Watermelon Autoflower

July 12, 2023 Day 43 Watermelon One: Height: 11" DLI: 34 mol/m²/d Watermelon Two: Height: 10.5" DLI: 32 mol/m²/d This week we focus on defoliation. Today was the start of it. She got about 20% of the foliage removed and will have another defoliation in a few days. I don't think they will need much more. They got most of the inner facing leaves removed and some of the lower ones. Outside fan leaves are still on, but I'm thinking of removing them for more space for the buds to grow in the tent. Watermelon One is happy in her own tent. She is growing the best I think. She's close to 11" tall. But, she has more auxiliary branches that are stretching to the top of the canopy than her sister plant. After the defoliation, light penetration and air flow increased immensely. Watermelon Two is near identical to her sister plant. However, her auxiliary branches are all pretty short and super close to their branches. The buds are coming along nicely. Watering for both ladies is fine. Maybe 0.2 gallons a day now. Still not much at their age, I think. Size is now a concern. They didn't grow an inch over the course of an entire week. Watermelon One did better, but still super short. I guess I'll deal with it. Update: I noticed that after defoliation today, they both started reaching leaves instead of drooping. I wonder what that means. Shouldn't they be a bit droopy from the defol? Could it just be coincidence? They both started reaching today? Nah, has to be something I did. Watermelon One is now 12" and Watermelon Two is 11" tall. Good stuff. Grow System Environment: Temp: 75.8° RH: 59.1% VPD: 1.22 kPa July 13, 2023 Watermelon One is having a wonderful time. She got a few top leaves snipped off today for 5 more bud sites. Auxiliary branches are really taking off. Great color and nice bud production. She hasn't stretched at all, but still, just have to wait and see. The breeder is RQS so these ladies should come out great. Watermelon Two also looks good. She had a couple side leaves removed to make a bit more room. She is now squished in a corner. I had to tie down some branches on this beast of a Zkittlez Auto Strain, so our lady here is currently suffering for now. I'm going to take out the tie downs when the stretch actually starts. This will keep her a bit more compact with a taller stature, if I can pull it off. I'll have to ask if I can take off outer leaves or should I just leave them. Both ladies look great! Beautiful colors and nice bud production. If nothing, I expect to see some nice nugs. Grow System Environment: Temp: 76.7° RH: 57.7% VPD: 1.30 kPa July 14, 2023 Watermelon One had some out leaf plucking today. Just the big ones pressing up against the tent walls. If my theory is correct, the less that touches the wall, the more growth toward the wall there will be. So clear out out leaves and wait for plant to grow into it. Seems like a sound theory to me. Anyway, we finally have a smidge of stretch. But more leaf production and filling out. I'm hoping it all levels out and she grows at least to 24". I doubt it though. Twice the height will be 20" and we are well past the time for insane stretching. At least from what I've experienced. Although, she is getting more auxiliary branches reaching up, so that's good. The branches have already hardened off and I cannot train anymore. Unless the newer shoots get too tall. Then I can pull those down and let the rest catch up. She seems to be getting thirsty now. Looking good. Maybe a third gallon a day? Her structure is quite nice. Flat top, spread out branches. Leaves are all in order. I managed to remove most that were facing in except one that I found today. If or when she stretches, she is definitely setup for a tall and level canopy. Watermelon Two is much the same as her sister plant. Getting thirsty, seeing a bit of stretch. Maybe a little more than the other. Branches are super strong also have hardened off. The only difference I am seeing is the leaf size between the two. This one has smaller leaves where Watermelon One has some big ones and keeps filling in with them. I feel like I'm doing something wrong with this one. She hasn't had any HST, just defoliation and LST. I guess this is a new lesson to learn. Grow System Environment: Temp: 76.6° RH: 58.7% VPD: 1.25 kPa July 15, 2023 Both ladies got a reservoir refill today. Watermelon One only needed a half gallon while Watermelon Two needed a full reservoir. Now they are even in watering again. Let's hope they drink the same now. Watermelon One looks great now! Her branches are starting to stretch. Not much mind you, but some. Her auxiliary branches are all catching up to the canopy now. I expect some decent growth in the next few days. At least let's hope. Watermelon Two seems a bit smaller than Watermelon One. It's probably due to the smaller space available to her. Or she is the same size and just looks smaller next to the beast of a plant in the tent as well. She is getting bigger though. Her branches are sticking into the big Zkittlez Auto I have in there. 2 branches get totally buried. It's not a great situation. Grow System Environment: Temp: 77.1° RH: 58.5% VPD: 1.29 kPa Watermelon One Environment: Temp: 75.3° RH: 55.4% VPD: 1.34 kPa July 16, 2023 Watermelon One is doing great! She's stretching and growing nice buds. She looks like a good grow. Great bud structure and extremely stiff branches. As long as she keeps growing at least for the next week, she will hopefully pull out another few inches. 18" to 24" total would be perfect. Watermelon Two is not doing so great. She's still not growing, but she is making more bud sites. Just a bad grow. Maybe she will adjust and start a crazy stretch in a few days. Lesson learned. One big plant can stunt another smaller plant from the sheer size blocking light and pressing in on the whole plant. Maybe I should have used nutrients with this one. Oh well. Grow System Environment: Temp: 76.8° RH: 61.0% VPD: 1.20 kPa July 17, 2023 Watermelon One is looking quite nice. She has some pretty good internodal spacing and her roots are getting more abundant on the bottom of the container. She has wonderful color and ber leaves are praying perfectly. Very happy plant. I don't expect her to be very big. Maybe a couple more inches stretch, if any at all. Water consumption is pretty slow given her size. The reservoir can last up to a week. I'm wondering if I stunted them when I transplanted in the very beginning. It will be interesting to see what I learned for the next grow. I think I'll use my nursery bags with a root riot plug in the Sohum soil to start and keep the seedlings under a dome. Watermelon Two is a real concern now. She hasn't been growing at all. No stretch. I had to lift her back up closer to the light. As she is in flower she needs more light intensity and she definitely doesn't have it. Hopefully the higher elevation will let her catch up or adjust. Her leaves are also small and they are mostly 3 fingered. I ended up removing all the tie downs today as well. It helped a lot. I definitely messed up the light intensity for this one. She's stunted and the 3 finger leaves are certainly a result of the mistake. Lesson learned. Next grow I will leave the light where it needs to be. Gradually turn the intensity up to keep the DLI always within range. That and ensuring to start autoflowers in a plug already planted in the final medium which will be Sohum living soil. Something to note: both plants have roots reaching into the reservoir and wrapping around the wicks. I wonder why I have small plants here. Anyway, the roots are extremely long. Close to 12" under the container. Grow System Environment: Temp: 76.8° RH: 59.5% VPD: 1.25 kPa July 18, 2023 Watermelon One is enjoying life in her own space. She has some really stiff branches that are spread out nicely. She got a full reservoir refill this morning. She may be getting thirsty. That's a good sign. She might start growing more. Her buds are looking impressive. However, the internodal spacing is a bit tight. It should make for some good tops, but some tough trimming. Watermelon Two is another story. With her tie downs gone, she is starting to stretch some but the canopy is a bit tight now. I can only hope she starts growing upwards so I can lower her back down to the floor some. Also, her watering is a little bit slow. I'm not sure if that's good, or if these plants just don't take a lot of water. I know they are smaller than they should be, so it explains the water intake, but is it good or bad? A sign of a healthy plant is part of its water intake, at least I think so. Grow System Environment: Temp: 75.9° RH: 59.7% VPD: 1.20 kPa