Ahoy hoy-
How we doin out there, friends? I know the midwest is getting hammered with cold and snow, and even my old man in Houston, TX, has been battling the elements. Good thing he’s got that midwest blood in him and has a history of fighting the frigid temperatures of winter. Regardless of where you’re at and the conditions Mother Nature brings, stay safe and keep battlin’! A little adverse weather can’t stop you, especially after grinding through 12 months of a global pandemic- this is nothin!
Our two big cannabis plants continue to grow strong, and officially began the flowering stage on Tuesday, February 9th. These two will need at least 6 weeks of flowering (perhaps a bit longer) in order to develop the highly coveted cannabis nuggets. These are the last of our two Banana Hammock seeds, although we did attempt to clone them in an effort to keep the strand alive and grow more plants!
This was my first effort at the cloning process, and although I had a solid support system and a buddy to help me put the clones together, they didn’t do too hot. In fact, we’ll be lucky for 3-5 clones to survive (out of 10). Naturally, I had hoped for a 100% success rate, yet it’s obvious that’s not going to happen. If I had to guess, I likely was too heavy on the water, or perhaps not delicate enough during the transfer stage.
I greatly appreciate the input from experienced growers, online forums, and books; however, I’ve found I can be a bit too rigid with my approach after receiving input. For example, it’s my understanding that during the cloning process, providing adequate water is key to success. This was my main priority during the cloning process, and I think I overdid it. I’m learning with cannabis plants that I need to be more flexible in my approach; education from different platforms is absolutely necessary yet I feel experimentation and hands-on work are some of the best ways to learn. And although I would have liked this first batch of clones to do a little better, I needed to learn the hard way, ultimately through failing, to gain a better understanding of the process.
And upon further reflection, it’s clear that I learn the most from my failures. Whether it be something as simple as growing cannabis plants, to a more serious concept such as a long awaited hockey tryout (in the past, of course), making mistakes and failing is no doubt how I learn best. Sure, it sucks and isn’t fun to botch something, but it sticks with you forever. It’s a life lesson and the ultimate motivator to work harder, get better, stronger, and find success on the next go around. Our failures stick with us forever, serving as reminders of how far we’ve come. When failing, what’s most important is how we respond and learn from it.
Any-who, from this experience, I’m learning that I need to trust myself a little bit more when growing the crops, and certainly lay off the H2O in certain situations. During the growing process, there is plenty of give and take, and although I am by no means a master cultivator, I have been very pleased with the cannabis we’ve produced thus far. I hope to keep learning from the various resources along the way, learning from my own mistakes, and ultimately learning how to grow and clone some fineeeee greens!
Take good care and keep it real,
TCK
