December 20, Day 106
This week is a big challenge week. Nutrients are changing.
Strawberry Gorilla:
Day 5 Drying
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 1 is nearly ready for flush. I added plain water to the reservoir today. I want to start clearing out the soil of all of its nutrients. This is living soil, but ice been spending the last 3 months adding bottled nutrients. I'll most likely keep plain water for the week and then I'll use Flawless Finish. For now it's just plain water.
Her buds are really starting to look great. The pistils are starting to shrivel up and the aroma is getting super strong. She's still shedding leaves. None today, but I haven't really inspected her much. Not much to inspect to be honest. She looks great and is just packing on weight now.
Number 2 is being moved to Overdrive today. Big Bud has been removed. Overdrive will be used for the next two weeks. Then flush.
Her colas are huge and dense. There's a couple tops that look to be well over a foot long. However, those tops are too close to the light. So I'm sure they will foxtail on me. As long as the rest of the plant doesn't foxtail, I'll be very happy. It really doesn't look like I'll see any foxtails, but you never know.
She got a full top feed with Overdrive and Recharge. Reservoir refill as well. It was indeed empty this morning. She is still a super thirsty girl.
I'm still unsure about defoliating at the end of flower. I've been getting a lot of "don't do that's". I'll keep the question open until it's time for me to defoliate if I do at all. Maybe I'll defoliate just a couple days before harvest. I'm definitely taking all the fan leaves off before harvest. There are hundreds of them. That's my concern without defoliation.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 72.7°
RH: 46.4%
VPD: 1.43 kPa
December 21, 2023
Absolutely nothing going on today.
Strawberry Gorilla:
Day 6 Drying
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 1 is looking great! She's definitely ready for flushing. I'll start the Flawless Finish in the next watering. I just have to wait for the reservoir to dry out and the soil to dry out some.
Number 2 is her beastly self as ever. Nothing really to report today. Great cola production, smell is getting stronger and her water intake is as strong as ever.
She hasn't touched the reservoir yet. It seems like an every other watering, the reservoir is completely left alone. She's already down to 22% moisture level. It's crazy how thirsty she is.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 72.6°
RH: 45.6%
VPD: 1.45 kPa
December 22, 2023
Strawberry Gorilla:
Day 7 Drying
I didn't snap test today. She is very close to done drying. Maybe a couple more days. Maybe a little less.
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 1 looks like she's almost ready to go. Flushing has commenced. I removed the wick system and emptied the reservoir. Now it's top feed Flawless Finish for the next week or two. I got some trichome pics with my new microscope. My photography sucks, so the majority are blurry. I'll post the good ones.
Number 2 needed a top feed today. The reservoir is just under half full now. Around 1.5 gallons every other day. It feels more like a gallon a day. She's still super thirsty.
The buds are getting pretty dense and heavy now. A couple branches are starting to get weighed down. One of them will absolutely need support. The others should be fine.
At this point in the grow, it's really a matter of watering and clearing out the dead leaves. Not much else to do except stare in awe of the masterpiece of a tree I have created.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 72.7°
RH: 45.6%
VPD: 1.45 kPa
December 23, 2023
Strawberry Gorilla:
Day 8 Drying
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 1 got a full top feed gallon of Flawless Finish today with some runoff. She has amber trichomes, lots of cloudy and just a few clear. She will be ready in about 7 or so days.
She looks great! More weight gain. Especially in the lower buds of the canopy.
I'd also like to note how vibrant her pistils are. Such a bright orange with the light they look like they are glowing.
Number 2 is insanely thirsty. She needed another gallon of water and a full reservoir refill. So she is definitely drinking a gallon of water now. There was a bit of runoff, but not much. Today she was at 20% moisture content. I normally wait for 15% to 18% but today, I really wanted some runoff. The goal is to get both the wick system active and the soil to reset itself with more moisture. That should last a couple days.
Other than that, her colas are insanely large now. They are dense and fat. Although, the tallest cola absolutely has light burn. The very top is white and fluffy. Definitely bleached. Now I know what that looks like. However, the rest of the cola looks fantastic. Just the very top is no good. That's ok though. There's plenty to go around.
She still has like 4 weeks left. Including the flush stage.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 72.5°
RH: 43.3%
VPD: 1.50 kPa
December 24, 2023
Strawberry Gorilla:
Complete
Trimmed and jarred at 41 grams.
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 1 is doing well. There was quite a bit of runoff yesterday. Well, more than I thought. I think I need to wait for her to really dry out before another flush.
She hasn't started fading yet, but I expect it to start in the next week or so. She's still packing on weight from what I can tell. Not much, but the lower branches are starting to lean a tiny bit. I can assume a bit more while she finishes up.
Number 2 looks fantastic. Her colas are getting fatter everyday. Also, I'm not seeing any swelling yet. Just growth. She will be needing a top watering tomorrow. The bottom feed system is working, but not as well as I'd like.
Other than that. Not much going on today. Just trimming Strawberry Gorilla 1.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 72.5°
RH: 45.8%
VPD: 1.44 kPa
December 25, 2023
Strawberry Gorilla:
Day 1 Curing
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 1 got a full gallon top flush. Not much runoff as I expected. I'll wait a good 3 to 4 days before I flush again.
She doesn't seem to be ready for the fade yet, but her leaves are starting to lighten up a bit in some places. I expect her to start fading in a few days. She has a good week left so there should be some really pretty colors before the end.
Also, her buds are definitely getting heavier. I have a couple more branches that are starting to sag a bit from the weight.
Number 2 got a full top feed today. No reservoir though. That's more than half full.
Her colas are getting huge. Every single one is super dense and identically shaped. They are all around the same size as well with the exception of a few larger ones in the back. The largest will definitely suffer light burn for the rest of the grow. However, it's still getting super fat. I'll just cut the bleached parts off when I harvest. Still a super nice cola.
I'm wondering if I should have kept up with the Big Bud for another week. But I believe Overdrive is for the bulking stage and not Big Bud. So maybe I did it right. Who knows. Lol. Well, the plant knows.
Anyway, she has a great smell and I couldn't be happier with her progress. The lowest parts of the plant are pretty underdeveloped. Those will most likely just go in the trim. Or I'll grind it up untrimmed and keep the kief. We shall see. Maybe I'll stick it all in a separate jar and smoke that while the rest is curing. 🤔
I also need to mention the one cola who is suffering light burn and crazy bleaching. It's only that one, but it's still pretty bad. A lesson for me as well as what it looks like for future reference. I wonder if that one cola will cause any issues for the rest of the plant.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 72.3°
RH: 49.5%
VPD: 1.33 kPa
December 26, 2023
I ordered some AC Infinity supplemental lighting. I'm hoping it helps prevent too many popcorn buds. It might be too late for Gorilla Cookies 1, but The Beast has plenty of time left to bulk up and pack on weight.
Strawberry Gorilla:
Day 2 Curing
My hydrometers are all wrong I think.
None of them have the same reading, and I have no idea which one is the correct reading. They are actually pretty far apart in the humidity. 10% swings. Almost 20% in one case. It's ridiculous. And they all came from the same packaging. Shame. I just need to guess now. Great. Anyway, I'm working on it. I'll figure out which one is the most accurate and base use that for a basis. And I'll use the reading from the other ones to set a basis for them.
Gorilla Cookies:
Number 1 is looking good. She's hanging out finishing up. No water needed. Her lower buds are really putting on weight. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention and accidentally bents some branches with my leg. Some buds got popped off and a single branch broke. She doesn't seem to be affected by it, but I'll keep an eye. Honestly, there's nothing I can really do now. She's in the home stretch. She could even be harvested in the next couple days. But I'll hold off for the next week or so, maybe less.
Number 2 is the same deal. Looking great, packing on weight and being her beastly self as always. She needs no water today and nothing else. Tomorrow she will be getting a dose of recharge and I think it will be the last dose for her in this run. She has about a week and a half left of bloom before the maturing stage starts I think. I could be overshooting the days by a bit, but always good to be prepared.
Grow System Environment:
Temp: 72.1°
RH: 51.3%
VPD: 1.29 kPa