Purple Punch Grow Diary: 250-watt LED / Coco Coir

Hello and welcome to my Purple Punch Grow Diary! I’d never grown any Purple Punch plants before, but a grower friend of mine raves about Barney’s Farm and had an extra Purple Punch seed to give me. So, I figured I’d give this strain a try.

Purple Punch is an Indica-dominant Larry OG x Granddaddy Purple cross that’s a delight to grow. This photoperiodic strain is a great addition to any garden. It has a sweet, earthy flavor and a relaxing high with plenty of laughs. And holy purple! As you might guess from this plant’s Granddaddy Purple genetics, Purple Punch is bursting with color on harvest day.

Well, enough with the introductions. Let’s get into it!

My Gear For Growing Purple Punch

My regular garden is a single 4ft² tent (120cm²) with four 250-watt LED lights and four plants. For this grow cycle though, I only used a single 250-watt LED light since I was only growing one plant. I grow inside because I live in an urban area. I don’t want any nosey neighbors discovering an outdoor grow, so I keep things inside.

I germinated my seed in a small 4-in² (10.16cm²) square plastic pot. I transplanted it into a 3-gallon (11.35-liter) smart pot by week 4, and then into a 5-gallon (19-liter) smart pot during week 8. I like using smart pots because they drain quickly and provide plenty of oxygenation for a plant’s root system.

Purple Punch Grow Report

I was pretty pleased with this Purple Punch variety by Barney’s Farm. My first seed germinated within a few days, and after that, there was no stopping this girl. It took 20 weeks for the plant to mature, and by the time she was fully grown, I knew I’d found one of my new favorite strains.

Since this was a photoperiodic strain, I manually flipped it from veg into the flower cycle by switching my lights from 18 hours of light per day to 12 hours at the end of week 11.

Purple Punch Vegetative Stage: Weeks 1-11

The first thing I noticed about this Purple Punch strain is that she really likes her veg time. She spent nearly 3 months vegging out before I flipped her into the flowering phase. While some growers dislike long veg times, I swear by them. They give plants time to develop and set the plant up to bloom aggressively once flowering kicks in.

However, when weed stays in the veg phase for this long in an indoor garden, a grower needs to stay on top of plant maintenance. If they don’t, the plant will grow too tall and its canopy will physically grow into your light source.

To prevent that from happening, I topped my girl during weeks 7 and 8. I turned each of these tops into a main line and was pretty pleased with the results. I also defoliated my girl in week 8 of veg to help promote light penetration through the canopy.

I maintained 18 hours of light per day throughout the veg phase. I know that some growers like to bump their lights up to 20 hours per day, but I find that this can stress out many non-autoflower strains. Since this was a photoperiodic strain, I didn’t want to risk it and kept my light at an even 18 hours.

My girl got the same nutrient mix throughout the veg phase. I fed her General Hydroponics FloraCoco Grow at 2ml/l (7.57ml/gal) and FloraCoco Bloom at 1ml/l (3.79ml/gal). I set my mix pH to 6.1, and the TDS of my mix stayed level at about 450 PPM.

My garden’s environment stayed pretty standard throughout the veg phase, too. Since veg plants like wet air, I kept my garden’s humidity fairly high at around 60%. My girl also liked her room warm, so I set the temperature in my garden to 73^oF (23^oC).

Purple Punch Flower Cycle: Weeks 12-20

Holy stretch! This lady definitely grew quickly during the first week of flower. This explosion of stem growth – called “stretch” – is something all weed plants do during the first week in the flowering phase, but the stretch on this Purple Punch defied even my most hopeful expectations!

When plants stretch during the first week of the flowering phase, they need plenty of nitrogen to support the process. To do that, I bumped up the FloraCoco Grow to 4ml/l (15.14ml/gal) in week 12. I kept the FloraCoco Bloom at 1ml/l (3.79 ml/gal), which I think my girl really liked.

By week 13, my lovely lady slowed down her stretching. At that point, I changed my mix to include FloraCoco Grow: 1ml/l (3.79ml/gal), FloraCoco Bloom: 3ml/l (11.36ml/gal), and Plagron pk 13-14: 1ml/l (3.79ml/gal). This helped promote more stable bud growth, and I continued it for the rest of the flower cycle.

I also defoliated my girl in week 13. That ensured proper light penetration through my canopy and airflow beneath it. Both of these factors can help minimize the chance of your plant catching some kind of nasty pest infestation.

My girl matured fairly fast. She was already showing small buds by week 14. By week 17, these were full-fledged whopper nuggets, and they were already beginning to smell. In week 18, trichomes became really apparent, and my girl was showing off her purple genetics.

Throughout the early flower cycle, the TDS of my nutrient mixes came out to about 800. I pH’d my mixes to 5.9, as I think this is the best pH for plants growing in coco coir. I maintained the same environmental conditions as I had in the veg cycle.

I harvested my girl after flushing with cold, non pH’d water in week 20. This technique can really make purple plants pop on harvest day.

Purple Punch Harvest Info

I don’t often say this, but this girl is lit! I pulled down more than 12 ounces (300g) from a single plant. That’s something special. Normally, even under the best circumstances, I pull a gram per 1W light. Using that rule, I should have harvested 250g (8.8oz), so Purple Punch definitely exceeded expectations. I’m chalking this up to my girl’s long veg time, which gave her time to develop early in her lifecycle.

I hope this grow report helps anyone who wants to try their hand at Purple Punch. This is a really great strain, and I’ll definitely be growing it again. I’d wholeheartedly recommend this strain for growers of any skill level – try it out and see what you can do!

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