Jay's First Time: 3x Lemon Skunk In Coco, With 315W LEC In A 1200x1200 Tent

[d42zero]

Coming along nice mate see ya in good hands with Irie. Hehe.
On with the flower show!

Thanks! I did a bit more close looking and it seems trichs are still very much clear/cloudy, with only a few ambers:

Here's a close-up of the in-focus part of that photo:

There are almost no ambers in this photo, maybe 5% or so. This is the plant that's the furthest along, so the other two are less developed.

Things are really fattening up, here's a side-by-side of one cola vs. a 1 litre measuring cup...

So that cola is a good foot long from top to tail, and seems to still be fattening almost daily

I've been doing some reading on the 'final flush,' i.e. cutting nutes in the last week or two and just feeding pHd water.. I'm still on the fence about whether to flush the plant (as opposed to flushing the medium, which I already do every two weeks) and don't really want to get too into that here, but the common theme I find in those threads is that most people seem to start their 7-10 day flush when the trichomes are 50% amber... this gives me a good guide for ripeness, and regardless of whether I decide to do the final flush that info will at least let me narrow down that harvest time better.

I was ballparking harvest as being this weekend but going by the current state of the trichomes on the plant in the pics (as well as all the white pistils still there), I feel like I've still got at least another couple of weeks to go. I had it in my head that once I saw a few amber trichs they would all change very quickly but that doesn't seem to be happening, so for now my plan is to just sit back and watch for a while until I start seeing a lot more ambers.

 

[d42zero]

17/9
Watered 1l @ 10am
Watered 1l @ 8pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 20.5-27.6, 49-61% RH

 

[d42zero]

18/9
Watered 1l @ 10am
Watered 1l @ 8pm
Min-max 21.3-27.0, 53-61% RH

19/9
Watered 1l @ 11am
Watered 1l @ 8pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max not taken

20/9
Watered 1l @ 11am
Watered 1l @ 8pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 22.0-27.9, 51-66% RH

21/9
Watered 1l @ 9am
Min-max not taken
Overnight trip away

 

[Lowrider72]

Going good D420,
They going to be nice buds when they fatten right up.

 

[d42zero]

Going good D420,
They going to be nice buds when they fatten right up.

Thanks man!

Got a question though... is it normal for them to seem to have stopped growing at this point? I've been following this GH feed chart for DTW coco and I'm in the 'ripening' week (week 11 of 12) which dropped PPM down to about 400-500 or so.. I figured since I'm near the end I would just continue feeding them the week 11 mix until I've decided they're ready to go, but they sort of seem to have stagnated a little bit and aren't really doing much.

Trichomes on the plant with the sugary buds don't really seem to have changed, still a lot of clears with some cloudies and a little sprinkling of ambers. The trichomes on the other two plants are much less thick, so thin that they don't really seem to have 'sugar leaves' but instead they just seem to have little fan leaves in between the buds. The pistils on the sugary plant are probably mostly red, but as you can see in the last pic I posted there are still quite a few white ones at the tip which kind of appear to be new growth, almost like a second round of pistils have popped out.

The plants appear generally healthy, they're dropping the occasional fan leaf (maybe eight or nine leaves over a few weeks) but I'm turning them 90degrees once a week to spread the light across the plant a bit and it's possible when I'm doing it I'm just catching a leaf which then dies and falls off.

In hindsight I feel like I should have kept feeding the 'mid bloom' mix from the chart for a couple of extra weeks, then gone to the 'late bloom' mix when I thought they had about three weeks to go. Should I think about upping nutes back to the mid bloom mix, or just keep going with the ripening one until I'm done?

 

[d42zero]

22/9
Watered 1l @ 3pm
Watered 1l @ 8pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 22.6-28.6, 50-63% RH

23/9
Watered 1l @ 730am
Watered 1l @ 8pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 22.1-28.2, 40-57% RH

24/9
Watered 1l @ 830am
Watered 1l @ 8pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 21.0-26.1, 41-48% RH

25/9
Watered 1l @ 830am
Watered 1l @ 830pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-Max 20.4-25.1, 45-54% RH

26/9
Watered 1l @ 830am
Watered 1l @ 830pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 21.7-25.7, 50-62% RH

27/9
Watered 1l @ 830am
Watered 1l @ 830pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 21.6-26.1, 36-60% RH

28/9
Watered 1l @ 830am
Watered 1l @ 830pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max not taken

29/9
Watered 1l @ 830am
Watered 1l @ 830pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max not taken

 

[d42zero]

30/9
So it's felt like not a lot has happened lately, the plants don't really seem to be growing much.. filling out a little I guess bit but otherwise not really doing anything. Trichomes on the best buds are looking pretty kickass though:

And zoomed in a bit:

This is what I mean about 'not doing anything' ... if you go back a few posts you'll find photos and the trichs look almost identical. Mostly clear, a few cloudies, and a tiny few ambers. They've been like this for about two or three weeks now, and while everything seems healthy they just don't seem to be doing anything..

Watered 1l @ 830am
Watered 1l @ 630pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 19.9-26.3, 39-59% RH

 

[d42zero]

1/10
Watered 1l @ 830am
Watered 1l @ 630pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 21.3-26.3, 48-58% RH

2/10
Watered 1l @ 730am
Watered 1l @ 630pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 21.4-26.1, 47-60% RH

3/10
Watered 1l @ 730am
Watered 1l @ 630pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 22.3-27.9, 47-58% RH

Couldn't help myself today, snipped a sample Will let it hang for a few days and give it a try, yum yum. This is off the one of the stretchier less-sugary plants, there aren't any tiny little nugs on the shorter one to steal!

 

[d42zero]

4/10
Watered 1l @ 730am
Watered 1l @ 630pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 23.7-28.6, 44-59% RH

5/10
Watered 1l @ 730am
Watered 1l @ 630pm
Min-max 23.8-30.2, 50-59% RH

6/10
Watered 1l @ 330am
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 23.7-28.8, 48-55% RH

 

[d42zero]

Some photos of the three different plants and their trichomes:

Plant 1 - short, squat, sugary as shit

Plant 2 - taller and more stretched, less sugary

Plant 3 - even taller and stretchier, much less sugary, almost no brown pistils

I've got to admit I'm a little confused as to why I've ended up with three radically different plants.. and also what it means for harvest. The first plant feels almost ready, while the third plant with its white pistils doesn't feel anywhere near as ready. Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of multiple tents, so whatever happens I need to harvest all three plants at the same time.

What do you guys think?

 

[d42zero]

7/10
Watered 1l @ 730am
Watered 1l @ 630pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 24.2-29.1, 49-59% RH

8/10
Watered 1l @ 830am
Watered 1l @ 830pm
Min-max 24.1-30.3, 45-58% RH

9/10
Watered 1l @ 9am
Watered 1l @ 830pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 21.8-28.8, 44-54% RH

10/10
Watered 1l @ 830am
Watered 1l @ 8pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 21.1-27.6, 49-55% RH

So tonight I took a sample from the plant I'm going to harvest on the weekend.. the smallest bud I could find down below, this little fella about four inches long:

I've hung this yummy little sample up outside the tent, can't wait to give it a try!

Looking closely I can see the real dark amber trichomes.. still not lots of them, but definitely a scattering and more on the sugar leaves than the buds. I've got my hands on a second tent so that I can harvest this plant and dry it while the others keep growing, as they seem to be lagging waaay behind.

My plan is to move the plant that's ready to the second tent, and leave it in the dark for three days while watering with RO water collected from the room's dehumidifier (tested ppm is 25-30). After three days, snip snip!

 

[d42zero]

11/10
Watered 1l @ 830am
Watered 1l @ 8pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 20.6-26.6, 49-56% RH

12/10
Watered 1l @ 830am
Watered 1l @ 8pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 20.1-26.9, 51-63% RH

 

[d42zero]

13/10
Pulled the girls out for a flush, and tidied up the room so there's enough space for the 2nd tent I've managed to borrow, since one plant's very ready and the others are still a couple of weeks off I need to harvest in batches...

The girls got a flush today, here's some photos (from most ready to least ready for harvest):

Plant 1 - pretty much ready for harvest

Plant 2

Plant 3

There seems to be a problem with my light.. I was watching at lights on and it flickered on and off when the timer tripped. then it came on maybe ten minutes later. I came back an hour later and it's off, it's tried to flicker on a few times but won't go. Might have to take it out to the shop tomorrow and see what they can do, can't go too long without light right now!!

Watered 1l @ 830am
Watered 1l @ 8pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 19.9-26.1, 52-65% RH

 

[d42zero]

14/10
Watered 1l @ 800am
Watered 1l @ 6pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max not taken

15/10
Watered 1l @ 830am
Watered 1l @ 6pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max not taken

16/10
Watered 1l @ 5am
Watered 1l @ 8pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 20.3-27.4, 54-66% RH

 

[d42zero]

17/10
The sample bud has had 7 days of drying time in the grow room at 45-55% and is looking at me like it wants to be smoked:

It went into a glass jar to cure it for a while, but damn it's tempting to get stuck into it!! I will probably photograph it once a week to document the curing process, I'd say each time it comes out of the jar it'll go back in slightly smaller haha

Being a week since I took the last sample, it's time for another one:

There's a window for harvest on Sunday or Monday night... not convinced another week wouldn't hurt, still don't see a lot of amber trichs on the leaves and none on the buds.

The plan at this stage is:

• move the plant into the second tent and leave it in the dark for 48-72hrs
• feed plain RO water twice a day
• trim fan leaves immediately, leave sugar leaves like the bud in the pic
• hang dry for 7 days
• maybe trim outer halves of sugar leaves but depends on how the samples cure
• cure for ??? haven't gotten this far in the plan yet!

Watered 1l @ 8am
Watered 1l @ 7pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max

 

[d42zero]

18/10
Watered 1l @ 8am
Watered 1l @ 7pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max not taken

19/10
Watered 1l @ 8am
Watered 1l @ 7pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 21.8-28.5, 40-60% RH

20/10
Watered 1l @ 9am
Watered 1l @ 8pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 22.4-27.4, 42-59% RH

21/10
Watered 1l @ 8am
Watered 1l @ 7pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max not taken

22/10
Watered 1l @ 8am
Watered 1l @ 6pm
Watered 1l @ 10pm
Min-max not taken

 

[d42zero]

23/10
Watered 1l @ 8am
Watered 1l @ 7pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 22.7-28.2, 51-64% RH

24/10
Watered 1l @ 8am
Watered 1l @ 7pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 25.3-29.5, 54-63% RH

25/10
Watered 1l @ 8am
Watered 1l @ 7pm
Watered 1l @ 11pm
Min-max 26.2-30.2, 54-62% RH

 

[d42zero]

26/10 - day 87 of flower

That's right, day 87 of flower.

I have a window for harvest in three days so I think this girl is going in the dark tent tonight, getting fed RO til Monday, then getting the big snip that evening. I don't really understand why these plants have taken so damn long to get here, but the other two have easily got another month at this rate...

 

[DonkeyDick]

You have the patience of a saint!
It must be the sativa traits letting them go so long.
They’re in great condition. Your fan leaves look really healthy.
See how your testers go. If it were me and I had plenty of meds, I’d let them go. If it were me and I didn’t, well the smallest, ripest would be a taste of things to come.
I understand one of the reasons cannabis produces resin is self defence. Like a sunblock, probably against predators too, but not just for pollen collection. After all it isn’t survival of the species for all the pollen to stick to the sugar leaves.
So what about applying a bit more stress to them? Lower the light and let them get hotter, turn your fan(s) up and let the wind bash them about a bit.
What do you think?

 

[d42zero]

You have the patience of a saint!
It must be the sativa traits letting them go so long.
They’re in great condition. Your fan leaves look really healthy.
See how your testers go. If it were me and I had plenty of meds, I’d let them go. If it were me and I didn’t, well the smallest, ripest would be a taste of things to come.
I understand one of the reasons cannabis produces resin is self defence. Like a sunblock, probably against predators too, but not just for pollen collection. After all it isn’t survival of the species for all the pollen to stick to the sugar leaves.
So what about applying a bit more stress to them? Lower the light and let them get hotter, turn your fan(s) up and let the wind bash them about a bit.
What do you think?

My patience is beginning to run thin especially after I got a $900 electricity bill for last quarter I was prepared for that expense but not really prepared for it to have been going for this long..

It's been hot here the last week or two and the tent has gotten to maxes of 30degC, but no change.. light is stuck as they're already taking up most of the height of the tent.. I've jacked the fan up today so we'll see if that helps..

One thing I'm thinking is that if I take the first plant out of the tent, that'll open things up and probably leave more light bouncing around for the other two. I'm running a 315w LEC and while it's done a great job so far it may not be quite enough for all three plants... I feel like I'll probably see a surge in the other two once I pull the first plant, but I've put so much time and effort (and MONEY) into the grow that I really don't want to pull the first plant early.

I had a little try of the sugar leaves from a sample though and they were pretty good, so I'm probably good to go... I might just wait ONE more week and clip this first one next weekend...