First Grow! Ethos, Purple City, Mephisto

Day 43: I woke up to both the Ethos and Purple City drooping, with new red coloring on top of their higher stems. The Mephisto looked much healthier, and it's about six inches shorter than the others, which suggests to me that maybe light stress is the issue? Measuring the DLI supported that theory, as the Mephisto canopy was at 55, while the others were around 90. I think photos can handle that amount of light, but I don't think autos appreciate it. So I reduced the light intensity to 60%, which put the DLI at about 50 for the two big plants. Now the Mephisto probably isn't getting enough light, so I need to find a shim of some sort to bring its canopy up to match its step-sisters. Day 43, PM: Morale improved somewhat throughout the day; the Ethos is back to standing at full attention, while the Purple City is a bit more reluctant. Day 44: The lighting adjustment hasn't improved things significantly, especially for the Purple City which is still drooping. But the plants were all dry and thirsty again, so I gave each 30oz of water. Probably not enough still, but will recalibrate tonight after seeing how the day goes. I'm also having trouble maintaining a consistent DLI because the canopy height varies so much, so I tied down the two larger plants’ main colas to try to even them out. (Amazing how quickly the tied-down flowers turn upwards toward the light again—less than an hour!) The Mephisto is too thick and stiff to bend, and seems to be developing a sturdy main cola, so I'm letting it fly all natural to see what happens. So after evening out the canopies, the DLI was still quite high (around 60), so I adjusted the lights to bring that back down to around 48. That's still at the upper suggested range, so might have to dial it back even more. Day 44, PM: Worked from today so I had some afternoon time to putter around with the plants. I gained some confidence from the morning training, and did a little more LST, even on the Mephisto. Its main cola was still unassailable, but I was able to spread most of the flowering branches out from under it. Day 45: Mephisto is looking strong, but the Ethos and Purple City are struggling. I’m having a tough time diagnosing the issue. I think I messed up by waiting this long to feed them; I’ve heard that Fox Farm Ocean Forest is so hot that I was nervous about nutrient toxicity, but (as with the watering) I might have gone too extreme in the opposite direction. So I topdressed each pot with 4 tbsp of Gaia Green 4-4-4, gently mixed into the surface and watered lightly. I also did some light defoliation and pruning of low and weak bud sites that are unlikely to be productive. Day 48: The plants’ decline seems to have slowed and maybe even reversed. I’m not seeing any additional spotting on the leaves since yesterday. Maybe the nutrients? Although I’m not sure how quickly they become available. The soil was dry this morning so I gave each plant 64 oz of water, and they responded well throughout the day, so I think I need to step up my watering game (in this grow, and future grows). Still getting a feel for things.