Emeraldo's 2020 West-Facing Balcony Grow

[Emeraldo]

Thanks Stunger. Am itching to give her bud a try but so far have restrained myself. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take some popcorn and see how she is in a few weeks, now that we're in September. Did you try your plants before harvest?

 

[Stunger]

Thanks Stunger. Am itching to give her bud a try but so far have restrained myself. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take some popcorn and see how she is in a few weeks, now that we're in September. Did you try your plants before harvest?

I certainly did try them before harvest but that was driven more by necessity. I was fast running out of stash so that was part of my training plan, that knowing I would run out I left all the weak lower growth on with the idea I would prune off the popcorn buds as and when I needed for smoking. Which is what I did.
I see no harm in enjoying a preliminary toke now as you rest in her shade and fragrance with your book!

 

[Emeraldo]

Focus on Dream Berry:

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 1, 2020

Front row, L to R: Dream Berry, White Widow, Sept 1

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 1, 2020

Dream Berry buds filling in, September 1

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 1, 2020

Dream Berry, view from behind, September 1

 

[Emeraldo]

Cooler weather this past week. Down to 57 F last night, highs around 90 today. The plants' canopies are thinning, with the cooler temps the leaves have been yellowing and I've pulled fists full off the grow each morning.

Now Acapulco Gold is starting to look like the breeder photos from Barney's Farm. Under the microscope, trichomes still mostly clear, a bit cloudy, occasional amber.

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 3, 2020

Top colas, AG, Sept 3

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 3, 2020

AG, Sept 3

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 3, 2020

AG, Sept 3

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 3, 2020

AG, Sept 3

 

[Stunger]

The top colas of the AG look fantastic in the camera angle, it will be interesting what you think when you start to test it!

 

[Emeraldo]

The cooler temps are supposed to give way to another, albeit shorter, heat wave of 3 days going as high as 112 F. Great for the Labor Day weekend, for outdoors and barbeques. Getting a little drought stress, after all, hehe. Will counteract with lots of water.

Yesterday I sampled some Acapulco Gold. I had discovered a quick-dry method: the boiler room. I put some bud in a paper bag and left in on top of the water heater for 2 days and it was nice and dry. Turned to powder in the grinder. I knew the tricomes were still mostly clear, but I just had to find out how the AG is coming along.

The effect was a pretty strong head high, very clear and energizing, with no or very little body. I assume the body effect that the breeder mentions will come along in due time as the trichomes ripen further. According to Barney, she might need another month, although today the trichomes seemed only about 60% clear, 30% milky.

Today the plant is heavy with bud, some of her branches hanging down under the weight, I've had to support several branches with velcro strips holding them up. Here some closeups of her bud in the sunlight.

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 5, 2020

AG, Sept 5

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 5, 2020

AG, Sept 5

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 5, 2020

AG, Sept 5

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 5, 2020

AG, Sept 5

 

[Stunger]

The AG's looking superb. It's great you enjoyed an encouraging tester toke of her buds. It'll be interesting how she develops, and also the other strains you have growing.

 

[Emeraldo]

Gold Leaf, White Widow, G13 Haze, Blackberry, Dream Berry, Super Lemon Haze. All are in flower, esp White Widow and Dream Berry. But the AG so far has been very photogenic, now starting to droop from the weight of the buds. I've got her strapped up to support the branches that need it.

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 5, 2020

Droopy buds heavy with resin, Acapulco Gold, Sept 5

 

[Emeraldo]

View of the grow, taken from the patio/ground level below. Left to right along railing are AG, BB, DB and WW on right. Not visible in photo are Super Lemon Haze, G13 Haze and Gold Leaf.

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 6, 2020

Grow viewed from patio below. Left to right along railing: Acapulco Gold, Blackberry, Dream...

Here an update on Super Lemon Haze in flower. Slow to flower, this GHS strain is steadily flowering along. I assume this strain will flower into late October as per the suggestion by GHS. I am not totally happy with the way I have grown this plant, she has had that upturned serrated leaf edge ever since the heat wave in June stressed her out. That upturned edge is present all over the plant, and while it doesn't mean she won't flower nicely, it suggests that the heat stress may have hit her in a systemic way. I hope that does not make her turn hermie. As noted, GHS recommends a soil pH of 5.5 (which seems too incredibly low to take seriously, right?), and I have her in soil pH 6.5 which would be "in range" for most plants, but who knows?

Yes, @Stunger there is some ash and shit on that leaf, probably dust from nearby walnut orchard (actually, it's constantly irrigated), but now I've decided to wash the harvest this year, even went out and bought all the stuff needed. Oh yeah, I still need lemons...

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 6, 2020

Super Lemon Haze, Sept 6: in week 5, probably will go the full 12 weeks flowering as suggested...

Acapulco Gold continues to ripen, much faster than any other strain. Am thinking of harvesting this particular bud in a few days as on Friday this week the AG will have been flowering 9 full weeks. Under the digital microscope, the trichomes on this bud are about 40% clear, 50% milky, 10% amber. I checked on the Grow Diaries website and saw most growers have harvested their indoor grown AG after nine or ten weeks of flowering, which confirms/corroborates my own feeling that this plant could be harvestable in a short while. That bud (below) looks like it would be a bit on the clear side at this point, will look again on Friday.

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 6, 2020

AG bud starting to look ripe @ 8.5 weeks flowering

 

[Stunger]

Those AG colas are looking really nice and heavy. If you're seeing 10% amber then it must be getting close. That one's definitely not going to be November harvest like your Arjan's Haze #1. The recommendation of pH 5.5 for the SLH does seem unbelievably low. I did read that folk growing with hydro use lower pH, perhaps the advice is meant for that.
Overall your grow is looking really Treemendous (especially the AG). Looks like you'll be in for a bumper harvest!

 

[Emeraldo]

Super Lemon Haze

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 7, 2020

Super Lemon Haze, Sept 7

White Widow

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 7, 2020

White Widow, Sept 7

Dream Berry: from front and behind...

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 7, 2020

Dream Berry, Sept 7: front

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 7, 2020

Dream Berry, Sept 7: view from behind

Acapulco Gold: Stunger, I think the 10% amber must've been a typo! The AG is nowhere near that, maybe 5% is more likely. I checked this morning and on several buds (near the top and also lower down) the trichomes are 60% clear, 35% milky, and then there are lots of darker shades, maybe it is the amount of light in the bud that makes some look quite dark. Anyway, I decided yesterday to cut a single bud out of the top cola, just to see where that cola is. It looked at least 60% clear, and I am letting that bud dry in the boiler room. But today's photo (below) of the same bud I posted a photo of yesterday (compare photo # 2241) does show some ripening has occurred since then.

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 7, 2020

Acapulco Gold, Sept 7, a bit riper than yesterday

 

[DonkeyDick]

Best views ever from your balcony E’mo. Looking good!

 

[Stunger]

They're going beautifully Emeraldo! And yes, that AG cola does look like it has ripened further since yesterday. You should get a great new range of primo bud to jar up after this run. Will this be the best grow you've done yet?

 

[Emeraldo]

...Will this be the best grow you've done yet?

To me this has been my best grow yet. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to pontificate.

It's my best grow partially because I was here, in lock-down, the whole time, and could care for the plants and react if there were issues. But last summer's grow of Arjan's Haze #1 and Strawberry Haze was also right up there with my best grows so far. I was there, at that grow, all summer too.

Other past grows, where I was absent most of the time ("semi-guerilla"), lacked any excitement or suspense. I would leave the plants in May, and apart from a visit in July, would let them grow all by themselves until harvest in October. Because of my absence, these grows were subject to things out of my control. Since I had to harvest all plants at once, I did not have the ability to change my plans and harvest earlier.

This year, for example, I could react to the fact that the Acapulco Gold started flowering way earlier than I expected her to, and is now rapidly ripening. I can start harvesting her soon, in mid-September, which I could not do if I were only going to arrive to harvest her in "early October" (which is when Barney's says she'll be ripe). Maybe it's all the sun and heat this summer has resulted in her being ripe several weeks earlier.

In past years, I've harvested all plants in mid-October and found that my strains on the railing/sunny side of the balcony were much riper than under the eves, on the shady side. Last year, the three plants that were in the hot sun all summer -- G13 Haze, Jack F1 and Strawberry -- were all slightly over-ripe, which for me means a good CBN, couch-lock, good before bedtime. Especially after curing. For daytime use, the plants from the shady side are always more uplifting and cerebral -- even after curing for 11 months -- than those with more sun when harvested in mid-October.

Very happy with this grow this year. Continue to learn new things about growing. S'Wonderful, s'marvelous...

 

[Emeraldo]

Today was crazy weather, again. High winds, so high the plants were whipped, as in June. Coincided this time again with hot weather, lately it was around 104 F / 40 C. To make it even worse, the heat and wind coincides this time with wildfires all over California, mostly in SoCal and in the Sierras, also along the central coast. Hence the smoke and red skies. Acapulco Red.

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 8, 2020

Cannabis enjoying great infra-red spectrum sunlight in late flowering, NoCal, Sept 8

 

[Emeraldo]

That was a brutal wind yesterday into the evening. It was painful to stand and watch my precious plants getting thrown about. The leaves took a beating, as did the pistils. Trichomes were not harmed, and pistils will continue to grow, but it was scary to say the least, with all that wind, smoke, and heat -- all I could do was water them.

Here's a couple of photos of our bud today. Cloudy trichomes are up to about 35%, 60% clear still.

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 9, 2020

AG, Sept 9

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• Emeraldo
• Sep 9, 2020

AG, Sept 9

 

[Stunger]

I'd like to think that if your plants are healthy, and they certainly look it, that they'll be responding to this summer of heat and wind by producing even more resin/oil to help them meet the weather challenge.

 

[Emeraldo]

Add the increased resin from fright to the increased flower power from far-infra red sunlight, wind, and heat, and this'll be one powerful Oaxacan, or whatever she is...

I clipped another bud to try, this time from one of the top buds around the top one. Currently drying on water heater. Will report.

 

[DoYouRight]

View of the grow, taken from the patio/ground level below. Left to right along railing are AG, BB, DB and WW on right. Not visible in photo are Super Lemon Haze, G13 Haze and Gold Leaf.

IMG_2238.jpeg

• Emeraldo
• Sep 6, 2020

Grow viewed from patio below. Left to right along railing: Acapulco Gold, Blackberry, Dream...

Here an update on Super Lemon Haze in flower. Slow to flower, this GHS strain is steadily flowering along. I assume this strain will flower into late October as per the suggestion by GHS. I am not totally happy with the way I have grown this plant, she has had that upturned serrated leaf edge ever since the heat wave in June stressed her out. That upturned edge is present all over the plant, and while it doesn't mean she won't flower nicely, it suggests that the heat stress may have hit her in a systemic way. I hope that does not make her turn hermie. As noted, GHS recommends a soil pH of 5.5 (which seems too incredibly low to take seriously, right?), and I have her in soil pH 6.5 which would be "in range" for most plants, but who knows?

Yes, @Stunger there is some ash and shit on that leaf, probably dust from nearby walnut orchard (actually, it's constantly irrigated), but now I've decided to wash the harvest this year, even went out and bought all the stuff needed. Oh yeah, I still need lemons...

IMG_2243.jpeg

• Emeraldo
• Sep 6, 2020

Super Lemon Haze, Sept 6: in week 5, probably will go the full 12 weeks flowering as suggested...

Acapulco Gold continues to ripen, much faster than any other strain. Am thinking of harvesting this particular bud in a few days as on Friday this week the AG will have been flowering 9 full weeks. Under the digital microscope, the trichomes on this bud are about 40% clear, 50% milky, 10% amber. I checked on the Grow Diaries website and saw most growers have harvested their indoor grown AG after nine or ten weeks of flowering, which confirms/corroborates my own feeling that this plant could be harvestable in a short while. That bud (below) looks like it would be a bit on the clear side at this point, will look again on Friday.

IMG_2241.jpeg

• Emeraldo
• Sep 6, 2020

AG bud starting to look ripe @ 8.5 weeks flowering

I wish that was the view of my neighbor's back porch! Damn what a view!! Congrats on the grow, it must be legal where you live, cause most Places don't allow that type of Dr. Greenthumbing to go on! Lol!! Peace!!

 

[Stunger]

Add the increased resin from fright to the increased flower power from far-infra red sunlight, wind, and heat, and this'll be one powerful Oaxacan, or whatever she is...

I clipped another bud to try, this time from one of the top buds around the top one. Currently drying on water heater. Will report.

It puts a smile on my face just thinking about it!

Man, on the news we're seeing some pretty fierce red skies over California. I hope you continue to remain out of harm's way there.