Girl Scout Cookies Grown By Cookie Man In A Closet

[CookieMan]

Well I have had a busy week and haven't had much time to tend to my ladies. I found them looking like this on the 12th:

I mixed up some tiger bloom and cal mag in reverse osmosis water. I used pH up to raise the pH to be just below 6.5. I fed them about 2 gallons total. I tried to feed from the top, but the water ran straight through. I think that the plants are becoming root bound. No mater how hard I tried to just let the water slowly seep into the soil, it ran straight through. I then just watered from below until they stopped absorbing the water within 30 minutes. Some of the bottom leaves didn't survive, but they did perk up. I think I am hitting a bit of Nitrogen deficiency and potassium deficiency.

Today, they looked like this:

I was a little disappointed with the light penetration and the number of bud sites that were covered by big fan leaves. Realizing that I have run out of space, I had few options. I could remove a plant and then have great light penetration as I spread my plants slightly more; or, I could trim and defoliate the plants to improve light penetration. I decided to not toss a plant for more space. Instead, I spent some time with them and some scissors to remove many of the fan leaves that covered the inner parts of the plants. I also removed some of the more pathetic shoots that buds were coming off. I tried to minimize the pruning while maximizing the increase in light penetration. I also tried to even the canopy a little more. Here are the results:

I think the results are pretty decent and I was able to count a few more bud sites in the canopy now. I removed quite a bit of lower growth and leaves thinking that overall, this will help reduce my water needs a little bit and help boost the remaining plant. Thanks to anyone following along, any advice is always welcome.

 

[420Amard]

All that lower droopy stuff can come off it's like that because it's not getting light

 

[CookieMan]

All that lower droopy stuff can come off it's like that because it's not getting light

I think they are doing better today after I trimmed the leaves some. I think I will upgrade to a 4x4 tent for my next grow. This just doesn't seem like enough space.

 

[CookieMan]

Well it has been almost a week since my last update, and things are trotting along nicely. The plants seem to have bounced back and are continuing to grow. A power outage put them in darkness for a few hours yesterday though. They look nice today.

 

[CookieMan]

I just watered them with a nice dose of nutes. In 3 gallons of RO water, I put 1 tablespoon of cal-mag, 4 tablespoons of tiger bloom, and 3 tablespoons of ph up. Ph of the mix was just under 6.5. This seems to be about the ratio I have been feeding them.

 

[420Amard]

Looks really nice man Personally though I'd lollipop them a bit

 

[CookieMan]

I am not quite sure if I want to take more leaves off of them. I really am torn. The light is penetrating just enough. The lower branches keep popping off little bud sites. And I keep reading conflicting reports on defoliating during bloom. Don't the fan leaves act as storage for some of the nutes? Doesn't this help the plant out? I know the 4 plants is too much for my space to be done ideally. However, I can't bring myself to toss one now. I have considered giving one away to a good home, but I don't know anyone that would be able to continue the grow. I suppose I could ask at the hydro store. Or I could just upgrade sooner rather than later to a 5x5 tent. I'll see what happens.

 

[TheDankDuo]

Hey there!

Things look really good, you are doing awesome so far for sure.

How long have they been flowering?

I like to defoliate right when they start to flower a bit (majority of lower fan leaves, and big ones blocking alot of light in the center/sides); then I defoliate again around 21 days into flowering, from what ive seen at this time you can really tell what big fan leaves are blocking light and air to your bud sites...which is your big concern at that stage in development.

At least that is my theory and what I do. I try to read the plants so I know if they can take the abuse or not.

Hope this helps

 

[CookieMan]

Hey there!

Things look really good, you are doing awesome so far for sure.

How long have they been flowering?

I like to defoliate right when they start to flower a bit (majority of lower fan leaves, and big ones blocking alot of light in the center/sides); then I defoliate again around 21 days into flowering, from what ive seen at this time you can really tell what big fan leaves are blocking light and air to your bud sites...which is your big concern at that stage in development.

At least that is my theory and what I do. I try to read the plants so I know if they can take the abuse or not.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the input DankDuo. They are 22 days since the switch to 12/12. I think they can take some abuse now. It seems like I have to keep taking some leaves off to get better light and airflow. However, they seem to be thriving as they are right now. I'll be keeping a close eye on them and removing some leaves as needed for sure.

 

[eggzin]

Cookie- My first post. About to start my own small cab, hydro grow and have built my cabinet using used doors. I've followed your grow since reading your posts in the design sub-forum. I just wanted to chip in in case you might find it helpful.

I see your struggle with height and have anticipated the problem for myself so I was thinking: You can get a little more height if you put the carbon filter in the same bay as you have your inline fan. Now the filter would be between the light and the fan. You'd gain maybe 10" to 12" inches to raise the light. Might this help?

 

[CookieMan]

Cookie- My first post. About to start my own small cab, hydro grow and have built my cabinet using used doors. I've followed your grow since reading your posts in the design sub-forum. I just wanted to chip in in case you might find it helpful.

I see your struggle with height and have anticipated the problem for myself so I was thinking: You can get a little more height if you put the carbon filter in the same bay as you have your inline fan. Now the filter would be between the light and the fan. You'd gain maybe 10" to 12" inches to raise the light. Might this help?

I wish you the best of luck, I would go with a 4 or 5'x'5 tent. I am too cramped for space.

 

[CookieMan]

I just mixed up another batch of 3 gallons of water. Same mix, 1 tbsp calmag, 4 tbsp foxfarm tiger bloom, and three tbsp phup. Ph came out to about 6, but I figured what they heck, it tends to rise anyways. The girls are being fed from the bottom since they were quite dry. Pics will probably come later on today or tomrrow. We are now 26 days into flowering. They smell amazing so far.

 

[CookieMan]

Well here we are, 30 days since the switch. I even see a couple hairs turning orange. I figure there is another 30-40 days to go before harvest.

 

[CookieMan]

Well, not much to report. They are starting to really stink. Also the temp is rising in my cabinet and I'm not sure why. I did manage to pull quite a bit of cat hair off the filter. Hopefully it stays cooler now. I really need an easy way to deal with the cat hair. The buds are getting dense and heavy. I think they will be ready to harvest sooner than I thought. Perhaps these aren't true girl scout cookies. They smell great when you touch the buds. But they do smell a little musty before you touch them. Temp is hitting 91

They look ok, and I think I will survive till harvest. I do plan on investing in a 5'x5' tent though since this cabinet is more trouble than it is worth without venting out of the building directly. I think the air flow will be vastly superior in the tent than this Janky system I have right now. I need to put in another air vent in the dividing wall, but that will make a ton of saw dust in my cabinet and the plants are close to harvest. Oh well, good problems to have.

Without further rambling, here are some close up bud shots. Let me know what you think. Please excuse the cat hairs.

 

[chronicville]

Lookin tasty.

Sent from my SM-N920P using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[MyDogSpot]

Getting there and looking good!


The HotBox

 

[CookieMan]

Well, sorry for the delay in any updates. Not much has happened. I did a few more feedings, and probably was underwatering my babies a little bit. They are now at 64 days since I started 12-12. The Cali Connection website lists their GSC as being ripe between 63-70 days. I bought a pocket scope and looked around at the trichomes. They are starting to get cloudy all over and some buds are showing amber trichomes. Some of the bigger buds in the center of the light still have all white pistols, but the lower buds on the same branch have all red pistols. The plants are falling over and I need to harvest today due to my upcoming schedule. A couple weeks ago, I had a couple small lower buds that broke their stems while I was moving them around, so I dried them. It was kind of harsh as it hadn't been flushed and it took a while to dry fully. But when I smoked the sample, it was a nice head high, very light. I expect this will be a more rounded high by this point in time. Anyways, who wants to see some pictures?

I guess my only question is what to grow next. Any suggestions?

 

[CookieMan]

Obligatory trichome shot. I will try to get some more macro shots as these buds dry. I had to charge my camera battery though.

High resolution

 

[CookieMan]

So the buds went into the jars Thrusday night. The stems were starting to get crunchy with some cracking when bent in half. The buds were crispy. Into the jars they went. As I was jaring them, I did notice some were less dry than others. I did put the hygrometer in a jar and found the humidity to be at 63% the next morning. I left the jars open for a half hour yesterday morning. Last night I opened them up around 10pm and then closed them again this morning at 630 or so. The smoke is a nice clear high, very heady and makes me want to talk a lot. It has a nice sweet aroma with strong earthy smells, it is remaniscent of cookie dough. When I broke a bud up just now, I could smell a hint of chocolate too. The flavor is nice and sweet, and as it coasts to a full cure it will surely be amazing. I will clean out the closet and switch back to the MH light. New seeds will go in the ground this weekend.

 

[chronicville]

Nice work. It sounds like the key to it all is the cure. If we are patient it will taste better in the end

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Laughing Buddha First Grow