Royal Kush #004

So some early prognosis: I'm growing with an RQS smart pot this time, and I am using Plagron only products for the soil. There is a 1cm layer of Plagron Euro Pebbles at the bottom (for drainage and to prevent roots from trying to dig in there) and top of the soil (for the first week to prevent too much water evaporation). On height, I am aiming for a flawless growth and go for 65cm/25.59inch or higher (the limiting factor will be the height of my tent, for the plant-to-lamp distance). On yield, I aim to go for at least 25gr-35gr/0.9oz-1.2oz or higher. On growth time (excluding drying and curing), I could still improve and learn here, but I expect around 9-12weeks (I will not stop the growth untill the pistils of the main cola are full and ripe). There was a heatwave going on for the entire week (which is not common for my area). So I'm extremely happy that it did not affect the growth so far. Closely monitoring on potential detrimental side effects, so I can act on it real quickly. Climate control has so far never been a problem as temperature almost never exceeds 30*C/86*F for more then one day. More info on the strain: Genetics: Indica 50% / Sativa 20% / Ruderalis 30% Parents: OG Kush x Ruderalis Flowering Time: 8-9 weeks (from seed to harvest) THC: 13% CBD: Medium Yield (Outdoor): 120-170g/plant Height (Indoor): 60-90cm / 23.62-35.43inch Height (Outdoor): 120-150cm / 47.24-59.05inch Available as: Feminized Autoflower seeds

The heatwave is passing over now and luckily encountered no problems from it. I'm glad that I prepped the seed into the soil in the first week. The three other seeds (see Propagator picture of my first week) from an unknown seedbank with genetics most likely that of OG Kush died out while "damping off" (fungi infection). It's no big loss as I was already planning to use them for experimentation: time limit inside of the propagator, low to high stress training and FIMing. Following a small deviating feeding schedule now, based on the plagron growth calculator. In the first week I used the seedbooster plus, to compensate this week a slightly higher dose on power roots and pure zyme. And next week I'll tune it down to the regular schedule amount.

Tried to keep the distance between plant-to-lamp at 70cm/27.56inch only to discover everyday that she was at a 65cm/25.59inch distance. Curious how this will unfold in the upcoming weeks, and to see when Flowering sets in (upcoming week or the one after). Some small yellow spots (in the middle of the leaves, odd location) on some of the mid level leaves. Will closely monitor the plant in the upcoming week. Potentially, burn from water droplets ending up on the leaves (doubt it) or temperature of the solution water (I kept it lower as the soil would warm it up from the heatwave).

This is a record regarding growth spurt for myself. She (see close up picture) managed to outgrow the lamp-distance-to-plant ratio of the tent. So far this plant seems to be perfect for a sea of green growth. Doesn't take up much space at all, and grows tall quickly (so good ScrOG material as well). This time, I started with feeding a bit earlier with Plagron Sugar Royal. I expect flowering to kick-in in the upcoming week or the week after.

Houston, we've got a problem. We are going to need a bigger tent. So flowering phase hasn't kicked in yet. She did another astonishing growth spurt of around ~30cm/11.81inch She's pushing the limits of the growing tent now, anything more and I will have to top or supercrop her. I'm very glad to see her growing some more leaves as well all over the place. Makes her absorb more light. Had to improvise a little bit to get the lamp up another 10cm, so the distance ratio is now 20cm/7.87inch of lamp to the top of the plant. As she has grown tall, so has her thirst. In the last few days, the solution has been upped to 1L/0.26gal. Because there were some small signs of clawing, the dosage of Plagron Sugar Royal has been halved for this week. Hope to see her go into flowering anyday now.

So she was only supposed to grow to a max of around 90cm/35.43inch... we are well beyond that point now. Flowering phase finally kicked in properly. She did another additional growth spurt of around ~30cm/11.81inch. So even though she's an autoflower, I had to supercrop her. Every top has finally started to grow multiple pistels, so the fun begins. Improvised some more to get the lamp up another 5cm, so the distance ratio actually dropped a little (due to the growth) and is now 15cm/5.9inch of lamp to the top(s) of the plant. In the last few days, the solution has been upped to 1.5L/0.34gal. Tomorrow I'll see how much it takes before flush kicks in, most likely it will be 2L-3L/0.53-0.79gal, which then will become the new standard. I uppded the dosage of Plagron Sugar Royal again towards the recommendation of 1ml/L. As flowering kicked in, the light schedule has been switched to 12-12. This will reduce some of the heat stress as well for the top leaves and make her transpire less, additional bonus for her recuperation. Due to the supercropping, she endured some heavy stress this week. This is my attempt on slowing down the plant growth, by diverting its energy towards the other tops. Because of this, she will require some extra weeks to be ready for harvest (which is no problem as the feeding schedule was already prepared for this).

The big girl is starting to fill up with pistels everywhere. Thanks to the supercrop of last week, the sidebranches are starting to grow taller. For now a solution between 1.5L/0.34gal and 2L-3L/0.53-0.79gal is sufficient. I've upped the dosage of Plagron Sugar Royal again to 1.5ml/L. As the bottom leaves are becoming consumed. The four most lower sidebranches have been defoliated and removed. I'm keeping two more redundant sidebranches, just in case the plant requires to consume more energy from the bottom leaves there. Overall she is doing fine, looking forward to see how she will react on Plagron Green Sensation next week. And the higher dose of Plagron Sugar Royal this week.

Pistels, pistels everywhere. That's just the way we like it. So far, having a fantastic experience from the supercropping. A solution of 1.75L/0.45gal is sufficient at this point. I will up the dosage of Plagron Sugar Royal again, now towards 2ml/L. Yellowing of bottom leaves are occuring, while I did not encounter any clawing with a dosage of 1.5ml/L. Currently only defoliating some leaves which have been consumed and dried up. There are two bottom sidebranches which I am still keeping as an energy supply to be drained by the plant. For her lifecycle, she is doing more then fine. Some yellowing due to Nitrogen uptake, which I'm trying to counter/delay with the Plagron Sugar Royal. In optimal situation she could have been ready for harvest in one of the next two weeks. (She is an autoflower) However due to the supercrop, to prevent her from growing even further: my expectation for her to be ready is somewhere in 4 weeks at least. She still needs to form some more bud size, and ripe a large amount of pistels.

Almost there, guessing three more weeks to go. Temperature is starting to drop outside (autumn is kicking in). So a little more work is required to keep all temperatures in lines (indoors and solution. I'm upping the dosage of Nitrogen by providing more Plagron Sugar Royal. Almost all solar leaves are starting to yellow (which is perfectly normal for this stage). She seems to be perfectly fine now in her current trained position. All major branches are starting to fill up and thicken in budsize. Most of the pistels still look young and producing. Not enough amber colours or shrinking to consider harvest for the next week(s).

Another week passed by. Around 40% of the pistels are amber, buds keep on maturing. It's only a matter of time now, maybe 1 week or 2, till she's ready for harvest. Time has come to take out the loupe and microscope, for monitoring the pistel quality. The solar leaves are acting as expected, slowly starting to yellow. I've upped the dosage of Nitrogen again, so far she's perfectly capable of handling the double dosage. This should be sufficient for bridging the final week(s). Some small stress introduced by defoliating almost and/or completely used up leaves, which will trigger bud production even further. She's also requiring less water uptake in the last few days. But does seem to require a constant daily feeding schedule.

This has been so far my best grower ever. It seems that I'm starting to get the hang out of it. Good soil, with pebble layer for drainage and a pebble layer for top soil protection. Good balance in nutrients and proper waterering, in combination with the smart fabric pot. Due to her explosive growth, I was forced to supercrop her (the light burn was real, she outgrew my tent). Also why I kept her for 2 more additional weeks, in order to let her buds ripe to perfection, and oh boy does it look great!!! (Close-up photos are made with a digital x1000 microscope) Now it is time to let it dry and cure. Will update this week journal again, when drying and curing is finished.