1st time indoor

HerrTom Grow has started. Unfortunately, only on the second attempt. The first seed I planted directly in the big pot didn't sprout. Also, I changed the soil in the big pot. The cheap soil from the hardware store seemed to be full of eggs from some small creepy crawlies. The big pot was full of them. Now I've used higher quality soil and placed the seedling from the propagation droplet into the big pot. I have the impression that my previous plants were already significantly taller after a week. It doesn't have to be bad, from what I've read, but the plant doesn't look particularly impressive after a week. I've extended the lighting time a little each day, so I'm now at the planned 16 hours. I don't want to stress the little one too much, especially after repotting. Maybe I'll add another hour or two in a week or two. Opinions on what the optimal lighting time is vary in "the literature." I hope that the extra space will soon translate into noticeable growth.

HerrTom I'm not sure how to assess the situation. It looks a bit better than last week, but I actually find the plant to be way too small. I expanded the setup with a humidifier because the humidity was way too low, sometimes under 20% when the exhaust was running. Now I can achieve high values, which should be the case in the first weeks. The plant seems a bit stronger to me after two days with the humidifier, but I'm still skeptical. Update on 06.10.204: The humidifier has only been running for less than a week, and you can really see how the plant is accelerating :-) The leaves are much stronger, and the plant has also caught up in height within just a few days. It seems to be feeling really good now. Although I can't really keep the humidity and temperature constant in this setup, that's not my goal either. I'm confident with the current configuration that there will be a nice harvest.

HerrTom It's going excellent, at least when you look at the plant: it looks healthy and lively. I did have to hear from the pros here that the values for temperature and humidity aren't okay, but that doesn't seem to bother the plant. Also, I got some tips on watering. Quite interesting, because so far I haven't really watered the plant at all. Either it's handling the initial moisture from the soil really well or it's getting its water from the air. I will definitely try to lower the temperature in the box a bit, so I've turned the two fans in the box up higher. Let's see if the humidity can be kept accordingly high.

HerrTom Last week went smoothly. I even managed to stabilize the humidity and temperature somewhat with the two fans and the humidifier. As you can see, the plant is thriving wonderfully. Next week will be exciting. The smell was no longer bearable in the house, so the plant had to move to the shed at the start of the week. The temperatures there aren't too different from the outside temperatures, so it won't be easy for the plant. I hope it handles the stress of the move and the new environment well. I'm still not sure how I'll manage the lighting. I think I'll definitely light it for an hour or so at night to keep the box from getting completely cold.

HerrTom The plant is continuing to thrive, fully in its juice. And that's despite the conditions not being quite optimal. I placed a 20W heating mat under the pot, so the temperature is now relatively stable around 21 degrees. That's all good! But the humidity is too high: at least 60%. That's because the box is now in the shed, and currently, at night and sometimes during the day, the humidity is between 85 and 95%. It doesn't seem to bother the plant, but I'm worried that later on, the buds might mold. Also, there was a little burn injury: I took a chance and let the plant grow up to the lamp. It didn't like that, and at one spot, burn marks formed. I tied the box down at the affected spot with a piece of string. In the photos, you can see that this is okay for the plant, and the shoot has already oriented itself back towards the light. Update 10/27/2024: After the first branch with LST worked so well, I tied down a few more branches. The plant is now using the entire width of the grow box and isn't reaching as close to the lamp anymore. That seems very sensible to me, and I hope it will also positively affect the harvest. I'm really looking forward to it. If the temperatures don't drop drastically in the next 5 weeks, I'm really confident that this grow will deliver an interesting yield.

HerrTom It's cold! But the plant seems to be handling it quite well. The temperature in the box is somewhere between 16 and 22 degrees. There's probably not much that can be done about it with reasonable effort. I'm just hoping everything goes well until harvest :-) Other than that, everything is great. The plant looks awesome. I've tied down a few branches, as you can see in the photos. The burned leaves are still orange, but that branch also seems to be doing well. Otherwise, I can hardly wait for the time until harvest to pass. Last week there were already small buds, but this week the flowering has really kicked off. The plant just needs a few more weeks and hopefully not even colder temperatures.

HerrTom Overall, everything is going smoothly, I would say. Last week, I partially defoliated the plant. Not entirely voluntarily. There were some leaves that turned yellow and were really limp. This could be due to the low temperatures or the feeding. Overfeeding shouldn’t really be the problem since I only used liquid fertilizer once while watering. So it must be too little fertilizer. I will work with liquid fertilizer twice next week and see how things develop. Also, I tied down the main stem of the plant again because it had grown very close to the lamp once more. I hope this approach doesn’t stress the plant too much. Otherwise, everything is great. The buds could be a bit bigger, but oh well. Otherwise, I’m just looking forward to the harvest of this notorious strain.

HerrTom Optimal is different, the plant looked so good until recently. Now it shows signs of deficiency or the strong temperature fluctuations are bothering it, I don't know. I fertilized again last week and watered quite a bit. Whether that improved or worsened the situation, I can't say. In any case, the plant has many yellow leaves and just doesn't look as vibrant anymore. Unfortunately, the buds haven't grown as big as I had hoped. I don't know how much longer I should give the plant. As I said, it's developing rather negatively, and I believe I harvested too late in the last two grows. I don't want that to happen this time. Let's see if it's time by the weekend and I just harvest. After all, the lamp runs 24 hours to keep the temperature at a level, which also means a relatively high cost. Update 11/15/24 I'm annoyed. I defoliated the plant again today and applied LST. Today not with string but with metal hooks and accidentally broke off a main branch. Not completely, so I repaired it with tape. Let's see if it grows back or if it can hold on until harvest. I'm still unsure when I should harvest. In any case, the plant is now noticeably wider again. I hope the outer buds/branches quickly turn away from the wall so that nothing molds. The conditions are really difficult: box too small, air too cold, lamp has to burn too long...maybe not this weekend after all, but next weekend the lady has to go. Update 11/19/24 I am really grateful for all the tips, but I'm not sure if the professionals' assessment is correct in this case. I took more photos and I'm really wondering if the lady is ready after all. Most of the hairs are brown, the leaves are falling off, and there's no growth to observe anymore. If anyone is reading this and has an opinion, I would appreciate another perspective.

HerrTom After several people said last week that I should wait at least two more weeks before harvesting, there’s no doubt now: it’s time, it can be harvested. I’ll be glad when the grow is over. With the low temperatures, the lady really required a lot of attention. I’m really looking forward to the result ✊🏼

HerrTom So, the harvest has been done. Let's see how it goes from here. I put the box back inside the house because otherwise, it would drop to freezing without the lamp. Both fans are running at full speed. The box is at about 13 degrees and 41% humidity. I'm just going to let it run for now. I might put the 20-watt heating mat back in, although I don't think it will make much of a difference. I'm already curious about the yield. It probably won't be significantly more than my outdoor grows. Anyway, this is my first sativa-dominant strain and I'm really excited... :-) I actually wanted to start the next grow with "Critical Mass" right away, but that's a bit too stressful for me in the winter. Result: Unfortunately, my harvest turned out a bit too dry. Let's see how that affects things. Maybe the Boveda packs can balance it out, we'll see. In the end, it weighed 18.9g. That's not a lot, but it's fine for me.