DWC - Papaya Stank

High_And_Hydro I hand-watered during the first week, about 4-5 times a day.

High_And_Hydro On day 12 after opening the package, the first root has reached the water. You can immediately see that it's healthy and ready to go. It skipped the 3-finger leaves and jumped straight in with a 4-finger and a 5-finger leaf. There's another Yakuza leaf in there, but this time the thumb is missing 😆👍

High_And_Hydro So far, she looks good, but I already have a spot with root rot again. However, since it's a photo, it's not that big of a deal because I don't have time pressure and thus potential loss like with an auto. I flushed her with 12% H2O2 mixed with water at 3ml/l, and the roots were almost white again. I also raised the water level a bit to keep the spot below the water surface, as it had formed between the water surface and the net pot. Two days later, discoloration was visible again, so I flushed her once more with the same mixture. She's still growing normally and seems to be handling the flush quite well. Still, I'm worried about the situation since I'm not entirely sure why the rot is occurring. The clay pebbles were flushed hot, and the system was cleaned with H2O2, the nutrient solution isn't drifting, it's changed at least once a week, it's at 22°C, and I'm using Cannazym. I lowered the water level a bit to see if that helps.

High_And_Hydro This week I got a new, bigger lamp. It has a total power of 400W and is currently running at 20%, so 80W. The plant tip gets about 450 µmol/s/m², which results in a DLI of 29.2 mol/d/m² with an 18/6 cycle. Lowering the water level was a good idea and worked excellently. In the future, I will keep the distance from the net pot to the water surface a bit larger from the start, I estimate about 3-4 fingers wide. On day 24, I removed the large leaves because the side shoots were hitting them from below and wouldn’t have made it through on their own. Since it’s a photo, I was also very generous with it and cut off 8 leaves. It looked pretty drastic at first, but it has recovered. I’m not so sure if that was a good idea, it didn’t feel like one when the leaves were gone at first. 😅

High_And_Hydro On day 29, I removed the sun sails from the main stem again to slow it down a bit and at the same time give more light to the side branches. This way, the side branches can catch up with the main stem, so the plant looks nice and round and even later on. On day 32, I defoliated a bit more to get some air in.

High_And_Hydro I did some serious defoliation last night just before the lights went out, since it grows a lot of leaf area but the stems stay pretty short. That's why it got totally overgrown again and was hindering itself. 12 hours later, it already looks fit again. The stem is very sturdy and the branches are hardly flexible at all, and the internodes are quite short. Because of this, it has overall grown rather "small," and I hope it stretches nicely after the switch. Also, I added some H2O2 to the nutrient solution the day before yesterday, since the pH had drifted down despite changing the nutrient solution twice. Today - 48 hours later - I changed the nutrient solution again and without H2O2, but added Cannazym again. In any case, with the gradual defoliation, I was able to bring the main stem and the side stems to the same height without topping the plant. I'm still not so sure if that was better than topping, but at least it's a rather rarely used option. Day 40: I've decided to swap Cannazym for H2O2 in the future to prevent biofilm and root rot. The initial dose is 2 ml/l, and I add about 1 ml/l every 2 days since H2O2 is known to degrade.

High_And_Hydro This week started off well, the plant is responding well to the H2O2 and looks very vibrant. The leaves have good pressure and show no deficiencies or excess. I've been defoliating daily just before the lights go out, taking off a handful of large leaves. Day 45: I did a thorough defoliation again before the lights went out, as it had grown dense once more. The branches are growing very slowly and a bit oddly. They are very thick and the plant reacts extremely sensitively to cut leaves. The shoot of the node where I cut the leaf is not growing or is only growing extremely slowly. The main shoot hasn't grown at all in the last week and is already noticeably shorter than the side shoots. Day 48: I defoliated once more just before the lights went out.

High_And_Hydro She's doing well so far, the leaves look healthy and she's drinking about 1.5 - 2 liters a day. The leaves are growing back very quickly, and I'm defoliating about every 3 days at the moment. She's getting about 750 µmol/s/m² at the tops and around 600-650 µmol/s/m² on the sides. When I refill the nutrient solution, I add new H2O2 (2ml/l) and then I pour it through the clay pebbles. Apparently, there's something funky in the clay pebbles because since then, the plant has been doing significantly better. In the future, I'll consider replacing the clay pebbles since I've had issues with them from time to time. Maybe that will bring a bit more stability to the system. - Day 51: Today I defoliated quite a bit. I would have thought she would be bigger by now 😅. I also put her in the scrog net and spread her out a bit. Additionally, I discovered a mutated branch that's growing oval and strangely. It's very thick, so I'm leaving it since otherwise, I'd have a bigger hole in the back area. - Day 53: She's recovered from the defoliation, but she's still not filling the tent. So I'm giving her a bit more time for the flowering transition. 😴👍 - Day 55: I defoliated her again today, and starting tomorrow, the flowering begins. I'm curious to see how much she'll stretch. 💪👽👍

High_And_Hydro I sent her into flowering on day 56, and she should be ready in about 60 +-4 days. She had another strong defoliation and was then immediately switched. She was doing well again the next day, all the leaves are standing up straight again. On BT 6, I increased the light to 1200 µmol/s/m².

High_And_Hydro She's looking pretty bushy, and there are still 2 weeks until the regular defoliation. Otherwise, the leaves look great, and she has handled the switch to the bloom nutrient solution well. The high light intensity of currently 1200 µmol/s/m² doesn't seem to stress her in the slightest. The VPD is currently around 1.2 kPa, and I've also had an additional fan blowing from below against the leaf canopy.

High_And_Hydro Yo, she started to stretch and she looks fantastic. She is absolutely healthy and the leaves don't have a single spot, they are uniformly colored and have good tension. The Papaya Stank is definitely going to be a giant 💪👽👍 She had a major defoliation on flower day 17 and handled it well. Since day 20, she’s been getting 100% light output with a PPFD value of about 1500 µmol/s/m² at the very top and around 1000-1200 µmol/s/m² on average at the other buds.

High_And_Hydro I defoliated her again in the evening on day 23 since some fan leaves had grown large and were shading other shoots. She can handle light like a machine, with 1500 µmol/s/m² on the main stem and about 1200 - 1300 µmol/s/m² on the other shoots. The leaves are under good tension until the light goes out and look absolutely fit and healthy. There are no spots, shadows, burns, etc. to be seen, and she’s starting to smell like Nivea cream. From now on, there won't be any major defoliation, maybe just a single leaf here or there if necessary.

High_And_Hydro She looks great and is growing excellently. Everything is in perfect order. She has a polyploid branch that stayed short during the stretch. On this branch, I have developed a fascination with a bloom for the first time. I'm curious to see if she holds up until the end and hope she doesn't mold. She's growing very densely and still has quite a few leaves, some of which I've removed. I don't want to do much more since she's at the back of the plant, and I would disturb the other buds too much while working. The smell is now quite strong, and she has a slightly "sour" scent. I'm excited for the taste 💪👽👍

High_And_Hydro She still looks flawless. The new fertilization strategy definitely pays off multiple times. - For one, it's very cost-effective since no expensive additives are used. - Then, it's very easy to apply. The fertilization scheme is basically a two-liner. - The result is not a meager compromise, but absolutely worth seeing. - When applied correctly, it is extremely resistant to root rot, which is often a serious threat in the (R)DWC area. She still has about 4 weeks ahead of her, so she will definitely gain some mass. At the end, I have a special experiment planned to bring out the colors of autumn a bit, but I only want to reveal at this point that the calculations have already been made and the necessary materials have already been procured. Everything else will come when the time is right. I am very satisfied so far and am looking forward to the final result. 💪👽👍

High_And_Hydro Today on day 42, she received her last defoliation, and I'm also replacing the Calmag with calcium chloride to reduce nitrogen and magnesium, hopefully achieving a nice fade. Today on day 47, she seems to want fewer nutrients, and the stigmas are now noticeably turning orange. She's probably just about done and will likely hit the indicated window of 8-9 weeks right on the mark.

High_And_Hydro Tag 49: The day before yesterday, I saw something shiny in a bloom, and after a bit more observation, it turned out to be a seed. I cut off the branch and checked it thoroughly, finding 2 more seeds. It’s supposed to take 56-63 days, so it will probably be harvested by the end of this week. I still hope that it’s not completely seeded, but I’m prepared for anything.

High_And_Hydro It's now harvested. Since I currently have a very low humidity level, I hung the plant to dry in one piece and only removed a few larger leaves. I already took out the polyploid branch yesterday and wet-trimmed it, as it had grown densely and I didn't want to risk any mold developing now. It's hanging at 20°C and about 40% humidity, which according to the latest findings is definitely safer and better than 16/60.