White Widow Fem - Seedsman (Grow 1)

Starting count at 7/28 Day 3 - stretching so upped light output by 10% (~300 PAR) Day 4 - still stretching so upped light output by another 10% (now 80%) which gets into vegetative PAR values (~350). Added a pinch of Azos to water.

First real veg week (week 1 in journal is really seedling week)... Day 8 - Significant growth in 2 days (see day 6 pic). Starting nutrient dosing and upped output of light to 85%. No additional stretching observed. Day 9 - The growth rate is truly amazing from day to day. No stretching at all so I nailed the light. Using my AP-881E light meter, 2150 lux which translates to about 500 PAR according to MIGROW conversion rate for 3000K LED. That's way more than the interwebs say she should be taking at this point but if she's happy who am I to argue? Day 11 - She's taking to the nutes well. Day 12 - Decided she's getting too big for her 4 inch nursery pot and it's time to move on up to the 1 gallon fabric pot. She was a little root bound so had to apply a bit of rough love and loosen her root ball up a bit. The soil mix was 60% coco, 20% perlite, 20% vermiculite and a heaping tablespoon of Azomite. To this I added a tablespoon each of Mykos and Azos in the general area where the root ball was to land. She started to droop a bit right after the transplant so I spritzed the leaves with ph 6 water mixed with a bit of silica and cal-mag. Within 15 minutes she picked herself right back up to ready herself for the picture (attached). I'll keep spritzing this mix over the next couple of days several times a day to make sure she's absorbing at least some nutrients and water while the roots heal up and get used to the new home.

Day 15 - She's growing well and showing no signs of stress from the transplant. I think it's just about time to top. Day 17 - Topped her. There was nice growth from the armpits already. After she recovers and shows growth I may need to turn down the light to stretch the new stems a bit. Her body odor is coming in. Wow what a smell. Day 18 - She shrugged off the topping like it never happened. It's hard to see but I pinned the larger leaves down so the inner new stems get more light. They've grown nicely so I reduced light output to 50% so she stretches a bit and I can start LST. Day 20 - I may have burned some of the delicate new growth when I topped it on day 17 by not turning down the lights immediately. They may have not been accustomed to that intensity sitting there under the larger fan leaves. That's my theory at least. The newer growth looks good - no issues. I would have thought I'd see more stretching by now but she's staying compact. Growth rate is still excellent so I shouldn't complain.

Day 22 - LST started (you can't see the landscaping ties but they're there). After a few days of low light there wasn't much stretching so I figure I'm fighting a losing battle against genetics. I'm slowly starting the bring the intensity back up to full. She looks like such a happy little plant. Day 26 - As the 4 colas grow outwards I'm pinning the stems down to stay horizontal. She continues to want to stay compact.

Day 29 - On the agenda this week is defoliation. Since she's so compact, there's way too many leaves in too small a space. Day 32 - Pom poms and snip. Removed most of the foliage and topped the 4 main stems. Day 39 - Upgraded the tent from the vivosun 24x24x36 to a mars hydro 27x27x63 to give her some vertical room for the flip to flowering coming soon. It also gives me the capability to replant out of the 1 gallon into something bigger. More on that tomorrow.

Day 44 - I moved from the 1 gallon to a 3 gallon fabric pot around day 40. The roots looked great - no wrapping or bunching. I ran out of time and didn't tie the stems back down. The plant started correcting itself without the ties back into a pyramid shape which is not ideal. I tied all the stems back down again aggressively and experienced no breakage issues. Based on what I've seen here and elsewhere, that's a rare experience. I've been feeding it silica so maybe that helped? She's been super thirsty last few days putting down nearly a gallon of water a day. I'm taking it as a sign that it's time to flip to flower. This will probably be the last veg week.

Day 50 - I decided to give it one more veg week so I can grow out the colas that have been starting to really develop on the interior of the plant. I tucked the big fans out to the edges so more light hits the center/interior. Results look spectacular.

Day 57 - There's some brown here and there on the leaves that looks like calcium issue based on research. I've been feeding calmag at every watering so I'm thinking I need to up pH to help absorption. The last two waterings were 6.5 and new leaves look ok. Day 60 - Trimmed the undergrowth not getting light. I'm starting to see some hairs on new growth.

Day 57 - Still no issues with new growth so pH adjustment was the fix for the mottling. The flowering stretch is pronounced and I have to raise the light every 2 days to keep the 12 inch distance. She's such a pretty little plant :-).

Day 71 - trimmed off some of the undergrowth again. All goes well.

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I'm guessing it's a couple of weeks away from harvest. The smell has switched from a stink to a much more pleasant (and stronger) aroma. I've starting giving just plain water to flush in preparation.

There was a failure on my part to understand how strong the smell gets as the buds ripen. I did purchase an 8 inch carbon filter when it got strong but it wasn't going to arrive fast enough and I had to harvest early and pack the buds into a container until it arrived. The attached pic was already post-drying right before packing away for curing. It looks and smells great but really needed another week at least before harvest. Overall, I'm pleased with my first grow and am eagerly awaiting being able to sample the fruits of my labor. Filled 2 1-quart mason jars after turning into nuggets.