The Grow Awards 2026 🏆
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February 9, 2021 (Week 5, Day 36): Start of week 5 of veg begins with more adjustments to the LST. Tons of stem growth, had to tie down Unknown 1 and Unknown 2's growth. The plants are almost to the outside of their pots, then I'll begin upward growth. Probably in the next few days. Gelato 1 is bushy as hell and just won't stop growing. The stems are massive. The minor nitrogen toxicity in the plants has completely subsided - no more drooping tips. Medium is still wet from yesterday. Lightly tilled the topsoil. Adjusted tent's passive intake and blocked out a heat vent in my grow room to help lower temperatures a bit; last night temperatures dipped another 2℉ further than average during lights out to 68℉. I'm now getting the 10℉ (68℉-78℉) swing I was looking for. Averaging 60% rH and 75℉. No other news today. February 10, 2021 (Week 5, Day 37): Temperature dipped another 2℉ last night to 66℉. I think this new passive intake setup is working great so far. Plants are growing like mad and look perfectly healthy. Last night I went to change the humidifier water and noticed the pre-lights out droop, so they're definitely in the rhythm now. Adjusted LST and further lowered canopy to promote flat and lateral growth. Unknown 1 is already to the outside perimeter of its pot, so it will start growing vertically now. Gelato 1 isn't far behind Unknown 1, another day or so and it will be ready to stretch. Unknown 2 is a little shorter than the other two plants but I think that's just due to the difference in strain at this point. Since it's a little more squat I will let it grow vertically as soon as I let Gelato 1 go. I'll just have to make sure its bud sites are getting appropriate light and air through flower. Medium is still moist - lightly tilled topsoil. Averaging 60% rH and 74℉. Happy hump day, friends! 🐫 *PM Update: While changing the humidifier this evening I noticed a tragedy unfolding. Unknown 2's main stem has split in half. It has always been the runt out of the three plants, but this seems bad. I have added a grow question asking for advice and seeing if what I've done is adequate. I tied the stem back together in a cross-hatch with garden tie and then used a zip-tie to cinch the stem back together. I don't know what I've done wrong, but I am guessing this strain doesn't take well to high stress training like I've been doing. The other plants are much hardier. I will try to find a good veg stage vitamin-B supplement for my next grow to aid with stem growth. What a sad day. February 11, 2021 (Week 5, Day 38): 12-hours after Unknown 2's stem split in half and it appears my repair is working. The plant looks just as healthy as it was without any drooping or shock, so it still seems to be thriving. I'm glad the split happened on the runt and not on one of the other plants. The other plants look great and are plugging right along. Gelato 1 is so damn leafy it just doesn't quit. Starting to notice staggered node development on Unknown 1 and Gelato 1, so these plants are definitely at maturity now. I think another week in veg will do. Didn't adjust any LST this morning as I am going to start transitioning to vertical growth now (and I'm also now terrified of splitting another main stem). Medium is still slightly moist. Tilled half-inch of top soil. It's pretty cold here right now and the tent dipped to 64℉ last night. That's about as low as I want to go, so hopefully it will stay between 64℉ and 68℉ nightly. Averaging 60% rH and 73℉. Nothing else for today. February 12, 2021 (Week 5, Day 39): Watered with nutrients today; 4 liters per plant 5.7 pH + 2ml/l pH Perfect Grow + 2ml/l pH Perfect Bloom + 1ml/l Cal-Mag Plus. Plants are looking perfectly healthy. Time to juice and see what happens. Unknown 2 doesn't seem to be affected at all by the stem splitting. My repair seems to be holding for now. Starting to see the growth sites pop up vertical on all the plants. Hopefully we'll see plenty of vertical growth over the next several days. Averaging 60% rH and 74℉. February 13, 2021 (Week 5, Day 40): Plants are looking good this morning. Vertical growth looks good and the growth sites are becoming more obvious. Soil is still wet this morning. Haven't adjusted LST in two days now. Hopefully this growth keeps up and we can switch to flower in the next week or so. Averaging 60% rH and 72℉. Nothing else to report today. February 14, 2021 (Week 5, Day 41): Medium is still wet this morning. Tilled half inch of top soil. Saw about another half inch of vertical growth overnight. Unknown 1 is leaving the other plants in the dust now. It's lanky and wants to stretch. It's also starting to get interesting coloration on its main stem near the base; like purple-red veins. Gelato 1 is just a mess of leaves. The base has the diameter of a quarter, it's huge. Interestingly, it is also starting to smell very sweet and creamy already. I have a feeling it's going to reek. I'm trying not to defoliate until I get more vertical growth. All these leaves seem to have air and light so I don't see any reason to get rid of them yet. Averaging 60% rH and 74℉. Happy Valentine's day, everyone! 😍 February 15, 2021 (Week 5, Day 42): Plants were starting to stack leaves so I defoliated each plant today by taking the second nodes on the top and bottom sets of growth stems, leaving the left and right growth stems with all their nodes. After the haircut the plants look great. Medium is partly-dry. I'll let it go for another day and water tomorrow. I readjusted the LST by removing the first set of braces and adjusted each branch so it produces a completely flat canopy. So far Unknown 1 is the lankiest plant and is about half an inch ahead of the others. The growth I am seeing is amazing. The stems are very healthy as are the leaves. Seems to be growing about half and inch or so of stem per 24 hour period. This should mean one more week of veg and then I will switch to a 12/12 lighting cycle. Next week I'll let these plants grow vertically and Monday night (February 22) will be its first night of 12/12. I'll only change this plan if I don't see enough vertical growth. I am dealing with relatively limited space, so I have to make sure I keep these plants under control in anticipation for the flowering stretch. Gelato 1 is seriously starting to smell amazing - it is throwing 4-5 pre-flowers at every single node and it is filling my grow room with a sweet creamy scent. The other plants have pre-flowers as well but nothing to the extent of Gelato 1. Averaging 60% rH and 72℉. Because I am seeing drastically lower temperatures, I'll lower the humidity to 55% next week and keep it there until mid to late flower. One more week of veg and onto the next adventure: flowering! So excited! See you next week! 👽
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@GrowGuy97
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Flower day 10 - Everything is going great so far, currently trying to find a bigger dehumidifier cause RH is staying a little higher than I would like! Thanks for following & happy growing friends!🌱✌️🏼 Flower day 11 - Finally got the last 2 plants from the first run cut down & now these ladies have much more room! Watering tonight with just PH water. Happy growing friends!✌️🏼🌱 Flower day 12- Buds are starting to show, can’t wait to see how different they all look😍😍 Flower day 16 - End of Week 8, all the plants are coming along beautifully! Definitely will not have 10 In my next flower run though the tent is way to packed lol! Thanks for following & happy growing friends!✌️🏼🌱
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@CRK00
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8th Week Report 05/12/19 - 12/12/19 In photos CMXL is on the left and LSD on the right 05/12/19 Didn't changed reservoir as is more or less half capacity full. I plan to change it on the beginning of the next week(12/12/19). 09/12/19 Added a small and cheap diy dehumidifier kit built with a Peltier module (search on Amazon Peltier dehumidifier) 10/12/19 CMXL got a light defoliation where I removed bigger fan leaves covering lower bud sites 11/12/19 Even if they look healthy I added a small Humidity and Temperature sensor to be sure humidity doesn't get too high and let the mold form. However you will get an average humidity level the next week after some tests/readings. 12/12/19 I plan to change reservoir solution and increase its strength to 90% tonight, but diary will be updated with new values with the next week ;) For tomorrow (13/12/12) is also planned a stronger defoliation to CMXL before she gets in full flower, I hope it helps to achieve a better light penetration into the canopy and also it could give an extra stretch to the plant since I noticed that even after a small defoliation she stretches a little faster for a while. As you can see from photos/videos LSD is just doing good and probably she won't need extra training. Her sugar leaves are getting frosty as ice ;) Last Update 12/12/19 See you guys ;)
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@AsNoriu
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Day 109 since seed touched soil. Same feeding, just dropped magnesium to 50 ppm and boosted 5in1 a bit. Nothing to add, now looks like all goes nice ! Happy Growing !!!
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@FAST_BUDS, Hi all the happy people here in GrowDiaries. This is my second cultivation ever and it will be fun to try a bigger space than my closet grow. First, I'm just going to say I'm done with the construction of my new growroom. I put some pictures on the construction here in week one. The room is 2.14 meters by 1.7 meters and has a ceiling height of 2 meters. It provides a floor area of ​​3.6 square meters. I use a 54 Watt Lightwawe T5 for germination and 2 Pcs 400 Watt HPS lamps. I have a channel fan that replaces the room air about 40 times an hour to get a comfortable environment in the room, the air enters a fresh air intake from the outside. The air is purified through a carbon filter to then leave the room to the rest of the basement. Then I use that heat to heat the rest of the basement. I will use 8 pcs 15 liter Autopots to grow with and a 100 liter water tank that supplies the pots of water and nutrition. I will grow completely organically in soil and will watercure my buds to get the best possible medicine for me. But there are no cultivation rooms to be displayed here, so I continue with what is most important. Today I have put my seeds in my moisture dome and hope the seeds have germinated within a few days. I am very excited to see how the new growroom will work and how this new secret CBD plant from @FAST_BUDS, will turn out. .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Update 2017-08-15. Both seeds have germinated and planted in small pots inside the humidity dome. I'm so glad it worked so well and now it's just hoping they'll start growing and become 2 big healthy girls :) ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Update 2017-08-16. I have mixed my own soil today. Its 40% sieved peat harrow H2-H4 0-30 mm, 45% sieved peat harrow H4-H6 0-30 mm. 5% sand and 10% of compost soil. And i use 15% of perlite and mix it all together. .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2017-08-21 The 2 sisters are doing great, Nr2 is a bit after Nr1 . Some new pics. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 2017-08-23. Transplanted from humidity dome and the small germinating pots to 15 liter autopots. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 2017-08-27. The girls have settled in to there new home of the 15 liters autopot after a little transplant chock. Now the real week 1 starts for me and the girls. 4 new pics. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017-08-29. New movie of the girls. Its no water for 3 days now so the roots develop more and match the plant above the soil. The temp controlled fan is awesome, its easy to set what temp you like to have in the room. Right now its 28 celcius. And humidity is 56%. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017-08-29. Hello to you who read my diary, I just want to say that I am pleased that you have chosen to check in with me and in my diary. I just want to say that I do this for myself and for a steady flow of my medicine. Everything you read and see in my diary is 100% honest and I will never distort or beautify anything here. I document my crops so that I can learn from my mistakes and also to look back at those different crops. I try to update with pictures every day and with text if something special has happened in the garden. This is my strainhunt for the best medicine and the beginning of my journey with cannabis and the cultivation of it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017-08-30. Cleaned the room this morning, just vacuuming and cleaning with chlorine solution. Im testing the fan to control temp and humidity, it works great. Added some pics with measurements and a movie. Everything is looking great right now. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017-08-31. New video of the girls. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017-09-01. New pics and videos. Gave each of the girls with 2 ml Alg-A-Mic, 4ml Bio-Grow, 4ml Bio-Heaven and 10 ml Formulex mixed in 2 liters of water. I hope they like it :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017-09-02. New pics and the girls liked the water and nutrients yesterday. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017-09-03. Video of the girls this morning. Kl 16.00. Did some defoliation on the girls. Videos added. KL. 23.00. New video.
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@starke
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Day 71 - 27.1.20 noticed swelling of calyx. checking trichomes everyday. Day 72 - 28.1.20 watered 3l with 2ml bloom, 2ml bud candy and 2ml flawless finish. Day 73 - 29.1.20 checking trichomes, sugar leaver a good 30% amber, calyx trichomes all milky. Day 74 - not sure when to harvest or prep them for harvest Day 76 - shes getting more into fall, some more leaves yellow-pink; more swelling but also some new white pistols :) she's a sweetheart.
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* Week 3 Veg - 10/22 - 5.5 Inches - Coco/Perlite -70/30* Had a little nute burn early been has since recovered amazingly, no signs of deficiencies or over feeding. All growing accordingly. * End of Week 3 Veg - 10/28 - 8 inches - LST training with Bend Clips*
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@NMGDOC
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Semana del 3 al 9 de Mayo. Como puse en la pregunta de la semana anterior, ya vieron que tengo una chica hermafrodita. No tengo otro indoor para ponerla, así que la saqué a otra habitación y le puse la TGL60 a ver que pasa. Las otras tres plantas siguen en el indoor con la TGL 220. Como estaban con la malla, me costó mucho sacarla del indoor. Tuve que atarla porque las ramas no se sostenían muy bien por si mismas, así que ahora tengo este ramo que cocecharé más o menos el 16 de mayo. No parecen engordar mucho los cogollos, creo que los insectos afectaron más de lo que pensaba, sobretodo porque estos atacan las raíces. Las luces estaban a 15cm porque es lo que sugiere el fabricante para este periodo. Consideren que no es el clásico led y ya está. Ahora están a 20cm por miedo a que vayan a sufrir algún estrés lumínico.
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@Roberts
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Auto Moon Rock is doing some bulking. She has a excellent layer of frost on her. She still has a really green smell to her. Her colas are developing well. Everything is looking great. Thank you Divine Seeds, and Medic Grow. 🤜🏻🤛🏻🌱🌱🌱 Thank you grow diaries community for the 👇likes👇, follows, comments, and subscriptions on my YouTube channel👇. ❄️🌱🍻 Happy Growing 🌱🌱🌱 https://youtube.com/channel/UCAhN7yRzWLpcaRHhMIQ7X4g
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7/27 My phone ran out of storage and wouldn't let me take a video. I tried deleting several other videos bit that didn't work either. Finally I wad able to upload a few RANDOM pictures from the "website" camera. But no video. Everything looked so beautiful tjis morning too. Not watering was the right choice. I defoliated a couple septoria leaves on the reveg 10th planet that wad about to receive its third dose of Plant Doctor. The chem dog #4 and mk ultra this will be their second treatment. Seeing the positive impact of the product and finding a few septoria leaves I decided to treat every plant in the garden with plant doctor. I'm still going to do the diy Dr. Zymes but Plant Doctor had been working good and I want to suppress as much as possible. Everything looks great. I started by giving the thirstiest plants a half gallon of water. I then did a root drench of 3tsp per gallon on every plant but the 10gal. A gallon of solution was used on each plant. I really feel like this is a good mood. Previously AFTER I applied Plant Doctor the plants would have a noticeable positive effect shortly after. I'm hoping this will be the case here. I think stretch has stopped. I have one special Kush that has buds already but EVERYTHING is in early flower. I'll fix the phone and get a video up there. EDIT: WENT BACK AROUND ONE TO DO A LITTLE DEFOLIATION. EVERYTHING LOOKS REALLY GOOD TO ME. I DID DEFOLIATE A COUPLE SEPTORIA LEAVES. BUT REMOVING A LEAF OR TWO FROM A MONSTER REVEG IS NOTHING. REALISTICALLY I SHOULD BE REMOVING MORE FOR BETTER AIR FLOW. THATS SOMETHING ILL NEED TO DO. SO HAPPY THINGS ARE DOING GOOD. EVERYTHING IS IN VARIOUS STAGES OF FLOWER. NEXT FEED ILL BE USING A BLOOM NUTRIENT. NOT SURE BUT PROBABLY LIQUID KOOL BLOOM. 7/28 Didn't have much time this morning. I've got a wife with medical problems and I'm trying to redue my house before the end of the summer so I'm busy to say the least. Still no pm. Not many pests either. The rose bushes behind them have been DEMOLISHED by jpn beetles. I see no negative active reactions from treating everything with plant doctor 3tsp/gallon. The first plant I treated with it was that 10th planet and its gotten three treatments and looks great. I'll get a spot here or there once in a while but for the most part it's supressed. I have some pruning to do. Everything os in early flower but that one special kush is pretty far ahead. EDIT: SINCE IT WAS MID 80S I WENT OVER AROUND 1 TO CHECK THE GIRLS. THEY LOOKED GREAT. I DEFOLIATED A COUPLE SEPTORIA LEAVES BUT ONLY A COUPLE. I STOPPED AT A LOCAL SHOP AND SHOWED MY BUDDY A VIDEO. HE SAID TO NEVER SPRAY ANYTHING WITH LEAF SEPTORIA WITH "ANYTHING" BECAUSE OF HOW IT SPREADS. I DIDNT MENTION THE CONTRADICTORY EVIDENCE THAT I'VE FOUND IN MY RESEARCH BUT HEY. HE HASNT LED ME WRONG. PLANT DOCTOR SEEMS TO BE DOING THE JOB. THAT AND DEFOLIATING ANYTHING I SEE. IVE WORKED TOO HARD TO LOSE THEM TO A DISEASE THAT MAINLY EFFECTS THE LEAVES. PLANT DOCTOR WILL KEEP IT SUPPRESSED. 7/29 Today is supposed to be really hot. In the 90's. I watered everything a gallon except the thirstier plants got 1.5 and the 10's got 1/2 gallon. I defoliated a few septoria leaves. I'm sure there will be a few more after watering. Instead of alleviating my concerns my buddy kinda got in my head with the septoria talk. Things will be fine. Everything LOOKS gorgeous. He even said, "They look really good and healthy" and "not to get complacent defoliating." The plant in the 50 seems to be worse off than the others. I'll keep an eye on it but if I got spots near the sugar leaves I might just cut that little runt. This was all preventable too. Person mowing the lawn BLEW DISEASED GRASS, SHRUBS AND BIRD SEED IN MY CAGE RIGHT AFTER TRANSPLANT. I legit had to dig out at least a dozen sunflowers or other seeds that sprouted. Realistically things will be fine. The plant I've been treating for three weeks with plant doctor looks great. So do the others. Everything looks good. I just get occasional leaves I previously would've overlooked or attributed to something else. As long as I can keep it suppressed enough through flower I'm good. Anything that isn't good enough will go towards extracts. EDIT: WENT OVER AROUND ONE. A COUPLE PLANTS IN TJE BACK THAT I WATERED FASTER WERE LIGHT SO I SPLIT A GALLON WITH THEM. THE 10TH PLANET THAT HAS GOTTEN THE FULL PLANT DOCTOR TREATMENT IS DOING AWESOME. I DID HAVE TO DEFOLIATE A HANDFUL OF LEAVES. HONESTLY I THINK IVE PROBABLY HAD THIS YEARS PRIOR AND DIDNT RECOGNIZE IT. IM PRAYING EVERYTHING WORKS OUT. IM DOING MY PART. I'M GOING TO HAVE TO DO SOME MORE RESEARCH. 7/30 Came over to the 10th planet plant in the front row all the way in the back was drooped all down and is yellowing up pretty good. I defoliated what I could and gave it a gallon and a half of water. I defoliated any sep leaves I could find. If that plant foesnt pick up like they normally do I may need to ditch the plant. If it continues to get yellow and look unhealthy I'd rather get rid of it than risk more damage. It was light as a feather so I assume it will be fine. I'll update as I go. Everything else looked good though. EDIT: DESPITE IMMENSE ANXIETY I GOT THAT FEELING SO I WENT AND CHECKED THEM. THE ONE I WATERED DID PICK BACK UP BUT IT HAS A LOT OF YELLOW LEAVES. THE 10TH PLANET THATS DOING GOOD WAS BONE DRY AND STARTING TO DROOP. I GAVE IT 1.5 GALLONS. THE HUGE MK ULTRA ALSO WAS STARTING TO DROP AND LIGHT AS A FEATHER. I GAVE THAT A FULL WATERING CAN WHICH IS DAMN NEAR 2 GALLONS. THE REST WILL GET WATERED TOMORROW. NO SIGN OF SEP THIS TIME. I WASNT THERE LONG BUT STILL. THE OTHER PLANTS WERE LOOKING GOOD AND ALL PRAYING TO THE SUN. TOMORROW ILL WATER AND FEED. 7/31 Came over this morning to one of my plants on the 10 drooped right over. I shouldve watered it yesterday when I did the others that were light. Coincidentally the three that needed the water were the 3 revegs. I watered what didn't get it yesterday with a gallon each. I then fed everything a powerade bottle. Started liquid kool bloom today. We shall see how that goes. I defoliated quite a few leaves. I think I may have had sep in the past on some plants and just didn't notice. Plants still look good but I keep a good eye on them. And I defoliate a lot. I've taken my buddies advice and not sprayed anything. I don't really have any pests. A pillar here or there or a "A" cricket or jpn beetle. Of there is one four eyed plant bug but I can't seem to kill it. I've almost caught it a couple times. Anyway like usual I'll keep this updated. 7/30 Girls looked good this morning. I has to water the 10th planet in the front back and one of the 10s. Defoliated a few yellow leaves and picked off a couple sep leaves. It rained a little and I'm really surprised that I haven't seen MORE sep leaves. These girls are resilient. One more day and it's plant Dr day. That 10th planet that has had 3 treatments and will just receive its first "preventative dose" after the three big ones is doing amazing. That one special kush I the front is flowering much faster than anything else. I'm grateful for what I have.
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So figured out the seedling were getting to much light at the beginning stages which has stunted growth. Switch a few thing up for next round. But as of now all these girls are doing well except size wise. They are frosting up nicely and although I'm saddened by the mistake made looks like the yield will be somewhat decent.
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@Ninjabuds
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The Permanent Markers are finally taking off! They've at least doubled in height since last week. Of course, they're still really small, but it's cool to see them finally getting going. They look healthy and are developing nicely. Well, another year has come and gone. Yesterday was New Year's Eve, and I want to wish all of you a happy and healthy 2025. May this year bring you all the things you've been wishing for. Let's make this the best year yet!
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Essa semana engorda continua ! Esta dando uma amarelada nas folhas inferiores mais estou com fe que seja normal! Vamos aguardar esse semana agora para ver o que rola!
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It has been another great week for these Fastbuds ~ Wedding Cheesecake Autos!! Today is day 22 from seed and this upcoming week all 5 will be getting Tied down for LST ! All are getting same veg feed just but make sure if you are using rapid start your gonna have to mix in PH up in your feeds! Light is at same height and is at full power just letting the plants grow into it! Well hope you all enjoy, and please let me know if y’all have any questions I’ll be glad to answer! Bless y’all and stay tuned for next week! Peace y’all
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Day 64 02/09/24 Monday Feed today using de-chlorinated tap water pH 6 with calmag. Day 66 04/09/24 Wednesday De-chlorinated tap water pH 6 today only. Smell is really coming on strong now!! Day 68 06/09/24 Friday Feed again today using de-chlorinated tap water pH 6 only. Day 69 07/09/24 Saturday De-chlorinated tap water pH 6 only today. Mould 😔🤦‍♂️ Absolutely gutted!! Had a very humid past 3 days, wet with no wind... 2 plants have suffered... Auto Orange Bud has lost a side branch. Auto critical orange punch has lost her main colar, and 2 sides, the yeild is going be to now be appalling, but this is due to environmental, not the seed or genetics, as far as they go this was one of the strongest and biggest in the group Day 70 08/09/24 Sunday (END of week) Feed today using de-chlorinated tap water pH 6. ☠️ Auto critical orange punch 🍊👊 Had to remove completely, after isolating the rest of the greenhouse, mould persistently grew on her. The remaining plants after 2 days isolation have been moved indoor to finish underground 600w hps and a more controlled environment.
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@GrowGuy97
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Flower day 5 for mainline - This lady is really stretching! Can’t wait to see what the buds look like on this!😍😍 thanks for following friends & happy growing!🌱✌️🏼
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....Understanding Electrical Conductivity Electrical conductivity measures a material’s ability to transmit electric current, which in the context of gardening, relates to the soil or nutrient solution’s ion content. In simpler terms, EC indicates how salty the environment is around the roots of a plant. This “saltiness” is crucial because it affects the plant’s osmotic pressure, which in turn influences nutrient uptake and overall plant health. The Science Behind EC At its core, EC measures the presence of soluble ions like potassium, calcium, magnesium, and nitrates – all vital nutrients for plant growth. These ions carry electrical charges, and their movement creates an electrical current, detectable as conductivity. High EC levels typically mean a high concentration of dissolved ions, whereas low EC levels indicate fewer nutrients are available. The Impact of Electrical Conductivity on Plant Growth The relationship between EC and plant growth is a delicate balance. Just the right EC level can enhance nutrient uptake, bolster plant health, and increase yields. However, when EC levels stray too far from the optimal range, they can lead to nutrient imbalances, osmotic stress, and even plant death. Nutrient Uptake and EC Levels Plants absorb nutrients from the soil or water through their roots, a process influenced by the surrounding EC levels. Ideal EC levels help create an optimal environment for this exchange, ensuring plants receive the nutrients they need without exerting excessive energy. High EC Levels: A Double-Edged Sword While a certain level of dissolved ions is beneficial, excessively high EC levels can harm plants. High salinity can draw water out of plant cells, leading to dehydration and nutrient lockout – a condition where plants cannot absorb essential nutrients despite their presence. Low EC Levels: Undernourished Gardens Conversely, low EC levels can starve plants of necessary nutrients, stunt growth, and lead to underdeveloped or diseased plants. Maintaining an optimal EC range is crucial for healthy plant development. Measuring and Adjusting Electrical Conductivity Understanding the importance of EC is one thing, but applying this knowledge in the garden or greenhouse requires practical steps. Regular monitoring and adjustment can ensure that plants remain in a conducive growth environment. Tools for Measuring EC Gardeners can use various tools to measure EC, from simple handheld meters to more sophisticated systems integrated into hydroponic setups. Regular monitoring allows for timely adjustments to soil or nutrient solutions, ensuring optimal EC levels. Adjusting EC for Optimal Growth Adjusting EC involves changing the concentration of nutrients in the soil or solution. In hydroponics, this might mean diluting or concentrating the nutrient solution. In soil, amendments may be added or flushed with water to correct EC levels. Practical Applications: EC in Various Growing Environments The application of EC knowledge varies across different growing environments, from traditional soil-based gardens to modern hydroponic systems. Soil Gardening In soil, EC measurements can help diagnose nutrient imbalances and guide fertilization practices. Amending soil with organic matter or flushing with water can adjust EC levels to better support plant growth. Hydroponics and Aquaponics In hydroponic and aquaponic systems, where plants are grown in water-based solutions, maintaining optimal EC levels is crucial for nutrient availability. These systems allow for precise control of EC, directly influencing plant health and yield. Greenhouse Cultivation In greenhouses, EC monitoring can help manage the nutritional status of various plants, ensuring that each receives the right nutrient mix for optimal growth. Automated systems can provide real-time EC adjustments based on plant needs. Navigating Challenges: Overcoming EC-Related Issues While maintaining optimal EC levels can significantly enhance plant growth, gardeners may encounter challenges such as fluctuating conditions, equipment malfunctions, or environmental stresses. Regular monitoring, combined with a solid understanding of each plant’s specific needs, can mitigate these issues. Conclusion: The Conductive Path to Lush Gardens Electrical conductivity, though an invisible factor, is a cornerstone of successful gardening and farming. By understanding and managing EC levels, gardeners and farmers can profoundly influence the health and productivity of their plants. As we continue to explore the nuances of plant growth, the role of EC stands out as a testament to the marriage of science and nature in cultivating life. Whether in soil, water, or air, mastering the art of electrical conductivity can unlock the full potential of our green companions, leading to bountiful harvests and vibrant gardens.