The Grow Awards 2026 🏆
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🌸 Lava Cake – Week 5 Flower Report 🌸 We’ve reached Week 5 of flower — such an important and defining stage in the Lava Cake journey. Both phenos are shining, evolving beautifully, and filling the room with life and energy. It’s a week full of growth, observations, and some lessons to share. ⸻ 🌿 Current Status • Both plants are looking healthy, vigorous, and branching strong. • White hairs (pistils) continue to thicken and spread — the first signs of real bud-building. • Leaves show some spots, likely a touch of CalMag deficiency. This is not uncommon at this stage, as the plants’ demands for calcium and magnesium rise sharply during heavy metabolic activity. To support them, I’ve kept the full nutrient recipe steady this week and reintroduced Aptus All-in-One Liquid to strengthen the nutritional foundation and bounce them back quickly. ⸻ 💧 Nutrient Recipe (Week 5) • Aptus Regulator – cell wall support & stress resistance • Aptus CalMag Boost – to address spotted leaves and support photosynthesis • Aptus All-in-One Liquid – reintroduced this week to balance the base nutrition and help recovery from early deficiency signs • Plagron Power Buds, Sugar Royal & Green Sensation – pushing bud development, resin, and flavor complexity ⚠️ Note on feeding adjustments: This week we removed Top Booster from the mix. While it’s a great stimulator during certain flower stages, running it alongside Power Buds, Sugar Royal, and Green Sensation risks overlapping too much PK. Too much of a good thing can cause stress, salt build-up, or nutrient lockouts. By keeping the recipe focused and balanced, the Lava Cakes can thrive without overload. ⸻ 🌡️ Environment • Temperatures: Lower this week (relief!) thanks to cooling efforts. • Humidity: Still running a little high, sometimes hovering beyond the ideal. • Airflow: Two 6-inch exhausts + intake, all carbon filtered. This, along with fans inside, should keep the air moving and avoid stagnant moisture pockets. ⚠️ Note: Higher humidity at this stage can invite mold or mildew risks, but with strong airflow and constant air renewal, we’re reducing the chances. If issues arise, we’ll face them directly and adjust. ⸻ 🎥 Media Update This week includes: • Outside photoshoots – capturing their beauty under LED light. • Close-ups – showing detail of leaves, bud sites, and trichome sparkle starting to appear. • Video clips – giving a fuller view of the room, the setup, and how the girls are thriving. ⸻ 🔄 Quick Recap for New Readers From seed in the Cannakan ➝ early veg under Black Series LED ➝ transplant into 11L fabric pots with Aptus super soil base ➝ branching and stretching under TrollMaster-controlled environment ➝ to now, Week 5 of flower, where the Lava Cakes are stacking up and turning into queens. Each step has been intentional: careful watering from below to build root strength, dialing in nutrients, setting up airflow, and slowly stabilizing environment. ⸻ 🔮 What to Expect (and Not to Expect) Expect: • Continued flower stacking and calyx swelling over the next two weeks. • Aroma development beginning to intensify. • Slight yellowing or spotting on older leaves (normal as energy redirects to flowers). Not to Expect: • Full bulk yet — this comes in the later weeks, especially 6–8. • Perfect leaves everywhere — in flower, the plant focuses on buds, not flawless foliage. ⸻ 🌎 Closing Thoughts Week 5 is about listening and responding. The Lava Cakes showed us some leaf spots, and in return, we adjusted by reintroducing All-in-One Liquid while simplifying the booster recipe. Removing Top Booster avoids nutrient overlap and keeps the focus on a clean, balanced mix. This isn’t just about correcting deficiencies — it’s about preparing them for the heavier bloom demands to come. With lower temperatures, steady airflow, and a carefully tuned recipe, the girls are thriving. Every day brings more white hairs, more structure, and more anticipation for what’s ahead. ⸻ 🔬 Science Spotlight: Nutrient Antagonism One of the biggest hidden challenges in mid-flower is nutrient antagonism — when too much of one element blocks the uptake of another. • Excess phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) (often from bloom boosters) can interfere with calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) absorption. This can show up as leaf spotting, rust marks, or weakened stems even if those nutrients are technically present in the soil. • By removing Top Booster this week, we reduced the PK load and allowed CalMag supplementation to actually reach the plant without being locked out. • Balance always beats excess. The goal is steady, accessible nutrition, not maxing out one element. This principle is key to avoiding deficiencies during bloom: feed enough, but not too much of any one thing. ⸻ 🔬 Trichome Spotlight If you look closely at the close-ups this week, you’ll notice the first tiny crystals beginning to coat the flowers and nearby leaves. These are trichomes — microscopic resin glands that play a central role in the plant’s defense, flavor, and potency. ✨ What are trichomes? Trichomes are specialized structures on the plant’s surface that produce and store secondary metabolites: • Cannabinoids (like THC, CBD, CBG) • Terpenes (the aromatic compounds that give unique smells and flavors) • Flavonoids (contributing to color, taste, and subtle effects) Essentially, trichomes are the plant’s biochemical factories. 🌿 Why are they appearing now? In early flower, the plant begins to shift its energy from vegetative growth to reproduction and protection. Trichomes serve several evolutionary purposes: • Protection from UV light – the resin acts like sunscreen. • Pest deterrence – sticky, bitter compounds discourage insects. • Moisture regulation – resin helps buffer against stress. That’s why, right as buds begin to stack, you see an explosion of these glittering glands. 🔮 What to expect as they develop? • Density will increase week by week, eventually frosting the buds and sugar leaves. • Color will change: clear → cloudy/milky → amber. These stages are often used to decide harvest timing. • Aroma will intensify as terpenes concentrate, bringing out Lava Cake’s dessert-like profile. 🍯 The chemistry inside • Terpenes – molecules like limonene (citrus), myrcene (earthy), and caryophyllene (spicy). They don’t just shape aroma; they influence the entourage effect, modulating how cannabinoids feel. • Flavonoids – often overlooked, but they add subtle notes to flavor and can have antioxidant properties. • Cannabinoids – still forming now, but ramping up in mid-to-late flower. 🌸 Why this matters Seeing trichomes appear in such numbers this early is a sign of plant health and genetic quality. It means the Lava Cakes are channeling their energy toward flower defense and resin production — exactly what we want in a premium run. From here, it’s all about nurturing them without stress so trichomes can fully mature, delivering not just potency, but flavor and aroma complexity at harvest.They’re queens in the making — and with patience, love, and attention, they’ll reward us with something truly special. 🌸✨ 📲 Don’t forget to Subscribe and follow me on Instagram and YouTube @DogDoctorOfficial for exclusive content, real-time updates, and behind-the-scenes magic. We’ve got so much more coming, including transplanting and all the amazing techniques that go along with it. You won’t want to miss it. • GrowDiaries Journal: https://growdiaries.com/grower/dogdoctorofficial • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dogdoctorofficial/ • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dogdoctorofficial ⸻ Explore the Gear that Powers My Grow If you’re curious about the tech I’m using, check out these links: • Genetics, gear, nutrients, and more – Zamnesia: https://www.zamnesia.com/ • Environmental control & automation – TrolMaster: https://www.trolmaster.eu/ • Advanced LED lighting – Future of Grow: https://www.futureofgrow.com/ • Root and growth nutrition – Aptus Holland: https://aptus-holland.com/ • Nutrient systems & boosters – Plagron: https://plagron.com/en/ • Soil & substrate excellence – PRO-MIX BX: https://www.pthorticulture.com/en-us/products/pro-mix-bx-mycorrhizae • Curing and storage – Grove Bags: https://grovebags.com/ ⸻ We’ve got much more coming as we move through the grow cycles. Trust me, you won’t want to miss the next steps, let’s push the boundaries of indoor horticulture together! As always, this is shared for educational purposes, aiming to spread understanding and appreciation for this plant. Let’s celebrate it responsibly and continue to learn and grow together. With true love comes happiness. Always believe in yourself, and always do things expecting nothing and with an open heart. Be a giver, and the universe will give back in ways you could never imagine. 💚 Growers love to all 💚
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@ulmer
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Not much to say... Athena Cleanse runs at 12ml for 16L rez now EC is steady at 3.0 - Drain EC was at 4.6 At the moment i need to refill my Rez in a 4 day Cycle Ive implemented a weekly Flush to keep the Hugo Block saturated at the top as well and to prevent too much Salt buildup.
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Today marks the end of the seventh week for my cannabis plant, and things are looking fantastic! The buds are developing beautifully, swelling up with each passing day. It's incredible to see how much they've grown in such a short time. The first trichomes are starting to appear.🌱💚 I'm also happy to report that the nematodes have done their job effectively. The plant is much healthier now, bouncing back from any issues it had before. I'm feeling optimistic as I watch it recover and flourish. I can't wait to see how the buds develop further as we head into the final stages!💚
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I welcome you from Russia my friends from different parts of the world. The end of 16 weeks has come. Plants already fully show their ripeness, and buds SAG from their weight. Soon I will be harvesting, as soon as I get the final dry product I will make the last update of this diary.
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Die Woche ist sehr gut verlaufen ich dachte eigentlich sie stirbt aber sie hat sich sehr gut erholt nach dem ich die Nematoden hinzugefügt habe man kann es gut erkennen da wo ich getoppt hab kommen und zwei weitere Köpfe und die neuen Blätter die wachsen sind wieder schön grün und saftig Sie ist nun auch in der zweiten Blüte Woche beziehungsweise der elfte Tag dann schauen wir mal wie es weitergeht.
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Доброго времени Сегодня 82 день жизни моей девочки. Она во всю цвете и сегодня ровна неделя с того дня как я начал считать цвет. Планирую еще 7-8 недель ее продержать, хотя по паспорту у нее всего 8 недель цвета. На 76 день жизни, я обрезал почти все слабые боковые стебли и все нижние листья. За неделю она заметно подросла. Азот я не стал еще убирать, думаю его высокое содержание продержать еще неделю, затем буду уменьшать его содержание в питательном растворе. Внимательные люди заметили б однозначно весящую лампу, у меня все время вылетало с головы напить о ней))) Эта лампа UVB на 25вт, для рептилий. Много читал про ультрафиолет, единого мнения нет. Это мой второй опыт связанный с ней. Весной этого года я ее использовал с 4 недели цвета, режим работы 4 часа в сутки. Признаюсь я не понял разницу, то есть я не знаю прибавила ли она содержание ТГК в шишках или нет, но точно сказать могу вреда от нее не было. Следующий гров я ее уже не использовал, а в этот раз решил опять воспользоваться ею. На мой взгляд 25вт очень мало, при том что у моих основных ламп 600вт, в будущем думаю купить еще две на 25вт. Если у кого есть опыт с подобными лампамы, пишите, интересно узнать какого результата вы добились. Полил ( 1212ppm )-3л Sensi Bloom Coco A - 4мл/л; Sensi Bloom Coco B - 4мл/л; Big Bud Coco - 2мл/л; Bud Candy - 2мл/л; Влажность 35% - 47%; температура 21c - 28c 1 - й день цвета, Полил ( 1123ppm )-3л Sensi Bloom Coco A - 4мл/л; Sensi Bloom Coco B - 4мл/л; General Hydroponics Kool Bloom -1мл/л; B-52 - 2мл/л Влажность 32% - 50%; температура 22c - 28c 2 - й день цвета, Полил ( 1081ppm )-3л Sensi Bloom Coco A - 4мл/л; Sensi Bloom Coco B - 4мл/л; Big Bud Coco - 2мл/л; Cal-mag Xtra - 0,5мл/л; Влажность 33% - 50%; температура 22c - 29c 3 - й день цвета, Полил ( 1173ppm )-3л Sensi Bloom Coco A - 4мл/л; Sensi Bloom Coco B - 4мл/л; General Hydroponics Kool Bloom -1мл/л; B-52 - 2мл/л Влажность 31% - 47%; температура 21c - 29c 4 - й день цвета, Полил ( 986ppm )-3л Sensi Bloom Coco A - 4мл/л; Sensi Bloom Coco B - 4мл/л; General Hydroponics Kool Bloom -1мл/л; Bud Candy - 2мл/л; Влажность 32% - 48%; температура 21c - 29c 5 - й день цвета, Полил ( 1121ppm )-3л Sensi Bloom Coco A - 4мл/л; Sensi Bloom Coco B - 4мл/л; General Hydroponics Kool Bloom -1мл/л; Nirvana - 2мл/л; Влажность 30% - 48%; температура 21c - 28c 6 - й день цвета, Полил 3л Влажность 30% - 43%; температура 21c - 27c 7 - й день цвета,
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@gsimd
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I'm going away for 30 days about a week into this grow. I'm going to automate weeks 1 through 5 by using the Blumat watering system along with the automated fan from AC Infinity. Hopefully, these will keep things going while I'm gone. I've never used the Blumat products before and I'm excited to see their potential. If I succeed, I'll return to happy 5-week old plants. If not, I'll have to start a new grow...which is what I was going to do anyway. I have nothing to lose but a couple of seeds. Let's get this automated grow started. Day 1 - I placed the seeds directly in a fist-sized clump of Coast of Maine Seed Starter soil that was then placed in a 3-gallon pot full of Coast of Maine Stonington Blend. This will ensure the seedling doesn't get exposed to the nutrient-rich soil too soon. I set the light 2 feet above the top of the pots so they have room to grow into the 18" to 12" range. I also set the light strength to 60% during germination. The temperature in the tent remained 75 degrees and humidity was 70%. I also covered the soil over the germinating seeds with mason jars to act as humidity domes. Day 4 - Both pots sprouted this morning. I immediately removed the mason jar humidity domes. I also increased the light to 70% strength and installed the Blumat watering system to help me keep things growing while I'm gone.
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Can't wait for this one to be harvested back to the future 2 auto by tastebudz yeah more to come enjoy please follow any help and advice is always greatly appreciated she be going greenhouse direct to a 25l pot after germination 4 more seeds due for delivery Mimosa auto jack herera auto sweet coffee Ryder and mac1 fem 😛
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Day 37 11/30/2021- Welcome to week four of flower. I see lots of trichomes everywhere and the smell is starting to pick up as well. Day 39 12/02/2021- Water day for them. Also camera needed update but made it work. IOS/ANDRIOD PAR METER APP. It is very accurate highly recommended this for everyone. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/photone-grow-light-meter/id1450079523 Will update daily will time lapse video. Day 40 12/03/2021- Lots of trichomes everywhere. Buds are also forming up nicely. Day 42 12/05/2021- Just water this girl today. Today also is the last day of the week, we should be have ways done hopefully harvest by the end of the month. Will do last top feed on Wednesday.
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@PapaNugs
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SO, the girls were doing so well into their second week I decided to do the unthinkable... I topped autos! 😳😳🤯🤯 I figured they were doing so well and hadn't entered flower yet; let's do our best to keep them small and get multiple good buds instead of just one. This will also give me the best opportunity to lst them down using ties. Stayed tuned for that! This girl is doing okay, looking scraggly compared to the rest. I'm hoping she'll spread out once trained. Dimmed to 40% but increased it today to 60% Here are the lights details: Medic Grow Mini Sun-2 150W LED Model: MN150-022 Spectrum mode: V1 Efficacy: 2.8 umol/J Thanks for stopping by! You can find the light on Grow Diaries: https://growdiaries.com/grow-lights/medic-grow/mini-sun-2-150-watts You can find the light on Medic Grow's website: https://medicgrow.com/
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Hello people, we are here with another update day 34 for all these lady's. We currently have two shorty's and 2 tall girls. I'll be doing plain water with carboload from from now till the end of flowering Peace and love ✌️✌️
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Buenas tardes familia, actualizamos semana y os traigo Malas noticias , una cookies no aguanto y tuvimos que quitarla, quedo atrapada en el caparazón de la semilla y murió. Pero renovaremos hueco no se preocupen 2/3 y por manazas por no quitar la semilla a tiempo . No obstante controlamos todo igual temperatura humedad todo correcto , no tiene que suponer problemas sacar el resto adelante. Os dejo algunas fotos y veis El Progreso.
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Hi, everyone 👋The Blue Cheese seedling is growing better than i expected in the cheese grater, pretty awesome looking little plant 😍 The TS1000 is really quiet and powerful the girls seem to love it 😍 as for now i run it at 60 Watts 33 cm. from the plants. That is all for this week friends and growers & my grower friends...hopefully will see each other diaries next week... Bless, bless, bless 🙌🙌🙌
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@pegonter
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Planta cresceu em repouso nas últimas duas semanas e voltarei a praticar o LST na próxima semana. Planta está crescendo em um grow com outras 4 plantas em estado vegetativo e uma em revegetativo. todas as outras 4 plantas da mesma semente não germinaram.
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These is a project in the we try (test) tge products of our sponsors to see how good they genetics are, for example we have know 6 seeds banks on these round. Sweetseeds with the dark devil auto have break the time record for seed on the ground , 20 hours , only these tine have the seeds from sweetseeds on the soil and they just jump out to 2 cm , simple amazing
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@Roberts
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White Widow is not doing so good. I did a solution change 2 days ago when she started showing issues. Not sure it it fixed it yet. Thanks again, Athena, Seedsman, and Spider Farmer. 🤜🏻🤛🏻🌱🌱🌱 Thank you grow diaries community for the 👇likes👇, follows, comments, and subscriptions on my YouTube channel👇. ❄️🌱🍻 Happy Growing 🌱🌱🌱 https://youtube.com/channel/UCAhN7yRzWLpcaRHhMIQ7X4g.
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@Reaper
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ph meter is broken. i use ghe liquid to read ph lol ph goes down every night. 650ppm is still too high for this strain, drinks a liter everyday i need a bluelab ph/ec meter 2 Februari: the buds start to appear on the hydro plant with thc everywhere lol