Applegate's 1st Grow - Tangerine Dream & Jack Herer

[applegate]

Doc Greenthum - Thanks so much for stopping by! You are so right - I never would have guessed how much I'm enjoying this journey. These plants are awesome! Even though I have the end result in my sights, I have a feeling that I'm gonna be like those 4-H kids who devote a season raising a critter to auction off and then sob when they turn over the reins. At the moment I can't imagine cutting these girls down.

I comfort myself by planning for the next grow. Yup, I'm hooked!

 

[applegate]

Thanks for popping back in GhettoGro! I'll be keeping an eye on your THC grow - your journal is very entertaining.

And the smell? Yikes! It's my number one concern.

 

[MrMiracleGro]

Lookin' at these photos again and I'm thinking:

"First grow? Bull shit."

 

[applegate]

MrMiracleGro - HAHA. I have grown before - back when I started growing vintage open pollinated tomatoes "heirlooms" were something your grandma kept in the hallway china closet. I've always started all my plants from seed so I had a little bit of a foundation. I bought Ed Rosenthal's handbook as reference and have just been all around lucky with this mainden venture. I'm feeling my way through this and so far so good.

Your comment made my night! Thanks so much!

 

[Curly Beaver]

Ya gotta love that vibrant green, beautiful plants!

 

[applegate]

PRE FLOWER! Big Jack is such a precocious girl! The other Jack Herer is showing sign too but the Tangerines are too busy trying to make the basketball team to show any interest in sex yet.

 

[Doc Greenthum]

but the Tangerines are too busy trying to make the basketball team to show any interest in sex yet.

That made me spew out my coffee! Your beautifully green plants are so gorgeous to see! You're a natural dear! When plants to so damn healthy you have to tip your hat to the grower!

Have a lovely day Applegate

 

[hockeybry2]

Looking great...can't to see the flowers on that tangerine dream....I always see people bashing the strain because I guess the phenos are pretty inconsistent...I have a few beans myself I wanna get in some dirt...hope you get one of those cup winning phenos!

 

[applegate]

I know what you're saying - I got the TD seeds based on the reported effects and only after they were in my hands did I take the time to look at reports from people who had actual experience growing them. Uh-oh! Live and learn. I got three seeds so still have one in reserve but the two I planted have to be the same pheno, whatever type it turns out to be, because until I fimmed one they were identical twins. Compared with the Jacks I think they lean to sativa which rules out one of the more desirable phenos.

In any case, despite some reports that they are needy and demanding plants, I haven't found that to be the case at all as far as vegging goes. Maybe it's during flowering that they get all uppity!

 

[applegate]

35 days! Time for the weekly progress report.

The Tangerine Dreams are both sitting at 19". The one I fimmed is getting branchy but one I didn't doesn't look shabby in the branch department either. The fimmed TD looks airier while her natural sister resembles a well filled out Xmas tree. Each has her own attributes and my favorite is always the one I happen to be looking at any given moment.

The Jacks are reaching for 15" and to me, look decidedly Indica. As they are hybrids I didn't know what to expect. I'm still watching the apparently failed fimmed job on Big Jack. There are a lot branches coming up on the crown of the plant but the growth tip is still in there and shows no sign of closing up shop. I should have pinched it out by now but I'm kind of fascinated watching the progress of the whorl that is developing ontop of the plant.

These ladies have been thirsty with a capital T. My tap water is so hard (abt 450 ppm) it's chunky so I've been serving a half tap/half distilled water cocktail to the girls. I'm going to have to turn to the outside well water and see if it's more acceptable before I end up with a huge collection of plastic water jugs.

Like so many of us on the forum, the ONLY people who get to see our gardens are those who frequent these threads. So sincerely - thanks for stopping by to take a look!

The open architecture of the fimmed TD.

The whorl hypnotizes me. Obviously, I'm easily amused. Or is it that this plant has actually taken control of me?

The fimmed TD

The natural TD

Big Jack's little sister.

 

[DankWolf907]

Stilll looking fabulous! And that whirl... Fascinating indeed!

my favorite is always the one I happen to be looking at any given moment.

Well said

 

[applegate]

Got in there and dug through the vortex and pinched out the growth tip on Big Jack. Let's see how she does now!

 

[MrMiracleGro]

holy herbal essences..

 

[GhettoGro]

A girl named, "Big Jack". Can't say that I have grown any lesbian weed, but your journal is getting intriguing.

 

[applegate]

A girl named, "Big Jack". Can't say that I have grown any lesbian weed, but your journal is getting intriguing.

So when I shared this comment with my husband, he responds, "When she finally comes out of the closet I'm going to taste that rainbow!" Seriously, what's with you guys?

 

[applegate]

A snowy, blowy Friday - a perfect day to spend time in the garden! It's now 41 days from seed to soil and these ladies were packed in pretty tight on a foot tall 30"x30" table. We expanded the footprint to 4'x4' and have the plants on an inch high rubber lined platform to keep them off the floor. They look much happier now that they can spread out and stretch. We also installed the big can fliter and sealed up any potential light leaks in the grow room because flip time has got to be right around the corner.

I have a 7 foot ceiling to play with but the Tangerines are tipping 30" I don't think I want to let them get too much taller. I was planning to flip on Thanksgiving but my Magic 8 Ball says I should consider acting sooner. Maybe Sunday. That gives me a couple more days of unfettered access so I can sit in the garden and stare at them anytime I want. I'm not going to like not being able to barge in on them during the dark hours. I don't have a green light yet. But even so, looking at them under green light just will not be the same.

I am totally open to advice on whether it's time to pull the trigger on switching these girls. I don't want to run into height problems. I want big luscious plants but I don't know what to expect as far as just how big these plants will grow during flower. What's your gut say? Let me know.

All the pots are each taking a gallon of water every two days. While I've incrementally upped the nutes, I'm still running them on a leaner formula than what's recommended on the Bontanical jugs. I'm mixing H2O at a ratio of 3 parts tap to 1 part distilled and even though I have tap water on the hard side it has been perfect PH-wise. The plants aren't spitting it out so I'm proceeding on the premise that they like what they are getting.

Here's the lineup while the ladies waited for their area to be revamped

The Tangerines - 1 natural and 1 fimmed (or topped or whatever you want to call what I did).

The Jacks - 1 natural and 1 that got top clipped

All settled into their expanded space

 

[GhettoGro]

Your plants look very healthy. If you have 7 feet of headroom you should be good through the stretch, but If you tie them over, you will get more bud-sites and have a lower headroom. These plants are very resilient and will only adapt to there surroundings/treatment. When you tie them over the lower branches will compete with the tops and you end up with more colas. (my experience)

They look great! Wish mine looked this good going into flower.

 

[Curly Beaver]

Very nice. Those Jacks are indeed bushy fellers.

 

[DankWolf907]

Such a lush green!

They can still double in height after the flip, so make sure youve got the room for that?

 

[applegate]

The back wall of the grow area is wood so I could use some eyehooks and soft twine to rig up some type of bondage for the Tangerines if they get too tall. They're the ones I worry about because they are so sativa looking. I'm back to plan A. I'm letting them veg for another week....or two. Hell, I'm just along for the ride and I'm enjoying the scenery!