1LB Grow: Gorilla Girl DWC

Hello readers, thanks for joining my channel. This is my second attempt cultivating the very potent and desirable Gorilla Girl. We begin on Week 9 overall, where she has been flourishing under the QB. The LEDs (3000k+CREE 660nm) were dialed down a notch, maybe ~200W. In terms of vegetative growth, this QB produced a plant that was 3x lengthier than my previous grow with the Mars Hydro. Here's my notes on height and the factors affecting verticality. Items are listed in order of importance and scope is limited to an indoor DWC environment. 1. Experience - armed with the knowledge below, you can pretty much control height 2. Genetics - self explained, don't grow ruderalis 3. Type of light - old school blurples shorter, QB taller 4. Amount of light - 24/0 veg for stout plant, 16/10 for stretch 5. Container size - larger bucket for a bigger girl 6. Nutrients - proper feeding to make her massive 7. Physical stressors - fans will make stronger but shorter limbs, my 8 week veg had no active air I meant to flower a week before but she had recently split in half down the main stem. Now recovered, she stands at an intimidating 3' tall. It was a big mistake training her so late as her arms proved to be too rigid at this point. Let's do an experiment: Blurples on the left, white on the right. Combined over 500W true wattage.

Shes shooting past 40" at the end of the week. All the colas have to stay bent in some manner to fit under the light, which was made possible with lots of string. I deeply regret not investing in a SCROG net earlier given current conditions inside the tent. For a small indoor operation, I think it's almost mandatory that a journeyman own some form of trellis. Heatwise, the combined LEDs is putting temps around 90F/32C daytime. Some nights I'll leave the tent unzipped at the front so some of that heat is abated. Note that I continually perform aggressive defoliation throughout the first 3-4 weeks. I prefer lots of medium nugs over colas and popcorn.

As mid bloom approaches, we're able to see the bud sites forming with heavy pistil growth. I invested some time stringing top buds out of the way so the lower ones have a chance at some artificial sun. No nugs left behind, the goal is to break 10 oz this harvest. Height wise, she's at 44" with the long branches tied down. The lights do have a few more inches left vertically and from experience, branches don't stretch as much when you perform heavy defoliation.

Seeing some burnt tips this week, which is usually a sign of nute burn or improper pH. During flower, my water usually drops below 4.0 after a week and tests red on the indicator despite continually topping her off with 7.0 water. I was changing reservoir every 2 weeks, but had to give her a big concoction of pH up after 1st week, and pH drops even quicker the 2nd week. Now a month after flowering, we're starting to see the first signs of winter. Compared to my previous Gorilla Girl at the same time point, this one shows much more vigor and greater promise of fat colas.

Given my limited growing space, I defoliate throughout flowering to avoid mold and allow lower buds some light. The leaves are few and the colas many. 😁 These are the largest flowers I've grown, so I'll have to give the QBs my early stamp of approval. Hope those red LEDs make the calyxes grow more violently in the final weeks. pH continues to drop like a rock at end of the week despite going half strength nutes this week. Will try even lower concentration next.

For the entire course of this grow, she has maintained an almost odorless state. There is a light wafting when the lights are on, and it can smell floral. Up close, you will notice notes of ripe mango and fresh mint. I've moved the water pump outside the tent this week and it seems to be fixing my pH drop problem. Water bath is not as warm or slimy, and doesn't have that deep root smell. One of the greatest joys of flowering a plant is seeing her through weeks 6-8, where the calyxes swell up and grow out of itself in unpredictable manner. The way it spirals outwards is derived from natures mathematics. Simply beautiful.

Lots of yellowing and leaves dying this week. Not sure if its a combination of end of life and extreme defoliation, or pH being at 7.0 for a day or two. In my previous grow, fan leaves were still much green at 8 weeks. Still a lot of white hairs, hope it wasn't stunted. Hoping theres enough fan leaves to last 9 weeks. One interesting observation, the left side with the blurples are turning purple faster than the right with white light. There may also be a more pronounced terpene profile and a sweeter smell -- to be reported once cured and smoked. Gorilla Girl continues to give off almost no smell, earning a spot on my regular rotation. Sure I'd love for my bud to smell gassy and skunky, just when we're not sharing the same living space.

Given high defoliation and browning caused by poor pH last week, a few colas are barely hanging on with a few sugar leaves. I've decided to continue the nute program with little amounts of Nitrogen. She has been responding well, being able to stop the brown and purple from spreading across the plant. From experience, Gorilla Girl tends to put on the most frost and weight weeks 8-10. This week her calyxes exploded in all directions, engorging themselves and shoveling THC around its bulbous growth. All those white hairs are going to turn into globs of THC as they stack themselves on each other. A sweet melon scent was introduced this week, light on the mango, the citrus and mint is there if you look for it. She's looking at week 9 chop.

I was hoping to harvest this week, but there's still so many white pistils shooting straight out. Most of the fan leaves on the top half of the canopy have already fallen off. Gonna start 24 hour flush and start chopping tomorrow. If you've done any kind of DWC, chances are you'll chop branches at different stages, either out of curiosity or impatience. Previous samples from Weeks 7 and 8 smoked great enough though they were in full nutrients.

Reflecting on last couple days, this harvest has been the most brutal so far. I was able to reach the 1 pound/plant milestone, but it came at a cost. Most of the sugar leaves have died off in previous weeks, leaving the spoky bud leaves to fend for themselves. Eventually all the bud leaves also became brown and rotting. For this reason, I was unable to go the full 10 weeks. I recommend extreme defoliation only in the most dire cases or in skilled hands. Late flower she will be a nightmare to manage if the few leaves you have die out. The smoke is soft and light, yet thick from the high concentration of THC. Her flowers reminds me of the pine from Jack Herer strains, some mint, and an evolving melon and mango flavor that continues to intensify. Compared to my last girl, this one feels a bit more Sativa at 70/30. Density and bag appeal leaves a bit to be desired. I've struggled with heat in the tent, the flowers are dense, but airy at the same time.