Secret Garden

Day 66 - December 27, 2023 It's been a while since the last update. Holidays and all. They are looking very very well. This is by far the best indoor grow of mine to date, but we can't celebrate until after the cure. Still though, I have never made it this far into a grow without even the slightest problem with their health. There has never been a single leaf that has shown any signs of stress, nutrient, heat, light, pest, or otherwise. Every plant is a happy shade of green consistently throughout. This week we started to see stigmas change color to red on all three plants. They all have fairly small colas, but nice looking ones so far. The fungus gnat problem is solved. Yesterday I removed any residual diatomaceous earth from the top of the pots, and then I sprayed them all down good with a foliar spray of my fungicidal/bactericidal IPM. Then, I removed them all from the tent, and I sprayed the tent down, too. I wiped it all down good, and made sure any white dust on any equipment or in any cracks was wiped down good with a damp cloth. Then, I moved all plants in the tent, and I sprayed them down for a good half hour with a gallon of IPM in a fine mist, from all angles, at a safe distance as to not damage them. That may have seemed like overkill, but I don't like diatomaceous earth at all, and it is not good to use in flower. Yesterday I started seeing some frost appear on leaves, so we are getting into sticky times. Additionally, I used my IPM instead of plain water, because I do so at least once per week on the plants anyway, as it has significantly helped my tent stay mold-free so far. Yesterday I also performed a major pruning of all three plants. We removed lower buds, branches, and leaves, as well as some large or in the way leaves in the middle. All bud sites are unobstructed now. All three plants look much cleaner today and very happy. Every bud site has buds that are roughly the same size and at the same level of maturity. Things are just overall good. Day 68 - December 29, 2023 Today they are looking even better. I couldn't help to cool them off a little bit with another small IPM misting shower. I watered them a small amount today, not a full watering as usual. This is because the VPD tells me the transpiration rate, and over the last day they don't need more water, looking at the downward trend in humidity and VPD. I have been paying closer attention to this, because it isn't always obvious with my constantly changing soil mixes as far as retention goes. I do lift them up and feel the weight, but I get kind of scared when they are bone dry and very light. I previously gave them a very good watering when they were completely dried out, but, ever since removing the mulch, they just didn't like to drink fast like that. They are drinking and making energy good still according to my graphs, and they look good, so that is what I care about. That and making sure not to overwater. I actually use very little water, but, with my soil changing all the time, I am trying to learn how to use less water while simultaneously having an efficient soil blend. I am actually reading a book right now specifically about using less water in an organic gardening scenario, and learning a few neat things. There is a balance with some tradeoffs to be made, and I am still tweaking things, so I don't quite understand my own soil yet. I do know, that this current mix has worked the best so far, even though I see a lot of room for improvement in future mixes.