RQS Sweet Skunk Micro Grow 63W/78W Run 3

I'm starting a new run. Since it's fall now and somewhat cold to grow, I'll grow a couple of autoflowers in a 20/4 light cycle, that will help me in keeping the temperatures warm enough. I upgraded the grow box. Even though my fan / filter worked great I got a new one. I was using a Noctua A6 FLX with Can filter 705. Now I got a Noctua A8 FLX with a can filter 1500. The plan is to use it undervolted, that makes the operation silent, whether before it was whisper quiet. It will also help venting the added heat of the 78 watts lights. Both seeds were put in warm water for 24 hours and are now in soil. So we are just going to wait. Sorry I took so long, it’s finally the end of week 1 of veg. Both seeds were put in warm water pH’ed to 6.8 for 24 hours and then planted in a 16 oz cup full of soil (Biobizz All-mix). 4 days later both broke soil, but in an act of supreme idiocy I killed one, so I started the other seed of the package and is 5 days behind the other; that’s why I took so long in updating the thread, I was waiting for the second seedling to complete the first week. Just to be clear, day 1 is the day after breaking soil, when the seedlings open the first pair of true leaves. The plan for this autos is to FIM them above the 4th node by removing most of the 5th and 6th pair of leaves (this been the first time I attempt to do this, since I usually top the plants). The early fimming should prevent the plants to start flowering too early giving me time fill the canopy as I want. At this point I will transplant to their final container.

So, it’s the end of the 2nd week. Plant A was FIM’ed on day 11 and transplanted to a 3 gallon pot the next day. Since it’s the first time I’ve done this instead of TOP’ing, I’m not sure if it worked or not. Plant B is developing a bit more slowly and was transplanted on day 13, because it was becoming rootbound, and by the looks of it should be FIM’ed tomorrow at the latest. I had a minor sign of excess Ca on this plant, due me making a mistake and watered with what was meant for the other plant (remember they are 5 days apart on their age). The FIM was done (or about to be done) above the 4th node, cutting most of the 5th one. Late update: At the end of the light on period I went ahead and FIM'ed the remaining plant, uploaded pics on it.

It’s the end of the 3d week. Plant A seems to be in a rush to get to the flowering phase as fast as possible, as you can see on the pictures below flowers are already forming. I’m not sure if the FIM was successful or not. Plant B is developing nice and good, still behind in its development, but it’s really taking off after the transplant. I’m been very conservative in the watering department, especially since the pot is kind of big for the plants size. Last watering was 1 liter of water that lasted 12 days and the media was fairly dry by time of the next watering. The foliage was a but dark green, probably because of the Cal-Max that has some Nitrogen, so this week there was none of it; that seems to have agreed with both plants.

It’s the end of the 4th week. A bit of LST for plant A and except for the first node colas, all of them are at the same height. Still undecided if I’ll chop those lower 2 flowers or not; Not the sea of colas that I had on last grow (18+ or so), but nothing to scoff off at; I think there’s 12 of them at canopy level. Plant B has taken a bit more time to develop, but looking great anyway. The stretch is on the way and I started some LST, well quite a bit of LST, just to see if a more aggressive approach does anything or not. I’ll switch to the 3000K bulbs in a couple of days, which should be just at the end of plant A’s stretch; I’ll probably leave 2 6500K ones just on top of the of plant B for 1 more week, so it can finish the stretch under cool light. Watering was again 1 liter, which is not enough to soak all the media, but I’m reluctant to do that, so I’ll be upping the amount as the soil dry faster. I have resumed the feeding of Cal-Max, but at a very reduced rate, previously it was 0.5 cc/lt, now it was 0.3 cc/lt or 0.18 EC (90 PPM). All in all, both plants have regained their bright green color instead of the dark green they had last week. I almost forget, it seems that both plants have taken to FIM’ing quite well, it barely slowed down the plants development, if at all. In any case, I don’t mention the plants height, because frankly I’m not worried about it, since my previous two runs were sativas and manage to keep them squat. Just in case any of you is interested, both plants are 10 inches and I expect them to reach up to 16 inches in the following 2 weeks. Here are this week’s pictures.

It’s the end of the 5th week Plant A has stopped it’s stretch at 40 cm (16”), well with a bit of help of LST. Plant B is much shorter measuring 28 cm (11”), most likely because it was bent much sooner and more severely resulting in a squatter and more even canopy and because it's development seems to be a week late, I expect next week it will stretch a lot. As I’ve been doing, I watered with only Cal-Max at 0.16 EC (80 PPM). Enjoy this week pictures Late night update: I did some more LST on plant B, I really want to know if this form of aggressive approach helps. I brought down the height from 11" to 9" (28 cm to 23 cm). This coming week should see the buds start developing along with the final stretch. I'll try to make a video showing how it's been bent.

And we have reached the end of the 6th week Plant A has done some minor stretching that I have kept under control with LST so the height is still 40 cm (16”); all is going into bud production at this point. Plant B. I’ve kept bending her, so its height is a meager 30 cm (12”), which finally allowed the 1st node colas to reach canopy level, contrary to what happened with the other plant, and past runs too. Flowers have finally started to form after the *stretch*. Enjoy this week pictures

We have left the 7th week behind us. Buds are filling really fast, most likely due the 20 hours’ light schedule; this is the best feature of auto flowering strains. Following something I read somewhere, by increasing the exhaust I’ve kept flowering temperatures lower than my other runs, supposedly it stimulates bud growth and thricomes production; as a byproduct humidity has been lower than usual. Plant A is putting everything into flowering and just at the end of the week it has shown the first signs of PK deficiency, so I upped the feeding strength from 0.65 EC to 1.35 EC; for those that wonder, I actually prefer to see this first signs of deficiency before upping the feeding strength, a slight deficiency does not impact yield and is easily and quickly fixed, but even a slight burn can be disastrous. I expect it to take 2 or 3 more weeks for a total of 9 or 10 weeks. Plant B on the other hand looks like it will take another 4 or 5 weeks. I’m quite interested in how it will develop it’s flowers; with all the bending I did, most if not all the flowers are at canopy level, there’s no middle or lower buds. As always, enjoy the pictures

And it’s the end of the 8th week and the end is closing in on us. Plant A’s buds have finally started to swell, some pistils have gone red and thricomes are beginning to turn cloudy. I think it still has 1 or 2 weeks to go. Anyway, lower leaves are showing signs of deficiency, mostly P, some K and a bit of N. I’ll up the feeding yet again one last time. Plant B is finally focusing all its energies on developing the buds and if it follows the behavior of its sister; the buds will grow explosively, but I expect 4 to 5 more we eks. As always, enjoy the pictures

We have come to the end of the 9th week. Plant A’s thricomes matured overnight. I thought it would take another week or two, but alas it’s ready now, mostly cloudy with some amber. And at 62 days from seed, the plant has come down. I misjudged the time it would take, I’m not used to how fast the flowering goes with autos using long light cycles; thanks to this I did not flush the plant, thankfully I fed on the low side and so the plant is not full of nutes, so nothing that a good curing won’t solve. Plant B now has the grow box for itself so I opened up the canopy to take advantage of the added space and light, it now looks like the tops multiplied, I wonder how this will affect the yield of this plant. I believe it has 2 weeks to go. With only one plant the grow box humidity is lower than what I’m used to, since my humidity is usually high for the flowering phase. As always, enjoy the pictures

Week 10 and we are almost there. Plant A has been drying for 13 days and should be done any day now. I usually dry my stuff in 7 days, this time I’m trying a slower dry, just to see if there’s any difference. Plant B’s calyxes finally have started to swell; thricomes are mostly cloudy with a few clear. All in all, I don’t think this will reach the end of the 11th week, judging from how the other one matured overnight Enjoy the pictures.

It grew great under 20/4 light cycle. It took 62 days for plant A and 72 for plant B. This light cycle allowed me to keep low winter temperatures in check. My new fan/filter combo worked just as well as the other one, and it's finally completely silent. Plant B was subjected to heavier LST which gave me a much better shape, hell even the first node tops reached canopy level and resulted in great colas. Enjoy the pictures. By the way I only posted pictures of the colas, not the smaller stuff.000