Medium: 馃ゥ馃ゥ馃ゥ馃ゥ
Coco remains as the most manageable medium in our arsenal. It鈥檚 simplistic, similar to conventional soil but as a nutrient neutral medium, it鈥檚 also much more tailored to the growers preferences in terms of feeding. It鈥檚 best attribute is excellent drainage and consistency - a lot fluffier than soil which definitely translates to faster growth rates. It鈥檚 a damn shame that this particular grower forgot the cardinal f$&@king rule when it comes to any grow - always water to run off and pay attention to the strength of the feed in relation to the plants growth stage. If we had followed these basic principles we wouldn鈥檛 have run into the serious late stage burn that almost toasted the whole plant. On the flip side of that, coco flushes out incredibly well and if not for this attribute, the whole grow would鈥檝e been an unmitigated disaster.
Method 馃帤锔忦煄氾笍馃帤锔忦煄氾笍
Uggghhh - hindsight f$&@鈥榥 sucks sometimes. Best descriptor for how we grew this girl - imagine having the dinner table set with your finest china, a bottle of the most expensive red wine you can find, a brand new top-o-the-line BBQ, and then burning the absolute f$&k out of a $40 prime rib. That鈥檚 exactly how this grow feels...
We were looking to scrog it the whole time and this went perfectly. The plant helped quite a bit with longer than expected internodal spacing. This allowed for a really even canopy/bed of buds. Again though, the vipar 450w (truly a 200w~) shit the bed mid veg. And we needed a replacement. Went with a 100w SpiderFarmer QB. While I truly am pleased with the purchase I do believe that we should鈥檝e upp鈥檇 to the 200w model (or 2, 100w models) to achieve a similar output and result - @silverback_guerilla was right on point with the lighting advice (*again). Given the reduced yield it just feels like the nodal spacing and overall bud quality may have suffered with the reduced power. This, despite the better light spectrum and overall coverage in general. As an aside - an additional Fixture is now on the way馃槈馃憤. Worst part about this is we鈥檒l never really know what the true limiting factor actually was due to the nute burning. Probably the single most stupid, rook mistake I could鈥檝e made was not watering to runoff.... just too much shit going down in the world (and in life) these days and I started to treat the grow like it was on auto pilot馃が馃が馃が. The whole worlds a cluster f$&k right now so why should the grow be any different right? 4/5 for the method, losing1 point because the grower is a lazy moron.
Yield/Harvest馃尨
The final numbers are better than expected, 2.26oz of usable bud. Not overly fluffy and not overly dense. Not glazed in frost but not without a little shimmer. All around mediocre unfortunately. What it coulda? Shoulda? Woulda been??? Note sure 馃 but we鈥檒l take it馃憤.
On a more positive note - There was still another new addition to our grow cycle. This time on the back end. Everyone knows that trimming just plain sucks. When we鈥檙e spitt鈥檔 out 3-4 plants every few months, the exercise is a dreaded necessity if were gonna maintain the vast array of choice that we鈥檙e used to馃馃憣. The whole process just for one plant can take hours unless you have help. We prefer to wet trim too so for those that don鈥檛 require a commercial size trimmer, the only option to save some time is a trim bowl. We bit the bullet, dropped the cash on one - have NOT been disappointed at all! Not only did it cut the chop process from 2-3 hours down to a mere 45 minutes, the buds literally came out rack ready. There was no need to do any touch up trimming and the bud photos you see are as-is, right out the bowl馃ぉ. Really coulda used this last fall and I would recommend this to anyone who chops more than a handful of plants per year. Just awesome and worth every penny!馃憣馃馃憤
At times like these, we should all just be thankful that we still have both the opportunity and ability to grow our own鉁岋笍. Best be to all of you and stay safe out there.馃憡
Background
For those not in the know, SSSC has been around for 40 years. Out of Amsterdam, they are the 2nd such breeder to market their genetics worldwide and can lay claim to the origins of their beans better than most (if not all) others.
They鈥檝e produced here an indica hybrid cross of M33/Friesland Indica with an elite clone of Lava Cake. We鈥檙e hoping to encounter one of the purple phenos but only time will tell. She鈥檚 supposed to be super strong too and not for the faint of heart 馃憤.
We鈥檝e been wait鈥檔 on this one awhile and she鈥檒l be getting individual treatment in the small cab - 5gal. Coco w/perlite and the typical nute regimen. Advance props for the best packaging I鈥檝e ever seen (although you may need to be an 80鈥檚 baby or older to truly appreciate it馃槈). See week 1 photos.