over from the last feed that wasn't needed at the time or dried out before it could be used. When I go to do my actual feed a day or two later, the soil is very receptive to liquid and takes the feeds very well. They have stopped drooping out completely when I feed, now. This is very important to me. I didn't like the recovery time it took when the plants were subjected to 2 gallons of liquid after a few days of drought. It was almost like shocking them and I didn't like doing this... With this new method I'm testing out there hasn't been a shock to their system and they hardly droop at all, even after an additional 2 gallons thrown in. Has NOT effected RO numbers or caused any problems. I'm really liking this. Thank you kindly for stopping by and I hope all is well with you and your girls👌. Have a great week and we'll see you next Saturday.

Hello there and welcome to End Week 4, Bloom, with Blue Cookies. The deets: The Good: -Berry, berry good week with BC. It's terpene time and Blue Cookies has a clear scent of berries! Clear as day. Had some other noses on it, without telling them what I smell, and they all said BERRY! So, I'm not crazy and super happy to finally smell her (Weird sounding...). This started to occur mid-week and every time I open the tent, it's the first thing I smell👍. Things just keep getting better with BC. -Blue Cookies was next to feed and she was the first to receive her PK booster with King Kola by Emerald Harvest. I choose Emerald for a few reasons and they will be listed in notes of the week. -Took an immense amount of shoots (LARF) from her on the same day as this feed. I knew I had to clean them up but was scared to go to far or take the wrong laterals. That and I was very paranoid about stress and possible hermies if I was to do this kind of work this late in flower (More on this in "What I learned this week"). Spoke with other veteran growers and decided to go ahead with the clean up. BC was my tester w/ the cuts. If everything went well, the NL's would be receiving the same treatment. She didn't react at all... I was quite surprised. Between priming the soil with a liter of water a day before and feeding her before the cuts, she is totally fine. No drooping, no stress, no reaction at all after 120hrs of observation. Oh, and no hermie. I decided that after 72hrs of the observation, and all was well, I would proceed to trim and clean the NL's. -Buds are stacking very fast and this was before the King Kola was introduced. Her form is even more evident now and all the mains I'd like to receive most my yield from, are free and clear of any extraneous shoots and/or fans blocking their progression. An estimated 26-30 shoots were taken, along with dying fans and some healthy (in the way) fans. This was a lot! to take off, which is why I was so paranoid. But her health and vigor is clear and her recovery was swift. Her current state is where she will stay until the chop. Only small flowers growing on the side of laterals will be taken now, as they come up. The Bad: -No bad again. It's strange. I'm used to there being an issue with BC, but for two weeks in a row now, I've seen no negative signs. One happy, healthy and vigorous girl. The 'Meh': -NL#2 and BC grew to tall, and I see that now. I mentioned my lighting wasn't optimal for a bit there and my placement was off. This caused these two girls to be a little taller then I'd have liked. Already have plans for grow #3 to mitigate height, train lower and flip sooner (looking at 6-7.5 week flips now, if pre-flower allows...) -A couple bud sites, closest to the tent edge, have shown a couple browning pistils. Like one or two on the whole top. Pretty sure this is a symptom of the intense light and reflectivity of the tent, bouncing even more light back onto them. With rotation and backing of the light by 3 ", these symptoms of pre-emptive browning have ceased. -To be honest, I really got caught with my pants down on this. I was basing everything off my first grow. How big they'd be by a certain week, when to flip, how they grow etc... This was a mistake as this grow has proven to be night and day from the first. I got lucky this time and barely have 2 inches of play with the light, left. Will not be basing previous grows on current grows anymore. Different grow, different strains, different outcome. Notes of the Week: -I see this grow will have a larger yield then my first. All the changes in lighting, atmosphere, grow methods, techniques, feeding schedules and most importantly, new supplementation of Potassium Silicate, Fulvic/Humic Acids. molasses, root hormones for transplants and Gaia Green soil Bone meal Soil conditioner have made this possible. I do not regret a single thing I purchased in an attempt to optimize this grow over my first. Only with the advice and help of my favorite peoples on this site, would this have been possible. I didn't know about or look into any of this my first grow. I feel like I've been shaken awake and see all the things I CAN do to increase productivity, yield and quality👍. Thank you kindly to all those people that help carry me and are showing me the ropes to better grows. -All plants are essentially finished training, defo and trimming. They will be left alone to do their thing and I will just do my best to keep them happy while they do so. -3 Strains in one tent instead of two with my first, has given me a great cross section of plants to look at. They're all so different and seeing them show who they are is a cool experience. With their differences, it also taught me to treat the girls strain specific in terms of feeding and care. I've learned a lot by having my hands on these 3 and access to my friends 3 strains (BC Big Bud, Granddaddy black and banana kush). The more the better. -Introduction of King Kola to all plants this week. First dose @ 2/3rd's dose as a test and all girls are happy and showed no issue or stress with the new addition. I picked King Kola, after researching many blooming agents, for a couple reasons. Their trio series (micro-grow-bloom) is very close to the same dosing and concentration as the GHE trio series I'm using. Close to the same, everything....really. I knew that adding KK into the mix wouldn't hurt them as both schedules and concentrations are damn near the same. The other reason was based on community and user reviews. It was highly rated compared to other PK boosters I was looking at and since I was already using EH's Sturdy Stalk (with great success) I trusted the quality, what they had advertised the product as, and what it will do. -Continuing to cut Gro out of my formula while maintaining or upping both Micro and Bloom. Gro is essentially negligible at this point and I'm covering my potassium with the other two. Now with the PK booster, I feel there is zero need for floragro. -I loved EH's Sturdy Stalk and am looking forward to using it again in the Veg stage in grow #3. I'm positive that starting this potassium silicate supplement earlier in the grow will give me better, stronger and faster results. Late to the party on this one, but glad someone recommended it and I will up it's use, next go. -Was dragging my feet on picking up a PK booster, even though I saw and knew everyone was using this choice supplement. With a gentle push from a great acquaintance, I did my research and purchased what I felt would work best for me and my grow, as well as working in conjunction with my other nutrients. I understand now, just how much of a game changer this can and will be. It was explained to me that at this point in the grow, even though they're seemingly happy and healthy, they're also hungry. They can and will easily take a booster in order to swell and push fatter bud sites. What I Learned This Week: -I had resigned myself to all the LARF I noticed after the stretch. I was too paranoid to take any of it because of the dreaded "H" word. I've read multiple horror stories online of people warning DO NOT PRUNE IN FLOWER, OR ELSE!!!. I read these things before I even started grow #1 and it had made me believe that this was a "rule". Well, I kept looking at the LARF and it kept eating away at me. It was going to be nothing, I couldn't open up the plant anymore and I wanted my focus to be on my main tops, not the undergrowth...I think most all of us can agree or go for that. I then started a search for an experienced Defo'er on here. I found her and we had a good chat. Couple things. Firstly, there is a very high chance that all those people that had hermies after pruning in flower probably had a different ailment or stress issue occurring to cause this (like a light leak). The stress of pruning would need to compound on top of other problems to possibly cause a seeding issue. Pruning alone, with a healthy and happy plant, should not hurt her at all...that this is a normal practice. Not just with Cannabis but w/ a lot of fruit baring trees and plants. My grandfather did the same in his orchard to focus attention on the top canopies of his apple trees and even called the pruned sections "suckers"! Secondly, at the end of the day, if all parameters are in order, the plants are healthy, but they still hermie, it's very likely a case of genetics more then anything else. Picking out versatile genetics from the get-go is key. So! My genetics are good, plants are healthy and vigorous... I went ahead and did the trim and clean up. If something does happen, it's all on me and I know that, but I have great confidence that everything is alright and will continue to be alright. I guess this long ramble is a PSA to any newcomers scared to work on their plants because of the things they've read on that there inter-web. So much of what you/I read on Cannabis in forums and even in articles by "Reputable" sources is fearmongering. So many falsities and I really, really recommend staying away from all those unfit sources. So much of it is opinion over objective facts. On GD, it's much less of an opinion than it is a fact. Proof is in the pictures and there's plenty of proof to back up one's claims. This is a "put up or shut up" site to me, and I love it. To new comers, like me, reach out and talk to people on GD that have proven to be competent and knowledgeable growers. Crush the fear and anxiety with the help of these people. They ALL want to see you succeed, here. REACH OUT! Oh man, what a ramble of an entry...again. There's more, but I'm going to stop, haha. Thank you for dropping by and reading this weeks addition of BC. I genuinely wish you all a good week with your projects and your plants. Keep it up and keep on given er'. Cheers!✊

Hello everyone and welcome to end of Week 5, Bloom w/ Blue Cookies. The deets: The Good: -Allllll good. Great week, no problems and I'm just watching her grow...not much to do anymore and I'm getting bored. I need more plants, haha. -Holy berries. Terpene profile is intensifying and Big Blue is taking over the tent. The NL's are really pungent, but BC just cuts their terpenes right out. Super strong profile with this girl. Love it👍 -Stacking! Everything is looking very good, close up. Trichs are still shedding in full force and new pistils are still popping up, just less so. She has noticeably stopped growing most these pistils and her bud sites are starting to swell. A quick, lite squeeze of any of the colas and they're firm and tight. Lovely. The Bad: -No bad. Three weeks in a row. Thank you Cannabis God's The 'Meh': -Same mutations exist, but since the stretch has ended, no new foliar or marking have appeared. All aesthetics, but still a little unfortunate. -Weather fluctuations b/t +1 and -30 in a single week. Making it a bit hard to keep my tent acclimated and balanced the way I like and the way the girls like it. Hoping weather tappers off here very shortly. Notes of the Week: -No early week progression photos, just like DSD. I do have the pictures but they're mostly blurple. Decided to keep them out of this week and just give the natural light photos instead. -Still seeing LARFY sections but I'm ok with it. Not nearly as much as grow #1 and far less then before I trimmed/defo'd her. I trust those little popcorn buds will still kick some serious ass. -King Kola is doing it's job. If I'm seeing what I feel I'm seeing, my colas are much larger at this stage of the game then with grow #1. They started to really build mass 7 days after the first application. Now, after two applications, it seems clear to me that this specific P/K booster is working for me and the girls👌 (Too expensive though... looking for cheaper options for grow #3) -Pistils are slowly starting to turn amber/red, a few more every day. Starting to do daily trichome inspections to estimate the flush and chop. -BC has actually dropped in PPM's over three consecutive feedings w/ the advanced schedule and the addition of KK. This tells me I must be feeding her the right stuff and she's taking it all. No excess not being used up and I will now up my micro and bloom formula to match her needs. PH is still great. RO still kicking around 6.0-6.1. That was short! May add a "What I Learned This Week" section in near future, but I'm going to leave it here for now. I did learn some new things but I'd prefer to just keep this short for now. Cheers my friends and best of luck with all your projects and ladies! Happy grows, happy trails😉

Hello there and welcome to End of Week 6, Bloom, w/ Blue Cookies. The Deets: The Good: -Blue Cookies was reformed and re-braced, inwards, this week to give her a better form and allow her laterals to carry the new cola weight she's been stacking on. -Terpene update? Still beautiful berries. Getting stronger and stronger by the day. The other plants terpene profiles have now effectively been overcome completely w/ BC. She has taken over and I'm cool with that. -Cola's stacking very well and internodal gaps are slowly being closed with some nice dense buds. Colors are starting to show, slightly, but I trust this will pick up in the coming days. -PPM's and pH are perfectly in check. Environment is still serving them very well at the current settings. Besides dropping the temperature a bit, I will be holding these environmental parameters (As listed above in 'Grow Conditions") The Bad: -No bad with Blue this week. I was really sick w/ the flu.... but she was good. The 'Meh': -As mentioned in other diaries, due to the flu, I had a hell of a time taking proper care of the girls, specifically when it came to carrying anything down the stairs. I resorted to feeding them there .4 gallons a day, manually, one at a time w/ balanced Tap. This was the only way I felt I could keep them going without taking a risk and biffing it down the stairs with a 5 gallon bucket of water... Subsequently, the girls did not get a nutrient feed when they were 'supposed' too, but have all been fed a full meal deal yesterday as I finally had the strength and where-with-all to function. Not ideal for late flower, but all is well and there was zero damage. Did my best! Notes of the Week: -All girls may actually line up with one another when it comes to harvest, but I won't bank on it. The NL's are a 7-8 week w/ DSD and Blue Cookies @ 8-9 week. However, according to all trich pics they seem to be at the same pace and ripeness (for the time being). If it works out, that'd be cool... but I wouldn't put money on it. -Was concerned about drying my NL's and where. They are at the same pace as BC and DSD but I do expect that they will need an earlier chop to acquire an optimal product. I wasn't sure where to put them, even though I came into this grow KNOWING that they would wrap up early. I plan ahead a lot, but not for this one... Anywho, I had my solution staring me right in the face. I will be taking my 2x2x3' germination/seedling/sapling tent and flipping it on it's head to be 3' tall, not wide. Going to jury rig all my circulation and create an optimal environment as a test, before the chop occurs. The longest lateral that needs to be hung is 22 inches, with the tent at 36 inches. More then enough room to dry these two girls while the others have a chance to wrap themselves up in the big tent. Again, it was right in front of my the whole time and I just didn't see it. No need to build a DIY drying unit anymore👍. -Dropped temps by 1-2 degrees in day and night cycle. It's time for a show, I feel, and these girls have a good promise of one. I greatly look forward to seeing their character and form in late flower. I've been waiting for this...! -Allowed BC and NL #2 to purposely splay a little bit, while loosely braced. There was a lot of tops that needed exposure to light and air so this was my way of allowing them to get it. Now that growth has officially ended (no movement, 2 weeks) and those tops have reached further through the canopy, it was time to tighten them both back up. Good timing, as they were starting to interfere with one another and needed to be re-braced. Nothing is pulling, only leaning and supporting. Movement of plants is much easier with the two biggest girls and tops are no longer getting hung up. After the re-brace, all the tops have access to the light and air they need to flourish👍. There was a reason why BC and NL#2 looked a little unkempt, compared to the others. This is the reason why (never explained myself in the past updates). Updated photos do show a much nicer form on both ladies and they aren't so "wild" anymore. -I'm very reluctant in listening to flushing advice anymore. I'm starting to truly believe this is another form of stoner logic... The most educated and intelligible master growers in the world have stated that there is no need to flush... (Example: Greg Green). I didn't believe or trust that when I first read it because everywhere I looked said "Flush or else". Now, after even further research, articles and proof from highly competent/master growers (personal and LP) flushing seems like a farce and I'm not sure why or how this became a mandatory rule of thumb. I'm not ballsy enough to go with no flush at all, even with my convictions, but I will not be starving my plants for 10-14 days. This is a quarter of my NL's flowering time. Completely counter-intuitive to me. I will be running a 5-7 day flush, max, with both NL's. Flawless Finish will be used on one 5-7 day flush and only tap flush for 5-7 days with the other NL. I want to see if there is a difference, if at all. After the flush, chop and dry of the NL's, if all flavor and taste is present without acrid smoke, BC and DSD will be receiving the same 5-7 day flush with FF. Next grow, I will be experimenting with a 0-3 day flush cycle to see if that even makes a difference...or are we starving our girls for no reason? -I'd wager my talk on the flush may not sit well with some people, and that's cool, but this is my belief and it is a belief held by many influential growers. The more I read, the more this notion of mandatory flushing seems wrong and we are willfully harming the full potential of our plants, their quality, quantity and potency. I'll report back if I'm wrong, but this is the course of action I am taking. Thank you all for reading and/or just dropping by. I appreciates ya and I hope you all have a great week with your grows and your journeys✊. Oh, and keep your hands washed! You don't want this flu! Holy CRAP!😩

Howdy and welcome to week 7, Bloom, of Blue Cookies. The deets: The Good: -Another great week with Big Blue. She's still swelling and stacking, but at a slightly slower pace. I see her starting to wrap up, but she does show a lot of signs of continued growth and there still is some time left before I can consider her near-future schedule and flush. -Buds are showing some different colors and she looks good. I haven't had any issues with her common mutations either. Since her growth has stopped, it stopped and she's looking quite healthy. -RO PPM's and pH is still optimal and as I drop the dosing of specific nutrients, her excess salts are dropping off and she's starting to show the first signs of wrapping up, herself. The Bad: -No bad this week. Got my feeds in and she's well. The 'Meh': -Getting slightly top heavy, even with potassium silicate shoring her up. Starting to lean out a bit so I applied the same non-static fabric strip around her, about 2/5th's the way up. It's only a brace and holds everything in decent order. Cheap, re-usable and functional. Easy peasy. Notes of the Week: -Both NL #2 and Blue Cookies are both getting top heavy and I'm working to keep them in shape and away from one another. I'm having an easier time moving them, at least. Grow number one, at this point and time, were already strung up with plant yoyos because they couldn't hold their new weight. I couldn't move them because of this and it was a pain. Happy I don't have to do that again. Yoyos were great! and served their purpose when I really, really needed them. But with the changes and stronger plants, I don't need them! This a good thing👍 -Ocimene is out as the dominant terpene in the tent (Blue Cookies) and Caryo has officially taken over now. Tent is niiiice and pungent with a thick peppery aroma. Fun watching them compete for dominance, haha. -From the new trich pics, it looks like the breeders notes are going to line up quite well. The NL's are wrapping up and I can see them ready for the chop around March 12th (8ish weeks Bloom). DSD and BC are looking like they're at the same pace and should be wrapping up around March 20th-ish (9-10 weeks). -Set up drying tent and she's ready to go. Moved the little tent right by the big girl and jury rigged all my equipment through splitters and timers. Did a test run with x2, 1 foot tower fans and two computer fans w/ makeshift hangers and tea towels to maintain a decent and constant RH. During the test, the unit held about 18-19 degree Celsius and 50% RH. Pretty much what I was looking for. -Trying to get better pictures of the plants without the obnoxious flash of my camera blurring all the trichs and colors. I feel these are a little better...but I still have some work to do and maybe pick up some decent, used lighting equipment to achieve the results I'm looking for. I love so many of the pictures on here. The extra effort really makes them pop and I'd like to try to do the same with the tips I've been receiving from other users. Some of you folks are an absolute inspiration and I appreciate the extra time you put into your photography👍 (I still suck at trich pics...I don't think that's going to get better any time soon, ha) Thanks so much for dropping by and seeing Blue's progress. I wish you all luck with your girls this week and happy grows! Cheers and take care all.😃👍

Welcome back to Week 8, Bloom w/ Blue Cookies. The Deets: The Good: -No issues with this big lady this week. Did a little defo and that was about it. Took it well and continues onward. -Buds are noticeably swelling at the end of her cycle. Definitely not as big as 2 of the other girls, but they're tightly formed and looooots of them. -RO PPM's and pH are in check and I feel pretty confident going into her 5-7 day flush. Next feed will be the beginning of the flush. The Bad: -No bad👍 The 'Meh': -I did it again and let BC go into drought. Last week it was DSD and before that was NL #1. I gotta stop doing this. It's so easily avoidable but I just keep on over-looking it. -Despite manipulating temperatures, BC hasn't really shown any real colors. Not a complaint, but I really thought she would put on the biggest show of them all. I rotated her to NL #2's spot where it's a little cooler and see if she will show anything. Notes of the week: -All girls, as of March 7th, have received their final nutrient feeding. I had tapered down my doses but we're now moving to the flush schedule. Looking to about March 20th for all plants to be chopped, NL's should be curing and BC/DSD will be drying by then. -I keep posting heights and Diameters but totally not necessary. They stopped growing 3 weeks ago, so I'm not going to beat a dead horse with the same heights and diameters. Probably should have stopped 3 weeks ago, haha. -Moving from GHE to a new line of nutrients. Haven't made up my mind yet, but there is a short list of suppliers I'm looking too. I found out GHE is owned by Hawthorne Gardening Co., which is a subsidiary of Scotts miracle grow which is directly partnered with Monsanto. I don't know about you all, but I won't willingly support Monsanto in any way. I wish I did more research before picking and running GHE. I would not have done so if I knew Hawthorne WAS Monsanto/SMG. -So after 3.5 months from the end of my first grow, I finally! concentrated my shake and milled herb (GG) into 21% (rough) oil👍. Wonderful product. Clean, potent and very relaxing. Used the insta-pot method, 1:1 product to coconut oil. Couldn't believe how easy this was and can't wait to make gummy bears next go. Only issue...I hate coconut but was told I wouldn't be able to taste it. Oh man, I can taste it and it's all I can taste, haha. Moving to butter for the next go. (Thanks to Medintropic for the heads up about olive oil. Saved me from destroying good product). -Not really pertinent to this grow, but I have chosen and received all genetics for Grow #3's menu. We're going to go with x1 Black Widow, x1 Granddaddy Bruce, x1 Purple Star Killer and x1 Space Cookies. I'm clearly still on the high potency, Indica Dom train. All these, except for Space cookies should exceed 20% THC quantity, easily. I'd imagine I'd have to make a lot of mistakes for it to drop below 20%. Genetics provided by Paradise seeds and i49. If you have an Insta-Pot or are interested in making concentrates with one, here are the basic steps to make some oil. Very easy, this will be short (7 quart version (7-ish liters)): Step 1: Fill with water to 3/4 fill line Step 2: Throw in your mason jar of cannabis with lid sealed very tight. Step 3: Secure lid, turn on and pressurize. After full pressure is achieved, De-carb for 12 minutes. (timer on Pot does this for you, just adjust to 12 minutes) Step 4: After the 12 minutes, de-carb is over. Vent steam through valve and wait for all pressure to disperse and for the spring loaded safety pin to drop back into place. Step 5: With gently melted coconut oil (250ml), open jar and add in. Re-seal Jar and repeat step 1 and 2. This is one ounce to one cup of oil. Pretty close to a 1:1 mix. Step 6-This time when we put it in, we allow it to pressurize and then countdown for 15 minutes, not 12. For stronger product, increase the amount of time. This will help burn off more oil and leave a more concentrated product. Be aware that 1-2 minutes more can make a very big difference and/or may even burn the coconut oil. I would recommend just using less oil @ 15 minutes then risk hurting the product. I hope you all have a gooder with the gals this week. Cheers and see you next week😉👍

Howdy all and welcome to Week 9, Bloom with Blue Cookies. The deets: The Good: -An overall great week with Blue Cookies. Still strong, swelling and pushing. -Went into her first flush on Day 120 and she took it very well. Looking to give at least 2 flushes with a chelator. -Finally see her turning in and some color changes are occurring. Maybe a little too late for a full show, but happy to see it none the less. The Bad: -No Bad. The 'Meh': -BC does have excess salts, just like DSD. She will need 2-3 flushes w/ a chelator. First flush results as follows: 1. 2 gallons, tap @ 6.2pH and 200ppm w/ 8mL per gallon of Flawless Finish RO #'s: 6.0/6.1pH and 666PPM 2. 2 gallons, tap @ 6.2pH and 230ppm w/ 1.5mL per gallon of Humic Acids and molasses RO #'s:5.9/6.0pH and 1082ppm -Noticed some fox tailing starting to occur. Pretty sure it's a symptom of the day temps I was running and stress from the lights, so temps have been dropped, permanently, until the end of the grow. It didn't get out of control, but I'm still a little miffed at myself for not noticing/running too high a day temp. Live and learn, man. Notes of the week: -BC and DSD have both gotten their first flush and are being put on the same flush schedule. Both have excess salts and may need 2-3 flushes before the chop. Still lined up to chop the both of them this coming Sunday/Saturday -NL #1 has been chopped and #2 is coming down March 15th. I don't have the time to update NL right now cause there's quite a bit to say. Long and short of it is...holy crap. I think it was successful.😃 -For quick drying my samples I got some advice on how to expedite the process. Threw the sample on top of the PS4 (or your modem) and put a small fan on her. Dried quick, wasn't harsh, and it was all clean. Happy, happy. -Working on optimizing my little drying tent. I had it allll set up and ready to go but missed one crucial thing...there's no damp cannabis hanging in there, so my RH plans went out the window, hahaha. Man, things like these constantly remind me I'm noob as hell. Hopefully I hope to have it locked in by tomorrow. I'm operating at 75 degrees Fahrenheit and 35% RH. Not too good. -Can't wait to show the NL harvest to you all. I see them everyday, but when I stripped down #1 today, I was in awe of just how much there was. Massive compared to my first grow. One of these has as much, if not more, then two of my first grow girls. Couldn't be happier. Thanks for stopping by everyone! Next week, she may be chopped and drying👍. Good luck with all the girls and have a great week. Cheers all.

Howdy, howdy and welcome to the final week of Bloom w/ Blue Cookies. The deets: The Good: -Big Blue has finally come down after quite a long grow and her results looks very promising. -She does not have very large tops but had many, many of them. Each one is densely packed and look great. Looks like absolute quality. Projecting about 3 ounces dry and 1.5 ounces of milled flower for concentrates after all is said and done. -The chop went very well, though it did take a very long time. She was surprisingly the stickiest out of all 4 girls and her amber pistils were caked all over the place. Her resin is very strong and I'm going to go ahead and take that as a good sign. The Bad: -Zero Baaaad The 'Meh': -This experimental LST build (for me anyway) went very well but I did not accomplish what I set out to do in terms of tops. I was aiming for 8-10 main tops but this wild one got out of control. This didn't hurt the product at all (since she's so dense and every bud is good smoke) but this made for too much trimming and it took way too long to clean her up for drying. If I do this build again I'm going to have to knock down the number of tops by at least 8. -As mentioned previously, I did notice some fox-tailing occurring in the final 2 weeks, but this did cease after I dropped my temperatures (day and night). Luckily, those fox tails are quite dense and I'm hoping it didn't sacrifice too much THC while growing like this for a finite time. Notes of the Week: -This is my second grow so I don't have a good method or handle on trimming and manicuring my buds, especially since these buds were about 5-6 times the size of my first grow and I didn't know how to go about tackling them. After chopping and finishing up both NL's I kinda got in a groove and DSD went way faster then the others. I trust BC will go quite quickly as I have my own little system going now. Too bad I won't be able to use it for another 3-4 months, haha. -NL's are dried and jarred and will have their harvest week update written up by the end of the 22nd, rain or shine. -BC is the only one left standing and she will be coming down on Sunday, March 22nd. This grow is a wrap. -While DSD and BC are drying in the little tent, I'll be sanitizing/sterilizing the big tent in prep for Grow #3. I'm really excited to go again here. I have a lot of new plans, methods and techniques I want to implement to further this journey, optimize my product and grow space👍. Looking to start this project by the end of March when Grow #2 is completed and jarred. -After the NL's were chopped I de-commissioned the blurple light and it will probably remain off until next grows flowering period. If I get my hands on another SF-2000, you'll never see this lamp again. -Little tent has actually, finally been acclimated. Took me way too long to figure it out but it is operating at 45-50% RH and 68-70 degrees now and I'm hoping the dry time of BC and DSD will be prolonged further for some extra ripening. -The LARF for all the girls was placed back into the big tent after manicuring to purposely burn off some racey THC and convert some of it to CBD/CBN. This is my oil concentrates product and I like a more narcotic body high to help me sleep👍. I absolutely love how we can manipulate our girls to give us the results we want. These girls will be my medicine and my recreational smoke, pending on how I choose to use it, bake it, concentrate it, etc... -Speaking of drying, I was trying to prolong my dry time of the NL's for 7-10 days but that didn't work out too well. Ended up being a 5 and 6 day dry for both, but that's good enough! Better then a 2-3 day flash fry👌 Really happy to have you all come by and check out Big Blue. Next week we'll have the numbers and official harvest notes, reviews and weights. See you all then! Take care out there and stay safe. Thinking of you all in this time. Much love😊

Howdy all and welcome to Blue Cookies Finale. On to the deets and the numbers: Blue Cookies was a fantastic experience to grow. She was easily the most fickle out of all four plants, but with this she taught me numerous lessons and principles to growing. She forced me too learn and that's totally okay. Problems consisted of mutations and deformations, deficiencies, heat/light stress, markings on leaves and all round just picky when it came to her feeds and the environment. Because of this, this was the first time I didn't feed all my plants with "one size fits all" and I learned to tackle top-side issues by remedying these problems through my feeds and treatments. In the final four weeks, she was completely fine, but during Veg and early Bloom, these problems persisted and were a constant 'battle'. It makes it all the more gratifying now that she's all wrapped up and put out some amazing buds. Like really, really good buds. Some quick power point details about her: -Big Blue was all berries at the beginning of her developing terpene profile, but as time went on, Caryo was clearly making an entrance and was kinda taking away from the ocimene (Week 6 Bloom). -Her flowers are not fluffy but very dense. After her dry time, she was noticeably heavier then her counter parts. When ground, her buds break up really well into large, sticky and sweet flower. -The taste is much like the aroma, for me anyway (don't have the best sense of taste). Heavy berries with a peppery kick. A nice long haul on the bong will put you into a cough-lock but smoking this normally is very smooth and cough-free. This too me is a "Sit on the porch, stare off into the distance and spark a joint". -It's euphoric, but not racey. Happy and content without putting you too sleep. It's a very functional strain and I really like that. Day time smoke, for sure. -Strain seems to like slightly lower temperatures. My NL's are a North American Landrice and they handled the heat far better then Blue when I would have thought the opposite. I found I really needed to be careful with environmental parameters with her and dialing this in could be a chore. Once it was dialed in, she would be fine for awhile until her needs changed again and the environment would have to be re-tailored all over. Maybe I did just get a fickle one...but she did need constant attention from me and far more then any of the other girls required. -She will get big and needs to be controlled and/or flipped at a safe time. I really pushed my limits with her and could have easily shot myself in the foot when the flowering stretch started. I flipped too late and was just watching her grow and grow and grow, praying she would stop before the LED would burn her. It stopped just in time, but I see I can't allow this to happen again. She's a hammy strain and pushing about 1-1.5 inches a day in veg and about 2 inches! a day in the flowering stretch. Watch this little one! She'll become a monster over night. **The Numbers** (Personally, LARF is quality bud but isn't counted in full, as whole bud. Instead, LARF numbers are halved in the "Outcome" portion of this entry. Below are the actual weights on jarring day, but these will be slightly different/higher then the listed numbers in the "Outcome". Just putting it all out on the table👍.) -Whole Bud- 99 Grams (3.53 ounce) -Milled Flower- 32 Grams (1.14 ounce) Jar #1, whole bud- 35 Grams (1.25 ounce) Jar #2, whole bud- 34 Grams (1.21 ounce) Jar #3, whole bud- 30 Grams (1.07 ounce) Jar #4, Milled Flower- 32 Grams (1.14 ounce) Total Product: 131 Grams (4.67 ounce) These were solid numbers for me. I was looking to yield about 3 ounces of whole bud but got a little more then that. Even the Milled flower and LARF are actual good size buds, not shake. Looking to put the LARF into concentrates but may just keep her as smoke and smoke alone. That. Is. The. End👍. I loved this grow! It was a treat to learn so much and have additional knowledge moving forward. It goes without saying, but thank you to everyone that has stuck around and watched this little one flourish all the way up until the end. It was a treat having you around and I'm happy to have such supportive people behind me while pursuing this venture. Cheers to you all and happy grows👊