She's happily cruising from veg into flower this week (hopefully). I've been doing very light LST to keep the secondary and tertiary top twin colas in the light. Creative fan leaf weaving helps immensely! I am not going to defoliate her as I want her to have as much photosynthesis as possible while in veg.
Genetics + Nectar For The Gods + new ES-180 V3 light + CO2 bubbler at 2000PPM = great growth so far.
The growth so far has been explosive. Unfortunately, due to all of the additions to the tent it's virtually impossible to tell which are responsible or if it's just the genetics...it's named Mass XXL for a reason! I'm not complaining though. My guess is that it's the steady supply of CO2 during her waking hours. We'll see on the next identical grow with no CO2.
All of that x 10 main colas from topping = decent harvest (hopefully)
***UPDATE FOUR HOURS LATER***
Changed the status of this week from veg to flower. As you can see from the photos it should be productive. All 10 of the mail top split colas are in the early stages of flowering as well as six other smaller satellite colas. There are tiny popcorn nodes further down the stems that I will crush like the energy sapping parasites that they are later this week.
So far, so good!
Finishing up germination week and she is looking nice. Been doing 18/6 and 6.2 pH water with 1/4 strength FF Big Bloom. That's the stinky bat guano, worm casings, and what not. Nothing wrong with her getting a little taste of the good life now. Arriving on Wednesday will be the Spartan Regiment from Nectar of the Gods.
I did a slurry test on the FF Happy Frog I have her in and my Hanna GroLine came back with 5.95 pH. I'll take it for now! This will be the first grow where I did not use a specific autoflower living soil. I have had soil pH issues on every grow including my current #5 a couple of weeks from harvest. Every single fan leaf turned yellow and dropped off all mottled from, what I am assuming was, a potassium uptake issue. Not 100% certain but that's my uneducated guess. Rather than take the chance again I added NO amendments to the soil other than perlite. The soil is somewhere around 65/35 - 75/25 with another 2 inch layer of perlite at the bottom of the bag to help control root issues.
After ALL of these issues with soil pH I've decided that I want to try to control the pH grow medium of my plants itself. I've been looking at DWC and think that's may just may be the solution. Have everything I need ordered and on the way.
@KingSalomonsWeed,
Various levels of failure. Some worse than others but for the most part centering around soil pH issues. I didn't understand what a proper flush was and paid the price. I was just running enough water for testable runnoff and that's it. I had no idea that a proper flush consisted of 2 gallons of water for every gallon of pot size. So for me that would be TEN gallons of water and here I was thinking a 2-liter bottle was enough to mitigate soil issues.
Oh...and don't confuse normal calyx growth with that of nanners. #2 got the chop because of false accusations of maleness. LOL!
I have been the epitome of a grower flying by the seat of their pants with no clue what to do and a stubbornness to learn...up until recently.
I have a couple last parts on the way like the 4" rubber O-ring collar to better attach the fan to the filter and I have some shiny aluminum air vents for the ends of the hoses in the tent. Plus I want to silence the exhaust fan at the top of the tent like I did with its intake cousin. That thing is LOUD! I'll before and after photos of the change in decibel levels. It's amazing!
Outside of this I think this tent is done and ready to grow a massive Afghan Mass XXL. Here is the post that inspired this grow. The main cola dried and trimmed at 7 ounces with 13 ounces total in a DWC setup. I figure with some new approaches to lights and nutrients with a very scientific approach to feeding then I am doing great at even half that harvest. This is definitely what I am using as a rule of thumb, at least.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Autoflowers/comments/ql3atu/anyone_looking_for_an_auto_that_has_amazing/
Here are the upgrades to date:
* Adjustable Bluetooth canopy level thermo-hygrometer. (H/DH controller sensor attached.) pat. pend.
* Adjustable soon to be silenced Spider Farmer 205 CFM exhaust fan terminating in charcoal filter.
* Adjustable silenced Spider Farmer dual port 205 CFM air intake; 62db -> 19db.
* Adjustable aeration 6L dual port CO2 bubbler feeding pure CO2 to base of plant.
* Adjustable Electric Sun ES-180 V3 wideband LED grow light.
* Adjustable 2x40w 2 ft. Szhlux daylight LED side-lighting.
* Adjustable 44# turntable for even canopy light in later veg.
* Hum/Dehum controller with water recycling system (DH pipes to H).
* Velco closure upgraded.
* Nectar For The Gods non-NPK calcium based nutrient system.