COCO COIR MCS Purple Kush - Spring Grow Journal

[Eigholte]

2020-02-10

Good afternoon, GWE. It's been a while! Life has been a little crazy on my end, so there was no fall grow. But I think it's time to get a little bit of DIY-therapy in by caring for another batch of plants. (These leafy critters are just so soothing, honestly.)

This grow is a group of Purple Kush, seeds sourced from Montreal Cannabis Seeds. All seeds have cracked. Two feminized seeds and one regular were planted. We shall see how this grow turns out!

Nothing is above the soil yet, but there are cups in the blurple-tent, with life waiting to spring forth from below the coir. Lets get started, then!

Per the photo, tent conditions are RH 30-39% (this is the room RH, no changes have been made), and temps 16c-22c, with the cooler temp happening at lights-off.

 

[Eigholte]

2020-02-17


So, my little grow is underway, with 2/3 seeds sprouted. Seed B (one of the feminized seeds), hasn't made it up yet, and I'm a little concerned. I'll give it a little while longer, but the delay/failure may be just due to the feminized Purple Kush seeds being a little bit older. They were actually freebies that came with my first seed order ever, along with the White Kush I started with, so they're approaching 2 years from purchase. A decrease in germination rate is somewhat expected, I suppose, despite them being stored in a cool refrigerator with a desiccant to keep things cool and dry.

First watering solution is made - and I learned a very important lesson: I've been getting a touch careless with my pH solutions. Managed to give myself a chemical burn to the thumb last night - no good. Probably a good idea to clean that nutrient prep area up, and ensure my gloves/goggles are right where I need them. No more excuses for being sloppy, as it were.

First watering solution ended up being:
150ppm nutrients (Using my Advanced Nutrients stuff to try and finish it), 200ppm base from tap water and cal mag = 350ppm total.
pH around 6.0 (measured with my chemical test kit),
Solution temperature: 17c.

Tent conditions have been:
19c to 25c,
RH 25% to 40%.


Photos!

Seedling A: Sex unknown (regular seed)

Seedling C: Known Feminized Seed

 

[SoOrbudgal]

Hello again Eigholte. Sorry that purple kush is struggling, I've had 3-4 seeds not germinate this winter bummer hope she comes up from her nap. I just got gifted some purple kush from a GWE member and it's a very smooth smoke. Good luck on the grow i'll be watching.

 

[Eigholte]

Thanks, SoOrbudgal. It's good to hear from you again! :big-smile:

It's a little disappointing that the third seed is moving so slowly/refusing to wake up after I germinated in paper towel and it cracked and formed a tap root, but it's not the end of the world, honestly. I do have one last feminized Purple Kush from the same batch I could start if I want to guarantee myself a second lady plant.

It's nice to hear you got a good Purple Kush sample from another GWE member. I bought one of the legal-corporate-grower's variant on a Purple Kush, and it wasn't anything to write home about. But the breeder of the seeds I purchased claims his plants tend to be about three times stronger in total THC than what the legal-grower marked as their THC level, and the legal example doesn't have some of the traits I'd expect based on what everyone else describes a Purple Kush as tasting/feeling like - so honestly, the genetics of what I have could have very little in common with my one so-called "Purple Kush" experience to date.

I am holding out hope for a very strong and classic Kush experience at harvest time - the spouse has been demanding something as stone-y and sedative as the White Kush I started with, so I hope this will scratch that itch.

 

[SoOrbudgal]

LOL gotcha I think your wife and I could be good friends she's got my taste in weed :bashful:

 

[Eigholte]

2020-02-24

So, I started a new seed, and this one has gotten off to a strong start! From that first cracked taproot to poking above ground was about 48 hours this time.

Still using the watering solution from last week, so those specs are the same.

Tent humidity went up - I have a lion's mane mushroom kit in there sharing the space, and the misting has brought the average RH up. Gotta be honest, the seedlings look way happier with that humidity boost. I have been seeing some excellent growth on A, my unsexed plant, and even the little feminized plantlets have been picking up the pace since I started misting. It's been rather promisting.

Tent Stats:
Average RH 40%, high 66%, Low 38%
Temp. Low 19c, high 26c



Photos:

They're looking robust and happy so far! Here's looking forward to what will hopefully be a majestic harvest around my birthday this year!

 

[Eigholte]

2020-03-02


So that first plant has just taken off, eh?

Plant A has 4 nodes and is building a 5th, and was transplanted yesterday with what seems to be minimal shock. Since this is the start of the third week for this plant, I am hoping it starts to signal it's sex soon. The plan had been to flower this regular seed a little ahead of the others to figure out if I got a male or a female - so the faster growth is actually really helpful for that plan.
Plant C is in second place, working on the 4th node. It hasn't been quite as fast as seed A, but it's no slouch.
Plant B, the new seed, is working on node 2, but doesn't seem to be growing quite as quick as the other two. I have a suspicion that the drainage isn't quite as good in that particular solo cup.

Still using that original 2.5L of seedling strength nutrients at this point, almost out though.
Soaked the new pot/soil in a pH'd Cal-Mg soak before transplanting. (6.7pH, 20c, 251ppm)

And the increased humidity from the mushroom kit does seem to be helping the plants - it's keeping things in a pretty happy zone for vegetative growth, for the most part.
And then the warmth from the plant lights is making the mushrooms pretty happy too - the lion's mane is pinning up a storm, which is nice.


Tent Stats:
Average RH 61%, high 71%, Low 32% (Low occurred when I boosted ventilation after transplanting, it was creeping up towards 75%)
Temp. Low 19c, high 26c

 

[SoOrbudgal]

Looks like they are loving it. :big-smile:

 

[Eigholte]

2020-03-09

Things are progressing: All three plants have been transplanted. Based on the growth I saw today in Plant B, I am willing to wager that something was off about the environment in that solo cup: That plant seems happier.

Plant A appears to be a male, I saw a pre-flower this week, and I think it's a ball. That may suit me just fine - my past experiments with colloidal silver and giberellin have not been super successful, so having a stash of male pollen from a robust, fast growing plant may not be a bad idea.

Plant C is also looking really robust. That one is a known-feminized seed, and with the good, robust growth I decided that plant gets the larger pot. Odds are good with the head start


Made my second batch of nutrient solution this week. Humidity also spiked after transplanting; all that CalMg soaked coir is giving off a lot of moisture. I've been trying to keep the average humidity around 60% as much as possible, increasing ventilation out of the tent when necessary to drop it back down.


Second watering solution ended up being:
210ppm nutrients (Using my Advanced Nutrients stuff to try and finish it), 200ppm base from tap water and cal mag = 410ppm total.
pH around 6.0 (measured with my chemical test kit),
Solution temperature: 21c.

Tent conditions have been:
19c to 25c,
RH 46% to 89%.


Family photo:

Plant A (presumed male):

Plant B: "new" feminized seed

Plant C: Feminized seed, grew well from first germination

 

[SoOrbudgal]

Dang those are just so healthy your doing so good there. Plant A i'm not guessing for me it's too soon. But they sure love your care.

 

[Eigholte]

2020-03-16


The grow is continuing along well. I am a little curious about plant "B" - the new seed I germinated is showing some really unusual growth traits. It should be a feminized Purple Kush, hypothetically from the same 'batch' as plant C (which is doing well), but is growing somewhat differently. The leaves are developing mottling and when they form they tend to have a twisted aspect to them. I thought that plant was just unhappy possibly due to less excellent drainage in that given solo cup, but since it's continued on new growth post-transplant I am wondering if something more is at play. Both B and C have been on the same nutrients, in the same tent, in the same coir blend, with the same exposure to any possible pests (and B has been thoroughly inspected - no sign of bugs that I can tell). And yet they look quite different to my eye:

B left, C right. Strange, right? I am thinking I might go make a "what is this" post later, just to get a few more opinions.

For all that, they seem to be growing - though C is doing so faster than B, but that's been true the whole time. (Again, B left, C right)

But plant A? It's been amazing. It's growing like a weed, deep green and leafy and is my best trained quad-line to date. Also, really pretty. I thought it was a male, but I may not be so sure myself anymore. It has it's own tent now, in case is does throw balls on me (I want to collect the pollen, not disperse it!).

I don't have my watering stats to hand, but they're down in my hard-copy book. Tent conditions for Plant A have been pretty close to optimal. Plants B and C have been dealing with RH 40%-80%, I've been adding more ventilation when it creeps to ~70% to drop it back down, but I do have one challenge in that they are in with a Lion's Mane mushroom kit, so I am trying to keep the ambient RH around 50% - that's been tough.

Still, looking like a decent grow so far!

 

[SoOrbudgal]

I saw that In my last summer outdoor grow folks were saying TMV but i'm not sure that's what it is? Grew that way the whole time leaf never changed much it grew OK till I had to hack it early.

 

[Eigholte]

The plant is showing pretty much all of the symptoms described on the Grow Weed Easy Tobbaco Mosaic Virus page. (Edit: https://www.growweedeasy.com/cannabis-plant-problems/tobacco-mosaic-virus-tmv) It is pretty dang suspicious. No sign of it spreading just yet, but I am wondering if I should axe that plant as a preventative measure.

On a complete aside, last night I found three seeds in the Commercial Pseudo-Purple-Kush I mentioned above, so a part of me wants to see if I can replace the diseased plant with one of those and do a head-to-head comparison of homegrown strains. That might give me an idea if it's worth my time to sprout the other two 'bagseeds' as well.

 

[SoOrbudgal]

Interesting Eigholte I did not do anything to the one that showed TMV nothing helps I don't think. And it was just on one side of the plant? And it did not spread to the others but they are pretty far apart? And I think it was a gorilla bomb from bomb seeds? We grew it out and did just fine, weather was the only issue last year.

 

[Eigholte]

2020-03-23 (End of the 5th week)

So, the grow is progressing - the marked plant is definitely much slower growing than the other two. And plant A is a bit of a rock-star, honestly.

I plan to switch to 12-12 on the 30th of March, I believe. That will be 6 weeks of growth, and should be enough to promote a good harvest without ending up with over-sized plants.


B and C:

A, the rock-star:

Water Stats:
Used 13L in total, with average stats of:
~19c, ~500ppm, ~6.5pH (measured with my chemical tests)

Tent Stats:
A: 19-25c, 45% RH
B: 18-22c, 35% RH

 

[Eigholte]

2020-03-30 (end of the 6th week and start of 12-12)


The most notable change for this week was the addition of a little bit of a PK booster to the original formula. Rough ppm for nutrients is about 500-520ppm and the plants seem to be using about 13L a week or so. Foliage seems to be maintaining a healthy green, so that strength seems to be about right for now. I guess this strain may not be a super heavy feeder.

All of them are starting to look a little larger. Or maybe just taller? Is it time to stretch already?

Plant B, the spotted one, has continued to grow, albeit slower. No sign of whatever is happening with that plant spreading yet, so I've left it be. Also that one bag seed I tried soaking failed to grow, so it's not like I have time to replace that plant anyhow. This will be a bit of a science experiment to see what impact, if any, that mottled condition has on the yield I suppose.

Can't wait to see how the bloom shapes up! I am rather fond of the scent on these ones (which has been subtle so far!)


Plant A:

Plant B and C:

 

[Eigholte]

2020-04-06 (7th week from seed, 1st full week of 12-12)


We are off to the races. Sexes are confirmed for all plants: My two feminized seeds are, no surprise, females. My regular seed (Plant A, that majestic beast) is male after all!

So, that is a little sad, a female plant this lush (and this sturdily trained: Best quadline I've made to date!) would probably have produced a near-mountain of glorious bud. But having a male this nice is maybe a good "second best" - the pollen I collect can ensure that not only am I capable of producing my own "Apocalypse bud" seeds, but that the plants from those seeds at least have a solid set of "growth" genetics. No idea what kind of potency is hiding in that male-plant-genome, but that's something that good breeders spend a lot of time and a lot of test-crosses finding out. I have no illusions that I'm anywhere near that level. I just enjoy screwing around, honestly. And it's reassuring to know I may have a bit of a "just-in-case" way to make more seeds in case this stupid pandemic interrupts some of the normal seed-supply routes going forward.

The nice things about this plant are:
- Fast and robust grower
- Nice thick stems
- Light feeder (Has been very lush and happy on ~500ppm nutrients)
- Very nice scent (Fresh green grass, lemon and a hint of skunkiness)
- Pretty short growth pattern with evenly spaced nodes

Seems like a good enough plant to collect pollen from, at least to me.

So here's the man-plant of the house: Mr. Purple Kush

And here are the two ladies. They seem stretchier than my male plant right now - about 4 or 5 inches taller than him.

All of them were lightly defoliated/trimmed on March 31st.
The main goal was to remove any extra stems that were not going to reach the light, and to try and ensure good air/light penetration. Plant A basically just filled right back in again - you can hardly tell I did anything. Plants B and C are stretchier than A with longer inter-node spaces, and you can still see between the branches pretty easily at this point. Given the stretching though, the trim doesn't seem to have slowed down their growth that much.

Tent conditions:
Both have been around 40%RH, with temperatures ranging from about 18c-23c over the course of a "day". I will be looking at trying to cool the space down a little as we approach flowering - which should be easy enough, honestly. This basement room tends to be a pretty cool place unless I am trying to keep it warmer, as I am at present.

Nutrient data:
All plants have consumed together 16L of nutrient solution this week. (And they will certainly need watering tomorrow, kicking off another good week of feeding)
Nutrient solution has been 18c, ~550ppm total, and pH around 6.5 as measured by my chemical kit (I think I need a more precise chemical pH kit, honestly).
Over the past week, I have been adding a small bit of a PK booster to the solution, as well. That seems to be around 20-30 of the total ppm, as a rough approximation.

 

[SoOrbudgal]

OK let's have a pregnancy party

 

[Eigholte]

2020-04-13 (8th week from seed, 2nd full week of 12-12)

So... Plant A was a rather precocious male! He started bursting balls on Saturday - I had to to a rapid chop and didn't take any good photos. I am hoping I managed to be gentle enough to avoid spreading pollen all over my grow room. But we shall see! (So far the ladies appear un-pollinated. I'll keep an eye out). I kept a few of the ball clusters in a paper bag to dry out and harvest pollen from. That's still in progress for the moment, but looks promising.

I also kept the really nice, sturdy upright stems from that male to try something a little weird with - I am finally going to do some small-scale processing for hemp fibres. My other hobbies are hand-spinning yarn and weaving, and I've actually grown and processed my own flax fibres before. That same process with a few minor deviations may work for hemp.

I probably won't get much, but I might be able to make enough hemp cord to make a little knotted bracelet or something. We shall see what manner of trophies I can make out of this man-plant.

The ladies are stretching like fiends. I hope it's over, I am really running out of room in there. I might have to consider super-cropping or something else drastic like that if they keep stretching.

But the proto-buds are coming!

 

[Daskahn]

Nice journal I look forward to the end