Fruity Freak vrs Freakshow

Dabbingit Was cool this past week, which was good for some of sprouts, a few of the seeds I got may have been on the older side. I notice older seeds sometimes have troubles getting started, it can get hot here very quickly and a troubled sprout may struggle in the heat, I had to help a few get the cotyledons to open as they had difficulty getting the seed shell off and were wrapped shut. The cooler weather helps them as they stablize.

Dabbingit May 10, starting to warm up, 94 today. All the fem plants i put in the ground or 25 gallon pots. The m/f plants I’m now forcing into flower to see who’s who, ladies only please ….some are starting to show after 5 days of light reduction, but in my experience it’s usually the males who show first. Not always but mostly, starting to see what I believe are nuts but will let the go a few more days to be sure. The reg Freakshows aren’t big enough imo, will let them get a little bigger b4 flipping them. I didn’t post last weekend as there wasn’t enough growth to tell much of a difference. I wonder if the FS leaves being fern like grow slower because they don’t have the same square footage of leaf to gather energy? Or might just be mine…

Dabbingit Last year was my first try with fem seeds. Some from this year just seem slow to get out of the gate compared to a few of the other ones and way behind the seeds that I made. I had week 4 photos but at the last second before I saved my finger hit something and poof …it was all gone. Didn’t feel like starting over so here is week 5 😶‍🌫️. Did anyone else notice how slow the Freakshow strains are growing or is it just mine ….? Of the 2 photo reg Freak shows that popped 1 has shown to be male. Have high hopes for the other one tho, two weeks of light reduction and still #2 doesn’t want to say what it is yet, thought I saw a oval pod starting but no white hair yet…back in the hole for you! I’ve topped most of the taller ones after node 6, some of the lower growth was not keeping pace so I topped the to encourage more lower branch growth, most of the time I just bend tops and tie branches down. Feeding FoxFarm notes, today was feed day. I like to put coated fencing on the ground around the plants, it keeps the cats from using the area and gives me plenty of tie down locations. Also spray once a week with Neem oil to control mites, spray the dirt as well since mite colonize from the ground up. I will actually use Neem oil through out the grow, I know some swear that this changes the flavor and should never be used in flower. But I will include a SS from the national pesticide information website put out by Oregon State University showing that Neem oil actually breaks down within just a few days in the environment and even faster when mixed with water and sprayed on the surface. If you stop using 10-14 days before harvest there will be no Neem left to taste and it completely encapsulates and kills PM so I like it. And none of my cannabis friends has ever had anything but good things to say about the final product. But I make shatter and vape all my stuff, as I am a kidney transplant patient and can’t (shouldn’t) smoke it.

Dabbingit Finally starting to growth on the fruity freaks, still slow, but I went back and looked and it does say they can be slower growing in veg. I only was able to get 2 of the reg Freakshows to pop, and one was male, and the other was taking forever to show its sex, finally I just put it in the ground, starting to waste too much time, and since it was the last one I figured if male I’ll just rip it out. But I went out the other day with my magnifying glass and saw a white hair poking out Heat has been brutal the last 2 days right at 100 degrees, but mid 80’s for the next 10 days. Lightly fertilizing every other watering, as they are not big enough yet to handle much ferts, especially when it’s hot like today. Water roughly every 3rd day with current size. Spray with Neem oil once a week for mite control, it’s says it works for aphids too but Ive not found it to be very effective for them. But 99% of aphids are born on your plant by winged mothers, and hosing them off with a hose works very well as the will not find their way back to the plant. Had a variety Ive never seen till last year called Woolly aphids. Kind a cool looking but still don’t want them on my plants … have topped everything after the 6th node as I can’t have them getting 8-9 feet tall. And some had poor lower branch progression so topped to stop apex dominance of main cola. I realize bending tops does the same thing, just didn’t feel like messing with it, have started tying branches down on the ones with enough growth.

Dabbingit Fruity freaks are still painfully slow, everyone getting feed once a week at this stage, as they get bigger and the weather starts to really heat up, they will get more. Some of the ones I forced into flower are coming back to full veg again 3 leaf lobes are usually a sign of reveging. But forcing flower like that also causes a little stretch b4 going back into veg. These can get huge, easily over 8’ to where I have to start bending tops to keep them below the fence line. I have started to really started tying the branches back and removing fan leaves that block light to other bud sites on the ones big enough. Had to throw in some Thuricide a little earlier than normal, because of all the moths this year, they really hit my boysenberry plants hard. Had three on my little fruity freak in the pot. Only noticed because I have it next to some strawberries that I noticed had been munched on… hard to see the damage due to the unique leaf structure. Thankfully temps supposed to be mid 80’s all next week, usually once we hit June it’s middle and upper 90’s till July when temps hover around 100 with late summer temps getting as high as 114.

Dabbingit Growth starting to take off on some, the ones I forced into flower are coming back into veg and are really starting to take off. Fertilizing at heavy feeding ratio now until flowering begins. They have all been topped and some are bushing up nicely, especially the Trop Cherry x MM O.G. in the pot. Trimming leaves that block light to inner bud site really helps them thicken up, at least in my experience. Weather has been cooperating this year, some warm days coming, but actually mild for Sacramento area in mid June. Sometimes we don’t get a spring and go straight into summer with brutal temps June-September (100-110 degree days most days). Kind of on cruise control now. Neem 1x week preventatively for mites and a bad year so far with caterpillars, using Thuricide 2x week to get control over them, never had them this bad this early before.

Dabbingit Was a crazy week, meant to have this posted last week. Will try to get out there today and gather week 10 info. 100 degrees outside today so maybe lol. They are starting to fill out nicely, the Freakshow strains are still slower than everything else.

Dabbingit The girls are on cruise control, every couple of days I’ll go out and re-tie the branches to accommodate growth. On heavy feed schedule every other watering. Not quite big enough for daily watering, every 2-3 days depending on the heat. Heat really starts picking up from here. July, August and September are usually brutal here, most days being 100 or greater. Still spraying once a week with BT as caterpillars and spiders are out of control this year. One of the Fruity Freaks is not progressing as much as I’d like and if it doesn’t improve soon I will likely pull it. The FF in the pot is compact but has nice looking structure. The regular Freakshow m/f is showing better growth than the FF so far, although one is pretty close to even with it.

Dabbingit A little late getting this week posted, heat is coming, although it’s been a little milder this year than what’s typical for here, no complaints…but triple digits are settling in…not much to do, just adjust low stress training and preventative treatment for mites and caterpillars.

Dabbingit Fed the girls today, the first Cannafun is really taking off, looks great, vigorous, will be a big plant, it gets the most direct sunlight of them all. Been around 100 the last few days. Getting a little behind on adjusting the LST for new growth, it’s hard to want to go out in that heat and do much of anything. I try to get out after it cools down at night with my red headlamp, but I haven’t been doing it the last few nights, so I have to play catch up. Supposed to cool down some after Monday. The caterpillars have slowed down considerably, I should be ok til the flowers become fragrant, then will resume BT treatments.

Dabbingit Veg cycle is at an end I believe, it appears that the Acai juice plants may have already flipped the flower switch, starting to see leaves thickening with white hairs starting to show. Pretty much all of them should be in flower by the first of August. This will probably be the last veg post, maybe 1 more, we’ll see how they look. We are experiencing drastically cooler weather than we normally have in July, lower 80’s all week, in fact we’ve only had 1 day at or over 100 for the month of July. Last time this happened was 2014 i believe… plants are loving it. Gave them an extra shot of fertilizer as they are not showing any tip burn and are in a heavy growth mode atm. I wasn’t too sure about the freebie “Cannafun” from Hi-Elevation genetics, but it’s a vigorous plant that turns purple wherever the sun kisses the plant. Can’t wait to see how it finishes. The Freakshow strains continue their slow growth, next time I won’t top this strain but will just LST.

Dabbingit Some of the ladies have visibly started to flower, the Cannafun and Acai Juice both strains are noticeably starting to flower. Time to switch ferts to Fox Farms “ Buds and Blooms “. The weather has been phenomenal for NorCal at this time of year, ten day doesn’t show anything hotter the low 90’s. Loving this! The Freaks are starting to thicken up, in hindsight I shouldn’t have topped them, won’t next year.

Dabbingit Plants are really starting to stretch now that flower switch has been flipped. Will really have to watch the Cannafun by my fence…neighbors know about it but still don’t want it topping the fence, had a Peach Crescendo in that spot last year, gets all day sun, last year was a 3lb plant. That’s really too much for just me, I make BHO out of 90% and that’s just a lot of time in trim jail on 1 plant… plus was constantly tying tops down. Feeding time today. Giving Big Bloom now. And temps will climb closer to the century mark this week.

Dabbingit Everyone starting to really lean into the stretch, time to start cleaning out the smaller branches on the inside that won’t do much anyway except pull energy from the main colas. I planted 3 Acai Juice from Hi-Elevation, they say most pheno’s are purple with green pheno’s occurring in small numbers, only 1 of the 3 I’m growing showing purple flowers. Took a small sample off the one showing color and looked under digital microscope, first 2 images in pics. Was surprised to see milky white trichomes already. Looking forward to trying this strain. LST mostly done, mainly tying tops down for height concerns, neighbors know about them, but still don’t want the growing over the top of the fence.

Dabbingit Spraying BT every 5 days now, especially the Acai juice as they are well along in flower, already seeing eggs on these. But BT is very good at controlling caterpillars. Just came out of a mini hot spell with temps 102-104, back down to mid and lower 90’s. Been a very mild summer for us so far. Just cleaning up the middles and fan leaves blocking light to budsites. Feeding on the heavy schedule, no signs of tip burn so…