I'm back with another study. My local hydro shop got a new product called "Flo - Superfood for your plants", it's an organic-mineral compost meant to be combined with soil, to form your own super soil, which does not require additional nutrients.
Currently the plants are running in 1 liter Air-Pots, which I'm testing out for the 1st time. In the pictures you can also see one of the plants being in a regular 2 liter bucket, this will be a small side by side comparison to see the difference in growth rate during the vegetative phase. The bucket plant will be tossed later on.
Plants are growing at an astonishing rate in the Air-Pot's, I've never seen such speed. Growth rate is nearly double compared to my older 2 liter regular bucket. I gave the plants some Soil Balance Pro at day 2 of veg, otherwise I've been giving them just plain tap water.
The leaves are a bit droopy in this picture, as the pot's had dried out pretty well... I'm still getting used to watering the Air-Pot's so often.
This post didn't get quite the excitement as my last by side grow, so I'm bringing in updates a bit slower. Good news for the people who are waiting for my lollipopping side by side experiment; clones have been taken, and I will be running the test right after I finish with this project :)
Veg has been done, and I'm just about to start week 5 of flowering. Some notes from veg; in early veg the plants started suffering from nitrogen toxicity, using this florganics compost is way too hot for the plants in early veg. In late veg the plants started suffering from potassium deficiency. Conclusion: in early veg use less compost then instructed, and in late veg use more (you need to transplant the plants to hotter soil).
In these pictures you see plants that have been heavily supercropped (not wilting). One of the plants has clear indica traits, three are hybrids, and one is a sativa dominant plant.
Going into flowering week 2, I also practiced cutting lower branches, so I'm prepared to make the right cuts for my next grow test. (during veg as well).
Flowering week 3, I started getting some heavy nitrogen deficiencies, Florganics clearly doesn't have enough nutrients to last through the growth, I later on top dressed with more of this stuff.
And last day of flowering week 4 (day 28), you can clearly start seeing big differences in how the plants look. Top right corner looking to be a really sativa dominant strain which still keeps stretching.
Aaargh... I can't get the image previews off... So they are showing up again here at the bottom
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End of week 5 update, the buds are really starting to bulge up. You can really start to see the different pheno traits of each plant.
Pictures in order:
- All plants
- PK1 Hybrid, the plant in the middle
- PK2 Sativa dominant strain
- PK4 Indica dominant strain, (with a half a liter bottle next to it for size reference. not all of the cola could even fit in the picture!! :O )
It's a 10 week strain, so 4 more weeks of bulging up to remain. These might end up being the biggest badassest nugs I've ever grown. The smell is also fantastic! Like cotton candy :)
End of week 6 update, buds really starting to fill out. You can see the two biggest colas compared to a pint sized can. Definitely don't have any regrets about using super-soil.
One more photo with the can behind the bud. I think this gives you a better idea how wide these nugs actually are, they look a lot bigger in real life then in the photos.
Buds are really starting to frost up, and the colas still keep fattening up! It's amazing how the 3 biggest colas are the size of an 1.5l (quarter gallon) water bottle! They are not even showing signs of ripening like the other plants, so they must still have their best grow days ahead :D