Banana Time!

IMCAGrower The first week has passed, the seedling looks healthy, showing a slight discoloration. I haven't watered since germination, the substrate isn't drying out, and besides that, there's not much more to see. I hope I don't have problems with a lack of oxygen in the roots.

IMCAGrower The girl is doing quite well, showing discoloration on the leaves and signs of water stress. It's been 10 days without watering due to the low temperatures. The internodes are quite short, and although the lack of oxygen in the roots is noticeable, growth hasn't stopped. The substrate is about to dry out, and I will add 500ml of pure water at pH 6.2.

IMCAGrower The substrate finally dried out, I can see some dry tips due to stress, the plant isn't growing much in height but it's branching a lot. I will add the first foliar spray with top barrier 0.5ml/L as a preventive measure and nutritional supplement for the chlorosis that's visible. Additionally, a watering of 1L of water with BioRoots rooting agent from Bioproyect at a rate of 1.5ml/L. There are no signs of pests or fungi.

IMCAGrower During this week, the girl finished recovering from water stress and has a good root ball. She increased her water consumption and is watering every 3 or 4 days, alternating pure standing water with pH 6.4 and the first watering with vegetation fertilizer. The girl is growing lush with a strong, thick main stem and not much height. I did the first defoliation and applied a very gentle LST to allow for better airflow between the new branches and more light exposure. The plant is responding well to the pruning and LST and is getting ready to enter pre-flowering.

IMCAGrower The plant keeps branching out and is starting pre-flowering, getting ready for the final push. In the meantime, I changed the photoperiod to 20/4 and added a 400w sodium light to the 200w CFL I already had for vegetation. I adjusted the LST again, I think for the last time before letting them be until the end. I water every 4 days or so with 2L of standing water with a pH between 6.2 and 6.4. Yesterday it got pure water, and as soon as it asks for more, I'll give it a little bit of top crop algae extract. Big one and top auto in very low doses, since the plant hasn't shown any signs of deficiency. I did a foliar spray with Neem oil, cinnamon extract, and potassium soap as a preventive measure. It has responded well to the new light, the distance between the sodium and the top is 60cm, I will shorten it another 10cm later if the temperature allows me. I'm on it!

IMCAGrower This week the days have been very cold, the substrate is still very wet, it doesn't give me the chance to fertilize properly to my liking, apparently 2 liters of water is too much, I'll wait for the substrate to dry so I can water with less amount. I did a light LST, slight defoliation, its height growth has slowed down but the lateral branches are growing more, I corrected the position of the light by adding its corresponding reflector to better direct the light. I still need a lot of ventilation, I hope to buy another fan this month, so far nothing strange just waiting for the pre-flower to transition to flowering, it's taken a bit to get here and I hope it's not something bad..

IMCAGrower Honestly, this week has been tough for me. The girl has suffered from a substrate fly infestation. I found the larvae eating the roots and a few little flies on the leaves. I'm trying to get rid of them, but the substrate has been wet for 7 days. I'm letting it dry a bit more and will water with half of what I was using before... In my desperation to eliminate the pest, I did a foliar spray with neem and silica, and I went a bit overboard with the dosage and ruined some leaves that I should have removed... My intention was not to defoliate more, but the situation forced me to. The climate and lack of ventilation really haven't helped. I'm still waiting for that fan and maybe a heater to keep the temperature more consistent. I'm also hoping the plant takes in more water. The pre-flowering has dragged on longer than expected; the height is stuck at 32cm, and the side branches have gained a bit more prominence. The yellowing of the leaves, due to overwatering and the pest, is slowly improving. I'll increase the fertilization as much as I can to recover its green color, and I hope from here on out I won't have any more problems. I'm still fighting the pest, but I'll do it more gently; I don't want to overload the plant with products that it definitely hasn't tolerated well.