Weekly Update: Highs, Lows, and Care Bears
Sep 28:
Not much work needed on the solution today except for dialling back the pH from 6.1 down to 5.5. I also cranked the Lumatek up to 50% power. To avoid scorching the tops, I adjusted the light height accordingly, bringing the intensity right up to 500 µmol/m²/s PPFD.
Sep 29:
I flew a little too close to the sun today. Working with only one functional hand makes delicate training tricky at the best of times. While low-stress training (LST) the branches for the mainlining setup, I got a bit too heavy-handed with the tie-downs without realizing it right away.
Sep 30:
Well, disaster struck. I opened the tent to find one of the main shoots completely wilted and dangling. In my rush to fix and support it, my clumsy attempt ended up snapping the opposing shoot on the main stem as well! You can see in the photos just how brutal those deep stem tears look right at the node.
I managed to secure and tape both shoots back together, but this severe structural damage has set their development back significantly. Time will tell how much recovery is possible over the coming week.
Oct 01:
Topped up the reservoirs today with roughly 1.5 liters of fresh nutrient solution per bucket. Parameters are sitting rock solid at EC 1.5 mS/cm and pH 5.5.
Oct 02:
Curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to check on how the damaged shoots were healing and ended up making things worse while trying to "fix" them again. The left side branch seems to be toughing it out, but the right side branch is noticeably stunted now. Other than that, just a tiny pH tweak.
Oct 03:
Did a light defoliation today, just like the previous two days. Nothing major, just selectively clearing a few fan leaves to expose light to the shaded inner shoots.
I’m considering cutting my losses, chopping off the severely stunted branch, and running Plant #1 as a 3-main setup instead. I’ve decided to sleep on it until next week. If it doesn't bounce back, I’ll rotate Plant #1 and push it closer to the tent wall to give Plant #2 the stage because Plant #2 is absolute madness right now, growing exponentially day by day.
Oct 04:
Continued training and shaping the mains today. On Plant #2, I was already able to top the first two side shoots to establish the target 8 main colas for the mainline.
Things remain intense, especially watching how Plant #1 copes with its trauma. I’ve officially placed two Care Bears in the net pot pumice because Plant #1 genuinely needs all the care it can get right now (and I seriously need to stop over-fiddling with it!).