Mimosa Evo - First photo grow :)

After a good germination, the first week has been pretty uneventful. Feeding just small amounts of MC (around 0.5g/gal) with every watering. She is currently sharing a tent with some autos for vegging, but I do have another tent set up eventually for when she flips. Looking forward to growing this :)

Transplanted into final container at the beginning of the week. I aim to veg this for about 8-10 weeks depending on how quick she grows. Have worked feeding levels up to around 2.5 grams of MC per gal. Will be moving her into a different tent this week as the bigger plant she is sharing a tent with needs the space :) Nothing too much to mention, just some nice steady growth. She has an interesting purple hue on the newer growth which disappears as the leaf grows, hoping she's going to be a pretty one!

Was looking a little pale in color at the start of the week, very light green. I've been upping the dose of MC quite sharply in response, and she has now started to look a bit healthier. Feeding levels are currently at 4g per gallon, fertigating 4 times a day, roughly 500ml each time. Runoff EC is lower than input, so all seems well. Node spacing is quite tight, not quite sure how I'm going to train this one yet, but will certainly be topping in the next few days. She seems quite healthy and I'm pleased with how she's grown so far. Hoping for another good week :)

After 3 weeks of nice steady growth, the plant had 6 nodes and a good structure indicating a good root system. This is my first photo grow, and I'm in no rush, so happy to give her a nice long veg. She was looking good and healthy at the start of the week, so decided it was time to top. Topped her at the 3rd node - I've only grown autos before, so it was quite worrying to remove that much of a plant in one go! She slowed for a day or 2 and became tight and bushy, but with a little opening up, she recovered well, and growing well again. Growth over the next week or so will help me decide if I top again. Like I said, no rush with this one. Continuing to push the nutes as dictated by the plant. She's loving the MC. Fingers crossed for another good week :)

She recovered well from the topping and has been training well this last week. Stripped back a defoliated mid-week, looking for slow and steady growth so she can take her time. New growth is sprouting back quickly after pruning, nutes are 5g a gallon of MC right now and showing no signs of burn. New nodes are pushing up on the branches, and she'll be ready for another round of topping soon. I've only grown autos before this, so it's nice to know there's no rush and she can take her time, feels a bit more relaxed. She seems happy with ph at 5.7ish. I've given up using ph pens for sure. Too inconsistent, even the more expensive ones from 'the big 3' companies (not naming names) are unreliable from one day to the next without constant attention. Maybe it's just me, but even 2 of the same make of meter, calibrated at the same time, in the same solution then gave readings 0.8ph apart from each other in the same glass of tap water. Then both accurately read the calibration solution..... for a few minutes, then drifted apart. Now, I just use strips. Cut each strip into 3 and they last ages. Can't get the same degree of accuracy, but I can consistently say with confidence my nute solution is 'somewhere between 5.5 and 6.0ph..... and realistically, that's good enough. When I flower, I'll aim for 'around 6.0'. So much easier and I trust the strips more than I ever did the various pens and desktop meters :) Anyway, until next week!

It was time for some more topping this week! All branches were topped at the 3rd node. Going to let her grow now, the ground work has been done. She's been trimmed and trained very tightly and her trunk has been thickening up quite nicely. Feeding nutes at the same level as last week, added a bit of calmag to help keep her levels up. Planning to let her run another 6-8 weeks before flipping, will see how she grows after she recovers from all the pruning. pH is around 5.7ish. She's currently being hand watered 4 times a day, with around 750ml each feeding to get around 100mls runoff. Let's see how she grows when I leave her alone :)

This is the first real week she's had to grow without me pruning her back, and she has recovered nicely. The lower branches are thickening up well and she has no problem pushing up fresh growth. Kept nutes steady at 5g / gallon of Mega Crop. The leaves are starting to pale a little, so I am going to up the dose a bit more this week. Continued with some LST, I want a bit more lateral growth first, then will let her come up higher into a scrog net. Another week done, and she continues on her merry way. All looking good for now :)

After the good growth and recovery from the last round of topping, decided that she can take at least one more round. Topped all branches at the beginning of the week, and she has once again pulled straight through and is ready to go again. Introduced a scrog net, going to let her climb up into it. The holes are way too big for anything usable in this small vegging tent, so I've had to cut a load of garden wire to try and fill it in a bit. It's a bit of a bodge, but it'll do the job :) No change to the nute schedule - feeding MC at 5g/gallon, no intention of going higher unless she starts getting a little pale as she grows bigger. Also CalMag at half the stated dose. I currently have 2 x Double Grape in my flowering tent, they have a couple weeks left to run, once that tent is free, I will move the Mimosa across. Will probably continue to veg her until around 12 weeks or so and then flip. Catch you all in a weeks time!

The Mimosa marches on. Scrog net is doing it's thing, plant is already touching the back wall and front door of this small vegging tent (it's kinda long but narrow) so it needs a bigger space. The flowering tent currently has a couple of Double Grape just finishing up - they'll be getting the chop this week, and then the Mimosa can have that whole tent to herself and stretch her arms for a couple more weeks of veg before the switch to 12/12. With the scrog in place, pruning is something I've had to keep a constant eye on to prevent her from becoming a tangled mess, but I think I've done a fairly good job at keeping a nice even canopy and the lowers clear. Regarding the training of this plant..... I probably should have had some sort of strategy, like a mainline or manifold, but I really didn't have a plan at all.... I had originally only planned to top once and then just leave her, but then got a bit carried away and went a bit mad. The result is some nice thick branches but they're a bit all over the place. No sense of direction! Still, she's gonna make a fine canopy.... if the underside looks a little unorganized, that's because it just is :) No change to nutes. Just MC at 5g per gallon and calmag at half the stated dose. Still top feeding at the moment, 4 fertigations a day at 750ml a time. Once she moves into the bigger tent, she'll go on an autopot. Added a humidifier to the tent. We've had some cold nights, nearly down to freezing, so I have to run a tube heater, which drys the air a lot. Now with the added humidity, she's at a good RH all day and night. So far, so good. 2-3 more week of veg in a larger tent with the scrog, and then I'll flip. Catch ya next week.

I was busy last week, so this is a backdated update for week number 10. She has been in the small vegging tent for a while now, and has outgrown it. This was her last week before being moved. Started to notice that the new growth was getting very light green in color, not quite sure what the cause is yet, possible it could be wanting more Nitrogen, as she is starting to get bigger. Gradually increasing the dose to see how she responds. Let's see how she does in the new tent with a scrog net :)

Finally! I have harvested the 2 Double Grape I had in the larger tent, and she now has this tent all to herself. Broke out the scrog net, and gave her a VERY severe stripping back and stretched her arms out wide with the tie downs. She has pulled back plenty of new growth through the week, but I have noticed that some of the leaves are looking very light green, almost yellow in places..... she is getting quite big now, so was wondering if she needs more Nitrogen maybe? I have upped the EC to 2.0 to see if she responds and gets a bit darker. Anyone have experience with Megacrop in prolonged veg? Not sure how high it can go, so I will raise a grow question and see what people say. Despite the slight discoloration, she is growing very well, and is starting to fill up the scrog net. Looking to flip to 12/12 and begin flowering in another week or so. Happy growing everyone, see you in another week :)

Well, here we are. 12 weeks of training, topping and pruning, she is filling the net and and in good shape for flowering. I will be making the switch to 12/12 today, so this was the last week of veg for this girl. Since going into the larger tent, she has had much better light, and she has responded with lots of new growth. She has been screaming for more nutes. Currently feeding Megacrop at 6g a gallon. I use R.O. water, and total EC of the Megacrop along with Cal Mag is 2.0, which is quite high (I think it is anyway, I've only grown autos before), but the solution in the Autopot trays is still reading 0.3 EC lower than the res, and there is not a trace of burn on her. I really have no idea how far I can push a plant of this size, so I'll let someone else tell me if this is too high. I estimate that by the time I've added Bud Explosion into the mix, the max EC at peak is going to be somewhere around 2.2-2.3, at which point I will be starting to lower N levels and will be dropping from there on. I'd love to hear input from anyone who has some experience with plants that have had longer veg times as to whether these levels are considered 'OK'. She certainly seems happy enough and is thriving for now, and I've been letting her guide the nute levels from the color of the leaves rather than sticking to a feeding calculator. I'm estimating a flowering period of 10-12 weeks, which goes well into UK summertime, which means it going to be super hot in the daytime, so I'll be doing the lights off period during the day, and lights on overnight when it's cooler and I can max out the Kingbrite without overheating the tent. Also, having only grown autos before, I've never had to worry about light intrusion as I just keep them 24/0. I never appreciated how much of the shit in the tent has little bloody lights on it. Had to go round taping up LED's on a few things to make it completely dark. I've also put the monitoring cam on the same timer as the lights, as it has an infrared sensor, so the power to the cam is cut at lights out. I've kept a fairly detailed feeding summary on a spreadsheet. As this grow seems to be going fairly well (so far) I may go back and update previous weeks with a bit more detail in case anyone is interested. tl;dr Flipping to 12/12 this week, growth good, girl hungry, Bud Explosion gonna be added to the mix this week, starting around 0.5g a gallon. Happy days :)

First week into flower, and everything looking good :) She has transitioned and begun pre-flowering, just starting to stretch a little and throw pistils. Feeding MegaCrop currently @ 6g a gallon and Bud Explosion @ 0.5g a gallon. Will increase the BE to around 1g a gallon by the end of this coming week. EC is now sitting at 2.1. I've increased the PH of the nutes ready for flowering - increased from 5.8 to 6.2, so it is better conditions for the uptake of the P and K that are now in the mix. Will reduce N levels eventually, once the stretch has finished. The scrog net has filled out well, exposing plenty of bud sites which are now just beginning to become more prominent. I have been slowly increasing the light power since she has been in the tent and we are now fully blazing at max. She is drinking around about 3 liters a day from the res. She is looking very vibrant and healthy, so fingers crossed for a nice smooth grow! :)

So, this was the second week of flowering, and the stretch is on, with some nice growth and the formation of buds well underway. Nute mix this week has been 0.5ml / liter of CalMag, 6g / gallon of MegaCrop and 1.25g / gallon of Bud Explosion. I ph the mix in the res to around 6.2, and it drops slightly in the autopot trays to a nice round 6.0. Just the slightest scent starting to become noticeable, hoping to get some really nice terps from this strain. Aside from slowly pruning away excess foliage under the net, not really had to do much at all this week, she's doing just fine :) Fingers crossed she stays fine until the finish line! Happy growing everybody :)

We have lift-off! She has stretched her little heart out this past week. This growth spurt inevitably came with a load of foliage, so I've been defoliating through the week - just a little each day - to keep the airflow nice. She is loving the Bud Explosion. Bud sites are starting to swell up nicely, and the fragrant aroma is getting more and more every day, quite zesty, very citrus. More lemony than orange at the moment, but still early days. The first hint of frost is beginning to set in, and she is looking a very healthy plant, hopefully should get some nice trichome production. This is my first photo-period plant, and in all honesty it's gone a lot smoother than some of the autos I've grown! No deficiencies, no pH or EC issues, no heat stress :) I deliberately gave it a long veg time so it didn't feel rushed, but moving forward I wouldn't want to have 1 plant taking up that much space for that long. SOG might be the way to go, but that's for another day. Current feeding: CalMag: 0.5ml / liter Megacrop: 5.5 grams / gallon Bud Explosion: 1.5 grams / gallon Will be running PK 13/14 for a week, probably starting some point this week when I next need to change the res. pH is currently 6 in the res, rising to 6.1 / 6.2 in the autopot tray. Let's see what this week brings :) Happy growing.

She has certainly got into her stride this week, and is blooming beautifully. Resin production is ramping up and starting to give a nice frosty shine, and the buds are now sticky to the touch. Had to remove the scrog net, it was starting to cause a few issues. She stretched and grew faster and more vigorously than I anticipated and it was just impossible to get the branches into the next bit of net to spread them out. I now have a wire running around the tent at canopy level, and I just spread branches out by hooking them to the wire and pulling them out. Smell is coming on nicely. Still quite subtle and the citrus hint is now more orange and pine, so sweet you can almost taste it! Added PK 13/14 to the nute mix, I only run this for one week during flower for some extra boost, so their feeding has looked like this: Megacrop - 5 grams / gallon Bud Explosion - 1.5 grams / gallon PK 13/14 - 1.5ml / liter Calmag - 0.5 ml / liter Total EC: 2.3 PH: 6.0-6.2 Very pleased with the progress this week, she is thriving at the moment and very healthy, so fingers crossed for a few more good weeks to come :)

A bit late with the update this week, been enjoying the rare UK sunshine :) 5 weeks into flower now, stretching appears to be completed, buds have developed in length and we are now getting into the fattening-up phase, they are swelling up nicely and giving off an almighty citrus stench! Fruity, sweet with something spicy underneath that makes your nasal hairs stand to attention :) Continuing to pull branches outwards on hooks, and with some regular light defoliation, I am able to get great light penetration throughout the canopy. Hairs at the tips of the colas are starting to retract and turn a vivid orange, and the first signs of some purple speckling are coming through on the buds, so I'm hoping to get some lovely colours when she starts to fade out. Feeding looks very simple from here on out. This week looked like this: Megacrop: 5 grams / gallon Bud Explosion: 1.75 grams / gallon CalMag - 0.5 ml / liter Will max out BE around 2 grams and begin to very slightly pull back on N by reducing MegaCrop by ~0.25g / gallon each week. Hard to say how much longer, but I would estimate that we are now roughly about halfway through the flowering phase. I'm super hyped for this one, haven't been this excited for a harvest since my first grow :) Wishing you all the best for another good week of growing!

Another week down, time seems to be flying by. Can we just take a second to talk about the smell. OMG the fucking smell. Intense, bursting with orange, it's like I'm being waterboarded with Sunny D! Every time I open the tent, the smell literally jumps out, kicks me in the nuts, throws me in the corner and then runs wild all over the house. It's more of a feeling than a smell - You know when you arrive in a hot climate from a cool one and you step off the plane to that wall of heat? It's like that, but on your nose :) Nothing dramatic to report this week. Just beginning to ease off slightly on N levels. The week's schedule: MegaCrop: 4.75g / gallon Bud Explosion: 2g / gallon Calmag: 0.5ml / liter E.C: 2.1 PH: 6 Not really much to do other than light defoliation just to keep the air flowing. Buds are getting nice and fat and she seems healthy, I can pretty much be hands off from here on out. Catch you all again in a week!

Well, here we are ladies and gents. I'm saying this a good few weeks earlier than I was expecting to, but she's ready. Buds have swollen up like balloons, and are dense and frosty. I dug out the microscope for a look in the week to see how far gone we were, and the pictures tell the story. As much as 50% amber on some of the tips closest to the light. Even deep in the calyx, amber is 30-40%, and lowers are 95% cloudy / 5% amber. The sugar leaves pretty much look like a burnt landscape under the microscope at this point. Almost disappointed it's coming to an end, this has been a really chill grow. No issues at all, she's been a pleasure from start to finish. But they all gotta come to an end sometime. Way she grows, boys. Way she grows.... Enough sadness. 'Tis a time to be joyful. She looks great, smells great and she's screaming she's ready, so I will be chopping any day now. This is the last weekly update - I'll be back in a couple of weeks once this is all dried, trimmed and weighed with the harvest details :)

This was the first photo period plant I've grown, and it was an absolute breeze. No deficiencies or issues, she just trucked on happily for the whole grow! After chopping, she hung to dry for 13 days @ 60% RH and about 17 C. Then, dry trimmed. Just over 7 ounces of nice bud for smoking, a further 1.5 ounces of larf / trim for edibles and just under 6 grams of hash. This was a really chill grow, and the end result was awesome, definitely the best weed I've grown to date. Super happy. Anyway, the tent is empty now.... so time to start planning the next run :)