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Just starting day 5 now! I was trying to hold out til the end of the week and post all at once, but I have no chill. This time I'm using legit genetics too, so I'm very excited to see how this run goes :)
After a 2 year (!!) hiatus I am finally ready for round two.
Got a 20w LED a few inches above her for a bit until she's ready for the full 150w overhead. Water pHed to 6 with no nutrients or extra additives, roughly 220-230 ppm after pH adjusted.
Apart from already having supplies at the start this time, I don't think I'll change much from my last grow. I was very pleased with the results last time and hoping for a similarly smooth experience!
Edited to add that I'm going to try to wait until the *end* of week two to post. So it will be a few days behind :)
Well, looks like this baby also got subjected to our low humidity this time of year. Slow progress but I think she'll be okay.
Also my pH pen decided to fail miserably and she was stuck in water that was far too acidic for a couple days. Looks to be bouncing back though, thankfully.
This week was smooth sailing after a couple minor hiccups. I stupidly forgot that my main air pump is ridiculously unreliable, so that happened again. Fortunately since most of her root mass is still in the hydroton she brushed it off. Much better air pump ordered in and working so so much better!
Removed the growth tips from the bottom two nodes and I'm waiting a few more days to top her.
Well, dialing this one in seems to be more of a challenge this time around. Between pH and air pump issues I'm lucky there's only a little leaf crinkling and a few spots/streaks. Raised the pH a bit to see if she'll take up some cal/mag for a day or two and see how things go from here. Growth tips for the first two nodes on each primary main have been removed, will top them both when the third nodes are well established.
Smooth week over here. Topped her again, some more LST to keep her short and sturdy. The spots didn't get worse so I think it was a pH issue again. I've given up trying to work with either of my pH pens and don't have strips that will dial it in the way I'd like, but meh. Will top one more time here soon and let her chunk up for a couple weeks before 12/12.
Week 6 went well. Topped her for the last time and started LST with the 8 resulting mains. Pulled a couple older fans to help with airflow, but I'm going to see how she does with most of her foliage intact through veg and most of flower. I removed the extra growth tips as they emerged so she shouldn't go too crazy... but we'll see. Right now the plan is to let her recover and grow without stress for a couple of weeks and then flip to 12/12.
I also got a new bigger (185w measured at wall) full-spectrum LED to use in tandem with my little blurple UFO light. She's loving the lower pH and the cal/mag supplement this week, and her phosphorus levels have improved as well.
Week 7 went well! Took a few more bottom leaves because it was getting quite crowded and they were making it harder to find spots around the rim to bind her to for LST, and they were getting mashed when I had to pick her up anyway.
Lots of benign neglect this week... Haven't fed her very heavily or done much other than let her do her thing. Thinking another week or so in veg. Maybe 2. Have to try to time it so my schedule will be open when she finishes so I don't feel tempted to rush again.
Pretty solid week over here, haven't paid much attention to it over the last couple weeks, just been too busy. Flipped to 12/12 a couple days ago. So far, so good 👍
First full week of 12/12 (and posting a day early to boot...)
Some stretching but I'm pretty happy with the canopy so far. A little LST to manage a couple particularly ambitious mains but otherwise not much effort went into this week. Foliar fed some cal/mag since my pH is still unknown/unregulated/meh and a couple lower leaves were showing spots again. The tall fan runs about 8 hours a day in 4 hour intervals... Ideally when lights go on and off, but let's be honest--it's whenever I remember/get around to turning it on. The tiny one is always on but hits below the canopy. I hope the stretch is about done.. or at least grows straight up instead of out further to the sides, because she's gonna get pretty cramped in there otherwise :)
Another week of stretch but I think she's mostly stabilized now. Seeing lots of promising little pistils everywhere, and she's going through her water like crazy. Had to pull a few leaves to improve airflow and so the base she's on will spin without her catching on everything. Had to elevate the fan so it would reach high enough, and foliar fed with calmag a couple more times. She seems happy enough for now.
One more good week. She's going through lots of water and nutrients, just under a gallon a day. Got a better exhaust fan and can run both lights without the tent getting too hot now. Lots of little buds now, and a couple lower leaves are drying out and showing more cal/mag deficiency.
Another good week! Getting chunky and frosty and starting to smell a little more potent now. I think she's doing pretty good despite me not managing the pH basically at all since the first few weeks. Some cal/mag and phosphorus uptake issues over the weeks but she's overall been very forgiving. Can't wait to see how this ends up.
Another smooth week of not giving her much attention. Top her up with water in the morning (she goes through a lot!) and check TDS once a day or so. If they fall under 500ppm I add another couple mls of whatever... I tend to rotate between the florabloom or the liquid koolbloom.
The calmag gets added a day or two before the reservoir gets changed and I stop adding pH down those last couple days to give her a chance to really soak up the calmag. I don't know what the pH actually is at any point because I haven't replaced the faulty pen. Might order some drops or strips at some point but so far she seems happy with our routine. Getting chunky and has a bit more smell this week--lots of citrus and a little pine, which will be excellent! Pulled a few of the lower fan leaves to open things up a bit and improve air flow. Smooth sailing 😋👍
What is your favorite tried and true way of checking/monitoring pH? I am OVER the finnicky pens and the pH kit I have on hand from another hobby doesn't give me the range I need it to.
Mousey! Pleasure to see you👍. I hear you on the pH pens. I actually like mine (Milwaukee brand), but it does take constant calibration... and that's annoying. What I've been turning too more and more are just my manual pH tests. Not only do I know they're dead accurate, but I use it to prove that my digital pH meter isn't out of whack. Example: Tested with pH pen, came back at 6.2. Did my manual as a checks and balance and it came back orange! or roughly 5ish pH. Meter was effed and if I didn't do the manual I would have done serious damage.
I guess my final answer is this. Do both if you can, for checks and balances. I'd keep the pH pen if it's quality (what brand? is it just not a good pen?) and go purchase yourself the GHE pH tester kit. It's a cheap solution, lasts for a looooong time (only 4 drops needed per test) and is deadly accurate. Metals or additives that may screw up you digital tester will not be able to do this with the manual pH litmus testing. Doesn't have to be GHE, it can be an equivalent as they're pretty much all the same. I suggest staying away from litmus papers for testing and stick with the vial and liquid testing agent. I'll link you the product in PM real quick, just going to source it quickly. Heads up that the price is in CDN and I'm in Canada, but this is available everywhere...literally, even Amazon, for cheap👍👍
Pulling nutes back a little to keep the buds from being oversaturated. Easy week, buds keep growing and developing nicely. Trichs are looking good--mostly cloudy with an amber here and there.
Super forgiving plant, definitely a pleasant experience all around. Don't really have any negatives or criticisms--size, outcome, etc are pretty much spot-on for what the breeder claims. I don't know what the actual disease resistance is of this strain, but I had no problems out of her. I fed her very light and harvested a bit early, but was still very pleasantly surprised by the quantity she yielded. And the smoke itself is the best I've experienced. After a couple weeks of curing, it's just pleasant. Ash is white and it kicks in in a matter of seconds. Yas, queen!
Positive all the way around! I got exactly what I wanted to out of this and learned a ton too. Upgraded some of my kit along the way, and I'm looking forward to the next round! I forgot to get wet bud weight but the dry weight is after curing a couple weeks. So pleased!
@Fiyagrowa, yeah, the one I replaced it with is a vivosun, and it does have the dual diaphragm design as well. The fritzy one had a bad connection at the adjustment knob so any sort of movement would cause it to cut out completely. Weirdly enough it worked for like two weeks before crapping out again. It's scrapped for parts now, haha. A UPS is a good idea, I'll look into one! Thanks!
@Mousey, I like the way you think. You may need to teach a class on this new method and all its intricacies 😃. Then don't show up to teach it...hahahaha
@JinksyGrows, yasss! I like that idea a lot. And a disclaimer that most measurements given are approximate at best lol. I have all my nutes in hand soap bottles, so everything is "ish" around here 😂
Mousey
