Strawberry Cough - Newbie DWC

Transplanted to netpot on empty bucket with fully custom, top of the line, 2-liter bottle humidity dome (11 days after starting seed) Water inside the bottle was just from washing it out. Looking okay, first true leaves were a little frazzled but new node is looking good. Hand feeding to keep the rockwool from drying out, nutrient mix (per gallon): 3g Jack's 5-12-26 2g Calcium Nitrate 1g Epsom salt small sprinkle of Great White EC=2.0, pH=6 Light set to ~40% @ 16"

Filled bucket with nutrient solution and started the air pump (just a tetra whisper 100 between 2 buckets which turned out to be underpowered for this go) Roots started to hit the water late this week, turned lights up a little ~50% @ 16". Humidity dome was left on until the middle of the week when ambient humidity increased, using carboard and white tape to reflect some of the light off the netpot lid. Petiole's are going red, the first node's growth is pretty stunted, meristem seems a bit flimsy but all in all she's growing well and looking pretty good. Nutrient solution in EC=0.4 tap (per gallon): 3g Jack's 5-12-26 2g Calcium Nitrate 1g Epsom salt 2ml Silica gold 2ml Fulvex 1/2 tsp per bucket of Great White Phosphoric acid to get to pH 6 EC=2.0, pH=6

Nothing much done except for topping her on day1 of this week. Kept lights around 50% @ 16" Ambient temperatures were getting hotter causing the reservoir to heat up, there wasn't enough air running through through the nutrient solution which made it even worse. Low O2 and dangerously high temperatures for sure. Growth kept up however, she put up with it better than my other plant did. Meristem growth seemed great after recovering from the topping but new branches were growing pretty floppy, leaves not really spreading out until they are pretty big. Also getting droopy leaf tips on old fans, low O2 related or maybe too much N? Growing slower than she could due to the issues causing me to run low light to play it safe. Hooked up a more powerful air pump and started the AC more at the end of the week, time to give her all the light she can take. Nutrient solution in EC=0.4 tap (per gallon): 3g Jack's 5-12-26 2g Calcium Nitrate 1g Epsom salt 2ml Silica gold 2ml Fulvex 1/2 tsp per bucket of Great White Phosphoric acid to get to pH 6 EC=2.0, pH=6

Messy looking leaves this week are due to LST. New tie downs on the side of the netpots are working out, she's growing fast so I've been adjusting daily, ended the week spreading out over the edges of the bucket. Turns out my topping was more of a FIM, 3 branch node off the meristem - neat! 2 are growing thick fast, the third started with some single leaf nodes, and a bit frazzled, but the new nodes are developing nicely. Did a res change the first day of the week, pH of the original nutrient solution was still dead nuts stable after 2 weeks. Backed off the nitrogen and epsom a touch and she responded well pretty quick. New branches are showing better, stronger growth, starting to get into her stride. Minor pruning before flipping lights to 12/12 Nutrient mix (Per Gallon) (ml/gal on growdiaries nutrients = g/gal): 3.6g Jack's 5-12-26 2.2g Calcium Nitrate 1g Epsom salt 3ml Silica gold 3ml Fulvex 1/8 tsp per bucket RAW phosphorus 1/2 tsp per bucket of Great White Phosphoric acid pH down Currently mix NPK ~ 7-4.5-9 @ EC2.2, got a little higher concentration than I was shooting for, going to top her off with just pH'ed tap water for a bit to dilute. Flipped to flower on day 32 from seed, half way through the week, and cranked light to 80% @ 14", time to stop babying and see what she can do with real light. d33 - topped off res, moved LST tiedowns, noticed a couple intermediate growth fan leaf tips going a bit yellow, high on the plant so maybe light burn already? staying at 80% @ 14" for now Roots look less than ideal, I reeeeeally hope those high res temps didn't kick us in the rootballs. d34 - adjusted tie downs

Flipped lights to 12/12 on d32 from seed, F number in picture descriptions reflects that, not actual time of starting to flower. Light slowly increased to ~85% @ 16" now, shooting for ~34mol dli So far she has been a dream to grow, taken to topping and LST as well as I could hope. Got about a 2'x1.5' of flat flat canopy at day 40 from seed, I'm super proud of that. Between light limitations and the middle branches starting to peak up above the canopy I think that does it for the LST, it's time to let her grow up! Pruned the odd fan leaf or shoot through the week but she's filling out so nice I didn't need to do much beyond adjusting the tie downs. Need to keep better track but after 2.5 days I added the better part of a gallon to top off the res, thirsty girl! New growth is coming in a bit lighter green than I think I want? My top off solution was lower on N, Ca and Mg than usual jacks 321, I should have waiting until she started to bud up for that, so I spiked her res with a touch of calcium nitrate and epsom. Planning on a res change to a higher P mix for a week once she starts to pop buds.

Thanks for stopping by! The Sr. Pruning supervisor gets a treat for every like here😉 Humidity creeping upwards of 70% at night with the cooler temps, daytime has been between 55-65%, Strawberry is loving it though, she's growing so well. d43 - res change, see pictures for recipe(in bold box) and estimated ppms (left most element table) - adjusted LST d44 - pH jumped up 0.3 from where it was after sitting for a day in the mix bucket, added ~ 2-3ml phosphoric which means i'm higher on P than I wanted. d45 - I see stigmas! She's certainly stretching, and drinking upwards of 1/2-3/4gal per day, d46 - lollypopped just a few older leaves, she really doesn't need much work when it comes time to defoliate, grew so few wasted leaves, loving this plant. d47 - she's so thirsty, not too concerned about my humidity yet with how much she's drinking. pH and EC are staying really stable, think she likes a touch below ph6 so going to try and stay toward pH5.7-5.8. Res change back to a more standard 321 formula in a few days.

She's stretching up to 2 inches (5cm) per day! - Thanks for stopping by, the Pruning Supervisor gets a treat for every like this entry gets 😁 D49 - 20" tall, almost an inch overnight, start of stretch D50 - didn't measure D51 - res change to normal flower formula (see image) - 23.5" tall D52 - 25.5" tall D53 - 27" tall - bases new growth has greened up, D54 - 28" - haven't been LST'ing, canopy isn't so flat anymore 😐 D55 - 30" new growth still yellowish (not near as bad as pictures) and a bit spindly, hmmm she is drinking a bit less now, did some more pruning **Issues** My previous bud-set formula was not dialed in, not bad but I THINK the super thin and yellowing base of new growth was a phosphorus excess antagonizing iron uptake. Also had a bit too much upper-tent airflow so she was getting a good amount of wind now that she's so tall. Moved the fans and hope she transpires a bit less now as well. She's going to need a much bigger defoliation next week, should have taken off more of the outside branches from the big secondary (now primary?) ones. **Nutes / pH** Need to look into how much Si/Fulvic is ideal, running < 1/2 mfg suggested just because I don't know, but this plant's new growth has always been more flimsy than my last long-internode plant. Could also be genetics or nutes.😗 She was slurping up EC 2 bud-set solution like a champ, Res even dropped to EC1.9 a few times before top-off. With the flower solution mix, the res EC is bumping up to 2.1 as she drinks, going to see how that plays out now that I (hopefully) lowered transpiration a touch and target ~EC1.8 The micros are in the Jacks A mix so I didn't have a very good way of increasing Fe to help her out, I topped off with the rest of the bud-set solution I made since she wasn't acting stunted in any way. Other plant didn't mind the formula as much, but new growth was just starting to show signs, lesson learned. Anyone use nitric acid in DWC? I took an educated guess on the available P from pH down, seems to be right to some degree now, which means I'm basically always going to be pushing higher P than I want. Been thinking I would like to have the option to adjust using half phosphoric/half nitric to give me even more P breathing room, there's plenty in the 5-12-26 and the extra N means I don't have to step up calcium so hard. **Training/Lights** Lights are 95% @ ~14-15", canopy is probably a bit too wide but still fairly flat. AC's been on so long co2 is starting to build up so upped DLI~43?, Careful Icarus...😎 Did some lite pruning through the week. Skinny lateral branches that are hanging outside and below the canopy of thick branches will likely get pruned during a bigger defoliation next week Going for quality > quantity with this run.

I defoliated too much... As you can see, the pruning supervisor called in upper management and I got a stern talking to. So this week, any likes this entry gets means a treat for both the pruning supervisor AND upper management 😜 Toward the end of the week it did start looking a bit better, can still see through the canopy pretty easy though.😞 live and learn, she's still healthy and flowering nicely 😁 Adjusted colors a bit on the photos this weak as my phone edits them too yellow under these lights. Still not great, touch too blue and tops still too yellow in direct light but it's closer to real. Continuing to tweak this in following weeks. Planning on starting the bud porn photos soon! Vertical growth slowed down after the defol, grew ~1" taller per day all week, which is better, I'm running out of headroom. Hope she calms down and switches focus to flower real soon. **Issues** She greened up after switching out the bud-set to flower formula but I never really got that res below ec1.9 and she wanted less. New tips are showing nute and/or light burn... Did a res change with flower formula diluted down to EC1.6 (including the EC0.4 from tap water) at the end of the week, not going to back off lights yet. Should have diluted more right after the defoliation, this week she drank around 70% of what she was before. **Nutes / pH** After a res change the pH goes way up over an hour or two, guessing this is all coming from the rootball, I can usually put pH5.4-5.5 solution in a new res and it'll settle at just shy of 6. Once it settles, pH is still very stable, slight raise after she feeds gets corrected by topping off with ~pH5.8 solution. Thinking I'm going to stop the Silica with the next res change. **Training/Lights** Pruned some branches with the defol, there was just way too much leaning outside or way below the canopy. Top of canopy is pretty varied in height, light is going to be an issue. Gave her a relaxing evening after the defol, rest of the week I had lights ~15" @ 95% power @20% ppfd conversion loss = DLI ~37mol? forgot the ppfd conversion losses in my previous DLI estimates. I have the feeling this pheno would be PERFECT for ScrOG, branches and newer growth have always been super easy to manipulate, if a bit flimsy. I could have filled a 4x4 with maybe another week or two veg. So leggy, if branches don't start thickening up soon I'm going to have to start supporting a lot of growth when she starts packing on flower weight.

Thanks for taking a look! F number in photos = days since 12/12 flip. No more pictures of management or the senior pruning supervisor for a while, they are no longer allowed in the tent room because the plants are starting to get nice and sticky. Lil strawberry here bounced back from defoliation quite well, should have taken off a few more branches and less fans. 6 days after defol she's back to drinking 3/4gal of ec1.9 solution per day in VPD~1.35kPa. On the plus side, it stunted her vertical growth a little, but I've still completely lost control over the canopy, just a shaggy mess of uneven tops. One main branch was a good 4-5"(10-12cm) above the next tallest and running far too close to the light, so I've done some experimental plant abuse. A lot of the smaller twiggy branches from the base were bending out, which wasn't helping the already messed up canopy, so I supercropped the big one right across the middle of the plant where it was still pretty thin. My thought here is that I'm going to brace that and hope it grows a solid bar in the middle of the plant I can then use to anchor other branches to and bundle it up a bit to get closer to a 2'x2' canopy. Closer to... it's still going to be a mess. Not worried about being able to take the abuse, she's super healthy, growing like mad and took the defoliation like it was nothing. Worst case, I don't mind a reduced yield here to make res changes easier. Struggled getting EC to stay low where she wants it but EC1.9-2 doesn't seem to be causing any issues either. On day 8 of the current res, pH rock stable the whole time, going to change it in a day or two and shoot for EC~1.5(including ec0.35 tap water) to start I think. One more res w/ silicic acid, then stopping after that.

Thanks for taking a look! Not much to report this week, wasn't able to spend a whole lot of time with her. Her "canopy" is kind of hopeless, ended up supercropping another cola that was trying to grab onto the light or something. I left too many lower branches on, some of them are still just super spindly. She needs more pruning and defoliation soon, drinking like a fish again and I'm trying to keep RH =<55% Lights are super close to the long tops, maybe 12", 16-20" from her "canopy". Changed res on day 70, stable but EC keeps raising because she wants a little less food:water right now, likely going to change again in just over a week.

Res change early in the week at 10 days old, stopped adding silicic acid for the rest of this run. Did some more heavy pruning mid week as she was just evaporating SO much water, will spend a bunch more time doing SOMETHING for her next week. It's all because I don't have a proper way to handle stretchy plants like this but the canopy is a mess, branches are needing support, main colas are trying to eat the light. Top leaves aren't going crispy as fast as I expected, still kind of struggling keeping EC as low as she wants it, pH staying rock stable. One thing I cannot complain about is how vigorous she is, the 2 supercropped branches are doing just fine, plant grows and grows like she wants to take over my entire home.

She's looking a bit sad, though her leaves still perk up in the evening I didn't get many good pics this week. Got one with a light burned leaf though 😐 Moved around exhaust so I could get the light as high as possible, good thing she's done growing because it's at 16" now and can't go higher. Already a bit sick of dealing with her floppy top-heavy ass, did another res change after 8 days, started at EC1.5 and it's still going up and up. Got fed up with a couple shorter floppy branches and took em off, pruned a little and tied her together some more. The 4-6 main branches are pretty solid but everything else is pretty limp, next time I'll be growing this strain quite a bit different. I'm thinking this pheno is going to want 10+ weeks in flower, with everything else going on she's probably going to get chopped early. Resin does smell like strawberries though, so that's pretty nice.

This cultivar has all the traits of a sativa style, flowers are still coming in but they're almost all looking rather larfy. I probably kept too many bud sites. I think the curling sugar leaves are telling me N tox? not sure if this is from my ratios or just the EC spikes last week. Some bigger fans on the highest tops are getting light burned but whatever, need to keep the photons pumping so the 'canopy' and supercropped branches get enough. Res change mid week at day 8, been topping off almost exclusively with pH down'ed tap water to keep the EC low, acting like she wants 1.3-1.4. Ratio's on the diary entry are correct, just diluted ~20-30% Can't really smell it over my other stanky ass plant, but the resin is nice and strawberry with a touch of gas. Certainly would like to pop another one of these seeds if this smokes well, I think with everything learned from this go it will turn out MUCH better. That said, this is probably 2 weeks behind my other plant so it's almost certainly going to get harvested early. I picked up some more photography gear and dusted off the ol canon, planning on getting back into photography a bit. Phone shots under grow lights (or even worse, with direct flash) suck, not to mention my constant issues with white balance and blown highlights. I'm focusing more on my other plant as I dial in my process, but will get some more flower shots as she plumps up.

Res change mid week at day 7, switched to late flower formula above. She responded pretty well to lowering N, still a floppy mess though. Got some cooler temps and cold nights this week. She needs 2 maybe 3 more weeks but I'm not going to give it to her, getting chopped as soon as my Black Jack is ready. Buds are all pretty larfy, but there's a respectable amount of trichomes and the resin smells pretty nice. Stems are weak as hell, and she's getting burned by the light. I just don't care that much anymore. Cranked the light from ~85% to 95% because why not at this point.

Didn't chop this week, Black Jack still has a little bit to go so Strawberry here got a reprieve. She's making use of it, bulking up a bit, anything but the tops are still pretty larfy but tops and the supercropped mids are looking better. Still going to be a bitch to trim. No res change this week, she's mostly down to drinking water so starting with a dilute nutrient solution helped. Bucket mostly gets topped off with water as well, trying to push it so I don't have to change this bucket out.

This week was just tap water with enough pH down to keep things under control. Lights out for ~20 hours before she got the axe on day 22 since the last res change. 32 days from seed to 12/12 lights, 90 days from light schedule change to chop. Want a nice slow dry so I only took off the biggest fan leaves, I can't get conditions perfect though so we'll see. I will make a harvest entry as soon as I trim and start the cure. Sorry for the sub-par flash photos of the harvest, was pressed for time and that's all I got.

Success! Pretty happy with the genetics, I was just not set up to grow them however. That and a few other mistakes along the way that cost me yield for sure, but still pulled more than enough perfectly smokable tasty bud, even with really heavy trimming. Mids and lowers were pretty larfy with a lot of leaves so a lot of flower was thrown in with the trim. I might grow this again in the future if I get a SCROG setup, never again in bubbler buckets though. Such a PITA to change res with such a tall lanky plant. Light averaged maybe 135 wall watts over the whole grow, 136.2g dried flower, 109.4g of barely sifted trim with a lot of flower for cannabutter, couple grams of scissor/trim hash. That's a win in my books. Probably pack the tent up for a little while. As much as I want to start another grow right now it isn't in the cards for a bit. I'll still be checking this site out so if you have any questions feel free to comment or message me.