January 24, 2024 Day 141
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 2:
This is the final week of flower for this lady. She may need another week to completely finish up, but this is the home stretch. The fade has started. Pistils are about 50% orange now.
She's not taking in as much water, as I noted before. Today, the moisture content is 20%. I'll have to see how she does throughout the day. I'm really trying to not let her get that dry. Maybe I'll wait for tomorrow and let her dry out this one time. Maybe it will help speed along the maturing process.
There really isn't much else to report today. I plucked a few more leaves off today. All of which were either dead or dying. Not too many though. There was maybe 10 total.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 73.3°
RH: 45.2%
VPD: 1.50 kPa
January 25, 2024
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 2:
Not much to do today. Soil moisture is at 20% as of this morning. I'll check later this afternoon if she needs water. I really don't want to water in the afternoon. If the moisture is below 15% by 6 pm, I'll have to water, but hopefully she holds off at 17% for the evening.
I pulled a couple more leaves off today. Not much, just some lower dying leaves.
The fade is in full swing now. No colors yet. Just a lot of yellowing leaves. In the next few days, I expect some colors to start showing.
The top net isn't doing really anything. Some colas are standing a bit from it, but the majority are still leaning too far over. It's because I can't reach in the back and couldn't tie it up. So the net is just floating. Kinda wish it was a 4" grid. Oh well. It's there now, so it's not coming off.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 73.9°
RH: 45.0%
VPD: 1.53 kPa
January 26, 2024
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 2:
So last night I fed a half gallon to hold her over for the night. This morning she was at 16% moisture content. So she got a gallon of Flawless Finish.
The fade is going full swing now. No colors yet, but more leaves are turning yellow. Colas are continuing to put on more weight. Not much, but still more.
Everything else looks good. There's a couple more damaged leaves, but I honestly don't feel like getting rid of them yet. I'll wait for them to die out more. Although, there are very few of them left. I did pretty good at clearing them out originally.
Also, after looking through the plant, there really isn't much more I can do for now. There's no sense in pulling healthy leaves right now and I can't do anything with the canopy. So basically it's all good to go now. Just watering and observing. In a week, I'll check trichomes and start trimming healthy leaves. It should be a day or 2 before harvest.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 73.7°
RH: 45.7%
VPD: 1.50 kPa
January 27, 2024
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 2:
The Beast is almost done. Lots of fading. Trichomes are almost 60% cloudy to 40% clean and some random amber ones.
Her morning moisture content is 18%. She'll be getting a full gallon around noon today.
I really want to let her dry out, but she has grown so well with the schedule she currently has. And she drinks way too fast to let her dry out today. Maybe I'll do a half gallon instead and a full gallon tomorrow.
I pulled more lower dying leaves off today. Maybe around 20. It has to be a good sign along with the fade. She'll definitely need a bit more time than hoped for. Maybe another 7 days instead of 3 to 4. I'll start checking the trichomes in earnest in a few days.
Colas are definitely heavier and a bit more dense now. I think that's all she has left.
My major concern with yield is the lower half of the plant. Nearly all of it is popcorn or larf. Even the fully formed lower colas are loose, airy and look like whole bud foxtails.
I'm honestly more worried about quality more than yield, but the yield is definitely less than I could have done. Much less. And the bud formation is just low quality. Most of it will get sifted for kief.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 73.6°
RH: 46.2%
VPD: 1.48 kPa
January 28, 2024
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 2:
Absolutely nothing to do today. No leaves to snip, no water to feed. Nothing.
Soil moisture level is 20%. I'll keep an eye on her for the day. Just in case she drinks down to 15%.
The right side of the plant is nearly horizontal. Especially the front right corner. However, I did lift on up and used the top net to do it. So that's a good thing.
There's way more yellowing leaves today, but no colors at all. Maybe I started flushing a bit too early, now that I think about it. Maybe color will start coming out in the next few days. I still think she needs a bit more time.
Update: I got bored and decided to inspect the trichomes anyway. There's a lot of amber on the leaves. Not a whole lot on the buds though. After viewing them, I think she has about 3 to 4 days left. I'm just waiting for the lower part of the plant to mature up now I guess. I also found more dead leaves. I had to dig a bit in the back left corner to get them. Anyway, I'm trying to get in the way back to help prevent mold or whatever else can happen. So far everything looks good. But I don't have much of a view. The colas are too tall to really inspect fully, so hopefully keeping the RH below 50% and the air movement going will prevent any issues. The biggest issue is moving the plant forward to make room in the back. The colas just fall against the wall of the tent. So I will have to try to get back there to adjust the colas and make some room for them. I still can't see in the way back, so I have no idea what I'm working with. I guess it doesn't really matter much so close to harvest.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 73.4°
RH: 46.8%
VPD: 1.45 kPa
January 29, 2024
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 2:
Just a few days left for this lady. I checked the trichomes again this morning. They look about the same. Maybe a couple more amber here and there, but as I said, it looks like she'll be ready in a few days. Maybe 3 or 4?
She got a full gallon top feed of Flawless Finish. I think this is the last watering she will get. Maybe 1 more, but I don't think so. Nearly 70% of the pistils in the lower part of the plant are orange. I didn't bother checking those trichomes.
I'm debating if I should just cut the whole lower part of the plant and let it all dry on a tray at the bottom of the tent. Maybe not. I'm not too sure yet. What I do know is that I can't reach 90% of the foliage with all the larf in the way. So I'll remove what I can on harvest day I think. She'll also need a 48 hour dark period. That will start in 2 days or maybe tomorrow. It all depends on the trichomes.
There's a ton of yellowing leaves now. No colors though. I wonder why that is. If that's the case, then maybe she needs a couple more days for the fade, then the harvest.
So now looking back on all I've decided today, I think a total of 5 days left. 2 to 3 more maturing, 2 days of dark and then harvest day. If that's the case, then I'll be watering one more time I believe. Maybe I'll go down to a half gallon tomorrow morning and see how she does tomorrow night. I may add the second half of the gallon tomorrow night.
Speaking of watering. I noticed the moisture content stayed at 14% overnight. Not sure if that's the probe itself going as low as the soil can go. It was really light this morning. And I definitely didn't get a single bit of runoff.
That's all for now.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 73.4°
RH: 42.8%
VPD: 1.57
January 30, 2024
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 2:
It is the end of the road for the Beast. Tomorrow will start with the 48 hour dark period. Then I'll try to defoliate what I can reach. I may end up having to just leave it alone til after she dries out. Mostly because I can't reach about 80% of the plant. The lower half is loaded with larf and popcorn. So navigating it and actually getting through the trellis is damn near impossible without damaging the lower part of the plant. Reaching over is a bad idea as well. My whole arm presses against the colas just to reach a middle cola. So nope. That's not happening. Looks like a true dry trim. That will take all day, if not longer.
I learned that my tap water has a PH of 8.1. Now that I have PH up and down, I brought the PH down to 6.2. It's too late for the PH to make any difference whatsoever, but at least I'm getting started. The next grow will have a perfect PH and supplemental lighting. I can't wait to see how my new stuff works from start to finish.
I've also decided to try to lower the temp down to 70°. Just for the last 2 days. With the lights out, it should be around 66°. I'm also trying to drop the humidity down to around 40% maybe 35% if I can swing it.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 71.2°
RH: 42.4%
VPD: 1.46 kPa
January 31, 2024
Apparently I can't make another flowering week, but it's been 7 days for this week. Oh well. I'll be harvesting in 2 days. She's definitely ready. Just want some more trichome maturation, then I'll be happy. And what better way to do it by a 48 hour dark period.
No watering today. Although, I'm a bit concerned with how low the moisture content currently is. It's at 15% moisture content. It could get dangerously low before I give the good ole chop. I'll probably check her later today to see if she is suffering. If not, I'll check tomorrow. However, I don't think she will last for 2 days. Maybe I'll give a half gallon and let that be it for the rest of the dark period.
I'm keeping the temp around 70° and RH around 40%. 35% if I can manage it.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 70.3°
RH: 42.1% (and dropping)
VPD: 1.42 kPa
February 1, 2024
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 2:
No pics today. Just a quick update. Moisture level is down to 11% and lights are still out. Another day and harvest time. I'll check in a bit to see if she is suffering from lack of water. Not sure what I'll do if that's the case. I guess harvest right away. I can't add more water and it's only been two days. Anyway, I'm pretty sure she'll be fine until tomorrow.
Update: forget everything I wrote today. I chopped her down. She was drooping everywhere. So I harvested.
Wet weight was an astonishing 110.4 oz. Based on my average 13.5% weight retention, I should end up with around 15 oz. Holy shit!
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 68.5°
RH: 39.8%
VPD: 1.39