Strawberry BubbleGum

Welcome to my first indoor grow! This is going to be an interesting journey as I have zero experience in indoor growing and only knowledge I have is from books and online videos. ******************************** * BUILDING A GROW ROOM * ******************************** Before this journey begins I had to setup a grow room. Fortunately, there is small space in the attic area that is perfect to turn it into a grow room. Unfortunately, that room was completely uninsulated with bear walls. That means RH/temp problems. To do a complete and proper roof insulation it would have cost me a lot so I opted out for only cheaper version and that was to use 3cm thick Styrofoam boards between beams and roof plates just to reduce heat dissipation, for the walls 2cm Styrofoam boards and for the floors, I spread thick plastic sheet over it and placed on top 3cm Styrofoam boards wrapped in white plastic sheets. With those plastic sheets on, everything is washable with ease. Now it’s time to test the room and see how the temperature holds. As I was worried, the room needed some heat source so I placed one heat radiator in the back of the room. Next day I checked the temp and it was around 23°C. The insulation was working nicely as the radiator was not constantly on and outside was -10°C. All in all I was satisfied even with some small draft coming in which was impossible to close but on the upside it will actually provide constant flow of fresh air. After renovation was done I had to decide how and where I should set up pots and lights. Room dimensions look like a right-angled triangle with entrance height of 2m and floor length of 3m. Only middle of the room is usable for growing due to a roof slope. That allows height of the plants up to around 1m and with the 90 cm room width, the actual growing space for plants would be 90x100x120cm. Now all I need was lights that would cover that space. ******************* * GROW LIGHTS * ******************* Since last year I started reading about grow lights, as it turned out, there are so many brands, models and it’s very difficult to choose one, but quantum boards caught my attention with their high efficiency, low wattage and on top of that they are passively cooled. After spending hours of browsing through different QB models I came across one company “EasyGrow Lighting” that was making quantum boards and something told me that this is it. What stood out was free shipping, cheap prices and 5 year warranty and in case of a failure they will pick up the lights at your place and send it back repaired for free. Now that sounds like a great deal. S600 Full Spectrum model is ideal for my grow space with its recommended coverage: Grow stage: 120x120cm - 150x150cm with light distance 40-60cm Flowering stage: 90x90cm - 120x120cm with light distance 30-40cm Technical specs: Chips: Samsung LM301B and Far red diodes Epistar 660nm PPFD: 1075.60168 μmol/(m²·s) Driver: Meanwell HLG Light power: 0 - 250w Luminosity: max. 228.99 lm/W Lifetime: 100 000h in operation Light dimension: 68x22 cm Weight: 5 kg Replacement for: 600W HPS Yields: 2-2.5 g/W Those are some great specs. The Samsung LM301B is one of the most efficient LEDs on the market and exceeds the 200lm/W limit. PPFD readings are over 1000 at distance of 40cm and goes up to 1800 at distance of 30cm. That’s going to be more than enough and plants will love it. When the package arrived I was surprised how good the product was packed. At first glance you can see that the lights are professionally made and assembled and with the black heatsink they look beautiful. In the package was also power cable (3m), rope ratchet 2pcs suspension system with spare clips and steel wires to connect ratchet and lights. What I also got was the EasyGrow Controller that has temperature/humidity probe and comes with 2 cables, one shorter and the other is 2m long, built-in timer for lights which you control via mobile app and it also comes with a light dimmer 0-250W. App has options like on/off light schedules, timers and you can monitor temp/humidity when you’re away from grow room. For me this is very useful as my grow room is in a different part of house and it keeps me somewhat closer to my plants. One thing to mention is that controller and lights are already connected together so the whole light system is plug&grow out of the box. I’m really impressed with the whole package and I can’t wait to try out the lights. ********************* * SOWING A SEED * ********************* For my first winter indoor grow I chose sponsored Fast Buds FBT03 - Original Auto Bubble Gum. Strain info: Genes: Sativa / Indica Genetics: BubbleGum Autoflowering Flowering: 9 weeks Harvest: 450-550gr/m2 Height: 80-130 cm THC: Up to 20% CBD: Very Low Description: “A plant that is easy to grow with harmonious, rich strawberry flavors, top shelf potency, quick blooming capabilities and will impress any commercial growers with a short flowering period. An old school gem that retains the ideal blend of indica and sativa, producing large yielding plants. Well suited for beginner growers who wish to see hybrid vigor displayed in its full form with a THC level of 20%. Only taking 9 weeks before she can be harvested, Original Auto Bubble Gum will pack on weight in a quick time frame, making her a perfect choice for growers who require big yields of quality flower.” There are few things to do before the seed starts its journey. For 11l pots I made my own light soil mix that consists of: 2l – black earth mix 1l – worm castings 1l – perlite 6l – coco coir 40g - Bio Guano 5g – Mycorrhizae Bio Guano composition: N - 3-5% P2O5 - 9-12% CaO - 23-28% K2O - 1-2% MgO – 0.5-1% C (org) - 5-7% org substance - 21-26% I decided to do some layering in a pot so at the bottom of a pot I added a thin layer of coco coir, on top of it 1-2cm layer of perlite, then up to a half of pot added my light soil mix and sprinkled 20g of Bio Guano, then added 15cm of light soil mix, again sprinkled 20g of Bio Guano and then finished filling the pot with light soil mix. Mycorrhizae was mixed with the soil where the seed will be planted. Time to start feeding the microbial life in the medium. I watered the medium with 500ml solution of 5ml/l molasses, Root Juice, Acti Vera, Bio Heaven, Fish Mix 1ml/l each, and once again after 12h. The pot was kept in a warm room at temp of 20°C. Seed was pre-soaked in shot glass of water for 24h. Seed was then sowed 10cm from the corner of the pot. To keep the RH at 80-90%, plastic bottle was placed on top of seed spot. Seeding broke surface after 48h. Health & Growth: - After the seedling broke surface she grew to 4 cm in first two days and stopped stretching. - By the end of the week she grew 1cm more. - Watering: - Instead of tap water I used distilled water in the first week. - 100 ml of nutrient solution every other day just around the seedling. - 500 ml of nutrient solution last day of a week so the medium doesn’t dry out and to keep microbial life in the medium happy. Lighting: - Each day power of lights was increased by 10W starting from 60W. - Distance from plant started at 30cm and was daily raised gradually to 50cm.

Health & Growth: - seedling looks healthy and is developing nicely. - there is no notable deficiencies or any kind of symptoms. Watering: - 120 ml of nutrient solution every other day around the seedling. - 500 ml of nutrient solution last day of a week. Lighting: - each day power of lights was increased gradually to 175W starting from 130W. - light distance from the plant was increased to 55cm.

Health & Growth: - at day 16 LST was preformed on main stem - every day main stem and leaves were pulled to sides - plant looks healthy and is growing at fast pace - there is no notable deficiencies or any kind of symptoms. Watering: - 200 ml of nutrient solution every other day around the seedling. - foliar feed every other day with Alg A Mic, Acti Vera and Fish Mix 1ml/l each - 500 ml of nutrient solution last day of a week. Lighting: - light power stayed at 175W for the whole week

Health & Growth: - side branches started to grow - every day top and branches were pulled to sides - LST continued throughout the week - pre-flowering started at the end of the week and buds sites are starting to form - plant bushed up, looks healthy and is growing vigorously. - there is no notable deficiencies or any kind of symptoms. Watering: - 500 ml of nutrient solution every other day with pH water in-between. - foliar feed every other day with Alg-A-Mic and Acti-Vera 2ml/l each - 750 ml of nutrient solution last day of a week to completely saturate the pot. Lighting: - lights were lowered to 50 cm - light power was increased to 250W at the middle of the week.

Health & Growth: - plant exploded in growth this week - LST continued on branches to open up middle of plant - the idea is to pull branches to sides of a pot and create even canopy - plant started flowering in the middle of the week - plant looks healthy and continues growing vigorously. - there is no notable deficiencies or any kind of symptoms. Watering: - switched nutrients from Fish-Mix to Bio-Grow - 750 ml of nutrient solution every other day - 750 ml of pH water between feeding - foliar feed every other day with Alg-A-Mic and Acti-Vera 2ml/l each Lighting: - lights were lowered to 40 cm - light power - 250W

Health & Growth: - plant is budding nicely - small trichome production can be seen already - plant looks healthy and continues budding - there is no notable deficiencies or any kind of symptoms. Watering: - added organic molasses to the feed - 750-1000 ml of nutrient solution every other day - 750-1000 ml of pH water between feeding

Health & Growth: - plant is budding nicely - trichome production has increased - plant looks healthy and there is no notable deficiencies or any kind of symptoms. Watering: - 750-1000 ml of nutrient solution every other day - 750-1000 ml of pH water between feeding

Health & Growth: - buds are balling up nicely - trichome production has increased - plant looks healthy and there is no notable deficiencies or any kind of symptoms. Watering: - 750-1000 ml of nutrient solution every other day - 750-1000 ml of pH water between feeding

Health & Growth: - buds feel very dense to the touch - trichome frostiness is all over buds - as it looks now, two more weeks till harvest 😎 Watering: - 750-1000 ml of nutrient solution every other day - 750-1000 ml of pH water between feeding

Health & Growth: - buds got more denser from last week - trichomes are almost ripe to desired stage - Borg invasion (spider mites) started near end of week - started flushing the plant for few more days and will cut it down next week - was removing mites by hand using cotton sticks from every top just to mitigate damage a bit - resistance is indeed futile in this case Watering: - 750-1000 ml of nutrient solution every other day - 750-1000 ml of pH water between feeding - from last 3 days of the week I started flushing the plant with Flawless finish

Health & Growth: - plant looks mature enough for harvest - Borg is still assimilating every bud it comes across - reproduction of these critters is insane and the webbing production takes practically over night - every time I remove them the next day they are back - plant was harvested on day 75 Watering: - 1000 ml of water every watering

This was my first indoor grow ever. So many new things I learned on this journey and encountered some new problems. Plants life cycle went really well almost till the end when it was invaded by the Borg (spider mites). Resistance was indeed futile so I had to take her down. Few things I shouldn't do was LST the plant that much and feed her that much. It actually needs a lot less of nutrients than I gave her. In the end plant came out really short, 15 cm in height and 29cm in diameter. Being that short I thought it would yield 20g max. I was so wrong when I cut it down. The whole plant almost weight 270g . That's a lot for such a small looking plant. Due to Borg invasion I had to shave trim the buds to remove all the critters off. After shave trimming, drying and curing buds, it weight 49g (plus 15g of trim). They were dried for 6 days and cured for 7 days. Buds came out at 65% humidity. From seed to harvest it took 75 days. 4 weeks of vegging and 6.5 weeks of flowering. Now that's fast!⏩😎 If all conditions were perfect it could shave off a week. This strain deserves a second grow so I will definitely grow it again.