'Northern Lights' by i49

Hello there and welcome to Week 4 of Bloom w/ Northern Lights #1 and 2. The deets: The Good: -Great week with the NL's again. Terpene profile is developing and the tent is getting a little smellier these days👍. Pepper/hops (Caryophyllene) is clear as day and I'm happy to smell it. Caryo is my favorite and go-too terpene for anxiety, depression, insomnia and eating. There's two Northern Lights in the tent for a good reason😊. -Both girls are little different from one another, but they're both stacking up very nice. Bud development seems to be in full swing and all pistils being pushed are thick and furry. -Both girls went through a heavy trim of all extraneous shoots destined to be LARF and dying/blocking fan leaves. Both took the treatment very well and it was done directly after a nutrient feed for a speedy recovery. At the time of writing, 72 hours-ish have passed and there have been no negative symptoms/signs occurring on either. -Purchased King Kola as my PK booster for Bloom. It has been applied in it's first application to both girls and did not harm a thing. First dose kept at 66% of recommended, just to test the waters. All plants have been completely fine as a result of the new addition, so I will be going to the full recommended dosing for their next feeds. -Update that the Spider Farmer 2000, quantum board LED is still doing a hell of a job. Starting to see reviews pop up on YouTube from some of the gardeners I follow (I follow gardeners, not growers on YouTube, lol). I feel very validated in this purchase as all reviews coming back are golden and they're seeing the same quality I feel I see. The Bad: -All 'Mehs' again The 'Meh': -After cleaning up both the girls, it became even more obvious just how far NL #2 had stretched, coming into flower. There is nothing wrong with her but her height is not necessary. All my training could have been accomplished with a shorter girl. I took a huge risk by allowing them to get this tall before triggering the flip and I'm already considering the changes needed to be made in Grow #3 to mitigate height, train lower and flip sooner. I don't want this to happen again, it got stressful for a week there. -As I write this and I'm reviewing the photos I'm uploading, I see NL #2 is catching, what looks like, a small Nitrogen deficiency. I had cut FloraGro from the feed and maintaining FloraMicro, but I see I need to up the Micro/Bloom to cover my needs a little better. I'll ask again at the bottom, but is what I'm seeing as a Nitrogen deficiency agreeable to everyone else reading this? -Needed to back light off another 2 " as NL #2 has still moved a bit and I'm keeping her at a good buffer from the SF LED (23") . Still minor cupping and leaflets curing slightly upward on the top canopy. I'm hoping this isn't the result of a deficiency as well, but am watching it pretty close and seeing what she'll show me in terms of symptoms, next. -NL #2 has a beauty little purple pheno starting...but it's not necessarily supposed to be there. Definitely not a deficiency or toxicity but a result of my night temperatures. I don't mind lower temps later on in flower and I certainly don't mind the colors, but I did up my night temperatures by 1-2 degrees to hold it off until week 6-7. 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! Thank you all again for reading this weeks entry of Northern Lights. Have a great week and happy grows! ***In the above picture's of NL #2, are you seeing the same thing as me? Is this a lack of nitrogen causing the lighter color of my fans, or do you feel this is a result of bleaching from the SF? Thank you in advance for any advice you have. PEACE!***