Three Sisters and a Tourist

PPFDaddy Week 2 check-in! Seedlings are settling in nicely. Environment: 28 °C / 82.4 °F, RH 80%, VPD ≈ 0.76 kPa. Light: 30,000 lux at the canopy, fixture 30 cm, running 37% power. Water & Additives (soil): 150 ml every other day, pH 6.0, EC 0.4 mS/cm. Voodoo Juice each watering to boost early roots. Growth: sitting at 8 cm by the end of week 2. Tight internodes, leaves happy- no tip burn or droop. Tweaks: keeping RH high so VPD stays soft in early veg; will nudge PPFD or frequency slightly as pots start drying faster.

PPFDaddy Mid-Week 3 Veg and I'm hitting my first bump. The new growth is curled and kinda deformed, almost like light/heat burn, while the older leaves look fine. First time I see this. Not repeating the numbers here (they're in the photo check-in), but I'm open to ideas- light/heat stress, watering issue, or a micro imbalance? Happy to upload close-ups if that helps. Just added the end-of-week pics. My Critical Orange Punch that had crinkled/ twisted new tips and little spots looks like she's turning the corner. About 24-36 hours ago I watered with a slightly higher pH (went from ~6.0-6.2 up to ~6.5-6.6) and gave enough for a light runoff to tidy the root zone. New growth already looks smoother and happier, color holding steady. Not calling it a win just yet, but it feels like we're back on track. I'll keep soil pH in the 6.3-6.6 lane and watch the next set of leaves. Big thanks to everyone who chimed in- appreciate the guidance, growmies!

PPFDaddy Week 4 Veg update. Had a small Cal-Mag uptake issue: I run RO water from a home filter and usually add ~1 ml/L Cal-Mag (base ~300-350 µS/cm). New growth got crinkly/twisted, I checked the basics first-pH, VPD, light, EC all looked solid. Only after that did I consider a virus... but the real culprit was a precipitated Cal-Mag bottle. Swapped in a fresh one and they perked up. Gave them 2-3 days to regain vigor, then topped. Kept VPD ~0.80 kPa and dimmed ~5% (dropped a few k lux at the canopy) to keep stress low. Plants are looking better now-hoping it's smooth sailing from here. If anyone's had a Cal-Mag bottle go funky on them, I feel you!🙃

PPFDaddy Week 5 in the books. Things are mostly on track, but my Critical Orange Punch look a bit slowed-likely from the recent topping + light defol and a couple weaker shoots. Fair enough, they're recovering. Inside the tent there's one outlier: a Royal Queen Seeds Special Kush I dropped in to replace a COP that didn't germ. Different genetics and she's sprinting upward. I tried a FIM to slow her, but she's still climbing. She only has 2-3 nodes right now, so topping options are limited; I'm considering a direct top once she stacks a bit more, or some LST-though the stem is already pretty thick. What would you do to keep the canopy even? Go hard top, aggressive LST, a gentle supercrop bend, or tie her down and raise the others? Open to any tips-thanks and good luck to everyone!

PPFDaddy Week 6 Veg and the girls look recovered from the Cal-Mag issue, but growth is still sluggish. Likely culprits: slightly cool temps (~23–24 °C day / ~20 °C night) and the fact I started straight in final pots. The big containers stayed wet too long early on, so I’m guessing the roots had some hypoxia after waterings. I’m also dealing with hydrophobic soil—even small, slow waterings tend to channel and leak down the sides. I’ve ordered yucca extract as a wetting agent to help the mix take water evenly. Hoping this clears things up so veg can pick up speed. Anyone dosing yucca in soil—what’s your go-to rate?

PPFDaddy Another veg week in the books and growth’s still a bit sluggish—cool temps around 23–24 °C by day and 20 °C at night plus the big final pots staying wet too long aren’t helping much. I’ve been watering about half a liter at a time and pushing extra airflow at pot level to speed up dryback. My pH pen started acting sus, probably because it’s old and I never stored the probe in solution, so readings are unreliable; I’ve already ordered a new one to keep things on track. I’m also considering transplanting down to 10–11 L pots to get a quicker wet–dry cycle and more uniform roots. In the meantime, I’m keeping the canopy even with some LST and doing small under-canopy clean-ups every few days. Coverage is looking pretty good, so I might flip next week even if they’re not super tall—the stretch should fill the tent nicely. What do you all think, would you transplant down now or just ride it out in the big pots and flip? And any hacks to speed up dryback in cooler temps?