Time for an update.
All 4 plants are doing very well. As you know, they have been vegged for 5 weeks (35 days) and currently they have been on 12/12 flowering for 8 days so in total the plants are 43 days old (give or take a day as 2 sprouted a day earlier then the other 2).
They have been brutally LST'd, 3 have been topped (excluding the White Widow) and during this last week all have had varying degrees of supercropping also to keep them under the SCROG net as well as some weaving and tucking. I have also done some serious defoliation under the canopy but I dare not take too much off just in case I upset them and they hermie but in total, over the last 10 to 14 days, I have taken 3 full shoe boxes off which seems a lot but looking at them you would not think so. As a result, I think I am left with fairly clean area under the SCROG net and also a nice level canopy of countless bud sites. I am seeing growth so it has been a daily job tucking and weaving under the SCROG net. Some smaller bud sites have yet to reach the SCROG net but I think over this coming week they will get there.
I think I will leave them now from my brutality and torture as I want some length above the SCROG net for the bud sites to develop upwards.
Pistils are showing on all 4 plants on many of their bud sites.
I will give you my opinion of each plant and how it has progressed to the current day in order of preference:
1, White Widow - After a very slow and doubtful start this girl has developed into a real stunner. If she were human she would be the bodybuilding champion of the world. All her bud sites are as strong as the actual main head and appear very capable of producing massive colas. She takes everything I throw at her, brutality, torture and nutrients. When she started I was very doubtful if she would survive as she was at least a week, easily, behind the other 3 and always looked weak and slow. She has now caught up and although she has less bud sites than some of the others the many she does have look fantastic.
2, Super Bud - always been a nice plant and fast growing. She is very strong with too many bud sites to count. Some bud sites look very nice and some smaller but in general she has the potential to produce a very decent amount (depending on how my LED units perform in flower). She has a nice top canopy of heads but there is many smaller heads just waiting to reach the top. Again, all the brutality and torture I have put her through has all been taken very well and she is certainly a strong tough bitch. Nutrients have been taken very well and she drinks 3ltrs every 3 to 4 days then she is completely dry.
3, The Doctor - This plant could have been placed in joint 2nd with the Super Bud but the only reason I never is because she does not have as many bud sites as the Super Bud. Her stature is VERY similar to the White Widow with as many bud sites. As a seedling this plant was the fastest then it slowed and now it seems to be body building. Her bud sites are very strong, like the White Widow and appear very capable of producing massive colas. All her bud sites are very similar and you could not tell the difference between the topped main colas and the lowest branches which have now reached the top canopy. This is due to the LST and although I have not grown for a while I have always done it with great results. She feeds well and takes the same amount as the others, 3ltrs at 3/4 strength every 3 to 4 days in her 11ltr pot.
4, Kalashnikova - Although this girl is stunning she has not continued the way she began. She blasted off and I was amazed by the progress she was making from seed to about 2 to 3 weeks ago. She is not a bad plant but from being the best performing she has dropped down the bottom of the preference board. As I have said before, I would still have a tent full of these girls but in comparison to the other 3 she just seems to have slowed so much despite being as thirsty as the other 3. She appeared hungry a few weeks ago so I upped her nutrient intake slightly and then within a few days she showed a touch of nutrient burn along with either a calcium or magnesium issue. I flushed her and her next watering included some Cal-Mag and she quickly recovered. I have gone back to 1/2 strength nutrients which was the dosage she disliked and now she is taking it well which is a relief and continuing the Cal-Mag. I repeat, this is not a bad plant and she has countless bud sites just like the Super Bud but she has needed some attention. Her bud sites are countless and mainly strong but there is a few which look "thin" in comparison to all her others. I am not put off growing here again as I still have some seeds of this strain but I simply think she has not performed as well as the other 3 after promising so much in the first 3 weeks or so.
Environment is good despite the hot weather with temps, at canopy level, being 68 to 70 when lights are out and 80 to 82 with lights on. They have 2 active intakes flooding the lower section of the tent with fresh outside air and the extraction is toned down so I could maybe get the temps down lower but scared my tent may implode. I like the slight negative pressure I have at the moment and don't want to upset the balance especially as the plants seem to be doing well. The CF venting into a separate room and is performing fantastically, these girls smell a lot already and when in the venting room there is not even the slightest smell at all. Because the extraction fan is toned down I think I have the right rate and balance of stale smelly air passing through the CF to prevent any smells. The contact time within the CF makes all the difference and this is another reason I do not want to make any unnecessary adjustments given the fact that the environment is stable and very plant friendly in its current state, the plants are doing well, circulation is great and smell is controlled so no need to fix something that is not broken. Colder weeks are coming and I have ideas for that which I am finalizing by the end of the week.
Today I lowered the 2 LED units from 24" from the canopy to 20" which may not seem a lot but when tested the intensity, it is much more. I am not sure how low I will be able to get the LED units to the canopy but I will see what the plants tell me.
Anyway, see for yourself buy looking at the pictures. I apologize in advance for the lighting tone but I have to think about security and I have found that having just the "veg" switch turned on on the ViparSpectra LED unit gives me enough light to work without making it obvious. This is how I took the pictures and I have used a flash but the "blue" is still the main colour.
Sorry also for not taking a picture of each individual plant but I am sure you can imagine, due to using a SCROG net, it is virtually impossible. As the pictures show, it looks like I have a nearly 1mtrsq of leafs and countless bud sites which I think is nothing to complain about.
As always, your comments are always greatly welcome and I would love to hear your thoughts.
