11/2020 - Charlotte's Box

Day 3 of Veg (16 days since sprout) For those unfamiliar with this strain, it is a CBD Hemp Flower strain created by Hoku Seed Co, and it is a cross of Dutch Passion's Charlotte's Angels x Hoku's Bernie in a Box. These are regular seeds so I've planted 8 in hope of getting 4 females to grow out. The seedling stage took a little longer than I'm used to but they entered vegetative growth 2 days ago so I figured I'd start the diary now. Watering will be done with Blumats once they get transplanted into their 10 gallon pots, like my previous 2 grows, but I will be dosing CalMag separately this time, because I've been having issues with the calcium building up in the Blumat drippers during the last few weeks of flower. The plants have been doing well so far, other than a slight over watering a few days ago, so I'm hoping they start exploding in growth soon.

Day 8 of Veg (21 days since sprout) All plants were transplanted into 1 gallon pots, yesterday, and all but plant #7 are looking well. Plant #7 has some mutations that I'm assuming are genetic unless it was just extremely sensitive to to over watering they got earlier on. Each pot got watered until run-off with molasses water after being transplanted.

Day 13 of Veg (26 days since sprout) The plants still don't look as happy as I'd like, but i've been also having a hard time keeping the humidity up, so I think that is part of my issue. Plant #7 is still a twisted freak. Some of the others are showing some signs of Mg deficiency, so I brewed up some compost tea with molasses and some added CalMag to help them along. Each plant received 500mL of compost today which was brewed for 24 hours. If the plants look happier this weekend then I'll top each one and get the cuttings in the cloning box on a 12/12 cycle to determine sex as soon as possible.

Day 21 of Veg (34 days since sprout) These plants are definitely more finicky than I'm used to but they are getting there. I topped and started to mainline all 8 plants on Sunday, and put the cutting in my cloning box on a 12/12 cycle hoping they will show sex earlier than the plants, so I can cull the males as soon as possible. I also filled the 10 gallon pots they will be growing out in on Sunday, got the Blumat system installed and setup in those pots, and got some clover growing in them so it will be rooted and established before I transplant the 4 plants I chose to grow to harvest. Plants will receive somce compost tea tomorrow after it brews for 24 hours.

Day 28 of Veg (41 days since sprout) These plants are much more sensitive than I've grown used to. I topped them a second time this week, and that really seemed to slow them down, so they will not get topped again. The cuttings I put in the cloning box have started to grow roots so I should be able to sex them pretty soon. The clone from plant #7 is already showing signs of being a male, and that plant was doing horrible from the beginning, so I culled plant #7 today. Each plant has received 0.5L compost tea and will likely not need water for the rest of the week unless they start growing more rapidly soon. I'm hoping they do recover from that topping soon so I can get the 4 females I choose in their final 10 gallon pots next week. I pinned the mainline down more today and will not put the plants through anymore training until they are in their final pots and have time to settle in. I have a feeling these plants will be in veg for at least another 2 weeks. The clover I have growing in the 10 gal pots seems to be growing well, and those pots are maintaining a nice moisture level, so they plants should really do well once they are transplanted into them. I've also been feeding those 10 gal pots with compost tea each week.

Day 35 of Veg (48 days since sprout) The plants are finally starting to perk up, and I think part of the issue was that they were getting a little crowded in those 1 gal pots, so I've transplants the plant that I feel look the best (1, 3, 6, and 8) into their final 10 gal pots. I had a hard time choosing between plants 5 & 6, because plant #5 had better overall uniformity, but plant #6 seemed to have a thicker stalk and branches, so I went with it. I'm pretty sure all of the remaining plants are female, but I left plants 2, 4, & 5 in the tent in 1 gal pots just in case one of the plants I chose ends up being a male. I also still have the clones going, but only the clone from plant #7 has been definitively identified as a male. The rest look like female but the signs are so small that I'm going to keep them going until I'm 100% positive. I pulled the branches down a bit to even them out, but I'm going very light on any training until these plants start to take off.

Day 42 of Veg (55 days since sprout) The four plants in 10 gal pots all got some more LST on Monday to even out their branches. They were all top dressed with some flower fertilizer to give it a head start to break down in the soil over the next couple of weeks and they will all get 1 liter of compost tea tomorrow morning. I'm finally seeing better growth rates so I'm hoping I can flip them into flower soon. I still have the 3 plants I didn't pick in their 1 gallon pots just in case one of those I chose winds up being a male, but I will probably get rid of them next weekend or give them to a friend to grow out.

Day 2 of Flower (62 days since sprout) The plants are really starting to fill out now and, they are looking really nice, so I flipped the schedule to flower the other day. I will need to do some pruning soon but, they were so sensitive during veg, so I think I should wait until they start stretching before I prune. Each plant will receive 1L of compost tea this afternoon. No training was done to the plants during the last week.

Day 10 of Flower (70 days since sprout) The plants have been growing really well over the last week. Plant #8 wound up being a male so it was culled on Thursday. The three remaining plants were lollipopped and top dressed with flower fertilizer on Friday. All pots received 1L compost tea that was made from brewing 2TBSP back strap molasses and 4TBSP Fertile Valley Soil Builder & Tea Brew in 1gal water for 48 hours.

Day 17 of Flower (77 days since sprout) The plants are looking fantastic this week and have been growing really well. Plant #3 stretched more than the other two so I've raised the light on that side of the tent higher to prevent the plant from growing too close to the LEDs. They each got top dress the other day with 6 TBSP flower fertilizer and each received 1L compost tea this morning that was made from brewing 2TBSP back strap molasses and 4TBSP Fertile Valley Soil Builder & Tea Brew in 1gal water for 48 hours

Day 24 of Flower (84 days since sprout) The height I have listed is an average between the plants. The plants on the left are 32" tall and the one on the right is 39" tall. These plants seem to be really happy closer to the lights so I'm keeping the lights around 10" from the plants, for now, but will give them more space if I start to see any negative side effects over the next week. Trichomes are starting to show on the leaves so I'm hoping the terpenes come through more soon. The smell of the plants is starting to come through but I'm hoping for it to get stronger over the next week or two. They each got top dressed, yesterday, with 6 TBSP flower fertilizer and each received 1L compost tea this morning that was made from brewing 2TBSP back strap molasses and 4TBSP Fertile Valley Soil Builder & Tea Brew in 1gal water for 48 hours

Day 30 of Flower (90 days since sprout) The height I have listed is an average between the plants, and it looks as though the stretch is done. The plants on the left are 33" tall and the one on the right is 41" tall. All plants received some lower pruning to remove small bud sites that aren't worth keeping. The terpenes are really starting to come through now and the plant smell wonderful. They each got top dressed, Friday, with 6 TBSP flower fertilizer and each received 1L compost tea on Sunday that was made from brewing 2TBSP back strap molasses and 4TBSP Fertile Valley Soil Builder & Tea Brew in 1gal water for 48 hours

Day 37 of Flower (97 days since sprout) The girls are all filling out beautifully and still all seem to be as happy as can be. Some of the leaves still have a bit of a claw to them, but the color and texture of the leaves looks great, so I'm not too concerned about the nitrogen levels., The trichomes are starting to frost up the leaves and they plants smell wonderful. It looks as though I got the two different phenos the breeder told me about so it will be very interesting see the difference between the two come harvest. Today, each got top dressed with 6 TBSP flower fertilizer and each received 1L compost tea that was made from brewing 2TBSP back strap molasses and 4TBSP Fertile Valley Soil Builder & Tea Brew in 1gal water for 48 hours

Day 44 of Flower (104 days since sprout) Leaves still have a bit of a claw to them so I skipped top dressing this week, but each received 1L compost tea that was made from brewing 2TBSP back strap molasses and 4TBSP Fertile Valley Soil Builder & Tea Brew in 1gal water for 48 hours. Still healthy, overall, though. The two plants on the left side of the tent are foxtailing, but I believe that is just natural for that phenotype, because everything else seems totally fine with those two plants.

Day 51 of Flower (111 days since sprout) The colas are really starting to pack on the weight so I had to tie some branches to the center stake to keep them vertical. The frost is coming in nicely, especially on the two plants that are shorter, and they smell wonderful. Each plant received 1L compost tea that was made from brewing 2TBSP back strap molasses and 4TBSP Fertile Valley Soil Builder & Tea Brew in 1gal water for 48 hours.

Day 58 of Flower (118 days since sprout) The fade is starting to really come in and the fall colors are very nice. I'm thinking these plants have 1-2 weeks left. Each plant received 1L compost tea that was made from brewing 2TBSP back strap molasses and 4TBSP Fertile Valley Soil Builder & Tea Brew in 1gal water for 48 hours.

All 3 plants were harvested on Wednesday and smell awesome. The two shorter plants fox tailed hard and that made them really difficult to trim. All three plants were pollinated by a male I had in another tent so I got a much lower yield than I expected. On the bright side, I also wound up with 300 great looking seeds that came from the pollination by a really nice looking male Charlotte's Box plant.