It has been a little over a month since my last grow update on the Blue Dream, this sativa dominant strain has grown a lot. Passing through both of the SCROG netting its fully stretched at this point. I guess its in its genes, since sativas tend to be taller. The bud structure is a little different as well, forming off shoots of the main cola. No purples or blacks in the leaves with this grow, its been too warm and I am not sure that Blue Dream can even go purple. Regardless its forming happy green growth and large buds are forming.
This strain I am growing is a cross between Blueberry and Haze. It is 70% sativa, but still a hybrid. Its prefers Mediterranean climates of more dry air. So I keep the flowering humidity around 50%
I really like this strain so glad I can finally grow it.
| Lumix GH6 | |
|---|---|
| Olympus Digital 12mm-50mm MSC ED EZ Zoom lens | |
| none | |
| f/26 | |
| 1/30 sec | |
| 3200 | |
| Visual Light | |
| 380 through 700 nanometers | |
| Central Virginia USA. |
With the suggestion from the Canna-Curate community I got my SCROG netting out and set it up when I switched to flowering these plants. At the time the canopy was at top of the first netting. Now its a good foot above the second netting.
Taking a picture a little bit out of the tent we can see some of the components that I am using. Like active air cooling for my 1000W HPS light. My humidity controller and the fog coming from the top of the tent giving my plants the exact amount of water in the air they need. Since these are fully grown they mostly drink from their roots now. Watering and fertilizing them every two days, but they still want a good humidity level. As that powerful light can really dry out the air without adding more moisture back.
This is my first time doing any netting on my buds, so the SCROG technique is something I am really curious about. It may solve one problem I tend to have late in flowering, which is the buds want to fall over they get so heavy in resin. With the netting it may help support them better and stop them from laying against the side of the tent.
Its hard to see the two layers of netting now, amazing how far they have come in a little over a month. The netting really does make them spread out, along with the right training of them. Again thanks to the help of members of the Canna-Curate community.
We can see orange hairs forming, this just started a week or so ago. I will start checking the buds with a microscope soon to judge exactly when to harvest. The orange hairs means its time to start checking soon in my experience.
The bud structure of this Blue Dream is quite unique to me, forming main colas and then little off shoots. I wonder what they will look like in awhile from now when its time to harvest.
Not all buds are equal, but I have counted close to 20 of them coming from 4 plants. Some are tall and leggy, others are short but extra plump. A few buds are below the netting line, but I think they should still be good popcorn buds.
Regardless they are all producing great buds with lots of resin.
My tallest colas got too close to the light and the tips are a little bleached. I moved my light up to its max height in the grow tent to hopefully get it a little further way. This sativa dominant strain stretched more than I expected. I guess flowering at 16 inches is too much for sativa dominant strains for my size grow tent. Hopefully I can build a room for these soon and get a little more ceiling to work with.
Normally I have the lights on pullies, but when the plants get too tall I need to wire the light support directly to the grow tent frame. Its not ideal but it should help the plant bud tips from getting burned. At least these are no where close to touching the grow lights. But still want to keep them far enough not to lose any terpenes from excessive heat.
The plants are putting all their energy into the buds, so the leaves below the colas are starting to wilt one by one. A sign this annual plant is ready to be done to give its buds the best chance.
Looking from the side we can see more yellow leaves, not really worried as most are very happy and this is just a part of flowering.
The long leaves let us see some of the sativa’s properties, along with tall leggy buds.
As long as the cola leaves stay happy we should be in good shape with the health of the plants. During flower, it can really drain the plants resources. Adding liquid fertilizer is key.
Its hard to say exactly how much longer, that is why the microscope comes into play. Checking the crystals for the right color and appearance is important to judging a cannabis plants bud ripeness.
Looking at the stems near the base we can see little popcorn buds forming, not much light gets down there.
Topping them during vegging has given them a V shape, I pruned the leaves growing on those stems as they would not form anything.
I am really glad I had a chance to grow Blue Dream, being one of my favorite strains its nice to finally grow it.
Amazing how just four plants make a dense canopy in a 4x4 grow tent. Using the netting has really changed the plants growth. And seems like the colas really benefit from this upper netting support.
I will write another update as we wrap up on flowering.
