Runtz Muffin - First Ever Grow!

Reprogram6817 It looks like I don't have many photos but it was pretty uneventful. Just experimentation with the setup. I moved the control reservoir (the reservoir that controls the water levels in the others for the auto-fill system) outside of the tent and also added in a Bluelab pH controller for the external reservoir. I also tried to see if I could use a sealed container (via a plastic jerry can) and an aquarium heater to see if I could use it as a radiating heater. It worked... okay but could not get warm enough. A reptile humidifier was also added in (you can see the external pipe on the left side).

Reprogram6817 This is when I start really dialing my setup and focusing on the metrics I want to chase. From here on out, I am targeting VPD and was hovering around 0.6 kPa. I don't really get the hang of my programming for my setup until week 4-ish. I did end up adding an actual mini radiator heater to the tent around 12/30, and also sort of addressed an issue with my reservoirs not being quite level which was causing their water levels to be off. This week is also when I realized my right plant is not quite growing at the same pace as my left one.

Reprogram6817 Found some damage on my left plant. No sure what it was from, like if it was from touching the medium or a bug or what. I just came in there one day and it was like that. I did end up spraying them down with some DeadBug Brew and sprinkled diatomaceous earth on top of the medium (you'll notice the top layer of the medium is a bit chalkier looking because of it). Never saw anything like that again. I, for some reason, decided to install my trellis net. I think I was trying to use it to tuck the left plant because it was getting really bushy, and it did seem to respond really well used as such to expose the other growth sites more. However, I accidentally broke off a lower stem and tried to repair it. It failed to take and withered, so I cut it off. The plant ended up getting a bit of a tilt because of this so the trellis net is remaining in place as a support as it grows, a second will be added higher for the actually scrogging. I also can't remember but I did in a stoned stupor decide to top my left plan either in this week or the previous week. You can see that in the growth at the top.

Reprogram6817 I think I made my final adjustment to the setup of the grow tent. I re-did the plumbing to allow them to be more centered in the tent instead of pushed toward the back like before. Left plant continues to just explode in growth. Still using the trellis net to spread it out and it seems to be helping the growth sites. I also picked up that UNI-T Lux meter for a cheap-o PPFD meter and adjusted my height/power to match my plants' DLI needs.

Reprogram6817 1/16: Cleaned up the plants with some defoliation because some of the growth sites were being obstructed. I also did some FIMing on both plants to target areas that needed some fleshing out (especially near where the stem broke off on the left plant). I accidentally broke a stem on the right plant. I forgot I had another part of the plant tied to it with a twist tie when I was trying to manipulate it around the net. Amazingly, patched it up with some super glue to hold it together and some honey to keep bacteria out. Surprisingly, it was basically back in action a day later albeit I had to trim off some of the lower leaves that withered and never recovered. Nutrients are being dosed to around 700 ppm now since it should have burned through most of the amendments in the Coco Loco by now. VPD is now being trended to 1.0 kPa. 1/20: Well, I accidentally broke that stem again. It's done-zo. In hindsight, it was hubris to have not splinted it. Well, at least the plants are even in that regard. Moved the exhaust fan to the outside and mounted it to the above beams. I strapped it along with using mounting screws because those screws seem kinda shady. It was too much of a PITA to get the motor out and back into the housing and etc., so the straps were a compromise for mounting security. It should suffice, honestly. Not THAT heavy.

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Reprogram6817 Well, when I was switching over to the MaxiBloom in the external reservoir, I noticed I had been using the incorrect scale for PPM. I should have just been using EC all along in hindsight but I noticed my PPM was way off when I was trying to follow dosing per the feed chart. I wanted to try it with the dosing first to see where it got me as I was just kind of "freebasing" with the previous mixture by adding until I hit the PPM. Well, when I did I noticed my EC was bang on but my PPM was hitting like 1100-1200 which was well above the minimum of 800 I was shooting for per the dosing. Turns out my pen was set to a 700 scale and my feed chart is in a 500 scale, and, luckily, it is adjustable. so that means when I thought I was being cautious I was actually dosing about 30% less than expected without deficiency. The Octopot creator recommends you use half dosage, so even at this comparably aggressive rate I'm not having any nute burn nor any signs of deficiencies. So I'm going to keep with the 30% less dosing in flowering and see how it goes, so I'm dosing at about 580 - 600 ppm right now (500 scale). Me from a little over a week from then: Well, that was a fuckin' lie. The stretch was too much for what I was feeding and had a phosphorous deficiency as a result which wiped out a ton of low growth. Luckily, I kept some of the low growth partially because some were stems I were hoping could reach the canopy and others were what I left in reserve. If you have a deficiency, it's likely a mobile nutrient, and that old, low growth can act like nutrient reserves and mobilize them where it's needed even at its own expense. In practice, you can give yourself a bit of a "buffer." I kinda needed that given this is my first time grow and I needed to feel out how I can work with the nute strength. Well, basically what I learned is: I don't really need to underdose with the Maxi series. I ended up bumping the nute feed up to around ~900 ppm without any nute burn and that's near the recommended maximum of 950 from GH for the feeding schedule I use.

Reprogram6817 Plant is growing too well. It is getting far too tall and I worry about the maximum room I have left because at this rate, it seems like it is not going to slow down. So I made the tough call to supercrop the entire canopy after these photos. Didn't seem to kill anything as of the night of 2/6, as they're all starting to grow back up.

Reprogram6817 They continue to thrive. I have just been trying to keep up on maintaining an even canopy as best I can with the trellis net and supercropping here and there. These are supposed to take 56 - 63 days to flower, so I'm not quite half-way there yet (17 days from flip). I refilled the nutes in the reservoir last night. GH recommends I add in the KoolBloom during the last 2 weeks, so that's like... the 2nd week of March. So I should start dropping my main nute dosage at the same time, per the feedchart.

Reprogram6817 Been switching the target VPD to between 1.2 - 1.6 kPa and was really struggling with my humidity. I think I dialed in the settings and I sit around 1.3. I had to set my fan to always on and crank up the max speed a few notches. I also FINALLY used the tent vents to help with the air exchange because I have been dehumidifying the outside room to around 50 - 55% RH. I've also been fighting with my side lighting from AC Infinity. They give you four lights and four extensions and in the tent you have two options for mounting them: through the tent via the magnets on the lights that attract to an external bar you use to slide it up and down the wall, or you stick them on your tent poles with the magnets. Welp, the tent poles trick doesn't work because the extensions aren't nearly long enough so you have to use the slide system which... works but when it fails, it's unbelievably frustrating because sometimes they can ALL go down together and I've lost a fan leaf from one such instance. Anywho, the magnets aren't strong enough for the section where there's the velcro viewing window so it... kinda limits how high you can put it. I ended up just using some adhesive velcro I had laying around and it worked. I'm probably gonna get some stronger magnets of my own in the future. Also, RIP that branch I broke and then just pruned off because it died even after I taped and braced it. :( On a side note, someone recommended silica and I finally got some mono-silicic acid from Grow Genius and have been dosing that to help them branches get t h i c c.

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Reprogram6817 Been bad about keeping this up-to-date the past couple of weeks but not much has changed other than just cleaning up some fan leaves to ensure all the bud sites are getting proper light penetration. I think I have a few gallons left in my external reservoir and I'll be looking to swap over to late bloom/ripening mix.

Reprogram6817 I, somehow, took no photos. So, I just added in a dumb picture I had because it made me upload one. Not much changed except I added in the dry KoolBloom and I noticed what I thought was the manganese deficiency a while back but looks like it's actually just heat stress. Figured out it was just poor air circulation because it was killing the very, very edge of the bottom of the flowering part of the canopy. It's just the really larfy stuff, so no real loss. I had a little fan at the bottom of the tent I thought would help push air around but guess not. Got another AC Infinity Cloudray A6 oscillating fan and that should help out.

Reprogram6817 Almost chop time! They say this has a flowering time of 56 - 63. So I'm checking those trichomes to stay on top of it.