This grow turned out to be quite a journey.
Originally, this run was meant to be a simple between-grow project, something to keep the season going outdoors, without too much effort. But plans changed, and the Orange Sherbet ended up in the tent, where it took a completely different direction than expected.
She grew big and strong early on, but the LST was tricky. she didn’t respond very well at first, and shaping her the way I wanted took a lot of time and patience. It was interesting to see how she stretched and filled out later, but overall, the structure stayed somewhat awkward to manage.
Throughout the grow I struggled with CalMag and potassium balance. I tried several adjustments, sometimes with high CalMag doses, but it never fully stabilized. It’s still unclear if that came from the strain itself or from the BioBizz line, but it made the mid-to-late phase more difficult than I had hoped.
The flowering time was also much longer than advertised. the breeder mentions around 9 weeks, but in reality this one took closer to 14–15 weeks total. What was supposed to be a quick side project turned into a long, demanding run.
On the bright side, she delivered a very solid yield. a bit over 160 g of trimmed buds plus another 50 g of popcorn, well above 1 g/W. The aroma is lovely after 10 days of curing: creamy, with vanilla and a subtle orange note returning.
However, the buds are airy, not as dense as I hoped. The effect and flavor are great, but visually it’s more on the average side.
Even so, this grow was one of the most instructive I’ve done.
I learned a lot about deficiency management, humidity control, watering and how far genetics and environment interact.
Going forward, I’ll take a break from autos and focus on photoperiod strains again. I just prefer the control and predictability they offer.
All in all: not my prettiest grow, but a very valuable one.
About drying in dry ferm/dry age and regular drying: the material in the bags took a few days longer to dry which is said to be good (regular dry was 7 days, bags was 9 or 10). initially I think the buds from bags look better but now in curing I can't really tell a difference, not visually and not in the nose. Let's see how everything evolves over time but honestly I am not expecting it to differ a lot from regular drying.