🍇🦍 D71 - Start of Week 11
I think the beast has finally stopped stretching and has topped out at 35" - as tall as I want to see her in my current setup. Most of her canopy is about 12" away from the light but the tallest stem is a little closer. I've moved the light towards the other side of the tent and away from it a bit to compensate. No signs of heat stress or other ill effects I can see at this point. I did some significant defoliation a few days ago - removed some lower bud sites/branches and a few leaves to open things up the stacks to the light. She's been drinking and feeding really well - EC has been around 1.1 (600-700PPMs) and PH has been pretty stable - in the 6-6.3 range. Looking forward to seeing buds plumping and stacking over the next couple of weeks. Starting to take on a bit of a more fruity smell to go along with the skunk funk. All in all, very happy with how the Ape is coming along.
Thanks for stopping by ✌️
Hey man, it looks almost the same but I don't think I would try to split it because the leaf blades are not separate on yours. I would gently bend it over so that first node can get more light and those little branches will start growing up. Once you get some good leaves on those then you can see if you should top it or not
@stunflower, she looks great. I figured those branches would shoot up since the top kinda smothered itself out. I think this will actually improve your yield in the end. Just watch the branches and periodically tie the dominant one down to keep a nice even canopy. 2 to 3 weeks and you will be set up for a nice flower session if she continues to cooperate like she is now
@Wicked_Stix, Looks like she's going to be fine. It's like she topped herself - she seems to be developing as expected now but with two main stems. Thanks again for your advice. 👍
https://niagaraseedbank.com/ is the most affordable seed bank I've found that delivers seeds from top breeders in the OG packaging - highly recommend them (no affiliation). This is the first time I've seen their house brand be grown. I'll be watching with interest. Grow little monkey! 😀
@stunflower, Hey I see you have a little floor manager too! Does Twiggy like eating the fan leaves? Mine can't get enough - I have to keep him away from the grow area because the little bugger will chew the tips off all the lower leaves! Check him out: growdiaries.com/diaries/21261-shishkaberry-medical-clones 😂
@NuggetPawn, Thanks, NP! Looking forward to taking you up on the no-defoliation challenge for my next run. The article you referenced in one of your diaries was very enlightening. I'll give science a shot 😉
@MrGreenFingers, No. The plant stopped growing at the top after the 3rd set of leaves formed (week 2) and the only new growth was one set of leaves above the first node. I pulled the plant over following the advice of @Wicked_Stix and those little side branches became dominant - she essentially topped herself. I topped each of the resulting 2 stems once (week4) and she's spawned the 11 tops you see now (I broke one 😕) I wish all my plants would start this way.
@MountainMatt, Timely question. I just checked on her drying and cut a bud to sample. Given she's had no cure at all, I was quite surprised how tasty she was - you can certainly taste the fruity, grape flavour come through in the vaporizer. She also packs more of a wallop than I was expecting - nice, heavy indica stone. Just the way I like it. 👍
