Mephisto Sour Crack #4 - the Fighter

Sour Crack #4 - Retrospective diary. She had to fight for every inch of light, as she was an unanticipated grow, one of nine, in a 2.5x4 tent. Luckily the grow was staggered so she eventually had enough time to catch up.

Her second week was uneventful, in the good way. Not much to report. She grew out, and spread her wings, getting ready for the big push in the next week. My biggest fear in general has always been overwatering, and thankfully I've yet to do so. This girl is in a Root Master pot, so the odds were low of any problems.

Here is where things start getting hard for our girl. All the other girls in the tent were pretty greedy with regards to light. I had to constantly shift her around and tuck the other girls to keep her getting light. This became a chronic issue. Started LST on day 19. Another mistake that she shares with Sam's Crack #4 is that I didn't end up breaking her apical dominance, which probably effected her ultimate yield. She did, however, end up with a fairly flat canopy, so it wasn't a complete waste of effort.

By this week I had to stick an old 3d printer filament spool under her to get more light to her canopy. She was satisfied but not tickled pink about it. FYI for new growers who have enthusiasm about their first grow - Nine plants is at least three too many for a 2.5x4 foot grow space. Six would have filled the space and still have been a little crowded.

As a result of her crowded conditions, this girl ended up growing narrow but tall. As the weeks passed, the older girls (Staggered grow) started being harvested and she got a lot more space, but by that time, she had already completed her flower stretch. This probably effected her yield, but she wasn't absolutely crushed or stunted by any means.

At this point I was playing musical tent, rotating this girl around so she could get a little more light. Shuffling plants around the tent every day was no treat and I won't make the same mistake with overcrowding again. She started to get more mature by this point, and time was running out to get her bulked up.

Musical chairs continued throughout this week. By the end of the week she finally got some room. Soon after I was able to spread out her colas by cramming some printed LST trellises into her mass. Her leaves started fading up top, as Mammoth P use caused a bit of a nutrient tug-of-war. Was a bit of minor fade up top as she started ravenously eating her own leaves to put on bud. I compensated with additional nutrients which halted the problem.

This week, now that she has more room, I was able to get into her bulk and spread her out. I also discovered at this point my failure to break apical dominance. It happened during the flower stretch. Her original top shot up just enough past the other colas that it was in charge again. Spoiler - The harvest wasn't as bad as I though it would be. :-D

Into the new grow space! Day 59 was a watershed for this girl because she was finally able to spread out and enjoy a real space! Screw that tent stuff, how about Grow Roooooooooom! I crammed several more LST trellises into her middle, to spread her out.

Fall colors abound on her final bit of week. She got the short end of the stick all the way through her grow and my impatience to get on with the next grow led to a *slightly* early chop, but she still managed to deliver the goods.

After all of her struggles for light and space, she delivered 1.46oz, which is almost exactly an average yield for a Sour Crack. (30-60g per Mephisto) So she was still able to pull out a win! I feel a little bad about her because of how little room she had to grow up, but I can't complain about her results. Her pheno came out a super sweet, kind of candylike smell, very strong. A strong end to a difficult grow!