So I skated past my two week in flower update. I'm a day late. Honestly, with 4/20 this week, I woke up this morning and when I noticed it was Sunday after opening my laptop... I was like wtf... I didn't even know it was the weekend yet... oops.
So 15 days into flower and everything is going steady. Minor adjustments but everything is pretty much falling into place.
I had been wanting to raise my plants off of the floor for a while because I have tile floors. It's been unusually cold for the season. Vineyards have lost entire heirloom vines. Grapes aren't annuals... some vines are cultivated for years and years for the finest wines. Italy is farmland... luscious land and a lot of people have been hurt by late frosts here.
So with this frigid spring my cold tile floors are probably pulling down the temp of my root zones. I have had to water this BioBizz all mix very infrequently and I even added 30% perlite. So in these largest pots, I drilled an additional hole 5 holes per pot in the bottom of the hoping to get a little more air through the soil.
Walking my dog past the dumpsters/recycling bin often brings me surprises... I swear I'm not a dumpster diver but if someone sets something aside like 4 clean plastic fruit crates that will fit perfectly and raise my plants off the ground by a perfect 8cm... I'm game. I brought them in, sprayed em down with a bleach water mix, wiped 'em down and arranged them accordingly in my tent.
I pulled my lamp up and equal distance. I also decided to give my 2nd phenotypers a leg up (two of my plants are different in structure and stature) so I found two small boxes for them to keep the canopy more even.
This 'stretch' everyone talks about in flower hasn't been as drastic as I expected ... maybe it's because I'm in a 2 meter tent... but my plants have grown a lot more outwards than upwards.... with very little stretch in internodal spacing. Just general overall growth. They really were showing me a sativa flare at the end of veg but again they are confusing me... a fine hybrid whatever it is. But I am looking at way less than 200% stretch. I read about it. Im lucky that my conditions are pretty dialed in for a first grow ONLY because I got lucky and have a mini split thermostat controlling my ac/heat/humidity with no effort on my part. The flowering RH rests consistently at 40% and my plants are always at 25 during the day and always at 20 at night. I still have one week of supposed stretch left... I hope they get a little taller... I accounted for it.
After my first real feed last week I realized my soil was a bit compacted. I admit I manhandled these 5 gallons a bit... especially when they are freshly watered. I may have forced the soil to compact a bit too much and so I did some work with a shish kabob skewer. I poked it through the drain holes I drilled and the top of the soil as well. The skewer is very small... I'm doing a worms work
I'm gentle and if I feel any tension that feels like a root I deviate. I did this once.. about three days ago and it really helped. The plants are drying out much more evenly now.
So they will be getting plain feed tomorrow. Well, my EC is 315ppm so they never get truly plain water. I have been so lucky to have this magic water. No cal mag issues... even under led and with organic nutes! I swear it's that mountain water!
Oh... with the even canopy I've been experimenting with dropping the Mars... I know in flower they say you can get as close as 18 inches... but I haven't got there yet...
I do pull fan leaves all the time and with this strain I couldn't imagine not doing so. It's daily maintenance. Anywhere from 3-10 leaves a day. I always leave at lest 6 major fan leaves at the top of every stalk but... my plants would be all leaves by now if I didn't. I see people with plants with completely different structures than mine. Defoliation is controversial but if you look at my canopy you would NEVER THINK those are plants that get defoliated heavily.
I do have a second grow I haven't published my journal on yet. I have 3 seedlings and I mention it now because I took clones from these ladies in flower. I took the branches at the base of my most beautifully structured plants. The cuts I took were bottom branches that hadn't yet truly converted all the way to flower because they weren't getting light. I would have pulled these anyway in my last Defol/lollipop next weekend. I think I took 8. I have more seeds but... with seeds come males AND that secondary phenotype I am not the biggest fan of. But that you can read about it my new journal... I'll probably finish it up tomorrow.
Some pics... I think they look great for only 15 days since flipping the lights. Buds already packing...
Funny, 11 days ago it took 8 plants to fill the space 5 plants take up today. Showing their sativa side...
Kitty I have to through out my plan with this auto from what I have read they need 18/6 still have room in the tent for now need a new plan going forward. Just stressing I will get it right with a new plan.
