Flip into Flower Grow Update:

Introduction:

Welcome back to our micro phenohunt of this amazing Tokyo Pave from Thumbprint Genetics. These past 14 weeks had me go from starting these seeds to meticulously caring for these remarkable plants. I am excited to carry five of these six plants into flower. With the first week of flower coming to a close this Saturday June 22nd, 2024. I will be cutting the clones from these plants in the next week or two after they have had a chance to start their early flower stretch. Today, we are covering the past ten weeks of vegetative growth and the care I’ve provided to these plants.

Transplanting and Initial Growth:

“After these first two weeks of care and optimizing the environment for the sensitive Tokyo Pave Seedlings, we will take the next step in our journey. Establishing a healthy tap root and system provides a sturdy base to begin searching out and utilizing the available nutrients in the medium. The seedlings are gently removed from the propagation tray, and the Jiffy Pods are dusted with a mycorrhizal blend to encourage a deep and practical rooting system. Since this is the Pheno Hunt stage of my growth, I will transplant all six of the Tokyo Pave into a Living Soil blend, consisting of Gaia Green dry amendments and earthworm castings in a ProMix medium.” – Read Seed Drop Update Here

During the initial four weeks of growth, these seedlings were kept in the dedicated seedling/cloning tent at a high relative humidity with a healthy amount of air movement to help the stems strengthen early in growth. After the seedlings were rooted in our 250ml starter pots, I transplanted them into 1-gallon fabric pots for vegetative growth and moved them to the 4×4 veg tent.

This was their home for the next ten weeks.

Culling the Male Plants:

After these plants were moved into the veg tent and placed under the more intense LED lights in that tent, they began to explode with growth after a short period of acclimatizing. During the ten weeks of growth, these plants were top fed every other week with 4-4-4 All Purpose Gaia Green dry amendments and Earth Worm Castings, in addition to the weekly beneficial waterings alternating between molasses and Microbial Mass. The pH of the water ranges between 5.8 and 6.2 to optimize the nutrient uptake of the plants during this stage in growth.

Before transitioning these six plants into the flowering light cycle, I needed to inspect for potential male plants. Since these are regular seeds, the likelihood of a male plant being planted is 50/50. Dropping regular seeds has benefits and drawbacks, which we will cover in another blog post.

Of the six plants, one of them had been growing and showcasing the typical male cannabis traits. These traits commonly include plants growing in a more slender (less bushy) and taller than female plants. Additionally, male plants will begin to produce a tiny round pollen sack at the nodes of the plants; these sacks can begin to develop before the plant is put into flower. These sacks will burst and distribute the pollen during the pre-flowering stage up to 4 weeks into flowering.

I can prevent accidental pollination and seed production by removing this male plant(s) and closely examining the others in flower for signs of pollen sacks or nanners(hermaphrodite male flowers within the buds). These pollen-producing plants can wreak havoc on an entire grow room, so taking the time to make sure your flower room is pollen sack and nanner-free will help your overall growth success.

Uniform Growth and Canopy Management:

We are transitioning our five remaining Tokyo Pave plants alongside our two Blizzard of Oz (Pure Michigan x Winter Frost) plants from Green Lab Genetics. One of my initial goals for these plants is to create an even and uniform canopy level after we take our clones from them in a couple of weeks.

Curating an even canopy growth throughout the flowering cycle will help optimize light exposure and distribution to each possible bud sight. With the additional lollipopping, defoliation, and low-stress training, I can maximize each plant’s yield and bud size. During this stage in the phenohunt, I aim to find the plants with the best regeneration and overall vigour during flower growth to help isolate the phenotypes I want to keep. An example is the cloning capabilities of the first Shiatsu Kush F2 phenotype, which makes it an easy favourite if the overall smoking experience and high are comparable with the other phenotype I grew.

Anticipation for Flowering:

I have scheduled ten weeks (70 days) for every one of my flower cycles this year since most of the genetics I am hunting require eight to nine weeks or less. I aim to phenohunt up to ten unique genetics this year with my current growing space. The next four weeks will be the busiest time during the flower cycle, with low-stress training starting this week and some minor defoliation. After cutting clones in week two or three of the flower, I’ll focus on curating a level canopy and optimizing light penetration throughout the tent.

With two and a half months left before we harvest these plants, I am excited to see what they will showcase throughout this time. I expect a nice and colourful bud structure, potentially purples and reds popping through the buds. I have just harvested the Shiatsu Kush F2 and found an extremely purple pheno and one silver with crystal. The addition of Compound Genetic’s Strawberry Pave will help bring out the slightly fruity and sweet experience that is hidden under a rubber and leather-dominated nose.

Conclusion:

The transition of our five Tokyo Pave and Blizzard of Oz plants into the flowering growth cycle marks an exciting milestone in this phenohunt. After ten weeks of dedicated vegetative growth and 14 weeks since dropping the seeds, I am online to complete this phenohunt within that sub-six-month window.

As I continue to grow my medicine, I will keep you updated and involved in all the hunts and unique growths I have scheduled. An update will follow this up between weeks four and six, depending on how our plants respond to the clones and overall training routine.

Happy growing, and thank you for joining us on this journey with Tokyo Pave!