Royal Gorilla Grow Diary and Strain Review

This run with Royal Gorilla from Royal Queen Seeds was my first try with RQS genetics. I’d heard good things from other growers, and since I was starting a new cycle anyway, I decided to put 10 seeds into the room and see what the strain could do.

The grow room was built for a larger mixed run, so Royal Gorilla wasn’t the only variety in the space. I started the plants in 0.5l (0.1gal) pots, later moved them into 1.5l (0.4gal) containers, and kept the room steady while I watched which seedlings were worth keeping.

27% THC

Royal Gorilla (Royal Queen Seeds)

• Photoperiod
• 500 - 550 g/m² indoors
  550 - 600 g/plant outdoors
• Straight to heaven

Pack (number of seeds)

3

5

$35.71 $51 59.52 Save 8.52

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Starting the Run

Grow Notes

I soaked all 10 seeds overnight, then planted each one into its own 0.5l (0.1gal) pot. The lamp was hanging 75cm (29.5in) above the pots and stayed on around the clock at first.

The room itself was stable: about 22°C (71.6°F), with humidity around 50-55%. I usually start with extra seeds because even good breeders don’t always give perfect germination, and this run proved that habit useful.

Veg Week 1

By day 7, I had 8 seedlings above ground. Six of them looked strong enough right away and had already reached about 8cm (3.1in). One was smaller at 5cm (2in), and another had a strange, crooked structure from the start.

I didn’t make any hard decisions immediately. The small one still had a chance to catch up, but the worst seedling already looked like it might not be worth the space.

Veg Week 2

The second week felt much better. The plants were comfortable, the stems thickened, and fresh leaves came in quickly. Royal Gorilla was supposed to stay fairly squat, so height gain was modest, only about 4cm (1.6in).

Watering was simple: 200ml (6.8fl oz) of prepared water per pot every other day. The seedling that had been behind almost caught up with the others, but the weakest one still didn’t develop properly, so I removed it from the run.

Veg Progress and Training

Veg Week 3

The remaining plants were moved into 1.5l (0.4gal) pots. At this stage, the room was already getting busy, so I started moving pots around and trying to keep Royal Gorilla in a place where it had enough light.

There were some signs that the plants wanted more food, but nothing looked out of control. I marked the Royal Gorilla pots so I could keep track of them among the rest of the garden.

Veg Week 4

By the end of week 4, the plants were around 20-22cm (7.9-8.7in). I raised the lamp to 110cm (43.3in) above the tops and increased watering to 400ml (13.5fl oz) every other day per plant.

The room still needed some juggling, but the Royal Gorilla plants looked more settled after that. The canopy was starting to get branchy, and the main stems became noticeably thicker.

Veg Week 5

This week went smoother. The plants took the nutrients well, added a lot of leaf mass, and looked much more confident than they had during the early sorting stage.

By the end of week 5, they were about 28-30cm (11-11.8in). The structure was getting dense, which was a good sign for future bud sites, but it also hinted that I’d have to clean them up before flower got too crowded.

Veg Week 6

By week 6, the canopy had become thick enough that light wasn’t reaching the lower parts properly. That was the point where I decided to top the plants and do a serious defoliation.

The room looked completely different afterward. It felt a little aggressive while I was doing it, but the plants needed the space, and there was no point keeping shaded growth that wouldn’t pull its weight later.

The Flip and Early Flower

Flower Week 1

After the flip, Royal Gorilla started stretching harder than I wanted. The plants were still manageable, but the room was not exactly spacious, and canopy control became a real part of the job.

I kept watering every other day and watched how they reacted after the topping and defoliation. They didn’t seem fragile. If anything, they looked like they were ready to take over more room than I planned to give them.

Flower Week 2

By the second flowering week, the plants had reached about 65cm (25.6in). Stretch was still active, and the canopy was starting to look like a solid green wall.

Watering was 1.5l (50.7fl oz) per plant every other day. At this stage, the main work was keeping the tops even enough and making sure the lower parts didn’t turn into useless shade.

Flower Week 3

By flower week 3, the plants were already 80-85cm (31.5-33.5in). I took them outside briefly for photos and immediately noticed how aromatic they had become.

Back in the room, the problem was obvious: the plants were standing too close together. Small lower shoots had no real chance of getting enough light, so keeping them would only drain energy from the better tops.

Late Flower and Finish

Flower Week 4

Around week 10 of the full run, I did the last defoliation and removed some weak lower branches. It wasn’t about making the plants look neat. They were too crowded, and I wanted the useful flowers to get the attention.

I also added Plagron Green Sensation at 1ml/l. From this point, the vertical stretch finally stopped, the flowers began thickening properly, and the smell became stronger.

Flower Week 5

With the stretch over, the buds started putting on weight instead of the plants trying to climb higher. I removed Vita Race from the mix and kept the watering rhythm simple, once every 2 days.

The colas were already looking promising. Resin coverage improved, and the room carried that strong Royal Gorilla smell every time I opened it.

Flower Week 6-7

The last part of flower was mostly waiting and checking maturity. Some plants looked ready before others, but with several bushes in the same space, I didn’t want to harvest them one by one.

I decided to cut everything together once most of them were ready. Before harvest, the flowers looked dense and resinous, and the smell was strong enough to be both a plus and a problem.

Royal Gorilla Yield and Final Thoughts

After 10 days in the drying chamber, I ended up with 285g (10.1oz) of dry buds. It wasn’t the maximum this strain could probably do, but considering the crowded room and the small early pots, I was fine with the result.

Royal Gorilla from RQS turned out easy to grow. The plants handled topping and heavy defoliation well, and the flowers came out dense with plenty of resin. The main thing I’d change next time is space: these plants clearly wanted more room than I gave them.

The first sample confirmed that the harvest was worth the effort. The taste was good, with diesel and a little earth in it. The effect felt balanced to me, starting with a happy lift and settling into full relaxation afterward.

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