Light power consumption: 142 watt
Hi there fellow growers!
After nine long days of absence, I came back home today and was finally able to care for my girls again. I already knew they were ok, since I was able to keep an eye on them via the security cam inside the tent. The configuration of the automatic fertigation system was close to perfect: the vessel that holds the fertigation mix was almost empty and the drain bucket was filled for 75%. This means every fertigation event resulted in some drain.
Still, EC went on the rise in the coco. The fan leaves turned dark green and Sophia was showing some typical N-excess โclawingโ. Roxanne had some burned tips. There are definitely some hot spots in the coco and a good hand watering, drenching all the coco, was urgently needed. Also, Sophia had dark red stems and was praying extremely high with some fan leaves. See looked a bit stretchy, which was actually expected as I left them in a slightly low light conditions to slow down growth a bit. Last, temperature was quite low during my absence, as the house wasnโt heated during that time.
Although not in perfect health, the plants endured my long absence quite good. They grew nicely (although not spectacular) and their stems became sturdy and thick. Today I started with a good hand watering with just tap water pHโed down to 6 and Terra Aquatica FlashClean. This products contains enzymes that break down salts in the medium. I know it works, as my sprinklers always work a lot better after treatment. I watered every plant abundantly with a lot of drain, making sure that any hot spots in the medium were eliminated.
Next, the second topping, pruning and training. Sophia was already working on the fifth node of both main stems. I topped both back to the third node and pruned the sideshoots of the second node and left the sideshoots of the first and third node, so she now has eight main shoots. Both Roxanne and Tiffany were working on the fourth node and it was impossible to safely top back to the third node, hence, I topped them down to the second node and left the sideshoots in the first and second node. Letโs see if it makes a difference. I LSTโed both main stems apart to keep them low and open up the plants a bit. I also removed those inside leaves you get after mainlining this way and block the light from the growth tips.
A few hours later, I gave them another hand watering, but this time a full dose of CalMag at target EC (1,1 mS/cm) and 0,2 gram per liter of TA Silicate at pH 6,2. I gave them two liter per plant, resulting in a lot of drain. Later tonight I will resume the normal fertigation schedule.
Hopefully, this will solve most of the problems that arose during my absence. If they look good tomorrow, Iโll start increasing light intensity and later this week some more LST.
Thanks for reading and happy growing!