End of Week 3 Flower Photo Dump + Some Veg Previews
New edition to the Grow Room
The long wait to get the official Veg tent is finally over. Now the grow room has a 4×4 Veg and a 4×8 Flower tent. Now everything has its own enclosed environment with lights, fans, and a little love.
On the left I have a new Durbin going and on the right it’s the Yee o’l Banana Og x F1 Durbin x Gushers. Soon (3 months maybe) I’ll have these ladies breed as one new strain. No idea if it’s going to work but maybe first time is a charm. I have colloidal silver to use during the second week of flower. I’ll have to re-up on my research but I do believe that’s the time I’ll spray the new Durbin. This experiment absolutely terrifies me. During this process I have a chance of spreading a ton of pollen in the grow room. Even with filters there might be contamination.
We’ll see what happens…
Week 2 Day 17
As expected with this strain (Banana Og x F1 Durbin x Gushers) I was guaranteed success on an emergency reveg. The new flowers are starting to bloom and new plants for the next harvest are about to get cloned. This plant’s future is looking towards getting bred with another Durbin. The one I’ve been working with for 2 years has always been leggy and strong in the Banana Og department. Hopefully it’s tempered with the new genetics.
Summer will bring new avenues with the harvest and plans for breeding will begin.
Last harvest and Next Batch
Back in business after much delay. It’s been too long since I put my undivided focus into the grow. My latest harvest I managed a solid 2lb’s with the Banana OG x F1 Durbin Gushers (Durbin Gushers) in my 4×4.
After that I neglected the shit out of the upcoming harvest. Those plants were in veg for months. Then after a fantastic time in Vegas for a vacation, it ended with a seizure and 7 broken vertebrae on the floor of a chipotle. Honestly the worst detail I focus on was the kids quesadilla order, that shit is trash.
So before the accident I was already being a shitty caretaker for my plants, afterward just got exponentially worse. It may be the only time in my growing experience where I didn’t record and take pride in the grow. Things are finally changing and I have a great new perspective on just about everything.
So now the next batch is coming up with 54 days left before harvest, there’s a solid plan for breeding my own strain, and a whole new schedule created for my upcoming harvests. The mother strain is the Banana OG x F1 Durbin x Gushers and the father is another Durbin that grows incredibly small.
Hopefully with things going well I believe I should have my own strain. No idea what I would call it but it gonna be a badass, purple stemmed, deep euphoric smoke. Cheers to the future.
1lbs Harvest
After a terrible summer, I turned it into something beautiful. I somehow made it possible to achieve a higher yield than ever before. Still, I see room for improvement but I am still proud of the quality.
Throughout my time growing this strain I can guarantee it will stretch at every chance. The Banana OG x F1 Durbin x Gushers is a tremendous strain. I intend on breeding this plant with itself to get the best of the best. The strain is a training-dependent strain. A lot of the flower sites are achieved with LTS and topping.
After growing this strain I want to say it’s my favorite to grow so far. I have 2 strains that might beat it but at the moment the Durbin Gushers really steals my attention time and time again.
Half Pound Struggle
It has been a long year waiting for another harvest. I had never updated since I had harvested the first batch of Banana Durbin Gushers (Banana OG x F1 Durbin x Gushers) and I had exactly 8 ounces (1/2 pound!). That’s not including the outside plant I had going. That one I think was around 2 ounces but I didn’t take note.
After a few weeks, I had my Veg getting ready for flower. However, I decided to move after my lease. This had me stuck in a perpetual Vegetative state with my plants until I could resume in the new house. Once I moved, the landlord let me know the carpet was gonna be a month until it was to be redone. Soooooo I kept my mom plants in the garage until the carpet was done. This was a mistake I wish I could take back. Almost all of my plants died during the summer heatwave. I had 3 strains survive out of 7.
After establishing my new grow area in the new house, I was finally inside and out of the garage. Temperatures have never been better and the only struggle is humidity. I got a 125-gallon fish tank soon afterward and achieved 50% RH in the living room. This helps out a little bit but we keep the windows open a lot so it’s not too efficient.
Banana OG x F1 Durbin x Gushers
Back in August, I purchased seeds from a US company for the first time. Neptune Seedbank, bred by Purple City Genetics. As of November, I’ve gone through 60 dead clones and finally a full successful batch in veg. The mother plant is outside flowering and I’ve got the clones in training. I’ve got big plans for these green ladies.
First round of clones with rock wool and peat moss. Did not work out. I over watered tremendously on this run and possibly many more (60ish)
With only one tent it was time to take the Mom plant outside
The first run of clones that ended in success was in coco only
Finally made a batch of clones that survived
18 days into flowering photo-dump
Last 17 days of Veg time-lapse
Comparing all my grows at Day 55
First Grow
Starting with where I began. Clearly despite the lack of growing experience this grow almost seems to be the best. At this point these rando-seeds were ahead of of their time sharing the same height as my current grow but lacking proper training or care. There are way too many fan leaves blocking bud sights and the nodes from separate stems are way too close to each other. Shortly after these pictures one plant seeded and I ended the grow with 1 plant and 56 grams of seedy (but ok) bud. Overall this was the highlight of 2020.
Second Grow
Neglect, Neglect, and more Neglect. I got really lazy for the second go around things. All I had to do was transplant 2 weeks earlier and these ladies would be towers. Both plants were stunted to stay around this height and all the energy went into the buds. The nutrient levels were ok were this grow but I held back in fear I would burn. Instead I starved them a little, had big temperature transitions, and fully learned the need for Cal-Mag. Each plant yielded about 20 grams of the best bud I’ve ever smoked.
Current Grow
Now we come to the present-day. Everything got upgraded and I’ve made few mistakes. Still so much to learn but at least it looks like I know what I’m doing. Until I get my cannabis career going this will be my dojo. The future…I can see it! hundreds of grams are soon to come,
Cheers
Dancing Plants
Training and Preparing for Flower
The difference between a plant that’s been trained or not is night and day. To me I would describe it how Indica vs Sativa look. Indica is typically a thicker, bushier, shorter plant. The Sativa grows taller/lankier with more node spacing. Nowadays there’s enough information suggesting: Why can’t a sativa or Indica do both? Not to say there isn’t notable characteristics to identify the phenotype, but short and bushy is the objective for yields.
Low-stress training (LST) and super-cropping forces the plant to adapt to a new shape. My favorite, and cheapest way to do this is by grabbing a stem 2-3 nodes from the new growth, twisting and lightly pinching until the stem is drooping over.
DO NOT do this until the stem splits or tears. If that does happen the plant can still heal the damaged area, but it may temporarily stunt the growth. In some cases a bandage must be applied to help the plant regrow or else it will wilt away.
Another effective way I spread out the top canopy is with twist-ties and or plant tape. I started using regular-ties but I switched to plant-ties. They are the same to utilize but the plant ties are made with rubber and tend to have a stronger hold. These tend to be more effective than the supercropping method of pinch-n-twist. However the plant can get weaker when stretching out the canopy without a little damage to the plant tissue. That’s why doing both is critical to my green ladies.
The next (and last) week before switching to Flower is the final chance to do the more aggressive training. Almost all my canna-ladies have been given 2-3 toppings for a chance to get triple the main colas. Doing this in flower would take away the energy used to make bud, and divert towards stem and leaf production.
Day 35 Photo-dump
Only 21 days left in Veg before I flip to the 12/12 flowering light schedule. This gives me the chance to top/FIM about 2-3 more times before becoming too sensitive in flower.
First Harvest
Mothers Day 2020 maybe,
3 random Seeds are planted, all germinate right away. I have grown little to nothing before this point. A plant on the windowsill here and there but never passing the seedling stage.
This was also my first time growing herbs, lettuce, and using clay pots. Clay pots suck. I’m sure there are plants that would love their roots insulated but in the heat its an awful idea. It was the end of the lettuce. Herbs didn’t make it either but that was due to not transplanting….and poor watering. To be fair the medium I got was sand based, like why?
The soil I used was Happy Frog by Fox Farms for the entirety of this grow. I was told that the nutrient only lasts a few weeks to about a month. For me I continuously top-dressed with new soil and transplanted, giving the plant just enough to survive. This was the last grow I used a soil medium. Not to say its a bad medium, I just find it easier to feed with a hydroponic medium such as coco-coir. When I start veg its about time to get a Co2 bag ready for flowering.
My first plant to be disposed of started growing balls. Could have been the heat stress or the start of the thrips. One thing I hate more than clay pots are thrips. Either way if there is one thing about getting pests is getting rid of them faster than getting them. I neglected to think they would do as much harm as fast as they did. Ultimately I failed to get rid of them but managed to still harvest.
Then there was one. Further into flowering I noticed another one of the ladies turned hermie so I gave it to a friend. Honestly I should have kept it because all of them eventually Hermied. Doesn’t matter because I really didn’t have the room for more than a single plant.
Alright despite all stresses I ended with a harvest of 56 grams over the course of 5 months. The flower was scattered with seeds which took a lot of energy from THC production. Not a bad smoke and the seeds make the flower crack and pop, so I coined this random seed Firecracker. It may not have been super dank but it was happy start to a passion I refuse to let go.
Galaxy by Pyramid Seeds
Second Best of Grow
This strain showed me just how much clay pots suck. The one in a red solo cup had much healthier root development. Clay pots hold in temperature really well and I have a suspicion its the reason the cotyledons turned yellow. Nutrients at this stage should be optimal for seedlings turning into Veg.
Having trouble identifying the Galaxy? Look for 2 clay pots with a red cup to the side (without yellow tag), that’s them!
Having trouble identifying the Galaxy? A bushier strain with the biggest fan leaves in the grow.
Blueberry by Seedsman
They were free so…
In my first online seed order I was given this strain as a freebie. This means every “first” that occurs will happen to these ladies. It helped to learn how to transplant out of these crap clay pots. I will also give experimental nutrient mixes in order to find the maximum amount. Overall I want them to succeed so they will get the same care.
Having trouble identifying the Blueberry? Look for 3 clay pots lined up together, that’s them!
This one Auto-topped!!! 
Only plant I’ve grown to have this phenomenon occur 
Having trouble identifying the Blueberry? It’s the tallest strain in the grow with mostly one main stem. For some reason topping doesn’t really work with these genetics.
Tutankhamon By Pyramid Seeds
Best of the current grow
These genetics are wildly different compared to the others. The fan leaves are short and bushy, creating a beautiful bush-look before any other. Same soil and nutrients but for some reason this plant took off. This is the golden goose of the batch and its gonna get the best treatment by far. In most pictures shown, the Tut will be placed directly under the light for the best light. More than a thousand Lux!
Current Grow Equipment
VIVOSUN 8x4x7 Grow Tent
Upgraded from a 4x2x5. Currently have 1 input and 1 output fan. There’s a third opening to neutralize the air pressure. Might install another input fan for temp control.
MarsHydro TS 1000W
Upgraded from a Mars Hydro TS 600W. Planning on getting another one of these to daisy chain. Might wait until the end of current grow.
General Hydroponics Flora Trio + Supplements
Great results from this lineup of nutrients. I recommend using Cal-Mag alongside these is using coco-coir. I also use seaweed extract and Silica.
Fabric Pots
These are the best. Solo cups with a holes or cuts made on the sides and bottom will be a great substitute. Clay pots suck…
Sticky Bug Traps
Through each grow there is a single variable that always persists: The Gnat. They aren’t all though. Most of the time they live off the extra organic material (bacteria, fungus) growing around the plant. This comes from overwatering and leaving the plant medium moist. Both colors attract gnats but the yellow just speaks to them in some type of way.
Casper Grows In Coco 