đą Grow Journal â Week 8
This week, the plant kept growing steadily and looks healthy overall. She gained almost 8 centimeters in just seven daysâthatâs more than a centimeter per day, which is a great sign of strong development.
Iâm planning to work on her structure a little: probably a topping in the coming days, along with a light defoliation. The goal is to open up the canopy, improve airflow, and make sure the light is distributed more evenly, while guiding her growth in a balanced way.
The main challenge this week has been the pH. This morning, the reservoir measured 4.8 while the tray was at 5.2, a 0.4 difference. I honestly donât understand why the drop was so sharp. I had added Athena Balance, which should stabilize the nutrient solution. The only explanation I can see is the heatâwe hit almost 31°C this weekend, and I suspect the nutrient solution was heavily affected by the temperature rise. If anyone reading this journal has insights on why this happens, Iâd be glad to hear them.
Itâs a bit frustrating, because Autopots are supposed to make things simple. But in reality, I still need to monitor closely, especially since the coco buffer doesnât seem to be doing its job properlyâor maybe the reservoir just dropped too low and threw everything off. Either way, Iâll stay vigilant. Hopefully, with summer ending and temperatures cooling down, the solution will stabilize and the pH wonât swing so much.
On the positive side, Iâm still really happy with Athena nutrients. The solution stays crystal clean, no buildup, no deposits, and that makes things a lot easier to manage.
So overall: strong growth, healthy plant, but pH management continues to be the main challenge. Letâs see how things evolve next week.