10/28/2025
What a day! We have started the Bloom Nutrients, cleaned out the reservoir... To be honest, I don't know what people are talking about with dirty things. My whole bucket was super easy and fast to clean. Frankly it really wasn't dirty at all. Kinda like reusing a cup. Nothing wrong with it. Just had something else in it. Anyway, quick and easy.
I used distilled water. 4 gallons per bucket.
I think my TDS meter is broken. Either it's really that high or these plants love it, but the reading is 1020 ppm and the EC is at 2000. That's really high... I think. I have no idea. I've read that people couldn't get over 300 ppm without burning their plant. While I'm at 1020 ppm. Something is wrong here and I can't figure it out. I've watched them like a hawk for the last 5 hours. And they look super happy and healthy. Not a single sign of toxicity. Just follow the instructions. Lol. So why am I looking at numbers that should burn them? Maybe I'm wrong. But I think they can just handle it. No idea how, but these are tough plants. I'll update with any signs of stress.
Anyway, moving on. Ahem...
So I definitely need to do another clip traing on Papaya Cookies. Not really sure if Lemon Cherry Cookies needs it. I'll see tomorrow.
Also, these 2 are finally showing real traits of what they are. Papaya Cookies is definitely sativa as the description says. Like seriously sativa. Thin leaves, skinny branches. At first I thought it was the stem issue, but then I realized that this is what it's supposed to look like. Skinny but strong. Anyway, she is starting to grow too tall in the middle, so I need to pull down some branches with those clips I got.
Lemon Cherry Cookies is certainly showing her indica traits. Wide leaves, bushy stature. Thick strong branches. Beautiful green color. (Papaya Cookies leaves are much lighter.)
Lighting: 27" away from the canopy. Power 90% 278 watts. 615 PPFD I might have to dim the light a little when they grow closer to it. Maybe. It all depends on how much higher I can get the light up. I think there's 8 inches of space between the light and the ceiling. I'll figure it out.
The environment is still perfect. The humidifier and heater barely run. And if they do, it's like level 1 or 2 of power. Not much going on in there to change the environment. But I did get my new exhale 365 bag. It's supposed to take a few days to get going, so we'll see what it looks like in a few days. The CO2 level is around 900 ppm. I'd like it a bit higher, but it's ok.
I don't think I'll record the environmental readings. They are generally all the same. And it's honestly getting a bit redundant. Especially when they are already recorded in the list thing.
See you tomorrow.
10/29/2025
No picture day. I assure you they look wonderful. Both plants are starting to show buds. They should start stretching any day now. Each of them is 12". Very green, very healthy.
I'll have to pull down 2 top branches on Lemon Cherry Cookies after lights on. Just 2. They are sticking up too high above the others. Also, it'll help fill in a hole in the center of the plant. Still looks pretty bushy. That's nice.
Papaya Cookies looks awesome! Even after her little infection. Definitely stunted and I would have expected her to be taller than her counterpart. But she isn't. However. That's not stopping her from producing tons of bud sites. I may have to go with the scrog net after all. Unless she hardens up and can hold the buds. I don't think so. I'm gonna have to use the net as a support.
Lighting:
So I lowered the light to increase the DLI currently it's sitting at about 42.5 mol. The PPFD is around 630. Something like that. I'm going to double check when the light is at full power. I was going to increase the intensity to 100% but I decided I should wait a few days since I lowered the light. I'll get a measurement after the lights turn back on. Honestly, my goal is to have the light as high as it can go with max intensity. I'm not sure I can actually do that with this 300 watt light. I also have the CO2 exhale bag I can consider soon enough. If it works as they say, I can probably increase the DLI to 50 mol. We shall see.
Environment:
There's actually something to talk about. So I live in an apartment converted from a house. There's a total of 3 apartments. Someone, not me, cranked the heat this morning and the tent hit like 78°. I know it's not a lot, but still not within my precision mastered range. Lol. Hell, my AC isn't doing the job. The lowest it's been is 71° in the house. Back up to 72° but yah, in the house it was like 75°.
Anyway, that's it for the day. I'll check in later with any changes.
10/31/2025
I'm sorry everyone. I've been super busy the last couple days and didn't have time to add to my plants adventure tale. So I noticed at light level 9, the plants were praying pretty hard. I thought to myself well then a bit missing light. So I turned up to max level 10. Watt output is 310 watts. I don't remember the DLI, but it's like 44 mol. Anyway, I checked on them about an hour later. They were still slightly praying, but that's good. It just means they needed a bit more light. I'll keep an eye out for light stress. Also, I think I figured out a thing. Cannabis grows trichomes when it is stressed out as a defense mechanism, no? As in a strong aroma coming off in the veg stage. Isn't that a sign of stress. In particular light stress? Obviously when flower hits, it will smell from the flowers. But as a vegging plant, it should smell like a leafy green plant and not strongly of trichomes. It's just a theory, but could be useful if I'm right.
To summarize, veg stage should smell like a plant. Flowering should smell like weed. And as it's known. It builds trichomes to protect against light stress and a few others I can't think of at the moment. Wind burn too I think. More like environmental stresses. Something the plant would have to protect itself against. If you have an idea in regards to this theory, I would be glad to talk about it. Send a comment and we can maybe start a discussion.
Anyway, I let the pH float yesterday. Today it was dangerously close to 6.5. I don't understand why it increases so much. It doesn't swing either. Just spikes. It's seriously annoying not knowing why. I will learn thos somehow.
Back to 10/31/2025
Happy Halloween everyone. 🎃
So today I will be taking some of the training clips off. They are starting to get too small for the bigger branches. I'd like to take them all off now, but I have a lot of small branches that need to be woody and thick. But yah, all of those are coming off. I've also decided to see if the light at 90% will still cause major reaching. And if so, maybe I should let it be. They can stretch right into the light. Or I'll leave it at 100%. I'm not sure yet. Any suggestions? Feel free to comment on that no matter how old this diary is.
The temp seems to be perfectly ok, but the humidy is starting to climb with the plants getting bigger. So it's dehumidifier time. I'm planning on buying the AC Infinity one that connects to the system. But I have as small one for now. Environmentally speaking, everything is going great! Not too much wind, decent air exchange and bouncy CO2. Not sure how to fix that. I was considering routing the end of the exhaust duct back into the tent. I think I will. When I get these vent port caps. They are light proof but also provide air exchange. So I was thinking of taking the duct. Sticking it in the top vent port and letting that air flow through. If it works, I should have plenty of CO2 in the tent, the temp should stay pretty constant as well as the humidity. Well, kinda. The dehumidifier would have to work double time, but the other accessories, like the heater and the humidifier won't need to run as much. And considering this AI is keeping my tent spot on, I'm guessing spot on to spot on would make a perfect mix. We shall see. I have to wait a week or so for the port covers, which sucks. Because this is the very beginning of flower and I would love for the CO2 levels to be in the 1200s. I think.
Lemon Cherry Cookies looks absolutely wonderful. Lush broad leaves. She'll definitely need a trim at the end of the stretch. Speaking of stretching, she hasn't done much of it. Like an inch or so. Not sure what I'm doing wrong or if I'm just being impatient. But I have had plants with the greatest care only get to like 18" tall. This Lemon Cherry Cookies looks like it might be one of those plants. Super bushy, but really short. Trimming after the stretch should open up some much needed air space. But as I said the leaves look great! No signs of any issues whatsoever. And the root ball! It's huge! I can't take pictures because I have to hold the lid up. Believe me, it's big.
Papaya Cookies looks pretty good as well. She's actually taller than her counterpart. By a good inch or 2. But that is most likely because she's a sativa. Where Lemon Cherry Cookies is an indica. In that aspect everything is perfect. And! The stem isn't getting big big, but it's definitely expanding. Not like the other one, but still. She still definitely needs to be supported, but I expect good things. Maybe not big things, but good ones. Her root ball isn't all that big either. Kind of expected. However, I do have 1 more seed I think. Maybe I'll pop that after the next run. Hopefully I'll be in a bigger place with space for a 4x4 tent and my 3x3. That would be pretty bad ass. 3x3 for autos and vegging photoperiods. The 4x4 for the flowering phase. Autos stay in the 3x3. An endless supply of weed right there.
That's all for the day.
11/01/2025
So I wake up this morning to a legit bush. Lemon Cherry Cookies seemed to go PUFF and blew up like a balloon. I'll definitely be taking out some leaves after her stretch. I think that's the best time to trim an autoflower. But only once. Small snippets, in my experience, are fine. But like just a few leaves here and there.
Papaya Cookies is starting to stretch more. She's also starting to fill out now. I'm expecting a much larger plant in the coming week or so. She's still a very healthy plant. No idea how, but even her lower stalk is fattening up. She might be a little bit behind, but she's starting to become more active. Honestly, she should be taller and a bit larger than Lemon Cherry Cookies. The way the stalk looks on both of them, Papaya Cookies wins. Up top anyway. But the bottom is small, so less production I think.
The environment is spot on still. I think I'll leave the light at level 9 for now. I might turn it up after the stretch. But for now, level 9 it is.
The CO2 is pretty low in the tent. I forgot to tell you all. The new exhale 365 bag came in and is already in place. That was nearly a week ago. My bad. Anyway, it works, but then it stops. I might route the exhaust duct back into the tent above the canopy after I get the port vent caps. I think that'll work. This is good. Because winter is coming and it gets cold here. So I'll need as much heat as I can get. Well, not really, the heater I have is fantastic. But you get it. The heater also brings in a ton of air. Enough where it balloons the tent.
I'm having trouble getting the pH to stay at 5.8. it jumps to 6.3 daily. So I guess I'll just keep fixing it. Lol.
Anyway, that's all for today. I'll update with any changes.
11/02/2025
Well well well. Look who came out to play! Both ladies are doing quite well. Lemon Cherry Cookies is by far the winner of this run. But you never know. Papaya Cookies might shoot up but I'm pretty sure she won't get that big. Her root ball is kind small. At least compared to Lemon Cherry Cookies. Hers is huge. I can't take a picture because I have to hold the top and the roots. So big.
Anyway, I had to top off both ladies today. They were about a half gallon low. I added a little bit more bloom to help prepare them for the next water change and then bloom goes up. And we add the p/k boost. So I figured exposing them to a very small extra dose would probably do good.
Other than that and the huge root ball, nothing much else to report. The environment is perfect, as usual.
I'll definitely be trimming after the stretch. They are getting really bushy.
That's all for now.
10/03/2025
Good stuff happening today and possible bad stuff as well. Good things first. These 2 plants are getting nice and plump. Well Lemon Cherry Cookies is. Papaya Cookies has a few lower spots. Her canopy isn't very even at all. Thelmouter half just stopped growing. She's also showing signs of nutrient deficiency. She definitely has enough nutes. It's because of her smaller trunk. I could be wrong, but that's the only thing I can think of. I checked for bugs with my microscope. Nothin. Checked everywhere for signs of rot, root rot and anything else that could potentially be causing the yellow spots. They are burning through it looks like.