4x Mango Skunk Flowering Period

So I started these feminized mango skunks from seed about 10 weeks ago. Had them in 2.5 gallon pots for vegging and a mix of LST and topping. I transplanted them into 8 gallon pots to finish out. I have anywhere from 10-18 tops for each plant.
Equipment is as follows: 4x4 grow tent; two clip fans for movement; 6" intake and exhaust fans for air exchange; and an 1800w Bestva led light.
I'll try to post pics every week. Set the lights to 12/12 yesterday so now I just need to wait for the stretch and preflowers to start.

I will be running this strain before long- I'm in to watch!!
How did they like being topped? It doesn't look like they are complaining about anything
Happy growing

Hey Sapphyre. Thanks for pulling up a chair. You'll be excited with this strain. Pretty steady as far as building foliage. They don't mind being topped at all. I start topping pretty early on, at about the 4th or 5th node. Then usually every other node or third node from each top.
It does take about 5-7 days between each time for it to adjust and send out strong new tops.
The main reason I've gone with a lower plant count and not doing SoG is that I was getting fungus gnats each time my plant count got above 10 in a tent. It does take a bit longer to veg while topping and LST but totally worth it come flower time. Branches, roots, and overall structure of the plant is better. Had less chances of hermies too since their going closer to natural maturity by 10-12 weeks of vegging. Last run I had girl scout cookies throwing pistils in 18/6 telling me they were ready to flower.

Monday update. Girls are all doing well and adjusting nicely to their final pots. They need a good drenching of water though. All four have started stretching and are beginning pre flowers. We'll see how tall they get. I'm hoping somewhere near four feet when they get into week 4 or 5 of full flower. Have had problems adding flowering nutrients too early in the past so I think I'll wait until week 3 or 4 to start adding. That's all for now, I'll do close up pics once they start frosting up a bit.

I've subbed to a bunch of journals today including this one.. tis the season! I started a new one as well.. 5 strains.. space is an issue but thats life lol. Anyhow, keep up the good work

Weekly update time. So the mangos are really starting to fill up the horizontal aspect of the tent. A few tops have really shot up in height, but other than that it's a fairly even canopy.
I decided to give them their first round of bloom nutrients. Using Alaska Bloom nutes. I try to use as organic ingredients as I can because the end product is totally worth it. Day and night difference from black market herbs.
The stretch is finishing up, and buds are starting to form up more. May have to defoliate some fan leaves over the next few days to improve overall airflow through the plants.
I took a couple cuts from the girls, donated one to family, and kept one to create a mother for clones. Also have a couple other strains I started a few weeks ago. Original Glue, as well as, Twenty Four. I chose the Twenty Four because it's supposed to be a high CBD strain, and I really want a good CBD strain to battle anxiety and to have herb that isn't too psychoactive.
Starting from seed is really fun, but I'm ready to work on cloning a little more so I can then move on to breeding eventually. That won't be until I can devote more time and space for everything.

Preflower phase is finally done. Now the nodes are starting to develop nicely. Did a little defoliating this morning to open up the lower limbs and get more light throughout. Raised the light to it's final height. Currently about 27-30" from the tops. The tent has been about 81 degrees average. It's fine for now, but I need to keep them watered well. I've been using nutrients every other or every third watering. Not much else to say for now.

So things are going along smoothly. They're still a little hungry for nutes, but I really don't want to burn them with PK. The pistils are super healthy and white. That's one thing I try to get for my flowers is good healthy pistils. The longer they stay white, the better the end product is. Used some coconut water with the last feeding 8 ounces to a gallon and they loved it with the Alaska Bloom at medium strength.
Smell is still real neutral, which is why I think organic is a much better option for growing. Personally I think the industrial type growing nutes are what make plants stink during grow. It's not until like week 4 or 5 that I start noticing a stronger cannabis type smell and less of a general lack of smell altogether.
Still have a ways to go until harvest, but flowering is definitely my favorite part of the life cycle. Vegging and topping is fun too, but watching flowers stack and link is a beautiful sight, not to mention once calyxes start swelling.

Fungus gnats are easy to take care of, just water with Summit Mosquito Bits which is organic. All it is a bacteria that eats the larva in the soil, and takes about two weeks before they dissipate.
Take the mosquito bits, soak in water over night, then water. Also, I add some mosquito bit as a top dressing.

Yeah I always used fly paper, and that helped for the most part. This grow I haven't had them, maybe one or two, but the roots are good and dry the dirt every day or two. When I ran SoG I had too much open empty dirt so they flourished and made life hell. Now not so much, and I really enjoy topping and LST. Takes longer to get your plant to the shape you want, but the extra terminal branches and cola sites are worth all the extra effort.
As long as I am patient and let them grow to completion this should be my best harvest yet.
I've been at this for years, and I finally feel like I'm getting comfortable being able to read the plants and let them do their thing without much intervention. My last batch was super smooth smoke, and that's what I find most enjoyable. A good tasty smooth toke that doesn't leave you choking and gagging for air.

Alrighty. Monday morning pics and update time. The girls are chugging along nicely. A couple of them are a little fucked up, but it's nothing I really am worried about. One is getting some orange pistils already, which isn't terrible since I have two holding with strong all white pistils. The black sheep of the four is one showing a moderate/severe calcium deficiency. I PHed my last dose of nutes and it was super hot so I think I need to be more proactive with PHing my nute feeds.
Beyond all that, I still consider it way better than dealing with bugs of any sort. The nugs are stacking well, just need to keep at it until weeks 8-11 when the swelling starts and I can start gauging when the girls are done. Not a fan of checking trichs anymore. If you harvest it when you're comfortable with how the plant looks it should be plenty good enough smoke.
I know there are so many variables to growing and it can bog shit down when you try to treat them as a science project as opposed to just gardening beautiful flowers.