Double Grape S2 P1

Welcome to what I am calling Season 2 of my grow room. I’ve made several changes from my first garden. This time I am growing two Mephisto Double Grape feminized autos. This week the report is the same for both plants. I will have individual reports next week. ~~~~~~~~~~~ ENVIRONMENT ~~~~~~~~~~~ * 18-inch by 18-inch growing area, with extra space for equipment. * Self-built growing area. See the first Grow Diary for a video tour. * Very limited headroom, the lamp can get no further away than 25 inches. * Light: Horticulture Lighting Group 135W Quantum Board V2 R-spec LED * 4-inch AC Infinity Cloudline vent fan attached to a carbon canister. * 4-inch Vivosun circulation fan * 3-gallon cloth Smart Pots * The pots sit on a small piece of wire shelving to keep them off the floor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SOIL AND NUTRIENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * 3-gallon smart pots * Base soil: Biobizz Light-Mix * Added: 1.2 pounds Nature’s Living Soil Autoflower mixed in * Added: Layers of soil amended with Homegrown Bokashi 12oz Seed To Harvest Pro Bokashi Set. NOT ALL OF IT, just a portion to make the layers and get the plant started. * Added: 10 TBS dolomite lime * Added: 0.5 gallons of worm castings * All of this was mixed and layered according to my recipe, developed with the help of Dr.KidneyStoner, and set aside for a few days before planting. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SOIL SET-UP NOTES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * The top third of the pot is reserved for a mix of Biobizz and work castings. * A hole the size of a 16-ounce cup is reserved in the middle of the pot for just un-amended Biobizz Light-Mix. This is where I will plant my sprouted seed. * Nature’s Living Soil was mixed throughout the remaining two gallons of Light-Mix. * Five layers of Homegrown Bokashi additives were added in the bottom two gallons of media. DAY (-2) TWO SEEDS INTO A WATER BATH * 2 PM: Dropped the two seeds in a glass of tap water. They floated. * 7 PM: Both seeds have sunk to the bottom of the glass. Time to sprout. * Both seeds placed into a damp paper towel which is in turn placed on a small tray and inserted into a plastic bag and placed in a warm dark place. DAY (–1) TIME TO HIT THE DIRT * 3 PM: Both seeds placed in the dirt, watered in with 25 ml of water. Both were covered with a humidity dome. ==> DAY 0: NO ABOVE GROUND ACTION <== DAY 1: BOTH SEEDS ABOVE GROUND * Each watered with 30 ml of tap water pH’d to ~6.5. * Still in humidity dome. * Light is 25 inches above the plants. Day 2: WHAT IS THE VPD IN THE DOME? * Beginner BUDZ on YouTube had problems with seedlings not growing under the humidity dome. I wonder why. * I check the Vapor Pressure Deficit inside the dome and find that it is off the charts. The temperature is fine at about 78F, but the humidity is 99% and the plants can’t breathe. * I tried to get enough airflow through the dome to achieve the correct VPD but didn’t have any luck. * Humidity dome removed. Turned up the room humidifier. DAY 4: I NEED TO TURN THE HUMIDIFIER UP HOW HIGH? * Watered with 30 ml of tap water pH’d to ~ 6.5. * Spent the day increasing the setting on the humidifier. The temp is about 80F, I want to get the VPD to the 0.4-to-0.8 range. * With the vent and circulation fans turned off and the humidifier set about as high as I can get it, the VPD finally enters the correct range for seedlings. * Even though it is a relatively small light at about 135W, I still turned it down 50 percent. I will gradually increase the brightness over the second week of the plant’s life. The total range of the brightness screw on the Meanwell HLG-120H-54A LED Driver is about 3/4 of a turn. DAY 6: WATER AGAIN * Watered with 30 ml of tap water pH’d to ~ 6.5. * Refilling the humidifier daily. * Beginning to wonder how to I top-dress or use teas when I am watering with only 30-100ml of water. Something new to explore! DAY 7: STAND TALL GIRLS * Double Grape #1 is 2-inches tall. Double Grape #2 is 1.5-inches tall. DAY 8: LOOKING GOOD * It was 30 ml of pH 6.5 tap water per girl today. * They are growing rapidly. Today #1 is 2.25-inches tall and #2 is at 1.75 inches.

WEEK 2: STARTING WITH A LIGHT TOUCH * I've been watering very lightly this time and it seems to be reacting well. Tall and strong. * Currently at 50 ML/day. I will be upping that in just a few days. * Circulation fan was turned back on yesterday. It is not aimed at the plants, but above the plants to keep the air moving. The plants basically "vibrate." DAYS 11-14: MORE WATER PLEASE * Continuing to water lightly. 50 ML/day. 100 ML/day starting on day 13. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TOMORROW, THE FIRST TOP DRESSING WITH HOMEGROWN BOKASHI BLENDS. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WEEK 3: TIME FOR SOME BOKASHI LOVE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DAY 14: TOP DRESSING AND FIRST BIG WATERING * The plant is doing well. It grew about a half-inch in two days. * I've been watering at 100 ML every day or every other day. * This plant is doing a bit better than the other Double Grape in the garden. While they sprouted together and share the same birthday, this plant is about 0.5 inches taller and just looks a bit better. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ADDING HOMEGROWN BOKASHI BLENDS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * During setup I layered the medium with five layers of various Homegown Bokashi Blends. (https://www.homegrownbokashi.com/) * At the start of Week 3 I top-dressed with 2 TBS each of Foundation and Kelp Blend (3.2.1) and Crab & Kelp Blend (4.3.2). Each three-gallon pot received a total of 4 TBS of dressing. * After spreading the blends on top of the medium I mixed them in with the top inch or so of soil. I then watered it in well with 500 ML of tap water pH'd to ~6.4 and including 1 ML of molasses to kick off the microbes. DAY 16: ROUTINE MAINTENANCE * Turned the light up a small amount. With only a screw to go by, no knob or dial, I can't be more specific than that. * Misted plants for the first time. I seldom mist plants. I don't often see the need. DAY 17: NOTED GROWTH * Dry down to 2-inches into the soil. * Watered with 200 ml tap water pH'd to ~6.4 * She is growing quickly, 1-inch taller in 3 days. * VPD target is 0.8-1.2 kPa for late veg/early flower growth. Current VPD: 0.9 kPa * I don't see any problems. ######################################################################################## VAPOR PRESSURE DEFICIT DISCUSSION ==> For this discussion, I am using the following VPD target values. (Found in Eddie Bonet's VPD calculation spreadsheet.) 0 - 0.4 kPa Danger - Can't Transpirate - Mineral deficiencies, Guttation, Disease, Soft Growth. 0.4 - 0.8 kPa Low Transpiration (Propagation / Early Vegitative Growth) 0.8 - 1.2 kPa Healthy Transpiration (Late Veg / Early Flower) 1.2 - 1.6 kPa High Transpiration (Mid / Late Flower) 1.6 or > kPa Danger - Transpire Too Fast - Wilting, Leaf Roll, Stunted Plants, Leathery/Crispy Leaves. Maintaining the right Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) was somewhat a challenge during the seedling/early vegetative stage. My target range was 0.4-0.8 kPa. This required turning up the humidifier almost all the way. I also had to add water twice a day to a three-liter tank just to avoid running out of mist. As I move into the veg and early bloom stage. It's interesting to see how the variables (air temp, leaf temp and humidity) interact. They are particularly sensitive when the values are high as during early growth. Now I've reached a point where the variable are much less sensitive. The temperature can go from day temps of 80F down to over-night temps of 72F. The humidity gets higher as the temp declines, but it tends to stay in a healthy growth space and not climb so high as to stop all transpiration. In an attempt to raise the average VPD by a small amount I have turned down my humidifier for the second time in as many days. I'm hoping by watching the VPD multiple times a day I can maximize the growth of my plants. This is the first time that I have tracked VPD. ######################################################################################## DAY 19: ADDING DYNA-GRO PRO-TEKT TO WATER * Watered with 300 ml of tap water, 0.25-0.5 tsp/gallon of Dyna-Grow Pro-TeKt pH'd to ~6.4 * The Pro-TeKt was primarily intended for the other plant in the garden. But since it is a strength boosting additive, I decided to simply put it in the water for both. * I am concerned about this statement on the Pro-TeKt product page: "Because a high pH is required to keep Pro-TeKt®️ in solution, the concentrate cannot be mixed with any acidic fertilizer. Therefore, apply Pro-TeKt®️ separately when using a single head injector." (http://dyna-gro.com/product/pro-tekt-0-0-3/) * After giving the plants a couple of days to adjust, I turned up the light slightly today. The plant gets closer to the lamp every day simply because it is growing quickly. DAY 20: NOTHING SPECIAL * Didn't do anything today, just took a couple of pictures. I am learning how to improve my pictures. This time I forced the flash and you can see the structure of the plant better. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The opening of week 4 will be here soon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WEEK 4: SHE'S GOING TO GET TWISTED THIS WEEK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DAY 21: TOP DRESSING AND THINKING ABOUT LST * Top dressed with two Homegrown Bokashi blends this week. * TOP DRESSING: 2 TBS Ocean & Oyster Blend (5.4.4) and 2 TBS Casting Mix-Ins (1.0.0) * All watered in with 1-liter tap water with added Dyna-Grow Pro-TEKt pH'd to ~6.4 * I decided to water it in with a full watering of 1 liter. I wanted to ensure that all the microbes would get some moisture. * Once this is well dried, I will go back to 300 ML/day until it needs more. * VPD Target: 0.8-1.2 for "Healthy Transpiration (Late Veg / Early Flower)" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OBSERVATION ON WATERING Watering exactly what the plant needs when it needs it can be tricky. I was amazed this week by how much moisture the medium can hold. The top of the medium was deeply dried and cracked. The last watering was 300 ML two-days earlier. Surely this plant was in dire need of water. When I performed the "finger test" it was clear that I needed to water. But, when I used my hands to break up the clumps of soil on top, I noticed that they did not crumble like dust, but actually retained enough moisture that I could feel it. If this is true within the top inch or two of soil, how much more water must be stored deep in the pot! Lesson Learned? As long as the plant is not showing signs of drought stress, the plant is finding reserves that you can't see or sense. Be careful not to overwater just because the top is dry. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DAY 23: PHOSPHORUS DEFICIENCY. ACT QUICKLY. * I woke up this morning and checked my plant. It looked great yesterday. Today the lower leaves are showing distinct signs of phosphorous deficiency. (See picture.) I've ordered Mammoth P. It will be here Saturday, I hope. Somehow, I don't think that plant treatments are high on Amazon's priority list at this time. DAY 24: TIME TO START THE TRAINING * I've treated the apparent phosphorous deficiency with Epsom salt, Pro-TeKt and Build-a-Soil's 200x Aloe Vera flakes. The plant doesn't seem to be getting worse. I still expect to get Mammoth P on Saturday. I'm sure she will appreciate the dose. * Watered the plant with 250 ml of the tap water, Epsom salt, Pro-TeKt and Aloe flakes. The plants didn't need this much water, but I wanted to get the additives a bit deeper in the pot. * Foliar fed with the same mix. Aloe Vera has a very short shelflife once it is mixed, something like 20 minutes, so you have to use what you mix. * Before LST the plant was 7.5-inches tall and was adding about an inch a day. DAY 26: HEAVY WATERING * When I opened the door this morning it was very clear that the plants needed water. I gave them 500 ml of tap water with some Pro-TeKt, Epsom Salt and Aloe Vera added to the water. * Later in the day, my Mammoth P arrived and I wanted the plants to get it ASAP, so I gave them another shot of water. This time it was 250 ml. * A little later the plants did look slightly over watered. I just will let them dry well before the next watering. DAY 28: TIE HER DOWN TIGHT AND STRIP HER CLEAN * The LST continues. Daily I readjust the hold-downs to the bud sites get as much light as possible. I am also doing selective fan leaf stripping. I remove any large older leaves that are blocking bud sites or that are touching the dirt. I also leaf tuck where needed. * Right now, it has almost a manifold look, with the main stem laying down and the side branches being spread out to fill the space. * Fast growth continues. I expect great things from this plant.

DAY 29: ANOTHER ROUND OF BOKASHI BLENDS * Topped with 2 TBS each of Homegrown Bokashi Foundation & Kelp Blend, Ocean & Oyster Blend and Castings Mix-Ins. Incorporated into the top inch or so of soil. * Watered with 750 ml of tap watered pH'd to ~6.3 after adding: - Mammoth P: 0.6 ml/gal - Pro-TeKt: 0.5 ml/gal - "Sprinkling" of Aloe Vera flakes DAY 31: JUST KEEP VEGGING * My intent the plant in veg for as long as possible, perhaps as long as another two weeks, through week 6. It is based on this advice, which can be found in a variety of other places as well: https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/life-cycle-of-autoflowering-cannabis.243982/ * The plant continues to look healthy and is growing well. DAY 32: PREPARING FOR BLOOMING * Watered with 750 ml of tap water pH'd to ~6.3. Normal additives plus 1 tsp of Blackstrap Molasses * Continued LST * I will move to flowering nutrients tomorrow. * Late in the day I removed all LST tie downs, just to get an idea of how the plant will develop. DAY 33: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LET'R GROW? * Last night I removed all the LST ties. Here are some pictures about 12 hours later. * I expect that I will resume training in a few days. ### NOTE TO SELF: FIRST TIME USE OF SUPER CROPPING I decided to try some limited super cropping. I just gently squeezed the stem and rotated. It works well with LST. If you bend a stem and super crop it, it tends to stay in place. I have a nice knuckle on one main stem. I will certainly use it again. ###

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's been a tough week. While it started out good and I gave it some bloom nutes, by Wednesday (Day 38) it was starting to show signs of nutrient deficiency. Thursday I consulted with a friend and we decided that it was most likely a Cal-Mag deficiency. Read on to learn how I addressed it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DAY 36: BOKASHI BLENDS FOR BLOOMING * Topped with 2 TBS each of Homegrown Bokashi Azokashi, Foundation & Kelp Blend, Crab & Kelp Blend and Seabird Guana & Kelp Blend. Incorporated into the top inch or so of soil. * Watered with 750 ml of tap watered pH'd to ~6.3 after adding: - Mammoth P: 0.6 ml/gal - Pro-TeKt: 0.5 ml/gal - "Sprinkling" of Aloe Vera flakes DAY 37: JUST PICTURES, NOTHING TO REPORT DAY 38: ANOTHER DAY OF PICTURES, BUT NO ACTION. DAY 39: TREAT FIRST, THEN GET SOME ADVICE - In an attempt to address the emerging nutrient deficiency I foliar fed the plant with a dilute solution of Spray-N-Grow Micro. I was careful to get it under the leaves where it really can do some good. - I also took a few more pictures and sent them to a friend. We discussed what we saw and determined that it was most likely a Cal-Mag problem. We considered a shortage of Phosphorus, but since I use Mammoth P this was rejected. - We decided I should foliar feed and incorporate Epsom Salt into my watering solution. DAY 40: I PUT MY REMEDIATION PLAN INTO EFFECT - Watered and foliar fed. Both were amended to deal with my Cal-Mag deficiency. - Foliar fed with Botanicare Cal-Mag Plus. I mixed 0.5 ml with 380 ml of RO water. Made sure that the underside of the leaves was treated. - Watered with my standard base blend with one rounded teaspoon Epsom Salt per 150 ml. - I hope I can get what was a healthy plant back to good health for the last few weeks of flowering. DAY 42: I JUST WANT THIS WEEK TO END - It's been a very tough week watching both plants decline throughout the week. - REMEDIATION: Watered with 3 liters of pH'd water with Mammoth P. The intent is to dissolve ("evenly active"?) whatever nutrients are in the pot and help make them available to the plant. - Personally, I am finding autos to be a challenge when compared with photos. I know that so far my yield per plant in the same space is much lower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Attempting to Recover from Major Nutrient Problem -- Diagnosed as phosphorus and Cal-Mag deficiency -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ D44: CONTINUED REMEDIATION (No Pictures) - The plant seems to be responding well to the treatment, so I will continue as planned. - Watered with 1 liter of water with Mammoth P according to label directions. pH adjusted to about 6.5 D45: EVEN MORE AGGRESSIVE REMEDIATION - The plant is looking better every day. Not as quickly as I might like, but it is improving. - Watered with 2 liters of RO water (didn't intend to use RO) with a sprinkling of Aloe Vera all adjusted to about 6.0. I am wondering if my pH is too high, this should help it go down a bit. D46: JUST LET IT GROW - I continue to remove the most damaged leaves. - Opened the plant up to the light. I don't expect to do any more training through harvest. D48: ONE LAST "FLUSH" - Recalibrated the pH meter. It was reading accurately, but I wanted the assurance of a recalibration. - Watered with 2 liters tap water pH'd to about 6.3. It included Mammoth P and Aloe Vera flakes. (I just learned that I am using the Aloe incorrectly. I will change my process the next time I use it.) - No meaningful runoff. - Not really a "flush" but an attempt to give the plants a chance to find the nutrients that might not find in a dry pot. - The plant looks OK, but it does not appear "robust,"

DAY 50: COMING OUT OF THE HAZE - No action today, just watching it grow. I think the emergency is over. DAY 51: MORE GROWING. NO ACTION - Just documenting the growth. - No need for watering after a couple of days of heavy watering. DAY 53: TESTING NEW WATER/NUTRIENT SCHEDULE AN MIX ********************************************************************************************************************************************** * INGREDIENTS * => Declorinate tap water, adjust pH to between 6.0 and 6.5 * => Mamoth P @ 0.16ml/L - every watering * => Fish Sh!t @ 1ml/L - every watering * => Aloe Vera flakes * => Molassas approx. 5ml/L - as needed * MIX * => In a jar with a lid, combine Aloe Vera flakes and a small amount of base water. Put on the lid. Shake hard. Allow to rest up to 20 minutes. * => Combine water, Mammoth P, Fish Sh!t and Aloe Vera (opt. mollassas) * WATER PLANTS ********************************************************************************************************************************************** - Watered with 1.5 liters of nutrient mix DAY 55: JUST A WATER DAY - Watered with 1 liter of above nutrient solution. **** * Sorry, not many pictures this week. Just been busy. Primarily trying to deal with a recurrence of the nutrient problem. But, it is not life-threatening. ****

DAY 58: WATERING AND LIGHT ADJUSTMENT - 1.5 liters of "standard mix" - Light adjusted to no less than 16 inches above plants - Still seeing some recurring nutrient problems. Not a major issue, but the plant is not as robust as it could be. DAY 59: AN ATTEMPT TO ADDRESS THE NUTRIENT PROBLEM - Foliar feeding with a mix from Spray-N-Grow.com. (It was something on my shelf.) - Consisted of Spray-N-Grow (micronutrients), Bills Perfect Fertilizer and CoCo Wet. - Applied per instructions and away from the lights. DAY 60: WATERING AND LIGHT ADJUSTMENT - Watered with 1.5 liters of the standard mix plus about a teaspoon of molasses - Light lowered to no less than 12 inches above the plant. - According to reviews and the manufacturer, this height should give me just under 1,000 PPFD in the center of the grow area. - I will be watching for signs of stress from too much light. DAY 62: WHOOPS, I'M USING A LITTLE TOO MUCH PRODUCT. VPD DISCUSSION - Double checked the frequency of use on the Mammoth P website. It's supposed to be applied once-a-week and _not_ every watering. - I am still checking the schedule for Fish Sh!t. Their online instructions are not as clear as they could be. - Watered with 1.5 liters of pH'd water only. pH adjusted to about 6.3. - I can't say that I've seen a major change from the single foliar feeding of Spray-N-Grow, but don't know that I should expect much in such a short time. - I am adjusting the VPD "upward" a bit. From what I've read, lowering the VPD increases the transpiration rate of the plant, increasing the speed of growth at the same time. - For mid-to-late flowering, the suggested VPD is 1.2-1.6. My VPD has been running at about 1.37. - My current target is from 1.40 to 1.55. - After lowering the RH the VPD is now 1.53. I'll track it for a few days to be sure that it is stable.

DAY 64: PLAIN WATER AND WONDERING ABOUT FOXTAILING - Watered with 1.5 L of water pH'd to about 6.3. - Was not in great need of water. I will probably wait about two days before watering again. - It looks as if I may be seeing some fox tailing. I don't really know how to prevent it or if there is anything I can do. DAY 66: NOTHING BUT PICTURES DAY 67: IT SEEMS TO BE DRYING MORE SLOWLY - It needs water, but for some reason, it seems to be drying more slowly than it has for the last week to ten days. I'll just water it when it needs it. - I'm considering adding some coco coir to my next mix to allow slightly better drainage. I would only go with about 10% coco. - Watered with dechlorinated tap water pH'd to about 6.3. DAY 69: JUST PLAIN WATER - Watered with plain dechlorinated tap water pH'd to about 6.3.

DAY 72: STILL WET AND A BROKEN BRANCH! - It's been three days since I last watered and the pot is still wet. Don't know what is going on. - Attempted to bend a few branches down to allow the light to get to some of the inner buds. Good idea, poorly executed. I wasn't careful enough and one of the branches broke off. A picture of the broken branch is above. I dried it and it smokes nice enough. It was about a gram or so dried. A branch on the other plant was also severely damaged, but I was able to prop it up and it seems to be maturing. DAY 74: FINALLY WATERED LATE IN THE DAY - Five days since the last watering and the pot still feel too wet to require watering. - One thought on why it may not be drinking as much is the lack of new microbes to keep the soil "alive." It has been TWO WEEKS since I last added any supplements. - Watered with 1.5 L of tap water pH'd to about 6.3 augmented with: • 0.25 ml Mammoth P • 0.75 ml Fish Sh!t • 1.25 ml blackstrap molasses DAY 77: THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS - I expect to harvest in about three days. The milky and amber trichomes are really starting to "bloom." - I don't expect to do anything more. I'll just let it dry out and then take it down. - I'm getting ready for my next crop. I can't wait to share it with you!

DAY 79: HARVEST DAY - I decided that today was harvest day. - Removed all the primary buds. Some of the smaller buds under the canopy were underdeveloped. I decided to let it grow for a few more days. But, after just a day I decided that I didn't want to extend the harvest process any further and simply harvested the last bud. It's now hanging to dry with the other buds. HARVEST REPORT COMING SOON!

This was my second attempt to grow organic. I made it much too complex. My many layers of bokashi and the problems this caused as the plant hit the levels is something that I want to avoid next time. I have a much simpler system planned for my next garden, but I am sticking with Nature's Living Soil, Fish Sh!t and Mammoth P, along with a number of other organic amendments. Double Grape is great strain and well worth growing. I will try it again in the fututre.