King Julien's Aurora Indica X ??? Sativa Grow

[King Julien]

So I've gotten busy again but I managed to snap some pics with the phone of how things are progressing. Smell is still mild but building slowly. The scent of grapefruit, diesel, and pine are the dominate scents just like their mother but a couple definitely have an extra citrusy funk to them.

One stands out though. I can only describe it as Thanksgiving dinner at my grandma's house when I was growing up. The vague smell of many sweets and savory things baking along with a hint of citrusy spice and cranberries.

Things are starting to get really frosty. Took a look under microscope of a few test buds I trimmed a few days ago and on at least 2 of the plants I've got 1-3% ambers, 80-90% cloudy, and 10-20% clear. The rest are still on the clearer side of things still but cloudiness is starting to set in in all but the lemony bugger.

Left canopy...

Right canopy...

That lanky bugger fattening out...

A couple shots of buds fattening out...

And lastly a shot of the biggest cola on the lemony plant...

I think I'll start flushing the 2 that are mostly cloudy this weekend. By 2 weeks from then they should be more than done I'm thinking. That'll put them at 9 1/2 - 10 weeks flowering time at harvest. Right now they're getting a good spread of brown hairs and the calyxes are swelling into nice little grapes so I'm thinking my timing is right on that.

Until next time...Keep on growing on.

 

[King Julien]

Just ate some canna-chocolates. Listening to some music. Packing a bong load of some buds I quick dried over night. Running the RO system to get ready to switch out water for the final time before flush. Haven't changed water in over 3 weeks now so it's a little over do.

Starting flush on 3 of the plants tomorrow. The 2 with the most brown hairs and mostly cloudy trichs and the one oddball in the tent that I know will be done around then. Having to kick up nute levels on the lemony plant as it is seriously taking them down and is far from done and bulking up fast.

Humidity has been staying at 50 day to 55 night with the dehumidifier running outside the tent. Gonna try and position it better around the air intakes to drop it a few points more. Temps have been running around 70-74 in the day and 68-72 at night with 72 being the most common temp.

Thinking about dropping the temp range to around 68-72 day and 64-68 night to harden things up and see if any colors come out without dropping things too much for the plants that aren't very close to ready yet.

Other than that things are coming right along. Harvest time is approaching and I'm very curious to see what all and how much I'm gonna get. I'm guessing somewhere near a pound and a half but it has been a little while since I've chopped a crop so maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

I was never very good at estimating these things anyway.

 

[Enforcer]

That’s an impressive cannabis forest you have there! Well done!

 

[King Julien]

Today is day 61 of 12/12. Stank is picking up more every day. Things are continuing to bulk up and frost up. Still amazed at how far it looks that lemony plant has to go and yet how bulky it's colas already are compared to the rest.

Dropped temps to 68-72 light on/64-68 lights off. Humidity has been holding between 46-51 so I'm fairly happy with that. The plants with their calyxes swelling nicely have majorly slowed their water consumption as have the rest but not by near as much.

Thinking about replacing my bulbs with MH in a few days seeing as I think I've already hit the amount I was aiming to produce and now I'm wanting to focus on quality. I would get some UV lights but for the moment they're out of budget. Wondering if anybody has any thoughts on that subject.

In the meantime here's a quick pick of the left canopy...

A quick pick of the right canopy...

Getting a USB Microscope within the next week so I can take some better pictures of the trichs to put up on here. I need to break down and buy a good micro lens for my camera but in the meantime 25 bucks is much easier to justify than 250-350 for the lens I'm wanting. Especially when I can already see the trichs with a cheap handheld microscope. Just want a way to put them up here more than anything.

I also chopped that plant that was only gonna produce a couple ounces. I had been trimming on in pretty heavy over the past week and at this point it was better to cut what was left down to make better room for what was still there. It's pretty good smoke but I've been quick drying it so now that I have enough to slow dry I'll get to see what it's really made of.

I'll make sure and get some pics up of it while I'm processing it and after.

 

[King Julien]

So here's a pick of what all came down from that little plant...

It's not much but I had already trimmed probably half to two thirds of the plant to smoke on. It had the smallest buds, the airiest structure, the least smell, the least frost, and was the smallest plant. It was also in the way of much better plant's light and I'm outta smoke so it needed to happen.

Here's the finished trimmings...

Normally I dry trim but I wanted this drying a little quicker than usual. It's gonna be what keeps me going until the next plants are ready to harvest.

 

[King Julien]

It's day 63 currently and it's starting to show in there.

Temps have been dropped, humidity has been dropped, and water has been switched to nothing bud PH'ed RO in all of the plants. I figured by this point if that one plant turned out to be a 12 week strain, which I'm leaning towards 11 1/2, it'll just have to deal with it getting a nearly 3 week flush.

Either way it's been getting bad enough in there that I've had to start tying up more buds. They're finally getting so heavy on the smaller buds that I've had to tie a number of them up around the bigger buds I tied up weeks ago.

Now that temps and humidity are dropped the frost has started to really pile on which I was a little worried about but my fears are assuaging a little more every day. The stink is really enhancing too. Still fairly low smell compared to almost anything else I've grown but when the buds are messed with things smell great.

Oh, and that lemony plant isn't lemony at all anymore it seems. The scent is now just pure cleaning fluid smell. Almost like a bastardized form of diesel fuel without that skunky bite to it. I can not wait to try me some of that. The last stuff I grew that smelled like cleaning fluid rocked my socks and melted my mind.

Pics will be up soon. Just been kind of busy. Gotta put some up though because things are fattening out fast.

The bulkening has begun!

 

[King Julien]

Zo my goodness. It's getting freaking heavy in there. Having to tie up new colas daily as they gain weight. Frost is coming on too. Smell is still surprisingly faint even though it's getting stronger. Smoked a couple bowls of that early chop from a few days ago earlier tonight and boy was it stoney. It made you high but it by all means was the kind of high where you find it hard to do anything besides eat and stare at stuff.

The following pics are all from day 65 of 12/12.

A pic of the left canopy...

A pic of the right canopy...

A pic of the outrageously tangled under carriage of this operation...

That lanky cola really starting to fatten out alongside a beer bottle that I'm a fan of...

And a few buddies of hers...

A general trich shot while I could snag one with the lights on just to keep track of frost...

Lastly what used to be the lemony plant but is now the chemical plant...

That bugger is a greasy sticky that as soon as you touch it coats you and turns into super sap as soon as you try to rub it off. Gotta love it.

No color changes or dramatic fading yet but it's only been a little bit. Kinda excited to see what all they're gonna do what with the mystery sativa genetics mixed in there. The Aurora Indica mother didn't change colors after over a week of 50-65 degree temps but it also was grown outside and so didn't get flushed.

Either way, things are fattening, and hardening, and frosting up really fast. Gonna have to get my dry room set up here in the next week so I'm ready when they are. Getting close for sure. Therein lies the rub on randos. It's hard to time the flush properly. Oh well, if the earlier finishers are harsh and green from insufficient flushing I'll just water cure and make edibles. The longer finishers are gonna be the most potent smoke anyway.

 

[King Julien]

Fading has just begun at day 66. It's not dramatic yet but it's spreading all over the place.

Calyxes are fattening up and getting super frosty on all of them which is great because only a couple of them have much frost on their leaves with the chemical one having the most dramatic frostiness. Buds are even heavier and denser today but haven't stopped outright fattening up either.

Trichs are almost all frosty on everything but the chemical plant that still has 15% or so clear. Of them the one that smells like thanksgiving dinner is the closest to done with 5-10% ambers. I'd rather harvest it now with it being on the stoney side but I want a little more flushing before I do. Seems like it's going well though so it's liable to be chopped sometime around the middle of this week. The rest have a little ways to go although the biggest one on the left is getting some ambers to it as well.

The buds from the plant I cut down are drying nicely if quickly for sake of having some smoke to sustain me until the major harvests. Still bendy stems and has too much moisture to smoke unless you leave a bud out of the bag for a few hours in the open air.

The green scent is starting to fade and be replaced with a lovely citrus pine smell with the slightest hint of skunk and an unidentifiable funk. Considering it was the least funky and strong smelling plant of the bunch I'm definitely excited to see what the rest turn out tasting like and especially after a proper cure.

I'll try and get some pics up during lights off this next light cycle. It's definitely getting ridiculous in there.

 

[King Julien]

Alright so here are some pics as promised. Tried to get a little bit of everything.

Plant that got burnt 3-4 weeks ago looks worse than it really is. The tips got burnt pretty bad but the inner leaf yellowing has developed since flush started and a lot of the discoloration is horrible lighting settings mixed with there being a ton of red hairs on them girls...

Plant that has that long cola on it...

Plant that smells like thanksgiving dinner at my grandmother's house...

Plant that is growing similar to the long cola plant but not near as dense or smelly...

The oddball plant in the tent that's so very close to done...

And last but not least the formerly known as lemony plant and now known as the chemical plant...

And a couple attempts at long shots of the full canopy...

The girls have been drinking down the RO water pretty quick for the most part. All except for the oddball that is but days from harvest. It's been going through the water pretty slowly. I also started it's flush late for how early it finishes but screw it it'll be good stuff anyway and should have the worst done by the time I chop it and slow cure it.

I'm not sure on my total yield yet but I have "high" hopes. Got about 2 and a half ounces from that early harvest between early cuts and final harvest. 22 more to go to hit my dream yield for this grow. Gotta get at least 14 more though to tide me over until next round but I think I can do it.

The next few weeks are where the real challenge, risk, and reward lies. Getting a good flush, dry, and cure without mold or over drying. Wish me luck!

 

[King Julien]

So that bud I harvested Monday is freaking creeper man. Now that it's starting to get closer to proper moisture levels it's really gotten potent and stoney.

I keep taking a bong rip and thinking "Hey, I'm not high at all!" Then packing another bong rip and realizing I've been holding the bong for an hour without hitting it again while staring at the computer screen.

It's too damn early to feel like I need to sleep this bad. At least it seems like it's decent for pain. I'm sure this stuff will make some great salves. I hope some of the others are a little more energetic though. If not I won't have trouble sleeping for the next few months. I just may have trouble getting anything useful done.

 

[King Julien]

Replaced all of the water with fresh RO water. I know I'm technically wasting water here switching it so quickly but I'm also trying to rush it along just a little and the cleaner the water the quicker it can absorb things so I'll be doing this probably every 4 days or so until harvest is done.

Checked on trichs while I was at it in there and so far my estimates from a couple weeks ago seem to be holding true. Still have a surprising number of clear trichs once I really took the time to look around in there. In the end though I don't see anything being left in that tent come day 84.

One way or another even that chemical plant in the back will be done enough by then to make me happy. I like my sativas on the heady side anyway.

In the meantime I'm getting ready to decarb some of my first harvest for a batch of brownies, chocolates, and a third, as of yet undecided, dessert/sweet based medible.

I lived on edibles made from huge nasty batches of fan leaves while they were nearing and in early flower. For a bit now I've been eating on some edibles from trimmed up crap from them flowering. Finally gonna have me a batch of my own home made, hand crafted, decent edibles.

All I'm saying is I know where I'll be tomorrow evening...Comatose.

 

[King Julien]

So upon opening the tent today, day 69 of 12/12, I was greeted with the smallest plant that's left in the tent leaned completely over at almost a 90 degree angle. I didn't get any pics because I was trying to handle the mess in a hurry and boy was it ever a mess. I was downright tacky when it was done. It was the one plant in the tent I didn't tie up at all because I kinda didn't figure I'd need too. Oops.

I did manage to get the base of the stem tied off to the tent though so it can't go anywhere again. Only thing is now it's still leaning over halfway and blocking light to other plant's buds as well as resting on some buds which makes me worry about mold forming where it's resting.

I can't tie the colas up due to not being able to reach over them any longer due to other plants being tied up around them. The best I could possibly manage is moving the colas around a bit daily so that they don't rest on the same buds too long at a time and foster mold growth.

Trying to decide if I should chop it now or later. It's still got some time to go and isn't properly flushed yet but it has been flushing for almost a week now and the very last thing I need in that tent is bud rot forming anywhere near those thick ass colas.

It also isn't too unripe. It's got roughly 3% amber, 7% clear, and 90% cloudy. On the other hand it also has almost no dead hairs and seems to be sprouting newer ones. On the other other hand it's likely only a third of the size of either of the 3 biggest plants and roughly 2/3rds as big as the next biggest so it's not like this is the core of my harvest I'm making the big decisions on.

Anybody got any opinions one way or another on the subject? Chop now and ensure a lack of bud rot or take a risk and go for a better flush and slightly more mature bud and possibly a bit more weight?

 

[chemistry]

Better flush, makes all the difference to the end product.

 

[Enforcer]

I vote watch and wait. I chopped early last run to avoid some problems and the buds tasted like shit. If at all possible, let her ripen and flush. You will be happier.

 

[King Julien]

So today, day 71 after the switch to 12/12, the oddball was cut down.

I thought that clone was of the fruity diesel salad I grew last round but apparently there was a mislabeling and I wound up with one of it's cousins that wound up smelling like super sweet and sour grapes. It was a cross between that fruity number and the best weed I've ever grown that smelled like super sweet and sour grapes. It wasn't near as potent as it's grapey parent and the fruitiness of the other parent just disappeared so I was a little let down on it.

In the end though it's still some fire smoke. I'd say from just what I've observed in that tent it'll be the most potent plant besides MAYBE the chemical plant but only time will tell on that.

The yield is on the small side compared to the rest of the tent as this plant has very small and compact bud sites. Most aren't a third as long or half as big around. It's also way frostier than most of them so it's hard to complain too much.

I'll make sure and post pics of it before and after trimming it up and will post up a final weigh in of each plant as I harvest them finalizing it all with a grand total. Still got a ways to go on the rest though. The trich scope will be here a little late, due to finances, but I'll still post up shots of each type of bud once finished if nothing else.

 

[King Julien]

So day 72 came and went and with it the harvest of the largest plant that was the majority of the left canopy. It's definitely ripe for how stoney it is. I didn't want too many more ambers because it already puts you to sleep. It also was very decently faded after a little over a week of flushing and much more would have started to fade the sugar leaves and buds so I'm happy with when and how it came down.

It's real stanky now that it's down and being messed with. Pungent and complex citrus, pine, meaty, with a hint of spiciness. Already tastes pretty good just on the stuff I've quick dried that hadn't been flushed yet so I'm sure it'll develop some awesome flavor while it cures now that it's had a proper flush. Having to run a backup 4" carbon filter fan combo in the drying room to keep the whole damn house from smelling like it along with the outdoors.

Moved the only other plant not tied up, the one that fell over, under the left light now but it's coming down tonight or tomorrow. It's not as well but still very decently flushed but it's done trich wise and completely unable to be reined in without just overhandling the colas so it's coming down but I am glad I gave it the extra few days.

Managed to get really stoned and forgot to take before trimming pics of that last plant I cut down but I'll take some once it's jarred up and ready to start the long cure. Should have a usb scope by then as well for some good trich shots. It's definitely frosty. The smell of super sweet and sour grape candy is so damn strong on them it makes your mouth water.

Didn't get a great amount from it but wasn't expecting it. Had a very small canopy footprint and as a strain always grew smaller and shorter buds. That and it was a super stunted clone so the fact I got anything makes me happy. Guessing around 2 ounces from it but we'll see come jarring time.

That big sucker is hard to tell how much it's gonna drop. I'll start trimming tonight and will have a better idea. It covered the biggest canopy footprint but it also has maybe the 3rd biggest buds in the tent so I'm really interested to see how it weighs up to the other 2 big plants left on the right canopy.

In the meantime I'm getting ready to decarb that first plant's trimmings to make into canna-coconut oil. Gotta make another batch of topicals and edibles quick seeing as my back went out and I can barely move to even trim the damn things.

Pics of things left and trimmed soon to come.

 

[King Julien]

And with day 73 came and went another plant. This time it was the plant I was trying to decide whether or not to chop early and I'm glad I didn't. It really flushed a lot of green out of the leaves in those last few days I left it i there. Had a little over a week of flushing so it's pretty good. Trichs were good and cloudy with only minimal ambers but that's how I like 'em.

My god does it stank now that it's hanging up. Like getting hit in the face by a skunk dipped in diesel fuel being swung by a dirty hobo. The big plant is becoming ultimate citrus goodness with some pine thrown in but this plant is downright overpowering in the funk of it's skunk.

I'm on evening 3 of trimming up that last big plant. That first plant filled up one of my drying trays 65%. So far this big plant has filled 2 completely and is going to do it again tonight for sure but I should be done with it after that. This last plant I harvested I'm guessing is going to fill between 1 and a half and 2 trays. So far I'm logging around 9-10 hours just on trimming this one plant. I'm very thorough but I also get very severe cramps and nerve pain after doing the same thing for any real amount of time so it requires frequent breaks.

Still no real idea of yield but as of right now I'm guesstimating this big plant is going to turn out somewhere around 8 ounces. If I can just hit a pound and a quarter total put back after cure I'm golden until my next go around.

 

[King Julien]

So I've been insanely busy this past week between work and family and trimming and back pain but I have managed to keep up...barely. Lost my camera battery charger in all the hub bub so until I can make it back to a family member's house I'm sans pics sadly but I'll have it back soon enough.

Got the oddball curing beautifully. It just smells so amazing. Disappointed in the yield with only an ounce and a half estimated but considering it barely got any light the entire time it was in there it still did really well for how small it was and the nuggets on it are rock hard despite being so light starved for most of it's flowering life. It is potent smoke. Crawls up in your head and unleashes a horde of "can't focus on shit" wasps in your brain. Definitely the kind of weed to smoke early in the morning on a day you don't plan on doing anything productive while still being fully awake and energetic.

The other small plant I harvested got a bit dry on the initial curing phase but is slowly bringing out it's flavors in the jar. Smells very grapefruity and citrusy without much else going on really. Pretty decent smoke though. Fairly stoney but also causes a pretty good head high. It's good functioning weed with a bit of pain killing action to help with manual labor. Yield was about as expected. Got about 2-2 1/2 estimated ounces. It was a small plant but the buds were of decent density so it made up for it a bit.

The big plant I harvested from the left side has been getting a pretty decent cure but is really sub par which saddens me because it was such a huge piece of the canopy. The buds are airy and light compared to any of the others. It doesn't have a ton of smell either with it being the same as the above with only notes of grapefruit and citrus. In terms of potency it's a letdown as well. Really more of a meh midground like the one above but ever lesser. Yield wise it also sucked because of how airy it was. Like only yielded around 3 1/2-4 estimated ounces in spite of it's size.

So then we've got the next small plant I harvested most recently. That sucker stank to high heaven and still does now that it's in the jar curing. Smells like an orange overpowering a grapefruit in a pool of turpentine next to a pine tar factory. Was much smaller than the big left side plant harvested but bigger than all of the other small plants so far. Had very dense but elongated buds and was the one those long cola pics always came from. Very little trimming to do on it. Surprising yield for size at 2 3/4 - 3 1/4 ounces estimated. Smoke has an overwhelming onset. You take a bong rip and it sits down in your lungs and behind your cheeks and eyes with a very uncomfortable feeling for about 1-2 minutes. After that you can feel as it slowly seeps into your brain and your body. Feels more like edibles kicking in than smoking. Very potent head and body high. GREAT mix.

And finally I've got some news! Thanksgiving At Grandma's was chopped down today. Big fat buds that still have lots of white hairs despite being very done. Smells of citrus and cranberries and holiday spices and roasting meats thus...Thanksgiving At Grandmas. I have not even trimmed it yet as I just cut it down a few hours ago. Amazing yield for sharing a light 50/50 the other plant that sucked on the left side got 75% of on it's side. No idea yet seeing as it's very far from even thinking of drying even a wee bit but the buds feel very dense and heavy and after cutting it down and hanging it I realized it covered 3 times the area of the last big plant when it was harvested so I have very high hopes for it's final yield.

Gonna be chopping down that last plant, the chemical plant, come Sunday or Monday. Really just depends on how fast I can get this other plant trimmed up. It's ripe and ready but definitely can go a few more days without hurting it. The leaves are starting to fade pretty hardcore to yellow and even the sugar leaves are starting to pick it up but it isn't going too deep yet so until that happens I'll just chillax and trim.

 

[aquabig]

You ever grow in a larger container with natural soil? What's your experience with drip irrigation?

 

[King Julien]

I have grown in solo cups to finish all the way up to 20 gallon felt soil bags indoors before and have ordered organic soils before but always with the result of bugs and molds and troubles with dialing in nutrients and PH in less organic soils to go along with the rest.

I've tried drip irrigation but gave up after the second time a pump stopped up and when I realized I had to clean the lines out in between each grow and decided it was too much effort to try to keep up with.

I've only ever personally had about 4-5 grow ops but that's misleading seeing as all but 1 or 2 were perpetual set-ups that went multiple or many runs each time. I've also helped with many more grows than that in the past so I've helped with things I've never personally tried.

Really just an advanced disclaimer that occasionally I'll say I've tried or haven't tried something but then will offer up insight into it and whether or not I said I've tried it doesn't mean I tried it personally just that I've helped with it and observed it in an active system enough to know how it works and the problems that arise. If I ever make 2 different claims about using or not using something but have a strong opinion about it it will be because I'm not terribly great at being literal about "ME" or "Me being around it," but it's really all the same.

And on a side note, thanksgiving dinner is even stankier today. I've got the stuff hanging up in my living room because it's literally the best environment for it atm with the way the weather has been without having to modify the air with anything more than a fan for air circulation.

I've got a 4" carbon filter/fan combo set-up in the living room to try and keep the smell down but even then you can smell it from OUTSIDE of the house. Luckily I live in the boonies and don't get shit for visitors and this stuff won't be hanging for long so I'm not too worried. Can't wait to smoke some though.