Tropicana Cookies Autoflower

March 22, 2024 Day 36 This week we focus mostly on training. It's the last week of veg, or it should be, and they will need all the trainings they can get. So far it's perfectly on point for both plants. They are reaching well past the sides of the containers. They have super strong main trunks with side branches almost as thick. They are sure to hold up some super heavy buds. I'll continue to pull branches down and out for a couple more weeks. I may have to put a SCroG net in as well. I'll probably set it to 18" for when the real stretch starts. Until then, it's adjusting and readjusting the tie downs. I'll also be snipping off the massive leaves from the trunks this week. Just those though. There's no need for any others to be cut off yet. They will most likely need another trimming in a couple of weeks. I increased the light power as expected this week. The height stayed the same at 24" with a DLI of 42 mol/m²/d. That should be fine for the majority of the rest of the grow. I may have to put it to 100% when flowering begins. Tropicana Cookies has a slight bit of nitrogen toxicity. So for this week I dropped the nutrients down to 10 ml instead of 12 ml. Of course after I run some plain water with cal/mag. I'll be doing a half gallon for each plant. Anyway, 12 ml is just too much and I'd rather Tropicana C not get any toxicity. The environment is a bit cool today due to weather. It should warm back up when it gets above freezing out. Currently, the temp is hovering just below 75° and the humidity is around 57%. Not ideal, but in range. It was also really cold last night and the tent temp dropped to 66°. I gotta turn my heater up more I guess. Grow System Environment: Temp: 72.5° RH: 56.2% VPD: 1.17 kPa March 23, 2024 Both plants look fantastic now. I think the nitrogen toxicity on Tropicana Cookies is going away already. Honestly it shouldn't have been much of a toxicity in the first place, so I think we are fine now. Both ladies got the main stem fan leaves slipped today. I also removed the lowest node from Tropicana Cookies. They weren't promising in the first place. I may also remove them from Tropicana C. We will see. They will be needing water tomorrow I think. The moisture content of the soil is hanging around 53%. It's a bit high for this stage, so I'll let the plants catch up before refilling the reservoirs. Both plants also got some adjustments done. They haven't grown upward at all. But they have been spreading out really well. Perfectly level canopies and identical in almost every way. The only difference is my tie down placement. Slightly different, but the same basic structure. I also raised the light today to 26". The DLI was a bit high at 45 mol/m²/d where as it should be at 42. So the 26" lift brought it right where it needs to be. Not to mention the footprint is outstanding. So by the looks of things, I won't need to increase the power anymore. 24" at 90% power provides 45 mol/m²/d. Perfect for the flowering stage. Speaking of flowering, pre-flower is right around the corner. There's white hairs everywhere now. I'm just waiting for the bud sites to start forming and we are good to go. I'll continue training these ladies down through mid stretch or when I have them how I want them. A note: The side branches are pretty thick. I can assume the buds will also be big and thick and dense. I may need a trellis when they start to really stretch. That will come when I finish LST. The environment is looking pretty good today. It's hovering at 75° and climbing a bit. Hopefully it lands at 76° to 77°. The humidity is also really close, hanging out around 57%. Not a bad day. Grow System Environment: Temp: 72.6° RH: 57.0% VPD: 1.15 kPa March 24, 2024 What a nice day for the ladies. Both were massively trained with the canopy completely level. Lots of side branches and auxiliary branches coming gup. Some were tied down finally and the plants are growing right out of the containers. Looking great! They got a half gallon of 8 ml Cal/Mag today. That should reset the nutrients and I can start the 10 ml regimen. Both plants are basically identical with the training done the same to the same branches. They are both showing a nice bit of root structure on the bottoms of the containers. They are also damned close to pre-flower if not already started. I didn't have to move the light today after the training was done. Still at a perfect 42 mol/m²/d. I definitely don't expect to put the light at 100% power. I'm also very happy so far with the health of these plants. They are finally nice and dark. I'm definitely expecting 2 to 3 ft tall plants. If I continue to get this health and growth, I may have some 4 ft plants to deal with. Not complaining. The environment is pretty good regardless of the 20° f weather outside. It's hovering around 75° and a bit high at 58% humidity. No matter, it will adjust on its own by mid day. Nothing to worry about. Grow System Environment: Temp: 72.5° RH: 57.3% VPD: 1.14 kPa March 25, 2024 These two plants are seriously hard to tell apart in pictures. There are differences starting to show now that they are in pre-flower. Tropicana C is looking super nice with a perfectly level canopy. The stretch has started and she's showing it a lot more than Tropicana Cookies. The canopy on Tropicana Cookies is fairly uneven. There's auxiliary branches I pulled down and I'm waiting for them to readjust to my changes. I also had to pull down some of the top node branches. So the uneven canopy is mostly from me, trying to keep the plant within its own quadrant. Both plants have a lot of roots coming out of the bottom of the containers. A great sign that pre-flower has started. Even though one is uneven, both plants are at the final stages of the structure I created for each of them. Tropicana C has the most uniform tops so far and Tropicana Cookies is just as robust if not a bit more so. Hence the extra training. As said before, when the plants get to 18", I'll consider the trellis. I have a feeling I'll have to use it. I'm also going to have to defoliate again soon. Just the lower fan leaves close to the soil. And some of the larger top leaves that cover the bud sites. I've also got overlapping leaves that are causing condensation. Some of them I can move, and some I can't. I'll keep an eye and if need be, I'll take those off as well. I'll also increase the airflow to help. I have two oscillating fans in there so it shouldn't be an issue at all. I haven't moved the light yet because the plants haven't grown tall enough. The DLI is around 43 mol/m²/d. When flowering starts next week, I'll increase the DLI to 45 mol/m²/d. I may wait another week. We shall see how things look for the next few days. I may have to raise the light again to get that slight praying going on. I'll update if I decide to do that today. The environment is still a bit off. The temp is down to 73° and the humidity is still high around 59%. I'll most likely put my small dehumidifier in the tent to help with both heat and humidity. To be continued... I also rotated the plants around today. So now Tropicana Cookies is in the rear quadrant with Tropicana C back in front. Grow System Environment: Temp: 71.4° RH: 57.3% VPD: 1.10 kPa March 26, 2024 A bit of to do today. Honestly the next few weeks will be a bit of a to do. Training, defoliation, training again. Today we tied down the 2 longest top branches and made a couple adjustments to Tropicana Cookies. She looks great, if not a bit messy. It's fine though, it will grow to a nice flat canopy in the weeks to come. Tropicana C is actually the bigger plant in the tent. About an inch taller than the rest, with a completely flat canopy. I want to tie the branches back down to level it with the rest of the canopy, but I have concerns with breaking and space. I should probably remove the lower leaves from the plant and start there. I think I'll do that tomorrow. I'll also have to remove some lower leaves from Tropicana Cookies as well. The wrap around the rim training looks pretty good. It's not much tighter, but enough to need to remove some leaves for air flow mostly. The lighting is really good, so I'm not worried about it yet. Plus, defoliating will also make light space. The one thing I won't be doing is making the mistake of not trimming appropriately. I will probably lollipop these two once they get the stretch going. I decided to change the nutrient regimen back down to 8 ml instead of the 10 ml I originally was going to do. I feel like that is fine and won't cause anymore toxicity. But will also be plenty to help these ladies grow bigger and stronger. I didn't change the lighting today, but I lifted it up yesterday an inch to match the 24" footprint. I may have to drop it down to 22" later on to a oid going to 100% power. I will go there if I have to, but I'd rather not. The environment was driving me crazy. So today, I finally added the dehumidifier to help fix the temp and humidity. The focus will be the VPD more than the humidity. Currently the dehumidifier has finally increased the temp up to 76° and the humidity is still kinda high at 57%, but it's dropping down. Now it's just a matter of letting the environment acclimate again. Quick Update: I decided to train Tropicana C down with the same wrap around technique I used for Tropicana Cookies. It should work quite well. Not to mention, it opened up a plethora of bud sites and auxiliary branches. It also brought the canopy down with the rest of the tent. Grow System Environment: Temp: 71.6° RH: 57.9% VPD: 1.09 kPa March 27, 2024 It was defoliation day today. Both ants got about 15% of their leaves cut off. It was mostly the outside leaves to make room and better airflow between plants. I removed a few leaves in the center of the plants. Not many. But now both plants are opened up quite nicely and there's definitely enough airflow and light penetration. I don't think I will need to defoliate again for a few weeks. If they start to stretch like mad, then I may not need to defoliate at all. We shall see. Both plants are drinking the exact same amount of water. So far it's about 1/3 gallon of water per day. It will certainly pick up as the plants get bigger and more robust. The environment is looking good. The trim also removed some of the excess humidity which also helped the temp stay up. I did figure out why the tent was so cold for so long. Someone turned the temp in the house down. So it wasn't warming up in my room. My heater is just a supplement for when it's super cold and I need that extra boost. Alone it won't bring the room over 72°. So now I just need to remove the dehumidifier and the temp will level out around 77° with the humidity at 56%. Currently the tent is 80° and 54% a bit high in the temp. It will all level out in no time. I didn't move the light today. I'll check on it when I check the ants for post defoliation stress. Let's hope they are tough enough to take the defoliation like champs. We shall see. Update: I messed with the light. Strangely enough, I had to drop the power down to 80% and ended up with the light being around 25". Now the DLI is at 42 mol/m²/d. I'll look at it again starting next week. I may have to bring the power up again, but I don't think I will for another week at least. Right now, the DLI is perfectly fine. It will help with the ants reaching and spreading those nodes out for the flowering stretch. Grow System Environment: Temp: 76.5° RH: 55.3° VPD: 1.36 kPa March 28, 2024 Today was basically observation. I'll be cleaning out the reservoirs tomorrow and refill with a fresh nutrient regimen. I have some B-52 from Advanced Nutrients coming in today, so that will be added. I also have Sensizym from Advanced Nutrients coming in a couple days. That will be added at the next watering. Both plants are starting to stretch now and pre-flower is well underway. The stretch has started and both plants have perfectly level canopies and level with each other. The auxiliary branches took off and are level with the rest of the main side branches. Everything looks great. There really isn't any difference between the two, so I'm super happy. Great genetics! Let's hope I get some beautiful colors out of them. I didn't bother changing the light at all. The plants are praying slightly and are extremely happy. No sense in increasing the light intensity while the stretch is going on. I'll just let them grow into the light and raise it when it gets closer than 22". Then I'll lift it up to 24" and adjust the power accordingly. The environment is spot on now... Finally. The temp is just at 77° with the humidity bouncing between 55% and 57%. All good things. Grow System Environment: Temp: 73.6° RH: 54.9% VPD: 1.25 kPa