01/17/2026
So today was not much of a change. The environment is a little better now that the other heater is in there. I have a feeling I'll be swapping these two out throughout the run. Very unfortunate.
This week's readings look like shit. The temp of the bucket was 75° so naturally everything is thrown off. The pH was high, like 6.7 high. The EC and TDS were higher than last week. However I feel like that might be due to me soaking the hydroton in the mix for a day. It must have leeched into the bucket. Also might be a good thing. Now I don't have to increase the nutrients. The hydroton did it for me. How convenient. I added the ice bottles of course.
Still no roots. Shame that. Last run, I got roots pretty quickly. This time, both are slow going. And I bet it's from the low heat.
On the other hand, she started her second node yesterday and is starting to spread out. Looking good.
I also increased the light intensity up to level 2.
See readings below. So far they seem to be fine. I'll keep an eye on them for the day. Maybe with the extra light, they'll take off. We'll see. It should also help bring the temp up.
Week Start Readings:
Water:
pH: 6.59
EC: 960
TDS: 476
Temp: 75°!!!!
Light Readings:
DLI: 22.7 mol.
PPFD: 344
Environment:
Temp: 71.8°
RH: 58.6%
VPD: 1.1 kPa
CO2: 719
A note on the water readings. This is what I pulled this morning before adding the ice bottles. I thought I added some last night, but apparently not. So I'm waiting for the temp to cool down and I'll take new measurements along with the current ones. Just to see the difference the water temp made. From the beginning of last week, everything increased.
I might have to pH if the lower temp doesn't do it for me.
Current water readings after pHing.
pH: 5.8
EC: 958
TDS: 476 ppm
Temp: 67.6°
That's it for now.
01/18/2026
No issues today. pHing not needed. EC and TDS are the same. Temp was high though. 72.4° so I replaced the ice bottles.
No roots yet. I didn't think there would be today. I feel like maybe tomorrow. With the amount of energy she spent catching up to the light, her roots were neglected. Once they hit the water, things should start to pan out. Hopefully she stretches, but not like how she did as a seedling.
01/19/2026
Not much going on today. She's looking really good despite the super long stem. Thin leaves. She's definitely a sativa dominant strain. I can't wait to see how she turns out in the next couple of weeks. Great color. No roots yet though. 🤔 Interesting.
Water was kinda warm this morning. I need to remember to add ice bottles before I go to bed.
Still can't get the heater to turn off. It just won't. The air is too cold? The humidity is a nightmare too. But that's understandable. It's like 25% in the apartment.
So basically nothing I can do about it. If the humidifier drops below level 8, the humidity immediately starts to plummet. It's crazy. Like the air just won't allow for any moisture to hold. I have it right next to the plants though, so they should be getting plenty of humidity. Later this week, I'll move the humidifier back so it's not on top of the plants anymore.
Alrighty that's it from me.
Update:
I double checked under the basket and there is a long single root coming out. Hooray!
01/20/2026
More roots! More and more. There's quite a few roots coming out now. All clean and white.
She looks really good. Proper growth is starting now that the roots are coming out. First set of 5 finger leaves are out and growing. Leaves are thin. Just like a sativa. Lookin good. Great color too.
I forgot to swap the ice bottles out last night... Again. I have now set a reminder on my phone. But yah, I checked everything after the bottles were in the water for a couple of hours. Looks good. pH is 6.1, temp is 68°. EC and TDS are both fine as well.
The environment is a nightmare. It's so bouncy and I don't know why. Well, I do know, it's the fans blowing. All over the place. But it doesn't make sense. They are in the same position as they were last run and last run had no issues. I don't understand. I had the fan set to 2. 2 out of 10. Now it's at 1. Hopefully that helps.
Anyway, that's all from me for the day.
01/21/2026
I remembered to swap the ice bottles last night. And I swapped them again this morning. I need 4 more to be able to swap them out in another 8 hours. Then I should have cool water for the rest of the run. Kind of a pain to be honest as I prefer not to disturb the waters under the bucket lids. Removing the lid 3 times a day seems excessive. Granted they're only open for less than a minute. Even less than 30 seconds. So it's not bad, but still. That's a lot of disturbance.
She looks great! Good color, growth rate looks nice. She's 5.5" tall now. That's an inch and a half since the beginning of the week. A little slow for my liking, but she also just started the veg stage. Maybe we'll see a half inch a day over the next 4 to 5 weeks. Maybe an inch if the conditions are ideal. If I can do it, they will be ideal.
I just need to remember to check the light intensity. Don't over feed. And when you notice anything weird, check the EC and TDS. Swap out water if the readings increase. Add more nutrients if they drop. Leave the water alone if there's no change. And don't over do it. Keep the environment in a reasonable range. (Surprisingly, it's never out of range, just bounces all over it.)
That's all for today.
01/22/2026
Explosive growth has started!
A little stretch, but mostly leaves spreading out. However, her first true node has 3 finger leaves. It should be 5 finger. I wonder what happened. Can't be too much light, could it? But it might be the environment. Always changing from minute to minute. Still no idea how to fix that.
I only had 2 ice bottles available last night, so each bucket got 1. This morning I swapped for the normal 2 per bucket. I haven't tested the water yet today. I've been kind of lacking on it. I'll check today and put the readings in.
Other than that, we are happy and healthy. She's 5" now. Don't know how I measured 5.5" yesterday. But she's 5" now. No matter, she'll be fine. I'm expecting good growth from her. She can clearly stretch and enjoys a good amount of light. I think I'm going to increase the nutrient dose next week. I'm thinking 1/2 dose next week. I was gonna do 2/3 dose, but I think that might be a bit too much for now. So half dose next week. Maybe I'll change it to 2/3 half way through the week. I'm not sure. It all depends on how she takes it in. I didn't see anything about her nutrient uptake.
01/23/2026
The water was a bit warm this morning. Not too bad, but warm. I actually checked the numbers today.
pH: 6.1
EC: 1035
TDS: 556
Temp: 68.4°
She's starting to really grow. And her stem is holding itself up now. I'm just keeping the little prop thing up until I know she won't tip over.
I do keep a small breeze going all the time, so her stem should be pretty strong when it matters. Her color is a little splotchy. Well, kinda. It looks like the new growth is t getting enough food, but the rest of the plantooka awesome, except for the weird 3 finger leaves.
The environment is somewhat better now that I dropped the humidity down. I figure it hits the plants enough where if I drop it down to 55% it will hit less, thus turning 55% into 60ish%. Not dampening off, no fungal infections nothing. That's the goal.