Dark Gorilla x Blue Orbit Pheno Hunt

[Macdaddy420]

Hey guys so I’m going to do a pheno hunt. It’s the first time I’m doing this so if you have advice or tips, don’t hold them back!

I will be growing regular seeds that I crossed last season. Blue orbit (blueberry x spoetnik #1) X dark gorilla (dark devil x gorilla glue #4). Both stable strains from just a handful of seeds co.
I used a male dark gorilla to pollinate my feminized blue orbit last season. This is a little bit about the parents involved in this.

About Blueberry
Blueberry is a popular, flavor-forward indica hybrid with a strong genetic backbone. It is a three-way cross between an indica Afghani parent and sativa Thai and Purple Thai variant parents. Blueberry was originally developed in the 1970s or 80s by DJ Short, a mysterious but prolific breeder who’s been dubbed the "Willy Wonka of pot.” Blueberry is distinguished by an unmistakable fresh blueberry smell and taste that have made it an enduring favorite.

About Spoetnik #1
The heritage of this plant is Afghani, crossed with Dutch genes, giving it base characteristics that reflect its reputation as a hash giving plant. Back in the day Spoetnik hash was a top choice amongst Amsterdam coffee shop connoisseurs.

Our version, Spoetnik #1 is a Paradise twist on an original classic, the quality bred through to produce a galaxy of riches. The buds of the Spoetnik are meteor chunky, with trichomes that light up the colas like the Milky Way. This plant is a dream for the farmer wanting to take home some hash from his or her harvest.

About Dark Devil
Dark Devil Auto is a blend of indica and sativa genetics that have been infused with the autoflowering traits of cannabis ruderalis. The strain is the love child of Big Devil XL and cannabis ruderalis. This plant is simply stunning to observe, sporting purple and dark green and dark red buds and leaves that make it stand out as a thing of beauty among other cannabis strains.

As well as offering impressive yields and a strong smoke, Dark Devil Auto serves as an impressive herbal ornament during itself life cycle. In some instances the buds of this plant may even turn black towards the end of the flowering phase!

About Gorilla glue #4
Gorilla Glue #4 (also known as GG4) created by GG strains is a Sativa-dominant hybrid, a multiple award-winning strain, famous for its high THC content. It averages 18 to 25 percent THC, but you may find it as high as 32 percent at some dispensaries. The CBD is very low, ranging between 0.05 and 0.1 percent.

This strain gets its name because of the resin that collects on the scissors when trimming. Gorilla Glue #4 has several parents due to extensive backcrossing – Sour Diesel, Sour Dubb, Chem’s Sister, and Chocolate Diesel.


I’m going to see a lot of variety here, both male and female, automatic and photoperiod. I’m going to be running at least 14 pots to start with. Taking the first 14 that pop.

I will be using the classic zip lock bag method for germination. I find it’s always a high germination rate.

growing medium is a dark soil from the forest next to my house. Which has been untouched for 20+years so it should be quite fertile.

I will be watering with RO water. Keeping the pH at a happy medium.
Lighting is a 1000W LED. Sometimes the sun when I can be bothered lugging it upstairs and outside.

I’m looking forward to the different situations I’m going to experience and learn from, in this run.

What I’m looking for
speed of growth
Leaf and internode growth
Yield eventually
Smell
Crystal density

 

[Macdaddy420]

Here is an updated look at my indoor grow space; increased the space available 200%.
I will be running my pheno hunt out of the green bucket.

(The lavender plant won’t be there long)

 

[Macdaddy420]

Ok so quick day 3 update. Nothing above ground just yet.
High humidity and temps of 22-23*C and I’m sure they will poke their heads out soon enough.

Added a small 20w 2’ tube above seedlings bin so when they do pop I can reduce stretch as I have limited room under my large light.

 

[Macdaddy420]

Good morning 420 mag, I have some plants above ground today. It’s morning of day 5 here.
There were 12 babies popped this morning, there’s a few with multiple seeds in each cup, I will separate them once I get my hands on some more cups lol.

Good temps and a good humidity level should help these babies get off to a good start. Hopefully we see some clear favourites in terms of growth over the next few weeks.

 

[Macdaddy420]

Update day 7:
We have 15 seedlings above ground sitting happily under my little retrofitted led light.

 

[Macdaddy420]

Transplanted 21/5/20
Transplanted early using a rooting hormone and into any bigger pots I could find around the house, Even some plastic bottles. I’m following the advice of growers on the site to avoid any kind of stress during the 3rd and 4th week of vegetation to help increase my M/F ratios. May take a day or two to recover then back onto the growth!

Early veg stage
24/5/20-7/6/20 inside.
Amount of light: 100% of the lamps on under high blue light intensity. (Blurple w extra 5000k leds)
Light distance between lamp and plant: 8 inches for 1000-Watt led
Light duration: 14 hours per day
Temperature during the day/night: 70/60 degrees Fahrenheit
Humidity level: 55%
Watering schedule: 250 mL per plant, every other day
pH level: 6.2
Veg week 1 Day 1
24/5/20

Veg week 1 Day 3
27/5/20

29/5/20
Veg week 1 day 5

Today I readjusted the pots for better airflow underneath to avoid both cold from the concrete floor and root growth outside the pot due to excess water in the floor, fixing this problem with a grate added underneath, on top of the white wooden flooring I added to reduce cold from the concrete basement floor.
Reorganization of the pots in height order to allow for better air flow across all plants. Roots were growing outside of the pot due to excess water sitting on the ground and a lack airflow underneath the pots which is leading to “wet feet”.
Made improvements to grow space including a reflective roof covering being diy’ed.

There’s a few clear cut different phenotypes here so far, which is expected when crossing an IBL.

 

[Macdaddy420]

Quick update:
1/6/20
Veg Week 2 day 1
Fed half strength nutrients with increased nitrogen, mixed in 4L of RO water. 2ml per L.

My aim over the next two weeks is to Keep the humidity above 60% and temps between 65-70*F, with consistently moist soil, shorter days (14hrs),daylight (5000K), without any stress for a two week period Whilst the plants have 3-4 nodes should increase likelihood of female plants from regular seed.

Phenotypes-
There are a few plants with obviously different pheno’s.

* indica dominant, short, wider leaves, fast indoor growth, probably leaning towards the blueberry side of the genetics.

* Slimmer leaves, spacing between leaves, looks more like a hybrid/Sativa than indica, leading me to believe it has more of the gorilla glue #4 phenotype than blueberry.

 

[Macdaddy420]

8/6/20
Two week stage of gender determination over.

Given lst training to all.

Placed one in grow bed outdoor (strongest) after training to be Grown in the sun from this point on with two clones to be taken later on to preserve this generation /seed next generation.

13/6/20
Culled weakest plants. 2 males killed, 2 struggling females culled as well.
3 males placed inside grow bucket. Looking to find the most potent male through clones.

16/6/20
Large broad leaves on this indica dominant sister. It’s obvious through the dark green leaves and broad overlapping fan leaves. Leading me to believe it will have more of her mothers side, which is a heavy indica stone.
It’s growing quite well, she has visible roots due to being a clear container that are healthy and white, nice to be able to see the roots whilst it grows and develops.

This girl i believe to be a mix of both, indica and Sativa. Having lighter leaves then her seed sister above, and slightly slimmer leaves.
Also happy with her growth, no incidents at all for her so far, enjoying her training.

I’ve taken to naming these two girls the gorilla twins as seedlings they mirrored GG4 seedlings all over the internet. Which I know is part of all of these girls paternal genetics, I’m looking forward to seeing which of these two flower better or if it’s similar at all in the smoke.

This young lady has had a few little problems, too heavy with the nutrients two weeks ago and it burned her a little. She will continue to and has recovered nicely so far.

This heavy indica dominant female was planted in her own bed last week. She is still adjusting to full daylight hours and strength but she will adjust. This was my largest and fastest growing female from the hunt so far, a clone of her will be flowered alongside the rest of the girls when that time comes.

(Pictures of the specific girls are from yesterday 16/6/20)

 

[Macdaddy420]

Update time!
So it’s been a while since I updated the hunt.
We have 6 girls that are loving the outdoors. After transplants on the 22/6/20 into 5gallon buckets and one into a grow bed, they have absolutely loved the sunshine and their new home in the basic greenhouse I made. I plan to flower them in two weeks time, two weeks of veg will be more then enough for them to really seat themselves and allow me to observe them during their flowering period.
Shortening daylight length will allow me to force these girls to flower under intense summer sun. Clones of each were taken and then placed in perlite cups, which is a new cloning experience for me.

 

[Macdaddy420]

Pheno hunt has been an enjoyable experience for me, learning the differences in phenotypes just during veg let alone in flower has been a real lesson. I last updated after transplanting and topping the girls into 5 gal soil buckets. Since then they have improved significantly branching out lots and really putting on some overall size. Here we have them on the first day of flower and a week later filling up the scrog screen on day 6.

Day 6