Blue Dream CBD: Quadlining & Other Firsts In 2020

[steffgrowsweed]

UPDATE - FIRST DAY OF WEEK 3 OF "FLOWER" (DAY 85/15 of Flower)

Excuse my lack of updating this journal, not a lot has been happening with this lady... and that made me think!
For the last 2 weeks, she has not really changed at all. I thought since she'd been in veg for that long, she might probably not stretch a lot or she just needs a couple of days la la la. BUT she didn't stretch at all. Researching what might help her turn to flower, it suddenly hit me. I had two little openings at the bottom of the tent and they were open
Light leaks were preventing her from entering a proper Flowering stage, oh nooooooooooo I closed the leaks two days ago and guess what, she has already stretched a good 10 cm. I have to laugh now, oh man, this will not happen to me again. Happy I fixed this and can move forward now. Hallelujah As you can see on the photos, she ran into some deficiency, most likely nitrogen. Poor thing. I gave her a good feeding yesterday and hope it will regulate.

Here we go with a little comparison from my last post.

That was on Day 76 from my last post - 6 days after Flip (left); On the right on Day 83/13 from Flip,
when I found the light leaks.

Not a lot difference, right? Only the 2 autos at the bottom seem to be happy and growing

Here she is from today on Day 85/15 from Flip and 2 days into proper darkness, tadaaaaaaaa

Nice little buds are finally forming. I am glad and happy. Here are some more photos from today:

See that little bend at the pink circle? That was my try at supercropping this particular top into the triangle

Since she is only stretching now (and probably will for the next 2 weeks), I will keep on supercropping that stem to try to fit it in the triangle. Let's see.
In other news and since I was waiting for her to properly flip, I decided to take 2 clones of her. Ordered Clonex and cut two smaller stems from the bottom. They are currently residing in the kitchen under a little bottle humidity dome and on a heat map. They get a nice amount of soft sunlight. From what I was reading, I should not keep my hopes high as to them surviving. But so far, on Day 7 of their cutting, they are still green and looking happy. Don't know what that means yet, but will start studying the cloning topic. Until then, I am holding my thumbs.
I was also able to finally order the Megacrop sample. It is always sold out, but this time I made it. Will wait for next grow to try it.

Everyone have a happy day and stay healthy

 

[steffgrowsweed]

UPDATE - Little stretching and forming buds (DAY 88/18 of Flower or Day 5 of proper Darkness)

Just a quick mini-update. Just watered the lady and checked on her stretching. She's doing well, finally. See for yourself:

Can't wait to defoliate. She is quite bushy.
Have a happy day

 

[steffgrowsweed]

UPDATE - 11 Days since (proper) Flip (Day 94 in total) and some heavy defoliation

Her stretching has slowed down a little bit, in total she has grown around 15cm. I wasn't expecting her to stretch too much in height, since she was in veg for that long. At least I'm guessing so.

Here is the bushy monster from 2 days ago on Day 92:

You can see 4 small buds peaking up from the supercropping I did to the main stem. This is rather unfortunate to happen now, but what did I think haha Anyway, I wanted this main stem bend and not overlapping my two other plants and that worked out perfectly. They only ruin my canopy looks a little

This photo shows her side looks, also 2 days ago. So much growth, my defoliation bees are buzzing aaaaaaaah.

I couldn't resist but clean her up and tidy everything for better airflow, heres a before and after of the poor chicken:

She looks horrible, really like a chicken to be cooked As always I'm worried, was it too early to defoliate her (I think I was), too much leaves, too little... Can't change it now and today she's looking happy and all summery

Her colors are a bit darker now, no super bright green, the photos here are not quite realistic due to the light in the tent. Increasing nitrogen in her food seemed to have helped her. She is in a 11l/3g fabric pot which is completely consumed by her roots now, not sure if I should worry, because what can I do?

The last news I have is that her little offspring has now successfully rooted through a small jiffy pellet juhuuuuu we have our first little Clone baby
Excuse the nails

Happy Easter ☀

 

[DeeCee112]

Congrats on the successful clone! You are in flower now it was a long road but it’ll be worth it! Good catch on the light leak, if she had gone into flower with it the leak could’ve hermied her and man that would’ve been a shame after all that work!

Keep up on feeding her, at that size in a 5g fabric pot she’ll be a big drinker while she is growing buds!

 

[steffgrowsweed]

Congrats on the successful clone! You are in flower now it was a long road but it’ll be worth it! Good catch on the light leak, if she had gone into flower with it the leak could’ve hermied her and man that would’ve been a shame after all that work!

Keep up on feeding her, at that size in a 5g fabric pot she’ll be a big drinker while she is growing buds!

Thank you DeeCee and good morning from my part of the world ☀I know, it's my first photoperiod, so I didn't know. I'm glad I got it, even though it cost me some more time. She is actually in a 3g fabric pot, which is now completely consumed by her roots. This whole grow is a total learning process so far, with lots of mistakes made. I hope she is ok in her small pot for the next 5-6 weeks. I will have to water her more often. So far, she is doing fine.
Have a good and happy day ☀

 

[steffgrowsweed]

UPDATE - Day 101 - Happy belated 100th birthday my dear Blue Dream CBD

It's been one week since my heavy defoliation, that now I think, wasn't too heavy. My worry was, that there might be more stretch coming, since the mixup in fake flower (for 13 days) and then only being in real flower for 9 days. In a different journal, I saw a guy veg a plant for 12 weeks also and she didn't stretch too much, due to longer veg time. Currently, that makes sense to me.

Here is a quick look back to Day 92 from my assumed end of stretch and heavy defoliation to this morning on Day 101:

This side shot shows back how she is slowly building her bud structure. When defoliating, I wasn't sure about up to which height I should lollipop her buds, maybe someone has a good rule of thumb?
She has also slowly developed some powdery crystals and her pistils are shooting out.

Some more photos from today - Day 101 - 31 Days in "fake" Flower - 18 Days in real Flower:

Slight yellowing on leaf tips, mmh... I will probably flush her soon, as a in between detox, she has still 5-6 weeks to go. I could imagine there is lots of build-up, but I have to look into the topic, not sure yet.

My autoflowers are exactly how I wanted them, perfect addition to this grow size-wise and I'm more than happy how they took the 12:12. They even seem like they are ready soon, they are in Week 9 atm.

The happy clones are all well rooted, I was surprised. They are still residing in the kitchen. I guess if I were to put the in the flowering tent, they would try to flower... Probably not a good idea. This will be interesting
Here is the oldest of the three of them:

Thanks @InTheShed for the brilliant idea with the transparent cup, the scientist inside of me is happy

Everyone have a good day

 

[Brian420pm]

I could imagine there is lots of build-up, but I have to look into the topic, not sure yet.

I learned this method at cocoforcannabis. Measure your input and runoff EC (or TDS), the runoff shouldn't be that much higher than your input.. if it is flush it. I made a huge error this grow and didn't check it until week 7 of flower.. it was so high my bud growth stopped and will not resume, lesson learned as I said in my journal

I'm so impressed with your plant, I'll now consider one 5 gallon grow in my 2 x 4 instead of two 3 gallons.

I got clear dixies for my next grow, yay!

 

[DeeCee112]

Thank you DeeCee and good morning from my part of the world ☀I know, it's my first photoperiod, so I didn't know. I'm glad I got it, even though it cost me some more time. She is actually in a 3g fabric pot, which is now completely consumed by her roots. This whole grow is a total learning process so far, with lots of mistakes made. I hope she is ok in her small pot for the next 5-6 weeks. I will have to water her more often. So far, she is doing fine.
Have a good and happy day ☀

I believe the general rule of thumb is bottom 1/3 of plant but I would say with shorter plants to do less. I think the best way to learn is to not do it or only minimal lollipop so you can see how it comes out and then judge for yourself what is productive or usable to you. That way future grows you have a better idea, what some people don’t bother with may still be something you’d use in say butter, oil or hash.

She looks great though! I personally wouldn’t flush right now, she is just getting going and you don’t want to interrupt the stretch especially if you want more height.
I’d say keep an eye on the issue and if it worsens or if you want to maybe in a week or two. You can do a slurry test to check your medium. Just mix up 1 part soil in 1 part RO water and shake and stir, let it sit for 20 mins or so then check the ppm.

 

[steffgrowsweed]

I learned this method at cocoforcannabis. Measure your input and runoff EC (or TDS), the runoff shouldn't be that much higher than your input.. if it is flush it. I made a huge error this grow and didn't check it until week 7 of flower.. it was so high my bud growth stopped and will not resume, lesson learned as I said in my journal

I'm so impressed with your plant, I'll now consider one 5 gallon grow in my 2 x 4 instead of two 3 gallons.

I got clear dixies for my next grow, yay!

Hi Brian ☀ and thank you
5 gallon is a good idea if you plan on a longer veg phase. Like I posted the other day, my soil is basically gone in the 3 gallon pot, all consumed by roots. I also imagined her with 4 arms today, she would need the tent to herself. I'm glad everything's fitting well now. So you only doing 1 in the tent, might be a good idea too.
The clear dixies are genius, right? It's amazing to watch them, also you can get a good feeling for how much water they really need. Happy day ☀

Edit: I'm growing in soil, not coco. Does that make a difference in your advise towards flushing?

 

[steffgrowsweed]

I believe the general rule of thumb is bottom 1/3 of plant but I would say with shorter plants to do less. I think the best way to learn is to not do it or only minimal lollipop so you can see how it comes out and then judge for yourself what is productive or usable to you. That way future grows you have a better idea, what some people don’t bother with may still be something you’d use in say butter, oil or hash.

She looks great though! I personally wouldn’t flush right now, she is just getting going and you don’t want to interrupt the stretch especially if you want more height.
I’d say keep an eye on the issue and if it worsens or if you want to maybe in a week or two. You can do a slurry test to check your medium. Just mix up 1 part soil in 1 part RO water and shake and stir, let it sit for 20 mins or so then check the ppm.

Hi DeeCee and first I have to say, wow, your plants look amazing, I just saw them. Congrats, they look absolutely stunning and perfect

I totally agree on the trying myself part, that's basically what I do most times. I was writing down my thoughts more or less, and then mixed his advice with my gut and thoughts, it worked well.
In regards to the flushing, I'm a little worried seeing slight yellow tips? Also her stretch is finished height-wise, she is more focussing on growing buds atm, or which stretch do you mean with "interrupt the stretch..."?
Thank you DeeCee, looking forward seeing more of your plants

 

[Brian420pm]

I'm growing in soil, not coco. Does that make a difference in your advise towards flushing?

I would imagine so, no experience here in soil, so NVM!

 

[DeeCee112]

I mean the initial 2-3 weeks after flipping when they grow vertically. After you see no vertical growth for a few days they do not grow anymore height and just focus on budding.

The tip yellowing looks pretty minor. If you want to, my suggestion would be a mini flush style technique. Instead of a full flush (3X the volume of pot watering) maybe next watering just run a couple gallons of plain water through to about 20% runoff and then follow up with a gallon your regular nutrient strength. I’ve seen some growers do this once and awhile through their grows as a preventative to buildup.

Like I mentioned you can also do a soil slurry test, it is super easy to do and will give you a status of the soil.

 

[steffgrowsweed]

I mean the initial 2-3 weeks after flipping when they grow vertically. After you see no vertical growth for a few days they do not grow anymore height and just focus on budding.

The tip yellowing looks pretty minor. If you want to, my suggestion would be a mini flush style technique. Instead of a full flush (3X the volume of pot watering) maybe next watering just run a couple gallons of plain water through to about 20% runoff and then follow up with a gallon your regular nutrient strength. I’ve seen some growers do this once and awhile through their grows as a preventative to buildup.

Like I mentioned you can also do a soil slurry test, it is super easy to do and will give you a status of the soil.

Mini flush style sounds good, I will give it another think I would love to do a slurry test, but I'm afraid there is no soil left in her pot. She's consumed all of it with her roots, except some crumbs.

 

[DeeCee112]

Mini flush style sounds good, I will give it another think I would love to do a slurry test, but I'm afraid there is no soil left in her pot. She's consumed all of it with her roots, except some crumbs.

You don’t need much just a tablespoon

 

[steffgrowsweed]

You don’t need much just a tablespoon

A tablespoon of topsoil I have , I will see what it comes up with.

You don’t need much just a tablespoon

Oh, I didn't know, thanks. So I scooped 4 tablespoons of soil from the top and mixed it with my regular tap water. Mixed, let sink and measured with a TDS meter, that I never used, neither do I know, if it's calibrated. The water with the soil mixed showed 248ppm, my tap water only soil read 188ppm. Is this somehow realistic and did I understand it right?
Thanks for your help DeeCee, much appreciated

 

[DeeCee112]

You are supposed to use RO water and you might want to get some soil from a little deeper if possible. Maybe @MrSauga can jump in to help, he is the one that taught me on it.

 

[MrSauga]

So I scooped 4 tablespoons of soil from the top and mixed it with my regular tap water. Mixed, let sink and measured with a TDS meter, that I never used, neither do I know, if it's calibrated. The water with the soil mixed showed 248ppm, my tap water only soil read 188ppm. Is this somehow realistic and did I understand it right?

So a slurry test is designed to measure the pH of the media as well as the PPM/EC and not the TDS. You take several samples, mix with RO or Distilled water and let it sit then use the pH meter to measure the value.

Soil pH & PPM / EC Slurry Test - Step by Step Guide with Photos - The Growing Rack

thegrowingrack.com

Having the right pH level in the media allows for the uptake of all nutrients required for a happy plant

 

[steffgrowsweed]

You are supposed to use RO water and you might want to get some soil from a little deeper if possible. Maybe @MrSauga can jump in to help, he is the one that taught me on it.

Thank you DeeCee, after I done the "test", I thought to myself, that cannot be it it makes no sense what I did. I checked the pot again, but won't be able to get any soil from a little deeper, without irritating the roots, that would be kind of working against what I want to achieve. But I remember the slurry test, it will come in handy. Thank you

So a slurry test is designed to measure the pH of the media as well as the PPM/EC and not the TDS. You take several samples, mix with RO or Distilled water and let it sit then use the pH meter to measure the value.

Soil pH & PPM / EC Slurry Test - Step by Step Guide with Photos - The Growing Rack

thegrowingrack.com

Having the right pH level in the media allows for the uptake of all nutrients required for a happy plant

Thank you MrSauga. I'm new to all PPM/EC or TDS, my meter is called a TDS meter but it measures ppm, confusing. Thank you for the link, it's interesting and might help, should I ever consider growing in a different medium that requires all that.

Have a good day both of you and thanks for all you do here

 

[DeeCee112]

No problem, slurry test aside if you want like I said you can do a mini flush / reset that is common to many growers by putting a few gallons of plain water through followed by a gallon at desired nite strength

 

[MrSauga]

Thank you MrSauga. I'm new to all PPM/EC or TDS, my meter is called a TDS meter

Oof! Sometimes I wonder where my head is at. The TDS(Total Dissolved Solids) meter does display the PPM. What I was trying to say was the slurry test is more for measuring the pH and somehow I wandered off into another world.