Wild Runtz / Kingpin (Diary #11)

***VEGETATION WEEK 6/7 (Oct 27-Nov 2)*** - Increase runoff amounts - Maintain VPD - Take cuttings - Top all secondary branches - Continue tying down branches Oct 27 ---------- - Watered ALL @ 1.6 EC / 5.8 pH (AM) (1-2L) - Both lamps on at full power Oct 28 ----------- - Watered ALL @ 1.6 EC / 5.8 pH (AM) (1-2L) - Watered ALL @ 1.6 EC / 5.8 pH (PM) (1-2L) - Heat an issue with both lamps (75% for now) Oct 29 ----------- - No AM watering event - Watered ALL @ 1.6 EC / 5.8 pH (PM) (2-3L) Oct 30 ----------- - New environment triggers: 79F / 68% ✅ - Watered ALL @ 1.6 EC / 5.8 pH (PM) (2L) - Runoffs 1.8-2.0 EC / 5.8 pH Getting the balance between heat and humidity right has been a challenge ever since I started growing... In the beginning I had a portable AC unit running for the duration of lights on, which worked for the heat, but flattened the humidity. Not to mention expensive . Then I bought air cooled lamp hoods (HPS/MH) for the next grow and tied in the ducting to the extractor. This worked a bit better, but the room still ran hot and humidity continued being a bitch to keep above 50%. The extractor would run non-stop at reasonably high speeds. At the start of this grow I decided to change it up again. I had an inline fan with a carbon filter pulling air from the lamp hoods and venting into a room adjacent to the grow. Again, a slight improvement but I was still getting temps up to 84F at 75% intensity. Humidity improved, but by the end of the light cycle it was too low and sent VPD way out of range (1.55). This configuration also made the inline fan and carbon filter incredibly hot. Today I changed it again. Instead of pulling air from the lamp hoods, I changed the fan direction to blow over the bulbs. I unsealed the end of the lamp and added ducting to go through the grow room and vented out into a different area (a much cooler area of my basement that has no heat vent). The result was an instant game changer. Temperatures (with lamps at 100% instead of 75%) never went over 79F. Leaf temperature dropped by 6F. Humidity stayed put, allowing me to set new environmental triggers, while simultaneously running the intake fan for the entire lights on period. HUGE for air exchange. VPD (at the end of the light cycle) went from 1.39-1.55 down to .95-1.22 for 12 consecutive hours. The vented heat actually warmed the basement and my furnace never kicked on once. Zero heat loss in the house overnight. Insane. Super stoked as this should not only increase the quality of my flower, but save me some real cake in heating this winter. Oct 31 ----------- - Watered ALL @ 1.6 EC / 5.8 pH (AM) (2-2.5L) - Took 2x clones of each plant (10) Everything good. Going to give them an extra week of veg to see what they do under the new conditions. Most branches have started the offset nodes so these ladies are almost officially ready to bloom. I took cuttings off all the plants and got them into another veg room to root. I'll keep the Wild Runtz going no matter what and select (maybe) two phenos of the King's Tart cross.