🌱 Week 4 - Black Diamond Auto - Plant A 8×8 Adventure | Learning What Nature Wants to Teach Another week has passed inside the 8×8 Adventure, and every day reinforces why this project is so exciting. Unlike traditional autoflower grows, every plant in this room was germinated directly under a 12/12 light schedule. There was never a long vegetative period waiting before flowering. Instead, each plant has had to build its entire structure while already living under flowering conditions. It is a technique that fascinates me because it reveals just how different every individual phenotype can be. Some decide to begin flowering almost immediately. Others invest precious time building roots and branches before finally committing to reproduction. That is exactly why every plant receives its own diary. This week belongs to Black Diamond Auto - Plant A. ⸻ 🌿 A Completely Different Personality While several sisters have already started showing obvious flowering characteristics, this lady had other plans. Instead of rushing toward bloom, she kept investing energy into building herself. The result is becoming obvious. She is developing into one of the strongest structural plants inside the room. Long internodes. Strong branches. Excellent vigor. Beautiful symmetry. She almost seems to be saying, “I’m not in a hurry… I’m building something worth waiting for.” Sometimes the slow starters end up becoming the biggest surprises. ⸻ 🌱 Why Growing Under 12/12 Is So Interesting One thing I always enjoy explaining is why this project exists in the first place. Most growers veg their plants for several weeks before switching lights to 12/12. Here, the challenge is completely different. The plants experience flowering light from the day they emerge. That means every single day matters. Every root developed… Every leaf produced… Every branch formed… …is competing against the plant’s internal biological clock. Watching each phenotype decide how it responds to that pressure is one of the most educational parts of this entire adventure. ⸻ 🌿 Gentle Training Instead of Force This week continued with very gentle Low Stress Training. Rather than forcing dramatic bends or aggressive shaping, I’m simply helping light reach every future flowering site. Leaf tucking. Soft branch positioning. Small adjustments every day. Sometimes even gently bending large fan leaves out of the way instead of removing them. At this stage every healthy leaf is still acting like a solar panel, producing energy for everything that comes next. The goal isn’t to force the plant into a shape. The goal is to guide her while allowing genetics to express themselves naturally. ⸻ 💧 A New Chapter Begins: AutoPot Time One of the biggest milestones this week is that Plant A has officially graduated into the AutoPot system. This is something I’ve been looking forward to throughout the entire grow. For anyone unfamiliar with AutoPots, they are a completely passive self-watering system. There are no pumps. No timers. No electricity controlling irrigation. Instead, everything revolves around one incredibly clever little device called the AquaValve. The AquaValve constantly monitors the water level inside the tray beneath the pot. As the plant drinks, the tray empties. Only then does the AquaValve automatically open, allowing fresh nutrient solution to refill the tray before closing again. This creates a natural wet-and-dry rhythm while giving the roots constant access to perfectly oxygenated nutrient solution whenever they need it. The plant decides when to drink. Not me. It’s a beautiful example of letting nature control the schedule. ⸻ 🔬 Why This Is Such A Fun Experiment Even more interesting… Plant A won’t be alone for long. The current plan is to compare her performance against another Black Diamond that may remain outside the AutoPot system. Same genetics. Same room. Same environment. Different irrigation method. It’s still early, so I won’t draw any conclusions yet, but this comparison could become one of the most educational parts of this entire project. Sometimes the best lessons come from simply letting the plants answer the questions for us. ⸻ 🌡️ Environment The room continues running very consistently. Environment • 🌡️ Day Temperature: 33°C • 🌙 Night Temperature: 25°C • 💧 Relative Humidity: 63% • ⚡ EC: 1.35 • pH: 6.1 • 💨 CO₂: 639 ppm • 💦 Solution Temperature: 26°C Even with the warmer daytime temperatures, the plants continue showing healthy metabolism and vigorous growth. ⸻ 🍽️ Feeding This Week Current nutrient program: • Terra Grow — 1.8 ml/L • Power Roots — 1 ml/L • Pure Zym — 1 ml/L • Sugar Royal — 1 ml/L The feeding remains intentionally balanced. No need to chase high EC values while the plant is still investing heavily into structural growth. Healthy roots first. Strong stems second. Flowers will come naturally. ⸻ 🌱 Looking Ahead By the end of the week, she’s finally beginning to show the first signs that flowering is approaching. Nothing explosive yet. Just those subtle little changes every grower loves spotting: slightly tighter node spacing… new vertical growth… the first hints that she’s preparing to transition. Considering the structure she’s already built, I have a feeling she could become one of the larger plants in this room. Only time will tell. And that’s half the fun. ⸻ 💚 Final Thoughts One of my favourite things about this hobby is that every plant writes its own story. We provide the environment. The nutrition. The light. The care. But ultimately, genetics decide how the story unfolds. Plant A is teaching patience. She’s showing that not every plant needs to sprint into flower to become something special. Sometimes building a strong foundation is the smartest strategy of all. I’m excited to see what she becomes over the next few weeks. ⸻ 🙏 Thank You As always, thank you to everyone following this journey. To GrowDiaries for giving growers around the world a place to document and learn together. To Plagron for providing the nutrition that keeps these ladies thriving. To FOG LEDs for delivering the photons that fuel every new leaf. To Zamnesia and the talented breeders behind these wonderful genetics. To every grower who leaves a comment, shares advice, asks questions, celebrates the victories, or learns from the mistakes. To the silent readers following along from around the world. To the supporters. To the critics. To the old friends. To the new ones joining every week. Thank you for being part of this adventure. Growers Love and see you all next week. 🌱💚

7/6/2021 - Trimmed lower fan leaves as they were being blocked completely, and a few tips were yellowing. - Continuing to lightly bend the upper branches so the lowers can catch up. - Bought some Gaia Green veg + bloom dry fertilizers as I expect I'll be flipping to flower soon. 7/7/2021 - Watered in a little bit of Gaia Green's veg fertilizer. - Foliar fed w/ DIY kelp extract. - Yellowing/browing on a new leaf, can't identify what it is. - Staked down the branches on the upper mains this evening to open her up for more light penetration, she was gettin' real bushy. 7/9/2021 - Trimmed out middle to expose canopy

Cant wait to harvest them. Only water right now. Till the harvest. Dense headbud. Lets see what the results will be.

The colas keep filling out and getting longer and smell amazing. It's been warmer and more humid outside so RH in the tent has gone up. I added a mini air purifier I wasn't using (no ozone) as an extra precaution against mildew. I woke up in the middle of the night on Monday and realized that the air purifier has a light on it so I got up and turned it off. I was worried that I'd messed with the dark cycle so I left them in darkness for an extra 2.5 hours. My cool tube fan fell off the next day, onto my plants. They look undamaged. I taped it up again and set up a safety wire like the filter and fan have. I need a better solution for next cycle. The buds are beautiful and having an even canopy is great. It's hard not thinking about the end result. The buds still look small compared to the big colas of a traditional grow shape but there's still a couple weeks left. There is some bud formation under the canopy but it's a little light. The tops of the colas are fat but short on the 7 gallon plants and taller and thinner on the 5 gallon plants. I did leave a couple offshoots on that developed in late veg/early flower. By the time I caught them, I felt they were too mature to chop and I thought they helped fill out certain areas. But those ones have fewer bud sites and tend to be just a cola on a branch that shoots straight up which is still good. I do wonder if less crowding would have given me bigger buds, but I think it has more to do with pot size. This is week 7 of flower. I switched to half strength nutes and started adding fancy molasses (18ml/gallon). I broke my pH tester and didn't replace my SCROG net until after I finally watered the next day so the canopy changed a bit. I took the opportunity to rearrange the plants a bit. Crystal formation increased a crazy amount the day after I started adding molasses. I think I'll keep adding molasses even during flush. The CBD Blue Shark has this really beautiful white glow. The pistils are very strong and white and the trichromes reflect back this silver light. The leaves are a nice semi-glossy dark green which gives great contrast. It's just a beautiful plant. The Wedding Cake has a lot more colour with lots of red hairs and some yellow tones in the pistils. The fan leaves are more prone to yellowing and death than the leaves on the CBD BS. The buds seem more structurally dense and are really working on these pyramid shapes that look like delicious orange and green snacks. The buds on the CBD Blue Shark are more symmetrical and kind of otherworldly like some kind of sea creature.

What up fam, weekly update on these absolute gorgeous girls. Nothing happing much this week besides the flower sites maturing more day by day. Over all its been like cruise control, still feeling 16oz daily. Happy Growing.

Day 7 - 1 plant is a little behind but all In all everything seems to be going great! Thanks for following & happy growing friends!✌️🏼🌱 Day 8 - All is well! Happy growing friends✌️🏼🌱 Day 9 - Ladies got fed today! Still doing good! Day 10 - Getting bigger🌱🌱 Day 11 - Got water today at 6.5, One is still growing a little slow but overall going great!👍🏼✌️🏼🌱 Day 12- Really hoping the slow one catches up the others are growing quick! Day 13- Got water today at 6.5 PH, will get fed again Monday!

I did not add nutrients this week, but I did transplant to a 45 gallon pot and added more FFOF soil. There were strong winds reaching 38-40mph; no damage due to the wind. I did notice some damage on the leaves, but this was due to a soap solution I sprayed on the plants that was too strong combined with condensation and high temperatures. I am also being careful of controlling the caterpillar population. I don't tent or screen so I have to deal with all types of insects and issues outdoors throughout the year. I want to believe that the more natural the grow, the better the final product. Final comment this week is that plentiful watering during wind and heat storms goes a long way with the plant. She can take a lot if given the right nutrition and hydration. The smell is intensifying and the buds are starting to form. A long way still from harvest...about 16 to 18 weeks approximately. Getting several monarch butterflies visiting.

Me encantó la cepa y su facilidad de cultivo ! Aun que tuve muchos problemas ambientales y climáticos . Me atrasé unas 3 a 5 semanas con estas nenas , pero nos recuperamos bien ! Usamos malla scrog chilena #kanovicultivo , lo mejor que he usado en malla scrog , no se le comparan , su espacio preciso! . Las 4 comenzaron en pequeños vasos , luego de 1 a 2 semanas , trasplanté a macetero de 5.8lts , finalizaron 3 en maceteros textil 19lts y 1 en macetero de 20lts AirPot ! Comencé a brindarle 20hrs de luz / 4 hrs oscuridad , a la 3era semana 19hrs de luz y a la 5ta semana bajé hasta el 18 / 6 . Usé un panel QB de 480w regulables , chips marca Samsung de 3500k , chips epistar UV 660nm iR , el mix completo gracias a mi bro MKleds chile ! Se pasó ! De todas maneras recomiendo una potencia mínima de 600w ( QB LED ) para espacio de 120x .. Usé un bio estimulante chileno , que a mi parecer fue uno de los mejores que he visto y usado ! El grande #trichomemania , te cuento que este producto activa un mecanismo de defensa en la planta (SAR) , haciendo que reaccione y se trate de defender con mayor producción de resina , terpenos y tricomas ! Es increíble ! A los 24hrs tienes resultados , un saludo grande a los hermanos ! El mejor producto 10000000%.... Grande eva seed , buenisima esta cepa , me dí cuenta que si se deja madurar un poco más , su sabor es más frutal candy , exquisita cepa !.... Estamos probando con un papel de blunt organico 100% libre de tabaco marca *jamaican buzz*...al fumarla su efecto es notorio , enseguida viene el efecto psicoactivo y cerebral , se viene a la vista un tanto distorsionado el entorno ...la vision un poco más brillante , y a la vez relajado .. Hoy 18 de agosto estamos probando con un papel de celulosa organico marca lion rolling circus ( foto al final del album ) , quema bastante bien , al parecer ya está casi en su totalidad secado , combustión lenta , buen sabor afrutado citrico con toques candy diesel ...uuff efecto despues de 3 quemadas ya por los cielos , totalmente cerebral y estimulante , un gusto charlar con amigos ! Al manipular su fruto , la planta expele un olor afrutado con limon maduro y skunk , con finales de candy terra , una delicia , muy buena cepa , ahora mientras escribo me siento un tanto "mareado" con esa mitad de blunt ! Buenisinaaa!... ____ La verdad cuando comencé a cortar cada planta era como llenar "infinitamente" el armario donde dejaría secandola , se llenó casi la mitad y un poco más sólo con 1 planta cortada ! Increíble producción , yo estimo unos 90g por planta aprox , ya he consumido un buen peso además ...veremos en estos días que esté por completo su secado ! Esta riquísima , sus efectos fuertísimos ...100% ... ___ Una cosecha buenísima, muy parecido como obtengo resultados en comparación con el sodio , todo bien me gustó la experiencia !.... Además tuve la oportunidad de hacer extracción en seco de su materia vegetal . Obtuvimos entre un 18 a 20% de retorno ! Para mi primera vez , geniaaaal ! Su utilizó prensa de 12 toneladas , de apretó a 80°C por 4 minutos . . . Usen lemon king ! Una delicia .

I should’ve scrog’ed with my strongest two plants. Trying to pull some very heady buds so went all out on Advsnced Nutrients. Going to A/b test with budget synthetics next grow

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another update on the Gorilla Glue #4 x White Widow grow! We are officially in week six of flower, and things are looking fantastic. The buds are really swelling up nicely, and I'm starting to see a lot more orange hairs popping up across the canopy. Environmental conditions have been solid over the last couple of days. Temperatures have ranged between 20°C at night and 28°C during the daytime. Humidity spiked a bit high today, reaching 63% for a few hours, but it usually sits comfortably between 50% at night and 57% during the day. Since the strain label estimates a finish time of eight to nine weeks, I'm getting ready to begin flushing in the next four days to ensure a clean, smooth end result. Overall, the plant is looking super healthy and everything is on track. I did a light defoliation today and plan to step that up over the coming days to open up airflow and light penetration. Let's see how she stands next week! Thanks for stopping by and wish you all a nice day! Best regards, Growfather

Started using overdrive this week let's see how it goes

I am dropping a RSV11 from Terpyz mutant Genetics. I ightly scuffed the seed ends, and dropped it in the water. I will wait 24 to 48 hours or as soon as I see a tap root. Nothing else to report on at the moment. Thank you Terpyz Mutant Genetics, 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

All week I have been doing root flushing

she is in her last stage ... after a lot of patience ... just one more week for her ... she does not look perfect like others ... she fought against all the plagues and she resisted very well .. .. continues with its smell of pine. mint ... and its typical smell indica ... it has 154 days from its germination .... on April 29 will have 100 days of flowering and will be the day of your court ...

On day 1 the reservoirs PH is 6.2. I defoliated leaves blocking the inside/lower canopy to give more light to lower growth points keeping the top 2 leaves on cola tops. The girls are deff still stretching :) So far so good. I'm glad I flipped to flower early this run and could see even dropping the veg time by another week. Its tough working in a small grow space but I'm determined to master it lol. I lowered the lights intensity from 85% to 75% to give my tops 600-800 PPFD. Usually I just blast the plants with 100% until the stretch is over but I'm realizing that I'm way over doing it based on my quantum sensors data. On day 2 the reservoirs PH is 6.1. The girls are still stretching and putting out new preflowers. My tallest cola is 9" from the light(the other lower colas are between 10"-12" away from grow light). On day 3 I adjusted the reservoirs PH up from 6.0 to 6.3. My tallest cola is 8.5" from the grow light. Lower colas are mostly 10" away from light. On day 4 the reservoirs PH is 6.3. My tallest cola is 7.5" from my grow light and the average/lower cola distance from grow light is 10-11". I defoliated large leafs that are blocking lower bud sites and or touching each other causing wet spots on the leaves. I want as much airflow as possible as I can not control my night time humidity which can be as high as 80%-90%. My last run I noticed some sugar leaves touching my grow box walls and this caused them to start rotting. I want to avoid that this time around so I'm being careful not to have any wet spots from leaves laying on each other as well as keeping all colas far enough from my walls. In the future I would like to have the ability for de humidification but being in a small grow box in a garage makes it difficult to control my lung room. On day 5 I adjusted the reservoirs PH up from 6.1 to 6.3. My tallest cola is 7" from the grow light. Lower colas are mostly 9"-10" away from light. I defoliated and removed lower bud sites not receiving enough light. On day 6 the reservoirs PH is 6.1. My tallest cola is 6.5" from the grow light. Lower colas are mostly 9"-10". My tallest cola is getting 1000 PPFD while my lowers are 600-800 PPFD. On day 7 I changed out the reservoir and adjusted the PH to 6.1. The tallest cola is 6" from the light. Lower colas are mostly 9"-10"

The wheater was very bad. i hope for a good harvest but it is so hard. too much rain and wind.

She's looking gorgeous, very healthy thanks to my Florians living organics,she's has everything she needs, I'm dealing with some problems with fungus gntas due to all tje organic matter that there is in tje soil so I'll be fixing that problem using nematodes steinernema feltiae, fungus gnats eat you plants roots and all the nuts of your soil, so it's important for you to fight them as fast as possible. Enjoy the diary! ✌️💚❤️✌️