_Training This week was the start of the LST and, with that, a continuous gentle defoliation to ensure that the new shoots are getting a lot of direct light. Leaves (especially sun sails) growing over new shoots are either pressed down or, if necessary, removed. When LSTing, I always focus on gently bending the branches in the desired direction every day, without disregarding the natural structure of the plant. Once they reach a length of about 5 cm, I start to secure them with training stakes(*1). This way, the risk of damage (as well as overall stress for the plant) is kept to a minimum. _Setup The lamp is now at max. intensity and min. distance (35 cm) at around 650 - 700 PPFD. (*1) I built the training stakes myself to match my needs (enough length, natural material, no sharp edges, slightly downward facing angle). _Pests + Living Soil + Environment The combination of nematodes and sand seemed to work immediately, because the number of Sciaridae quickly dropped to about 2 - 3 adult flies per day. Still, on day 40 (8 days after adding the sand) I removed it again, because: 1. It was rather intended to support the nematodes (fewer new larvae), 2. The Sciaridae had fallen to a level that seemed acceptable, 3. It would keep the soil too anaerobic and moist in the long term. The decision also had a positive effect on the RH(*2) (approx. 10% increase). (*2) Relative humidity fluctuated slightly from day to day, but generally remained around 50%. Although removing the sand (at the end) of this week increased the RH, I only evaluated this ‘new average' RH from the following week onwards. _Environment + Plants The stabilization of the environmental conditions and the increase in light, have allowed the plants to grow intensively this week. In the beginning, the relative humidity was still a little lower than I would like, but acceptable since the plants were still quite small and didn't need to be watered as often. [Large amount of substrate with corresponding buffering effect to keep the plants healthy.] During the seedling phase, I observed slight deficiency symptoms that at first glance looked like a nutrient problem (potassium, calcium, ...?). Since I cannot control the nutrient content as precisely as I could with a hydroponic system e.g., and the damage was manageable and occurred during a phase in which I also stressed the plants by allowing them to become too dry, I simply ignored it in hope that the system will stabilize itself. *Gorilla Z Auto was 20 cm tall, Mimosa Cake Auto 12 cm. _(Pre-)Flower In the middle of this week I have also been able to observe pre-flowering in Gorilla Z, which is consistent with my other observations - especially the fact that my plants grow slower than what would be typical. [Autoflowering genetics in particular do most of their growing during the preflowering phase, which should last just under two weeks, roughly starting from week 3 - 5.]