Double Grape - HLG QB V2 R-Spec

WEEK 5: GROWING A RUG! ==> DISCUSSION <== Starting a new grow with a new light, new nutrients and new genetics is turning out to be much more challenging than I expected. I thought if you go with "the best" you will get "the best." But I found that is true only if you are growing at your best as well! I'm not at my best. Still so much to learn. I picked Double Grape because it was a short plant, but this takes short to a whole new level. After letting it grow with no training for a few weeks it was packed so tight that I couldn't even see the inner branches. So I moved my light up hoping to induce stretch. It didn't. Next, it was a round of defoliation and some LST. While that opened up the canopy, it didn't do a thing to get the plant to grow any taller. Making a U-turn I then started two lower my light again, bringing it down to 23 inches. It will stay until there is some compelling reason to raise it. DAY 32: JUST WAITING * Watered with tap water pH'd to 6.4. * The VPD is 1.47. Significantly high. I've set the humidifier up to increase its output. I hope that this fixes the problem. I find it is very sensitive to changes in temperature. In this case, I moved the light down and this increased the temps in the grow room and at the canopy. Both of these factored into the increased VPD. More heat requires more humidity to get the right VPD, at least that's my current understanding. I guess it's back to YouTube for a refresher course. D36: HAPPY 5th WEEK BIRTHDAY! * I've been waiting two days between waterings. Each has been 1.5L of tap water pH'd to 6.4. I'm going to watch it closely as I think it may need to be watered every other day soon. * I seem to have the VPD stabilized. It seems that the factor that the calculation is most sensitive to is leaf temperature. When the leaf temp went up from 71-72F to 74-76F the VPD increased substantially. The plant was "sweating" and couldn't cool itself down. I moved the fan slightly to keep the canopy a bit cooler and I was able to stabilize the VPD. The last two readings have been a "perfect" 1.0. * I've accepted the fact that this plant is not going to stretch and get much taller. I think it is pretty obvious that it is blooming, but there was no real stretch. * I just keep using LST to spread it out like a rug. You can see the difference in the pictures. I'll get some buds out of it. But I hope to start my next plant early so I can get it in its final pot as soon as this one is ready for harvest. * I have not added any nutrients other than the top dressing on day 26. GrowDiaries doesn't really have a way of showing that one is growing in Living Soil and not regularly adding nutes. That's something I hope they change sometime. ==> I'll be back this weekend with a mid-week progress report for week 6. <==