I got a week and a half notice that I had to go on a work trip out of country for 10 days, so the clown show continued.
I was definitely overwatering them. Thanks @shinsimilla, I saw the difference after waiting a few extra days. Also, I definitely should have started LST at least a week earlier than I did.
Now for work issues: I found an old security camera that the cats had knocked over a million times and damaged. With a lot of tape, I got it working again and set up in the tent so I could see what’s going on while gone. Be warned, the photos are NOT good quality. I also looked up DIY self-watering systems. I needed it as simple as possible to reduce the risk of something breaking while I was thousands of miles away.
I found one where it wicks water up a cotton or wool string. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/P0hn5cKZ0Z0 I cut up an old 10K shirt that was made of cotton. I had just broken down my balcony garden since it’s already getting cold here. I took two long planters, lined them with a construction garbage bag to be the reservoirs. Even though the floor of the grow tent is waterproof and I put plastic between the floor and outside of the grow tent, I didn’t want to risk any water getting out while I was away. I was nervous y’all.
Basically, you wet the fabric then use a chopstick to run the it through the plant from bottom to top. It needs to be long enough to have a few inches sitting in the bottom of the reservoir. I filled each with 3L of water with the BioBizz nutrients mixed in and ph’d to 6.1.
More info in week 5.