4 * Sticky Beast auto, LED (first grow)

An early update, as I’m leaving tomorrow for a couple of days to celebrate new years eve. Tomorrow in the morning I’ll check on them one last time and then leave the girls alone for 4 days. Since the last update, 5 days ago, the girls grew really fast and overall I’m happy with this week. Also, I finished putting in the new laminate flooring and the room is now a pleasure to work in. Elin didn’t make it. I tossed her. When working on the floor, the girls were taken out of the tent a couple of times, because I had to replace it. When I was putting the girls back, I just couldn’t stand the lack of space for the 4 pots and Elin just didn’t grow; well, she pushed out new nodes, but everything stayed so small. I decided to toss her, make up space and focus on my 3 rocking girls. It gave me an opportunity to do some destructive research on the plant and the soil. Her root system was really small, I don’t think this plant would yield a lot. Also, I found that the soil throughout the pot was almost dry, but very airy. NITROGEN EXCESS Hence, on day 15, I gave the 3 girls 2 liter of water and nutrients. I used the same amount as I wrote about in my previous update (0,6 ml/l GHE Gro and Micro and 0,2 ml/l GHE Bloom). A day later, I noticed some of the leaves were curling down (clawing). This spread a bit to other leaves in the following day. One of the girls had it more than the other two. I also noticed new growth was a darker green and not lime green like it used to be. However, the girls kept on growing really fast and besides those few clawing leaves, they looked fine. Since yesterday, it doesn’t get worse anymore. I was pretty sure it were the first signs of a nitrogen excess, especially since all other possibilities (like over- or under-watering, heat stress, light stress) are ruled out. Timing is bad, because I’m leaving tomorrow for a few days and I can’t monitor them. Therefor, I flushed the girls just before writing this update. I gave them all about 4 to 5 L of pH’ed water and they all drained 1 to 2 liters. Hopefully, this will reduce nitrogen levels in the soil enough. I think I made the nutrients mix too strong. I used 50% of the recommended amount for a young plant, but I probably should have used 25%, maybe even less. Apparently, this strain doesn’t need much. Since they are now watered properly, they won’t dry out during my absence the following days; the pots are 25L, so I guess they will be fine. SAFETY AND PREPARATIONS FOR ABSENCE I’ve put in some photos of the preparations for my absence the following days. I installed a fire alarm and automatic fire extinguisher above the tent. The latter product works very fast when it comes into contact with open fire. The resultant fire can be fought immediately at the start, so that any subsequent damage will be limited. Hopefully, I’ll never need it. I also installed the power strip next to tent against the concrete wall. I’m using a timer with a build-in relay for the light, which is also installed to the wall next to the tent, however, this probably isn’t really necessary, but I’m rather safe than sorry. I’ve used a 1,5 mm IP44 connection cord to power the relay (and thus the lights). It is plugged in a socked that’s on an empty group (it was actually designated for the dryer, but we never bought one). Also, I used Sonoconnect ducting, which is sound-isolated (I just used regular ducting inside the tent though, as Sonoconnect might not be fully airtight and the filter is in the tent). The tent is resting on some isolation material, which is normally used to install wooden flooring on. I also made sure the tent is not touching the wall or the roof. This way, I prevent any vibrations traveling next doors, making my neighbors wondering wtf I’m doing. Last, just after flushing but before I wrote this update, I performed some LST. I just bowed the main stem to get those young side branches more into the light. With all this prevention measures, I’ll won’t be worrying during my short holiday. Hopefully I’ll come back and be completely amazed by the huge growth. Well, if they’re still alive, I’d also be very happy. Have a great new years eve and see you in 2020!