I had initially wanted to defoliate around week 3 but as I was watching the buds develop and I evaluated the bushiness and leaf coverage of a lot of buds, I decided to go ahead and do the final defoliation at the beginning of week 2. I have read that it is better to wait so that it does not take away from that early bud growth due to the stress. But my thought was, how will many of the buds get growth anyway without getting proper light. So I went ahead with the defoliation. Only way for me to know is to diary this experience and try a week 3 defoliation next grow for compare. A few grows ago I had an issue due to over defoliation so this is something I am still honing in on with my craft. She did not need the defoliation as much as her garden mates however, I decided to do them all at once. I saw no stress from defoliation. Watered with Tiger Bloom (2 tsp/gal), Big Bloom (3 tsp/gal) and Grow Big (2 tsp/gal) on 1/29/20 and again on 2/1/20 with plain water both times pH'd to 6.4. She shows a little color change after the feeding. Although she is in stretch, she continues to be the shortest of all the plants (some of which are twice her height). For the next grow, I will consider less significant LST so that she can grow more vertically. Some LST done but not much was needed. All of the FastBuds plants have a significant flower size compared to garden mates. She has not had any obvious recovery time from any of the topping, LST and defoliation. Speaking of pH, I had to go invest in a $40 pen from a grow store (probably half that on Amazon) because I was having to re-calibrate the old one around every 20 min and I could not take it anymore. The new one seems to stabilize on the numbers better so I am hoping I am now getting true readings.
Thanks for updating. My FF3 is one week behind you. And this week I’ll feed her with boron additive to see.
On the other hand, your FF3 leaves seem green enough. However, I am used to Sativa. And Sativa has lighter shade if green.
@Med_in_Tropic, the smell was weak but did indeed have a skunky sort of smell to it. This only started in wee 4 however. I have not notice any smell of significance from FF3 but I will double check her and update with this weeks post!
Hi @Jayann, how was the smell on GG4 during vegging?
Mine FF 3's had week berry smell when they were inside.
Just curious to narrow down the possible genetic. It could be important in deciding what to feed them and by how much.
@Jayann, same issue on size mate.
During Veg FF 3 is small compare to my FF7 and FF 10.
Comparing to your grow, my height is okay but leaf size is not. Could be the light and nutes.
Although I have spider mite issue with one plant.
Roots are okay. And your idea GG4 is the most plausible so far.
Think I’ll experiment with different feeding to see if that is it.
@Garreweedlover, That is possible actually. First time running 1000 w HPS. I had it 16 " from the plants and used a lux meter but that doesnt mean things didn't get to hot. I did not run an exhaust due to it being winter and so the highest it would get in the room was 77 but aside from all that, the light just very well could have been to close. Something to keep in mind for the future for sure!
@Garreweedlover, Thank you! No males at all and in a pretty sterile indoor environment but I still blame it on myself for letting her go so long. Happy growing!