Diary:02/09/07: 8 Pots of Plants

Hello, and welcome back to yet another update.

My veg room is in need of renovation. I've just been to check the others and clones and they are fine. I want to extend the space and install some thermostat controlled heating etc before winter wrecks my plans.

After a patient 16 days all clones are now showing their roots. I'm so happy that none have yet been lost. This is my first real effort at cloning and I've found success. Over the coming week I shall be potting these clones into 1/2L pots and commence a light feeding regime with root enhancers.

The three vegging plants are getting bigger. They look healthy and I've been foliar feeding daily with formulex for some reason, but I sense that their environment could be improved somewhat.

I'll add photos of the veg room progress at a later stage.

Seventeen days in to Bloom for the others and I'm also very pleased with the results so far. Three weeks in and very slight signs of difficiency. All leaf stems have a browny purple tinge along their tops (though green underneath) but sometimes this is attributed to to higher difference between day and night temps, potassium, and a couple others that I'm unsure of.

The leaves are a lush green; not to light not too dark. No signs of over fert or under fert that I know of. Erect, sharp leaf fingers (so sharp I almost cut myself). Plenty of developing bud sites with semi erect pistils as they continue maturing. The lighting is 1.2kW, aircooled and 8" from the plant tops. Good light penetration. Oh, and my oscillating fan doesn't want to oscillate, but luckily still runs.

I'm about to mix the food for the blooming ladies. They will get CarboLoad, Barricade, F1, H2, M.E Bloom, Sensi A&B, and Big Bud all to and EC of 1.4 pH 6.4. Pretty much as before!

They are drinking a good 2L per other day of feed and 3L per other day during flush periods. I allow the soil to get quite dry between applications as an earlier poster commented. The soil moisture meter confirms that I'm watering at the right time. Over the next 2 weeks I predict vast growth in preliminary bud formation. It would be nice if they totally finished early and exceeded my target dry weight as the new plants are about ready to come in but I want to do one controlled grow at a time atm.

Here are one or three pics, I'm off to the reservoir!!

impressive, merdevert.
some nice pics, plants looking good, lets hope everything carries on in this fashion.
Will you consider using Connoisseur Part A & B? I believe the acuracy of your grow could pnly be complemented by such a product.

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Originally Posted by pccdrom

impressive, merdevert.
some nice pics, plants looking good, lets hope everything carries on in this fashion.
Will you consider using Connoisseur Part A & B? I believe the acuracy of your grow could pnly be complemented by such a product.

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merdevert? not sure what you mean pccdrom.. I'll consider using that new fertiliser if i can read up on other peoples experiences with it... I shan't waste any money. thanks for the gro-compliments!!

Hello readers, cheers for coming back.

I am now about to commence week 4 of bloom. I have some awkward news. Once again my clone supplier has fed me bollocks with regard to the strains of the acquired clones. They aint G13 nor Big Bud. They are actually some derivative of Cheese!!

I'm certain now, as the plants have just started to put out their scent, and I know what strain it is from the smell, fused with the physical characteristics of the bud formation. I'm somewhat disappointed that the clone man doesn't speak the truth. I'm not disappointed at the strain as such, I just like to know what I'm working with... Is that too much to ask?

So the big cheese plants are starting week 4 tomorrow. This evening they had the usual mix of nutes up to EC 1.5 and pH 6.5.

Within the past two days I've realised that the reddy/purpley/browny tinge on the leaf stems may be attributed to having too low temperatures at night. I installed a digital thermostat that controls the two inlet fans. One inlet is now a heated inlet, providing heated air from outside... while the other inlet brings in cool air directly from outdoors. The thermostat switches between the two fans as and when needed. The heater only come on when a minimum temperature is met (obviously).

I'm not sure if I already mentioned the fact that the two plants that had their branches tied down earlier on have actually produced more bud sites that the single plant that didn't have any branches tied down. I think tying down branches with certain strains has a positive effect on bud formation. I'm yet to try this with other strains.

Yesterday I potted the rooted clones taken from the, now blooming, 3 Cheeses. The root formation on one or two was very suprising to me as its my first ever effort at cloning with a 100% success even though I only took 2 from each plant. The vegging plants are doing very well. Plenty of internodes. I may attempt taking cuttings from all 3 then fill the bloom room sometime soon.

i'm now sensing that 8-9 weeks of bloom is not really a long time.. have I mastered the art of patients?

tune in to my next update, i'm off to watch weeds s3e11 as its just finished downloading.. check the pix!! :)

GREAT! even though your rep is disabled.... I added to it anyway. This is a great grow.

Thanks spongebobsmokepants.. I have just enabled it.. didn't know what it was at first and kept wondering why some people have green things under their country.. Now I get it.. big thanks...

Today, the first day of week 4, the ladies stink!! what else can I say? The well known stench of good erb is now being evacuated from the garden very efficiently via the carbon filter. Smells gooooood : )

tune in for new updates coming soon..!

My ladies are just starting to smell. Time to turn the filter on. I love this part of the grow!!!:smokin:

Hello and welcome back.

I just love being a farmer!

Today should be a flush day, but girls are doing so well that I'm tempted to give them another EC1.4-5 dose of home.grower's Magic Mix. The plants are developing really well and thus far have not shown any major signs of deficiency. I would like to make the best use of their remaining bloom time by not skimping on feeding practices. Every time I give them the magic mix they just swell day by day. I think I might compromise with the solution to give them a very mild feed of say EC1.0 that includes the full range of products at my disposal. This way, new elements will be available in small supply in the soil, as well as the probable dilution of any nute build up within the said soil. Hmmmmm, I know what I mean!!

Today I've measured the soil moisture levels and they are the lowest they have been since I started. It is almost completely bone dry; whereas my previous gauge of dryness was moist below 6" from the top of the soil. This is a good indication that it is possible that the plants really enjoy my magic mix as it is correctly balanced for this time in their growth diet. Or maybe, it is just that time where they drink a lot. The room temperature is very stable with the thermostat installed so they shouldn't be transpiring abnormal levels of water.

I don't know... I now feel like giving them CarboLoad and water. Hmmmmm... lemme see... I can't decide... Been smoking Nepalese Hash Medicine for the past week or so and have just obtained some Dutch Medicine that tastes like Mango. It's playing with my brain.

Back to the plants. I'm about to go take a look at the vegging plants. They may need a watering. They don't drink much as the temps in that space are quite low in their room. I don't want the conditions to be too perfect in the veg room else the plants will grow too much too quickly before I have a chance to harvest my test crop to ensure this new garden & I can produce beneficial erbs of the highest quality. Well, they are alive and look very ok to me; nothing a lil time under a 600W hps or two couldn't recover.

I'll post again after I finish this joint and sorted through the veg room pix and cropped and what not... don't move that dial!

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Originally Posted by spongebobsmokepants

My ladies are just starting to smell. Time to turn the filter on. I love this part of the grow!!!:smokin:

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What does your garden grow?

Doesn't time fly when I'm having fun?

So the veg room seems in order. The plants, which I now presume all to be of a Cheese Strain appear to be living it up in peace and quiet. When I decide to bloom the plants that are vegging, they will probably end up enormous! I don't really want that to happen in all honesty. Well, I do as it goes... more medicine :)))))

The clones look like they are taking to soil transplantation quite well. One is somewhat looking a little shyt, which I think is directly attributed to potting them up under 1.2kW of HPS and that particular plant had its roots exposed longest as I tried to take pix. In future I will skip photographing roots on clones as it seems best to get them potted as soon as possible with little in the way of messing about. Well, if success is desired one should think that way!

Not much else to say on the veg stance. Gave them a blast with formulex... don't know why I keep doing that.. They look healthy so I don't think it's harming them. Stand by for an assortment of pix.

nice plants man

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Originally Posted by home.grower

What does your garden grow?

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I have quite a variety right now. I started 5 white widows from seed. 5 Romulans from seed. 1 Trainwreck clone. 1 star Trek clone.
1 durban poison clone. 1 great white shark clone. 2 northern light x blueberry clones. I started today to cut more clones from my clones. The ww's and rom are just starting to sex. the train and trek are 2 weeks into flower. the rest are still in veg.

What a lot of variety you have there... I'm debating buying some seeds to get some variety up in my veg room, but this may not happen till the winter spell has gone. I'd like some Kush & Sensi Star... Oh well, hopefully Satan's Claw will bring me something nice for X'mass. What is your most favored strain~(s)~ in the garden atm and why SpongeBobSmokePants?

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Originally Posted by Budexpress

nice plants man

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thanks... They aren't really that nice anymore.. I have some kind of deficiency goin on and also an infestation of spidermite. I've sparyed em, i don't think it will hold em back... I love spending hours in the garden with them and I think i could be the culprit for possibly bringing the little bastards in from outside the room. Maybe smoking too many joints in the room has made the plants immune system low and unable to fight off these pests. Whatever is happening I think I'll be lucky if the finish up as good as the look now........

I do not have a favorite yet. I will choose one in 8 weeks or so, when I get to taste test the. I also have some nevilles haze seeds, but no room to grow them now. variety is the spice of life!

wot happened? infestation, smoking around plants? thought u knew how bad it was. wots the damage reduced harvest?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by spongebobsmokepants

I do not have a favorite yet. I will choose one in 8 weeks or so, when I get to taste test the. I also have some nevilles haze seeds, but no room to grow them now. variety is the spice of life!

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I just have 9 vegging cheeses and 3 blooming cheeses. I'm wondering about hacking up the 3 biggest vegging cheeses to make more cheese. But I'm wondering if that will be too much cheese. I may install the flood and drain system in this small space and to 16 cheese under 2 * 600W hps as a one off... decisions, and this dutch (bought as) doesn't help.

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Originally Posted by pccdrom

wot happened? infestation, smoking around plants? thought u knew how bad it was. wots the damage reduced harvest?

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Sprayed em weeks ago when I first spotted the problem. It cleared it up. But then I left an infested plant in the bloom room. As the infested plant died, the pests moved house. I've used the Don Insecticide but I don't think it killed em all. I did a second dose of SpiderMite Control the following day and they all appear dead. Might do it again in a day or two to kill of any unborn larvae. I don't think Mites will reduce my harvest because the condition isn't that severe. But the discoloration which is now appearing at the plant tops could cause slow growth and potential loss.

sum pix

Thanks for sharing the pics of your ladies,Im enjoying the show,take care,be well,and most of all be safe.

seen. well mek sure u r clean b4 entering the grow room & plse do not leave the grow room with ur clothes infested!!

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Originally Posted by pccdrom

seen. well mek sure u r clean b4 entering the grow room & plse do not leave the grow room with ur clothes infested!!

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errr?

Hey, Nice grow so far...I've got some white widows and papayas at day 26 flowering.
Can you give me more info on your digital thermostat? Maybe a picture? I could use one of those!

Hello readers, Time for my meager update.

Today week 5 commences. I'm happy with the bud development thus far. It would be nice if they were much bigger :)

I have some deficiencies. New leaves are pale green. Upper most fan leaves have blotches of yellowing appearing. My last feed was simply pH'd water. Today they are ready for watering again. I'm not sure whether to feed them up or flush.

The deficiency looks like a lack as oppose to a build up. I'm not sure what EC I should be at either. I'm looking at my feeding chart that I devised at the beginning of bloom and I'm thinking in the back of my mind that I ought to be at 1.6-1.8 on the EC front by now and not the 1.6 as it is advising. mmmmm, a quick trip to advanced nutrients online nute calculator might put me back on track.

__

I've looked and it's confused me a little. I'm using a big host of nutes and amendments. Some are organic while others are synthetic. I think using purely synthetics to 1.7EC might be required here. I'll pause on the Mother Earth Super Tea for now. The synthetics will produce quicker results as ingredients do not have to be broken down in the soil over a period of time before they are available to the plants.

Also, I haven't been mixing to the directions on the packet. I've been shoving stuff in the reservoir thn just ensuring the EC is at the right level afterwards. I've found it difficult adding Mother Earth Bloom, Sensi Bloom 2 part, F1, H2, Barricade, Carboload and Big Bud in the right amounts to keep the EC in the bucket from exceeding 2.4EC. I've been having to dilute my solution with tap water more or less every feed. So, storing water in a bucket with a couple air stones in it has not benefited me this time due to my methods.

Next time I will have a 100L reservoir and only use water that has been thoroughly aerated.

Check the pix, I'm sticking a movie on and turning up the volume :)

Orite sneakyt33.

About the thermostat then.

I have 2 inlets. Both are 4"/100mm dia. One has an inline fan pulling in cool air. The other is a normal cheap electric household heater with a simple mod to try and encourage it to pull air in from outside also.

Both fans are wired to a switching thermostat that will power each device when required, and never at the same time. All I do is set my daytime temperature and night time temperatures (and the time that day becomes night) and the rest is auto. I do not have speed controllers in stalled. The out take (filtered) exceed the intake but doesn't cause an unlivable vacuum. This way, the smell should never become a problem.

I have taken pics of the thermostat with the control panel covered; control panel revealed; Exhaust fan ~(not linked to thermostat)~; and the two fans that are controlled by the thermostat. Last image is my feeding thingy, but it might not be readable because of the resize

Thanks,
I need to get something like that set up before I get too far into the Canadian Winter.

It does help. I think I will suffer in the summer unless I retink the setup. My cool air inlet is on all day(light hrs) and my temps are only just comfortably in good range. If next summer, the outdoor temps reach above 27C then I will need to be cooling air as it comes in.. a little forward thinking doesn't hurt.

Good luck setting it up. It isn't expensive to do.

home.grower very interesting that you DONT give recommended doses of feed to your ladies "Also, I haven't been mixing to the directions on the packet. I've been shoving stuff in the reservoir thn just ensuring the EC is at the right level afterwards. I've found it difficult adding Mother Earth Bloom, Sensi Bloom 2 part, F1, H2, Barricade, Carboload and Big Bud in the right amounts to keep the EC in the bucket from exceeding 2.4EC. I've been having to dilute my solution with tap water more or less every feed. So, storing water in a bucket with a couple air stones in it has not benefited me this time due to my methods." have you always done this? how do u know if u r under/ova feeding?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pccdrom

home.grower very interesting that you DONT give recommended doses of feed to your ladies "Also, I haven't been mixing to the directions on the packet. I've been shoving stuff in the reservoir thn just ensuring the EC is at the right level afterwards. I've found it difficult adding Mother Earth Bloom, Sensi Bloom 2 part, F1, H2, Barricade, Carboload and Big Bud in the right amounts to keep the EC in the bucket from exceeding 2.4EC. I've been having to dilute my solution with tap water more or less every feed. So, storing water in a bucket with a couple air stones in it has not benefited me this time due to my methods." have you always done this? how do u know if u r under/ova feeding?

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I know that they aren't gettin over fert because the EC is in range. EC above 1.8 in normal environments is too high for most mature plants even.

When mixin in a big 60L reservoir its easier to add the right doses. But in a 10L bucket the concentration rises too quick for some reason. I can't add the full dose of Big Bud with enough room to fit the rest of the formula in the bucket before the EC reaches above 2.0

Though I know they are within the right EC range I do not know if the balance of available elements is optimal. If I mixed in a bigger reservoir then I may as well grow more beneficial erbs as not to waste half the solution every time.

yeah yeah i get yeah.
on my 2nd dose of big bud gave em some the other day they loved it! gonna update mine after nxt pics

Greetings one and all.

Two days ago I was debating what to do to combat the signs of deficiency that I see. I decided to give the ladies EC1.7 of Sensi Bloom 2 Part and Barricade with a dash of CarboLoad. That I did. But after I gave them each around 2-3L I shouted SHIT! a couple of times because I didn't pH. I think they are suffering from some kind of lockout at the moment. I assume this because they haven't drank very much. The pots weigh a tonne and the soil moisture meter reads WET which indicates they aren't interested in what is in the soil.

Today I have attempted to leech the soil of crap. I've given them each another 3L of pH'd water and have caught the run off in a bucket for one of them. The EC of the run off was around 2.8. Because I've never measured the run-off I'm unsure if these figures are something to worry about. Any input??

I will be flushing again in an hour or two with another 3L of pH'd water. I think the build up in the soil could be what is causing the deficiencies I see.

I'm also certain that before I flushed I could see tip-burn on numerous leaves. But since leeching just 45minutes ago, I cannot seem to find those problem leaf tips... Surely it isn't possible for a plant act so quickly? Is it? I need a big Spliffy, tune in later to find out how things are coming along!!

Greetings one and all - a salam alaikum - akwaaba

Stinkin! what else can I say. All praises to be the almighty for access to odour filtration.

The ladies are now at day 35 - week 5 - of their bloom phase. I Love It!

Since my last post I haven't given the ladies anything to nurish on. I didn't give then a second flush as anticipated on day 31. The pots have remained quite heavy and the soil moisture meter isn't informing me of much in the way of the requirement of fluid replenishment. I'm not totally alarmed because at some stage throughout the bloom phase I've notice that plants stall on nute take up for a short time, then suddenly start drinking and packing on weight.

I am somewhat concerned that the aren't drinking because of the sighted nute deficiency noted earlier. But bud development has not stopped. If growth, as well as nute take up, stalled then I'd be more concerned. The leaf symptoms have not alarmed me any further because it hasn't worsened since applying a pH'd flush. I think things are going very well in this new environment. One must bare in mind that this lil crop is the first attempt in this space and minimal refinement of operation is still required before I feel 100% total success.

Unfortunately I do not have any magnificaion equipment to monitor trychome development. I do not think my camera zoom will satisfy the situation either.

Today then, the pots still hold a bit of weight and the meter still tells me things are good in the soil. But its been a few days since last watering and I feel a need to start using Overdrive as I can visually see the plants entering that part of their life where they will give a final push and flower heavily.

I will be mixing Overdrive, Sensi Bloom and Carboload. I may add some Potassium Silicate if there is any room on the EC meter.

I shall apply 3-4L per pot and hopefully get run off. It has been stressed to me in the past how important run off is. Run off is a way of leeching the soil of nute build up. Good run off means a good rate of fluid has passed through the soil, hopefully, pulling a lot of excess minerals out of the soil.

I think I'll add a few pics of current development. My photography skills do not do this shyt justice. Time to light some incense.

15mL Overdrive
5mL Sensi A
5mL Sensi B
pH 6.63/EC1.0

now a lil Carboload, and there should be plant room for Potassium silicate...

I have 10L of water in the bucket and I've Mixed 2/3rd dose of the recommended Overdrive amendment. sensi is quite concentrated and doesn't state a dose so I just added 5mL of each to bring the EC up to 1.0

I think I'll give them this really low EC with the correct pH as I'm not 100% on what the interaction between plant and moisture content in the soil is.

plants are looking nice, bud formation has improved. im gonna give mine 56ml of overdrive when the time comes. (2 weeks bhind u). when wud u normally apply overdrive then? seen a couple red stem on your leaves, u still think its because temp is too low @ night????? i got red stems all ova plant, (things look ok apart from that)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pccdrom

plants are looking nice, bud formation has improved. im gonna give mine 56ml of overdrive when the time comes. (2 weeks bhind u). when wud u normally apply overdrive then? seen a couple red stem on your leaves, u still think its because temp is too low @ night????? i got red stems all ova plant, (things look ok apart from that)

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I used to apply Overdrive in the last 2 weeks of a 7 or 8 week bloom phase. But I'm currently experimenting with trying to identify the physical changes of the plant that indicate when Overdrive should commence.

I believe Big Bud should commence when you have a few pistils appear. Big Bud should stop when pistil formation has peaked. Overdrive should commence after pistil development. Normally once the pistils have peaked, the real bud formation begins. Some people refer to them as asparagus tips, while I compare this point with the bud developing its pop-corn features. This pop-corn feature is my physical reference to when Overdrive should commence. I think the scientific name of the pop-corn/asparagus is Calyx.

My new method

1. When the plants are switched to bloom, Calyces (plural for Calyx according to the dictionary) develop at every internode.

2. A couple of Pistils/Stigmas appear from these Calyces/Calyxes that indicate the gender of the plant.

3. Then a load of Pistils/Stigmas form and create bud sites along branch stems at each node.

4. Then once the pistils have reached a maximum, Calyces develop at every node that give us usable produce in the world of medicinal herbs.

So, once the first signs of Stage 3 appear I use Big Bud. I've noticed that the job of Big Bud helps with the development of Pistils/Stigmas and lots of healthy Trichomes. The overall appearance of what the plants' final buds will look like starts here.

Once the Pistils/Stigmas have reached a maximum I notice a slight pause in development. Then, slowly, more Calyces/Calyxes form where all the Pistil sites are. So when Stage 4 appears, I start using Overdrive until the bud looks 95% ready for harvest. The last 5% comes about during the final flush of the crop.

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Big Bud [0-1-4] - What they say:

Dr.Hornby has spent many years researching and profiling resin producing plants. His knowledge, passion and love for his work has produced unparalleled products that supercharge resin production and substantially increase yield. Big Bud has been extensively researched, developed and field tested. Big Bud is extremely plant specific - the only one of its kind in the world. During field testing, Big Bud overwhelmingly beat all of it's competitors. The reason for this is Big Bud's plant specific ratios of Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium and Amino Acids. Big Bud will dramatically increase bud growth, width, weight and resin production like no other bloom enhancing product can.

Available Phosphate (P2O5) 1.0%
Soluble Potash (K2O). 4.0%
(Soluble) Magnesium. 0.7%

Derived from:

Magnesium Phosphate, Magnesium Sulphate, Potassium Phosphate, Citric Acid, L-Alanine, L-Arginine, L-Aspartic Acid, L-Cysteine, L-Glutamic Acid, L-Glycine, L-Histidine, L-Isoleucine, L-Leucine, L-Lysine, L-Methionine, L-Phenylanlanine, L-Porline, L-Serine, L-Threonine, L-Tryptophan*, L-Tyrosine, L-Valine.

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Overdrive [1-3-4] - What they say:

Overdrive is an ultra premium flower booster with an extensive and very complex array of phosphorus and potassium sources. Overdrive is designed to pack on extra girth and weight, and to produce unparalleled flower and oil production during the critical last weeks of flowering when plants show the most sizable gains.

Total (Nitrate) Nitrogen (N). 1.00%
Available Phosphate (P2O5). 5.00%
Soluble Potash (K2O). 4.00%
Magnesium (Mg). 0.92%

Derived from:

Magnesium Phosphate, Potassium Nitrate, Potassium Phosphate, Magnesium Sulfate, Folic Acid.

0.5% Absorbic Acid
0.5% Fulvic Acid (derived from Leonardite)

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Since applying the first dose of Overdrive, the plants aroma has become somewhat supercharged. It is no longer the sweet, fruity, almost edible feminine smell of Cheese in her youth. It's now more spicy with less sweetness, like it has aged. The new aroma has that serious aspect to it that indicates a few bong hits will leave one daze for hours. The Calyxes are coming on really well and I can see this crop finishing around one week earlier than expected. The majority of buds are dense and firm. Only very few are still looking soft.

I'm going to bring the other three cheeses in to the bloom room within the next few days as to overlap slightly. The others have been vegging for around 50 days or more so I expect they will grow pretty big. That is my only concern. Will they steal the space in the bloom room and force the others to the side?

I think I've typed enough for not, time to smoke a lil medicine to ease my mind.