EarthBox [LOS] - Seedsman - Black Sugar

Introduction - Week 11 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100123.14, Been growing along smoothly! Early in the week she started to give off a bit of a citrus fuel-like terpene profile! So had to connect the carbon filter. Also got a few responses from my sub-space distress message! Err.. I mean grow question. One suggestion was to check the pH of my growing substrate (soil) and nutrient solution. The leaf damage could be a potassium deficiency which could be a sign of a nutrient lockout due to improper pH. I thought that the worms along with the microbial biology in the soil, both till and self-regulate the grow medium which would include taking care of any pH imbalances. None the less, I’ve been testing my soil's pH (using a basic soil probe meter) and based on the probe meter (assuming it’s accurate), my soil was a bit alkaline (~7.5 pH). I have also been testing the pH of my nutrient solution and water which was testing around 6.0-6.5 pH (again assuming the drops are accurate). So been adding a bit of pH down to some of my waterings to help lower pH (which according to the soil probe, has gone down to around 6 pH). Hopefully this helps! While someone else suggested that it’s a possible nutrient burn (toxicity/over feeding). Well I only nutrient feed once a week (the rest of the week is straight distilled water or distilled water inoculated with microbes)so I don’t think it’s overfeeding was my main issue for the leaf damage. Another suggestion was a potassium lockout due to overfeeding(also thanks for the useful leaf diagnosis link!). But a shout out to the grower who suggested looking into ‘Daily Light Integral. 'Thanks growmie! I think your suggestion will be the chosen answer, but first want to wait to see if she improves. Just learning about DLI has been a mind opener! Also major props on using a bit of Trek lingo (🖖). I never thought that plants could receive too much light and how DLI impacts everything (been running the engines at warp 9 when I should have started at impulse and gradually ramped up). I have raised my light higher which has reduced the PPFD by quite a bit. I have now started to monitor my DLI and will try to adjust the average PPFD every week. Based on all the great suggestions and from what little I have learned and researched online, I now think DLI was the main issue along with perhaps a higher soil pH. I am not too confident on the accuracy of my soil testing methods (pH drops and basic soil probe - unfortunately I don’t have a Bluelab soil tester) so not too sure if pH was an issue at all. Whereas my light meter is quite accurate (Apogee MQ-500) and now that I sort of understand DLI, I completely agree that I’ve been giving her overly intense lighting. I have made adjustments for both and hopefully she improves. Thanks again for all suggestions growmies (🖖)! Still too soon to tell, but I think her leaves are looking healthier with less yellowing on the edges. Also the pistil hairs on her top buds are less ‘scrunched’ and are growing longer. Although towards the very end of the week, I did notice she was drinking less water and had to reduce the watering down a bit. Of course, due to the lower light levels, I guess this makes sense. [START OF WEEK 11] Day 01 - Monday - 07/11/22 - Total Days: 068 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 77.6°F - Humidity: 66.6% - VPD: 1.05kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:28]: Growth is looking incredible! --- Ha! Kinda almost looks like I know what I’m doing (don’t mess this up Ensign). --- Budlets are just thickening up and pistil hairs are just everywhere! Overly hyped! - [22:28]: Okay still raging with budlets! --- Upwards growth is still there but has also noticeably slowed. I think. --- Budlets are looking great! - [22:50]: Time to water! --- Filled a pitcher with 9 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. Day 02 - Tuesday - 07/12/22 - Total Days: 069 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 77.0°F - Humidity: 64.2% - VPD: 1.10kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:16]: She still has some leaves that are yellowing on the edges. --- But hey I’m still overly stoked! Overall growth is looking great! --- I am more concerned about finding a way to lower the relative humidity. --- Woah! As the fan blew across her tops, I got a whiff of a slight lemony fuel terpene profile. Nice! Nothing too strong but definitely there. --- Gave her a quick stem rub and the odor profile was definitely citrus-piney. Wow! - [09:22]: Time to attach the carbon filter! --- In a past grow, I completely wasted a perfectly good carbon filter by connecting it in veg (damnit Ensign). Also the humidifier ended up clogging the filter (another lesson, use distilled water in the humidifier, not tap water). --- This time I hope to make this carbon filter last longer. --- Up until now, there has not been any odor so the filter has remained unattached. --- The way I had my exhaust system pre-setup, attaching the carbon filter was pretty straight forward. --- All I did was slide the fan forward into the carbon filter and attached it with a few stripes of aluminum tape (made sure it was an air-tight seal). - [09:40]: Done! --- The exhaust fan was left running during the entire procedure without any issues. Nice! - [Supplementary Entry]: Earlier I sent a distress message (posted a grow question) and my hails were answered by a few people. Nice! --- In response, I plan to half the weekly feeding dosage and am going to check the pH of the soil and solution. --- Thank you all for the suggestions! - [22:22]: Growing along steady! --- Vertical growth has definitely slowed down. --- This is probably the sign of her getting ready to go into the full flowering phase! - [22:38]: Before watering, going to pH adjust a gallon of CalMag solution (back down the pH rabbit hole again). --- From past experience, this will most likely be adding pH Down (never really had to use pH Up). --- First I filled a gallon jug almost to the top with water. - [10:48]: Using test drops (pH Test Indicator by General Hydroponics) I checked the starting pH. --- To do this, I filled the included test vial about halfway with solution (~5mL) --- Then added 4 drops of the testing fluid to the vial. --- Capped and shook the vial to mix the solution. --- Using the bottle’s label as a pH reference, I compared the color of the solution to the colors on the bottle. --- Based on the results, it looked to be around a 6.1 pH. --- Added 2mL of CaliMagic --- Mixed the gallon and topped off the gallon with more distilled water. --- Took another pH test. --- Based on the results, it looked to be around about the same at around 6.2 pH. --- I carefully added 2 drops of pH Down (Get Down by Mad Farmer) - [23:07]: Relabeled the gallon to ‘CalMag H2O’ and retested the pH. --- Based on the results, it looked to be around 5.1 pH. --- A bit low, but okay. - [23:13]: Water time! --- Filled a pitcher and measuring cup with 9 cups of the CalMag H2O solution. --- Poured the 9 cups straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. - [23:17]: Wow! --- Her budlets now looking more like full buds! --- Stoked on the growth! Day 03 - Wednesday - 07/13/22 - Total Days: 070 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.2°F - Humidity: 66.7% - VPD: 1.00kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:48]: Looking good! --- Some of her leaves are still yellowing on the edges. But again, I am still happy with the growth! --- Bud structure is really starting to stack up too! - [23:37]: Wow! She is starting to bush out again! --- Growth is just incredible! - [23:42]: Water time! --- Going to add a mixture of CalMag water and distilled water. --- Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Then topped the pitcher off with 4 cups of CalMag water. --- Mixed and poured the solution into the EarthBox’s fill tube. Day 04 - Thursday - 07/14/22 - Total Days: 071 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 78.8°F - Humidity: 63.7% - VPD: 1.19kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:23]: There are more leaves with yellow edges, but most of the growth is phenomenal! --- Stoked on the growth! --- Plan to defoliate again before her feeding tonight. - [22:08]: Looking good girl! --- Growing along nicely! - [22:17]: Going to test the soil’s pH. --- Using a basic soil probe, I inserted both prongs a good 6-7” into the soil (near the fill tube). --- According to the meter, the soil was around a 7.0 pH. --- A bit high. --- From what I can recall back in the hydro attempt days, a good pH should be around a 5.5-5.8 pH. - [22:23]: Feeding time! --- She’s made it past the ‘Bloom Stretch’ phase and onto ‘Full Bloom.’ --- This week will be week 1 of Full Bloom feeding (based off of BAS’ feeding schedule). --- Wow, another milestone in the same grow run (the first was making past veg). Woohoo! --- Going to use a mixture of the pH’d CalMag water and distilled water. Also upping the feeding ratios to a full 8 cups. Also going to top dress a bit of Kashi. --- Filled a pitcher with 3 cups of CalMag water. --- Added 5 cups of distilled water (8 cups total). --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract (full spoonful) --- Added 1/8tsp of each of the following: ----- Big 6 Micronutrients [+ Humic Acid] ----- BuildABloom ----- Bio-Phos --- Added 1/2tsp of Pure Protein Dry [Organic Fish Aminos] --- Added 1tsp of Horticultural Coconut --- Added 8 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and tested the pH. --- Based on the results, the solution was around a5.3 pH. --- Great! Did not have to pH adjust the solution. - [23:20]: Checked the soil’s pH again. --- Based on the meter’s results, the soil was now more at a 7.5 pH. --- Before top dressing, I gave her a defoliation. - [+00:00]: Basically cleaned up her yellow-edged leaves. --- Wow! She’s so beautiful! --- I’m loving her terpene profile too! Very citrus with a bit of fuel! Been constantly stem rubbing and sniffing my fingers. Just wow! - [+00:13]: Top dressing time! --- Sprinkled 2tbsp of Kashi Blend (heavy spoonful) --- Using my fingers, I agitated the top dress into the top soil a bit. - [+00:17]: Top watering time! --- Using a spray bottle, I misted the top of the EarthBox with 5 cups of the nutrient solution. - [+00:28]: Mulched the leaves that were trimmed earlier. --- Layered them evenly across the top of the soil. Last time, I mulch the leaves first. Unfortunately, this made things difficult while watering. When misted, the leaves repelled a lot of the water and ran down the sides. - [+00:30]: Now time to bottom water! --- Poured the remaining 3 cups straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. - [+00:51]: Her leave edges are still yellowing. --- Leaf damage looks pretty much identical to last week. --- But again, to me, overall growth still looks great! - [+01:22]: Checked the soil’s pH. --- According to the meter, the soil was at a 7.0 pH. Day 05 - Friday - 07/15/22 - Total Days: 072 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.8°F - Humidity: 66.5% - VPD: 1.03kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:19]: She’s growing along like a champ! --- Wow! Just wow! - [10:05]: Oops! --- Sort of forgot to check the reservoir. Had to turn the lights back on for a bit. --- Filled a measuring cup with 2 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- Then turned the lights off. Sorry girl, Sleep well! - [11:56]: In direct response to another suggestion from a fellow grower (cheers growmie! 🖖), I started to research about DLI, or Daily Light Integral. --- Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) is the visible spectrum of light between 400-700 nanometers. --- This is measured in micromoles of PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density) which represents the amount of photosynthetically active photons that hit a square meter every second. [μmol/m2/s] --- DLI is the amount of PAR received in a 24hr period. This is calculated using both light intensity (in PPFD) and light duration (in hours) which outputs the moles of light that hit a square meter every day. [mol/m2/d] --- Mind blown. --- Now I think I understand what I’ve (also) been doing wrong. --- This has also changed the way I understand how growing works. More specifically how light is used by the plant. [*smokes a bowl] --- Now this is just my opinion and not sure on the accuracy. --- Anyways, I always imagined a cannabis plant was like a solar powered engine. When the tent lights are on, photosynthesis starts, and the engine turns on. The greater the light intensity given to the solar panels, the faster the engine runs. When the lights are off, the engine is off. --- Now I think a plant is similar to an engine that is always running and connected to a rechargeable battery (which constantly drained it). Then during the day, the battery is recharged by the solar panels. --- Anyways! ---I learned there’s a specific amount of light a plant can naturally absorb within a 24 period (similar to how a battery has a max charge). --- Apparently going beyond the recommended DLI range does nothing beneficial for growth. ---Also in similar conditions to my case (I think), going above the recommend DLI can even stress and damage a plant (Damnit Ensign). --- Thankfully science has the answer! --- Found a basic DLI chart which has recommended daily light integrals for both with and without the use of elevated CO2 levels. --- Using a DLI calculator, I can now dial in the PPFD to the desired DLI range. Great! - [22:02]: Growing along great! ---Time to hopefully make it even better! --- Filled a pitcher with 9 cups of distilled water. --- Checked the pH. --- Based on the results, the water was around a 6.2 pH. --- Added 1 drop of pH Down --- Mixed and retested the water. --- Now the water was around a 5.3 pH. --- Poured the 9 cups straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. - [22:30]: Checked the soil’s pH. --- Based on the soil meter, the soil was now around a 6.1 pH. - [22:33]: Okay! Finally time to adjust the lighting based off of the daily light integral for week 10 (DLI range of 34-42) on the chart. Since I am using elevated CO2, I will try for a DLI of about 38. Hopefully I got the week right. --- Took a PPFD reading. --- The top of the canopy was at 1584μmol/m2/s --- Using a DLI calculator, --- I calculated the DLI to be at 68.43mol/m2/d --- RED ALERT!!! Warp core has reached critical levels! Radiation levels are exceeding maximum tolerance! Initiating DLI correction protocols (🖖). --- Ha! Anyways! Wow that’s a very high DLI. --- Since I’m able to simply raise my light, I did so. - [22:43]: I raised the light up a good 10” higher and took another PPFD reading. ---Now the canopy dropped to around 854μmol/m2/s --- Ran the numbers through a DLI calculator to get a daily light integral of 36.89mol/m2/d. --- Much better! --- [*smokes a bowl] --- Cheers and thanks again to the growmie who gave the DLI advice! --- I think this will solve the leaf damage, but still way too soon to tell. Day 06 - Saturday - 07/16/22 - Total Days: 073 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 77.2°F - Humidity: 67.0% - VPD: 1.03kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:35]: Looking absolutely beautiful! --- Bud structure is also really starting to look very nice! - [22:03]: Growth is still looking good! --- Hyped on growth! --- Took a height check and she was 29.75” tall! --- Just shy of 30’’ but I’m certain she’ll be taller by the end of the week. --- She was also about 10.5” away from the light. --- I raised the light up to about 12” away from the canopy and took a PPFD reading. --- The top canopy was at 839μmol/m2/s --- Which would make the DLI at 36.24mol/m2/d(target range this week is 34-42mol/m2/d). --- Great! --- Wow her buds are stacking and sugar leaves are getting frosty! - [22:41]: Water time! --- Filled a pitcher with 9 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/16tsp of Bio-Phos --- Mixed the solution and tested the pH using 4 drops of tester. --- Based on the results, the pH was around a 6.2 pH. --- Despite my better judgment, --- Added 1 drop of pH down --- Mixed and retested the solution and the results were closer to a 5.6 pH. --- Poured all 10 cups straight into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- Next time I decide to feed microbes (Mycrobe Complete or Bio-Phos), I’ll pH the water down first. - [23:25]: Oh what! I am just noticing the trichomes developing on the sugar leaves! --- There’s still not really any odor (I also smoke in my room so I can’t really tell). --- But wow! Definitely can smell a lemon-citrus terpene profile on the stem rubs. Just incredible how a plant can give off such a distinct odor profile (she literally smells like a lemon). --- After 2 years of utter failure.. Err, I mean very insightful and educational learning, I think I am finally getting close to my first harvest!? --- Very hyped! Wow! --- (Don’t frack this up Ensign!) Day 07 - Sunday - 07/17/22 - Total Days: 074 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 78.3°F - Humidity: 65.7% - VPD: 1.11kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:03]: Growth is looking great! ---It’s only been a couple of days since I lowered the canopy’s light intensity, but I think changing the DLI down to appropriate levels has solved the issue I was experiencing (naturally, the issue was me). - [22:05]: Checked down the fill tube and there was still water in the reservoir. --- Even though I don’t log it anymore, I do check the reservoir every morning and night. --- Usually by lights on after a full cycle, the reservoir is dry. --- But I guess because of the significant drop in overall PPFD at the canopy level (1584 down to 854μmol/m2/s), less transpiration is occurring which means less water uptake? --- Or maybe the reduction was too drastic and I shocked her? (Damnit Ensign) --- Anyways, going to reduce the watering for tonight a bit. - [22:21]: Time to water! --- Not going to add anything, just straight distilled water. --- Filled a pitcher with 6 cups of distilled water and pour it into the EarthBox’s fill tube. --- By tomorrow night, if the reservoir is not dry, I’ll reduce the watering down to 4-5 cups. --- Regardless, I am still ecstatic about the growth! - [23:24]: Buds are really starting to frost up too! --- Ooweee! So hyped! [END OF WEEK 11]