Dinafem's Ocean Grown Cookies

38 completed days since sprout. Add another ~4 from sowing. (i'm within one going by memory) Another productive week. Still learning to be consistent and precise about how I prune these plants to prepare for bloom. I used #3 as a guinea pig since it is the least happy of the 3. You can see i slightly improved process for #1 and #2. I'll be testing various number of nodes before entering 12-12 to eliminate as much pruning as possible later on. If i can avoid lollipopping or at least a significant portion, this reduces stress on plant during a more important time of life cycle relative to impacting yield. Each axillary shoot was topped. A fork from apical meristem was used for a clone. I've delayed flipping to 12-12 by 3-4 days due to excessive butchering. Sometime this week they will enter the bloom box. After being spoiled by insanely vigorous growth with GP, the OGC are still a very nicely structured plant. I think the difference with #3 is nutrient realted, a.k.a. self-inflicted. If i get it in order and it is the 'winner' of the three, i'll have to reconsider nutrient mix in future. This also plays a role in choosing a winner, as quality of buds are unlikely to be drastically differetn... ease of growth is a big concern. Having 4-6 donors that can all handle the same mix within reason is definitely a benefit worth seeking. Potency and taste of any meaningful stratification will easily supercede that convenience. ______________________________________________ Addendum -- How I clone Get things ready: - a cup of 6.5pH water - some garden snips - a cutting area / board - a razor blade or equivalent - Small sized planter. 16oz cup works well. Opaque. Assume 1/2gal or less is fine. Becomes difficult to water properly with larger pots - root hormone (optional) Size up the plant. If you don't need the growth remove the entire limb and cut to size later. Immediately place into cup of water. Repeat for as many clones as you need to take. Before i choose, i try my best to find something i can bury more than 1 node and have at least 3+terminal bud above ground (3.5? 4? depends on how you count). Sometimes that's just not an option, oh well. Until you get more familiar with your process, i'd hold off on any pruning or clipping at this stage.. but i often clip off the lower leaves and axillary growth so it sits in cup better. At least the bottom 2 are safe bets, especially if there's a need to re-size it too. Plant cells differntiate based on a few factors. One of them is light. Bury a portion of the plant, even if you bend somthing down abnormally, it will eventually grow roots if shielded from light at all times and some sort of wet-dry cycle of substrate. Heck, just wrap soemthing opaque around a node woth some papertowel inside so you can get it moist and dark, and it will grow roots up in the air, too. You could theoreticalyl do this before taking a clone and have roots the moment you put it in substrate. So you got your clones and you're sitting at your cutting board. A pile of root hormone is out so you don't contaminate the entirity. Throwing out excess should just be expected. It's cheap, no worries. Trim the clone up. Don't leave much leaf material behind. Most lower nodes will be shielded and stretching, so you probably want to remove those too. This is when i slice at 45-degree, just below a node. Do not mutiliate a node! At this point it should be the size of what you'll plant. Using a toothpick or pencil, size up the length you want to bury, then place the cutting into the cup of water again. I'll get a hole ready that is a proper depth. I like using a toothpick and slightly rotating around. The hole diameter at bottom is cone-like and somewhat loose. I can feel the stem squishing into it -- not the stem squishing, lol.. no vascular damage! make hole larger or deeper, if it doens't fit. Don't try to ram it in there. The point is a snug fit. Can press from around edges to close the gaps. Watering at end will finish the job. No large air gaps. That's what perlite or vermiculte will provide while tamped down. *but that's later... The hole is ready before it is needed. Everything is ready, so I'll quickly scrape a few superficial strips below lowest node and dunk back in water -- i prefer to scrape less than more. Top layer only and if you dig into vascular tissue, that's 2 layers too deep. Tap off excess water so the root hormone does not cake onto the stem. Dab it into hormone on each side and knock off as much as possible. A light dusting is all you want - flick it like a cigarrette, knock it on top of something, whatever it takes. If it is caked on, you'll have to scrape it off gently. Pop it into that pre-made hole. Feel gentle resistance as it reaching bottom and tamp down soil around it. Hold it as upright as possible while doing this. Less work later for the plant to correct its orientation, which by gravity it will. Provide darkness and keep it moist, and roots will grow. I may water slightly before 1" dries, but a wet-dry cycle is essential. 16oz cup is good for 6-9 days depending on humidity in my parts. This is low-maintenance. Takes zero space in garden. First day may notice some droop. Usually before 24 hours they will look respectable again or at least improved. If you leave too much leaf material, they'll continue to canoeing and droop to conserve water, limit transpiration - these will make it too for the most part. Keep it out of intense light, most importantly. A simple led bulb in your living room can work. The only key here is preventing flower phase. So, provide enough hours of ambient light. Without roots, it can make use of very little light and only if it cannibalizes itself. Things to watch for: - If you see yellowing leaves, you are providing too much light. - If the stem gets mushy, it's probably not going to root *excludes intialy droopiness. Mush after a few days or longer is really bad.. likely dead. - Plant perkiness -- Should improve intially, then start reaching extra hard for light when it starts to get some roots. - After it starts reaching, wait to see some visible growth before acclimating to intense light of your vege area. Acclimation to strong lights will take 1-3 days. Pop it in there and check it every hour or so... When it droops, remove it. Doing it once or twice is probably sufficient. Let it recover and try the next day. It should quickly handle it for longer periods of time. By third day it likely won't droop anymore. Start at 1/2 to 1/4th strength. AFter first day it can handle it, raise it ~4" at a time (or lower light, depending on context) and if it ever stretches, skip the 4" increments and go full strength ASAP. Within another week or less it'll be ready for transplant. The time that seems to vary most is initial root growth. Once they perk up that second time and show initial grwoth, tehy all seem to move along at similar rates. Humidity dome early on will potentially speed up the process, but not required. Whether i know it is ready for bright lights within 7 days or 14 matters not, because it doesn't take up space in garden and that timeframe will be consistent per clone-line. So, it is very easily planned for. 7 days before space available in tent? 14 days before space is available? It simply sits out on a tabletop for 7 days longer and works like clockwork if treated the same way each time. As long as you take a cutting from a healthy donor, it really is as simple as planting it into some substrate. 45 degree cut, root hormone... not even needed. Do remove excess foliage. It only slows the process down.