Gradually ramped light down from 18 hours to 12 after power outages due to the fire, and it was about good time to flip anyway.
It is so much easier to control temperature during the winter in my space. The lights keep the space at a pretty steady 74 F.
I only popped two seeds but these are very consistent plants. One was transplanted to a bigger pot a week later and was slightly smaller. Lots of buds forming! They aren’t super fussy about nutrients—still,I haven’t pushed PPM and am keeping Ph in the 6-6.8 range.
I’m using peony rings as support and to spread a little but I am not training for a perfectly flat canopy as I had excellent popcorn nugs in my last grow even with the lights over 2x further than optimal.
Defoliated the lower branches but I am not defoliating aggressively, but will continue to remove any withering leaves.
Sorry for the slow updates. The fire has been pretty traumatic for my city and myself, and I’m just getting back to normal life. My home, family and pets are safe, and the fire is mostly contained.
Thank you for checking out my diary. Happy holidays and I hope Santa Ja brings you a giant tree!
Hey bud, I have enjoyed reading your diary. Your girls are looking lovely and shaping up to deliver you some nice buds. Also, by the looks of it, your lighting levels are coming into range. Your plants are looking their best late in the grow. Congrats.
You asked for commentary so I have some thoughts to share on how to improve your grow next time round.. Hope you don't mind. Its a topic close to my heart, ha ha. because I have had to deal with this issue in the past. Have you ever wondered why they are so small and the nodes are stacked so closely together? They have miniaturized in response to receiving too much light early on in the grow. Contrary to what someone told you, 52" is the right height for LEDs at seedling and early veg time. 12" between light and canopy is in the kill-your-shit zone even with a full canopy. I am using a PAR meter this round and I am finding it helpful to correctly gauge lighting levels. LED's can be difficult like this. Good luck bro and keep up the great work. I will enjoy watching those buds swell and mature.
@TheFairyBudMother, Check out my comments about LED growing on my latest diary. The trick with LEDs is to avoid the limitations of their limited light spread. You have managed to overcome this to some degree by having 2 fixtures. Excellent move on your part.
I am using at Hydrofarm Quantum PAR meter. These things are not cheap but this would seem to be the best value meter on the market and from my perspective, a worthwhile investment.
The PAR reading for seedlings is 80 - 100 micro moles. As a frame of reference, my fixture is dimmed to 50% and located 55" from canopy to achieve this. So far, this strategy is working for me. But this is early days for my grow so we'll see. Hope this info helps and good luck with the remainder of your grow, your girls are shaping up nicely. :-)
@Mr_Positivo, It’s my second grow—thanks. It’s definitely a learning curve here because everyone has a different setup, environment, nutes, plus the plants are all so individual. Apparently the platinum cookies I grew on my first grow are bitchy even for the breeder I got the clone from.
Are you saying 52” is right for veg and 12” for bloom or something else? Thanks for stopping in and for sharing your experiences. Bear in mind I only have 136 W per LED. Can you recommend a par meter? Really any help is appreciated! I have an open mind and like to research but info on LED and growing weed is pretty unreliable.
good job not just on the grow but on the diary as a whole...good info and details as well as photos...this is a good start and ill follow along on this...
I’ll be watching this one!! I have used that EB stone recipie 420, good organic soil but it has a tendency to drop its pH towards the end of the Bloom cycle. I had to add a few tablespoons of sweet lime into the soil and it corrected.