First Grow: Barney's Purple Punch Auto

Day 57 Update: Plants got water yesterday with tiger bloom. First few orange pistils noticed last night, not very many yet. Yellowing is predominately in the fan leaves so maybe that is normal? Things are about to get crowded in the tent as the other three plants are starting to get big. Day 58 Update: I read up on cal-mag deficiencies. As it's my first grow, I can't know for sure how heavy/light-handed I've been with nutrients, but it feels like I've erred on the side of less is more. The "bar graph" thing is not accurate for what I've done feeding-wise. Either way, I can't image there's any actual deficiency but more likely a pH issue causing problems with magnesium uptake. I'm not too sure how accurate the 3-in-1 pH/Light/Moisture meter is, but the pH reads close to 8 in every insertion location. I'm going to order pH down, but was reading about lemon juice as a SHORT TERM fix to lower pH. Two significant issues were inevitable with this grow: 1) traveling and leaving it unattended for a week & 2) using soil that other plants were grown in. Knowing how much these two issues caused me, my future grows will honestly be way better for it. Notably how to handle extended time away as well as consistently testing pH/soil. Depending on how serious I get with this, I'd invest in more precise measurement tools, but not yet. Obviously I want big yields, but I wasn't expecting to get pounds, so I'm okay with learning how issues affect yield. My other grow is actually a really interesting study in how different stresses affect plants, but I digress. Point is, I know there are problems, I'm trying to learn to fix them, but if things go totally pear shaped, I'm not going to be too disappointed. Day 59 Update: Working on lowering the pH that feels more like the cause of deficiencies than underfeeding. In another diary I read, the grower used lemon juice in dechlorinated tap consistently in each feeding without nutrients to control pH. That's my plan until Monday when the GH ph Up/Down will be delivered. One of my plants in my other grow has pretty obvious signs of necrosis on some leaves, but it doesn't seem to be spreading. I'm pretty sure I've had wonky pH levels since I went out of town and I never got those fixed so now I'm dealing with it. Having never grown any cannabis before, but also expecting some purple in the plant, the purple/reddish hues some of the leaves initially developed seemed more normal than I should have realized. Trial by fire!! Day 60 Update: So, thinking it was a pH issue causing uptake irregularities. Many of the yellow/reddish leaves have the FEEL of a healthier leaf even if they’re still discolored. Many fan leaves fell off with minor contact/pulling. I used lemon juice last night to flush with water in the 6.0 pH range and health may be returning. I’m not going to say it’s fixed, but the damage is hopefully contained for the time being. Pics and video show damages pretty well. Knowing it may creep back up, I'll keep feeding with closer to 6.0 pH water until pH Up/Down arrives and I can re-flush for the last week or two. Day 61 Update: Nothing new to report. Feels healthier than a few days ago still, but the countermeasures deployed seem to be holding for now. Buds seem to be filling out, I’m content for the night. Day 62 Update: Water and nutrients, maybe for the last time, tonight. New soil pH meter from Home Depot is hopefully more accurate. All water was pH'd to around 6 as the soil meter showed slightly alkaline still. I'm doing the best I can to keep this under control for another week, two at the most. I also got some soil acidifier amendments for the other plants because the readings were slightly alkaline for those pots. Day 63 Update: Got a set of mobile camera lenses to take macro photos of the trichomes. Its a work in progress. Otherwise, things seem okay today. Gonna press on keeping an eye on pH, but whatever shall be, shall be.