First Grow

The ladies sprouted and are off to the races. Planted seeds directly in coco, amended very lightly with Gaia Green Organic 4-4-4. (Shout out Mr. Canuck's Grow on YT) Having a hard time keeping decently high RH, so cover the ladies with a clear plastic cup, misted, for approximately 12 hrs of the day. Mist the plants/coco occasionally.

Not much happened this week. The ladies are growing well. Red dragon (at top in pics) seems a little bigger than the other two.

First scare of the grow; the plants started looking a little down. Thought there wasn't sufficient drainage in the solo cup so transplanted into 2gal fabric pots (4-27-20). When transplanting, noticed roots had not developed enough to show. Post-transplant watering brought even more drooping, so didn't water for the rest of the week. 4-30-20 the ladies seemed to be back to normal. Early on in the grow, noticed white spots on the leaves (presumably from misting). Tried to wipe these spots off the leaves of both gorilla zkittlezes. Now noticing what looks like burnt tips on the lower leaves that I rubbed (first set). No longer misting the plants; no more white spots and leaf rubbing. For transplant, mixed 2 tablespoons of 4-4-4 organic dry amendments per gallon of coco (12 tablespoons for total of 6 gallons) with a dash of 2-8-4. Added some perlite as well.

Topped the ladies this week. Having trouble dialing in the watering schedule, I wait for the pots to feel light and the top inch of coco to be dry but after I water they seem pretty droopy. Water every 3-4 days. The droopyness subsides after about a day. Looks like 4 new growths coming from the topped red dragon. Not what I expected but I'll chalk it up as a win.

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Big milestone this week! Finally got a inline fan. Went a little overboard with the Cloudline T6 for this size of grow, but I'm glad I did. Runs really quietly and heat is no longer a problem. Temps are consistently below 80F even during the hottest days. So far one of the best investments I've made for the grow.

A lot happened this week but I didn't take many photos. Built a little ScrOG net because apparently everyone's following suit and picking up gardening this year, and I wasn't able to find a net in stores. Also transplanted GZ2 and RD into 5 gallon pots, but ran out of coco for GZ1. Mixed in 1 tablespoon of Gaia Green 4-4-4 and 1 tablespoon of Gaia Green 2-8-4 per gallon, with a dash of perlite for good measure.

Bought some more coco to transplant GZ1 into the 5gal and amended it like the others. Trimmed off the very bottom fan leaves. It's now very clear that GZ2 is out growing the other two girls. Temps and humidity are consistant. Started giving more water, ~1gal every 3 days. Throwing in some benificial nematodes with every watering to keep the gnats in check.

Canopy is about 75% filled in terms of the available grow space. Ideally I would have flipped to flower now, but took clippings off the girls and they havent shown roots yet. Would be nice to have them in their own area but space is limited on this farm. Will flip to flower as soon as roots are shown and the clones can be thrown outside.

Still no roots with the clones. Will switch to flower at the end of week 12, and throw the clones outdoors to fend for themselves regardless if they have roots or not.

Unfortunately, didn't take any photos this week. Not a lot happened, but two of the clone's roots finally popped. Threw them outside on Sunday and switched the time to 12-12 to initiate flowering at the start of next week. Also made a second trellis grid to support what I hope will be some fat buds coming in the near future

First week of flower! Bought some some cut-to-size furnace filters and tripled them up to keep light from coming in through the bottom vent hole and bottom vent screen of the tent. Havent changed much in terms of care for the ladies. They seem to have started to stretch a bit but nothing that's out of control.

The stretch is in full swing now. The two gorilla zkittlez are really taking off in comparison with the red dragon on the left of the tent. I threw in the second smaller amazon light to help with the size difference between the two strains. Did some light defoliation to help with air circulation and overgrown fan leaves that started to lay on to of one another and occasionally causing condensation. Top dressed with Gaia Green 444 and 284 in a 1:2 ratio. Tossed in some worm castings with it as well. Also brewed up a compost tea with bone meal, worm castings, molasses, and a dash of 284 for good measure. Let if bubble overnight and watered in the top dressing. Would like to learn how to make better teas to boost microbial health in future grows.

The stretch is slowing down but I'm still moving the lights up almost daily. The gorilla zkittlez on the right is proving to be a monster. I think the buds are developing nicely. Pruned the bottom growth up (buds and leaves) to help with rising humidity levels, airflow, and general growth of the main top bud sites. Also took off some of the larger fan leaves up top to allow for better light penetration into the mid level buds. The ladies is starting to smell a bit, but the fan/filter is keeping things under control when the tents closed. Sadly though, all the clones died/were eaten by wildlife in the backyard.

Cant say this is my proudest week. I found what seems to be a mite infestation. Saw a few of the fackers on some leaves around the perimeter of the grow. Upon further investigation I realized that what I though was sand on the post was actually alive. They were crawling on the walls of the tent too. Clipped off any leaves near tent walls, and sprayed the pots, tent, and stems (with no leaves or buds) with insecticidal soap made for tomatoes. It's probably too late now to eradicate all the mites so my main focus is to keep their numbers down and to keep them from getting into the buds. The girls look decently healthy. Worried there might be early signs of nute toxicity with the larger gorilla zkittlez? Feel free to comment!

The ladies are starting to get thicc. Bought some insecticidal soap made for growing tomatoes, and some diatomaceous earth. Sprayed the top of the coco, lower branches, sides of the pots and tent trying to not get anything on the buds. Once dry, gently puffed some DE powder on the same spots. Learned that all fans should be off when applying the DE. This treatment seems to keep the mites (or whatever tf they are) at bay. Will continue the treatment till harvest when I see their numbers rise again. Feel free to comment!

The girls are starting to get sticky and smell good. Top dressed with only Gaia Grees 2-8-4 Bloom early in the week. Sort of late as I'm hoping to harvest in at around day 60-65. The taller GZ2 buds were starting to lean a lot so I gave them some bamboo stakes for support. Still keeping the pests in check with the insecticidal soap and DE. Feel free to comment!

No much new this week, just typical maintenance - clipping big fan leaves and watering when dry. The ladies are starting to dank more.. I've read this is a sign they're reaching max potency. The amazon pocket microscope I bought is worthless so I dont think I'll be checking tric development as I should.

This is the last full week of flower, will chop the girls down next week. Would have done so already but heading up to the cottage mid week before Labour Day weekend and didn't want them drying too long. The last pic is of the Gorrila Zkittles (2) next to a half finished bottle of Pink Whitney that I thought would be a good size reference lol.

Yields are shown below. Weights taken after drying for 7 - 9 days. RH in curing jars measured between 57% and 62%. Gorilla Zkittlez 2 89.5g bud 8.6g popcorn 18g trim Gorilla Zkittlez 1 51.0g bud 6.2g popcorn 17g trim Red Dragon 53.5g bud 7.5g popcorn 27g trim Totals 194.0g bud 22.3g popcorn 62g trim This was a wonderfully rewarding experience. From learning how to grow, to the friendships made, to even the satisfaction of seeing the tiny little plants turn into beautiful flowers. Mistakes were made along the way though. Watering. Lights. Feeding. Pruning. Harvesting. There isn't a single thing I could say I nail 100%. That's motivational, granted how well everything turned out at the end. The process is approaching on a span of nearly half a year, and I've grown to appreciate that good things will take time. Will upload more photos when I get the chance. Thank you for following along if you have, or for just checking out this kid's first go at trying to grow some pot. Stay safe, have fun, and keep the peace. KK

Yields are shown below. Weights taken after drying for 7 - 9 days. RH in curing jars measured between 57% and 62%. Gorilla Zkittlez 2 89.5g bud 8.6g popcorn 18g trim Gorilla Zkittlez 1 51.0g bud 6.2g popcorn 17g trim Red Dragon 53.5g bud 7.5g popcorn 27g trim Totals 194.0g bud 22.3g popcorn 62g trim This was a wonderfully rewarding experience. From learning how to grow, to the friendships made, to even the satisfaction of seeing the tiny little plants turn into beautiful flowers. Mistakes were made along the way though. Watering. Lights. Feeding. Pruning. Harvesting. There isn't a single thing I could say I nail 100%. That's motivational, granted how well everything turned out at the end. The process is approaching on a span of nearly half a year, and I've grown to appreciate that good things will take time. Will upload more photos when I get the chance. Thank you for following along if you have, or for just checking out this kid's first go at trying to grow some pot. Stay safe, have fun, and keep the peace. KK