Steppa Style’s Perpetual Grow!

*January 2018 Update*
Well I’m back in action! Jump on down to page 52 for a new grow session. I’m growing another classic. NL#5 x Skunk#1.



*May 2017 update*
After a four month hiatus while moving across the country I am back in action with a whole new lineup. This time a Sativa explosion. Jump on down to page 49 for the start of a whole new growing journey!


*Sept. 2016 update*
This thread has morphed into a journey growing my favorite 90's throwback strains. Come follow my adventures. White Widow, Jack Herer, Matanuska, Blueberry, Skunk!

vvv*original post*vvv
So I found some Matanuska Thunder Fuck seeds I had stashed in an old cigar box that are about 10 years old by now. I germinated all 5 and only 1 survived and sprouted. Luckily this one seed ended up being female.

So right before I put this solo plant into flower I took a couple cuttings. And this grow journal will tell you the story of these cuttings.

Right now I have 4 girls vegging under 200 watt CFL grow light in the closet as I wait for my tent to finish its flowering. I am growing in a mix of 75% coco and 25% perlite.


Here is Mommy Matanuska when she was a little seedling


Now here is Mommy right after I took some cuttings. As you can see we had some pH issues, since she is in peat moss. But those problems have been stabilized with the addition of some garden lime to the potting mix. I will not use peat again.


So here are the cuttings at two weeks old. They struggled for the first two weeks because of the pH issues their momma had.


Second cutting.


Cuttings after 3 weeks. The two girls in the solo cup were struggling to get roots established.


Cuttings are beginning to strengthen so I topped the two larger ones


The two small girls started showing some awesome root development. So I transplanted in to 3 gallon pots.


So here we are today. Six weeks after taking the cuttings. I'm going to do some aggressive supper cropping training and topping on the two larger girls as I wait for the two smaller girls to catch up in height.

 

Here is a picture of the mamma on day 22 of flowering. There are approximately 18 "tops" on this girl. I have a feeling this is going to be a massive yielder.

 

Another picture of the mamma on day 22 of flowering. All the nodes are really perfectly spaced.

 

Some more close up pics. This Matanuska has really woody stems; you really have to use all your force to squish and bend. I am going to keep these girls growing under this CFL until my other grow in the flowering chamber is finished in approx 40 days. Once my current flowering is over I will be moving these girls into a 3x3x5 tent with a 400watt HPS light.



Matanuska is a very indica dominant strain that stays super squat, so I am going to train these girls into nice bushes just like their mommy is in the pictures above.



Another close up of the bending.





These girls that were slow to root as fresh cuttings are really doing well now.





An over head shot of my little veg closet.

 

Ok, just wanted to give a quick update. I am continuing to train my two other girls while I wait for the smaller runts to catch up.


The runts are catching up quickly.


All the girls together

 

Girls are getting bushy.

 

Not much happening in the veg room, but mamma is just going insane with buds!




Buds are already getting some nice trichome development.

 

I'm still topping the vegging girls about every other day. I have about 16 tops on this girl right now.




And we are at day 31 flowering for momma Matanuska.

 

So I have had in-laws visiting us for the last week and had limited access to the plants. I probably over watered slightly a week ago. The soil is still moist and a couple fan leaves are drooping. I guess the you root system couldn't handle it.




Also the mommy seems to be going through some phosphorus deficiency. Mommy went a whole week with only a sip of plain non-pH water. I gave her a full water

That's mommy in the back right



A close up of one of the leaves.



But on day 39 of flowering, the buds are still looking super tasty!!

 

So the mother plant is on day 42 of flowering.

I'm thinking the phosphorus deficiency is coming from a pH issue due to the peat moss. I have added a few tablespoons of lime as a top amendment. Since their is only 2, maybe 3 weeks of flowering left, it might be too late to recover. Never using miss again and sticking with coco coir, which is what the clones are in.



I grew this Matanuska about 11 years ago and I really don't remember anything on the flowering characteristics of this plant. The hairs are already beginning to turn orange and curl in, but trichomes are still clear. So going forward I will start to check the trichomes every three days or so.

 

So, just to give a little update on the clones.

It's been two weeks and the girls have finally recovered from what think was a potassium deficiency. I am not sure what I did to lock out that nutrient, maybe calcium? It seems to have occurred in the mother plant also.

Since I'm growing in coco and adding cal/mag as a supplement at every watering; there might be a build up which would lock out the potassium for this strain. I did a full flush of just plain pH water and am now only giving cal/mag every other watering. All seems to be going great. While the same leaves are still yellow, it has stopped spreading and there is lots of new growth.



My current flower should be done in about 16 days, then I'll transition these girls to the big tent.

 

Good evening y'all... Here is a quick update on how mamma is doing.



We are on day 59 of flowering. 6 days until harvest!

 

Day 64 of flowering for the mamma! Tomorrow is harvest day!

I took this pick of mamma last night just after the lights went out. I also just unplugged the timer at that time and put all the girls into a 36 hour dark period until harvest tomorrow.

Mamma is really showing some awesome colors.



I just got to be patient for just a few more hours!

 

Well yesterday was harvest day for the mamma!



All the tops are weighing in at 30+ grams each



These nugs are rock hard and super sticky!



And the whole stash...

[attachment=1912691:ImageUploadedByGrasscity Forum1446644216.462665.jpg

So the run down in the wet yield:

Tops - 161gr (5.6oz)
Popcorn - 95gr (3.3oz)
Total - 256gr (9oz)

So I'm thinking that will dry down to about 64 gr or 2.25oz

 

Thanks!


All the traits seem to have stayed true over the years of storage, except I don't remember the nugs being this dense when I grew this last back in 2004. But I was growing outdoors on property that was just a mile from the coast, so I had lots of cloudy/foggy days to contend with then.


I still have the clones going in the veg closet. I plan to move them into my big tent this evening and veg for another week or so as they get accustomed to the metal halide bulb. I still have not decided if I will take another round of cuttings from these clones or move on to another strain. I'll make that decision in a couple days.