Blue Gelato 41 Grow - My 3rd

- seeds were placed into a small glass of distilled water (EC 0) for 3hrs and placed in an oven with the light on only to reach a temp of 86F/30C - after initial soaking the cups were dumped onto a folded sheet of single ply paper towel and placed into a DVD case wrapped in a towel & placed back into the oven with the light on at 86F/30C - seeds germinated within approx 48hrs and were placed into presoaked and heated jiffy pots under a humidity dome to keep RH to 70-75% and temp to 23-25C - lights kept on 24 - approximately 24 hrs later cotyledons had emerged and 24hrs after that lights were set to 18/6 - jiffy pots were kept moist with distilled water at 0 EC - coco mix was presoaked in a CalMag solution (7.5ml/gal) twice at 8-10hrs each time - on day 6 the seedlings were placed into small containers of coco coir/perlite which was pre-flushed to EC 400 with the diluted nutrient solution - over the next few days the seedlings were fed once daily at EC 400 - Seedling got a little stretched out as the light was just a bit too far away

- week 2 of seedling stage, same nutrients as the first week - distilled water is being used for all feedings because EC is 0 - nutrient solution above was mixed and each portion of feeding was diluted with regular distilled water until the desired EC and PH was reached - initial nutrient solution was PH'd to 6.0-6.1 then would usually raise to 6.2-6.3 when diluted - feeding took place twice daily and EC was slowly raised (nutrient solution less diluted) at each feeding by approx EC 50 - EC was built up daily over the week until EC 1000 was reached - so for instance on day 8 seedling was fed 1x @ EC 450 then later @ EC 500 - the same through the days up until day 12-13 when the nutrient solution wasn't diluted at all and EC was at full strength for the solution above (approx EC 1000) - the seedling started showing signs of a Calcium deficiency (twisted leaves/discolouration) - a CalMag solution was made @ EC 800 and PH 6.2, placed in a spray bottle and gently misted onto the leaves - the deficiency seemed to clear up by day 14 or so *** A personal observation I witnessed was that the humidity was too low and the seedling seemed to be slowing in growth. This was because I removed the humidity dome due to the fact that the seedling was stretching too much and I wanted to get the light a few inches away. The humidity went do to between 50-60%. After a few days when the seedling stopped stretching I placed the humidity dome back and got the light down almost touching the top of it and the seedling EXPLODED in growth over the last several days of this week. It was a huge improvement and I learned that humidity is important to seedlings.

- Up'ed the nutes this wk and the plant is responding nicely showing vigorous growth and nice strong leaves and stem - Plant was potted up to 1gal container this week also to allow for better growth and root development - final containers were prepped near the end of this wk by feeding current nutrient water to coco/perlite to allow the medium to adhere to the current conditions as the plant in the smaller container - Calcium issue seems to have cleared up nicely - once potted up, humidity dome was removed as larger containers and plant size helped to maintain a higher RH level around 60-70%

- BG41 going strong, showing good vigorous growth - potted up to 5 gal final container in the beginning of the week, showed little to no signs of stress - I allowed the plant to grow to 6 nodes - growth tips from 1st and 2nd node were removed as soon as it was safe without damaging adjacent fan leaf to concentrate growth in other areas - after 24hrs of potting up she was topped at the 3rd node in preparation for Mainline training - new growth tips showing excellent growth in the later part of the week

- looking healthy as main branches continue to grow to 4 nodes on each side - using LST to gently flatten the branches on each side in order to work with my specific height restrictions - I use wooden BBQ skewers from the dollar store with soft coated wire wrapped around it to keep the branches held down - as the week progressed I flattened the branches more aggressively, working to maintain a uniform height level to keep dominance divided equally - nute feeding schedule is basically the same as last week and will continue until plants are flipped - nearing the end of the week the 2 main branches were working on pushing out their 4th node - I'll wait until the 4th node is clear enough from the 3rd before topping it again for a second time

- continuing with LST this wk, trying to keep the plant short and stalky - second topping performed this week to the 3rd node on both main stems - basically the same feeding schedule as last wk except that I upped the Floralicious Plus - continuing to monitor run off for proper EC levels - as EC levels creep up a more diluted nute solution will be fed to the plant to help lower the EC level at the root zone - smell is getting stronger

- BG41 showing some vigor as week 7 came to a close - practiced some super cropping (HST) or "pop and twist" on the stems to get the growth to slow down while the flowering side of my tent finishes up - with the pop & twist method I simply grabbed a stem with my index finger and thumb with both hands gently pinched, pulled and twisted until I felt the inner structure of the stem weaken - with this technique I am trying to get the plant to toughen up in those areas of the stem so it can support the weight that's coming - also this technique is supposed to stress the plant making it sort of toughen up and when plants stress they usually recover well and become stronger - I have definitely noticed a large jump in growth after the pop & twist was preformed - unfortunately I don't have the space for a separate veg and flower tent but would 100% recommend that to someone who wants to grow perpetually and has the space - I'll give her one more week of 18/6 lighting before flipping for a total of 8 weeks of veg - smell is becoming more significant

- switched to 2x daily feedings for wk8 of veg and plant seems to be responding well - popping and twisting the stems to promote a bit of stress and thickness of stems/branches - responding well to the HST and she is filling out nicely - removed a few bottom fan leaves in order to maintain RH levels, just starting small not going crazy - seeing a bit of what looks like Calcium deficiency so I upped the CalMag from 4ml/gal to 5ml/gal and she seems to be responding well with no signs of deficiencies in new growth - using LST to spread the plant out a bit and set it up for my particular space - she seemed to be getting thirstier by weeks end as the substrate dries up more quickly, will need to up the water levels for the first week of flower next wk

- continuing with the HST by popping and twisting the branches - I try not to pop and twist the areas on the steams I did on the last round of HST so I alternate between areas every 2-4 days or until she recovers - she really seems to be responding well to the HST and feeding schedule showing lots of healthy new growth - by weeks end she's branching up really nicely! I have 8 main colas but they are branching out and filling in all the spaces within the plant - lots of defoliation throughout this week, removing a few handfuls of fan leaves almost everyday to see how she responds - almost every day after the defoliation she seems to respond by branching out more and more giving me more bud sites! - she's staying nice and compact and I am thinking she will be a strong yielder as long as I can keep up with the training and defoliation - she's taking on more water now as she grows taking in about 1-1.5 gal/day on a 1x daily feeding schedule

- plant has absolutely exploded! she's been a real pleasure to watch grow - side branching really came out of the wood work during this week and she has many many bud sites - pistils started showing up by weeks end, looking really good - she went through several defoliation sessions throughout the week, removing many fan leaves that are covering bud sites - she keeps responding well to it so I keep removing small amounts of leaves throughout the week - on to 1x daily feedings with about 1-1.5 gallons per feeding - things are getting exciting in here!

- Added FloraNectar in this week bc I want to see if it will produce stronger sweeter buds but also bc I read that carbs/sugars are beneficial to flowering plants - This is one bushy plant! Been an effort to keep up with defoliation - Plant is looking healthy and takes in a good amount of nutrients and water - Have been rotating between 1.25 and 1.5 gal per 24hrs - Removing a lot of leaves to expose all the small bud sites - Popped the main branches twice this week (HST) in order to discourage stretch and to put a slight stress on her so she'll rebound stronger - The 8 main branches seem to be stretching up quite considerably over the rest of the canopy - I still think I'll get a decent crop out of the lower bud sites but might try to incorporate a trellis next wk.. not sure if it's too late - Added an Enzyme called Hygrozyme in order to help break down the old roots in the coco. I should have started using this at the beginning of the grow but only recently learned about it. It's beneficial for me bc I recycle my coco and it has a lot of broken up root pieces from the previous grow, this enzyme is designed to break those down and is supposed to be very beneficial for the root zone - At the very end of the week I turned my pot 180 degrees in the tent bc my tent is slightly sloped and I could see that the branches in the rear of the tent were stretching higher due to the fact that they were sitting higher than the front branches. Hopefully this balances things out a little bit

- She's starting to fill out nicely and the aroma is becoming stronger and more sweet - could not add a scrog net as it was just too late to train her down - slight defoliation done throughout the week but not as major as other weeks - mainly just removing lower fan leaves and popcorn buds that are sitting too low for light penetration - no bugs or pests which has been great - popped and twisted a few branches at the start of the week in a few different places than I did last week - buds should start filling in starting next week!

- Starting to smell like fruit punch concentrate up inside this muuuuhhhh! - Bud sites filling in nicely and getting sticky - Popped and twisted all the main branches at the start of this week for it's final time (hst) - Need to be careful of EC levels do to leaf tips starting to burn back slightly - Will feed with a diluted nute solution at the beginning of next wk - Constantly defoliating what seems to be almost a daily occurrence! She's really bushy!! - Most defoliation events are done very lightly, I removed leaves and see how she reacts and it she always seems to react positively - Will keep the main fan leaves at the top of the colas and the small ones - It's getting exciting! 3-4 more weeks I think

- Getting pretty stinky in the tent, BG41 has a wonderful sugary fruit punch aroma that reminds me of Hawaiian Punch or something - Small amount of defoliation this wk, just getting the leaves out of the way from bud sites - Bud sites growing nicely and getting sticky - Just letting these plants do their thing this wk, I am concerned because it's quite hot and humid so the temperatures are creeping up to 30C! Even for short periods, but still not cool - Plants not showing any signs of stress or foxtailing so I will keep my eyes out for that stuff

- a really interesting observation I made at the end of this week was a small yellow flower appearing at the top of 2 colas under the strongest part of light - I believe this is due to foxtailing but this is only a guess - I moved the light up a few inches to avoid any negative effects from the foxtailing if that indeed what is happening - EC was flushed down at the start of this week as run off was showing a high EC reading - typically I flush by adding only CalMag to water, adjusting the PH and then feeding at double the amounts but this time I just flushed with PH'd water as to not throw off the PH at root level - high EC due to a bit of neglect on my part by not having time to check level and flush accordingly - I've pushed this girl with the nutes, I must admit and you can see it in the tips of the leaves - probably went a little high with the Bloom Booster (KoolBloom) but she took it and seems to have benefited - PH levels were fluctuated this week as well going from 6.3 to 5.8 and then back up over the week - I like to do this often in my grows but also because I know the plants benefit from Manganese in the flowering stage and this is absorbed by the plants at lower PH levels (5.8) - shes coming along nicely! Will most likely take her the full 10 weeks due to the fact that the pistils haven't curled in yet and calyx's haven't swelled much yet - flush will begin next week

Week 7 of Flower (Day 49-56) - Nothing too crazy to report in this week other than I still haven't really figured out what that extra growth on the top of a few of the buds are - some have suggested it as being a nanner but I completely disagree - I inspected the growth and it just seems to be like an extra off shoot of the flower, there is no pod or sack, nothing like that - pistils are starting to curl on the lower branches so she's beginning her maturity - ramped down the EC during this week and fluctuated the PH levels slightly - started flushing with plain PH'd water midway through the week in anticipation of taking her to about 67 days, which would be right in the middle of the recommended 9-10 weeks (63-70 days) - have to leave the plants for the long weekend so I'm a little nervous about that as they won't be watered for 3 days! - Just have to maintain for a few more weeks, everything going smoothly

- still flushed with plain PH'd water all week - showing some nice fade later in the week - RH 45% with temp levels sticking around 28C - I moved the light closer to the plant but dimmed it a little until I got the same LUX reading in an effort to run the light lower/cooler - keeping up with defoliation by removing old dead or dried up leaves every time she's fed - she dried up significantly after leaving her for 3 days without water at the beginning of the week but she bounced back nicely after a few feedings, this is a resilient plant! - she's taking her time to finish up! Be patient with this strain - originally thinking I would take her to about 67 days (9.5 wks) but now it looks like I'll go the full 10 wks or maybe a few days passed - pistils still not all fully curled or brown all the way throughout the plant - buds are getting really heavy and this is where the pop and twisting has paid off as the branches are strong and mainly supporting themselves - showing signs of tipping slightly as the buds get heavier - keeping the airflow going quite well with a fan in the top and bottom of the plant - the smell is just absolutely intoxicating! Over flowing like a fruit punch gusher candy - resin feels quite slick like lotion! plants are absolutely soaked with the stuff - will switch the lighting to 14/10 next week to see if I can speed her up a bit as I have some plants that need the flowering room!

- Well.... I f@#$ed it all up and have a seeded crop :((( - Remember how I was like "This is a resilient plant!" .... Famous last words - I made many mistakes in this grow and I am not ashamed to admit or even detail what happened here, hopefully we can all learn from my mistakes - She really is taking her time to finish up and I have questions below about that My Mistakes/Notes: - This summer has been a record breaking hot summer - My first ever summer grow (inexperienced) - Grow room got way to hot way too often (temps sitting at 30C or 86F) - Relied on the AC in my home to cool the tent room but often at night when the AC would shut off the grow room temps would climb - The dehumidifier raised the temperatures 2-3C when it was on so it will be getting replaced with a portable AC dehumidifier that pumps out cool, dry air instead of hot dry air - The heat mainly stressed the plant enough to create foxtailing but what pushed her over the edge was when I left the plant for 3 days without watering - After 3 days of non watering the plant began to create seed pods like crazy, I won't do this ever again This sucks obviously. A part of me feels like I have completely wasted the last 4 months! I was really excited about this plant, she was looking like a stunner! I am super unhappy about the seeds but I think personally that something like this needs to happen to every grower. I will become a better grower because of what happened here and that's what I need to take away from this. I now have that experience of a plant turning into a hermaphrodite on me. I know what to look for next time and I know what it takes to stress a plant out enough to herm. I'm not going to say anything bad about Barney's genetics because it was me, the grower, who ultimately lost control of this grow. I will not germinate any of the seeds from this crop because I just don't think it's cool or useful to breed with seeds from a hermaphrodite plant. I'll probably just make some edibles with the crop I can recover.. we'll see. This one stings! Especially to lose her in the final week.. it really does. I feel more knowledgable already though and I think ultimately this is a good thing for me to experience. Hopefully you learned something too.

Everything was going great until she hermed on me. I know I screwed up by light stressing the plants and she went without water for a few days but that shouldn't be enough to ruin your entire crop. I got 775g of wet trim that I will freeze and use to make some bubble hash. The rest I hung up to dry but the buds are very airy and full of seeds. Not quality buds in the slightest. She had so much potential and was an absolute beast in the tent! I would probably try to grow something like this again though but I feel as though Barney's might want to stress test their strains a bit more. Going through all that effort to have your crop ruined after a few small mistakes seems cruel.. I'm still not over it. We'll see how the bubble turns out I guess.