Grand Daddy Purple

4/11 Day 36 (AM) - Growth rates are aggressive, with the plants putting on inches at a time per week at this stage. Overall height is now at 15" across the board. Considering switching to flower at the end of week 6 depending on development in the smaller two of the four. Ideally, I'm aiming for an even canopy to the extent possible, which necessitates giving things a bit more time. I finally FIM'ed the Chemdog #4 after letting it put on some additional foliage. If growth rates remain steady, I estimate it will be one to two weeks before they're truly ready. What I want to avoid is running them too close to the light. While the plants themselves are only 15", after you calculate including the pots, trays and casters, if they double in size, they'll be less than 2' from the 1000w lamp. I have no empirical data to base my position on as this is my first medical grow and I've never seen a plant through flower, but I don't want to risk burning them up. My current assumption is the veg stage is the easy part and the next leg of the journey will likely be even more challenging. From my point of view, any success is a victory as a beginner. I remain hopeful for a positive outcome and believe it is entirely possible with the right level of effort and attention to detail. More updates will be provided as we near end of week 6. Update 4/13 Day 38 (AM) - Looks like it's time to get the humidifier out from behind these guys. In hindsight, it was a poor choice of locations. It's next to impossible to get to it, refill, or adjust any settings without bumping into things- not that the occasional bump is the end of the world, it's just a pain in the ass. On a positive note, I'm glad I put these pots on the trays with casters. It's not as though moving a 5 gallon fabric pot is a big deal, but it's painfully easy with the casters. Today marks the fourth time I've had to move them away from each other in the last two weeks. Every time, they seem to bush out more and grow back into each other within a week or less. You can clearly see from the last photo (day 38) how the humidifier is pinned against the back and only accessible by squeezing around things. To be clear, that is a backup humidifier (the primary one is readily accessible) and I have it set at a lower humidity so it will only kick on in the event the primary fails. Nonetheless, I'm yanking and relocating it before it gets to the point that I literally can't get to it. These guys have exceeded my expectations in just about every way. They've dealt with my mistakes and mishandling, and have come out the other side remarkably strong. To my eyes, there are at least three unique phenotypes here. The two in the back are flat-out bushes, each with substantial (and strong) branching, and multiple tops. Front left is by far the hardest to work with; it just wants to continue putting on gigantic eleven blade fan leaves that are bigger than my hand. They're shading out potential bud sites, and slowing growth beneath the canopy. They're too large to tuck or twist around like I normally would. I'm contemplating a hard topping, not pinching off a node, but literally crowning the plant lower down on the stalk. So far I haven't been ready to make that decision, but remain concerned about a very small yield-- that being said, the remaining three are much more easily managed, have numerous tops, and should be fantastic. In a perfect world, I'd have somewhere I could move one of the four to let it keep vegging, but that isn't my situation so I'll just have to deal (first world problems). Update 4/15 Day 40 (AM) - I don't know what I'm doing, but I just keep trying to expose tops throughout the canopy. It's something that requires a certain eye and a lot of patience. Things are almost where I want them to be, but I'm glad I've continued to veg because two of these guys were not ready yet (I just didn't know it). You can't tell from the picture, probably because they're putting on leaves just as quickly as I remove them, but I've done a LOT of clean-up, both under the canopy where things were shaded, as well as removing some fan leaves that were shading things out in a problematic way. Hopefully I've made some decent decisions as far as pruning, defoliating, and bringing forward the branches- but the reality is I've never done it before so I'm just going to have to see how it goes. If nothing else, I will have learned something from the process to take forward. I definitely think they're going to need another full week of growth, and hopefully some of the topping I've done will help the branches to continue developing. On the plus side, I've removed all the stuff that was at the base of the plant, so at least I can see to water these guys, and see the stalks and dirt clearly. I gave them a good flush with nothing but pH adjusted water, and they immediately started showing signs of wanting to be fed again. It seems as though I've found a balance of nutrients they like. That regimen of feeding is light-handed, but consistently includes CalMag, and isn't just nitrogen, but also includes a half dose of phosphorus and potassium. I'd say I'm using all four at about 1/2 the recommended amount per volume of water. So far this has done me well, but I don't want to overdo it.