Grow #1: Gelato + Unknowns

February 2, 2021 (Week 4, Day 29): The plants grew enough overnight to top at the third node. This is the second and last time I'll be topping these plants - this is the Nebula method of manifolding. I also took off the second node of each growth stem as well as the original fan leaves. I've pressed them in my plant press to save the memories of my experience with my first grow. I also redid the LST on every plant. The new growth sites I've pinned to the fan leaves. I really enjoy doing LST, it's quite therapeutic to figure out just how to support the plant without harming it. I think I am getting great lateral growth so far. The main growth stems are swelling a lot at the bases. Medium is still wet from yesterday - lightly tilled about a half inch of top soil. I've turned down the humidity another 5% this week. I'll keep it there most likely until I start the flowering cycle. Averaging 60% rH and 78℉. Plants are happy, and I am happy. 😸 February 3, 2021 (Week 4, Day 30): Plants are looking good this morning. The nitrogen toxicity in Unknown 2 is beginning to subside. Now Unknown 1 seems to be having a nitrogen toxicity as well - slight leaf curling at the ends with a very lush and dark green color. I am assuming this soil is still very hot. As I've lowered the humidity I suspect more nutrients are being sucked in through the roots instead of transpiration through the leaves. I think the plants are going to take a little bit to get used to the hot soil, but I bet once they do they'll be as happy as ever. Medium is still slightly moist this morning, no watering. I tilled a half inch of top soil again to keep everything aerated. Most likely will water tomorrow or the next day. My LST seems to be holding nicely. I tied down Unknown 2's first growth tips as the fan leaves have finally straightened out after the topping yesterday. New growth tips are emerging nicely from the third node of each lateral stem. Averaging 60% rH and 77℉. Nothing else to report for today. February 4, 2021 (Week 4, Day 31) : Growth looks good overnight. I think this second topping is confusing the plants a bit. Lots of bulking of the stems, but not much lateral growth. I have a feeling they'll take off over the next few days. They're still growing really well. I posted a grow question last night having to do with little white bead-like structures growing on the surfaces of the leaves on every plant. I was concerned it may be a mold or fungus starting to grow. I did a bunch of research and it seems to be early trichome development called "sessile glands". I still have the question open and I am trying to get confirmation. Really hoping if they're trichomes that's a good sign that these plants are going to be frosty. I uploaded some pictures to show the development. Over night they started to grow everywhere on the leaves - hopefully they really are just trichomes and I am being over-vigilant. Better safe than sorry. I watered the plants today without nutrients; 3 liters per plant pH'd to 5.8. Runoff sitting at ~6.5 pH now which is much better. I'll continue to run 5.8 pH solution until I see the pH of the soil come down to at least 6.2-6.3. Tomorrow I'll most likely have to defoliate a bit and tie down the second sets of growth stems, as they're beginning to stretch and grow vertically. Averaging 60% rH and 76℉. Happy growing all! 😸 February 5, 2021 (Week 4, Day 32): The plants are exploding with growth now. I defoliated the fan leaves from the first node on every plant and tied down the growth stem for lateral growth. These plants are meaty as hell. The stems are thickening really quickly and I am getting tons of foliage and stem growth. The third nodes are starting to come around. I think I figured out the "mold" issue I thought was starting. They're definitely trichomes, not mold. I touched the leaves that were sparkling and my fingertips got sticky, oily, and reeked of weed - so that's great news. The smell in my grow room is getting stronger every day. While defoliating this morning I found my first pre-flowers on Gelato 1! It looks like all the plants are female, but Gelato 1 threw some pretty pistils at me to get my attention. Seems like the plants are reaching maturity. Depending on growth over the next few weeks it may be time to switch to flower soon! I am aiming for about 16" in veg before switching. Seeing these pre-flowers made me so anxious for flowering. Unknown 1 and Unknown 2 are doing great as well - all the signs of the nitrogen toxicity have subsided. Unknown 2 has more trichomes on the leaves than any of the other plants, and its foliage is a beautiful deep green. They are either different phenotypes or different strains entirely as the two of them are growing and looking quite different. Unknown 1 is much lankier so I suspect a different strain. Unknown 2 is especially squat and I suspect it's 100% indica or close to it. Medium is still wet. Averaging 60% rH and 77℉. No other news today. February 6, 2021 (Week 4, Day 33): Last 24 hours I have seen at least an inch of lateral growth per growth stem on each plant. These girls are absolutely loving life from the looks of it, they're growing incredibly fast. I redid a bunch of LST today. Had to move every tie up one node. Medium is still moist. Lightly tilled half inch of top soil. Gelato 1 is shooting out more pre-flowers. Thanks to my wife we have new friends that have joined us in the smart pots. 😸 Averaging 60% rH and 75℉. Happy weekend everyone! February 7, 2021 (Week 4, Day 34): These girls are chugging right along. Tons of great lateral growth every 24 hours at this point. Having to adjust LST pretty much every morning to accommodate for the crazy growth. Gelato 1 is a freak of nature - the fan leaves are gigantic. Defoliated again today; took the fan leaves from the third node of each plant. Will be defoliating the first node of the secondary growth stems tomorrow most likely. Medium is slightly moist. Tilled the soil again. Will be watering tomorrow morning most likely. There's still a little dropping at the ends of the leaves so I will hold off on nutrients until all nitrogen toxicity has subsided. Averaging 60% rH and 77℉. Nothing else for today. February 8, 2021 (Week 4, Day 35): Watered today with 3 liters of 5.8 pH filtered water per plant (no nutrients) - runoff around ~6.7-6.8 pH. Will most likely resume nutrients upon next feeding depending on how the plants look. Defoliated entire first node from center four growth stems and tied down third nodes. Readjusted outside LST. The plants are almost to the outside of the pot which is when I'll switch to vertical growth. Unknown 1 is very close to being let loose, it's also pre-flowering now. Gelato 1 is now covered in pre-flowers - it's definitely a happy plant. Unknown 2 is still the runt of the group but also appears to be almost 100% indica by how stout it is. It's showing sex but no pistils yet. All three plants seem to responding well to mainlining and the stress isn't making them skip a beat. Stems are getting huge. I downloaded an app on my phone to check how well my lights are doing and, if the readings are accurate, I am very impressed with these lights. I've read cannabis can handle around ~65 DLI, so I am right where I need to be. Averaging 60% rH and 78℉. That ends week 4 of veg. Time is flying. Hoping to switch to flower in two weeks for a total of six weeks in veg. Getting super stoked to switch over! Happy growing everyone! 👽