Echoes of Empires: A Diary of Afghan Heritage

29.7 She is growing well. The second layer of nodes started to grow so I decided to top it, reducing the height from 4 inches to 3. There should now be about 8 nodes where they are all at the same height. Let me know if this was a good idea or if I went overboard... Also clipped some of the lower nodes that wouldn't be receiving any sunlight. Watering is about every other day, with once of the watering sessions without any fertilizer. After I water her, I fill the watering can with water and let it sit until the next session to help de-chlorinate it. Since I do not have a humidifier or de-humidifier, my only way to control the relative humidity is through the inline fan. So I decided to keep the inline fan off during lights off, whereby the relative humidity goes up to 75%, and during lights on with the inline fan on, the relative humidity drops to 55%. I still haven't figured out why she has blemishes, but given that they were there since she was a seedling, I'm not too alarmed. Afterall, this indica strain is quite soft (and maybe furry) to the touch and appears mat, as opposed to some of the shinier and slippier strains. 31.07 The topping went well without the plant stressing out too much. So I decided to do some LST to separate the nodes a bit, get a wider grow, and improve the air circulation. I have been testing the pH of the pure water, as well as the fertilized solution with some basic strips - the color codes indicated a pH of 7 every time. I grew a little suspicious and invested in a digital, calibrated pH meter. It turns out that the pH of the water is quite alkaline, with values around 7.0 +- 0.1. So now I'm waiting for some pH regulators to arrive to that I can maintain a lower, and recommended pH between 6.2-6.5. Since the plant is well into the vegetation stage I also increased the power of the LED lamp to 100 W, and kept the distance as is - since the plant has grown a bit since measuring 25 inches from LED to soil, the distance to the top leaves should be between 20 and 21 inches. If I observe an increase in the blemishes (or any other detrimental effects for that matter), I'll have to reduce the power. But she's a tough little cookie :)