Back In Black

I am back after a brief hiatus. After my last diaries I didn't grow for a couple months and evaluated my grow techniques and took a short vacation. I added some lights, reorganized and started with a new plan to do a perpetual grow. I started back in June with some of Fast Buds new strains. First up was 2 Lemon AK (LAK) and a Zkittlez (Z). I put the LAK in the hempy buckets and Z went in the soil bag. Every 3 weeks I started 3 more seeds until my space was full and I was harvesting 2 or 3 plants every 3 weeks. But because Fast Buds are ready in 8 to 9 like advertised I now germinate every 2 weeks. At first I planned a 10 to 12 week cycle but soon learned 8 to 10 weeks is working. I love Fast Buds genetics, I have never had any duds, 100% germ rate, 100% female and 100% AWESOME genetics. If they didn't make it to harvest it was grower error. If I grow any other genetics it's because they were the freebies (RQS Royal Cookies and I got some Expert Seeds GG#4 automatics). I recently got some FB Gelato, Purple Lemonade (PL), Blackberry (BB) and more Z. I'm starting with the BB and will start another strain in 2 weeks. I may also throw in updates of some of the other plants in the grow as it moves along. Just to, back up a little and tell y'all about my set up. I have an 8' x 8' x 9' grow room. Closed system with AC/heat, dehumidifier, fans, air purifier, CO2 and internal carbon filter. I recently added a 2' x 4' x 9' drying and curing room with its own AC/heat, dehumidifier/humidifier and inline fan because I am placing plants in the dark for 48 hrs and harvesting every 2 weeks. I built it like a grow room incase I expand and want to grow photoperiods. I built both rooms from 2x3s, 2x2s, panda plastic, rigid foam insulation, deck screws, other odds and ends and lots of duct tape (Warning: do not use Gorilla Tape). The lighting is a Black Diamond (BD) COB (675w) and 10 CobShop AutoCobs , 8-3500k, 1-3000k, 1-2700k (60w each, 600w total). I have 4-3500s and a 2700k (red spectrum for flower), 300w total in a 3x3 area for the organic section. The hempy bucket section is 4x8 (try to keep about 3x6) and has 4-3500s, 1-3000k (blue spectrum for veg), 300w, and the BD COB for 975w total. I have plenty of room and could add more lights if needed but right now I'm still learning to use what I have and control the size of the plants. I did experiment with different techniques over the summer, topping, main lining and hst. I found I got better yields and the plants finish faster if I just do some lst and defoliation. I'll be retiring in a couple weeks and I'll be able to spend more time in the garden and improve things even more. So excited! Anyway, I'm looking forward to growing this BB and the Purple Lemonade. I will first try them organically in soil since the colors are always better that way and I can see how they grow. I started the BB differently this time around. I have found that germination is the most critical time in the plants life. I have also found that the biggest issue I have seen is that the shells don't always want to come loose and need a little help. It can be dangerous though, I knocked one of the cotyledons off the BB and slowed down its growth. So, this time I tried soaking the seed for about 18 hrs hoping it would crack the seed open and soften the shell hinge. It cracked open but I don't think it helped otherwise. Then I placed it in a RO water soaked coffee filter rather than a paper towel for about 48 hrs. The tap was out but the shell was still wrapped tight. I pried it off and damaged the cotyledon. I still placed it in the rapid start pod knowing it would be okay. I just slowed it down. After a couple days in the pod the roots came through the bottom and I placed it in its final pot yesterday. She is looking healthy. This may be the fastest way so far, germinate in a wet towel, place in rapid pod, place in soil. I use to put them straight in the soil but had trouble with seed shells not coming off as they pull their heads out of the soil and then having to try and manipulate it without pulling it out of the soil. I would like to hear how others germinate. The grow bag is 5 gallons. I am using a supersoil technique. The bottom 1/3 is a Coco, perlite and Nature's Living Soil mixture. Top 2/3 is Coast of Maine Platinum or premium growers mixture (1st time using this stuff). It should be good for the whole 8 weeks so all I have do is add RO water. But just incase, after 30 days I will start adding Coast of Maine Squid extract to the water for a couple weeks, then go back to RO water only the last 2 weeks of flower. We will see how it goes in about 8 or 9 weeks. So, it's really only day 2 (as of the time of the pictures) of the first week. I always start my day 1 on Friday, 11/29 (in this case). I'll may update week 1 later this week if needed, otherwise I'll see y'all next week. Thanks for tuning in and turning on everyone. Please press 'Like'. All questions and comments are encouraged and welcome. Peace.

Blackberry is doing well after 2 weeks and my clumsy handling in the beginning. I haven't had to do anything but give her a little water every couple days. Good thing I have a continuous grow to keep me busy. Thanks for tuning in and turning on. Peace.

End of week 3. Not much going on, she is progressing nicely, stem thickening and advancing in height. Color is deep green and no signs of deficiency. I removed the first two sets of branches after the 3rd node develops. Thanks for tuning in and turning on. Peace.

End of week 4, Day 28 for Blackberry1. She is cruising along and about to go into flower. I can't wait to see her turning purple. BB2 must a different pheno, she is a lighter green and growing a main cola only no real branching and hardly any 5 pointed leaves, mostly 3 points. Strange lil' plant. You can see purple around the calyx already. I also started 3 more Blackberries this week. I put'em in the dirt on Monday and they all sprouted on Thursday. All questions or comments are welcome. Thanks for turning on and tuning in. Peace.

End of week 5, day 35: Explosive week. It's as thought everything doubled. From 13 inches to 25 inches. From veg to flower. Look back 1 week and you'll see what I mean. The calyx are purple and starting to give some great color. The smell is berry and strong. I rearranged my grow room and moved the flowering plants under a 675w COB LED light fixture (hence the purple lighted pictures). I am eliminating growing in Hempy Buckets and going strictly organic in soil. All questions and comments are welcome. Thanks for tuning in and turning on. Peace

End of week 6, day 42. BB is just cruisin' along. I'll get some better pics next update without the burple so y'all can really see the purple. Amazin' lookin' plant and the buds are awesome. She has at least 2 more weeks to go and we'll see how far we need to push her to finish. Amazingly, the BB3s are about 16 days and already flowering.... talk about FastBuds. Thanks for turning on and tuning in everyone. peace

End of week 7, day 49. Another easy week watchin' her buds fatten up. She is just about finished, I will be putting her in the dark on day 56. These Blackberry are fast finishers and the buds are some fat nuggz. I can't wait to taste this one. I got some better pictures this week and she is looking beautiful. Thanks for turning on and tuning in. All comments and questions are welcome. Peace

End of week 8, day 56. And that is a wrap. This is the fastest plant I have ever grown. I probably could have pulled her last week but I pushed her to the end. Her leaves were spent and she was foxtailing. She turned out to be a beautiful plant and I'm looking forward to tasting her after a proper dry and cure. On the other hand, her sister didn't do so well. I pulled her after 49 days because she just not doing anything and it looks finished. I'll probably dry and cure and turn her into hashish. I got 3 more blackberry at about 42 days that are nothing but sticks. Not sure if it's genetics or something I did wrong. Since I have never had this issue before I am going to assume it's genetic. So, one good plant out of 5 is not a good ratio and I don't think I'll waste anymore time with blackberry even if her smoke is awesome and she is a cup winner. I'll be back in a couple weeks with a harvest and smoke report when she is ready. Thanks for turning on and tuning in. All questions and comments are welcome. Peace

Definitely worth a try if you are looking for some purple to grow. I will probably grow it again in the future after I try some other purple strains. I stressed these plants and didn't get the results I was hoping for. I started the seed in a one of those cups that's suppose to decompose after you place it in the soil, only the cup took longer to decompose than my automatic growing plant took to grow, slowing root formation and spread, stunting overall growth. I have found a better cup since then that is made from recycled paper and turns to pulp almost as soon as it gets wet and is placed in the pot. Most of the issues I had with Blackberry were self inflicted and I'm sure if I grow it again I would have better results. The biggest issue with the strain and why I gave it 8 stars was because I had 3 phenotypes out of 5 seeds. First one is the one you see here. Second, third and fourth were all the same and grew one main stem, 2 little branches with wispy loose flowers with a low calyx to leaf ratio. The fifth plant and 3rd pheno stayed fairly green with little purple coming through, while the others were almost black in color. The flower was denser and more like a bud. Overall, mixed results. Great product. Disappointing yields and consistency. Thanks for turning on and tuning in. All questions and comments are welcome. Peace