Mango Sapphire, Goldmine and strawberry Banana Kush grow (week 4+)

[Puff_Dragon]

Genetics:
2 x Goldmine (Heavyweight Seeds)
2 x Mango Sapphire (Humboldt Seed Organisation)
1 x *small* Strawberry Banana Kush (Reserva Privada / DNA Genetics)

Nutes:
Biobizz Fishmix (used in veg, as the main fertiliser. Used in Bloom as conditioner).

Guanokalong Kalong Bloom. Guano in the name, but is actually molasses based. In Bloom, used every watering until last couple of weeks.

Guanokalong Batboost (taste, bud site and Yield improver). In Bloom, used every watering until last couple of weeks.

Mighty Mite Seaweed (kelp) fertiliser. Used in veg and bloom for nitrogen+other nutes (plus extra plant, root+soil beneficials).

Plant Magic Bio-silicon. Used for strong stems, thicker leafs, improved heat resistance. Used halfway through veg and into early Bloom (2-3 total applications is enough)

Plant Magic Old-timer granules (mycorrhizal fungi and 20 strains of beneficial bacteria). Added when placing into final pot (adds a fungal root network to the pot).

Soluble sulphur of potash and brown sugar (mixed). Used in veg (a couple of applications, later on). But mostly, in flower for taste, smell+bud enhancer - simulates Terminator and Big Bud nutes

Medium:
Soil grow (Garden soil from my garden compost heap).
12 liter square pots (Goldmine and Mango Sapphire plants).
10ltr round pot for the smaller (less vegged) SBK plant.

Training
Mago Sapphire and Goldmine plants were trained (mostly LST during flower but also a topping).
The SBK plant was not, the clone had two growth nodes. So I simply left it, to hopefully grow into two large branches covered in buds

Lights:
Two Samsung QB light fittings (240 Watts max each fitting - 480 Watts total). 3500K lights

Grown indoor:
1m2 tent (two meters in height). Added Diatomaceous earth to the floor (and corners) of the tent, just as a 'secondary' defensive measure


Journal:
We have five plants.
Four were supposed to be adult and one (Strawberry Banana Kush) was a small plant with only 10 days veg before flower (placed in a 10ltr round pot).
Started vegging other clones back on 20th Aug (planted rooted clones straight into final 12ltr square pots).
13th Oct was the first day of 12/12 and the 21st Oct was the first sign of pistils (all 5 plants)

Sadly, the Mango Sapphire Clones revegged a little (this happened at time of taking the clones). The upshot is, they are very squat in flower.
I'm hoping they will recover a bit over as flower progresses.
The Goldmine and SBK plants are doing fine however (no reveg issues with them when I took the clones).


So now (13th Nov), I'm two days into week 4.
Everything is nice and green.
I'm concerned about the Mango Sapphire plants being squat (leaving less space between the buds ..mold risks later in flower). But it is growing ok.
Watering amounts have been hard to judge this round. You will see in the pics the plants are wilting a little after only three days of not being watered. They are more hungry this grow. I also noticed my garden soil doesn't 'hold' water so well (compared to specially bought soils). That might be what thrown off my usual watering cycles.
The buds (on all plants) are starting to get crystals.
And the smell is beginning to rise. A smell combining a blend of Mangos, Kush, Skunk and Spices. Very nice indeed

Uploaded some pics from today (attached). Will try to keep the journal weekly from now on.

Enjoy.

 

[Puff_Dragon]

Week 5 -
Strawberry Banana Kush plant is packing on and the GoldMine plants are really frosting up (a combo of Guanokalong Batboost and soluble sulphur of potash sorted that out). The Mango Sapphire plants are still 'squat' (due to the re-vegging issue) but the buds are growing in line with the other plants.
On all plants, some of the main fan leaves are starting to fade a bit (probably just natural fading).
As its the middle of flower, I'll add some extra nitrogen and some cal-mag feed (just in case).
Aiming to cut these plants at around day 68 (from 'first sign of pistils'). They're all clones, so the flower times are known to me

Peace.

*pics attached*

 

[Puff_Dragon]

Day 39 (counted from first sign of pistils) *5.6 weeks*

Seems I burnt one of the Goldmine plants during the last couple of feeds. Pretty heavy (by my standards). I had fed all the plants from the same water, the rest were fine.
But, the one GM plant that burnt had been given less of a watering (generally). Meaning less run off.
I figure that was the issue (the soil got too 'hot'). So flushing it with some rain water and light nute feed.

On the growing front, everything looks good.
Mango Sapphires are still squat, but the buds are growing and I'm happy with that. End harvest will suffer, but it'll be ok.
The Strawberry banana Kush plant is looking nice, no issues.
Apart from one Goldmine plant, the GM plants are growing well.
Losing a few fan leaves to fading. Mostly, letting the plants reabsorb them 'on the vine'. I only pick yellow/dying leaves, if it opens up canopy underneath.

Temps have been 24c on average (or lower). My favourite tasting product is winter grown, the colder temps work wonders for my crops

The humidity in the tent was 43% at the start of flower. Its now down at 33%.
I'll keep the humidity this low, to hamper any moisture issues with the squat Mango plants.
I have an (out take) 4" inline fan running 24/7. This has kept the humidity under 55% at all times in flower (in a 1 meter square tent, 2 meters high).

The Smells from the tent - Ripe Mangos (Mango Sapphire), Spices (Goldmine), Kush and Skunky undertones (Strawberry Banana Kush).
All blended together!


*Pics Attached*

Enjoy.

 

[Puff_Dragon]

5th Nov - 46 days from first sign of pistils (6.6 weeks)

Temps have been colder, so some leaves are showing the winter colours. Losing the main fan leaves now, letting most wither on the vine.
While I nute burnt the Goldmine plants a bit (last week), the buds are still growing ok (they haven't entered the final fattening stage yet).

Strawberry Banana Kush plant is doing great. The little clone (with two growth nodes) has turning into two large stems/branches that have some nice bud on them.

The Mango Sapphire's buds are growing ok. Both plants still look squat, but they look like they will yield ok. Not great, but 'ok' is alright this time around (I'll probably be doing a 4 plant Mango Sapphire grow next round anyways).

Pics attached.

Peace.

 

[Puff_Dragon]

13th Dec - 54 days from first sign of pistils (7.7 weeks)

Plants are flowering nicely, many of the major fan leaves have withered and been reabsorbed (at which point I remove them).
Plants are losing their colour and everything is looking frosty.
Smell is nice and strong (carbon filter now running
The Goldmine buds look nice, but the Strawberry Banana Kush buds are the biggest.
Mango Sapphire buds are growing ok. No moisture issues (even though the plant is squat and so the buds are close together). Keeping the room at round 30/35% relative humidity stopped any of those issues.

Its really now a matter of watching and waiting.
I've started to lower the organic nute solution (down to 50%). As its organic, this is the only 'flush' I think I'll do.

Enjoy the pics.
Peace.

 

[OldMedUser]

Those are looking pretty f'n nice!

After almost two decades of growing DWC I'm getting more into organics but have never been good in the dirt. Sure can't get all those goodies you use way up here in northern Alberta. 2 hour drive to the nearest hydro store and they're not very well stocked with things to go all organic.

I've grown out some Monkey Banana Kush but the buzz wasn't the greatest. I look more for medicinal effects than how stoned I can get. Have a few more to try and getting into breeding fem seeds this winter.

I'd be thrilled to have my garden looking like yours tho so keep up the good work!

 

[Puff_Dragon]

20th Dec - 61 days from first sign of pistils (8.7 weeks)

Feeding plants straight water now (not ph-ed), my areas water company runs the ph at 7.8 to 8.2 at the mo.
Plants almost immediately showed lock out I'd been ph-ing between 6.6 - 6.8 through the grow (letting the soil do the rest).
The smell now requires carbon filtering to keep it in check. Is it me ..or do indica plants tend to smell the strongest?
Well, with three indica strains, the 'Pew' is strong this grow. I had to put foam draft excluders (at the top and bottom of the door) leading into the room with the tent. First world growers problems, eh

I'm still seeing white pistols growing and some 'fattening' occurring in the buds themselves. I will still look to chop at 68 days. But, may leave it a little while longer. I think, I'll hunt for a little more amber this round.

I'm interested to see how this grow tastes. All the nutes are the same, except I removed 'Guanokalong Kalong Taste Enhancer' (taste and flower booster). And replaced it with 'Guanokalong Batboost (taste, bud site and Yield improver).
Basically its a combination of a number of other Guanokalong Kalong products (including the taste enhancer). It certainly improved the crystals and the smell. So I'm interested to see how the taste comes out.

Pics attached.
Peace.

 

[Joncoh101]

Interesting thread

Im also running 2x 240w samsung QB lights in a 1m2 tent. I have been told this is too much for the space. Your grow seems to be doing fine!

 

[Puff_Dragon]

Interesting thread

Im also running 2x 240w samsung QB lights in a 1m2 tent. I have been told this is too much for the space. Your grow seems to be doing fine!

fyi - running both QB lights full on (240 watts). And my usual rule is 18" from top of the buds (some strains, down to 16").
Although, this grow, the SBK plant is 13" from the light ..and is just fox tailing on one top bud
Not sure how much more space two lights will cover (maybe another 0.5m?). But, right now, all buds around the outside of the tent are solid (no 'low light' fluffiness). And the buds get hit all the way to the base of the plants.

*edit*
one thing I need to do, reduce the number of 'heads' I create in Veg. The goldmine plants have like 25 or so (the plants are all under 30" in height).
Meaning, overall, the buds are smaller.
I think around 10 bud heads is better (going into flower). I'm thinking better sized buds and more light (and air) penetration if you go that route.
Athough, a 'field' of buds is nice to see And, smaller buds will have less risk of internal mold I guess.
Swings and roundabouts

Peace.

 

[Puff_Dragon]

27th Dec - 68 days from first sign of pistils (9.7 weeks)

Groggy from this weeks festivities. Merry Christmas to all!

So, this grow looks to be continuing past day 68. I'm still getting fattening and new pistils on all plants.

There has been 'grower on plant' abuse in this grow.
Some stunted growth. And, I have been trying to water/feed as little as needed (really just to see how little water/feed I need).
Which also meant far less run off.
All that, has probably gone to extend flower time a little.

Normally, I wait until there are little to no white pistils left (all have turned red). And I would ignore new growth, if it was all fox-tailing.
But, I think the flower time has increased due to poorer growing conditions.

I'm seeing a fair number of amber trics though.
But, when I do a full check of the plants (not just the top buds) I can see clear, clouding and amber too.
If I was going on the number of white pistils left, I'd guess two weeks! But the number of amber trics has me wondering.
NOW, is the time for daily checking of trics and pistil maturity.

Pics attached.
Peace.

 

[Puff_Dragon]

Ok, another 'first world growers problem'
I noticed, on a Mango Sapphire plant, a drop of liquid on the rim of the plant pot. I visually followed its path up, to a bud.
A bud that appeared soaking wet on some of its side leaves. Instict told me moisture or some water from my last watering (the day before).
However, when I touched it ..it was like soft/liquid tree resin.

Gave it a rub between my fingers ..and that 'sticky' vibe came straight out.
On sniffing, the resin stunk of the Mango Sapphire plant terps.
First time I've seen this with a bud in a tent (I've seen it, in fields, during high summer, when the plants are getting hit hard by the sun).
Temps in the tent are on 23C.
So, it appears I have a bud weeping clear, straight cannabis resin! Theres almost enough to think about getting a syringe and sucking it up.
Easily enough to soak some papers in (and then dry).

I've taken some pictures (including stills, from a video). I found it really hard to get a good picture of the 'liquid' nature of this resin. To the eye it is easy to see, the phone camera I use just was not great at picking it up. You'll get the idea though.

Enjoy

 

[Puff_Dragon]

It appears, 'Guttation' is the word of the day.

Upon smoking some of this plant resin, there was no real high. So I figure, this bud is secreting extra moisture+sugar from the last feeding (even though the humidity is low).
However, the resin tasted fantastic on a joint (I'm guessing, thanks to plant terps in it).
This makes me wonder; perhaps plant resin would be a nice 'add' ..when making hash (to boost the terps).
A future experiment, for another day.

 

[Puff_Dragon]

2nd Jan - 73 days from first sign of pistils (10.3 weeks)

To quote Danny DeVito, in Twins:

♪ ♫ ♬ TONIGHT! is Your Night Bro ♪ ♫ ♬


All buds, on all plants, have amber-ed up nicely (with some milky/clear in there a little). And All growth now seems more foxtail than density increase.
Most fan leaves, on the Goldmine and Straw banana Kush plants, have fallen away and most of the rest of the leaves are turning yellow.
The Mango Sapphire plants are still green, but are fading also.

So I'm going to let them run today, then (at lights off) I will leave them in the dark for say 48-36 hours.
And finally, cut them down one morning (a couple of hours before lights 'would' have come on).

*Attached are the last pics of the flower tent
Plus, a couple of pics of the 'next generation' grow coming up - Four mango sapphires (three from seed and one from clone)*

FYI - I'll try to post a report on the smoke quality (with these nutes). I can just add it to this thread later.
I'll probably only do a 'full' smoke report on the Mango Sapphire. As I have written reviews for the other two strains in the past here.

Peace.

 

[Puff_Dragon]

*Pics continued*

 

[Puff_Dragon]

5th Jan (77 days, corrected, since first sign of pistils) - The Chop, has now occurred.

Hung the four main plants in the tent (with fans running - all directed away from the plants).
I hung the four plants at staggered heights, so they all get good air flow. Using the ratchet 'light' ropes to hang the plants (those things are great
With the strawberry banana Kush plant, I hung it upside down in a box (also in the tent).

Rather than do my normal thing, placing each plant in a large cardboard box (lined with old stems and leaf matter - helps absorb excess moisture).
And then, just leaving them I the boxes for 10+ days to dry (a method that works really well, for me). And later, dry/hand trim.

Instead of that, I will hang the plants in the tent for the first, say, three days. To remove the initial moisture.
Then, trim the major stuff (leaving the buds alone).
And then, either finish the dry using the tent ..or put them in boxes for the rest of the dry.
In the past, all three strains have been good to go after a slow drying.
Curing, didn't do great things with them (unless your thinking, longer term storage).
Makes life easier, strains that need a cure (before they taste 'good') are not on my radar at the mo

*a few 'blurry', taken in the dark with the flash, hanging pics attached*
I like how the mango sapphire plants, because they were squat, look exactly the same upside down ..as they did right side up.

Peace.

 

[Puff_Dragon]

fyi - After an eight day dry time ..I wrote up a smoke report for the Mango sapphire strain.

Find it here:

Mango Sapphire - Humboldt Seed Organisation

Genetics: Mango Sapphire - Humboldt Seed Organisation 85% Indica / 15% Sativa Feminised Parents - Bubba's Gift x OG / Afghan X FLOWERING INDOOR Claim: 50-55 days (approx. 8 weeks) My reality: 77 days (for good Amber ripeness). Would not go longer than this* *Note - I had an issue with this...

www.rollitup.org

Peace.

 

[Michigian-Dave]

Amazing grow report, I really appreciate the time you took doing this.
How did the turn out, or is it still in flower?
I'm always interested in reading grow reports of Heavy Weight Seeds strains as Money Bush is on my short list of strains to grow.

 

[Puff_Dragon]

Sorry for slow reply and thanks everyone for the positive comments.
Everything has now 'cure' dried (i.e. ready for jar curing steps).
After 8 days drying, I took three plants (1 Goldmine, 1 Mango Sapphire and the Strawberry Banana Kush plant) and placed them in Jars.

The other two plants (1 Goldmine, 1 Mango Sapphire) I have left in their large cardboard boxes.
These boxes are lined with old trim and branches (and a few air holes around the boxes).
Now I will compare after 2 months or so curing in jars Vs just Box drying

In the past, I've found just chopping plants and placing in (taped up) cardboard boxes (lined with old dried material) is a 'fire and forget' method of drying and 'somewhat' curing too. The final product is 'close' to the more time consuming jar cure. If you just leave them boxed for 2+ months
Must somewhat be my location and relative humidity. As, so far, I have had no mold issues using this method.
Plants take from 8 to 10+ days to dry this way (depending on natural temps, humidity).

And, after a number of more complicated methods I've used, finding out I can just remove major fan leaves (when the plants are cut down) and then just dump the whole plant in a large cardboard box to dry etc. Lets just say, I smiled at the irony.
Plus, if you place the dried branches/trim correctly, none of the buds you are drying will get that 'flat on one side' look
It all comes out coffee shop quality.
Final trimming, I do dry and with gloves and scissors. Super quick, and I seem to disturb the trics less this way (the buds always end up looking more tric covered, when I dry trim them).

Peace.
*a few pics attached of dried plants*

 

[Puff_Dragon]

I should add, from the brief smoke of this crop I've tried:

The Guanokalong Batboost did indeed give a better smoke. Then when I used Guanokalong Taste Enhancer instead.
But (interestingly) these 'Organic' fertilisers did not give as good a smoke as the chemical nutes I used previously (I can say that, for the Goldmine and Strawberry Banana Kush plants).

When I do my next run, I might use up the rest of the old chemical bloom nutes. Just to see what they do for the Mango Sapphire plants.
I'll see how I feel when I start that grow.
fyi - the chemical Bloom nute I used previously was 'Shogun Samurai Terra Bloom'. Its a bog standard 'all in one' Bloom nute (although, I still used other 'adds'). But the end results I got were the best (in soil and coco).

Peace.