P2 & P3 - ILGM Blue Dream 4x4 tent grow

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 (Day 78, 28 days into flower) - When I was filling out stats, above, I noticed the previous week's plant height was 35 inches and this week's it was 28 inches. I probably measured from the floor last week and from the soil this week. From floor to top of soil is about 15 inches, so last week the height was ~20 inches from soil. (Alternatively, this week, plant height was 43 inches from floor. Either way, difference of ~8 inches.) Also, 2.87 EC is the total of the baseline tap water of 0.414 plus the added nutrients. The nutrient schedule recommends 2.1 (not counting tap water), so the EC is ~0.36 higher than goal. (Last week's EC was ~0.19 higher than goal.) ----- Thursday, November 16, 2023 (Day 79, 29 days into flower) - Continuing to fertigate and wait for flowers to develop/ripen. ----- Friday, November 17, 2023 (Day 80, 30 days into flower) - I took some pictures of the plants from the side. Maybe I'll ask a grow question asking for suggestions regarding whether to defoliate or not. My main concern if canopy is too dense, then there is an increased risk of mold/fungus. ----- Saturday, November 18, 2023 (Day 81, 31 days into flower) - https://www.cocoforcannabis.com/community/photons_corner/to-defoliate-or-not-to-defoliate/ <-- This post by Dr. Photon seems to do a really good job of explaining why getting rid of leaves in hopes of increasing yield doesn't make sense. He does seem to support pruning lower branches and for the health of the plant (e.g., preventing fungus.) I posted a grow question and answers included a range from 'leave it as-is at this point to not stress the plant' to 'carefully prune to thin out some to help prevent fungus.' I'm still considering what to do but I'll likely try to thin out just a bit because I'd rather have lower yield than fungus ruining the whole crop. Nebula Haze has done a comparison of defoliation vs as-is and results from her perspective supported defoliation? https://www.growweedeasy.com/summary-of-cannabis-defoliation-side-by-side-experiment Pruning advice is often to be able to see light through the canopy; I like this counterargument from a comment to Dr. Photon's post: "If it isn't dark under your canopy, you are letting photons get away." Made new batch of nutrient solution: 1. 24 gallons tap water (EC 0.5) 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 242 grams and 50 grams to get close enough to the target EC...) 4. 120 mL General Hydroponics Diamond Nectar. (I used 60 or maybe even 30 mL because I want to ration out the supply to last the rest of the grow without buying more.) 5. 3/4 teaspoon Yucca ..... Check and adjust EC to goal of 2.1 + tap = 2.6. Actual result: _2.7_ ..... Adjust pH to 5.8-6.2. Actual result: _5.8_ 6. 60 mL H2O2 ----- Sunday, November 19, 2023 (Day 82, 32 days into flower) - Still haven't pruned. I still think I should but am hesitant. I have noticed that the sides of the tent smush some of the flower; the air flow sucks the walls of the tent inward some. I ordered some plant yo-yos that should get here tomorrow. I'll start out by pulling some of the edge flowers inward. ----- Monday, November 20, 2023 (Day 83, 33 days into flower) - I've also been reading about Grove Bags as an alternative to mason jars. I'm going to try them; I haven't read anything bad about the product, just some frustration about shipping cost that isn't as bad as it had been. I just placed an order for four 1/4-pound bags with child-resistant zip-locks and two 1/2-ounce bags that have zip-locks made to open and close frequently. They recommend drying the plants after harvest like typical but using a moisture meter to ensure the stems of the plants are at 10-12% moisture content before putting in the bags to cure. At that point, you could heat-seal the end of the bag if you wanted or just use their zip-locks. No need to burp or put in Boveda humidity packs or anything. I ordered an ~$13 moisture meter, too, from Amazon. ----- Tuesday, November 21, 2023 (Day 84, 34 days into flower) - Yo-Yo's delivered; I hung a few up and pulled some of the colas that seemed smushed by the tent walls toward the center some. I also got the moisture meter. It has settings for four categories of wood, paper, and wall; I'm not sure which to use for cannabis. Grove Bags's website says to put on setting of softest wood (not talking specifically about the meter model I bought, though.) I might reach out to Grove Bag to see what they say. I'm still a few weeks away from harvest, though. My hesitation regarding pruning remains and I still haven't. I'm worried about fungus but pruning just seems to be arbitrary; it's hard to know how much to trim and from where. I don't want to unduly stress the plant... ----- END OF 12TH WEEK FROM SEED