solo cup challenge heavyweight contender

I came across @Silky_smooth solo cup challenge and I have a bag full of seeds and a 16oz cup so I figured I would have some fun with this. Growing in a small container is a new adventure for me. I heard someone say this was about weight so I pulled out the 2 fast 2 vast and put the gloves on. 6/22 got my girl soaking in plain tap water. Going to soak her til she pops and plant her directly into the perlite. I would usually use a rockwool cube, but I want the roots to have all the room then possibly can. Decided to feed with the KISS method of the Lucas formula just for kicks. 6/23 ... 24 hours and the girl popped. I placed her about an inch deep in the perlite and gently packed it down a little hopefully enough pressure for her to shed the shell when she breaks the surface. Misted her with a little tap water. Placed her under a 23w cfl daylight bulb. Hope she pops up in the next 48 hours. Going to give her a light mist a couple times a day. 6/26 she broke through the surface this morning. The shell popped off but the membrane was still attached to the cotelydons so I gently pulled it off before it had a chance to dry up and stick. Here we go..... Been misting the perlite lightly twice a day. Added a pinch of maxibloom on day 3.

Day 10 I went ahead and topped her. I was away for a couple days and am really impressed with how much progress she made in 2 days. She was pretty dry when I got back and still getting some curling on the leaves. I think this is from heat so I have adjusted the fan to put a little more air flow on her. She is still under two 23w cfl bulbs. A 6500k daylight and a 2700k cool white. Day 11. She is recovering from topping. I can see that I cut into one of the tops but looks like there is enough leaf there to grow a branch. Hope she keeps close pace to the others or we might end up with a tripod😎 Day 14 she is looking stocky today. I will be adding some wire or something to get started training on her as soon as possible. Just have to figure out the best approach.

We are starting out round 3 with my heavyweight contender in the @Silky_smooth solo cup challenge. On day 15 I trimmed the fan leaves and tied down the 2 top branches so the bottom 2 get better light. She seems happy with the nutrients so I am keeping it at .5 tsp/gal for now. Still no drain holes but I am sure I will have to poke a few holes eventually to flush the medium. Going to put that off as long as possible. Until then we will just keep the gloves on and listen for the bell to ring for the next round. Day 19 she is still under 2 23w cfl. Still misting the perlite 3x per day. Misting a little more each day and she seems happy. Day 21 did some defoliation and tied the 2 lower branches down. Removed a couple little branches to keep her clean.

We are at day 24 on the Silky_smooth solo cup challenge. On day 20 my girl started showing a couple pistils which seems normal for 3 weeks. Didnt think anything of it, but after watching her the next couple days I clearly see she is hitting flower. Never seen a plant flip the switch so fast. Was hoping to get at least another week of veg on her but hey this is a challenge! And to be fair to heavyweight it clearly says on the seed package "2 fast" so this girl is living up to her name. The "2 vast" part is going to be tricky with her little branches though😆. She is a happy little plant. I put her under a galaxyhydro 1000w. I decided to just let her do what she wants for a while and see how she shapes up. I think switching to an auto doomed me as far as the competition, but I am enjoying the grow and that is what its about. Best of luck to all! Day 28 I spread her out some more today. Try to take advantage of every little budsite I can expose.

We are starting the 5th week of the Silky_smooth solo cup challenge and my girl is looking a little angry today. Not sure if she is tired of the 24 hr light or the fact that her roots are crammed into a cup. I am still just misting the perlite a few times a day with a spray bottle. I can tell she is drinking more because the cup is light every time I lift it to spray. Just going to keep on keeping on and try to keep her alive. Day 32 she is looking much happier today. I gave her a little more maxigro for nitrogen because I am seeing some yellowing on the lower leaves. I think it may be due to lack of space for the roots but guess we will see over the next few days. Day 35 she is showing signs of calcium deficiency, mag deficiency, and just plain unhappy. I think she has plenty of nutrients, and the ph is good. I think there is salt building up on the roots? Just hoping I can keep her going for another few weeks

Day 38 of the Silky_smooth solo cup challenge. As you can see I have really put this girl through hell by waiting so long to provide drain holes. I have poked about 10 holes in the bottom now and given her a gallon flush in small increments over the last 24 hours. The leaves are much more perky but she has suffered. Going to be a challenge to pull her through to harvest but she is strong and might just make it! Will go back to feeding with bloom nutrients tomorrow

It is the first day of week 7 for my heavyweight contender in the Silky_smooth solo cup challenge. I put her through one too many experiments and she got pretty unhappy, but she is a survivor made a bit of a comeback and is starting to swell up nicely. Just been lightly watering her 2 to 3x per day. She is fading fast but I dont think it is her time. Going to try to keep her going for at least another week. Going to push her just to the edge. The plan is to chop her just when the fading is on the edge of the buds. Want her to be heavy as possible but dont want brown and yellow in the flowers. Just going to keep the gloves on and listen for the bell to ring starting the next round. Day 48. I have been giving her sparkling water as the master grow guru @Silky_smooth advised for the last 3 days. Going to keep flushing her for a few more days then she will get the chop! The buds are compact but pretty dense. Excited to see what weight she puts off and get a taste of those buds!

Final weight of dried trimmed buds is 17.3 grams. Cant complain considering the huge challenge it was to bring her to harvest. I am confident I can take what I learned from this and do much better in a future solo cup grow. I want to thank @Silky_smooth for hosting this challenge for us. It was a lot of fun and a nice learning experience.