First Ever Grow - Here Goes Nothing

RekYourself I survived the first week but not without my fair share of learning curves. The first major hurdle was figuring out AC Infinity's Controler AI+. I made the huge mistake of defaulting to the Indoor Quick Start "Beginner Mode". Unbeknownst to me, this setting defaulted the exhaust to a setting of 2. In turn, this drove up humidifier usage (burned through a gallon of distilled water a day) and killed daytime and night temps. I was struggling to get anywhere near 70 F. I eventually set the minimium fan value to 0 and the temperature immediately improved. Once I got the temperature figured out, I then noticed a pissing match between my exhaust and humidifier. The humidifier would push RH to 70%, the fan would start to exhaust at around 67%, and then drop RH to below 60%. The process would repeat itself every 2.5 minutes. I ended up taking all the devices off AI mode and manually set sensor triggers for temp/humidity. The fan is now set to activate if temps exceed 80 F or RH exceeds 70%. The humifier kicks on if RH drops below 67%. Both have transition settings of 2F/2%. The system is now singing and device utilization has drastically improved. The ladies seem to be doing pretty well thus far despite the constant tinkering I've put them through. I noticed there was a very faint crispness to the edge of one of the first true leaves. I ended up downloading Photone and was getting a reading of a little over 400. I ended up backing off the light by a couple inches to get a reading closer to 320. I'll keep an eye on it, particularly with the new growth. The second leaves seem to be filling in nicely. I'm really looking forward to seeing these gals take off over the next week! I would love to hear any feedback!

RekYourself This was an exciting week filled with new growth. The ladies were looking quite happy and I had the day off so I decided to transplant into 3 gallon fabric pots. I could have probably waited a bit longer but roots were starting to peek out the bottom of the solo cups and I couldn't bear the even the possibility of hurting my babes! 😂 I followed Athena's recipe for a veg pre-soak. I put roughly six gallons of Mother Earth's coco + perlite in a plastic tub and slowly added the pre-soak until I got the mixture I was looking for. It took about a gallon in total. This left me with about two gallons that I will use for the first feeding.The medium was then placed in AC Infinity's three gallon fabric pots. The ladies seem content for with their new set up. I'm still struggling to figure out the Cloudline 6 inline fan. It drastically impacts my temperature and humidity levels even on the lowest setting. It doesn't seem to have too much of an effect on the plants in this stage but I have to get it figured out soon.

RekYourself Another week, another fun week of rapid growth. They grow up so fast! 😍 The ladies got their first full feeding this week and absolutely loved it. It was pretty apparent by a very noticeable growth spurt that seemed to happen overnight. I waited a few days and decided then decided to give a topping above the fourth node. That was nerve-wrecking but again, with full bellies and a fresh hairdo, they non-verbally confimed approval of my decisions. Major lateral growth ensued seemingly overnight. I think I'm going to work towards some very soft LST next week to support better airflow and light access to the lower growth. I'm loving every second of this process!

RekYourself This week has been a rollercoaster with the majority of the negatives being my own doing. The ladies are incredibly resilient, responding very well to whatever I've thrown at them. They've doubled in size from last week and are getting more hungry. The gaps in feeding is getting narrower moving from once a week to five days. I started LST this week and they responded fairly well to it. After the having the plant ties on each of the main branches for a full 24 hours, I noticed there was separation at the knuckles where I had topped. This got me freaked out enough to completely remove the ties on the top and adjusting the remaining ties more towards the new growth in an effort to reduce the strain on the other knuckles. I'll keep a close eye on this. I also did a light defoliation to remove the lowest branches with leaves that were either touching the substrate or clogging up the center of the plant. I really hope I haven't caused too much undue stress. The ladies have shown me an incredible amount of grace up to this point and hope they will continue to do so.

RekYourself Things are looking up! First off, these ladies are magnificent. I start each day with a smile, continually amazed by their ongoing progress. The knuckles have recovered well from the overly aggressive LST from last week. For this week, I've worked diligently to continue to support lateral growth. I ended up topping the apex a second time to support more future cola sites and to allow some of the lower branches to catch up. I'm also working LST on the lower branches to work towards a wider base. I've now maxed out the circumference of the three gallon fabric pots. It's really interesting to see the unique personalities come out in these ladies. The plant that started as the weaker seedling is now the dominating plant. She aims to please and responds VERY well to training. The other plant is a bit more fickle. She doesn't like to be told what to do and marches to the beat of her own drum. I'm planning to use this next week to get everything prepped for the flowering stage. It's getting closer each day. I'll be rearranging the tent for better optimization, moving the humidifier outside the tent and adding a heater I picked up this week. I'm also planning to incorporate a ScgOG to maximize tent space. Upward on onward!

RekYourself This update comes a couple days shy of a full week. My better half talked me out of flipping to flower last week and I'm glad she did. The ladies have already stretched quite a bit in the last five days, packing on an additional two inches of vertical growth - not too bad for a bushy indica. I just can't take it anymore! I've been continuing to push LST to get my branching where I want them but also allow room for some vertical growth during the 12/12 cycle. I've also placed by ScrOG net up roughly 4 inches above the current canopy (it's further away than the pictures show - I just thought it looked cool! 😎) I've also been continuing some selective defoliation, cutting out fan leaves that I can't place out of the way. Tomorrow is the first full day of the new light cycle and I'll also fast follow with Athena's flower recepe. They're getting hungry! Exciting times and I have a good feeling it's about to get really good!