Footsteps In Becoming an Expert Grower

[Biosystem]

More photos. Some of when they were dessicated.

 

[Biosystem]

By the way, for those of you who are "regulars" of this thread - I would appreciate it if you would post a link here (or DM me) for your current grow log thread. I am not that great at finding your posts specifically, but I'd really like to build a sort of e-report with y'all and share in your own journey.

Thank you all for your continued observation and comments. As a newer grower, I appreciate the input. Much love.

 

[Biosystem]

Okay. So, I think I eliminated all of the spider mites. They came back and wiped out the last grow, and only the veg tent survived with supremely sad vegging Zamaldelicas.
I left the flowering tent in total darkness for months to let all of the mites die, then I went in and sprayed heavily with bleach. Things are going well so far, with only 2/12 Zamaldelicas remaining. The strongest of the bunch. They are growing well now, and I have some clones going from them, but they haven't been doing too well, so I am trying soil cloning again. I don't know why I can't clone to save my life when it comes to cannabis, but whatever. Maybe this will be the turning point. I'm flipping to flower tonight.

 

[Biosystem]

Some photos of the last two girls remaining after being in flower for 7 days. The first photo is of them immediately after transplanting 30 days ago. I think this will be an excellent Zamaldelicas flowering. These are definitely the strongest plants I have had the pleasure of working with. We'll see how they do in flower. They have been through so much.

 

[Biosystem]

Some pics of these two plants a few days ago after taking some clones from branches I pruned because they were shaded. It's funny. The "strong" one was the smaller of the two when I transplanted them but she has overtaken the other with great force. Unless her flowers are much worse, she will be my keeper, and I expect to have her around for a while - at least until I can self seed her to keep a backstock of genes.

 

[Biosystem]

WEEK 3 OF FLOWER
Zamaldelica by ACE Seeds

Had to prune a ton of branches from the under canopy since these plants were "monster cropped" by accident. Lots of cuts for clones, and the canopy looks amazing!
Did some supercropping on the taller branches since it's still early in flower. Pretty much done messing with 'em unless I see any glaring under-canopy growth.

 

[Biosystem]

WEEK 4 OF FLOWER
Zamaldelica by ACE Seeds

They're doing great. I'm feeding light and getting nearly imperceptible nite burn on the lead tips, so just feeding very light each week.
The pruning seems to be pretty much done by now. These photos are technically from last week. Week 5 pics coming tomorrow or the next day.

 

[Biosystem]

WEEK 5 OF FLOWER
Zamaldelica by ACE Seeds

I'm going to be watering without fertilizer this week since the leaf tips are showing a bit of nutrient burn and their color is already good.
Part of me is concerned that they aren't producing as much cola material as the other strains I've worked with (perhaps due to P&K deficiencies), but the greater part of me thinks that they are doing fine and that this is just how 100% Sativas flower - it just takes longer so week 5 isn't "almost there" like it is for other strains.

Their color and leaf shape are good, and they're hydrated, so I have little other reason to believe that anything is amiss with them.

Anyone with lots of Sativa experience want to chime in here? I'd appreciate the input since this is my first 100% sativa grow. It's been a lot of fun though!


Also, if anyone has critiques on my training techniques and plant shaping, throw that in here as well. I think these are the best trained plants I've done so far, but I'm open to improvements.

 

[JanKowalski]

Congrats for the beasts @Biosystem!
They look good. I would just bend some stems, or remove some leaves, just to let lower buds growing IMO

 

[Biosystem]

Congrats for the beasts @Biosystem!
They look good. I would just bend some stems, or remove some leaves, just to let lower buds growing IMO

Thanks, man! I'll get itchin' to prune here pretty soon anyway but I am so leery of defoliating. It seems to like such a trade off on nutes in the leaves and ability to photosynthesize. And yet. . . It's one of the most well known practices there is for a reason. Just rough the first few times you do it I suppose.

 

[Biosystem]

WEEK 6 OF FLOWER
Zamaldelica by ACE Seeds

I am impressed by these plants.
They are two distinct phenos though, and I am unsure how to determine which is best SO FAR.
I believe the slower flowering, shorter internode, leafier of the two is more towards the Thai side whereas the faster flowering pheno is closer to the African side.

@dubi I have really enjoyed your company's seeds, and as a long time fan of your work (10+ years), I am grateful to finally be working with your strains. This has been my most enjoyable strains to grow, and I am very excited for the end results. Based on the images I have posted, do you have any input as to what these two phenos are appearing to be? The two cola closeup shots are of the two different phenos.



I'm still watering without nutrients right now since there is somewhat increased leaf burn on SOME of the leaves for one of the phenos.
I believe I am finished with defoliation and trimming, and from here it is likely that they will stay this way with branch bending and tying to keep the canopy even.

 

[Biosystem]

WEEK 7 OF FLOWER
ACE Seeds Zamaldelica

I am unsure if this is natural senescence of the strain at week 7 or if the plants are becoming increasingly vulnerable to excess nitrogen as they progress in their flowering.

I'm inclined to think this isn't normal and that they are burning from excessive nutrients even though I have dosed very lightly. There is little I can do to flush such as system as it's simply a baby pool on the ground, so I've just been watering with unadulterated water for the past week or two.

The two phenos are diverging in morphological similarity as they develop, and while I'm open minded to the possibility that the leafier pheno is just a late flowerer and that it will fill out, it certainly doesn't look very ideal right now.

The other pheno looks much better, but that may only be because it is clearly a faster flowering pheno and is thus further along.

If anyone has seen a grow that looked like this and has any advice or inputs, I am ALL EARS.
Otherwise, the plan for next run will simply be to grow clones of these girls with far less nutrients. Truthfully this will feel as though I'm not fertilizing at all, but it's not about what I'm feeling - it's about what the plants want and what they can withstand.

 

[Biosystem]

WEEK 8 OF FLOWER
Zamaldelica by ACE Seeds

This is getting weird. The leaf dieback, the small cola sizes, the excellent smell despite all this.

Anyone who's grown Zamaldelica want to compare notes? This is my first time growing this strain, so I'm wondering how these girls are doing compared to strain averages.

Do they look okay? Good? Bad? Is their flowering cycle and bud size at this point normal? Anyone? Beuller? . . Beuller?

 

[Biosystem]

WEEK 10 OF FLOWER
Zamaldelica by ACE Seeds

These plants are gorgeous, and the size is packing on. They're really starting to flop over from their own weight, so I have tried to stake up the most troublesome branches. I need more stakes.

At this point, it appears that both plants are going to want to run 12 or more weeks, but one of them seems to be faster than the other.

I would really like to get some feedback from anyone who has grown Zamaldelica before who could help identify what these two phenos *most likely* are and what qualities they are most likely to exhibit. I plan to propagate from one of these plants and want to begin my process of analyzing the two as early as possible.
@dubi? @OZZ_?

 

[Biosystem]

WEEK 11 OF FLOWER
Zamaldelica by ACE Seeds


Hey, y'all. Things are still plugging along.
61-74F
48-62%RH
500-1100 PPFD depending on height of branch.


These two phenos are very different. I am still hoping that someone on this forum has some good insight as to what I could expect from these phenos. Maybe no one here has grown Zamaldelica enough to have any good guesses?

They're both beautiful and fragrant. I'm excited.

 

[gedLang]

WEEK 11 OF FLOWER
Zamaldelica by ACE Seeds


Hey, y'all. Things are still plugging along.
61-74F
48-62%RH
500-1100 PPFD depending on height of branch.


These two phenos are very different. I am still hoping that someone on this forum has some good insight as to what I could expect from these phenos. Maybe no one here has grown Zamaldelica enough to have any good guesses?

They're both beautiful and fragrant. I'm excited.

The pics look amazing. The dark green color and clawing leaf tips with browning do look like classic nutrient burn to me. It does not seem very severe and I think you have done well to back off - it sure seems like the flowers have bulked up! Some leaves also are exhibiting some yellowing, which I'm not sure what to make of.

I'm glad your RH is low because I would worry about mold otherwise. Any leaves that are dead or very brown should get removed to reduce mold risk. Other than that I don't have much advice, I certainly have not grown something like this before! Best wishes for a big harvest!

 

[Biosystem]

Thank you, @gedLang! I have high hopes for this grow. Hopefully I have at least one exceptional pheno here left from the original 11 popped seeds, but we will see. I suppose I have nothing else to compare it to, so it seems I'm just hoping it turns out "great" as a stand alone data point.

 

[Biosystem]

WEEK 12 OF FLOWER
Zamaldelica by ACE Seeds

These plants look like they're doing great. They're far too heavy for their own good though, and I didn't have the structures in place to support them, so they are floppy. Sad.

I believe one of them will be ready in the next couple weeks, but the other will likely take another 3-5 weeks. UGH!

Anyone with insight as to their phenotypes is encouraged to speculate.

 

[gedLang]

Looking good! What is the whiteish liquid on the soil surface?

 

[Biosystem]

Haha, @gedLang, I dumped some coconut water/milk that was about to go bad. I am constantly feeding the soil with scraps from our fridge. I need to be better about adding more bones.