Boondocks Kush - Bag Seed First Grow

This is a bag-seed of Khalifa Kush (sold by my local dispo as Boondocks Kush due to copyright) that was germinated using the paper towel method. Seed popped within 24 hours and was put into 3 gallon fabric pot with FF HF soil/perlite (2:1) mixture on 2/1/20 when the root reached roughly 2cm in length. This will be the only plant I grow as this is my first attempt at growing and I am very limited on space in an apartment and using a 2'x2'x3' tent. I originally ordered AF fem seeds from overseas, but couldn't wait the three weeks for them to arrive. Luckily, I am not looking for a large yield as this is almost surely experimental (if I get good bud in the end, that's a huge plus for me!), so I will only have her in veg for 2-4 weeks, depending on growth rate. Inside the tent I have: Viparspectra V300 LED light, 4" ducting w/188 CFM in-line fan/carbon filter, ultrasonic humidifier (Colorado humidity in winter is nill), and 6" turbulence fan. Boiling tap water to remove any chlorine then allowing to sit until room temp (72F) before balancing PH back to 6/6.5. Only needing to add roughly 1L of water every other day to maintain dampness in soil.

Week two started out not so great. Came home from work and my humidifier had been running nonstop as I incorrectly set the humidistat. The temp had gotten up to 90F and everything inside was covered in water droplets, but thankfully nothing was damaged. Dried everything off, aired the tent out, reset the humidistat correctly, and the seedling bounced right back. Also moved the charcoal filter from the floor to the left roof support of the tent to open up some more room.

Began to notice some edge yellowing on day 15. Raised the light as high as I could in the tent and turned the exhaust fan all the way up to bring the temps down a bit and make certain the light wasn't burning the leaves. Also went ahead and made a solution with filtered and boiled tap water (21TDS after settling to room temp), added 1mL/L of GH CALiMAGic along with .5mL/L of FF Grow Big (mainly to raise PPM) and pH'd back to just below 6.0 (no digital meter). Watered to runoff and double-checked pH on runoff, showing right around 6.0, so good there. Lowering temps and raising light showed considerable improvement (flush with CALiMAGic/Grow Big may have helped, as well) on day 16. Very faint smell began on Day 18. Going to Vegas for four days beginning on Day 20, so I will be using a bottle-made watering stake to keep her from drying out, but don't have anyone that'll be able to check on her while I'm away. Fingers crossed!

Got back from Las Vegas on day 23 to find that growth had exploded while I was away, but there were a few mistakes made. I wanted to keep the temps down after the humidifier ran out of water while I was out of town, so I thought I switched the light to 18/6, but instead plugged the vent fan into the timer instead of the light. Upon coming home, discovered that the humidity had dipped below 30% and the temps had hovered well over 90 degrees Fahrenheit leading to quite a bit of leaf taco-ing and a return of the yellowing. Thankfully, my coke-bottle watering stake kept her from drying out completely, so there should be no lasting damage. I have a digital-water and analog-soil pH meter that will arrive tomorrow so I can be absolutely sure I do not have any pH problems in the soil, though I shouldn't. Will continue with the 18/6 light schedule for the remainder of veg as this is a photoperiod plant, and I truly believe it will respond better to this schedule during veg. Began adding FF Big Bloom and upped the FF Grow Big. Upon next watering I plan to use a full dosing of CALiMAGic and sustain the levels of other nutes until I know without question that my soil pH is on point and I will begin a full dosage on all three. Topped her and removed lowest four fan leaves on Day 24 as well, will begin LST once she recovers from the lack of care and topping in the next few days. Smell has steadily increased, so I'm beyond happy that my apartment folks had no reason to enter while I was away without the vent fan running from 10AM-4PM!

Ended week 4 with the first LST and removed the four largest fan leaves to further open up light penetration to the lower nodes. So long as nothing crazy happens after a couple of days, will be switching her to flower this week at some point. Feeding once a week as the FF HF soil is still providing plenty of nutes for this little one thus far, adding about a L/day of dechlorinated/pH'd tap water otherwise. Added a digital pH meter to my arsenal, so things are definitely on point from here on out. Decided to flip to flower Day 31 as I have a solid collection of main shoots going now and know that the current canopy will fill the grow tent space if everything goes according to plan. Cannot wait for the gender reveal!

Flower is in full effect this week, just awaiting a gender reveal to find out if my work has been fruitful to this point. Noticed some yellowing on the lower leaves, so went ahead and began feeding again assuming the nutes have been depleted in the FF HF soil I am using. Will clean-water all but one day each week, increasing if deficiencies persist.

Not much to report at the outset of week 7. Further LST and defoliation to make sure the main bud sites are receiving full light penetration and the canopy is remaining as even as possible. Will need to remove the humidifier soon to free up some more room to stretch, and will likely need to increase exhaust fan speed to keep temps down during lights-on. Clean water one day, feeding the next. Will continue this schedule unless I notice any nutrient burn beginning.

Things are running smoothly, will continue feeding schedule of every other day as she has responded very nicely over the last week or so to the uptick in nutes. With a 3' tall tent, it is beginning to appear that she will stretch outward into a 4' x 4' canopy, so I'm very happy that I only went with a single plant in this initial trial run.

Cruising for a bit now, just maintaining the canopy with LST and defoliation. Watering with 1L/day and giving nutes every third watering. Seems to be responding well.

Dropped the FF Grow Big this week as it wasn't adding anything additional to the nute schedule. Still on cruise control, just enjoying the bud formation and hoping things will begin to become more defined in the next two weeks or so. Still seeing the same extremely minimal browning on the very tips of larger fan leaves, but I believe that the Ca deficiency has been addressed and this is just a stay-over of the previous problem. Noticed some more extensive yellowing beginning on the fan leaves at the end of the week, will begin week 11 with a flush to see if I can regain some control as I made the mistake of not flushing the FF HF soil prior to beginning the nute regiment. Most likely some lockout occurring due to an abundance of buildup as I know my pH has been on-point consistently.

Began this week with a flush as I was fairly certain I was experiencing nutrient lockout due to a buildup of residue as I failed to flush the soil at the switch to flower. Some carnage to be sure, but nothing I don't think it'll bounce back from. Will be more prudent with nutes during these last couple of weeks and will be sure to flush once more before the final stretch.

After flushing this past week and observing, I am beginning to think that I need to flush and prepare for a harvest in two weeks, so the feeding has stopped and I will be flushing completely this week before beginning to clean-water for the remainder of this one.

Finally received my USB microscope and checked the trich development this morning, Day 88. I have the picture loaded above, and to my untrained eye it looks as though she's ready for a chop. Any thoughts? After thought and consideration of the strain, I have decided to chop at the end of week 13. Into darkness 9am on Wednesday morning and will chop to hang Friday at the same time to allow a 48-hour dark period. As this is Khalifa Kush and known for a seriously heavy heady high, I want to amplify those effects as much as possible, so I've decided to harvest a little earlier in the harvest window to capitalize on the cerebral effects from this one. If you've smoked true KK, I'm sure you know what I mean! Chopped on Day 91 and hung to dry back in the grow tent. Leaving a small amount of water in the old tray to maintain a 50-60% humidity level, as well as leaving the ventilation on the lowest setting to make sure there is fresh air circulating and temps maintain between 70-75F. So long as nothing crazy happens in the next week or two, I'll be on to curing and can't wait to try my first harvest! Edit: Had to put the humidifier back in while drying to keep the RH between 50-60%. Keeping an eye on environment during drying, and things are looking great!