'Do Si Dos' by i49

Howdy, and welcome to DSD's 4th week of bloom. The deets: The Good: -Lovely week with little Dosee. I haven't nicknamed any of my plants up to now, but yesterday DSD officially became the "Hobbit House". Haha. Such a tiny, tight and bushy plant, I felt this worked for her. -After another flush through and feed with a cut to micro and gro, DSD has officially kicked the nitrogen toxicity she was working on and everything looks and feels 100% normal again. PH was at 5.7 and raised to 6.0. RO PPM's were hovering around 1750 and have dropped to an acceptable 1250ppm. Went back to normal feeding with the addition of King Kola by Emerald Harvest without an issue or spike in PPM's or a drop in pH. really happy for her. -She noticeably grew upwards this week and I feel it is a symptom of washing away excess nutrients blocking the uptake of others to help her move and bulk up. Her colas are stacking very, very well and I'm really impressed with how fat she's getting while there's still so much time left for her to go. I see a lot of plants like DSD on here, but they usually trained there's to look like this on purpose...mine was accidental. Whether it was stunting due to my feedings and issues I've had with her, or this is just her genetic make up doesn't really matter. I can see she will have a healthy harvest and will thrive up until then.👍 -Just like the others, DSD had a prune and defo job preformed, but there was very little to take (At least compared to the others). She's so tight, I couldn't find leaves or shoots I could comfortably take. All the fans are attached to budding sites and there weren't many extraneous shoots that would become LARF. I did a little bit and she took everything very well. No stress or reaction after the cuts and feed. Happy, happy. The Bad: -Nooooooo Baaaaad The 'Meh': -As mentioned above she's really tight and bushy. Makes it hard to do any defo work that I would like to do. I plan on taking several key fans off in the coming weeks to open up a little more, but it's tough... I walked around her 5 times with my snips and I just couldn't decide what to take or if I wanted to take anything more...I left her be, instead. -Would like to adjust her height and/or the lamp in the back to accommodate her a little more. Probably have to prop her up even further as the lamp is at the sweet spot for NL #1 in the back, but not for DSD. NL is taller and DSD needs to match her. Notes of the Week: -I see this grow will have a larger yield then my first. All the changes in lighting, atmosphere, grow methods, techniques, feeding schedules and most importantly, new supplementation of Potassium Silicate, Fulvic/Humic Acids. molasses, root hormones for transplants and Gaia Green soil Bone meal Soil conditioner have made this possible. I do not regret a single thing I purchased in an attempt to optimize this grow over my first. Only with the advice and help of my favorite peoples on this site, would this have been possible. I didn't know about or look into any of this my first grow. I feel like I've been shaken awake and see all the things I CAN do to increase productivity, yield and quality👍. Thank you kindly to all those people that help carry me and are showing me the ropes to better grows. -All plants are essentially finished training, defo and trimming. They will be left alone to do their thing and I will just do my best to keep them happy while they do so. -3 Strains in one tent instead of two with my first, has given me a great cross section of plants to look at. They're all so different and seeing them show who they are is a cool experience. With their differences, it also taught me to treat the girls strain specific in terms of feeding and care. I've learned a lot by having my hands on these 3 and access to my friends 3 strains (BC Big Bud, Granddaddy black and banana kush). The more the better. -Introduction of King Kola to all plants this week. First dose @ 2/3rd's dose as a test and all girls are happy and showed no issue or stress with the new addition. I picked King Kola, after researching many blooming agents, for a couple reasons. Their trio series (micro-grow-bloom) is very close to the same dosing and concentration as the GHE trio series I'm using. Close to the same, everything....really. I knew that adding KK into the mix wouldn't hurt them as both schedules and concentrations are damn near the same. The other reason was based on community and user reviews. It was highly rated compared to other PK boosters I was looking at and since I was already using EH's Sturdy Stalk (with great success) I trusted the quality, what they had advertised the product as, and what it will do. -Continuing to cut Gro out of my formula while maintaining or upping both Micro and Bloom. Gro is essentially negligible at this point and I'm covering my potassium with the other two. Now with the PK booster, I feel there is zero need for floragro. -I loved EH's Sturdy Stalk and am looking forward to using it again in the Veg stage in grow #3. I'm positive that starting this potassium silicate supplement earlier in the grow will give me better, stronger and faster results. Late to the party on this one, but glad someone recommended it and I will up it's use, next go. -Was dragging my feet on picking up a PK booster, even though I saw and knew everyone was using this choice supplement. With a gentle push from a great acquaintance, I did my research and purchased what I felt would work best for me and my grow, as well as working in conjunction with my other nutrients. I understand now, just how much of a game changer this can and will be. It was explained to me that at this point in the grow, even though they're seemingly happy and healthy, they're also hungry. They can and will easily take a booster in order to swell and push fatter bud sites. What I Learned This Week: -I had resigned myself to all the LARF I noticed after the stretch. I was too paranoid to take any of it because of the dreaded "H" word. I've read multiple horror stories online of people warning DO NOT PRUNE IN FLOWER, OR ELSE!!!. I read these things before I even started grow #1 and it had made me believe that this was a "rule". Well, I kept looking at the LARF and it kept eating away at me. It was going to be nothing, I couldn't open up the plant anymore and I wanted my focus to be on my main tops, not the undergrowth...I think most all of us can agree or go for that. I then started a search for an experienced Defo'er on here. I found her and we had a good chat. Couple things. Firstly, there is a very high chance that all those people that had hermies after pruning in flower probably had a different ailment or stress issue occurring to cause this (like a light leak). The stress of pruning would need to compound on top of other problems to possibly cause a seeding issue. Pruning alone, with a healthy and happy plant, should not hurt her at all...that this is a normal practice. Not just with Cannabis but w/ a lot of fruit baring trees and plants. My grandfather did the same in his orchard to focus attention on the top canopies of his apple trees and even called the pruned sections "suckers"! Secondly, at the end of the day, if all parameters are in order, the plants are healthy, but they still hermie, it's very likely a case of genetics more then anything else. Picking out versatile genetics from the get-go is key. So! My genetics are good, plants are healthy and vigorous... I went ahead and did the trim and clean up. If something does happen, it's all on me and I know that, but I have great confidence that everything is alright and will continue to be alright. I guess this long ramble is a PSA to any newcomers scared to work on their plants because of the things they've read on that there inter-web. So much of what you/I read on Cannabis in forums and even in articles by "Reputable" sources is fearmongering. So many falsities and I really, really recommend staying away from all those unfit sources. So much of it is opinion over objective facts. On GD, it's much less of an opinion than it is a fact. Proof is in the pictures and there's plenty of proof to back up one's claims. This is a "put up or shut up" site to me, and I love it. To new comers, like me, reach out and talk to people on GD that have proven to be competent and knowledgeable growers. Crush the fear and anxiety with the help of these people. They ALL want to see you succeed, here. REACH OUT! Thanks all for dropping by and reading this weeks addition of DSD (The Hobbit House😄). Have a great week with your projects and your girls. Best of luck and happy grows. Cheers👊