Double Grape S2 P2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 weaker than the other Double Grape in the garden. While they sprouted together and share the same birthday, this plant is about 0.5 inches shorter and just looks a bit better. * Earlier I was concerned about leaf-curl. But the plant seems to have grown out of it. I don't see any immediate problems that need to be addressed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: LIGHT UP ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Turned up the light slightly. There's no dial or indicator, so I just turned the screw the slightest amount. * Misted the plant for the first time. I don't generally mist, but she looked like she needed it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DAY 17: N TOXICITY? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Dry down to about two inches. * Watered with 200 ml of tap water pH'd to ~6.4. * The plant is dark green and the new growth is clawing. These are signs of N toxicity. Too much nitrogen. * Not sure how to address in an organic grow. I am only adding water and I don't water to runoff. I'll just watch it for a few days. * It grew 1/2 inch in the last three days, but her companion added a full inch. So, not the fastest growing sample. * VPD target is 0.8-1.2 kPa for late veg/early flower growth. Current VPD: 0.9 kPa ######################################################################################## 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 Vegetative 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 is a strength boosting additive, I hope it helps address the N-toxicity. I've order 200x Aloe Vera Powder Flakes from Build-a-Soil. This was recommended by Homegrown Bokashi as a way of helping the Nitrogen problem. * 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 plant a couple of days to adjust, I turned up the light slightly today. 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~