| Final Grow/Smoke Report:
Well, I've gone over my notes and am now ready to render my personal conclusions on this strain. I definitely feel that a lot more growing and pheno testing is required to validate most conclusions, as I only grew 5 initially. With that in mind, here are some comments that I feel are relevant:
Shared physical traits:
These are very sturdy plants. All shared wood-like stems and were very rigid throughout. Leaf shapes were uniform between phenotypes and the fan and shade leaves were quite large and thick leaved. All of the plants had very tight branching. Nodes were spaced evenly about one inch apart. This would be a more difficult strain to train, as there is little flexibility among the branches.
I would definitely recommend pruning and some form of training, as light penetration to the lower areas of the plant is very poor if left untended. This is a low yielding strain, if left to itself. The bushy, low stature of this strain makes it a liability in a cramped grow room and without training, the plant will grow into a cylindrical shape by pulling its branches inward, making the core of the plant very tight and consequently, light resistant. Training and pruning are again, encouraged.
During the 12/12 stretch, the plants doubled in vertical size. This stretch went into the fifth week of flowering. Only the Indica pheno went to the sixth week. These plants each showed unique needs at some point in the grow. Due to the esoteric nature of these requirements, I would limit Bubbler grows to this strain only, so other plants will not be adversely affected.
Nutrient needs / Deficiencies -
Germination/ Vegetation
The cloning solution that I germinated the seeds in worked well and seemed more than adequate for the first few weeks. No burn or stress was detected during the first two weeks. All seeds germinated fairly uniformly with the exception of one, which was culled from the grow due to excessive height. The stems were adequate to support growth initially and the root systems developed very quickly with no problems.
I found that at three weeks the seedlings suffered slower growth at 250 ppm, after raising the concentration to 450-500 ppm, I noticed an immediate improvement in growth rate. I'd advise watching for any slowdown during this period and responding with an incremental raise in nutes until you see a slight tip burn, then back it off a bit by diluting your mix with straight water.
I ran into some serious PH fluctuations with three of the plants at week 4 and very bad Potassium deficiency was encountered at week 5. These problems disappeared when I switched to my Flowering nutes and started 12/12.
I am using a 5/5/10 mix with my biggest mom currently and she is doing quite well at 4 months old. I would recommend supplementing Potassium and Magnesium if you plan to veg past 4 weeks.
Flowering:
I progressed from 800 ppm - 1100 ppm - 1300 ppm - 1500 ppm in two-week intervals. I never really felt that the plants were receiving optimal nutes until 1500 was hit and slight tip burn appeared on two of the plants. I will go with a more aggressive feeding schedule the next run, maybe start at 1100 and move to 1500 after week 6. PH remained rock steady at higher levels and I was confident enough to lower it to 5.2 for all plants in the final weeks.
Phenotypes:
There were only two phenotypes by the strictest definition, but overall I felt that there were three types that shared more than just color differences, bud structure and leaf shape.
Pheno #1:
This type resembled DP's advertisement, an 80/20 Indica dominant - shrub. This plant was very short and very wide. The leaves turned purple around week 5 and the cola was purple with purple calyxes. Finished height was I believe, 32 inches.
I found there to be way too many leaves on this plant! Interior buds ended up underdeveloped due to light penetration issues. I really never liked this plant. It was much shorter than the others throughout the entire grow, and despite its beautiful appearance, it yielded only 42 grams. The lower foot of this pheno yielded only hash fixings.
Color: dark purple leaves and calyxes at 5 weeks flower. Ease of Grow: 8 Beauty: 10 Yield: poor - 42g.
Smoke Report:
Okay, so I like the plant a little more after smoking its buds... No blueberry taste, instead it is a cross between lemon and Skunk, if you can imagine that. Smooth, even smoke that will alert any nose within a mile. Very strong body high that hits you immediately. This is medicinal quality all the way. Your face goes numb and the rest of your body follows. Snoozer pot if you let it.
High lasts about 4 hours. No headache or other 'down' trauma in my experience. No munchies or cotton mouth, although it leaves a mild aftertaste, which may come out in the cure. Very potent stuff that will sit ya down quick. Mild paranoia, this should go away with a longer cure. Great TV pot, or just right for staying in for the evening.
Potency: 8 Taste: 6 High: 7. Kind of a couchlock, does numbers for my insomnia. Paranoia: 5
Pheno #2:
This type had the POTW winner for a cola. The cola turned purple but this was the only area of the plant to show color. The stems were dark red, but the leaves stayed green. If it weren’t for the beauty of this plant, and the fabulous high, it would have been a total loss. This plant had a nice fat cola surrounded by really puny bud sites that never really got any bigger. Yield was lousy as a result. I will never grow those clones, that is a given. Most of the lower plant was processed for hash.
Color: green leaves and calyxes except for the main cola. Beauty: 10. Fantastic cola. Ease of Grow: 8 Yield: Poor - 50g.
Smoke Report:
This one was by far my first choice to try. The taste is amazing! Very berry-like, almost BB, but not quite. Very smooth easy on the throat and mind numbingly potent. This is my happy pot - it just makes everything about the present, better. Nice up lifting high with built in body numbing as a bonus. The real killer is that this herb is so good that I feel like I would have to do a serious SOG grow to keep me supplied.
Potency: 9 Taste: 8 Smell: 9 High: 8. Up w/body tingling side effects. Paranoia: 0
Pheno #3:
This is my favorite pheno and was fortunately the best producer. This pheno exhibits a tallish cola and long heavily budding branches. High calyx to leaf ratio with good sized fat and dense buds. These were more Sativa in appearance and as a result grew taller than the others with more numerous bud sites and better exposure to the light.
One of the three that shared this type had dark purple leaves the other two were green. The growth was uniform among these three and the two that I flowered produced the best yield of the four flowered plants. I believe that if I had been aggressive with pruning and FIM, yield would have been considerably higher (on all of these plants).
I have a clone from one of this types mother's that is pushing 4 feet in veg and is soon to be featured in my future Mega- Plant: Friend or Foe, thread.
Color: green leaves and calyxes except for one that was completely purple. Ease of Grow: 8 Yield: average (from seed) - 75g.
Smoke Report:
I was pleasantly surprised to find a true couch lock in the group. Two hits will park you for a good long time. The taste is truly amazing. Blueberry, with a hint of spice. Fortunately, the potency will prevent you from being able to smoke too much, 'cause the taste is addicting.
Potency: 10. Stupefying. Taste: 10+. Promises to cure into the best I have ever had. Smell: 9. Close all the windows. High: 9. Couchlock; cancel your plans for the evening. Paranoia: 0
Summary:
I have wanted to do a Blueberry grow for many years and I am glad that I finally have one under my belt. Many of the 'facts' about this strain are misleading. Under conscientious eyes, this is a trouble free strain that will reward you with a high quality product at harvest.
The plants happily lapped up any quantity of nutes I threw at them without any serious nutrient burn during flower. Fan leaves remained green on three of the plants all the way through to the flush. Veg, is another story. Watch your nutes close during week four and five prior to flower.
Yield was below average from any standpoint, tweaking and training should bring it up to average, however. Clones should add yield through genetic maturation in theory.
I strongly urge anyone growing this strain to use clones. The plants all grew in different stages and an even canopy is hard to achieve without training. The large amount of leaf material is overwhelming on the Indica phenotypes, severely limiting light penetration. Pruning is a must with this strain.
Color appeared on the two seedlings that matured as purple and even 50F night temps failed to encourage purple on the remaining two.
Clones rooted within 10 days and look pretty shaky for a bit but come around and grow very well under initial high humidity. Due to the variety of plants my seeds produced, I would recommend growing out as many seeds as you can to get a true idea of this plant's potential, take clones and grow the ones that fit your personal preference.
Flowering time seemed just right at 70 days, although outward appearances suggested that they could go on for another month. I kept waiting for a surge in bud size that never came.
Get a magnifying glass to call the harvest date on this strain.
Aja
Garden Information for this report DWC: 4 - five gallon airstone supplied buckets w/controller 600 watt HPS w/Hortilux bulb 3' wide x 2' deep x 7' high, grow area Nutrients: Olivia's Cloning Solution, General Hydroponics Flora Series 5/5/5(ml) veg, 0/8/16(ml) bloom |
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Report added by: Aja
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