April 12, 2024 Day 57 This week we focus on Defoliation. The SCroG net has done it's job so far and may end up being removed next week. I'm not sure, but if I don't, then I won't be able to pull the basins out for cleaning. That will lead to buildup and clog up the wicks. I'm supposed to clean them today but I can't get them out until the net is removed. They should be fine for an extra week. I won't be doing one last defoliation, it will be done throughout this week every other day. These plants have a wonderful bud to leaf ratio, so I may only need two small trimming sessions. That should be it, then I'm leaving it alone for the rest of the grow. I may remove one here and there, but this canopy is open all the way to the bottom bud sites. So I really shouldn't have to trim much at all. Tropicana Cookies and Tropicana C are both identical. They even have the same branch reaching above the canopy. I had to tie down the one on Tropicana C. I will probably have to tie the other one down tomorrow. They won't go under the net, so they had to be tied to it. They are still about an inch higher than the rest of the canopy, but it's better than 4" above the canopy. They both needed to be refilled today. So they each got a full gallon with Recharge. I'll be changing the feeding regimen for their next watering. I'm switching out Big Bud for Overdrive and removing Sensizym. Tasty Terpenes and B-52 will stay for the rest of the grow until flush. I'll be cutting the nutrients in half for the last watering before flush as well. It should only need a few days to completely flush the nutrients from the soil. I'll be using Flawless Finish during flush, so that should make it faster. The light power was increased today. I brought it back up to 90% to get the DLI back to normal. Now it's 50 mol/m²/d in the center, 45 mol/m²/d surrounding the center and 42 mol/m²/d along the walls. Great coverage and I get to keep the 24" light distance. I'm very happy with this so far. I may need to drop the power again after the week rounds out. We shall see. I may only need to raise the light an inch or two. Either way, I'm happy. The environment is finally getting back to normal from last week's wonky weather. Today, it's sitting at 76° with a humidity of 55%. It should drop down to around 52% by this afternoon. The DLI should end up being 1.42 kPa. Currently it's at 1.33 kPa. Not bad, but still not where it needs to be ideally. Grow System Environment: Temp: 75.5° RH: 57.1% VPD: 1.26 kPa (That will adjust back tomorrow) April 13, 2024 Nothing going on today. The one cola on Tropicana Cookies that got tied down is already pointing straight up again. Tropicana C looks great! Nice tops and just about ready to start on bud production. It looks like we have a couple 24" plants. The yield should be pretty good. The lighting stayed the same and I'm pretty sure it will remain the same for the next couple weeks. Then I will be dropping the intensity down for the last week and a half or so. The environment is now off again. The temp is way too low, but the humidity is fine. It should adjust again this afternoon. Updated Correction: I ended up cutting some leaves off after all. Not a ton but several. I looked at Tropicana Cookies from a side door and found clusters of big leaves. Those got cleaned up along with a few top leaves that were blocking bud sites. That should be it for the rest of the grow. I'll check back one more time and see what's needed. Grow System Environment: Temp: 73.5° RH: 52.0% VPD: 1.32 kPa April 14, 2024 Today is the final day of defoliation. I am planning on doing a proper defoliation this time. Nothing crazy, but the stretch has just finished up on both ladies and they need their final haircut. That being said, I think I'll remove the SCroG net for now. Then I can pull each plant out for inspection and defoliation. That way, I can clear out leaves that are sticking too far out and touching walls or other plants. I did do a minor defoliation this morning, but that was only what I could see in a crowded tent. So the rest will be done outside of the tent. Although, I'm not sure I'll have a lot to snip. That's a good thing. It's early afternoon and I have pulled the SCroG net out. I've also pulled both ladies and did a full defoliation. Well, about 15% leaf removal. As I said, this is the last defoliation for the rest of the grow. Tropicana Cookies looks great with the net off. There were tops that were being held down over other tops and some tops that were just bent. After removing the net, everything leveled out and the canopy spread is quite nice. The buds on this plant are insane. Internodal spacing is about 3/4" and it's all the way up each cola. When these ladies fatten up, they will have super long colas that should be thick with trichomes and hopefully no severe bending. Tropicana C got about the same 15% removed. She opened up quite a bit and there were definitely clusters I missed earlier on. Actually, quite a few on both plants. Anyway, this lady has great canopy penetration and air flow. What she also has is bud sites literally everywhere. Top to bottom. The colas are top to bottom, about 12" each. Maybe 15". I'll measure next week. I didn't move the light at all today. The DLI on the tallest tops is around 50 mol/m²/d while the rest of the canopy is around 45 mol/m²/d. No sense in changing anything at all. I may have to lift a couple other plants up that are sharing the tent. They are a bit shorter than these two. The environment looks good today. With a temp of 77° and the humidity around 53%, the VPD is very nice at 1.44 kPa. The average is looking great as well. However, I think I need to do something about the night temps. I believe they are still a bit too warm from the dehumidifier. I may have to increase the exhaust fan power at night to compensate for that. Grow System Environment: Temp: 75.5° RH: 52.6% VPD: 1.39 kPa April 15, 2024 Watering day! With the SCroG net down, I can pull the plants out. Which means I was able to clean out the basins and refill with fresh nutrients. I pulled the Big Bud and replaced it with 8 ml Overdrive. It may be too much. I really should have started at 4 ml. Live and learn I guess. We shall see how they react. I was also supposed to pull the Sensizym, but forgot that entirely. I'll have to pay more attention to what I'm doing. I'll take it out next watering. If the plants have any issues with the Overdrive, I'll just leave it out next watering. Simple. Both plants look fantastic. Tropicana Cookies ended up with one super tall top. It's fine though, I'm keeping it outside of the canopy. As much as I can anyway. Tropicana C looks great as well. She has multiple tops that are all about the same height, but the majority are shorter. Both plants have tons of bud sites. In the hundreds I'd say. Maybe 150 to 200. It seems like a lot, but they are everywhere on each plant. They are super happy and healthy. The lighting was left alone today. I may check it later today or tomorrow. The plants aren't quite reaching as much as I'd prefer for now. I may have too much light on them now. I'll drop the power back down to 80% if need be... Maybe. The environment is really good today. Staying strong at 75° and 50% humidity. The only thing I really need to work on is night temps. It's much too high between 71° and 73°. I'd much rather have it between 66° and 68° especially during this stage. I'll have to turn my air conditioner on soon. No problem. It is a bit too warm in my room at night for my liking as well. Update: I lifted the light an inch this afternoon. Now the plants have a slight reach going on. It also helped with leveling the DLI out better. Grow System Environment: Temp: 75.3° RH: 50.2% VPD: 1.45 kPa April 16, 2024 Not a lot going on today. Just some watering I think. That won't be until later this afternoon. Speaking of watering, I am happy to find both ladies at the exact same water level. It's great to see. They are drinking the gallon in just under 3 days now. I think the intake will increase in the next week or so. When the buds start to swell up. Tropicana Cookies has a few taller tops that are loaded with buds and stacks. Maybe 8" long each? But it doesn't stop there. I didn't lollipop these plants at all. They have buds all the way down to the base. The coolest part is, they are all roughly the same size. Top to bottom. I'm hoping my finishing touches bring me top quality buds throughout the plants. That would be an impressive yield. The lighting is perfect where it is. The taller tops are on the outside of the footprint and aren't getting as much direct light. It's keeping the DLI for them down to around 48 mol/m²/d. Still a bit high, but I'm not too worried about it. The environment is great today. Not only is it 76° with the humidity at 51%, but I finally got the night temp down to 66°. It was a steady climb down, and the average was around 68° which is ideal. I wouldn't mind it being at 66° all night to help bring out the colors. We will see how things go as we get closer to harvest. Grow System Environment: Temp: 73.5° RH: 52.3% VPD: 1.32 kPa April 17, 2024 Not much to do today. Tropicana C needed some branch movement. A little crowded in some spots. It's all good now. But that's it. I didn't bother pulling Tropicana Cookies out today. She looks good and I'll pull all 4 plants out tomorrow. Mostly to comfortably refill the reservoirs for these ladies. They will definitely need a refill tomorrow morning. I haven't changed the light at all. I won't for the next 2 or so weeks. Then I'll drop the power down to 70% and for the final week will drop to 60%. That should see the DLI at around 38 mol/m²/d and 35 mol/m²/d respectively. The environment is looking fantastic. The night temp is finally down to 67° and the day temp has climbed up to about 76°. The humidity is staying strong at 51% with small dips into the high 40's. Grow System Environment: Temp: 74.0° RH: 50.0% VPD: 1.40 kPa April 18, 2024 Both ladies got water today. Tropicana C was completely dried out. Whoops. Tropicana Cookies was just at the bottom. Either way, both got refilled today. Not much going on otherwise. I pulled them out for inspection. Everything looks great! Both plants have buds everywhere top to bottom. The branches are a little thin for my liking and I may have to put the net up on their side. The light is staying where it is. The tallest tops on each plant are a bit too close to the light, but that will be adjusted in a week or so. Currently the rest of the canopy is happy at 45 mol/m²/d. Looking great! The environment is a bit off today. It's kind of rainy and dreary here today, to the humidity is up higher than I'd like and the temp is a bit lower as well. It should fix this afternoon. The current temp is 75.8° with the humidity at 54.8%. The VPD is kind of low as well at 1.33 kPa. Grow System Environment: Temp: 74.2° RH: 53.3% VPD: 1.33 kPa