Dwarf Low Flyer Fun Grow On My Deck In The Pacific Northwest

Some light meter readings
  • Recommended light levels for vegetative growth of cannabis are about 50,000 to 70,000 lux.
  • My indoor plant is getting 50,000 lux.
  • Hazy sunlight here is about 25,000 to 40,000 lux.
  • This plant is getting about 3,000 lux on most days with our constant rain and overcast.
 
Day 35
Here she is, 35 days after her seed hit the water, having lived all her life outdoors in the cold and the rain (and a few hours of sunshine too from time to time). She looks healthy and happy, but by her age DLFs in grow tents under lights are flowering, and she's just getting her third set of true leaves.
2017-04-18_Day_35_1200.JPG
 
Wow scientific, it's strange to see a month old plant at that size! What's great is that it still looks really healthy and happy!

I seem to have a knack for growing even tinier versions of an already dwarf strain. :P

I'm eager to see when the flowering mechanism is going to trigger. Obviously flowering for this strain is not determined just by age.

Happy 4-20!
 
Day 45 -- Chlorosis and soil's too wet

You can't see it in the photo as well as in real life, but she's definitely looking pale, so I gave her one cup of water with 2 drops each of FloraGrow, FloraMicro, FloraBloom, and CALiMAGic CaMg supplement, pH 6.4, 420 PPM (basically quarter strength hydroponic nutes) in hopes that a little extra something (Nitrogen I'm thinking?) will help her to look better and possibly even grow faster. This is more of just throwing something at the wall to see if it sticks than anything scientific.

Also, her crap-quality hardware store soil is too wet. Next time it rains I'm going to keep it off here until her soil dries out.

None of this is ever going to make her into a normal-size plant, but she deserves a little attention every now and then.

She's getting her fourth tiny set of real leaves. My working theory is that Dwarf Low Flyers don't bloom after a certain number of days but when they get to a certain level of development--my guess is that level is when they have six nodes. But I just can't see this plant going into bloom any time soon. It will be interesting to see. Maybe her 10% wild ruderalis genes will allow her to pull off a successful bloom.

In any case, she's a nice companion for the other plants on the deck.

2017-04-28_Day_45_1200_001.JPG

Not just tiny. Pale.
 
Day 53 - Five nodes!

Here she is 53 days after the seed hit the water. The sun has finally come out a little bit lately so she has actually grown a little bit and is up to five nodes. My hypothesis is the DLFs bloom when they have six nodes. This one is about there but still really tiny, so it will be interesting to see what she does.

The cheap hardware store potting soil actually looks like it's reasonably rich, but after getting wet it compacts like a brick. After I took this picture I turned over the top layer a little with a spoon to try to aerate it a little at least, but I'm afraid the roots are just going to have to dig hard to penetrate this stuff.

2017-05-07_Day_53_1200_001.JPG

Dwarf Low Flyer on day 53
 
Day 56 -- Three inches tall and FLOWERING

See the little pistils threading out at the top? Planted on the last day of winter and only three inches tall, she's starting to flower 56 days from seed! :)

This confirms my hypothesis that Dwarf Low Flyers start to flower not at a certain number of days but at a certain level of development--specifically when they have five or six nodes. (I count five.)

If she goes through the expected development cycle now (which is by no means certain), she'll double in size to about 6" tall over the next six weeks and be ready to harvest in six weeks (June 20th--Solstice harvest ;)).

2017-05-09_Day_56_1600_003.JPG

56-day-old, 3-inch-tall outdoor Dwarf Low Flyer starting to flower

I gave her a cup of bloom mix from my hydroponic system to help her get started generating her massive bud! ;)
 
Day 65 - 4" tall, blooming, and chlorotic
Here she is 65 days from seed. She's 4" tall now and definitely flowering (though the flower is kind of obscured by a big drop of water). The paleness of her leaves has progressed to outright chlorosis in the lower leaves, which I'm guessing is classic nitrogen deficiency (from the cheap hardware store potting soil I put her in?). I gave her a cup of General Hydroponics "Mid Bloom Week 8" mixture at 1/4 strength. That's a low-nitrogen bloom mix, but it's what I have mixed and ready to go, and I figure anything is better than nothing. It will be interesting to see how she responds.

2017-05-18_Day_64_1300.JPG

Dwarf Low Flyer planted on last day of winter is now 4" tall, flowering, and nitrogen deficient(?)
 
Day 66 -- Are yellow leaves end-of-life blooming yellowing?
Looking at her this morning and how two applications of fertilizer have not really changed her coloring, I'm thinking that the yellowing of her lower leaves may be just the common yellowing of lower leaves that happens at flowering. That would mean that she feels like she is at end of life and wants to give her all to make some seeds, it seems to me...

It's almost 80 degrees outside and supposed to be sunny for a week, so this is her chance!
 
Day 68 -- Breed before you die?

Here she is today (immediately after watering). I think she is in a rather confused state. Those are trichomes forming on her tiny top leaves, and if you look closely, you can see that she is putting out new growth at her nodes. Meanwhile her bottom leaves are yellowing. It's like the top half is in bloom and the bottom half dying.

The very topmost leaves and the pistils look good. It will be interesting to see what she can do before she's done. I planted her on the last day of winter when it was 39 F that night. Now it's 80 F and we're in for a week of sun, so this is her big (last) chance!

2017-05-21_Day_68_1300.JPG

Day 68

2017-05-21_Day_68_1500_cropped.JPG

Trichomes and everything!
 
Day 72 -- Spring Harvest!

Typical age at Dwarf Low Flyer harvest is about 65 days. This one got harvested at 72 days. Her pistils are still white so she should technically have gone a bit longer, but first her leaves started dying from the bottom up, then her top leaves started to die, so it's harvest day!

As I've said before, she was planted on the last day of winter, and it was 39 F her first night outside. She persevered and flowered despite cold, dark, rain, and cheap, poorly draining soil.

:cheertwo:

Her bud will be dried and ritually vaporized, then her pot will be refilled with some better soil for the next deck grow under much sunnier, much warmer conditions!

Thanks for following her story!

2017-05-25_Day_72_0903_003.JPG

Harvest on Day 72: Total weight of plant: 2.14 grams

2017-05-25_Day_72_0903_005.JPG

Her bud: 0.07 grams wet weight :)
 
Hope all is well in your world.

Thanks for sharing this grow with us.

Please head over to the 420 Strain Reviews forum and post your smoke report there too.

I’m moving this to Completed Journals now.

Have you started a new grow you would like to share with us?

If so, please feel free to start a new journal here: Journals in Progress

Sending you lots of love and positive energy.

:Namaste:
 
Yes, I received 7 as well -- as they are autos, they really require at least 17 hours of light if you want proper results.. I grew my first one on the porch for two weeks before throwing into a stealth grow box under an led for 18/6 -- it ended up bonsai like but still grew to around 10 inches and gave a half 0. Plus, although Crop King calls them "dwarf" -- they will still require at least a two gallon pot to reach their root potential with a fortified soil. That's just kinda how that seed was bred. Here is my second attempt at day 47 from germ tomorrow. Good luck on the next attempt!

IMAG010229.jpg

IMAG010127.jpg

20171126_153200-0.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom