An Individual Apollo F1

drakkon The Apollo F1 is growing well through day 14 and appears to be hale and hardy. Over its earliest days, it occasionally received small amounts of water, top-delivered around the pot's edges. Then, it received 600 ml of water with rooting enhancer, delivered all at once via top-watering. I plan to give it a more substantial top-watering soon, and expect to implement wick-based bottom watering soon after that. As of this week, it's in the free air 100 percent of the time, with no humidity dome Besides photos depicting the specimen by itself, I included a couple showing the grow area with the Apollo and its neighbors, which are all well into their flowering or ripening phases and nearing harvest. There are no individual diaries for the other plants shown.

drakkon The Apollo F1 is picking up speed as of day 21, and a few small branches are emerging from its main stem. It received some nutrients via top-watering, and has been on a self-watering base for two days. A few tiny root tips have already poked through the bottom. Temps heated up around here recently, and the air is quite dry (low 80s F and low 40s humidity). I'll keep my eye on temps, and will get some AC going if gets too hot for my liking. I haven't decided whether I'll top this Apollo or not, but training of some kind or other is on the near horizon. In addition to photos of the Apollo, I included a few of its companions, a Gaia (day 92), a Titan (day 91), and an Atlas (day 82). That's the last you'll see of the Gaia and Titan, as they're due for harvesting any time now.

drakkon As of day 28, the Apollo F1 looks great. I've held nutrient concentration steady (on the low side), and it drank a little more this past week compared to the prior week. A few more roots have penetrated the bottom of the bag, so I assume sub-irrigation is beginning to work. I topped the plant on day 25 (above node #5) and it showed no signs of stress or slowing down afterward. At the same time I topped it, I also pinched off the two tiny branches sprouting from node #1. Soon, I will begin applying LST with clips and/or tie-downs.

drakkon The Apollo is gaining altitude on day 35. I broke one branch beyond repair while applying some LST training to the lower branches, leaving seven branches instead of the eight I intended. Bam! HST! No worries, the plant took it in stride and so did I. Nutrient concentration increased slightly on the most recent fertilization. I removed just a handful of leaves, and tucked others, to increase light penetration. The room's humidity is reaching the lower 60s in recent days as outdoor temperature and humidity rises in the area, and varies subject to HVAC settings for humans in addition to the plants. For this Apollo, now, 62% is fine with me, but with other plant(s) in early or mid flower, I expect I'll have to manage humidity levels soon. Another thing I noticed in recent days that I'll have to address is a little nighttime temperature increase. That should require nothing more than a protocol change. I have a habit of shutting the door to my office at lights-out time, but with a dark period of only 3 or 4 hours, combined with HVAC thermostat and register positions, it seems to get warmer and damper when the light comes back on. Leaving the door open should help, since there is minimal risk of darkness interruption anyway. Or, I'll introduce a dehumidifier to the area. These are some of the vagaries of growing without using a tent or a dedicated space, but I still like my setup of an under-desk lamp combined with sunny windows when available.

drakkon The Apollo F1 has reached day 42 and is looking fine. Its main and side branches are stretching, and I can see some bud sites starting to form up, so I will call this its first week of flowering. I wish it stayed in veg for another few days to put on some size, but it looks healthy and lush so I'm not too concerned. This Apollo shares my 130w lamp with several other plants (without diaries), and the lamp is typically set in the 5-7 out of 10 range. Given that, I'm actually pleased with the Apollo's size and rate of growth. The plant has been taking up water via sub-irrigation, and it went the whole past week without a feeding. Today or tomorrow I will give it some weak-ish bloom nutrients and a microbial inoculant.