December 27, 2023 Day 113
Strawberry Gorilla:
Day 3 Curing
I just got my grove bags, so there won't be any burping. 2 weeks of curing time should do it. Maybe 3
Gorilla Cookies:
This lady is nearly done now. I think I started flushing a little late. As in today. The top half of the plant is just about ready for harvest while the lower half still has white pistils. Lots of trichomes, but still not ready yet.
So I removed the wick system and will be top watering Flawless Finish as needed. She my be harvest ready in the next few days. Maybe tomorrow? I don't know.
I have the lights coming in tomorrow, so those should help speed the maturing process along quickly.
Anyway, I'll be harvesting very soon. I think I'll remove some fan leaves before harvest. Just to make trimming gonna little faster and to give more air flow while drying.
It's raining and gross today. Unfortunately, that means the RH in the tent is too high. So I need to keep an eye today. Open the tent up every couple of hours to let any extra moisture out.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 73.2°
RH: 52.6%
VPD: 1.30 kPa
December 28, 2023
Strawberry Gorilla:
Day 4 Curing
The whole yield is in a quarter pound grove bag now. It's sealed so there's nothing to do but let it cure for the next 4 weeks. I can't wait. This stuff is fire!
Gorilla Cookies:
This lady definitely has a bunch of amber trichomes on the tops, but after further inspection, its more like a quarter of the plant is ready for harvest. Just the tops. So the supplemental lighting may help things move along. I'm not expecting anything of substance, but it will certainly mature faster and I'll be able to harvest sooner.
She got about 1.5 liters of Flawless Finish top feed today. She'll be needing a new top feed every couple of days from now on. I only expect her to last another week. Maybe a little less, but still no fade on this lady. However, her leaves are popping off without any pressure. Just touch and some of them pop right off. Some of them won't even take a pulling or bending. So she's definitely not quite ready yet.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 74.1°
RH: 55.5%
VPD: 1.25 kPa
It's rainy and humid out here, so the tent is suffering from it. It's not too bad, but it has been hovering over 56% and that's unacceptable. Even with the tent door wide open, it only goes down to around 52%. It shouldn't last more than a few more hours. We just need the temp to drop a bit and everything will level out. At least down to around 51% for now. We have a could front coming in soon, so that'll fix the issue.
December 29, 2023
Strawberry Gorilla:
Day 5 Curing
Gorilla Cookies:
She is just about ready. The top seems like it's definitely ready to go, but I want the lower part of the plant to mature up a bit. Hopefully the supplemental lighting will help move that along.
She will need another flush tomorrow. I'll give her around 3 to 5 days. I won't be able to do a dark period with this one. The tent will already have a drying plant in it and they won't be able to fit in there at the same time. Unless they are both drying. On the other hand, I may be able to squeeze both in there. We shall see.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 74.1°
RH: 52.7%
VPD: 1.32 kPa
December 30, 2023
Strawberry Gorilla:
Day 6 Curing
Gorilla Cookies:
She isn't showing much, but I don't really expect her to with the new lights. She is too far along. I'm just hoping for a faster maturity rate. She definitely needs to be harvested within the next week. She got another flush today with the Flawless finish. I don't know how many flushes she has left before harvest, but I doubt it's much. Maybe 2 or 3? No signs of fading though. It's strange. This plant and the smaller on in the main tent haven't faded at all. While the big one in the main tent looks like she will have a wonderful fade. I wonder what I'm doing wrong with this one. Maybe the soil is just too rich for the short term flushing. Maybe she really needs a full 2 weeks of flush. We shall see. I will check trichomes tomorrow I think. I don't think I'll see much difference from 2 days ago. Not in the lower part of the plant that is. The tops are all ready to go. They could certainly use a tiny bit more time, but they are definitely ready to go now.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 73.2°
RH: 50.7%
VPD: 1.34 kPa
December 31, 2023
Strawberry Gorilla:
Day 7 Curing
Gorilla Cookies:
She's taking a bit longer than expected, well, actually I originally expected about a week after another Gorilla Cookies from the main tent. I harvested it today. This lady looks like she may be harvest ready in the next 3 to 5 days. I'm hoping she will take a bit longer so I can clear out the dry tent for her. She got about a liter of Flawless Finish today. I'm not sure if she is still as thirsty as she once was. Honestly, I can't tell. She was using the wick system so efficiently, before, I couldn't say how much she was actually drinking at the time. Maybe a liter a day? So she may have not changed her drinking volume at all. Which also means she isn't ready for harvest. The lower part of the plant is still immature. However, the supplemental lighting seems to be helping to move things along. We shall see. Let's hope for some extra time. Ultimately 10ndays would be perfect. But I'm almost certain that won't be a thing. It's too far away compared to her maturity level, especially with the main tops. Those are all nearly ready to go as it is. They could be harvested anytime. But I can still hold off anyway for more amber trichomes. Her leaves are loaded with them, but I don't see a bunch on the buds yet. I'd like to see 20% amber with this plant and preferably no clear.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 72.6°
RH: 47.8%
VPD: 1.40 kPa
January 1, 2024 Happy New Year!
Strawberry Gorilla:
Day 8 Curing
Gorilla Cookies:
I believe the lights are doing the job now. The lower part of the canopy is starting to harden off, pistils are turning orange and trichomes are starting to turn cloudy. At least from what I can see.
She got another top watering today with about a liter of Flawless Finish. It looks like she is still drinking at the same rate as before. I wonder if I started flushing a bit too early. It's quite possible. But maybe not. The top of the plant is ready to go as it has been for nearly a week.
I'm going to check the trichomes in the next day or 2. I don't think it's absolutely necessary at the moment as I can tell the bottom of the plant is still very immature, but moving along nicely. I wonder if foxtails take less time to finish up than a solid bud. An interesting theory. However, the plant has been about a week behind anyway due to the few stressors she was under.
Anyway, I think I can hold off harvesting for the week coming up.
Update:
I had to turn the main light intensity down from 40% to 30% for the large plant in the main diary. The PPFD is around 750 now.
Apparently the light intensity should be dropped around this time anyway, so maybe I'm doing a good thing for this Gorilla Cookies. I'm leaving the supplemental lighting alone for now. I believe it is doing something.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 72.9°
RH: 46.3%
VPD: 1.45 kPa
January 2, 2024
Strawberry Gorilla:
Day 9 Curing
Gorilla Cookies:
Today was another top feed of Flawless Finish. She is cruising through water at a decent rate. I'm pretty sure I was too early with her flushing.
The supplemental lighting seems to have perked her right up. The lower part of the plant is showing healthy deep green growth instead of the light green from before. The little budlets are swelling up as well. They aren't tight, dense or anything like that. There are clusters of them all over the lower branches. No real formed buds. But will be great with the trim. At least from what I won't be able to salvage as a bud. Even a loose bud is better than a trim bud.
I've also decided to wait to harvest this lady for when the dry tent is cleared out of another Gorilla Cookies that's in there. It should have around 8 days left. Frankly, I'm not worried about it. It'll be a good experiment to see how this strain does with a higher percentage of amber trichomes. Although, at this rate, I don't think 8 days is off the mark by much. I know a lot can happen in 8 days, but I don't think the lower part of the plant will have a problem with it. Lots of clear trichomes. Plenty of cloudy, but definitely too many clear.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 72.9°
RH: 45.2%
VPD: 1.47 kPa