Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 2016

Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Just stopping in to check on the subscriptions today. Still looking good over there.
I see you have 2 - 4 ft 8 Bulb T5's and the one I can see in your picture looks like you have 2 Bloom / 6 Veg bulbs in it.

What brand bulbs are you running and what is your mix of Veg and Bloom bulbs?

Hello, Alchemist Thanks for swinging by checking on the ladies. - Im Currently Using
1 Quantum T5 4 ft 8 Bulb Unit ( bulbs not included ) - 3 Bloom 2900k, 5 Veg 6500k
1 Hydro Crunch T5 4 ft 8 bulb unit ( 8 6500 k Veg Bulbs included ) - 2 Bloom 2900k, 6 Veg 6500k

So if V=6500k and B=2900k its as follows now,

(HydroCrunch) BVVVVVBV ---> BVVBVVVB( Quantum T5)
IMG_20160802_004147.jpg


I'm using Apollo Horticulture bulbs purchased from Amazon, A pack of 5 is around 24 bucks.
 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Update 08/18

Day 43 Flower -

Finally got the environment dialed in to my liking , there is now a total of 5 fans in the tent (one out of view)
The New AC doing a great job of keeping my girls cool, even with the lights so close. :cheertwo:

RH - 40 -49%

Night temp - 73
Day Temp - 79-81

IMG_20160819_020712.jpg



AK48 -

IMG_20160819_020848.jpg


"Outside the cage"



"Inside the cage"





Northern Lights -





Aurora Indica -





 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Thats Awesome man:Namaste:, Im glad you like the way i trained these girls and I'm humbled you want to try this. Remember if you plan on doing this method, start topping once your plants have reached 7-8 nodes ( once they enter rapid growth ) , topping very often every 3-4 days removing the tops that are "main colas" , this will make 2 new shoots and allow the remaining branches to catch up to the tallest cola. Its recommended to start pruning the lower parts of your plant around week 4-5 , I usually did this on the days i would top so the entire plant could heal at once, i did the last topping/pruning 3-4 days before Day 1 of Flower/Defoliation. Beginning to Manicure your plants in veg will encourage them to grow back strong and replace the plant matter that was removed so when you do this heavily on day 1 of flower they will be used to being stripped and will have a higher tolerance of responding well vs a plant that hasnt had any pruning done during veg ( this was really obvious with AI) , i would imagine this would shock your plants tremendously going from never removing any leaves to removing all fan leaves on day 1 flower.

Also i need to note that Aurora Indica was indeed a special plant all around, I topped all 4 plants for the first time on the same day, but for some reason i FIMed AI, and I never had to top the plant again because it was so short and it had a much rougher Veg/Teen life than the other plants and persevered and is now the healthiest plant in the room imo , Its now a bittersweet feeling because I know if the pot size was the same as AK48 it would give the plant a run for its money, probably winning , but its roots just arent as good as AK, and thats 100% my mistake .. you live and learn and man did i learn so much from the smallest plant in the tent, im so glad i didnt give up on her..
:ganjamon:

I only topped each of mine once and I fimmed (on accident) the middle one. The middle one so far has been my best plant. I appreciate the advice on the schedule. I just want to try some different things next grow. Your method one, my way (but a whole lot cleaner) on one, FIM on one and lastly I think I will try like a mini flux.

Oh and by the way.. nice temps and RH. Pretty much the same as I got going right now too which I've read is pretty good for where we are at in this stage!
 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Hello, Alchemist Thanks for swinging by checking on the ladies. - Im Currently Using
1 Quantum T5 4 ft 8 Bulb Unit ( bulbs not included ) - 3 Bloom 2900k, 5 Veg 6500k
1 Hydro Crunch T5 4 ft 8 bulb unit ( 8 6500 k Veg Bulbs included ) - 2 Bloom 2900k, 6 Veg 6500k

So if V=6500k and B=2900k its as follows now,

(HydroCrunch) BVVVVVBV ---> BVVBVVVB( Quantum T5)
IMG_20160802_004147.jpg


I'm using Apollo Horticulture bulbs purchased from Amazon, A pack of 5 is around 24 bucks.

Thank you very much for answering my question. That is a great shot from underneath. Love those short thick bushy ladies.
I am also using Apollo bulbs and have 50/50 Bloom/Veg and I have them arranged VBVBBVBV
 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Update 08/21
Day 46 Flower


Beginning on Day 43 i did one final defoliation on all 3 plants, all on different days, Northern lights was stripped on Day 43 after pics were taken, AK48 was stripped on Day 44, and Aurora Indica was stripped on Day 45. This final defoliation was not as severe as the first two. I didnt think to take before/after pictures on the first two days but i did end up getting a good before/after shot of Aurora Indica so you can see all the new light reaching the lowest parts on the plant, remember the goal is to grow and harvest flowers not leaves. Going into week 8 soon The night time temps are now dropped to 66 Degrees F and The Humidity in the tent has also been lowered to the low 30s during lights on and gradually breathing back to 57% during lights off so when lights come on humidity is at 57, and immediately starts dropping over the course of about 4 hours were it stays at 30-35 until lights go off, at which point humidity gradually rises back to 57 by the time lights come back on, but we will discuss humidity related to cannabis and why i made this decision on another post/thread.

Aurora indica Before/After Defoliation on Day 45
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The Garden Before Defoliation ( Day 43 ) -
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The Garden after Defoliation ( Day 46 )

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AK48 -

Its safe to say from here on out, i will grow with the Zo Cage, So beautiful! The Training worked exactly as expected and I now have a Bush of Buds that will be pretty uniform in density, That is the Goal Right?
:cheertwo:

"Outside the Cage"





"Inside the Cage"






Northern Lights - I didn't plan on naming any of my girls but this plant has earned the nickname "Incredible Hulk"
I'm not sure the exact reason maybe a deficiency or temps dropping but i noticed today The 2 strongest branches on the plant were flexing off the stem literally and the stem had began to get a purpling effect going on. One look at it made me immediately think about the incredible hulk transforming, maybe i will name it "Incredible Lights" for fun ?








Aurora Indica - Chunky, Chunky, Chunky... Thats all there is to say about this girl, So uniform with NO TRAINING in Flower, only defoliation. Currently my overall favorite in the tent she endured so much pain and came back with a vengeance.








 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

I only topped each of mine once and I fimmed (on accident) the middle one. The middle one so far has been my best plant. I appreciate the advice on the schedule. I just want to try some different things next grow. Your method one, my way (but a whole lot cleaner) on one, FIM on one and lastly I think I will try like a mini flux.

Oh and by the way.. nice temps and RH. Pretty much the same as I got going right now too which I've read is pretty good for where we are at in this stage!

Thanks for that information, its great to learn from other growers and the techniques they use because now i know based off your garden FIM is the way i will go with AI on my next grow.

I actually have been researching and gained new knowledge recently and changed a few things up after the day 43 update so my night temps and humidity have changed a bit, This was not recommended by the book three a light but I'll explain in a separate post why i did this.
 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Thank you very much for answering my question. That is a great shot from underneath. Love those short thick bushy ladies.
I am also using Apollo bulbs and have 50/50 Bloom/Veg and I have them arranged VBVBBVBV

No problem man, feel free to ask if you have any other questions you feel i can help with.
I see alot of growers that will do a vbvbvbvb arrangement; i can't find the link but i read on a thread on this site someone claimed to go from seed to finish with only the veg bulbs and it yielded better than when he used only 2900k during flower. we will see how this turns out though, i will have to swing by and check your grow out very soon.
 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Ok Guys, Lets Talk About Nature and this wonderful plant we all know as cannabis.

DISCLAIMER: All opinions i am about to provide are my own and are going to be based on real world/logical evidence i can show rather than theories based on "Scientific Studies" by a University. First off, When i hear someone say "can you provide REAL EVIDENCE from a UNIVERSITY study" i usually cringe because its well known that all humans make mistakes and what ideas and theories apply to a species now may not apply 500 years from now due to evolution of said species. Second, Why would you or I believe a study from a "University of Harvard" or anywhere else because when you step back and realize no matter how hard they try to manipulate the environment in a laboratory you can never control all the variables mother nature will throw at you to have a exact replica of the Hindu Kush Mountain range, Thailand, Africa, Jamaica, or a Southern California Summer in a University on the east coast of the U.S. there would need to be so many different studies done on the original landrace strains it would virtually be impossible. Lastly, the same Universities that do these studies related to cannabis they usually do so with no real transparency to the general public, They pretty much just say "this is what we found behind closed doors, this is what is right, and this is the only way" whereas i feel Mother Nature makes no mistakes and the earths geography is so diverse i feel no one theory can apply to so many differences in the universe.



Now that we have that out of the way, Lets Talk about Humidity and its relationship to growing cannabis.
It is widely believed that the earliest forms of Landrace cannabis strains originated in Central Asia around regions in the Hindu Kush Mountain range, hence the name “KUSH” we all know so well. A Landrace is a regional strain , locally adapted, traditional variety of a species that has developed over time through evolution and adaptation to its natural environment and agricultural influences due to isolation from other populations of the same species.

Hindu Kush mountain range



I researched the conditions other growers were using to grow there plants and most of the experienced growers I was seeing were having humidity levels of 55-70 during vegetative growth and an average of anywhere from 40-65 humidity during flower, even the book three a light recommends 55% humidity for flower. While this may be the perfect environment for sativa growers, Many of these growers are indoor growers and mainly grow indicas due to size limitations, and many of these strains have origins tracing back to Afghanistan ( part of the Hindu Kush Mountain range is in Afghanistan). When I looked up the real world weather for 3 different regions in the mountain range (picture below) I was shocked to see during daytime the humidity can drop to as low as 10% usually never going above 40 even at night. Indicas are well known for there great resin production but I wonder how many people would laugh at me if I said my humidity is at 10-30% during flower and say “your going to lose so much on your yield because the plants stomata closes at 35% humidity and growth stops”. I wonder if any of them take into consideration this plant has its features of high resin production because it survived and became what it is today through centuries of evolution in the Hindu kush mountains and being able to seal itself up and still thrive in conditions where temperatures reach well above 110 degrees F and humidity as low as 10%. I highly doubt the Afghan farmers thousands of years ago complained about the stomata closing and growth stopping; remember this is a very resilient plant and will find a way to adjust to its environment and adopt characteristics/ survival traits directly related to the conditions it is put under nearly anywhere on the planet.





All in all the lesson here Im trying to show is simple; each grow is different, each plant is different. When you grow with zo I want you to think about things from a Nature standpoint, not a scientific standpoint. Im currently growing 3 plants that all have ancestry tracing back to Afghanistan and I'm interested in learning this plant on a different level than many growers in my humble opinion; I will notice many new growers set out to yield as much as possible regardless of quality and don't appreciate the actual art of growing. I wanted to imitate/ replicate the environment my plants evolved in so i can get the kind of results farmers living in Afghanistan get, Nice dense flowers covered in resin. Would I recommend you flower a sativa that originated in Jamaica with 10-30% humidity? No because Jamaica’s environment is very humid and different than Afghanistan’s and the landrace sativa strains there have evolved different characteristics than a Landrace indica. Sorry for the long winded opinion/lesson hopefully there are a few like minded individuals here who understand my perspective on this subject. Feel free to comment your thoughts or ask any questions, if i dont have the answer i will try to find it.- Zo :Namaste:
 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

I appreciate the research here and providing your own theory! Could you possibly get both a great yield and great resin production if every other week or two you killed the humidity and got it to pump out resin? I've heard it's a defense mechanism as the plants last ditch effort to protect the flower in hopes of getting pollinated. Push the plant to the limit to where it thinks it's dying and then give it more humidity to let it bounce back? Then at the end just kill the humidity again until you want to chop for a last pump of resin. Fun to think about.

Also I know it shows those temps and humidities now in those areas but are these the same all year round? Is right now the perfect grow season for them? Food for thought.
 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Great research and analysis and insight. Really expands the possibilities for what conditions can produce a great grow. This plant has many different amazing abilities that can be tapped.

I don't think replicating the environment of the Hindu Kush would necessarily result in better plants (or is even possible for most of us), but that wasn't Zo's point.

I disagree that Mother Nature makes no mistakes. I think she makes the best with what she has to work with, but that it is possible sometimes to improve on nature (and sometimes not so much.) Definitely agree that "no one theory can apply to so many differences in the universe." Well put and +reps.
 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Hey Zo, your garden looks incredible! Plus that Three A Light book looks savvy. Very high quality. You're looking much closer to harvest than me. Slightly jealous haha. I'm still probably vegging out for another month or two before flowering for another 2-3 months. Enjoying the journey though. You've given me some solid ideas about defoliation. Thanks bro. I really like your AI. Gives me a good picture of what my current plant will grow up to be like. Devastating news that she had a couple falls. Glad to see that she bounced back! Hope all is well in your garden. Peace out.
 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

I appreciate the research here and providing your own theory! Could you possibly get both a great yield and great resin production if every other week or two you killed the humidity and got it to pump out resin? I've heard it's a defense mechanism as the plants last ditch effort to protect the flower in hopes of getting pollinated. Push the plant to the limit to where it thinks it's dying and then give it more humidity to let it bounce back? Then at the end just kill the humidity again until you want to chop for a last pump of resin. Fun to think about.

Also I know it shows those temps and humidities now in those areas but are these the same all year round? Is right now the perfect grow season for them? Food for thought.

Hey Asesino, you bring up some good points and questions. This is why we are all here to learn, i have began working on a Xcel spreadsheet documenting key components of each strain i run so i can have a data base to go to with strains i have ran under my conditions to see what environment they like and what needs to improve/change next grow. It would be a good experiment to run two clones and let one flower at a much lower level as you suggested, and I have also heard that the resin production is a defense mechanism and i figured why not experiment. It will be good to see the differences we get.

As far as humidity and temp goes when i looked up the average weather report for Kabul, Afghanistan on weatherspark ( data from 2002 to 2012 ) I learned that Kabul along with the Kush mountains has a Cold Desert Climate.

below are sections i have copied/pasted from Average Weather For Kabul, Afghanistan - WeatherSpark

The warm season lasts from May 24 to September 23 with an average daily high temperature above 83°F. The hottest day of the year is July 25, with an average high of 93°F and low of 66°F.

The cold season lasts from December 3 to March 1 with an average daily high temperature below 52°F. The coldest day of the year is January 13, with an average low of 23°F and high of 42°F.

The relative humidity typically ranges from 11% (very dry) to 89% (very humid) over the course of the year, rarely dropping below 7% (very dry) and reaching as high as 100% (very humid).

The air is driest around July 10, at which time the relative humidity drops below 12% (very dry) three days out of four; it is most humid around February 13, exceeding 82% (humid) three days out of four.


---- back to me speaking ----

So based on this The grow season there is much similar to my current location, (may-sep), however during the warm season the air is much drier, like the photo posted yesterday which was this weeks weather so i believe this is the perfect grow season for them, I'm actually glad you gave me that food for thought and i looked into this because this means the plants in Afghanistan have to adapt to these conditions during the veg period going into flower, so the plant is already ready to start shooting out resin when flowering starts as a defense mechanism like you suggested. I started flower on 07/07 which would have been very close to the driest day of the year in the Kush mountains
 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Great research and analysis and insight. Really expands the possibilities for what conditions can produce a great grow. This plant has many different amazing abilities that can be tapped.

I don't think replicating the environment of the Hindu Kush would necessarily result in better plants (or is even possible for most of us), but that wasn't Zo's point.

I disagree that Mother Nature makes no mistakes. I think she makes the best with what she has to work with, but that it is possible sometimes to improve on nature (and sometimes not so much.) Definitely agree that "no one theory can apply to so many differences in the universe." Well put and +reps.

Thanks Kingston, and i respect your opinion on mother nature making mistakes to an extent, You are right ; Soil Near a fresh stream or rivers will be much more fertile and nutrient rich than Desert sand so there are changes we as humans can make to give mother nature a hand when needed. thanks for bringing that to the light as well as appreciating my analysis on the subject.
 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Hey Zo, your garden looks incredible! Plus that Three A Light book looks savvy. Very high quality. You're looking much closer to harvest than me. Slightly jealous haha. I'm still probably vegging out for another month or two before flowering for another 2-3 months. Enjoying the journey though. You've given me some solid ideas about defoliation. Thanks bro. I really like your AI. Gives me a good picture of what my current plant will grow up to be like. Devastating news that she had a couple falls. Glad to see that she bounced back! Hope all is well in your garden. Peace out.

Hey DankestBuds, Thanks for stopping in to the show and I appreciate all of your kind words. Don't be jealous, lol we are all here to learn and grow; anything i can do to help a fellow member get great results i will. Feel free to stop by anytime and ask questions if needed, this is my first grow so im by no means experienced or a great grower yet, i can name at least 10 things off the top of my head i could've did better but im willing to help as best i can. Good luck on your grow, you will really like AI.
 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Alright, so per first grow anxiety i was beginning to assume my AK was almost ready to chop so i emailed the Three A Light team with a straight forward question and a few pics of my plant and i received a email less than 12 hours later that i was satisfied with.


Me: "Hey guys, I'm currently running AK48 and nirvanas website says the strain can finish in as little as 48 days, today is day 48 of flower and i was wondering if you had any experience with this strain, how long you let it go?"


Three A Light Team: "Hey Zo,

Your AK is looking great so far. We would encourage you to run it for 64-70 days. Your yields will increase by 20-30% running your strains to the full 64-70 days. Most seed companies that state their strains are ready in 50 or less days is a marketing ploy to sell more seeds. Keeping following the methods behind the book and we will ensure your success! Please reach out with any further questions. Thank you again for your support and happy growing.

Nick- Master Grower
Three A Light "


Some things i changed along the way , but this is one of those things i will trust there judgement on; they got me this far. I couldn't have planned this better, it just so happens my birthday falls on Day 65, so thats sounding like a great Harvest day. Only 17 Days away. :cheertwo:
 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Update - 08/23
Day 48 Flower -

Unfortunately, I have bad news guys. Yesterday i used a green light to peak in the tent during flower and almost cried when i saw there was a small amount of light leaking in from the intake fan directly on AK48, The issue was immediately fixed, no more light leaks ( unknown how long this was occurring ) . My fear came true and today as i was taking photos i learned the plant hermied from the stress. The fan was pointed in the general direction of AK48 ( you can see this in previous post ) and the way the light was reflecting off of the fan, the other two plants were completely shaded from the light leak and show no signs of being hermie. I have did some research on the subject and this late into flower it is recommended to either kill the plant or pluck off the seeds/nanners as they appear. compared to day 46 photos, The plant looks to still be producing resin but i will inspect all 3 plants daily from here on out and determine if a early harvest is going to be needed.

In good news, All 3 plants seem to have reacted well to the drop in night temps and humidity and maybe I'm just making it up in my head and having a optical illusion at the same time but they all seem to be creating a coat of resin as a defense mechanism as me and Asenino were discussing, What do you guys think?




AK48 - The Velcro plant ties have now been removed from the cage and the branches started reaching to the light again, as there was still some tension left from the plants being tied down. Its so sad this plant hermied on me it was going to be the Queen of the tent. All in all I'm not mad about the situation , the experience i've gained from this grow is priceless and next grow will be even better.

"Outside the cage"




"Inside the cage"


:((((( , the thing is my trichomes are mostly milky, my senses are telling me she's only got a week or so left, If i see more than 3 or 4 new seeds pop up between now and then she will get harvested earlier than day 65. Thoughts would be greatly appreciated

Northern Lights -







Aurora Indica - Frosty the Snowman!






 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

AK48 Early Smoke Report -

Alright so on day 44 during defoliation i accidentally snipped off a small bud while trying to cut a fan leaf, I honestly believe it dried to fast because of how small it was. Today i manicured and tested it, Looks like it will have some nice bag appeal with a detailed hand trim. The colors look really bright green with orange hairs. The smell wasnt noticeable when i opened the container but as soon as i cracked open a nug, a very pungent fruity smell begin to stink up the surrounding area. The smoke was mild, and really not the taste and flavor i was expecting, but when i was done with the j i noticed how nasty the ashes looked, lol i was smoking bud full of nutrients, Its time to flush this baby and chop in 7 days or so, maybe a little longer depending on how many balls show up. The high was a more of a sativa clear headed cerebral high, i felt like going out and being productive and working. Day 56 will be a full 8 weeks of flower and i suspect the high will be more balanced by then. I will provide a Full updated smoke report after Harvest, Im sure the taste and smell will improve with a proper flush and cure. :Namaste:

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Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Sorry to hear about the herm. Glad you caught it. Getting to 8 weeks will still be a good harvest.:high-five: I have no idea how hard it would be to check for new pods daily, so no clue whether it would be worth risk to push for 9 weeks. Still a great plant, but not as great as the next one will be.
 
Re: Zo's First Grow 5x5 - AK48 - Northern Lights - Aurora Indica - Nirvana Seeds - 20

Update 08/25
Day 50 Flower

So things got worse and better yesterday. Found out my AI turned hermie as well and i suspect the same of Northern Lights, I was pretty upset with myself until coming across a quote on this site "expect the worse and you'll never be disappointed" and it made me take a step back and realize this was just the learning curve and the experience was priceless. Flushing has begun on all 3 plants and trichs on AK and AI are starting to amber so everything including NL is getting harvested a week early on day 56. The next grow will be a bigger and better Zos Cage of Green, stay tuned because it will be starting soon!

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AK48 -

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"Outside the cage"

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"Inside the cage"

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Flushing began on day 47 for the AK48, you can see in this photo the plant is starting to leach stored nutrients from the fan leaves and will be chopped on day 56.
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Trichs starting to amber
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Northern Lights "aka" Incredible Hulk
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Aurora Indica -

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