Grow Journal Reports

I made the switch to Green Planet Nutrients a while ago. I can only say I wish I had done it sooner. This will be the first full grow journal with Green Planet running in both my grow closets.

The last grow in here started out with New Millenium nutrients but I was not happy with how things were going so I switched to GP3 Part about 4 weeks into flower. The results were absolutely amazing.

But dont take my word for it here is some GG4 that just finished up.

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Switched over to Green Planet nutrients. Here is some triched out GG4 harvested on day 60. Never grew that good before GP3 you rock! • @nlggrow @greenplanetnutrients @chycannallcgp @growingexpsd @tastiterps @grandmasterlevel @horticulturelightinggroup @solfiregardens2019 • http://420grower.org/green-planet-nutrients-review/ • #gpgrown #greenplanetnutrients #GG4 #deathbubba #420grower #420growers #420instagram #420everyday #420nation #mmjlife #weedlove #weedlover #weedofinstagram #mmjgrower #mmjlife #budporn #howtogrowweed #growingweed #420dotcom #closetgrow #howtogrowweedindoors #growyourownmedicine #cobled #growyourownmeds #playingwithfire #greengenesgarden #closetgrower #closetgrown #quantumboards #hlg

A post shared by 420 Grower (@howtogrowweed420) on May 27, 2019 at 5:22pm PDT

And here’s some pictures of my GG4 harvested on day 60

Green Planet Nutrients Grow Journal Day 1

Well now I am starting a new grow in closet #2 running only Green Planet. The strains are Death Bubba, Black Banana Cookies, Biker Kush and Tropicanna Cookies. I explain everything in this video below

If you want to know more about one node and flip training you can go to my article here: https://420dotcom.com/one-node-and-flip-vs-leaf-stripping.html

If you want to view my other current grow it is here: http://420grower.org/death-bubba-grow-journal/

I am running the same nutrients with another Death Bubba, GG4 and SFV OG. It is about a month ahead of this one.

Green Planet On Day 7 Running In Recirculating SIPs

I just switched this grow closet over to a SIP growing system and I am recirculating my Green Planet nutes in it. PPMs and pH have remained stable.

These plants had some issues in veg with a partial lock out or some kind of deficiency. They have pretty much come out of it in flower.

The SIP or sub irrigated planter is a grow system being used by home gardeners but not for cannabis. It is a system that relies on wicking or capillary action to water the plants.

While I did not invent it, nor am I the first to grow weed with it, I do believe I am the first to set up a recirculating sip.

If you are interested in trying a SIP or finding out more about them go here: http://420grower.org/diy-sip-grow-system-for-cannabis/

Biker Kush is a cross made by Karma Genetics. In my opinion this strain represents some of his best work.  It is HA OG  crossed with a HA OG X SFV OG. The male was created by using a SFV X Afgani.

I have grown this strain for years because the smell, taste and high were just unbeatable, Sure many strains today are prettier but few pack the same punch.

A few years ago I lost power and ended up with a really bad outbreak of pythium root rot. I lost this girls sister #10 which was my best cut of all.

This is my #6 cut and she is the sole surviver of about a half dozen cuts I was holding including a really nice 3 leaved biker kush male. She is a bit shorter than her #10 sister and throws a few less 3 bladed leaves but otherwise she is a dead ringer in looks and quality.

Although she survived she lost the smell and taste she once had. Now I am not a biologist but I read when plants regenerate stress can cause the genes to combine differently. They are still there but they dont express themselves the same.

I believe this happens more often than we realize. It explains why the same strain can perform differently in different grow rooms. I think it is important to keep your moms or clones very healthy.

After recloning this girl 5 or 6 times she came back! Each time I would take a cut and veg it out for about 6 weeks and then take another cut. Each time she got healthier.

Midway through this process I flowered one out. It was just OK. Nothing special at all. But about 2 months later I flowered it again and although the plant was small and did not get a lot of light that familiar taste, smell and buzz was back.

So this is a clone of that clone and she looks super healthy like she did back in the day. Maybe even a little bit better! So I have high hopes for the girl I am going to show you now.

Biker Kush Day 10 Video

Biker Kush Photos Day 10

Biker Kush Day 17

Thought I would update. This is a very stretchy plant. I have raised the light 3 times for her. I am pretty much out of room. Bending or breaking some necks is the only other option for this girl.

Hopefully she is done stretching. I forgot how tall she gets and actually this pheno was the shorter of the 2 I kept.

Bringing The Frost – Biker Kush Day 28

Today is day 28 and I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of frost on this lady. I believe she really is back from the dead. I am about to do a res change and start adding my .

This is one time I do change my res. I like to add my Green Sensation first and check the ppms. Then I adjust things up by adding my and Equinox to the mix. Since the Biker Kush is a hardcore OG I usually will add a bit of extra calmag to the mix too. Here are some pics from day 28:

I am growing my Biker Kush in my top feed drip system and getting big plants in small pots and if you are looking for an easy hydro system to build and run this is it! Check it out at: https://420dotcom.com/biker-kush-by-karma-genetics.html

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Karma Genetics Biker Kush. Had this girl for years and almost lost her to pythium but after raising 5 or 6 generations of clones she is back from the dead. Day 28 stretching is done and frosting like crazy. • @solfireseeds @karmagenetics @grandmasterlevel @horticulturelightinggroup @fishlips_gardens @newmilleniumnutrients • https://420dotcom.com/biker-kush-by-karma-genetics.html • #karmagenetics #bikerkush #solfiregardens #newmilleniumnutrients #420grower #420growers #420instagram #420everyday #420nation #mmjlife #weedlove #weedlover #weedofinstagram #mmjgrower #mmjlife #budporn #howtogrowweed #growingweed #420dotcom #closetgrow #howtogrowweedindoors #growyourownmedicine #cobled #growyourownmeds #playingwithfire #greengenesgarden #closetgrower #closetgrown #quantumboards #hlg

A post shared by 420 Grower (@howtogrowweed420) on Feb 2, 2019 at 5:54pm PST

BIKER KUSH DAY DAY 39

Things are moving along nicely. The buds are rock hard and frosty. In some pictures I took they look white or silver.

She smells like lemon OG gas with some floral notes to it. She makes decent size buds and you can see the difference between her buds and the Tropicanna Cookies alongside her.

So here is a day 39 video for her where I also talk a bit about how to get rid of powdery mildew using ozone to disinfect your grow space.

FROST MONSTER BIKER KUSH DAY 49

What can I say? She’s frosty A.F. and smells incredible. Will take her at least 60 days maybe more.

Day 56 Flushing

These girls started their flush a few days ago and will probably go to day 63 maybe even a bit more.

I have been experimenting with some training systems like one node and flip popularized by the Jungle Boys and leaf stripping and want to compare results with these defoliation techniques.

Above are 4 plants trained using the one node and flip technique on day 9 and day 14.

Below are 4 plants that received a total leaf stripping on day 19, now at day 25.

One Node And Flip Vs Leaf Stripping – Which Is Better?

Here is a video comparing my grow closets and the two techniques.

It is too early to make a full comparison between the 2 methods and one grow is all Wedding Cake while the other is Wedding Cake and 3 other strains. They are also 10 days apart. But there are a few important take aways from both.

There are obviously many more leaves in the one node and flip closet and it is likely some will be removed later. The canopy is not as deep with this method so more light will get to all the buds. There are no lower buds so there will be no larf and less smaller buds.

The closet that was leaf stripped has a much deeper canopy and therefore less light getting to the lower buds. I feel pretty sure there will be more small buds with this system.

Implementing this training system is much easier because it is done just before flowering. With a leaf strip most growers wait until day 21, but one I know does it on day 14. Either way, all this has to be done with the trellis already up so it is much more difficult to do. If you have ever used this technique you know it is very labor intensive and time consuming.

I have had problems leaf stripping. It sets the plants back and has resulted in smaller buds for me. The plants appear stunted to me. There were some other factors that may have led to stunting like light levels that were too high for plants to use without additional CO2. I wrote an article about this on my sister site and you can view it here: http://420grower.org/how-much-led-light-for-weed-and-is-750-w-cob-led-lighting-too-much/

Many successful growers use leaf stripping with great success but they are also running CO2 and I think this makes recovery easier and faster.

I would not recommend leaf stripping unless you also have CO2. I think you can get the same or better results using one node and flip and it is faster and easier to implement.

Right now I think the closet with one node and flip training looks better and I think yield and bud size will be better. The closet that was leaf stripped still looks a bit stunted but with lowered light levels I am seeing the buds start to size up and grow new white hairs. I will update the results as time goes on. Can’t decide? Here is a detailed comparison:

Defoliating Cannabis Explained In Detail

I want to leave you with 2 videos from 2 different master growers showing these 2 different defoliation techniques in more detail.

The first video is from Grand Master Level and shows him doing a complete leaf strip on his Death Bubba girls. It’s long but definitely worth watching.

The second is much shorter and from HiGrowGroup and explains the one node and flip technique. Interestingly enough, he used to do a total leaf strip in flower like Grand Master Level does , but now he is using the one node and flip technique and explains why.

A Look At My One Node And Flip Plants On Day 21

My plants are looking much better than the ones that received a full leaf stripping. They look healthier and more robust.

The biggest advantage I see to the one node and flip technique is that it does not slow plant growth down in any way. My plants that were defoliated always took at least 3 days to start recovering and growing again.

Since the one node technique is done just before flower the plants do not slow down at all. I was not sure how much these girls would stretch so I did not use any N.M. Decision at transition to flower. Once they started getting tall I did give them some around day 16 hoping it would slow stretch down a bit. Not really sure if it had much effect.

I don’t know if stretch is over at day 21 or if they will stretch a bit longer. Some colas are much taller than others and close to the light. The problem is worse with multiple strains too because they have different growth rates.

In the end I think some fine tuning is needed. For example the GG4 did not stretch upwards as much as the rest. Instead it got wider. The canopy is dense and may need some stripping or branch thinning. So on a strain like that, in a 2 foot wide closet, 4 nodes may be too much.

So I am going to wait until day 28 at least before I do anything. One option might be to leave everything until day 42 and then do some leaf stripping.

ONE NODE AND FLIP DAY 28

Everything is looking really good and I just finished doing some training on day 28. Some plants have grown thick canopies that needed training.

This was mostly true on the GG4 and the Wedding Cake. I did remove some fan leaves but most of the training was removing smaller bud sites and low branches. Some strains make a lot of side branches and they can quickly create tops that are too dense for good light and air penetration.

By removing them I was able to open up the canopies and hopefully send more energy to the larger top buds. Trimming buds is tedious work especially if there are a lot of small buds. My goal is to eliminate as many as I can even if it means a slightly lower yield.

So far the one node and flip technique has worked well. It does not stall my plants out like full leaf stripping did. I need to refine it a bit though. Either by leaving less branches or less nodes on strains like GG4 that like to get tall and bush out. If I do it right I should need to do much less training after going into flower.

Here is a video showing how things are going. I also share a bit of info about my next grow and about dealing with powdery mildew in flower. Watch it. You will enjoy it.

ONE NODE AND FLIP TECHNIQUE DAY 35

So after comparing the one node and flip technique with a total leaf strip I definitely prefer one node and flip. It doesn’t set the plants back at all which could result in an earlier harvest. Over all the plants look healthier to me. Here is my day 35 video:

Here are pictures from both closets. The first two were taken of plants that received a total leaf strip. They are on day 46 and the next two were taken on day 35 and trained with the one node and flip technique.

Not a true side by side but same cuts and nutes and same lighting.  Although they will produce some nice buds the day 46 plants don’t look that happy to me.

Also the 2nd picture appears to be a different pheno even though they came from the same mom. Stress induced? I don’t know but it was not set back as hard as the other plants. It is already starting to fade and is taller than the others. Bud structure shows more cookie influence and finer less spikey pistils.

Now compare these plants to the ones trained with one node and flip. They are 10 days earlier and honestly I think the buds have better trichome development and are the dame size or maybe even a bit larger. See for yourself and then you decide if I am being biased.

Here are some shots of the rest of the closet taken on day 35

ONE NODE AND FLIP TECHNIQUE DAY 42

Today is day 42 and these ladies are coming along nicely. I have seen some significant bulking up this week and buds are gaining frost and starting to look way more mature.

I think the Tropicana cookies have made the most impressive gains this week. I dont think it will be a big yielder but the tangerine smell these girls put out is amazing.

The Pink Lemonade is getting heavy and branches are starting to lean from the weight. She is an earlier finisher than the others and is starting to show brown hairs now.

Wedding Cake and GG4 are also chunking up and getting frosty. The GG4 surprised me because it is the shortest plant in the closet. It has been taller before but this time it really went wide instead. It needed the most training after the one node and flip because it was so crowded. I think if trained this way it needs less branches than the others.

Day 42 One Node And Flip Pictures

Day 49 Time To Start Flushing

Everything is coming along nicely and at this point I really like the results from using the one node and flip technique. I dont know if I will ever do a total leaf strip again unless I have CO2.

I noticed that there are a lot of pistils going brown so it is time to flush. I want to flush while plants still are making white hairs and actively growing so they can use up the nutrients stored in the plant.

Just flushing the grow media alone wont do a proper job because plants store about a 2 week food supply inside them. Some say you dont need to flush but I can tell the difference between a properly flushed plant and one that is not. It definitely makes a big difference in quality.

Day 49 Pictures

One Node And Flip Day 56 And Lots Of Changes

A lot happened this week and most of it was unexpected and unplanned. All plants have been harvested except for the Tropicana Cookies.

The Pink Lemonade was done ahead of the others and while I was getting ready to chop her down I noticed what looked like powdery mildew on a few of the leaves. I was surprised to say the least because the plant sits right next to a fan and humidity in the closet was in the low 40s but there it was.

I dont like to spray anything in flower but I dont like losing a crop either. Especially so close to harvest. Everything got sprayed down with Serenade. It is a special strain of Bacillus Subtilis that prevents mold and other plant diseases from reproducing. It is certified organic and can be used right up to the day of harvest.

The Pink Lemonade came out the next day, then got 2 days of darkness in another closet and was chopped. I think it yielded pretty well because the plant seemed really heavy.

The Wedding Cake was showing signs of bud rot on 2 nugs and I think the spray may have kept it from spreading. It is a very hard plant to clone and I had planned on doing a reveg with it. So I chopped it a bit earlier than I would have liked but I was afraid it would be harder to reveg if it went much longer.

The GG4 was ready and starting to foxtail so it was harvested too. Neither the Glue or the Tropicana Cookies showed any signs of mold or anything else.

So the Tropicana is the last one standing and she is a stunner that is showing more and more purple by the day. She smells like tangerines and is very frosty and will be very easy to trim from the looks of things. Anyway here is a quick video from the aftermath on day 56.

Tropicana Cookies On Day 56

Tropicanna Cookies Ready For Harvest

Wedding Cake Ready For Harvest

The Wedding Cake trained with the one node and flip technique was harvested earlier than I would have liked but this video shows the ones that were leaf stripped.

Final Thoughts

I prefer one node and flip to leaf stripping at this point. It is less labor intensive and doesn’t set the plants back like stripping does.

If I could only run one of these strains the Tropicanna would win hands down. Yield is about the same as the Wedding Cake but the quality is much better IMHO. Very easy to trim and lots of purple hues. Plus Wedding Cake is an absolute bitch to clone.

Starting a new grow journal with Wedding Cake, Tropicanna Cookies, Pink Lemonade and GG4. These are big plants vegged for about 2 months. They were started in 3 gallon smart pots but later these were dropped into 5 gallon nursery pots. Lighting is 750w of Cree COB LEDs.

I am running the full New Millenium Nutrient line and these girls just recieved their first dose of New Millenium Decision which helps slow stretch and initiate earlier flowering. They will be flipped later today so stay tuned for updates.

Wedding Cake Genetics

There is some confusion about the genetics of Wedding Cake. Some sources say it’s a Girl Scout Cookies and Cherry Pie cross but this is not totally correct. My cut is from JBeezy  the breeder of this strain and he says it is Triangle Kush X Animal Mints. (Animal Cookies X thin mint GSC)

Wedding Cake is on the far left.

The Tropicanna Cookies is hard to find much information on. Some say it’s GSC crossed with Clementine and others say it’s GSC x Tangie. All  I really know is it is supposed to be purple so it will be fun to grow it.

Pink Lemonade is another strain with uncertain genetics. Supposedly a purple kush x lemon skunk and a mystery plant. So again it will be fun to grow it out and see how it does.

By now everyone is familiar with GG4 so I wont go into the genetics. All I can say is this plant is huge going into flower and should yield really well. Potent is an understatement.

Wedding Cake, Tropicanna Cookies, Pink Lemonade, GG4 Day 7

My plants are doing well and the top feed drip system I built is working like a charm. I am feeding New Millenium Nutrients and using rockwool croutons for a medium.

Right now I feed once a day for about 15 minutes and am running about 800 ppm and pH 5.8, as the plants continue to grow I will probably add a second feeding.

If you have used regular rockwool you know how much water it can hold, but the mini cubes are nothing like that. They wet fast and also drain fast because of all the air space between them.

More importantly with the long top feed I am using there is no salt build up in the pots. Everything gets fully fed and flushed when I feed. What is in the cubes is exactly what is in my reservoir. No surprises and no lockouts. My pH has stayed stable.

For the first time feeding and watering is working as it should. Every feeding the ppms drop and the pH rises a bit.

Currently I have just fed New Millenium Decision again at the start of week 2. It definitely helps keep stretch down and helps plants set flowers instead of growing stems. These plants are really large and keeping size in check is important. As it is I need to stand on a 5 gallon bucket to get to the tops. There are 2 more weeks of stretch and I only have about another 18 inches of headroom. I would prefer to not have to super crop if I can avoid it.

Here are some day 7 pictures:

Day 10 Leaf Strip

I did a leaf strip on day 10. Normally I wait until days 14-21 to do this. I have a huge GG4 and it has over 50 tops. This led to crowding and some tops were not getting much light at all. I could also feel moisture when I put my hand into that jungle. So there was no putting it off.

I removed all uprights that had not made it to the screen or that were unlikely to. That helped but it was obvious more was needed. So everything got defoliated a bit earlier than usual.

I dont play at leaf stripping either. When I do it I remove every leaf that has a stem except 2 or 3 on the very top of the branches. For some reason I forgot to take before and after pictures but I am happy with the results and have pictures taken 4 days later.

Leaf Stripping Recovery Day 15

Leaf Stripping will always set your plants back a few days while they recover but the results are worth it. You can see the plants in this video at https://youtu.be/R79BTVtXiA8 if you want and if you go there please subscribe to my new channel.

Here is a video showing the defoliation:

Meanwhile here are some pics taken on the start of day 15:

Day 21 Full Leaf Stripping Recovery And Flowering Nicely

It’s day 21 and about 10 days after a total leaf strip. The girls are fully recovered from their defoliation and are all showing nice flower development and good stacking with tight node spacing. In fact it’s hard to tell they were ever stripped.

The Pink Lemonade has really nice flowers and good frost coverage already. It has the largest flowers right now and thick upright pistils.

The Wedding Cake is a later maturing strain and the flowers are smaller but the trichome coverage at this early stage is amazing.

Next week I will begin adding which is a 3 in 1 bloom booster designed to be used starting in week 4.

Here are some day 21 bud shots:

Powdery Mildew Rears Its Ugly Head Day 28

Everything is going well except for the fact that I spotted powdery mildew starting on a few fan leaves. It seemed to be limited to just the Tropicanna Cookies. At this time of year spores are present everywhere.

The weather here has been ideal for it as we have had a cloudy stretch with fairly high humidity. Since it’s summer the heater is off and humidity inside is 58%. It is lower in my grow closet low to mid 40s but when the sun is out the humidity is usually mid 30s. I like to keep it drier not only to control mildew but because lower humidity increases resin production.

I was very fortunate to catch it just as it was starting because it can spread fast. I added another fan to increase airflow and also did some leaf stripping to allow more air movement through the canopy.

PM can show and spread fast. When I checked my plants in the morning it wasnt there but 4 or 5 hours later it was showing on a couple of fan leaves.

I know there are lots of remedies to control powdery mildew like spraying plants with milk or h2o2 and I do use Greencure in veg but it can cause burning and leaves a residue so I don’t want it on my flowers.

I heard about another product called

So the buds are beginning to size up and the leaves are really sticky. Really liking the looks of the Wedding Cake too. Here’s some pics:

Wedding Cake, Tropicanna Cookies, Pink Lemonade, GG4 Day 35

Day 35 is here and the buds are sizing up nicely. I have been runni

ng bloom boosters for almost a week and the buds seem larger every time I look at them. Also seeing some tip burn and yellowing especially on the Wedding Cake. The high potasium in the boosters can be hard on leaves.

I am running the New Millenium line with their booster along with . Currently running at 1200 ppms but I will probably cut this back to about 900 this week.

Well It Might Be An Early Finish For These Ladies Day 44

So today is day 44 and I think things will be finishing earlier than expected. The signs I look for when a plant is just about done are all there.

When a plant is finishing its water intake goes way down. They just dont drink as much. The hairs starting to turn brown is another sign of maturity. Along with that very few new white hairs are being produced. That means it is just about time to start flushing.

The water temperature has risen at this time and right now my water is 70 right out the tap. Inside the res it has gotten up to 79. With temps that high there is very little disolved oxygen in the water and overall this is a bad scenario for plants. Anything over 72 is asking for trouble in hydro.

I started hand watering this past week and for the last few days I have been feeding .

I will run it for about a week and then start to flush. It tricks plants into thinking winter is coming so they increase resin production and bud size and it brings out those fall colors too.

The Wedding Cake began turning even before I started adding it. It had stopped drinking but I did not catch it right away so it ended up being over watered which I think is what triggered the color change.

The GG4 is still drinking quite a bit, but the Pink Lemonade and Tropicanna Cookies have really slowed down and the Wedding Cake has all but stopped. At this point I am waiting for the Glue to finish before I start to flush. So these girls will probably be done right around 60 days.

Day 49 Starting To Flush

Today is day 49 and I have started to flush. I have been running as per directions at 10 ml per gallon.

It is meant to be run 7-10 days before flush. I didn’t see a dramatic color change in my plants but it definitely increased the smell which translates into more essential oil production as it claims. Some plants are at different stages of growth but they all appear to be finishing early.

The Wedding Cake actually started to show fall colors around day 40. The GG4 is still going strong and is the only plant drinking much anymore. It and the Tropicanna Cookies look like the latest to finish. The Pink Lemonade from what I understand is an earlier finisher than the others.

So all plants have decreased water intake and a lot of brown hairs. There are only a few white pistils left on these ladies. I was told you should start flushing while there still are some white hairs being made. I decided to start flushing now while that is still happening. It will probably take about 3-4 days for them to dry out and then I will flush again. I am aiming for a harvest at about 60 days dependent on how the plants fade. Here are some pics from day 48:

Chopped on day 51

These plants were chopped on day 51. They are going to hang and dry for about a week and then go into glass jars. It does not look like the yield is going to be that good however the quality is excellent.