While I tap my feet waiting for the chop, may as well post some pictures.
day 77 - more pics from 11-12 wks below
STRAIN / PROVENANCE
These were cuts from an unknown OGK mom that ended up in my care when a friend had to downsize his garden. From the distinctive lemon/pine taste with skunky aroma I would guess maybe Larry or Lemon Larry.
SOIL
Grown in geopots (3gal-7gal size) with organic living soil, not completely veganic but no slaughterhouse ingredients. I do use PSG and bat guano 2 or 3x over the life of the plant, but mostly a three-step series as follows: FPEs one watering, followed by AACT the next, then plain molasses/citric acid water the next, then back to FPEs to start the cycle again.
LIGHTING
During veg, they spent their days outside and their nights inside under an inexpensive LED grow light and CFL lamp. In the third week of July, they went outside 24/7 and responded just about immediately with stretch/flowering. Was aiming to be done and chopping by the harvest moon on 9/29, but the plants begged to differ. Since week 10, they have been coming inside at night if the marine layer looks too thick.
THIS CYCLE
This is the 4th cycle from the same strain, so I am getting used to it, with one catch: in all of the previous cycles, mold forced me to cut no later than ~65 days into flowering.
This year, hardly any mold. Yay!
Possible reasons for the improved luck:
1. Weather has been less humid.
2. Sprayed and drenched Actinovate and sprayed Serenade on a regular basis (yes, even into flowering, as late as 8 weeks for the Actinovate), every Monday for Actinovate and every Thursday for Serenade.
3. Did a better job with pre-flowering pruning, allowing for better airflow between the natural OGK "golf ball" clusters, though overall shaping was done in a halfassed way. Next time I'll do better, though with the plants spending most of their time in the great outdoors, it will never be my top concern.
4. Sprayed lactobacillus/EM-1, AACT, and occasional Actinovate and Serenade around the outdoor area where the plants spend their time, so the entire area may have had more diverse microbial life to compete with the pathogens.
Who knows?
But because I have never before had a chance to grow this strain until it is definitively DONE, I can't make up my mind about whether to chop.
So are they ready or not? The evidence
FADE (NOT FLUSH)
The last FPEs they got were at 8 weeks exactly, and the last time they got any guano tea was around 6 weeks in. They have gotten less water since their 9th week, and now only get a tiny bit of molasses water when they are starting to wilt. The big yellow fan leaves were removed for airflow & mold prevention and the smaller fans are getting pale with purple and red tinges, though you can't really see the colors in the pics.
TRICHOMES
I see maybe 1% clear trichs on the calyxes, with 74-94% cloudy and 5-25% amber depending on which branch I'm looking at. Some cola tips have a honey-colored sheen to them and are no longer sparkly white.
PISTILS
60-90% of the pistils are withered and rusty... but the two plants in larger containers keep throwing up a few new white ones.
CALYXES
The calyxes are as swollen as I've ever seen them--but remember that I have never seen the plants go further than 65 days due to mold. They have gotten much fatter just in the past few days.
GROWTH PATTERN & FLOWER STRUCTURE
"Golf balls" developing nicely, with some foxtail-y tips coming up in a few places.
AGE
Tomorrow will be 12 weeks. OGK is usually labeled for 9 weeks, ha ha. I was interested to note that recent samples from this year's plants have a similar feel to previous years' harvests which were cut much earlier. So early/late harvest doesn't seem to make a huge difference in the degree of zing or couchlock--the strain stays pretty true to itself. That said, I have no use for couchlock and will be extremely bummed if I end up with overripe flowers. Another argument for chopping at 12 weeks, I suppose.
Enough recreational typing. Now without further ado, the pictures.
First, some from Day 77, almost a week ago
And here are a few from Day 81.
day 77 - more pics from 11-12 wks below
STRAIN / PROVENANCE
These were cuts from an unknown OGK mom that ended up in my care when a friend had to downsize his garden. From the distinctive lemon/pine taste with skunky aroma I would guess maybe Larry or Lemon Larry.
SOIL
Grown in geopots (3gal-7gal size) with organic living soil, not completely veganic but no slaughterhouse ingredients. I do use PSG and bat guano 2 or 3x over the life of the plant, but mostly a three-step series as follows: FPEs one watering, followed by AACT the next, then plain molasses/citric acid water the next, then back to FPEs to start the cycle again.
LIGHTING
During veg, they spent their days outside and their nights inside under an inexpensive LED grow light and CFL lamp. In the third week of July, they went outside 24/7 and responded just about immediately with stretch/flowering. Was aiming to be done and chopping by the harvest moon on 9/29, but the plants begged to differ. Since week 10, they have been coming inside at night if the marine layer looks too thick.
THIS CYCLE
This is the 4th cycle from the same strain, so I am getting used to it, with one catch: in all of the previous cycles, mold forced me to cut no later than ~65 days into flowering.
This year, hardly any mold. Yay!
Possible reasons for the improved luck:
1. Weather has been less humid.
2. Sprayed and drenched Actinovate and sprayed Serenade on a regular basis (yes, even into flowering, as late as 8 weeks for the Actinovate), every Monday for Actinovate and every Thursday for Serenade.
3. Did a better job with pre-flowering pruning, allowing for better airflow between the natural OGK "golf ball" clusters, though overall shaping was done in a halfassed way. Next time I'll do better, though with the plants spending most of their time in the great outdoors, it will never be my top concern.
4. Sprayed lactobacillus/EM-1, AACT, and occasional Actinovate and Serenade around the outdoor area where the plants spend their time, so the entire area may have had more diverse microbial life to compete with the pathogens.
Who knows?
But because I have never before had a chance to grow this strain until it is definitively DONE, I can't make up my mind about whether to chop.
So are they ready or not? The evidence
FADE (NOT FLUSH)
The last FPEs they got were at 8 weeks exactly, and the last time they got any guano tea was around 6 weeks in. They have gotten less water since their 9th week, and now only get a tiny bit of molasses water when they are starting to wilt. The big yellow fan leaves were removed for airflow & mold prevention and the smaller fans are getting pale with purple and red tinges, though you can't really see the colors in the pics.
TRICHOMES
I see maybe 1% clear trichs on the calyxes, with 74-94% cloudy and 5-25% amber depending on which branch I'm looking at. Some cola tips have a honey-colored sheen to them and are no longer sparkly white.
PISTILS
60-90% of the pistils are withered and rusty... but the two plants in larger containers keep throwing up a few new white ones.
- Trichomes and pistils are the #1 reason I am considering chopping at 12 weeks. That and the fact that my pruning finger is getting really itchy and it's been so long since I've trimmed I'm actually looking forward to it. LOL, we'll see how long that lasts once I get started.
CALYXES
The calyxes are as swollen as I've ever seen them--but remember that I have never seen the plants go further than 65 days due to mold. They have gotten much fatter just in the past few days.
GROWTH PATTERN & FLOWER STRUCTURE
"Golf balls" developing nicely, with some foxtail-y tips coming up in a few places.
- Calyxes and growth pattern are the #1 reason I am thinking about waiting even later to chop.
AGE
Tomorrow will be 12 weeks. OGK is usually labeled for 9 weeks, ha ha. I was interested to note that recent samples from this year's plants have a similar feel to previous years' harvests which were cut much earlier. So early/late harvest doesn't seem to make a huge difference in the degree of zing or couchlock--the strain stays pretty true to itself. That said, I have no use for couchlock and will be extremely bummed if I end up with overripe flowers. Another argument for chopping at 12 weeks, I suppose.
Enough recreational typing. Now without further ado, the pictures.
First, some from Day 77, almost a week ago
And here are a few from Day 81.
