P2 & P3 - ILGM Blue Dream 4x4 tent grow

Wednesday, November 1, 2023 (Day 64) - finishing up the second week and starting the third week of 12/12. Some pistils are noticeable on just about every main branch. My plan is to trim again at the end of this week, lollipop most of what's under the trellis and try to keep most of the plant above the trellis, tucking fan leaves when needed. I'll trim enough fan leaves to make sure there is good airflow and light penetration. (I saw some examples of people trimming just about all the fan leaves, including videos from professional grow operations. So, I'm definitely not 100% sure I shouldn't be doing similarly. Maybe next Wednesday, I'll do the less trimming plan and take pics and ask a Grow Question to get feedback and reasoning. It just makes sense that you'd want to keep fan leaves as they are what power the plant, including flowering, right?) I checked the run-off EC and it was about 1.0 more than the fertigation solution EC?! I increased fertigation timing from 30 to 40 seconds. The mixing pump goes for the first 5 minutes then the fertigation pump goes. Times are 0400, 0900, 1200, 1500, 1800, 2100, and 2400. Tomorrow, I'll check run-off again with fresh run-off. Today, it was run-off building up from a few fertigations (I only vacuum out the liquid when it gets close to the bottom of the fabric pots.) ----- Thursday, November 2, 2023 (Day 65) - The run-off today for Plant 2 was about 0.8 and for Plant 3 still about 1.0. I'll keep monitoring and ensure it continues to trend down; if needed I could increase the duration to greater than 40 seconds, but then a full 5-gallon bucket would not be enough for 24 hours of fertigation. I'm going to ask a grow question about whether I should continue keeping the canopy as flat as possible or to just let the colas go (as long as not too close to the light.) ----- Friday, November 3, 2023 (Day 66) - I went ahead and lollipped, even though it's only been 16 days post-12/12 flip. A lot of guidelines recommend 21 days after flip. From now until harvest, I plan to defoliate only sparingly. Training (manifolding/mainlining) essentially done. I was trying to compare the Nugbuckets method with Nebula Haze's method but two different phenotypes so not a great experiment. Using clones would be the best comparison, limiting variables. Regardless, I think either method led to good results, because the canopy from two plants pretty much fills the 4x4 tent. I checked EC run-off again and still was +1. Maybe some of that is from evaporation because I haven't been checking only the one fertigation run-off right away? I also don't seem to be getting much volume from my run-off, despite increasing the fertigation duration from 30 to 40 seconds. The hole I put in the tubing to prevent siphoning maybe plays a role with less volume but I doubt it. I could re-measure... I could just keep increasing the duration, but I don't want to waste nutrients too much and also don't want to have to fill the 5-gallon reservoir more than once in 24 hours. I will, though, if needed. Since my plants are looking good, I may just not even worry about it and quit measuring run-off! Prioritize how the plant looks overall over a (hopefully) isolated detail being off. I appreciate everyone who has been answering grow questions and/or commenting on the diary. Keep it up! ----- Saturday, November 4, 2023 (Day 67, 17 days into flower) - There's about 8 gallons of nutrient solution in the big tub. I pH'd to 5.8 and checked EC was ~2.8. There likely wasn't anything in the 5-gallon bucket reservoir for the 1200 fertigation, so I put about 6 cups in each pot by hand. Still considering increasing fertigation duration beyond 40 seconds... Flower develop quite noticeable and looking good! I'm pleased and excited! ----- Sunday, November 5, 2023 (Day 68, 18 days into flower) - Stretching continues. Plants seem good to me. I need to clean the 5-gallon bucket tomorrow; some scummy stuff or residue... Made another big batch of nutrient solution: 1. 24 gallons tap water (EC 0.550) 2. 60 mL Armor Si (then wait at least an hour) 3. 121 grams Jack's Nutrients 15-5-20 and 24 grams Epsom salt (I ended up using 245 grams and 50 grams to get close enough to the target EC...) 4. 120 mL General Hydroponics Diamond Nectar. 5. 3/4 teaspoon Yucca ..... Check and adjust EC to goal of 2.1 + tap = 2.650. Actual result: _2.838_ ..... Adjust pH to 5.8-6.2. Actual result: _6_ 6. 60 mL H2O2 I took a couple of pictures of colas to use in a grow question. I think it'd be fun to get estimates on yield based on progress so far. I don't have a prize but the winner will get bragging rights! ----- Monday, November 6 (Day 69, 19 days into flower) - I cleaned the 5-gallon reservoir with H2O2 solution. Filled it from the big tub and pH'd to 5.8. I took a close-up shot of a flower and can see some trichomes just starting. Still fairly light smell so far. There are a few colas that are much higher than the rest. Do I supercrop those? Just keep the light high for now? Another question: Almost everyone talks about tucking fan leaves so bud sites get more light, but the bud site getting light doesn't matter that much, right? Light goes to fan leaves which photosynthesize and send energy to buds so they develop and flower is my understanding. Hypothetically, a plant with bud sites getting lots of light and fan leaves getting not so much light would do WORSE than v/v? ----- Tuesday, November 7, 2023 (Day 70, 20 days into flower) - I LST'd (via soft plant ties to trellis) some of those stretchy colas and lowered the light a couple of inches. ----- END OF 10TH WEEK FROM SEED