Expert Gorilla germination disaster leads to hope

So a major surprise came when Mars Hydro contacted us and asked if would like to try out their new SP 3000 light. Being a fan of Mars Hydro for years, we of course accepted their offer. We are totally in love with this light. I was when I saw it in another grower's setup and was in awe of its output and results. A lot of love in this review for Mars Hydro for making this grow possible.

So with much pride and thankfulness for the presents the Universe bestowed on us, in the form of the Mars Hydro offer and the bountiful harvest of the last grow, (which I am thoroughly enjoying btw, such a great weed to have grown ourselves) we start out on a new adventure that we can't wait to share with you.
With many lessons learned from the previous grow, a mighty producing strain in the form of Expert Seeds Gorilla Glue #4, a.k.a Expert Gorilla's and a tweaked super soil mixture, we are setting out to hopefully get over a gram per watt, preferably 1.5.

The Setup

A 4.5 (140 cm) x 2(70) x 6.2 (200) grow tent, giving me a .98 m2 workspace. This space is customized to my needs.
A standing fan hung horizontal, will provide airflow through the whole grow.
3 56 ltr pots will be the home for the plants when they are 2 weeks old, up to then in smaller jars.


The Light

The leading role and star of the show will be played by the Mars Hydro SP-3000, so kindly provided by MarsHydroLED, which we will test and review here and I might say, endorse.

I'm very careful with who I endorse and support these days, but a company with that many wins in design, I'm talking ever since their first range came out in 2009 these guys have been raising the bar for the whole industry, I did not hesitate to support this leading brand.

If you want to compete with these guys, you better bring some quality AND affordable pricing. Why do I endorse the SP-3000 without ANY hesitation?
It is seriously THE BEST light on the market in this price range and size group. It has an enormously effective output in U/Mol and with 30% less energy waste comparing to older LED lights.


https://marshydroled.aliexpress.com/ Check their offers but also their score, they ship from a warehouse near you so you don't have the extra import fees!! Cut out the middleman and have a deal on these lights!!

At the moment I write this in August 2021, the lights are 408,20 euro when sent from Germany to the rest of Europe, that's 40 euro cheaper than the other Mars outlets, BUT EVEN 60 euros cheaper than ordering at a grow store!!

The Strain:


Don’t let the name fool you because Expert Gorilla is suitable for growers of any skill level. However, you do need to be an experienced smoker because Expert Gorilla is one of the most potent strains on the market.

Lineage: Chem Sis x Chocolate Diesel x Sour Dubb
Popularity: Extremely Popular
Flavor/Aroma Profile: Chocolate, Earthy, Fuel
Yield: 400 g/m2
Stress Tolerance: High resistance to disease
Potency: 24% THC
Flowering time: 58 - 63 days

The Soil:

Those who saw my Monstercropped Gelato #33 grow (you should see it if you didn't, I'm so proud of that grow), know about my super soil and organic nutrients/ permaculture tea combo that starred in my previous diary.
Because of the great results, we are going to use the same recipe, adjusted some more with some new ingredients that will complete the mix and give an even more sustained super soil buffer.

20% Atami Bi-grow (very similar to ocean forest)
20% Atami worm castings
20% Atami Coco Coir
10% Hydrocorn
10% Peat powder
1 cup Fossil seaweed chalk
1 cup bonemeal
1 cup bloodmeal
1 cup Microlife
3-4 teaspoons of epsom salt
3 cups of activated biochar (activated with our own permaculture tea)

I just made layers, starting with hydro corn on the bottom to aid airflow/run-off. On this I started layering the coco coir, Bi-grow, peat, castings, and amendments in a way that the more mature the plants get, the more phosphorous and less nitrogen they will find. Every time I made three layers, I would mix them by hand. This way we simulate natural soil, which consists of humic layers, composting plant waste, fungal and microbial life, and nutrients from fossilized sources.


The Nutrients

I will start with just adding 6.4 PH water, although this soil should buffer ph itself and regulate, after 4 weeks, I'll slowly be adding:

- Biobizz Grow
- Plagron Alga Grow
- Biobizz CalMag

- Biobizz Flower
- Plagron Alga Flower
- Biobizz Topmax
- Melasses

The Tea

Some of you might remember the permaculture tea from my previous grow, I have a short video in my harvest page showing how we make it), it will star again in this grow.

- (Rain)water
- Comfrey (whole plants)
- Dandelion leaves
- Roots and leaves from the earlier grow
- Minor periwinkle (Finca minor) is a plant we have in our garden, it contains an alkaloid that is associated with increased brain function but also is a light toxin for wee beasties and other unwanted guests like gnats (who hate it).
- When flowering I add some wood ash to this mix

Thank you for checking in on one of my grows again! Thanks for all the love on my previous grow, check it out if you haven't seen it!!

Hug

Bud

So none of them seemed to germinate and this was the order I got sent by a certain third-party seed bank because none of my -not too shabby- Barneys Runtz muffins ever germinated. A bit done with third-party seed banks. That's the umpteenth time I've got bad seeds from otherwise great breeders.

How come with all the money that is being made of a few seeds, let's be real here, no one has the guts (not even the top-shelf brands) to put an expiry date o a batch of seeds. So afraid a couple of bucks are missed of spoilage, they rather leave the throwing away of the old batches to their dearly paying customers.


Sometimes, with all its fairs and legalization, dispensaries, and hipster air to it all, cannabusiness never really lost its trailer park, seedy back ally garage quality we all came to know in the eighties... Isn't it about time to commit to certain standards in quality management, some FIFO... I dunno DO SUMTING.... Seeds should be viable for decades... Something is going wrong here.

Well after the sob story of last week, one of them seems to have gotten the life. Not much life but life nonetheless. It has sprouted... It looks like a bit of a runt... It doesn't grow very fast so if it doesn't recover soon, I will replace her with either another Orange Hill Special or an XtraKush, an obscure Dutch landrace creation by Weedseeds.site. More of a tryout.

But well see...

Many thanks to Mars Hydro for letting us use their SP 3000 during the coming grows, were very happy and amazed with this sexy light so far.
Don't forget the end of summer deals @ https://marshydroled.nl.aliexpress.com/

Thank you for checking in again!

One seedling has made it out of the 5 we started with. Not a great score but we fixed it by planting another kind: XtraKush by Weedseeds.site. A very obscure little site. They are unfeminized, so I planted two in hopes at least one will be female.


Im still feeding plain water, bit of PH- but thats it. At least Orange Hill Special is doing fine on it, another week maybe and its time to repot them to the hot supersoil!


For now, we shall see what the Expert Gorilla will do, will she grow up to be a female silverback or does she stay a baby. Still very happy with the Mars Hydro SP-3000, what a beast of a light. You must wear eye protection with this cause it will tear your retina off. What a sea of light.



Also very very happy with a prize we won on another platform, didn't expect it and this does motivate me to do an even better job on the coming diaries. Thank you FastBuds!!

Thank you for following and see you next week!!

Week 5, Vegetation

Everything seems to turn around this week. My grow didn't go well and also a lot going on in our lives. That's why it took a while for the diary to get back on track. Sometimes all we need is some good news and this came two-fold this week.

First I woke up to see my favorite coin go through the roof (go Shiba) and later to be surprised by the doorbell, with a bigger surprise: my prize came in!! A great care package by the guys of @Fastbuds, thanks so much, and totally enjoying it! It really made my month.

So to find my girls thriving this morning is the third gift in a week that keeps on giving. My soil recipe combined with this great light, the SP-3000 by Mars Hydro (thanks so much Mars Hydro) are the reasons all is getting better even with this runt girl, the sole survivor of a pack of 5 Expert Seeds Gorilla's, bought at a third-party seed bank.


See my soil recipe above here, if you want to see how I do it or create it yourself. It is unreal how much it aids recovery in severely stressed plants. If you live in Europe, I have accidentally stumbled upon and elaborated on a European Master Mark and Subcool Super Soil recipe.

The problem is that Ocean Forest soil is very hard to get by in Europe. Also, some of the amendments and tea mixtures are sold only in the US.
After searching online, asking the guys that make Atami and other organic medium specialists I have made a recipe that comes close and definitely matches the super soil recipes we all have seen.

So please use it to your advantage. Ask me anything if you have a hard time finding stuff you need and don't worry it works excellently without the permaculture tea as well!


See how she is going back to thriving, in a couple of days after replanting. Instead of stress, they are recovering. Another proof this soil is the European answer to Supersoil.

Thank you for checking in again! Happy growing and see you soon!! BTW I don't mind people posting in this thread at all!

Week 6, vegetation


She seems to thrive in the new soil, I'm checking her regularly because of the darker ridged leaves, could I have overdone the bloodmeal content? It should not have overfeeding effects with organic super soil. But we'll see.

The film seems to have taken hold with her and today I started training, although it is more main-lining.


For this, I just used some microwaved bamboo from the garden. Now we go towards flowering and I'm getting more excited after the first few weeks were a bit sad.


Some of you might have seen my super soil recipe in my other grow, the Orange Hill Special, if you didn't, check it out here in the images above!
With this soil also the gnats are gone.

I designed it out of frustration that products like Fox Farms etc are not readily available in Europe.


Those who saw my Gelato Monstercop grow, know that soil was pretty good, that soil became the base for this recipe, amended with some organic precursors to make it less dependent on feeding and after amending.

I would recommend amending some before flowering starts without the bloodmeal.

Hope you can use it!! Thank you very much for checking me out again this week!

Happy growing and big hug

BioBuds and Sunshine

Srry this is truly week 6

Not as pungent or bushy as the Orange Hill beside her but she seems to get there. I'm finally seeing some exponential growth, I'm going to give them as much rest as I can coming weeks to maximize growth before flowering and to prevent (hopefully) them going hermie on me, which both Gorillas and these are prone to.


I have made a new layer of topsoil made of organic coco-peat, which should help me prevent more fungus gnats. They already seem to hate it and are wandering around in agony trying to dig in... Good for them, freeloading beastards.

Handtraining her too this week and then leaving them as much as possible to de-stress and maximize vegetative growth until flowering.


Now we go to flowering coming weeks, and I cant wait... Thanks for checking in and the likes and support!

This week I tried to let them go, only did some gnat hunting with the vacuum to keep populations down. Sunshine found a great way to hold the plant down with some thrift store Christmas light fixtures.

At the end of this week, I tied the remaining upward stalks down and away. The final bits of training before we can hopefully go towards flowering coming week.



I did some foliar feeding also to help the soil dry out a bit, also to fight the gnats. Maybe overdid it a bit with a few yellow points on the leaves.



On to flowering!!

Hi no they came from Zamnesia. Normally had great results from Expert Seeds, but Im not using 3rd party seedbanks anymore. If the breeders already don't put dates on the packaging, these 3rd party traders sure ain't throwing old stock away.

Had some duds once too many and only going for direct supply by the breeder.

Week 8 - Vegetation


Gorilla, gorilla, my problem child. The only one popping out of 5 but she is weaker than her roommates. She stays behind compared to them. But what can I do other than TLC, she has the best conditions, which are optimal in this grow room, also judging by the other two plants. Until I have a bigger operation, which in the current political climate, is not soon, where I can make mothers and clone them, breed my own strains, and root out runts like this, we do it like life. We play the hand as it is dealt to us and we love all our children the same... although this one is special.


So not a genderfluid Silverback yet, but it ain't over till the voluptuous lady sings. We shall nurse this little runt until adulthood, who knows she might surprise us, she should have the mighty Gorilla Glue Number Fo' genes in there somewhere. Now come on out here and show daddy what you're made of...


This week we spread out the leaves and branches, some leaf tucking and gentle LST, to prepare for some higher stress and super cropping today. Two days back we made the switch and set the lights to 12/12. Now the flowering stretch will begin, thus we bend the branches further outward in preparation for the canopy. When I do this I notice the branches are thick and sturdy, with no breakage at all unlike my previous grow, the gelato 33. I snapped some branches applying the super cropping and just normal bending with those. It seems like the fan (I didn't have a good option previous grow, hence the flimsier branches there) but also this lighting and soil regime are topnotch, asides from outdoor I haven't seen such lush bushiness yet, even on a more runt-like plant.


This MarsHydro SP3000 is still performing great, such controlled temperatures, such an ocean of light. I only wish I started growing with this earlier. Thanks again @MarsHydroLED for trusting us to test your mighty flagship light. It is so well made, it oozes quality, I just want to touch it every time (also to check if it stays cool) and it is just sexy, slender, and compared to my other 300 watt light, a completely different spectrum and clarity. If you are looking for new lights, look no further. At www.mars-hydro.com they have excellent and unbeatable deals on tent and light combinations where you practically get a tent for free, it is ridiculous.


I was afraid the light wouldn't cover the sides of my tent with my 4.5-foot space. Penny at MarsHydro had to laugh at this a bit, said not to worry. What an understatement. This light could signal to other galaxies. I sincerely recommend good sunglasses with this light.
Only thing I'm adding is an infrared light Sunshine found. With this I'm going to simulate sunrise and sunset and try to prevent stress by easing the light in and out, like in nature.


We are in flowering now, very excited to see what she will do here. What can she perform? Will she cover the net? Will she deliver gorgeous buds, like she is known to do? On these cliffhangers, I hope you will tune in next week for more gorilla-related plant porn... go on... you know you want it.

I'm giving gg#4 a break I ran 3 of hydr reds (3- thirteen seeds) gg#4 crosses back to back purple primate , monkey juice & greases peices I do however have a pack of gg#4 -×- blackberry hammer from frimpong@freak genetics I'm sitting on so I'm not altogether through with the strain as it does have some excellant qualities

horribleherk said:

I'm giving gg#4 a break I ran 3 of hydr reds (3- thirteen seeds) gg#4 crosses back to back purple primate , monkey juice & greases peices I do however have a pack of gg#4 -×- blackberry hammer from frimpong@freak genetics I'm sitting on so I'm not altogether through with the strain as it does have some excellant qualities

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Ah i will take a look at your grows if you have em online, i was smitten with GG4 after trying the auto versions. Very sturdy and high producing for autos, but these photoperiods... well I cant judge, the seeds were old and crackly, as I said Im going for the more special strains and def not the third party seedbanks anymore.

Problem is I have a big supply of Fastbuds seed lying around that I won and recently also won in a sweetseeds competition (which was after you offered to send my those special essosstrains.

I can only grow 4 plants at a time, think Ill have to put some in the cooler, do you keep yours in a special way?

I've grown the original clone only gg#4 was discovered by a guy named josey Wales in an old batch of chemdawg seeds he then developed & named it winning some competitions along the way shortly after I met hydro red before he became 3-thirteen seeds his early stuff was largely based of gg#4 of his crosses greases peices was my favorite he has a thread both here & at the other place called hydro reds horticultural whorehouse he is a solid individual & takes care in developing his strains & has helped me a lot just a solid individual

horribleherk said:

I've grown the original clone only gg#4 was discovered by a guy named josey Wales in an old batch of chemdawg seeds he then developed & named it winning some competitions along the way shortly after I met hydro red before he became 3-thirteen seeds his early stuff was largely based of gg#4 of his crosses greases peices was my favorite he has a thread both here & at the other place called hydro reds horticultural whorehouse he is a solid individual & takes care in developing his strains & has helped me a lot just a solid individual

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Yeah the legendary original GG4. Ive seen it for sale but either not sent to Europe or top dollar. Didnt Josey pass away recently?
I know the backstory, but only could find Expert Seeds i Europe who claim they obtained an original clone at a fair in the States.

So in theory, mine should be a granddaughter of the legendary strain... But we will see. So far she is really behind on her roommates...
I will check Hydro reds posts!!

BioBuds said:

Yeah the legendary original GG4. Ive seen it for sale but either not sent to Europe or top dollar. Didnt Josey pass away recently?
I know the backstory, but only could find Expert Seeds i Europe who claim they obtained an original clone at a fair in the States.

So in theory, mine should be a granddaughter of the legendary strain... But we will see. So far she is really behind on her roommates...
I will check Hydro reds posts!!

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Josy did pass I'll keep you in mind when I get some good gg#4 seeds that could come my way

horribleherk said:

Josy did pass I'll keep you in mind when I get some good gg#4 seeds that could come my way

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Thank you buddy!!

Week 9 - Flowering


A week with lots of activity from my side, from the Gorilla's side, not so much. She stays behind and I can't find any other reason than genetics/seed quality. She is in exactly the same conditions as the other girls. I'm letting her do her thing. She will give some weed, well see how much. Maybe she is a late-bloomer. She does look lush and healthy so we do not understand but are learning. I put in the scrog net since her roommates need it and lowered the lights and started giving more flowering feed.


The light is still awesome, the amount it puts out. This SP- 3000 rocks and, wallet permitting, we will go for a second one. @MarsHydroLED might be so happy with the amount of coverage we give them, they'll send us another one
If you haven't seen it yet and you are in the market for new gear, check out the Black Friday super sale on www.mars-hydro.com!!


We are gonna see what happens coming weeks with this strain. So far I am a bit disappointed and didn't expect this from this strain. We will never know if it was the age of the seeds or something else. What I do know is, it was the last time I use a third party seedbank, it is apparently too hard to keep fresh stock with too many strains. Until breeders put a production date on the packaging. Isn't it time someone said that?


Cause lets keep it real, we are talking seeds that in any other case would have a cost of production of fractions of cents per seed. We pay what? 3 to 5 to maybe even 20 dollars a seed for an exceptional strain? Is it then too much to ask to put a friggin expiry date on the package? Or store them cooled?


The breeder that does that and arranges a deal with third parties that overstock can be sent back, packaging recycled, in exchange for fresh stock, they will corner the entire market caus their name won't be dragged down by a third party bank selling old stock with your logo. Like any other fresh trade. For an industry making what, 2 billion worldwide (estimated 4.5 bln in 2028, Google it), it is remarkable how many are still in the stoner with a garage / 80's trailer park, backwater funfair warranty, kinda customer service.



Me: i grow organic weed for 30 years, these seeds were old
Seed dealer: Yes but you failed to do a raindance on the rising moon, no refund.

Me: but its for cannabis?
Weed industry: Yes why we charged you double!

Me: wow no germination after paying 20 bucks for seeds?
Industry: They are all stoners, they won't notice....

Me: but this bong is made from toxic plastics?
Headshop: yeas but it has this crumbling image of a leaf, 20 dollar!

Can they get their shit together? For god's sake, I've seen crack dealers with better PR and customer care.

Someone do sumtin, take us out of the car boot era please?

Week 10 - Flowering week 2

Well, she keeps disappointing me a bit. If you see her development compared to the two other strains, she is miles behind. Not stretching that much, and flowering stays behind. Im checking for male signs every day as I suspect she might go on me.


All conditions are the same. This is a 9 euro seed. 4 of them didn't germinate. 50 bucks down the shitter. The plant right next to her comes from a one dollar seed, xtrakush at www.weedseeds.site


That's why I plead for the growers to share their lucky shots and give the small-time breeders a break.


Also a plea for an expiry date on the products, for the price vs cost of production, we can expect that service.
that way renowned breeders also protect their name when third parties sell old seeds to growers that leave bad reviews.


Maybe she surprises me yet, but we are long way from the silverback we wanted.
Thanks for checking in, see you next week!!

Well so far I scrolled through your journal and I haven’t seen a plant yet....lol

Go go n chill said:

Well so far I scrolled through your journal and I haven’t seen a plant yet....lol

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Wait till the pictures load!