The Grow Awards 2026 🏆
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Thank you. Growing cannabis is an art that seems to evolve as you learn it. While it may only take a little knowledge to get started, It seems that this may take a life-time to perfect (doubt I'll ever make that category, but I will certainly try). So thank-you to the community that Shares, Comments, Follows, and Likes. Your efforts in any of these actions make these journals a worth-while and perfect way for us all to learn. I personally appreciate it. Also a huge Thanks has to go out to Grow Diaries for making this community even possible. Your efforts to supply the data storage alone is more than enough, but you the fact that you dont stop there and constantly try to improve the experience even more makes this my favorite community to to share on. And then lastly, but certainly not least, a heartfelt Thank-you to Fast Buds for selecting me as 2nd place in a photo contest and making these seeds available, I'll try my best to honor the gift and opportunity to grow these. Your sponsorship in keeping the community active here is an in-valuable learning tool of its own. And then your branding/research helps give me confidence in knowing that I am working with great genetics before I even start my grow. ---------------------------- Germination Start 2/13/24 to 2/18/24 2/19 to 2/25 Veg Days 1 to 7 Week 0 to 1 Germination took 6 days from dropping in water to transplanting into 1 gallon pots. 29hours in a glass of 6.3ph room temp RO water. Something I would only attempt if they were both floating. They were,so leaving them that long they were able to crack open. I then placed both in paper towels wet with the glass water and pasted to the sides of the glass for 3 days (1 day too long in retrospect). I placed in rapid rooter pods and closed with toothpick tips. They popped out from the pods 1 day later but I gave them 2 days before transplant. Video: Incubator water level is key for rapid rooter pods to wick properly during incubation. Transplant to 1 gal pots: I am using a 50/50, 50%perlite/50%soil with a .5lb of dolomite lime and a .5ml of flora micro added to .5 gallon of RO water (Im mixing 2 gallons of soil total so the water to soil ratio is 1/4 of the total medium volume) to achieve a soil tested ph of 6.4. I am using a 50/50 soil/perlite mix because I plan to use these in auto pots. I also used about 1 cup of the same soil mix water to pour around the plant after transplant; you can see how the perlite rises to the top where I did this. I sprayed two domes and covered - I plan to leave covered for the first week. Feed: I kept them under the domes and sprayed every day that I didnt feed them, to keep humidity up while I let them find water in the soil. By the end of the week I took the domes off and took pictures. Feed this week was another 1 cup of 6.3ph water 5 days after transplant. Feed plan next week will increase the amount to 2 cups of plain-no-nute water with about 4 days between feeds. I want to see the water run through so if I need to use more than 2 cups I will. The idea is to water deep and through, but then make them search for more before the next feed, hopefully spreading the roots out while doing it. Veg Plan: I plan on 8 colas for each plant. So that will be 3 topping days and a total of 7 cuts. I will want to cut the first time on day 21 if I have 5+ nodes. I will transfer to 5 gallon auto pots with-in 1 week of the first topping. Once I have 3 nodes of new growth past the first topping, I will top those two branches to the first node again. (that's 3 cuts total by this point) Then, after 3 new nodes of growth after that, I will do a last topping on the 4 branches. (4 new cuts added to make a total of 7 cuts and 8 colas) I will train the branches using LST/HST with tie downs as soon as I can after the first topping day to help maintain the branches growing where I want them to. I will also introduce an adjustable tomato ring after they have settled into the 5 gallon forever pots to provide support and mobility Hopefully all goes well, and I will have 1 to 2 weeks of growth before flip after week 8. I think it sounds more ambitious than it really is, but if you follow this journal, we will see together.
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@xTaps
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23.08 The Drainmaster moved into the tent to control the drain. Defoliated and lollipopped them. 25.08 First run with the drain system. Nutrient Solution (Tank): Volume: 8.5 L EC: 3.05 pH: 5.5 Nutrients: Advanced Nutrients Micro/Grow/Bloom + CalMag Irrigation Run: Pump time: 30 minutes Total Drain: 5.0 L (≈ 60%) Drain EC: 2.6 Drain pH: 6.0 🔎 Observations Drain volume was far too high (target is ~20%). Drain EC lower than input EC → medium was relatively “empty”, plants absorbed nutrients quickly. pH drift from 5.5 → 6.0 shows some buffering effect left in the reused substrate, but limited. Substrate behaves more like coco than soil now (low buffer, fast response). 💡 Insight / Lesson Learned 30 minutes pump time is way too long → resulted in 60% runoff instead of 20%. For 8 × 1 L pots, a single irrigation event should be ~1.0–1.2 L total, with ~200–250 ml runoff. Solution: shorten pump time to ~5 minutes and re-test runoff. Better approach: run shorter, more frequent irrigations (daily) with a lower EC (2.0–2.2), instead of heavy feedings (EC 3.0) only 3× per week. This will keep EC more stable in the root zone and prevent salt buildup in the tiny 1 L pots. 27.08 Adjusted the pump timer to 5 minutes, gave the first dose of PK13/14.
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July 6: looking good stating week 11. Nice response to the last round of topping to form a 16 cola manifold. After a couple more days of growth I’ll do another scrog layer to open it up further to the sun. So far so good. 👍 July 7: added scrog net. This is tied to half filled water bottles that can move if the plant catches some wind. Main reason at this growth stage is to help expose the growth tips and to hold down the fan leaves. Basically, I’m doing this instead of tomato cages because cannabis plants are tough and a net is better than a metal cage. July 8: hot 33 C today. Extra water, misting during peak sun, and some seaweed extract in the water. Continuing to mist regularly to make up for low humidity. Plant looks nice and green and vigorous. Growing at more than an inch per day now. July 9; hot again. Misting every few hours and foliar of seaweed extract and potassium silicate to help beat the heat. July 10: hot but this should be the peak day. Re-scrogged using a loose scrog layer. The overnight low here was almost 20 C which is super warm. Started another (third) lazy compost tea. Ingredients in a 5 gallon pail are 4 gallons (16 L) of water, compost, shredded coco coir fibre so bacteria have physical media to grow on, 1 tbsp of seaweed extract and humic acid blend, and 0.8 mL/L of Monster Maxx. About 1.5 tbsp of blackstrap molasses. No pH adjustment yet, and will let stand until end of day to allow some bacterial growth. July 12: made it through the heat wave and she looks great this morning.
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Hello guys, well so the girl is not pretty but not ugly, i do not know fi in the end recovered or not, but she small buds are growing. I can not feed it with nutrients, because the leaves goin down ( like to much water ). I Imagine it will bé the mix of substrate with a worm Humus, with carries Nutrient to spare. Can not see problems in the leaves. I Don’t know, we will see
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nov 30. megacrop 1.06gr/litre ph'ed at 6.30. about 450 ml dec 2. megacrop 1.06gr/litre ph'ed at 6.30. about 500 ml dec 4. megacrop 1.06gr/litre ph'ed at 6.28. about 500 ml LED is at 80%
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Weather has been much better this week. Put in some nematodes to try and regulate on some fungus gnats. No feeding yet this week. Topped the Deep Purple this week, and took a little to much off the top lol 😂 but should be quite all right. Gonna start some LST this next week. Super fun and grow on 🤙🏻
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Let’s go Day 36 !!! This week went real great, girls built up a lot of structure, and stayed super healthy ! Today they got fed just water phd at 6.5 ! They been really loving that balance! I also removed a lot of under trim since we are going into preflower , so had to shave up those legs lol ! It’s really great for them , the love that airflow , but don’t take off too much or you could shock your plants so be careful ! Can’t wait to see what these girls do this week ! Hope you all enjoy an are ready for another amazing productive week ! Peace , Love , an positive vibes to y’all Cheers LetsGrowwww!!! 😶‍🌫️💨💨💨💨
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did some light defoliation (lower larger leaves and the ones touching soil) on day 28. started feeding her bio-bloom as she transitions to pre-flower. next week will start feeding with top-max as well. looking healthy but im worried they wont grow as much as expected :(
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MIMOSA by ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS Week #22 Overall Week #5 Flower This week everything going good she got a sweet smell to her that's amazing her bud are starting to get thicker. Overall she's doing 👍 good this week!! Stay Growing!! ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS MIMOSA
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Slow growth due to not pH probably and lights to low but sorted now will post on 19th June as that's day 34 started on 16th may
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@Natrona
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Divine Seeds Auto V.2 Contest 👉Sponsored Grow👈 Auto Black Opium W14F9 8/31- 9/6 8/31 I did some pics and trichome checks. The trichomes are still mostly clear. With the lock out resolved, finally black opium is developing some pinks and oranges in her buds. I see pistils still pushing out when her trichomes are still clear. I think at least 3 more weeks are needed. Thank you all for your continued support and encouragement. Your likes and comments motivate me to keep sharing my journey. Let’s continue to learn to grow together! Stay green, growers love 💚🌿, 💫Natrona💫
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@rhodes68
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11/3 Week 6 Watered roughly one gal each @6.5PH, Fish Sh!t 5ml - Karo 1 tps /gal Flower Girl still in the pot, no deficiencies I can see, well new ones :) Mag-Sulfur Foliar spray (Epsom Salt 1tbs/gal) on all as leaving cal-mag out this time Moved the two healthy plants to the center of the light, they can use it, the others might respond well to lower levels. 11/4 Better pics uploaded Placed Brandy on a block of coco coir to bring her canopy up to Layla's level. Moved Maggie to the corner she has a stretch going that I HOPE is ending and I dont want to set the lights to her. Watching that plant carefully Considering a PK boost watching only Layla for that as the other two ... well hell what can they tell me? 11/5 Working to getting the canopy under control with one stunted plant and another stretching like crazy. Put a block under Brandy to move her up level with Layla. Trained down Maggie this growth needs to end, it was already stressed. Still giving light pref to healthy plants. 11/6 Raised lights three clicks, increased extraction, showing some heat stress in those edges. 11/7 Good results on the heat stress curling has ended. Noticed some improvement also in the tops of Brandy and Maggie, so raised lights another couple of clicks. See if it continues, coming up on a make or break feeding in couple of days. update Foliar Feed All - Epsom Salt 1tbs/gal Well Maggie's came today - To runoff- 1% peroxide - 5ml CalMag - PH 6.8 Hitting Sulfur as hard as I can. Before pics posted Brandy not dry enough waiting Layla just got fed but she got pics too as there are signs of Mag deficiency 1 gal 6.5 PH - CalMag 5ml - Fish Sh!t 5ml - Bio_Bloom 5ml as a PK booster JIC 11/8 Video of plants 24hrs after giving Maggie the h2o2 1% , think she looks better lets see how it goes 11/9 48 hrs after treatment and Maggie is showing great improvement, serious improvement in leaf structure and coloring. Pics at lights out tomorrow new week anyway. Brandy showing some improvement but its early. Canopy is level now so lights set to Maggie being slightly taller ***Last update before the new week.*** May have found ONE of my problems,certainly not THE problem, but one. I have been using lemon juice as a PH UP since we went organic late last spring. Because of all the problems I have been looking into a lot of things further and found that lemon juice begins to degrade as a PH up after as little as an hour. A 6.0 PH water gallon can go to 6.5ish in 24 hours simply sitting in a dark corner in a jug. One can imagine the variances in soil. Why I dont know but I am going back to chemical PH additives post haste in fact its already done.
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@BudXs
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Male plants have no place in the garden, as I have no need for reg pollen. You got fem pollen, hit me up looking at you @greenmachine. I am saddened by the sudden loss of this cultivar, but I will press on, never bitter, never looking back. I kill these plants off camera to keep it PG. Thanks for following the diary. And hey, thanks to @416fireman for starting and monitoring this contest. May not be here anymore, but I hope he checks in. Catch him on insta @416firemang
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@pareto
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Clearly got dominated by her pot mate. Looks and smells awesome though. She got planted about a week after her pot mate. Maybe thats why she got the short end of the stick. These plants are not mine. I am just documenting them. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Set up cost (fixed costs) -Lamp: 40€ -Timer: 3,5€ -Pot: 4€ -Total fixed costs: 47,5€ Given 5 years (or 15 grows) usage time translates to around 3,17€ per grow in materials. Variable costs: -Seeds: 13,17€ -Soil: 6€ -Fertilizer: 3,50€ -Power (100 days 18h/day): ~25,92€ (exact figure after harvest) -Total variable costs: ~48,59€ -Total costs per grow: ~51,76€
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Had to tie up branches to take the weight of these heavy ass nugs, can’t want to taste this smell orangey as f**k! 🔥🔥🔥 started flush midway through the week.
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Wk5, Day29, 5/4/22, Lost top and 2 side branches on #2 from tie downs... Still has 6-8 cola sites, still early in stretch, should bounce back Wk5, Day 34, 5/9/22, Bud sites have formed, heavy defoliation and tie downs, auto watering hooked up Wk5, Day 35, 5/10/22, video posted
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~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_ 😺💡🌱 Start week 4!! Plants seem good but 2 are still looking a little hungry,.. there was little change in their color 3-4 days after their last feeding so we fed them again but set PH to 6.5 this time to see if this helps them take it., we also gave 2ml/gal bloom solution to all plants..these seem a little on the small side but we've had a few auto strains start out this way before, i guess time will tell! 😺👌...The MarsHydro is running super cool in that tent, temps have looked great since fixing the timer issue..we'll be sure to update again midweek..thanks for stopping by and happy harvests everyone!! ❤️❤️❤️ ⚡Mars Hydro/SP-3000⚡ Specifications ⚙️: Diodes: Samsung LM301B / Osram 660nm (960 total!) Driver: Meanwell 300watt 🔌 (300W±5% @AC120V-277V) PPF: 824umol/S ☢️ PPE: 2.8 µmol/j 〰️〰️ Lifespan: >50k hrs ⌛ Veg Coverage: 3 x 5 ft 🌱 Flowering Coverage: 2 x 4 ft 🌼 Weight: 10.1 lbs (4.6kg) -The SP-3000 uses an aluminum heatsink (no fan) and the driver can be placed outside the tent 🌡️⬇️ -IP65 waterproof ratings, tolerant to high humidity grow environments 💦 .. -Up to 30 can be daisy-chained together and all controlled from a single light! 💡~💡~💡~💡~💡 ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ 11/9/21 😺 We moved the MarsHydro again to approx 18inches, I think this is the sweet spot, all the girls are praying again..I found a PAR chart done by a different grower at 19inches using the SP-3000 and numbers are incredible (I included a pic if his results)...we've been giving all plants 2ml/gal grow solution with every watering, i know its trace but I've overfed way too many autos and just assume play it safe..one of the autos is further along than the rest and she's now showing a little calcium deficiency, we added 3ml/gal calmag with her last feeding and will just monitor for now..thanks for reading my novel lol and happy harvests everyone!!! 😽 💨 ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
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The grow room is starting to smell really good. The girls are looking great and they are swelling and adding new hairs still. Two weeks at least and then we will see what the trichomes look like. Hoping they fade a little and seeing some slight yellowing of tips on fan and sugar leaves. I think P and K were a little high last two weeks, so straight water till the end now.