The Grow Awards 2026 🏆
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Days 120 - 126 (from sprout) 9/20/24 - 9/26/24 The Good Shit - week 13 of flower and trichome heads are looking far more swollen For IPM I sprayed existing mulch layer with tweetmint, followed up with topping all pots off with build a soil 3.0 and forest collected IMO's - fungus gnats almost completely eliminated overnight Pots were cover cropped with build a soil seed blend + grape tomatoes, oregano + thyme, snap peas and napoli carrots Fingers crossed harvest is on the agenda for this lady next week
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New feeding schedule seems to be bringing the girls new life. I might have to give the Recharge credit. Also checking pH very thoroughly. Stick doesn't seem to work well anymore. PH could be why the couple in the back were growing slow the last few weeks while the others were slightly more resistant. Crossing finger to find purple phenos in a couple week.
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🌸 White Widow — Week 7 Flower (Week 11 from seed) Status: Full flower, bulking rapidly. Vibe: Dark foliage, compact form, heavy frost, 90s aroma profile. Feeding: Aptus + Plagron lineup (Power Buds, Sugar Royal, Green Sensation, Regulator, CalMag, All-in-One) Photos: Sony a6000 — loyal workhorse for studio shots. 📷 ⸻ 🧠 Deep dive — Why 12/12-from-seed makes a plant “go hard” Plants evolved to reproduce. Their primary biological drive is to make seeds. Photoperiod (day length) is one of the most reliable seasonal cues plants use to decide: is it time to flower? Mechanisms at play (simple → nerdy): • Photoperiod sensing: Leaves detect day length via phytochrome systems (Pr Pfr). Short days (or the 11/13 rhythm) flip the hormonal cascade toward flowering. • Florigen & flowering hormones: When the plant senses “short days,” it produces mobile signals (florigen) that travel to the shoot apex and shift gene expression from vegetative growth to reproductive development. • Carbohydrate reallocation: Energy stops making more leaves/branches and is directed into calyxes, resin synthesis, terpene pathways, and seed/flower tissues. • Result: A plant that thinks “the season’s ending — reproduce now!” goes all-in: denser flowers, rapid calyx swelling, intense trichome production. Important point: they don’t know about pollination. The plant can’t tell you whether pollinators exist or whether pollen will land — it simply invests in attractive, resinous flowers to maximize reproductive success. As growers, we exploit that drive to produce potent sensimilla (unpollinated) flowers. ⸻ 🔬 Why your White Widow is exploding in quality right now • Immediate reproductive programming: Starting floral signals early (12/12 from seed) forces the plant to prioritize flower formation rather than vegetative mass. That yields compact, dense colas. • High PPFD + short day = strong DLI in less time: With fewer hours of light, your lamp intensity is higher in those hours → powerful photosynthesis during the window the plant has chosen. • Nutrition tuned to flower: the Aptus + Plagron stack feeds the metabolic surge — PK + biostimulators for bulking, sugar stimulators for terpene pathways, Ca/Mg for structural health. • Genetics: White Widow is resin-happy; give it the right cues and it will frost up like a sugar cookie. ⸻ 🌈 Why her colors are going dark (and why that’s beautiful) Leaf & bud color comes from a balance of chlorophyll + accessory pigments (anthocyanins, carotenoids) and is influenced by: • Genetic propensity (some phenos are naturally darker) • Temperature swings (cooler nights often increase anthocyanin expression) • pH / nutrient balance (some deficits/ratios nudge color pathways) • Light spectrum intensity (strong red/far-red influence can shift pigment expression) Dark phenos often correlate with high terpene and anthocyanin expression — visually stunning and often highly aromatic. ⸻ 🔁 Quick timeline recap (for newcomers) • Germination & early mistakes: initial heat-mat loss → restarted, one strong survivor. • Veg: compact, short internodes under the 11/13/12-12 shuttle → stacked nodes. • Early flower: slow to show, but once she flipped she committed. • Now – Week 7 flower (Week 11 from seed): heavy bulking, thick trichomes, deepening color, classic White Widow aroma emerging. ⸻ 🔭 What to expect next (this week → next week) Expect: • Continued bulking of calyxes and cola weight. • Explosion of trichome coverage — white, cloudy glands multiply. • Stronger terpene smell (earthy, spicy, resinous 90s profile). • Possible color intensification — deeper greens, potential purples depending on phenotype & nights. Do not expect: • Major new stretch — she’s committed to flower and will remain compact. • Immediate harvest — typical White Widow still wants its weeks; plan for patience (mid-late flower bulking happens over several more weeks). ⸻ ⚖️ Should you run all seeds 12/12 next cycle? (pros & cons) You asked if you might run every seed 12/12 — here’s the honest rabbit-hole: Pros • Much faster cycle → less time to harvest. • Compact plants → ideal for small spaces or stealth grows. • Often denser single-plant yields; less training needed. • Great for experimentation, multi-strain rapid rotation. Cons • Generally lower total biomass per plant vs. long veg runs. • Some genetics need veg time to express full canopy & branching; yields may be lower for those strains. • Root systems can remain smaller → may stress under high PPFD if not supported. • Less flexible for heavy-topping/lst/manipulation strategies. Bottom line: for strains with good genetics for flowers (like White Widow), 12/12-from-seed can be very rewarding. For sativa-dominant, tall strains you might lose yield without long veg. ⸻ 📷 Gear love — Sony a6000 shoutout I’ve got to echo it: that camera is a workhorse for growers. Compact, responsive, great color fidelity, and perfect for low-light studio shots when paired with proper exposure. The a6000 captures the leaf texture, color depth, and bud gloss in a way phones struggle to match. Long live the loyal shooter. 📸✨ ⸻ 🙏 Gratitude — the usual and the real Thank you to: • Zamnesia — for the genetics & the nostalgia. • Aptus & Plagron — the chemical & biological push that lets the plant sing. • ThinkGrow / Future of Grow / TrolMaster — lighting, control, and environment orchestration. • You — the makers, lovers, critics, curious readers — your energy fuels this diary. And to our White Widow — for showing up, forgiving mistakes, and giving back in beauty. 💚 ⸻ Week 7 flower — Week 11 from seed. Darker colors, heavy frost, the classic 90s scent, and a compact structure that proves 12/12-from-seed can produce absolute fire. We went full-in on Aptus + Plagron, kept the Emerson red-lead sunrise/sunset, and trusted the genetics. Watching her build is pure joy. Come see the series in 4K on YouTube — every detail, every shimmer. 🌿🔥📷 #WhiteWidow #Zamnesia #GrowDiaries #12fromSeed #EmersonEffect #Aptus #Plagron 📲 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. 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. Friendly reminder all you see here is pure research and for educational purposes only, 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 P.S. — Deep dive on DLI (Daily Light Integral) — short, clear, and a little nerdy (in the best way). 🌞🌿 1) What is DLI, simply? DLI = the total amount of photosynthetic light (photons) a plant receives over one day. It’s expressed in moles of photons per square metre per day (mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹). While PPFD (μmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹) tells you instantaneous light intensity, DLI tells you how much light the plant actually used that day. ⸻ 2) The formula (how to calculate it) Use this exact formula: text{DLI (mol·m}^{-2}text{·day}^{-1}) = frac{text{PPFD (μmol·m}^{-2}text{·s}^{-1}) times text{seconds of light per day}}{1{,}000{,}000} Where seconds of light per day = hours of light × 3600. I’ll show worked examples so it’s easy to follow. ⸻ 3) Worked examples (digit-by-digit so it’s crystal clear) Example A — your reported PPFD ≈ 766 μmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹ and 11 hours light • seconds of light = 11 × 3600 = 39,600 s • photons per day = 766 × 39,600 = 30,333,600 μmol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ • convert to moles: 30,333,600 ÷ 1,000,000 = 30.3336 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ So: 766 μmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹ × 11 h → DLI ≈ 30.3 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ Example B — same PPFD but 12 hours • seconds = 12 × 3600 = 43,200 • photons = 766 × 43,200 = 33,091,200 • DLI = 33,091,200 ÷ 1,000,000 = 33.0912 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ Example C — other quick refs • 700 μmol × 11 h → DLI ≈ 27.72 • 800 μmol × 11 h → DLI ≈ 31.68 • 400 μmol × 11 h → DLI ≈ 15.84 • 1000 μmol × 12 h → DLI ≈ 43.2 (You can plug any PPFD and hours into the formula — those are ready-made reference points.) ⸻ 4) What DLI targets are useful for cannabis? • Vegetative (gentle): ~12–25 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ • Flower (typical good range): ~25–40 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ — most home/pro growers aim here • High-intensity/CO₂-enriched commercial: 40–60+ mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ (needs CO₂, stronger conditioning) So your example (≈30 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ at ~766 PPFD × 11h) sits very nicely in the flower range. That explains the dense bulking + heavy resin you’re seeing — our DLI is right where White Widow loves to convert energy into flowers. ⸻ 5) Practical implications — what DLI affects and what to watch • Higher DLI → higher photosynthesis → more carbohydrate to drive bud bulking and terpene/trichome production. • Higher DLI requires more water and nutrients. Plants transpire more and pull more minerals; be ready to feed and irrigate appropriately. • Leaf temperature / heat stress: pushing PPFD up increases canopy energy/heat — keep airflow, VPD, and room temps under control. • CO₂ matters: if aiming beyond ~40 mol/day, elevated CO₂ (e.g., 800–1200 ppm) becomes productive; otherwise additional light won’t be used efficiently. • Distribution matters: DLI is an average over the canopy. Hotspots or shaded pockets mean some flowers get too much or too little — even light spread (and PAR mapping) matters. ⸻ 6) Actionable tips for your run (based on your 11/13 / 12/12 experiment) • We’re hitting excellent flower DLI (≈30 mol/day at 766 μmol × 11 h). That’s why buds are dense/frosty — keep the rhythm. • If you shorten hours (e.g., 11 h) keep PPFD high to maintain target DLI. If you lengthen hours (12 h) you can reduce peak PPFD slightly and still hit the same DLI. • If you raise PPFD to chase more DLI, ramp slowly (a few μmol/sec per day) to let stomata and roots acclimate — avoid sudden bleaching. • Watch watering & EC — higher DLI → faster uptake → more frequent but measured feeding. • If you ever push DLI 40 mol/day consider CO₂ enrichment and perfect VPD control to have that extra light used efficiently. ⸻ 7) Quick rules of thumb • Want to hit ~30 mol/day with 11 hours on the clock → aim for roughly 700–800 μmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹. • Want ~33 mol/day at 12 hours → ~766 μmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹ matches that nicely. • If you see leaf cupping/bleaching, you’ve likely exceeded safe PPFD for that canopy or temps are too high — back off, check VPD.
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Week 7 let's go ! Day 152 - 04/11 : The plant symptoms have seemed to slow down. The soil is also starting to dry out a bit more which might have been a problem. Day 155 - 07/11 : She was flushed in the morning with about 4L of water and 2L of a 30% strength microbial+trichoderma tea to innocculate the soil in case the microlife took a hit. The run off was 1L. I also switched the 400W MH for a 400W HPS to finish off with a little extra boost of light + different spectrum and see if it makes any differences. The light were moved up by approximately 20-30cm. They are now at about 70cm from the plant. I wondered if the light were maybe too close and caused all those strange symptoms. Let's see if there is any change in their behaviour. Day 156 - 08/11 : It seems the plant is a lot happier. It has only been a day but I feel like she is fattening up faster suddenly. Or it could be that she has recovered from the slight chock from a few days ago. Day 158 - 10/11 : Yep she is definitely happy again. I am convinced it was the light or at least it was part of the problem, I am seeing a lot of growth all of a sudden, on all plants and not just this one. Trichome are up, pistilles are up, calyxes swelling, everything is running smooth again. She is looking ready already, from a bud general appearance I could almost harvest now, but the trichomes are still mostly clear and I have a feeling she has a little more in her. I suspect the reason for such large amount of already brown trichomes might have been the light excess they went through.
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Amazing week for this monster ladies! I do some LST on them and they bounce back so quickly no any issues with them and I will may be keep them two or three more weeks in grow for greater yield! Stay tuned 😁✌️💚🌿😜
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Week 8, probably the last week of Veg , it will depends on how the main tops are gonna grow compared to the side shoots that are supposed to fill up the inner holes. If the plants redirect their energy in the shoots instead of the main tops I could be able to add another week of Veg , plants have been ScrOG’ed and shaped for this but after all they will decide by their own if they fill that the main tops are to low to catch the male pollen they will send the energy in the side shoots to get a chance to catch it ! Plants grows for only one purpose, to reproduce ! And the Cannabis has an maniac obsession to reproduce this is why it makes it so resilient ! And this why it gets twice bigger in just 2-3 weeks when it stretch. So, if you’re reading this my friends, you will understand that the time to prepare your girls for the stretch is now ! Starting to bump the feeding mix with some Veg nootz preparing them for the battle as they will use a lot of Nitrogen ! And for the ones who are just looking the pictures like if this diary was a comic book, they still won’t understand why their plants are getting yellow in middle of flowering when roots doesn’t absorb Nitrogen anymore as they will only concentrate on P-K (Mg/Sulfur) and getting doomed with no solution to fix it. [Day 51] Water + RootBooster + AllZymes Cookies [Day 52] Water 💦 Acapulco Tangerine Bad Azz J.H BBG TH,SS Water + RootBooster + AllZymes + Earth Grow Mix Vanilla G13 Ams L [Day 56] Water 💦 J.H BBG TH,SS Tangerine Acapulco Ams L Bad Azz Cookies (P.S: I’m looking for a job in the Cannabis industry as Master Grower, Mineralogist, Quality Control 🐞) This diary is updated daily ☝️
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@Canna96
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I am super happy with this strain, the pictures and videos truly don't do her justice. She absolutely reaks of blueberries, and the buds sparkle like diamonds. I am super excited to squish some blueberries here in a few weeks! I will update with a dry weight and a smoke report in a few weeks, thanks for stopping by, be safe, and Blaze On!!!
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@DD_420
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Donna Jo is still being watered; -Tuesday with full gp3 (green plant 3 part) plus Cali mag by General hydro PhD to 6.2 roughly 2 litres - Thursday get PhD Cali mag water and Only 1 litre at most. Try not to water Thursday unless she is to dry to make it to Friday -Friday full gp3/ Cali mag PhD 2-3 litres -Sunday full gp3/Cali mag PhD 2-3 litre -Monday/Wednesday/Saturday no water. This week had a pretty major change not just in flower production, but also decided to change tent set up as well. Changes to the tent included ditching the 600w led and the 2x 2000w garbage led lights (i call bs on manufacturer saying they are 2k) These 3 lights are now out and we have stepped up to cmh 315w. Should have bought this cmh 315 right off the hop and not spent the money on led. Now going to cmh the tent run way hotter and has required other upgrades to keep from overheating. The duct system was dual t4 cloudlines running one in and one out off the same control module has now been changed to a T6 cloudline exhausting with a t4 feeding cool/fresh air. Tent jumped 9 degrees with cmh 315 so had to also add the overheat back up plan. Put a 6” inline duct (can fan pushing extra 200 cfm) along the exhaust line closer to window exhaust point which is plugged into an ink bird plug and play thermostat set to 82. This just helps the T6 do a better job with less noise. With these changes I feel way more confident of yielding a higher gram/plant ratio. I believe if you look at last weeks pictures and compare to this weeks you will probably agree with me. You decide .......😀
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@Jankky
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Starting to pick up in smell, finally slowing down and finishing stretch.
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_____----*Jan 13th added photos*----_____ _-** Jan16th added photos **-_ She's still chugging along entering week 3 now.. Just gave alil recharge so far , besides having some water issues here (tap got funky funky) but had some rv water filters plopped onto the tap and all is in range ec/ph wise now. Issue averted atleast i caught it, got in the habit of checking PPM of the tap everytime just to be sure (I aerate 5gal of tap water as I use it to mix whicheve stuff I maybe using aswell. That's about the only major thingy that really happened. I am seeing some leaf variegation I hope it's nothing more serious havnt had any tmv before so I'll be keeping a tight eye. Fingers crossed tho, I do have a second started that was gonna ne ran without plagron but if she's sick I got a back up. Hoping it's nothing tho, 🙏 Until the next update , I'll throw more photos up as the week gets going. Thanks again for checking in, best of luck to anyone that's involved in this contest !! Been fun watching all ur plants get going !
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@Drtomb
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Not much for trimming on this plant. Plant is just reaching the upper screen. By the end of the week the plant will have been moved around to fit the squares as best as possible. Stay tuned!
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We're into the start of September and they've only just begin flowering. Hopefully they get to finish. It's looking to be mid to late October!
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Harvest day 66 since time switch to 12 / 12 h Hey guys :-) Finally it's time 💚 The lady is done the large leaves have been removed and hung upside down to dry in the dark drying room. You can now stay there for 13-15 days at a temperature of 18-20 degrees and 55-62% humidity. After 13-15 days it is neatly trimmed by hand and placed in jars with boveda packs 62. After 4 weeks Boveda 58% come in and are ready for testing ;-). After everything has been cut cleanly, the last update comes with the smoke report and the finished pictures. Let's get to the plant 💚. Unfortunately, the rating system at Growdiaries is a bit strange because I have to give the stars before the Smoke Report and in the end it might have led to more stars in terms of taste. . The smell is great I'm curious about the taste 💚 Have fun and stay healthy 💚🙏🏻 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼 ‘Powered by GreenHouse Feeding’ Copy the link for 10% off all Nutrients 👇🏼 http://shop.greenhousefeeding.com/ affiliate/madelngermany_passiongrower/ 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼 Water 💧 💧💧 Osmosis water mixed with Cal/Mag (24 hours stale that the chlorine evaporates) to 290 ppm and Ph with Ph- to 5.8 - 6.4 MadeInGermany
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Days. 99 F15 Lolipoping! Days.102 F18 Bad news!. My medium raise to PH 7.0 but now no sign of any problem fast producing bud form. ☺️i will give her ph5.8-6.0 for next watering thank you all advice from my grow question. THANK YOU <3
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this week was great, the V1 arrived through a lot of logistical nightmares. its the final test before mass production- i will post another dairy for it but please have a look at the pics above. ive created a stylish subtle, modern way to grow 4 plants. this will be great for all levels and will save big on energy and nutrition. you just have to prune, it can even draw water into itself. anbd its 4 plants!!! stick here and youll see it in action. ive decided to change the order in tents. now we have super strong Purple berry Kush with the returned and super strong sweet seeds Sweet cherry pie. so one tent is the strong, and the other tent is now perma auto flower, which serves for additional veg for girls who fall behind their grow peers. hope that makes sense. i think my net is pretty useless other than a visual to plan nodes. i guess the real support will come from placing more plastic rods around the colas and fastening them. hope Christmas was kind to everyone. this oncoming week will be the last week of veg i think for tent two and we flip to flower. thanks for looking.
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2 months and 3 days this auto is a killer, I put her in a 5 gallon pot, because why not? well first of all her root ball was tiny i'd be surprised if she went all the way down actually. You'd easily fit her into a 2L pot and get a ball park result. I might add a few in my next grow to fill the space beween the tray and the wall I have just enough space for one row in a 4x4 that's like 8 plants lol . If i do that I'll cross her side colas in front of her so there's no damage with the tent when it get sucked in when it's closed. What I really want to do is to do a full tent with these little pots, maybe do it SOG coco, because you can get a shit ton of the small pots in there then pull a decent amount of bud - strength in numbers! The harvest went okay, went in chopped it down at like < 5% ambers all milky not clears. hung it up to dry, it was moist the first three days but then on day 4 it dried out almost instantly, i pulled it and jarred it with boveda 62% (I couldnt find the 58s anywhere??) stems and all, prayed for 10 days, didnt open them, no burping necessary, not really with what happened and the boveda in there. Came out incredible. Strong, like I said, really smooth smoke, snow white ash, and it litterally tastes like grapes. Can't believe it how much it tastes distinctive, i'm guessing the rudiralis cross really supports the grapey taste. when you're pulling the smoke is sweet and a grapes, and it's not other berries, it's really grapes. For sure one of the better smokes I've ever had, and I smoked some GSCxGrape cross recently, these reminded me of that smoke but better on the grapes-side of things, still earthy though maybe a hint of coffee... The plant itself grew just like other rudiralis-dominant strains I've had, straight up in a pinetree shape, side colas grew almost as tall as the main cola the end. She had really thick indica leaves, amazing green colors on the stems even after the chop, that contrasted with the incredibly dark purple and royal purple flowers. Straight from the start of flower the purnurples started creeping straight from the flower nodes onto the leaves. Their coloration process was really amazing to watch happen purples literally bleeding onto the leaves. as she flowered, her nodes opened up in typical "strawberry"-strain fashion, like making those nice open flowers, full of trichomes and sugar leaves covered in trichs and oil. Loved it ! She didnt really smell that loud until the very end then she really smelled strong like lemon peel, a testament to how strong she actually is. If I find the space, i'll try to make some extracts from a full tent, probably the best vape juice anyone ever has tasted.