Nuclear Forest

storymodegrow Counting 9/13 as Veg day 1. Had issues battling pH issues most of first week in veg, took 6 days to slowly go from 7.0 to 6.0 with small doses of pH down daily. Dome came off Day 2 and the plant took a noticeable trunk tilt. Started bouncing back by Day 4. Roots dropped to the reservoir by Day 2. Days 3-6 saw the first 5 pronged leaves appear. It was around here the pH stabilized to 6.0. Following 24hrs of consistent pH, first nutrients were added to the reservoir (raised EC to 0.8). By Day 8 the 3 pronged leaves span 8 inches and the 2nd pair of 5 pronged are beginning to emerge. Bud sites at the 1st and 2nd leaves are starting to push out. As the plant has moved closer to the light every couple of days the light is adjusted to maintain a 16 inch gap between it and the top most leaves.

storymodegrow Everything progressing well, on Day 11 and 12 saw the cotyledon and 1st serrated leaves and nodes snipped off heading into the plants nighttime and morning respectively. Light Schedule begins moving up as well, Day 11 saw 4% increase to maintain 250-300ppfd. LST also began with gentle bending with wire to push the main stem over. The following day the stem was pliable enough to add a modified clip to begin push it down further. Day 12 also had a light increase 3% to 50% overall with a canopy reading 260ppfd. Day 13 saw an early morning topping of the plant, counting the now since removed single serrated leaves, at node 6. With serrated leaves and nodes removed and top now gone, there are 4 pairs of branches with a chance the down-facing bottom most node will turn upwards. Heading into Day 14, 1.5 gallons of the reservoir were removed and replaced with 2 gallons of 5.9-6.1 pH balanced water and an additional .5fl oz of base a and base b nutrients.

storymodegrow Started Week 3 with a water swap on the reservoir. 1.5gal out for 2gal in with 14.78mL A + 7mL B. Bringing the light intensity up as the week progressed to reach a 55%, 350ppfd at 16in moving to 12 in by week 4. Throughout the week branch trainers were added to most branches, ideally vegetating 2-3 trainers out before flip.

storymodegrow Week 4 saw a lot of near daily trimming 1-2 leaves as necessary to allow light through the canopy. New growth is popping up daily with older branches reaching their second branch trainer lengths. 1 of the 2 top branches was also topped in an attempted FIM, first time trying this technique. The other top-most branch was left natural to see what if any difference occurs. By end of week all original fan leafs have been removed as the plant enters month 2 of vegetation. Week ended with water swap of 1.5 for 2 gal with nutrients. Ending the week at 1500ppm and 5.9pH heading into Week 5. Lighting was upgraded in the tent on the final day of Week 4 from a Vivosun VS1000 (100W) to a Spider Farmer G3000 (300W). Next weeks grow conditions will reflect this.

storymodegrow Week 5 Veg saw a lot of leaf tucking, defoliation and some branch trimming. To give stronger branches a better chance, several smaller "sucker" branches were removed throughout the week. Almost all the larger original fan leaves were trimmed to allow air to move through the plant and some on the top most branches to allow light to reach the lower branches. Light fixture swap out on last day of Week 4 (Day 26) meant a decrease in intensity as the SF G3000 is more efficient than the previously used VS1000. Intensity started at 36% @ 12in for a similar 500ppfd. Intensity was raised to 41% by Day 30 of Veg to 550-600ppfd throughout the canopy. On Day 28 1st string trellis was placed with an initial grid of 4x4 approximately 3.5in squares, more squares can be added if necessary. Using the string trellis also allows for some repositioning of the grid and branches over the last few weeks of Veg before the permanent nylon one is placed heading into flower. Mid week an additional feed took place to maintain 1300-1500ppm @5.9-6.1 pH. At this stage branches are being allowed to grow more vertically and only trained outward if they impede on lower branch light. Several of the secondary branches are hitting 3-4 nodes by end of week and will determine when flip to 12/12 starts; once a little less than half are reaching the trellis, set at around 10in above bucket lid. Vertical space is limited with the light having around 10 more inches to move up. The plant is rumored to stretch 100-150%, with the 2nd trellis anchors being 6in above 1st, some branch tucking may be necessary moving forward. Heading into Week 6, reservoir saw a full change and level decrease going from 4gal to 2.5 gal.

storymodegrow Week 6 started with 2.4tsp/gal each of A+B into a fresh 2.5 gallon reservoir on Day34. Additional feeds were added during .5 gal top offs on days 37 and 41 of 1.2 tsp/gal each (Day37) and .6 and 1.2 tsp/gal (Day41, A+B respectively) thus the seemingly big leap in this weeks nutrients. Both to prepare for flip to flower and to keep the ppm in the newly upped 1500 range. The decision to flip early was made for two reasons. First, 5 of the 7 main branches have met the first trellis. The second being that I wanted to test a 12 day flip cycle as opposed to the typical 6 day used on past grows. Essentially, every other day an hour is dropped and on days when an hour was not lost for the plant, light intensity was raised to maintain a ppfd between 600-700 with the goal to have light intensity at/around 800-900 by end of flip in mid week 7. By the end of Week 6, this saw light settings at 63% intensity for a ppfd range between 660-730 at around 15 inches above the canopy. Defoliation and tucking occurred throughout the week as more new fan leaves obscured light penetration and airflow. Week 7 will see more of the same with a potential "schwazze" and most definitely some branch pruning to give the stronger/taller ones a better chance moving forward into preflower/flower. As it stands, there are between 10-13 strong contenders for final colas including a tight grouping of four from the twice topped upper branch. Though I'd prefer not to cull any of these, there is one obvious straggler and I am willing to reduce the final colas to 7-9 for this size plant.

storymodegrow No reservoir drain in Week 7. Top-offs of .5 gallon took place on Days 43, 45, 48. Feeding on Day 45 and 48 of 1.5tsp/Base A and 3tsp/Base B, at or around 1300-1500ppm and 6.2pH. Trying to maintain a reservoir volume between 2.5 and 3 gallons. Lighting shifted from 13/11 to 12/12 mid week. By end of vegetation Week 7, light was set to 72% intensity, approx. 730-780ppfd hanging roughly 17-15in from the canopy top with the plant gaining another 2 inches in height. Because of the odd midweek "start" of flower, defoliation took place on watering days. Branch pruning also began with the removal of two smaller sucker branches not getting enough light to break mid canopy. Schwazze on pre-flower day 21 is still planned, but until then larger fan leaves and smaller ones blocking airflow only will be removed.

storymodegrow Note: Nov 1 will count as Day 1 of pre-flower/flower, lights at this point had been on 12/12 for 3 days. Plant is stretching well. The reservoir received top-offs on even numbered days. Day 2: .5gal fed with 1.5tsp Base A and 3tsp B Day 4: .5gal fed with 3tsp Base B Day 6: .85gal fed with 3tsp each Base A and B Overnight on Day 5, there was a noticeable uptake in water from the plant as it reached the nylon trellis. In lieu of a reservoir refresh at the end of week, a larger top-off was made Day 6 to bring the water line to the bottom of the net basket and to see how the plant responds to flooding. Reservoir volume may be increased to 3-3.5gal as flower progresses. Light intensity has been maintained at 72% @ 750-800ppfd but will be raised going forward as needed. Physically the light is at the highest point it can be on the pulleys and would be difficult to hang from the ceiling which would provide an insignificant extra few inches. The trellis is set about 13in below the light, as branches begin growing up through it they will need to be weaved outward. Supplementary light is set up facing upward at the plant's base, it will be turned on at the first sign of pistils. Defoliation is not being noted but every day a larger fan leaf or 2 is removed to open up the canopy and of the 7 original branches, about 3 have made it to the top trellis. Of the twice topped branches, one is clearly stunted. Select lower branches coming up around it may need to be removed to encourage it's growth in the coming week.