No pretty trim photos for this one. Due to my surgery, didn’t get to check on the drying for a week and it definitely overdried, so the curing will be lost. But it has a very pleasant smell, no hay-iness to it and a bit of stickiness left. The bud quality is pretty mixed, likely due to the early exit, and some of the known issues along the way, but ultimately got 1.48oz (some stems included) in under 90days. Not my best grow, but looking forward to seeing how it smokes and on to the next one!🫡

3 months ago

Definitely mixed feelings about chopping today. This girl definitely had more to give, but due to a surgery this week, I need it to be in the drying & curing stage. There are tons of trichs, for sure over 50% are into the cloudy and amber stages, but there’s definitely THC left on the table due to the early harvest. My harvest process is chop at the base, do a hydrogen peroxide & lemon juice rinse, a water rinse, and then hang dry. Due to the low humidity, I’m keeping this as a full plant for now to try and slow down the drying process a little. Drying and curing can’t be underestimated in the process! The rinse I find helpful for removing the dust and debris that’s accumulated over 3 months of growing and it doesn’t harm any of the quality of the trichs as long as you monitor for mold. Finally, the root structure showed some weird white spots - it looks like maybe a mold or just a ton of built up salts, I couldn’t clearly tell, but definitely not a good sign for the root health, and goes back to a lot of the struggles of keeping the soil and roots healthy - this is the basis for a successful auto flower grow! Looking forward to sampling this in the near future, and happy growing. I’ll post a dry/chop update in a few weeks!

4 months ago

Happy new year yall! She made it thru the holiday on autowater, obviously pretty burnt out, but not dead and not herming so that is pretty sweet in my opinion. Most of the pistils are orange, I haven’t checked the trichs yet, but will likely be harvesting soon due to time constraints. I think this plant under correct vigilance could go 100 days and be much thicker but will be chopping shortly. Happy new year and happy growing.

4 months ago

Did some cleanup of the dead leaves for a few reasons: trying to monitor if the roots are still alive as when I returned on Thursday night the leaves weren’t nearly as dry but the pot was completely dry, and over the weekend the leaves have completely crisped. Also, in case of any bud rot caused by the decay. I’m less concerned about that bc the humidity is alarmingly low (30%, thanks winter), and I would harvest but think I can get a few more days of maturity and get more trichs clouded. Observing today via microscope (sorry didn’t take pics) it still looks like a lot are clear (30-50% in some places) and I’d like to get those closer to cloudy. Granted some buds are more mature than others, but let’s see if we can squeeze a few more days out of this while not having the negative effects of a dying plant. I’ve shortened the light cycle to get a little less light stress, but the auto flowers do not respond the same as photos so I am not sure it will speed up any end of life maturity. Not my most successful grow, not my prettiest child, but I’m certain I’ll get some decent bud out of it :)

4 months ago

Dear Readers, I’ve come to my senses and recognized my blunder. As I sat here swirling through the vortex of boredom that comes with work on the Monday before a holiday, I couldn’t help but think of the 3.0EC output and its implications from my feeding yesterday evening. Salts gathering in the root zone 2x the potency of the input, clearly my plant was not taking up the nutrients it requires and would be suffering from nute burn. I returned to the library of coco - https://www.cocoforcannabis.com - and lo, my problem was right in my face. In my hubris, I’d forgotten the basic principles of high fertigation feeding and returned to caveman methods saved for soil - letting my soil dry before feeding. Of course, saturation is required in Coco, and while I was fearful of my earlier overwatering issue, reading made perfect sense - when having frequent feeding cycles, you should still water to runoff but it will require less volume to force runoff. This keeps the salts moving, and the root zone wet so transpiration can occur. I’m on my second day of 2 waterings a day, and hopeful this will turn the ship right. My sincerest apologies to my beautiful wonderful plant, please take care and ripen (quickly). I’m unfortunately on a time crunch of ~20 days to harvest due to an operation I’m having, although somewhat accepting it will be less potent at only 90 days.

4 months ago

Building a stable home has proven tough for this fall child. I will say the buds are fattening, and there’s plenty of upside - lots of healthy sugar leaves still, smells great, no drooping. The bleaching, burning, and signs of nutrient deficiency are definitely stacking, even as we’ve added a new light and done a cal-mag flush at around .8EC a few days ago. An interesting data point today is the output was about +1pH and +.6EC higher than the input, after not feeding it for a day. This suggests salt buildup in the roots, and probably limited uptake of nutrients. Which comes back on some lazy habits I’ve had - as I haven’t set up my auto watering system for this grow, I’ve been purely watering on weight, and usually larger volumes rather than multiple smaller volumes a day. My suspicion is it need a few smaller waterings a day, and possibly even lower EC input (MegaCrop would suggest being at 1.8EC at this point, but we’ll see how it reacts to todays watering). I have 4 days to get some semblance of control over this before I leave for the holidays. Hoping for the best for her, fingers crossed 🤞

4 months ago

Some people say money can’t solve your problems. I say I’d rather be poor and high than slightly less poor and not high. As a result, after some rigorous Sunday research, I’ve invested a new light - the EVO SF1000 (dimmable). Not only was it on sale for $96 (US, fungible), but it has treats some significant gaps my current grow may be suffering from. The issue: My leaves are dying - brown spots, tacoing, bleaching - especially towards the tops, which using GrowWeedEasys Plant Doctor toolkit highly suggests light burn. I’ve controlled for EC, pH, temps, humidity fairly well over the past weeks and it’s gotten worse. Upon finding this potential ailment, I dug a little deeper and found that my lovely 65W HLG quantum board is only blue light - which leaves a significant gap when it comes to flowering and can lead to light burn. Also, my dimmer I use for my fan wouldn’t work for my light so I had to think bigger. The Solution: After a few google searches, asking ChatGpt if this was really the cure to all my problems, and reading a few light reviews I’ve resolved to test two things: broader spectrum (Blue/Red/IR) light which shows to help fruit/flower density and a dimmer, which may help in my space where I can have the light about 6-8 inches from the plant. As we go forward, I’ll be monitoring temps due to it being a 100W board and hopefully will find in 4-5 days that we see the leaves not dying. Otherwise it’s probably a calmag issue? Idk leave your thoughts chat.

5 months ago

It’s been a bit since my last update, and there’s plenty to report. She’s thickening right up, smells amazing, like that early flower sweet earthy berry aroma, which I always wish there was a way to capture. There’s a dozen main bud sites, and the colas are really starting to fill out. As you can see there’s a bit of yellowing and browning. I’m somewhere between thinking it’s nutrient deficiency/cal mag deficiency (inputs are around 1.5EC, 5.5-6 pH of MegaCrop, outputs around the same EC, slightly higher pH) and light burn (some browning, bleaching, some upturned/tacoing leaves). I’ve never had light burn issues before with the same setup, and have no higher to go! I might try reducing the strength of the light in the meantime. I’m not overly concerned, but would like to get her back on track. Merry thiccmas, keep y’all updated soon.

5 months ago

The Thiccening is Happening. This should only reinforce that mistakes can be made and if you don’t panic and take a balanced approach to resolving your plant can bounce back. Since getting my pH monitor recalibrated we’ve been feeding right around 5.8pH and between 1.3-1.5EC megacrop. I would say this plant is not as thirsty as plants I’ve had in the past, it has been really sensitive to overwatering and really responded well to less watering than I might traditionally do. Megacrop stresses me bc I can’t dial in her diet as much as I felt I could with liquid nutes, but it is very consistent and very easy - we’ll see how these buds start to bloom! Been an exciting week of growth. Also, recently acquired a Black Friday filter - it’s WAY bigger than I expected, so read your product specs when buying, but it is super effective. My grow space used to have a sweet plant smell and now it is nothing but fresh air. I’m really impressed and rooting for big buds on this gal! Stay tuned.

5 months ago

She’s not perfect, but that’s why I love her. Really getting some growth over the past few days as we dial in flower nutrition and leave behind the over watering mishap. Did a little more LST today to really open up the crown, bc she’s a qween and deserves to look it. May do some lollipopping of the lower branches to ensure airflow, but things have been dialed in for a few days. Monitoring some leaf color changes on the lower branches. Proud of this gal for pulling thru tough times.

5 months ago

You know who has great genetics? Mephisto. I can’t stress how easy their plants make it. I border line neglect my plants. Occasional feedings, occasional beatings same as my kids (this is a joke, I don’t have kids). I finally got new calibration solution for my pH monitor, have her some of the good ol 5.65 maybe 3 days ago? She’s doing well. The VPD has been nearly in control, although it seems like she likes a bit lower humidity than I expected. Growth is good. Growth is strong. Preflower is underway, and she’s a bit moody, I’d expect her to want more nutrients but so far more frequent watering has been a busy. She will have a big Turkey Day feast and be happy, and in return I hope to be happy come February. I love her dearly and hope she’s happy. Maybe it’s the sun setting at 4:30, maybe it’s her vibrant greens, but I sit and read to her some nights. This is noticeably bad for the humidity. Oh well, we’re both happy-ish and that’s what a good codependent relationship is about.

5 months ago

Feeling more confident in her growth on a daily basis. She’s bounced back strong - had some nitrogen toxicity that was dealt with via a calmag flush - and she’s spreading well. I’m absolutely certain with proper attention Day 14-21 this girl would be huge by now, but not disappointed with what we’re seeing. Getting the VPD more under control and overall seems healthy the last few days. LST continues to give her a nice wide canopy in my small grow box, which has been critical for yields in the past. Excited to see the next week of growth!!

6 months ago

So we took a gamble, and went away for a week right after starting LST & Topping. Came back to a girlie in surprisingly decent health - a few large fan leaves dead (RIP) but overall looking really good - a huge shout to Mephisto’s genetics for being able to take on such rough conditions. Since I’ve been back she’s been absolutely pampered. We’ve got a new humidifier setup, which due to my small grow setup has to be outside the tent and sucked in by the negative pressure from the vivo extractor fan, but it’s set the VPD real nice with a 70/70 split right now going strong. I’ve continued some additional LST, upped the nutes and hoping with some dedicated attention this girl will grow big and strong!! It’s scary leaving it to its own devices for a week, but a critical reminder that these are hardy plants and while the harvest might not be *as* good there will still be plenty of bud to go around.

6 months ago

Sometimes a grow takes a bit of faith, mostly because God is my plants caretaker when I’m away on vacation. Granted, this is a bastardization of nature to harvest the most in artificial conditions, as I’ve put my plant through topping at the 5th node (pictured) and it’s first LST bend (pictured). Normally, I’d do this closer to day 21 but I will be away for a week and don’t want to miss a window. She is hardy and I trust that me not intervening for a week will payoff. I’ve also fed her today, which is sooner than I normally would, however I’m confident she’ll bounce back from any ill effects of early mishandling - weed plants are tough. Regardless, say a prayer or make a Halloween ritual sacrifice in her name, whatever you’re in to, I’m not religious, I just want a successful harvest.

6 months ago

Babes first feeding and things of note: using megacrop again on this grow, mostly bc I have a lot even though I’ve largely preferred liquid food for measuring. You’ll note some white powder - the soil has a few unfriendly residents so have applied DE. The environment is pretty dry (around 45% humidity) and I’m not watering frequently (have only done one CalMag rinse 5 days ago), so hopeful this risk will be resolved before it becomes an issue. Quite pleased with the growth so far and excited to see where she is in a few days!!

6 months ago

1 week in, and she’s doing all the right things. Misting on occasion, and will probably give a Cal/Mag watering this weekend. She’s in coco, but no other nutrients to be added yet.

6 months ago

Successfully transplanted, some roots started to shoot through the plug already, she’s off to a good start. Just hooked up the humidifier so the humidity should start to level out. Looking at 16 hours of light right now.

7 months ago

Girl just sprouted, under a humi-dome right now but getting 12 hours of light a day. Will transplant in the next few days as she settles in!

7 months ago