Daily Update -
Stage - Flower Day 28 - 79 days above ground
#1 Bloom Day 11
#2 Bloom Day 16
Although both ladies are looking great there is something going on with #2. The color is lighter than #1, it has a yellow streak area on the new leaves around the vein and the stem is purple. This is a sign of potential lockout. I have been struggling to get my output waste water ppm to an acceptable level, which is essential to remove salts, for a few weeks now. Even a little longer on #1. The output should be less than 200 ppm more than the input for an ideal output ppm. (Example: Starting solution is 1400 ppm, the output should be less than 1600 ppm. If it gets to 400 ppm over the input action should be taken).
The output of both have been above the 400 ppm threshold for some time. The first corrective action I took was to fertigate (feed and water) more often. So I set up an auto irrigation system to be able to fertigate halfway through the 12 light cycle (3:00 AM) and then I added 3:00 PM to provide more frequent watering. This usually reduces output ppm but in this case it didn't. It has also been a struggle to get proper runoff with the auto system (approximately 20%) with runoff usually on the high side so I expected a reduction in runoff ppm and was surprised to see no affect.
Last night I decided to flush both plants with plain PH 6.0 water. This is usually a last result since it can stress the plants. No additives were added to the water and each got a gallon. The goal was to reduce the output ppm delta by half. Below are the results.
Flush Data: Previous fertigation solution had 1385 ppm and each had a runoff around 2050 ppm. A difference of 665 ppm. Well above the 400 ppm threshold. After running 1 gallon through each plant, at 1/2 gallon portions, runoff at the end of the flush was around 1675 ppm on each plant, 290 ppm over the input. The goal of reducing the ppm delta for the output by half worked. It's still a little high but much better.
I skipped the 3:00 AM fertigation and watered normally this morning. I wanted a controlled fertigation to get around 20% runoff so I could measure the output accurately.
Todays readings: Input 1385 ppm. #1 1600 ppm (215 over) #2 1543 ppm (158 over). Both outputs look great. Let's see if we get some better color in # 2 in the next few days.
Today's Photos:
A comparison of leaves from both plants. They were each taken from the same area of the plant. #2 is on the left.
Looking great. Nice job on the pruning.
