👑 8×8 Adventure – Week 15 🌿
Godfather OG – Pheno A by Zamnesia 👑🔥
💚 The Unhappy Queen's Final Growing Chapter — A Difficult Journey, a Beautiful Plant, and So Much More Still to Share!
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another chapter of the 8×8 Adventure! 🌱💚
And here she is...
Our Godfather OG Pheno A.
Our difficult girl.
Our unhappy Queen.
And, without a doubt, one of the plants that has made this adventure particularly memorable for me. 👑💚
My friends...
WE'RE FINALLY AT THE END OF HER GROWING JOURNEY! 😂🔥
And what a journey it has been!
If you've followed this diary from the beginning, you already know that this girl hasn't always made things easy for us. We've had our challenges, our questions, and our moments when we had to stop and look carefully at what was happening.
But look at her now.
Look at those flowers.
Look at the colours.
Look at the structure.
And look at how beautifully she has finished!
She's compact, she's dense, she's aromatic, and she's given us some genuinely beautiful flowers to photograph.
And the best part?
We're not finished telling her story yet.
This update is the final chapter of her growing journey, but we're dividing the post-harvest documentation into another report because there are simply too many photographs and too many details to squeeze everything into one update.
I know, I know... we're doing it again! 😂
But I have to be honest with you: when I take photographs, I don't just take hundreds of random pictures and hope a few turn out well.
Every photograph has a purpose.
Every angle shows something different.
Every close-up captures a detail I want to preserve.
And when I have a collection of photographs that tells the story of a plant, I genuinely struggle to choose only thirty and leave the rest behind.
We started this selection with around 127 files and a video, and there is still more material waiting to be shared!
So, my friends, please bear with me.
This report covers her final growing stage, some of our macro photography, the whole-plant drying process, our DryFerm bag experiment, and a first look at the trimming stage.
The next report will bring the remaining pieces together, including the harvest and trimming story, the final results, and the smoke review when we're ready to share it.
And trust me...
I have plenty to say about this girl. 👑🔥💚
For now, let's give our difficult Queen the spotlight she deserves!
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🌱 FROM SEED TO HARVEST — OUR 12/12 FROM SEED EXPERIMENT
Before we get into the final photographs, let's quickly recap what this project is all about.
Godfather OG Pheno A was part of our 8×8 Adventure, where twelve individual plants shared the same general growing environment.
One of the defining aspects of this experiment was our 12/12 from seed approach.
From the beginning, we kept the plants under a 12-hour light and 12-hour dark schedule rather than starting with a traditional longer vegetative lighting period.
Our goal was to document how different genetics and phenotypes would develop when grown under the same general environmental strategy.
And this girl certainly gave us a story worth documenting!
Throughout the run, we followed her development week by week, recording her appearance, structure, environmental conditions, and the challenges we encountered along the way.
She wasn't the easiest plant to grow.
But that doesn't make her any less interesting.
In fact, sometimes the more challenging plants teach us the most because they force us to pay attention, question our assumptions, and look beyond the obvious.
The other plants in the room had their own journeys.
Some were easier to follow.
Some had different structures.
Some developed at different speeds.
And Godfather OG Pheno A showed us her own personality from beginning to end.
That's the beauty of the 8×8 Adventure.
Twelve plants.
One shared room.
Different genetic expressions.
Twelve individual stories.
And now, we're documenting the final stages of this particular one.
👑🌱💚
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👑 THE UNHAPPY QUEEN — BUT LOOK AT THAT FINISH!
I've called this girl our unhappy Queen more than once throughout the diary.
And I'm not going to rewrite history now that we're reaching the end.
😂👑
She had her challenges.
There were moments when she made us work harder to understand what she needed.
She wasn't always the picture of a perfectly happy plant.
But look at what we have in front of us now!
She's finished with beautiful flowers, a compact structure, and an appearance that made the studio photography session well worth the effort.
Her journey wasn't perfect, and I don't want to pretend it was.
But a challenging growing experience and a beautiful final result are not mutually exclusive.
Both can be true.
And that's something I genuinely appreciate about this girl.
She reminded us that growing isn't always a straight line from seed to harvest.
Sometimes you have to observe, adapt, learn, and keep going.
And sometimes, at the end of that journey, you look at the plant and realise just how much you appreciate what she's become.
This is one of those moments for me.
She's not simply another plant coming out of the 8×8 room.
She's a plant we've followed closely, a phenotype that kept us thinking, and a girl who has become one of my personal favourites.
We'll talk more about why in the next report.
For now, let's appreciate this beautiful final chapter.
💚👑🌸
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📸 STUDIO TIME — MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY BEFORE HARVEST
Of course, we couldn't finish this girl's growing journey without giving her some time in the studio!
We took her out for photographs, including close-ups and macro shots, to capture the details of her flowers before moving further into the post-harvest process.
And I absolutely love these photographs.
When you're looking at the entire plant, you see the overall structure and how everything fits together.
When you move closer, you start noticing the individual flower shapes, the colours, the visible frost, and all those little details that can disappear when you're standing across the room.
Macro photography gives us another perspective.
It lets us slow down and appreciate things that might otherwise go unnoticed.
And for me, that's one of the best parts of documenting a grow.
I'm not just trying to get one photograph that looks good on a screen.
I'm trying to preserve the details of the plant and the story of the journey.
That's why I take so many photographs.
If I take a hundred pictures, it's because I see a hundred moments worth capturing.
And when those photographs come together, they become part of the diary.
So yes, my friends, we're sharing plenty of images again!
😂📸💚
I know we can't include everything in a single update, but I would rather divide the story into meaningful chapters than leave out the photographs that help explain it.
And this Queen has earned every bit of that attention.
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🌸 DENSE, COMPACT, BEAUTIFUL — HER OWN EXPRESSION
One of the things that stands out about Godfather OG Pheno A is her compact structure and the dense appearance of her flowers.
She's not the biggest plant in the room, but she's never needed to be.
Her story has never been about winning a competition for height.
It's about her own development, her individual expression, and the flowers she produced along the way.
And I love seeing the final photographs after following her through so many weeks.
The whole plant tells one story.
The individual flowers tell another.
And the macro shots let us appreciate the finer details.
This is also why I don't want to reduce the final report to a few selected photographs and call it a day.
The images are part of the documentation.
They preserve the appearance of the plant at a particular moment, and they allow us to look back at the details when the growing phase is already behind us.
Godfather OG Pheno A gave us plenty to capture.
And now we get to enjoy those photographs while we move into the next chapter.
👑🌸📸
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✂️ FROM THE GROW ROOM TO THE DRYING STAGE
Once the growing chapter was complete and the photographs had been taken, it was time to move on to the next stage.
Harvest.
Drying.
And eventually, trimming and the rest of the post-harvest process.
For this girl, we kept the main plant intact and hung it as a whole plant for drying, apart from the small branch removed earlier for the macro photography session.
That means we're documenting a whole-plant hang rather than breaking the entire plant down into individual branches and buds immediately.
And this is where the story becomes particularly interesting, because we're also testing a different drying approach with a few branches.
More on that in the next section!
For now, this is an important milestone.
The plant has finished growing, and we're beginning to document what happens after harvest.
I want to preserve this stage just as carefully as the growing weeks.
Because the story doesn't stop when the plant leaves the room.
It's simply moving into a different chapter.
🌿➡️🌬️
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🌬️ WHOLE-PLANT HANG VS. DRYFERM BAGS — LET THE TEST BEGIN!
Now, this is one of the parts I'm particularly curious about.
For Godfather OG Pheno A, the main plant was hung intact for drying.
Alongside that, we're testing a few branches inside DryFerm bags.
So we've got two approaches being documented in the same overall post-harvest journey:
🌿 The whole-plant hang.
A small branch-based DryFerm bag test.
And now we get to observe how the two approaches compare.
Which one will come out on top?
Will we prefer the result from the whole-plant hang?
Will the branches in the DryFerm bags give us a result we prefer?
Or will the outcome be more complicated than simply declaring one method the winner?
Honestly, my friends...
I DON'T KNOW YET! 😂💚
And that's precisely why we're documenting the comparison rather than announcing a winner before the process is complete.
We want to see how each approach performs and evaluate the results when we have enough information to do so.
We'll need to consider the drying process itself and the final condition of the material, rather than judging everything from a photograph.
We're not going to claim that one method is automatically better simply because we're testing it.
We're going to let the results speak.
The whole-plant hang is one part of this experiment.
The DryFerm branches are another.
And the comparison is something we'll return to as the process progresses.
A huge thank you to DryFerm for being part of this journey and giving us another interesting aspect of the post-harvest process to document.
I'm genuinely curious to see how this develops.
Same plant.
Two approaches being tested.
One very interested grower waiting to see what happens!
😂🌿
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📸 YES, WE'RE SHOWING THE DRYING PLANT TOO!
I know some growers prefer to move straight from harvest photographs to beautiful finished buds.
But I like documenting the stages in between.
That's why we're including photographs of the whole plant hanging to dry.
I want you to see what happened after harvest, not just the final result.
The plant that we followed through the growing weeks is now hanging as a whole plant, and those photographs help connect the growing stage to the drying stage.
It's another part of the timeline.
Another piece of the story.
And another reason why this diary has become such a big collection of photographs.
We're not only showing the best-looking flowers.
We're documenting the journey.
And this is an important part of it.
🌿📸💚
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✂️ THE TRIMMING HAS BEGUN — BUT THERE'S MORE TO COME!
We're also including a first look at the trimming stage in this report.
You can see the dried plant material, some of the flowers being trimmed, and the buds beginning to take their final form.
There's a tray with trimmed flowers and stems, and there are photographs showing the work as it progresses.
And yes...
There are sticky scissors involved! 😂✂️
Anyone who has spent time trimming knows that the tools can become part of the story too.
The sticky scissors are a little reminder of how much hands-on work goes into processing a harvest.
But we're not going to explain every detail of the trimming session here because that deserves more room in the next report.
We'll share more photographs, discuss the process in more detail, and bring the remaining pieces together there.
For this update, think of this as a preview of the trimming stage rather than the complete trimming report.
We've already got plenty to show.
And there's still more to come!
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✂️ ZAMNESIA CURVED SCISSORS — A LITTLE LOVE FOR THE TOOLS
I also want to give our Zamnesia curved scissors a mention.
They've been part of our harvest workflow, and I wanted to make sure the tools we used were included in the documentation.
I enjoy showing the practical side of the process rather than making the whole report about the finished flowers.
The tools, the workbench, the trim bin, the sticky scissors, and the flowers being handled all belong to the story.
We'll return to the trimming process in the next report and give the tools and workflow more attention.
For now, a little shoutout to the Zamnesia curved scissors for being part of this harvest journey.
And a reminder that the next chapter will include more of the hands-on details!
😂✂️💚
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💚 WHY THIS ISN'T THE FINAL REPORT JUST YET
Let's make this crystal clear, my friends!
This is the final growing-week report for Godfather OG Pheno A.
It is not the final report for the entire harvest journey.
We've still got more photographs and details to share, and the next report will continue with the harvest and trimming story, the remaining post-harvest details, and the smoke review when we're ready.
I know we're dividing reports again, but I genuinely want to share these photographs.
When I take a photograph, I have a reason for taking it.
Sometimes it's the overall structure.
Sometimes it's a flower.
Sometimes it's a tiny detail that deserves a closer look.
Sometimes it's a stage of the process that I want to document so that we can follow the complete timeline later.
And sometimes it's simply a photograph that I really love.
😂📸💚
I don't want to pretend that thirty images can always tell the entire story when we have far more meaningful material available.
So we're splitting the documentation into chapters.
This report brings together the final growing stage, the macro photography, the whole-plant hang, the DryFerm comparison, and a preview of the trimming.
The next report will continue the story and give the remaining details their own space.
Thank you for following along while we put all these pieces together.
We're almost there!
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🌿 THE 8×8 ADVENTURE — TWELVE PLANTS, TWELVE INDIVIDUAL JOURNEYS
For anyone discovering this diary for the first time, the 8×8 Adventure brought twelve individual plants together in one shared room.
The plants shared the same general environment, lighting schedule, and overall growing approach.
But each plant expressed herself differently.
Some were tall.
Some remained compact.
Some were easier to manage.
Others made us work harder to understand their individual needs.
And Godfather OG Pheno A has been one of the most memorable plants in this adventure for me.
Her difficult moments are part of her story.
Her beautiful finish is part of her story.
The photographs are part of her story.
And now, the drying and trimming process are becoming part of it too.
This is why I enjoy following individual phenotypes rather than treating all the plants as one general room update.
Same room.
Different genetics.
Different expressions.
Different challenges.
Different rewards.
And twelve individual journeys worth documenting.
💚🌱👑
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💬 COME JOIN THE DOG DOCTOR COMMUNITY!
If you're enjoying the 8×8 Adventure and want to talk about genetics, growing, lighting, equipment, photography, or your own growing journey, come and join us on Discord!
We love a good discussion.
Questions are welcome.
Different experiences are welcome.
And sharing what we learn is one of the best parts of being part of a growing community.
Whether you're following these diaries, running your own experiments, or simply curious about what we're doing, come say hello!
💚🌱
🔗 https://discord.gg/dogdoctorofficial
Bring your questions.
Bring your observations.
Bring your own stories.
Let's keep sharing experiences and learning from one another.
Growers helping growers!
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❤️ FINAL THOUGHTS — ONE OF MY FAVOURITES, DESPITE EVERYTHING
And here we are, my friends.
The final growing chapter of Godfather OG Pheno A.
👑💚🔥
She's been a difficult girl.
She's had her unhappy moments.
She hasn't always made things easy for us.
But she has also produced beautiful flowers, given us some wonderful photographs, and become one of the plants I genuinely love looking back on.
And I want to make something clear.
I don't appreciate this girl because I'm pretending the difficult parts never happened.
I appreciate her despite those difficult parts.
Actually, those challenges are part of why her story means so much to me.
Growing isn't always about having the easiest plant in the room.
Sometimes it's about following an individual plant through the ups and downs, learning along the way, and appreciating the result for what it really is.
And this girl has given us plenty to appreciate.
Her compact structure.
Her dense-looking flowers.
Her aroma.
Her beautiful final photographs.
And the opportunity to keep documenting the process after harvest.
We have hung the main plant as a whole plant for drying, while testing a few branches in DryFerm bags as a separate approach.
We have photographs of the dried plant, the beginning of trimming, the tray of trimmed flowers, the stems, and those wonderfully sticky scissors.
And there's still more to come.
The next report will bring together the remaining harvest and trimming details, along with the smoke review when we're ready to share it.
So please don't consider this the end of her entire story.
It's the end of her growing chapter.
The rest is still being written.
And I cannot wait to share why this girl has become one of my personal favourites, even after everything that happened along the way.
For now, let's appreciate the Queen.
Let's appreciate the photographs.
Let's appreciate the journey.
And let's see what the post-harvest comparison teaches us.
Whole-plant hang versus DryFerm bags...
Who will win?
We'll find out together! 😂🌿
Godfather OG Pheno A...
you certainly haven't been the easiest girl in the room.
But you've given us a beautiful story, and I'm very happy that we followed it all the way here.
👑🌸💚
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🙏 THANK YOU
A huge thank you to Zamnesia for the Godfather OG genetics and for giving us the opportunity to follow this individual phenotype throughout the 8×8 Adventure. 🌸🙏
Thank you to Plagron for supporting the nutritional side of this journey and being part of our growing experience. 🌱
A massive thank you to Future of Grow for the Black Series lighting and especially for supplying the two additional Black Series 600W fixtures we're testing in this room. 💡🔥
Thank you to LumiFlora for adding another lighting dimension deeper into the canopy.
Thank you to TrolMaster for helping us monitor and maintain the environment behind the scenes.
A special thank you to DryFerm for being part of this post-harvest experiment. I'm looking forward to comparing the whole-plant hang with the branches we're testing in the bags and seeing what the results tell us. 🌬️
And thank you to everyone following these diaries on GrowDiaries.
Thank you for the comments, the questions, the support, and the patience while we divide these final reports into chapters.
I know there are a lot of photographs.
But every photograph has a purpose, and I want to preserve as much of this journey as possible.
Thank you to everyone who enjoys the photography, follows the individual phenotypes, and takes the time to look at the details.
And thank you to the Dog Doctor community on Discord for being part of the conversation and sharing this adventure with us.
If you'd like to join us, come and say hello:
🔗 https://discord.gg/dogdoctorofficial
Godfather OG Pheno A, our difficult Queen...
Thank you for the journey, the lessons, and the beautiful flowers.
The growing chapter is complete.
The drying and trimming story continues.
And there's still plenty more to share!
Growers Love & Happy Growing! 🌱💚👑🔥