Mainlining - Skunk XL - RQS

This photoperiod plant from Royal Queen Seeds will be mainlined for 8 -10 colas Healthy looking seed out of the package, no difficulty germinating and produced a good radicle within 36 hours. Transplanted into transparent orchid pots which have drainage holes in the sides and bottom to allow free drainage and plenty of air. The transparent pots make it easy to see the root development to help judge when it it time to 'pot up' (no pun intended😉). Water is chlorine and chloramine free thanks to Ecothrive Neutralise; PH circa 6.5 and also has moonshine an enzyme which aids cellular devoloment and nutrient uptake. There is also mycorrhiza in the soil mix. Will add bio-silicon towards the end of week 1. Will transplant to final pot (25ltr airpot) in 2-3 weeks with the intention of encouraging the plant to grow vigorously until I have about 7 nodes, when I will being the mainline training (healthy and happy plant permitting). Currently under 80w of veg cycle LED at about 40" - checking regularly for signs of light stress. Grow room temperature is around 80f. with RH a bit lower than I would like at 58%. Strain Data: Parentage = A mix of Colombian, Mexican and Afghan land races 50% Sativa 50% Indica THC = 17% Expected harvest = 65 -75 grams per plant Flowering time circa 56 days, overall grow circa 90 -100 days

N.B. Photos - Day 7 from germination. About 4" of growth Using transparent orchid pots to view root growth to time transplanting to final pots (about another 10 days). Orchid pots have drainage holes in the bottom and sides to help airation and prevent root rot. Can already see good root development shooting down and to the sides of the pot. Will need to transplant to final pot in next 7 days. Keeping temps around 80f. - RH is a bit of a challenge at the moment and varies from 50% to 65%. Ideally, I aim to keep my veg cycle a little on the humid side (60-65%). Watering by eye - PH - 6.5 ; chlorine and chloramine free water; mycorrhiza in soil mix ; moonshine (enzyme to aid cellular development and nutrient uptake) and bio-silicon. Being very careful at this stage not to overwater. Once second set of proper leaves develops, I will start to add nitrogen at 25% recommended dosage. Currently under 80w of the veg cycle LED light at about 28" (I started at 40" and worked my way down over the week looking for any reaction from the vulnerable seedlings/saplings). Will contine to bring light down to 18" but around day 21 the saplings should now be sufficiently hardened off and I can swap lights to my main 340w LED light. Again, I will "hang em high" and gradually lower the main light until I can get to circa 20" without causing any light stress. My preference is to wait until I have around 7 nodes before I begin mainline training (this will also depend on the plant being healthy and vigorous at the time), so the objective at this point is to try and encourage strong, thick healthy growth.

Day 21 from seed, Gradually lowering my main flowering light (320w LED) now at 30" - looking for signs of light shock (heat will not be an issue) in the leaves. Have ordered a 'Minder' unit from P L Grow, this will provide data feedback of humidity/temperature and vpd updated every 30 secs. This will allow me to (a) monitor my grow room in real time no matter where I am; and (b) analyse my grow environment in detail to finitely dial it in. Good solid growth, will begin the mainline training in next seven days as plant is looking vigorous and healthy (the right time to begin). I anticipate that the mainline training will take approx. 4 weeks to prepare for the flip to flower.

Day 28 from seed. Mainline training started. I top once the plant has reached a minimum of 7 nodes and is vigorous and healthy. Usually I cut it back to the third or fourth node and trim any side branching but try to leave as many leaves on as possible at this stage. Once the plant has bounced back from the topping I will gradually defoliate these very bottom leaves. This will be the only real defoliation that I will carry out unless humidity requires. Plant was circa 13" at the time of topping and 6" after. I will carry out a second topping in next 7-10 days and then it should be all about tieing down.

Day 34 from seed. Second round of topping to complete the HST. Topped at third node of each side branch. Also removed second node growth tip (but not its leaves) from each side branch (leave the first node intact). Have also carried out very careful and selective defoliation of any side branching that I do not want but I have left all leaves intact. Have also now tied down all branching to desired level and position. From this point, I will veg for a further 4-5 weeks whlist making any adjustments to the plant training as required. After 5 weeks or so of consolidated vegging, I will flip to flower

Day 38 from seed. With the topping all finished now is the time to train. Will still require adjustment on a weekly basis. Main stem is starting to thicken and a nice knuckle is forming at the site of the first topping. Important to keep the canopy height as even as possible. Skunk XL is a strain that does not stretch much once you put her into flower so it is beneficial to veg for that bit longer to build her up as much as possible. Likely to veg for another 5 - 6 weeks before the flip but will have to see how her growth goes. Watering/feeding can be quite challenging at this stage as all of the substantive growth has now been carefully trained to be in the way of a watering can! I get around this by using one of those portable spray bottles with a flexible synthetic hosepipe and a button press showerhead attached. Works a treat and saves a lot of jigery pokery. I will include my Grow Room Data and VPD data with each post from time to time.

Day 42 from seed. Caused a bit of PH bother by chucking a slightly low PH feed on when I was in a rush and had to go out. I have already given her a couple of perfectly Ph'd flushes and now nursing back to health with Alg-a-Mic and perfectly Ph'd feed, will also supplement with foliar feed at lights out. Have carried out second stage of training and more or less have everything where I want it and should be routine maintenence going forward.

Day 46 from seed. Recovering well from my PH overdose! Alg-a-Mic and properly Ph'd water and she is bouncing back nicely. Training checked and adjusted where necessary but it is a waiting game now for the structure to grow and mature before flipping. There is a complete circular 35cm wide x 0.5cm deep root mass which has flowed out of the bottom of the airpot and is doing very nicely in the large saucer the pot is sitting in. I am careful to drain any excess water after each feed so that the roots are not starved of oxygen. Roots are white and healthy, despite my best attempts to poison them with piss poor PH-ing.

Day 52 from seed. Root mass is bursting out of the pot and looks nice and healthy. I am careful to drain any excess water after each feed to ensure plenty of oxygen. Maintainance training continues to manouvre each proto-cola into a position where they will not crowd each other. At the same time I have softened the stems of some of the inner proto-colas and bent them over into the centre of the plant. Good strong growth and a great smell from the foliage already, definately old school smells. Breeder advises that Skunk XL does not stretch a great deal so I am letting her veg until she hits circa 36" - no rush at the moment as she is sharing with three autoflowers that are still 4/5 weeks from harvest.

Day 59 from seed. Central canopy is now starting to fill in nicely. Again minor maintainence training, a little pull here, a little twist there. I am trying to buy a little time for the central canopy which is being formed of offshoots from a bent over main branch or two. The extra time allows these offshoots to bulk up a little and catch up in height. As mentioned in an earlier week, I will wait until she get to about 36" before flipping. Lush healthy growth throughout which is a nod of approval to Royal Queen Seeds and their solid genetics, Skunk XL by name and Skunk XL by nature, even though we are in veg, this little lady humms like an electicity power plant. Massively stinky at this stage, may need a second carbon filter for flower 😄

Day 66 from seed. Cleared out lower suckers and leaves. Further adjustments to spread out the circumference of the canopy. Middle canopy is starting to catch up. Probably 3/4 more weeks of veg then flip.

Day 88 from seed. Had a minor disaster, left it one day too long to water and the whole plant nearly croaked. Has taken me two weeks to nurse her back to relative health. Have taken most of the soft ties off now and have added stakes which will open her up nicely. Have also had a round of dedfoliation to the bottom part of the plant removing leaves for airflow and every sucker I can find. Will keep building her up for about two more weeks toi get her as healthy as possible before I flip to flower. Should have around 18 colas if all goes well.

Day 7 of flower. 4 - 5" stretch during first 7 days, Will do final round of defoliation between weeks 2-3 of flower to remove any blocking leaves and suckers.

Week 2 of flower. Bud-sets begining to form. Plant is recovering well from( most likely) a calcium deficiency/lock out (either/or), still a few affected leaves. Always tricky to adjust to deficiencies in soil as the effect of your input is not seen for 14 - 21 days, so it is very easy to over-do it. Still stretching but most noticable thing (other than bud-set development) was how all of the main stems have thickened and hardened. There is a noticable 'beefing up'. Carried out a little light defoliation of 'no-hopers' around the outside and in the centre of the plant. This frees up space for light and air to penetrate as deeply as possible into the canopy.

About two and a half weeks into flower. Final defoliation done (other than day to day maintainence), plant still stretching Internode spacing on this pheno is nicely compact. Very consistent across all of the colas, one of the best I have seen so far. Bud-sets coming along and should fill in nicely with around 7 weeks of flower remaining. Should be in the region of 18 colas all being well. Anticipated harvest circa first week of June

Week 4 of flower. Buds beginning to stack. Gorgeous old school 'sweet skunk' smell for this plant - so this pheno is leaning to 'Sam the Skunkman' side rather than 'Neville 'Roadkill' Schoenmaker side (there isn't a bad side - they are both good!). Breeder advises 60- 75 grams per plant (indoors).

Week 5 of flower. Colas continue to stack. Have to say that the smell is fantastic, very sweet and skunky. Breeder advises 7-8 week flower cycle but may run 1-2 weeks longer to max out effect/taste. I will let the trichomes be my guide but likely harvest in 3-5 weeks. Looking forward to smoking this herb and going back to the 'daze' when skunk was the funk'. 😉

Week 6 of flower, Trichomes are starting to turn milky - about 25% at the moment. I am guessing about 2 weeks to harvest Will start flush later this week

Week 7 of flower. Contrasting pictures with light on and off. Mostly milky trichomes - 05-10% amber - breeder advised a 7-8 week flower period and this is right on the money. Will leave her a further week to adjust amber triches to my taste and then it's time to chop Smell is lovely old school sweet skunk, nicely fruity with plently of armpit/sweaty sock support.

Harvest Day. Airpot has dried out nicely. Trichomes are perfect and smell is glorious. Large leaf and fan leaf removal prior to whole plant chop and then hang for a low/slow 7-10 day dry before final 2nd (dry) trim and jarring. Will post a 'harvest' week to finish off this lovely, resilient plant once I have dry weights. Thanks to all who viewed and supported, your encouragement and knowledge never fails to help. 👍

Dry Bud Weight = 176g Trim and popcorn buds = 52g Dried over 9 days at between 62-68f and RH of 52% - 58% Dried lovely, small to medium sized buds but these little pebbles of green joy are as solid as hell. Nugs that go 'thunk' when they hit your trimming tray. Scissors kept glueing together during 2nd (dry) trim and smell is simply that Sam the Skunkman 'old school goodness' Jarred at 58 -62% RH - now I need to keep my hands out of the 'cookie'jar for at least 8 weeks 😕 Very happy with how this plant turned out as I had a number of problems during the grow. I used a new brand of soil and ended up misreading the plant and creating a lock out of magnesium by adding more when I should have flushed. Despite this fundamental error and extensive mainline training, RQS Skunk XL genetics kept on soldiering through to produce just over 6 ounces of wonderfully smelly and dense hard buds. Definitely a good beginner strain as it is very tolerant of mistakes! Most modern hybrids have Skunk somewhere in their antecedents and it is easy to see why.