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This week I saw explosive new growth after finally dialing in my light intensity. I had my lights turned up to 100% and it was too much for the plants. I had purple leaves and stems and what looked like a calcium deficiency and it was related to the intensity of the PPFD at that hanging height. I did a H2O+Hygrozyme wash last Sunday and then resumed feeding schedule with a Alkaline water pH(8.5) flush immediately following the feed and it unlocked all the available nutrients. My well water was testing at pH4.5/12ppm this past winter and it made using it on my plants difficult to dial in. It had zero buffering capacity so the smallest amounts of fertilizers and pH adjusters and it would swing wildly before leveling out. Now it's spring time and my water tests perfect at pH6.5 and 25ppm. The buffering capacity is now strong and it takes much more to cause the pH to move. Because I use Pro-Mix and the pH can drift downwards very easily I was getting nutrient lockout and my soil was testing at pH5.1. After flushing with Potassium Carbonate and water the growth just exploded. I have been supplementing with Mychorrizae and Bacillus and it had colonized the root system well so as soon as that pH went up just a little it unlocked the potential for these to acquire nutrients much better.
Has anyone that is growing Zkittles notice this plant sensitive to over-exposure of light? my first time growing this strain and I was getting what looked like severe Calcium def at the tops. Moved it up to 18” and 60% and they look beautiful and happy. Photone reported 1100ppfd
photone is no guarantee... as long as the characteristics of your light are near enough to the stock factor calculation they are using... it'lll be okay. What you can use it for is relative intensity... 90% of what you read before will be 90% of actually ppfd (whatever it was), too, so it is proportional. Those apps are like a TDS meter... a TDS meter does not measure PPM... it measures EC and divides by .5 or .7 or .. think there's a third possibility depending on manufacturer and region. The photone app i slikely taking a lux reading, because that's all a phone can actually do, and then applying some stock calculation to provide you with a false ppfd value.
because the led lights are much more similar now, the error will be smaller, at least. you cannot measure ppe without a real piece of scientific equipment. your phone absolutely cannot measure photons individually or in any direct way that results in accurate measurments.
Now, genetics do play a role, but the larger factors to consider are your environment. Temp, RH and atmospheric co2 will dictate how much light your plant can handle. the temp and rh also dictate how fast it drinks to match that new potential with extra available co2, or it will be in some part wasted.
Light burn symptoms are pretty obvious when they start... if you see them, react of course... but don't assume that the plant can handle the same exact amount any particular day if the other factors are wobbling. it can't. it's all relative, baby!
1100ppfd, which isn't ppfd, if it's a measurement in "1" spot. PPFD is the average per m^2. so you'd have to take measurements in several locations and average them out to determine what you are provider per your area. it's easier to just take the umol/s your light produces, if proper spec sheet which cna be rare, and convert from your umol/s per area to umol/s per m^2 then reference a DLI table... that will be apples to apples in that regard. A DLI 35-40 is probably safe, but also could be the start of the "danger zone" it's not a line in the sand.. it becomes a progressively worse context at some point, though.
that "point" fluctuates with environment as well as genetics, but less so.. these plants evolved being pelted by too much light. if there's soem volatility here it's probably due to lack of foresight with breeders.. .cause that would be a stupid trait to allow to persist or amplify.
The two mother plants are being put into flower this weekend and one of their many clones will be selected as the new mother assuming I keep Zkittles in my collection, she’s a bit unruly indoors.
Flowers are really filling in, the Terp Tea Bloom and CES Sugaree are helping the buds put on bulk and the trichome coverage increase. I'm in the home stretch.
Mitrafiend
