*fail*Stealth apartment 2x4 grow, round

Purchased 2 BlackJack clones from Dark Heart Nursery. They had been sitting out in the open air of a local dispensary for about a month, but they seem extremely vigorous. 8.5 inches tall, and lots of white/light tan roots. They were my only option, and I hope they dont have any pests due to the mishandling. If they don't workout, i should have some seeds in a week or so. MY PLAN Organic - I am planting them in a mix of 30% FFOF, 30% vital earth compost, %30% Coco, %10 perlite. I have these items for nutrients: roots organics teas (terp tea bloom/grow, phos guano, foundation), worm castings, kelp extract, roots organic elemental (minerals), and any other organic nutrients/microbes that i pickup. MEDIUM I am somewhat lazy about watering and saw a reddit post about someones using a similiar ratio of soil to coco and perlite (60/30/10) and them using blumats. Basically, i want to keep my medium wet, and my microbes happy, but utilizing the coco and perlite to keep my roots getting enough oxygen, I'm hoping I can water over this setup with compost teas, and add top dressings to feed. i am expecting moderately tall plants (my tent is 8" tall) so I'm thinking 7 gallon fabric pots. ENVIRONMENT My environment is mostly dialed in, but runs somewhat warm, (avg 77). I need to find a small ac. I have a humidity solution already. Tent is a 2x4 Gorilla with extension. Hyperfan 6" piped to window for exhaust. LIGHT BCBlondes gamechanger 340 quantum board. Seems very powerful, I'm starting transplants a %50 power, 36" from canopy. INITIAL TRANSPLANT 30% FFOF, 30% Vital Earth compost, 30% Coco, 10% Perlite. 1 gallon pots (I plan to transplant to 7 gallons before flower). Watered in with RO water with a splash of kelp extract. INITIAL STRATEGY Clones are pretty tall... At first, i wanted to train them only with lst, but i think ill have to slow them down with topping first. So I'll top when they recover from transplanting and are rooted, and then start lst when they recover from that. The goal is a bushed out plant about four feet tall, so im thinking 4-5 weeks of veg should work if they continue to grow vigorously. ++++++++DAY #3++++++++ Plants are showing purple stems and petioles towards the top... Is this transplant shock, or did I use too rich a potting mix? Ph could also be a culprit; do organic composts run acidic? ++++++++DAY #4++++++++ Thrips! I only found a few, and identified them directly before i noticed leaf damage. As you can see in the picture, it was a big adult i found. I had thrips on my previous grow, but the tent has been vacant for about 1.5 weeks, and was washed multiple times with various bleach and H202 dilutions. It is possible I missed them, but I think it is more likely that they came in on the poorly-kept clones (see above). I immediately brought them to the sink, and sprayed the hell out of them with an H202 dilution (3 cups water, 2 Tbsp H202) . I am going to try to acquire a bottle of Lost Coast Plant Therapy. Neem oil seems pretty strong, and I am focusing on clean, organic flower for smoke. UPDATE Went straightaway to my local grow shop to pickup Lost Coast Plant Therapy, and the employee also recommended these little envelopes containing amblyseius cucumeris predator bugs. I also picked up some sticky traps. Before lights out, sprayed plants with recommended dilution of LCPT, and placed the predator bug envelopes in the pot. I also had the intuition to introduce some nematodes and microbes by way of the grow shop's aquaponics system. They keep several large goldfish, and allow you to take water from the system. i grabbed a bit of this water and hit the plants with it. ++++++++DAY #5++++++++ Damn, guess I overwatered... looks like plants are drooping pretty bad. Also saw more thrips, so I doused them again with the Lost Coast Plant Therapy. I am worried about getting it on the soil, as I am afraid it will disrupt the microbiome. The eggs could be there, however, so if it's safe I suppose spraying the soil would kill the eggs. I am not sure, I'll only spray the plant for now. Installing sticky traps. Still worrying about the plant not recovering in time to top... its pushing 9.5 inches, and I want to top/lst before it gets too tall. Started a compost tea; hoping to innoculate some microbial life. I'm also going to pH this up to 7, because i think my medium is acidic (dont have a meter to test it) 1.5 tsp Roots Organics Terp Tea Grow, 0.5 tsp Roots Organics Elemental, 1.0 teaspoon Vital Earth compost, 0.5 tsp molasses, 0.75 gallon RO water. Probably will let this run 48 hrs. ++++++++DAY #6++++++++ Leaves are still drooping/clawing after a day without water, so I think this is a pH issue. They also appear frail and lifeless, and the red stems and petioles are indicating a sudden onset potassium deficiency which could be locked out in a low pH environment. I only have pH strips to test, but a slurry test showed pH under 6. I am going to take that tea and amend it with Mad Farmer Get UP and some baking soda. Shooting for a 7 pH. MFGU says that it will not damage the rhizosphere and microbial life. It contains potassium carbonate, potassium silicate, and potassium hydroxide. I am going to water thoroughly and let sit, and then i will water a bit more and check the runoff. Added a tsp baking soda, and 8ml of MFGU to tea. Initial runoff came out plant #1 around 6.1, and plant #2 around 6.2. Sprinkled a little baking soda on top of the soil, which i guess might also help with the thrips. After letting the soil soak for 30 minutes, I rewatered with tea, and plant #1 was showing about 6.3, and plant #2 around 6.5. I was hoping to get it higher, but this will do for now, i guess. I'm gonna dust the soil with more baking soda. Applied Lost Coast Plant Therapy again to kill thrips. I had also forgotten to apply Mycorhizzae when transplanting, so i top-dressed a little and massaged it into the soil. ++++++++DAY #7++++++++ Plant not looking good.. Leaves looking papery and sickly, and red stems persist. Checked runoff to see what my pH adjustment yesterday yielded, and it was around 8. I flushed with a little RO ( probably 40oz each) and runoff for both came down to 6.5ish. Sprayed plant #2 AGAIN due to visible thrips. ++++++++WEEK ONE SUMMARY+++++++ Hopefully I can save these thrip-infected clones, despite my issues with pH. My issue has been lack of a pH meter, and as well, difficulties finding an organic grow-compatible method of amending RO water. In spite of these issues, they both still added about an inch and a half in height.

+++++++++DAY 8 VEG+++++++++ Plants look slight bit less sickly then yesterday. Runoff checking in at around 6.5 this time, thank god. Since I am having trouble amending my RO, I used 1/3 tap water and let the chlorine off-gas overnight. water pH'd around 6.3 before i used it. I might try buying Botanicare Calplex, it seems like a good solution for buffering my RO and adding calcium. Plants are definitely showing signs of calcium deficiency. I had added Roots Organics Elemental to their tea, and also assume there should be some calcium in the compost and soil i used. I'm guessing this is due to the pH more than feeding, as these are only week old clones. I suppose it could also be a root issue, since they were only transplanted a week ago. Stems an petioles still reddish (Potassium deficiency) I really need to top these today... i was hoping to wait until they recover from transplant shock, but they are 10" tall now. Cut both plants above the fifth node. Maybe I'll look more into FIMing next time around. For the first time I am not seeing any thrips. I will hold of on the Lost Coast Plant Therapy today, but will consider reapplying tomorrow. +++++++++DAY 9 VEG+++++++++ Runoff for plant #1 at 6.5, Runoff for plant #1 at 6.8. They seem to be recovering, the petioles on topmost fan leaves are regaining a greener color. I guess the lesson is that my combination of FFOF soil, compost, and coco will be acidic from the start, and needs to be corrected. I'm guessing dolomite lime will need to be added. Despite plants being stressed, I had to start LST as they are close to 11" tall. I kinked the stem on plant #2, but I have read that this shouldn't do much harm. +++++++++DAY 10 VEG+++++++++ Ph reading at 6.5 & 6.7 respectively, recovery continues. I was surprised to find that the roots are already reaching out of the bottom of the one gallon pot. I think next water will just use some Roots Organics elemental, maybe some kelp extract. Whats the deal with molasses? Cali green amends his water with molasses and kelp extract in one video. Hit them with the Lost Coast Plant Therapy again... Didn't see any thrips, but they recommend using a maintenance dosage after they clear up. +++++++++DAY 11 VEG+++++++++ Lower branches are beginning to sprout due to the LST. Plant #1 seems much more vigorous than plant #2, which I expected. #2 bore the brunt of the thrips AND the pH issue. Upper stem/fan leaf petioles are still showing red, but new growth is looking green. I've been watering a lot to address the pH issue, but I think that's okay with my 30%Coco and 10%perlite being present... I'm gonna let them dry down today, and then hit them tomorrow with water amended with Roots Organics Elemental. No thrips in the sticky traps, and none seen on leaves. +++++++++DAY 12 VEG+++++++++ Two days without water and they are still moist but pots are very light. Hopefully this encouraged the roots to expand a bit. Top-dressed with some Mycorhizzae, as well as 1/2tsp each of Roots Organics Terp Tea Grow. Mixed up 1/2 gallon of water with 1/2 teaspoon of Roots Organics elemental, and 1oz Growmore seaweed extract. Ph'd to 6.3, and watered. +++++++++DAY 13 VEG+++++++++ I GOT A BLUELAB pH PEN! Finally! While I had been aware of the importance of pH since I started months ago, I had consigned myself to using pH paper as a tester. I was (and am) on a very stricy budget, and had been waffling between different pH testers based on quality and price. I scored a like-new Bluelab PenpH on Offerup for $30, and my local grow store calibrated it for free! Sweet! I had reserved a bit of the amended water from yesterday, and even threw in a tsp of Vital Earth compost, letting it bubble in my tent overnight. I adjusted it from 7.7 to 6.5 with lemon juice, and watered. The runoff for plant #1 was 7.8, and #2 was 8.1! I'm gonna water and check runoff everyday until it reaches 6.5, I can't believe these clones have survived so far. They were kept in open air in a dispensary for a month, and then I absolutely tortured them with pH swings. IT'S BEEN REAL... PULLING THE PLUG ON THESE GIRLS, GONNA FIRE UP SOME SEEDS IMMEDIATELY