C.O.P. 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

- 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 - not sure why it says EC 5 above but 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) *** 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 slowly as the week progressed and the plant is responding good but not great - Slower growth than my other plant that I'm growing simultaneously - Slower growth could be attributed to genetics or the fact that it just doesn't like the current environment - 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 - Once potted up, humidity dome was removed as larger containers and plant size helped to maintain a higher RH level around 60-70%

- COP growing well, showing good vigorous growth near the end of the week - potted up to 5 gal final container in the beginning of the week, showed little signs of stress in slowed growth rate - 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 - allowed 72hrs after potting up to allow for recovery before 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 a bit stronger - I'm noticing that this strain is showing stress to toppings and temp/RH fluctuations - seems to be a bit finicking in responding to these events and slowing growth, might have to let veg a little for an extra week or 2

- COP 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 a few more week of VEG before flipping to let her recover from all the stress and start showing some more vigor - smell is becoming more significant

- well, it's official... I'm a plant beater! I roughed up the stems this week by gently breaking the inner cell structure in various parts of the plant (HST) - she seems to be responding well as the stems thicken days later and she bounces back - at the end of the week I used bamboo to train the branches in order to fit my space - nothing too crazy to report in this wk other than some abnormalities in the leaves, such as what might look like a calcium deficiency - after increasing the CalMag slightly I noticed the problem go away in new growth - will need to veg this plant for another week in order for it to fill out a bit more and recover from the HST

- after recovering from the initial HST I popped and twisted a few more stems due to the fact that she seems to be stretching significantly and I don't have the height to deal with a tall plant - the HST seems to be working to thicken up the stems - on my last few grows when I trained out the branches they could barely hold up the buds so I wanted to try this HST technique in order to see if I can thicken the branches and prep them for the bud sites - she stretched a lot taller by weeks end and is ready for flowering now - deficiencies seemed to have cleared up as all new growth seems to be normal - she's a real long and ragged plant and I'm hoping she'll fill out nicely - don't have a high hope for big yields from this one as she is consistently behind from other plants and has always been a late bloomer - was doing 2x daily feedings with the above nute mix for this plant but will most likely switch to 1x daily feedings once she's in flower but will have to see how she reacts

- plant is looking pretty a bit messy at the beginning of the week - had to introduce some LST to keep the branches from getting out of hand and bend them down - seems to be responding well to the feeding schedule, showing good signs of filling in during the week - removing small amounts of leaves here and there throughout the week in order to keep my RH levels in check, just a slight level of defoliation - filled out nicely by weeks end and seems to be pretty healthy - will need to keep an eye out for a big stretch on this one.. side branches are also coming out nicely

- a bit more LST during the week as she's stretched a bit more - getting really tall by weeks end, might need to incorporate trellis net - bud sites coming in quickly and has almost caught up to my other plant which is in wk 3 of flower - this one got away from me a little bit due to some new LST techniques I tried with bamboo - have been defoliating the bottom heavily (lollipopping) to remove bud sites below lower 3rd of canopy and unnecessary fan leaves - defoliation throughout plant has been careful and calculated, only removing a small amount of fan leaves, mainly the ones doing the most amount of light blocking - taking in a bit more water this wk as EC run was showing a bit higher than I like so I diluted the feed slightly and ran more water through for a couple days to help with flushing down the EC at the root zone

- She stretched considerably in the last 2 weeks and hoping this will be the final stretch for her as I'm running low on head room - This strain matures quite fast as she as already caught up to my other plant that is 7 days ahead of her in the flowering stage - will probably bump up the feed in the next week because she is moving so quickly along - bud sites are filling in nicely with pistils and starting to fatten up - the aroma is becoming sweeter - slight defoliation throughout the week but only very minimal to expose more bud sites and help with RH levels - removed a lot of larf and popcorn bud sites from the lower branches - no HST this week to let her heal up from last weeks popping and twisting

- Branches were popped and twisted at the beginning of this wk probably for the final week - showing some good growth this week, buds coming in nicely and the smell is getting stronger and smells incredible like orange candy! - light defoliation preformed on larger fan leaves blocking bud sites - battling high temperatures where I live and have seen temps rise up to 28C - Exhaust fan on basically constantly to keep temps and RH in check.. can't seem to get it below about 47% RH with this heat outside - This strain does seem to move along quite quickly and I'm happy that I made the decision to hold her back for an extra week in veg - Tips of leaves are starting to burn back slightly, so I should be careful with my EC levels - Will feed with a diluted nute solution at the beginning of next wk a few times and be careful with my Bloom Booster levels

- small amounts of defoliation during this week just to remove a few fan leaves blocking other bud sites - plant seems to be progressing nicely! - a nice sweet smell of what makes me think of sweet, sticky frozen orange juice concentrate - buds are plumping and frosting up all over - will most likely need to string up the larger colas next week as they are starting to tip over - everything is looking healthy

- 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! Breeder recommends 8 weeks but I'm planning on taking her to 9 weeks (63 days) to see what she gives me - flush will begin next week

Week 7 of Flower (Day 42-49) - Buds beginning to mature nicely, she's in the home stretch now - trichomes still mainly clear though so I will most likely let her go passed her recommended 8 weeks of Flower only by a few days - most pistils have curled up by this point all over the plant - began flush midway through this week by feeding with plain PH'd water - will continue feeding this way for 2 more weeks taking her to 59 days (just 3 days passed her recommended 56 days of flowering time) - plant looking healthy but have to leave her for 3 days at the end of this week.. dreading it

Here's a lesson for you; Don't leave home for 3 days during a heat wave and neglect your plants by not feeding them water! Came back from a weekend away, rushed to open the tent to find my beautiful plant wilted and slouched over. I started the flushing process mid week last week so she also hadn't had any nutes in awhile. I figured she would bounce back after a few feedings but by mid week I had to pull the plug on her. She got most of the colour back but just lacking in rehydration. The buds were clearly not getting water due to the fact that she was drying up pretty quickly which meant she was most likely dead or really close to dead. Looking closely at the trichomes I could see that they had ripened rather quickly so I cut her down and hung her up. I'm assuming what happened here was that the plant was starving, went into survival mode and finished quickly. Not the ideal situation for her last week but it is what it is and I was able to salvage some pretty nice buds from her. Typically I like to wet trim but that couldn't be done here. All the fan leaves had dried up so my best option was to hang her to try to get the remaining moisture back in the buds. I'll do a full harvest report soon. I am super happy this happened close to the end of her life cycle and managed to pull some nice looking nugs from the plant. I won't be leaving my plants like that any time soon.

Nice smells coming from the plant though and overall she was pretty average to grow. A really nice sour citrus nose with hints of pine and subtly sweet frozen orange juice concentrate. Did really well in the heat to be honest! Temps were often 30C and she didn't overly stress just when I missed feeding her for a few days. A quick finisher and would definitely recommend!