This is my second grow overall and my first time growing indoors, and it's turning out to be a learning lesson. I know that I'm going to mess up a few grows before I become a true growing genius, so it's all good. I believe I have made a few mistakes that stunted the plants and caused the leaf discoloration which I will discuss here.
Stunting: the plants are small because I over watered them around week 3. The first two weeks of growth were amazing, and then week 3 when they should have gained mass in the stalks and doubled in size, they remained the same. It looked like the water was not moving beyond the top layer of soil so I kept watering when I should have given it time to move down into the soil and trusted my gut.
Leaf discoloration: first time using a grow light, and I believe I cranked it up too high too soon. I lowered my 200w light to 55% and raised it 25 inches above the tallest plant and it seems the new leaf growth is healthy. It was at 22 inches and 70% power.
LST: I did a bit of low stress training with garden ties and that did not go well. I am just going to let the plants grow naturally next time until I master the basics, then I will learn how to low-stress-train.
Plan of action - next grow I will slow my roll with the watering and the lights. I am also interested in using HP Pro mix and real grow buckets (self-watering) to streamline my future grows and prevent grower error. 😬
