MARS HYDRO CUP - Lilac Diesel & Birthday Banger -Mainline Grow w/MARS HYDRO TS2000W & Home Assistant Automation

Week 5 Day 1

It's that time again, a new week long time lapse

I love getting to see these, next week I think I'll make it a close up of a single large bud if I can.

Saw on your post in the comparative thread you have kosher kush seeds planted?

Did you get em from Reserva Privida? I grew some KK out, not as big of a knockout/couch lock high as id have expected, but was a great strain non the less

BluntMoniker said:

Saw on your post in the comparative thread you have kosher kush seeds planted?

Did you get em from Reserva Privida? I grew some KK out, not as big of a knockout/couch lock high as id have expected, but was a great strain non the less

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It's one I used to get in Cali a lot before I moved back to OK... surprisingly high CBD ratio for a "mainstream" strain (7:1-3:1 depending on the pheno).

I've got 6 of those and another small seedling of Kosher kush going.... plus one Cream & cheese and I want to pop more soon. I know the strains I want to do commercial, just gotta find the right phenos.

Popped a bunch of the Sherbet- I love most of the genetics in those so who knows, they might end up in the lineup too depending on how they go.

Well finally got around to testing my Ph (no I have never Ph'd my water in years of growing)... about 8.2/8.3 out of the tap which is dead on with other people in my city.... so yea my nutrient issues are lockout from adding cal/mag to already high Ph water. Gonna just get that balanced and they should recover on their own... (only did the cal/mag/super high ph feedings twice)

Week 5 Day 2
Felt like everyone needed some up close shots to see why I'm getting so excited. Four full weeks to go minimum and they're swelling and getting all pretty

Okay so good news! This is the first day where I didn't check on my plant and find signs that the deficiency was worse.

The only action taken was a light "flush" (basically just 20% heavier watering) with Ph balanced tap water (we already have fairly hard water so I didn't add calcium... also I think I overfed them trying to fix what turned out to be a lockout).

Left picture is yesterday morning right after the "flush" and the right is this morning. For the past week every day the color has been a little worse and the rust spots as well.... it seems to be stable at this point.

It doesn't come through in the pictures but I also feel like the color is slightly greener/better.

Trimmed off the most impacted leaves from the nutrient lockout. A couple Ph balanced waterings in and the color definitely seems to be improving.

Week 6 Day 2
Looking good overall. Still some paler leaves/not fully recovered from the earlier nitrogen/calcium deficiency (still suspecting a pH caused lockout)...
Feeding a diluted formula (pH balanced) instead of plain dechlorinated water, soil should have the vast majority of the needed nutrient so I'm HOPING solving the pH issue will get them over the finish line.

SpawnOfVader said:

Week 5 Day 2
Felt like everyone needed some up close shots to see why I'm getting so excited. Four full weeks to go minimum and they're swelling and getting all pretty
View attachment 4721155View attachment 4721157

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These are going to be covered come harvest looking yum!

maranibbana said:

These are going to be covered come harvest looking yum!

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Yea overall they are super pretty. The birthday banger buds aren’t as big but they’re frosty.

It’s official as of today- will no longer be in the contest. Replaced my light with a HLG 600 RSPEC

Week 8 and my usual top dressing isn't enough-they're still starting to starve. Since it's so close (trichs are already really cloudy) I'm just trying to get them over the finish line. Going up to 10 gallon pots for the next run (but my new soil mix is airier/less rich)...... also worried there is too much monochloramine left in the water so I'm gonna test using ascorbic acid to remove it next run.

If they're just about ready to chop down, it's pretty normal for them to start to yellow out regardless of nutrient availability, as I understand it.

RadicalRoss said:

If they're just about ready to chop down, it's pretty normal for them to start to yellow out regardless of nutrient availability, as I understand it.

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Only if you let them go too long/don't add fertilizer. For soil they should really barely be yellowing if at all. The only reason they would yellow without nutrient shortages is if they've got pests OR they're exposed to really cold.

Week 8 day 5 - HARVEST!!!

It came a few days earlier than expected but I'm at that level of cloudy trichs with just a few amber I wanted (need something that keeps me up and moving not something to make me pass out from this batch.

Solo harvesting 6 plants today. Doing a pretty rough wet trim and going back through for the detail work once they've gotten through the initial dry. Hanging plants whole or cut into halves- dried too quick last time.

Unable to upload photos to the site at this time- will post them later once the glitch is resolved.