Lone Hyperion F1

drakkon The Hyperion is looking fine on day 14. There's not much to report yet. I'm just keeping it moist under a dome, plus a few small drinks of water here and there. Soon I'll introduce some dilute nutrients and a root supplement. Transplant day and possible topping-day TBD. It currently sits pretty far from the lamp, and to the side.

drakkon Kaboom! Ouch! I knocked the Hyperion seedling over this week, just when I was saying how I've always had good results starting them off in 1-liter air pots. Well, I can't blame the air pot for this one, it's all on me. A day or two after last week's diary entry, I was rotating a fabric pot containing a Northern Lights Automatic (no diary) and nudged an adjacent pot. The other pot then nudged the Hyperion, causing it to fall off the 15-inch riser on which it stands. The Hyperion landed on its side and about a third of the soil tumbled out, but the plant itself remained intact. I forgot to take pictures as I rushed to refill the container, but I could clearly see some loose and jumbled roots. As carefully as I could, I turned the container upright and put the soil back in. I had watered the plant recently, so the soil was rather damp, but I wondered whether I should re-water it a little bit anyway, to help the soil and roots settle together. After thinking about it for a brief pause, I opted to do so. Without question, the plant stalled. First, it appeared slightly droopy for a day or two, during which time its first set of single-leaflet true leaves yellowed and wilted, as did the cotyledons. It continued looking rather sad for another two or three days before regaining full turgor. Yesterday, I gave it about 200 ml of water with some dilute nutrients and a root booster (GH FloraMicro, FloraBloom, and RapidStart at 3-6-1 ml per gallon respectively). Interestingly, a segment of the main stem has turned a vibrant pinkish color. Today, the Hyperion appears to be back on track, but I imagine the sudden shock it underwent will impact the end-results significantly. It's a good thing I have other plants in the pipeline and can easily start more whenever I want. As long as it's nothing serious in the larger scheme of things, when things don't go my way or a little hiccup occurs, I try to take it as an opportunity to exercise restraint in indulging in any irritation or anger that might naturally arise. Of course, I don't love that it happened, but why get all bent out of shape over what should be my fun hobby? I don't deny that I felt the impulse to get all bent out of shape, though 😉

drakkon The week before last, the Hyperion took a literal tumble, paused growth for a few days, and then bounced back. This past week, I left it in its original 1-liter air pot for a few more days, and then transplanted it into a 3-gallon bag on day 24. I've ceased using pumice as an amendment, and went back to using perlite this time instead. I added about 10% by volume to some Happy Frog soil, just to boost its aeration and drainage a little. I watered the transplant in the new bag with 1200 ml of water plus 1 ml of RapidStart root enhancer. As of day 28, it's had just another 200 ml small drink. I really hope it takes its time before flowering, but given the pause it underwent, I won't be shocked if it flowers soon and I end up with another small one. My next plant has already been sown, just in case this Hyperion ends up being small.

drakkon As of day 35, the Hyperion is looking healthy and growing fast, which is a little surprising since it took a tumble a couple of weeks ago and was transplanted soon after. On day 33 it appeared to still be undergoing vigorous vegetative growth, and I have limited space under my desk, so I decided to go ahead and top it and see what happens. I would generally consider day 33 much too late for topping an auto, but going by its appearance, I think it'll be ok this time. It's only been two days since it was topped so it's hard to be sure, but topping the plant did not seem to slow or faze it at all. When I topped it, I also removed its two tiny first-node branches, leaving it with four nodes (#2 to #5) and eight branches. This past week, it received about 1200 ml of water (pH-adjusted) plus dilute base nutrients and a root enhancer (RapidStart). I'm letting the ambient humidity get pretty low (39%) without intervening because there are other plants in the same area that are in full flower.

drakkon I'm a little surprised the Hyperion F1 hasn't started flowering as of day 42, but I have no complaints. It has undergone plenty of shock and adversity along the way, but continues to appear healthy. The plant fell to the floor as a seedling, was later transplanted, then topped, and just a few days ago I accidentally broke a couple of its branches. While training one of its 4th-node branches, I was a little aggressive and snapped it, leaving only about 40 percent of it still connected. I know branches can often be saved, so I proceed to repair it with a small piece of tape. The repair seems to have worked and the branch remains alive and even growing a little. However, as I repaired that 4th-node branch, I clumsily broke one of the nearby 5th-node branches completely off. I now expect to have a more organically shaped plant with six or seven tops instead of the eight I usually aim for when topping. I recently purchased 4 self-watering trays (AC Infinity) and am phasing them into my area. The Hyperion now rests on one, but I haven't yet begun using it or my other trays for sub-irrigation. Currently, I use them only to catch runoff when top-watering by hand.