I have had an issue with these two plants especially since they were flipped. Lower to middle leaves are constantly dropping and they are healthy, fresh and green. It's like there is a constant defoliation the plants are doing on their own.
They were flipped at the same exact time as the Triple Cheese and yet their bud production is severely behind the TC. I have always had a real issue with watering. The pour to drain has always been extremely slow, next to the experience I have had with all my other grows including their tent mate, Triple Cheese.
Then it came to me today what might be the issue with this pair of plants. Then it occurred to me that the perlite I used with these two plants was very different and much smaller in size to the perlite I have used on all of my other grows. When I pour the water nute mix just sits and take time to soak in. Actually, I have recognized almost from the start that the top of the perlite is kinda like a mud pie.
Chatting with
@FelipeBlu this afternoon and described the issues and about the time he said hesitantly "I feel I have heard of this before" it came to me and him that the perlite is so small and has formed a bit of a paste cement.
So discussed options, and decided to use
@SweetSue soak and swish technique to loosen and get rid of most of the small pasty perlite and re-pot with my normal sized perlite. What's the worse that could happen, I don't feel the plants could perform any worse than currently. The alternative would be to cut down and throw out. Too much time and materials invested to do that.
So the "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" and the plants have been re potted into fresh pots with larger perlite. Here's a picture of the root ball of the plant that was getting fed by the DynaGro Mix. It's at the point of being put into the new fresh perlite Hempy Bucket.
It was about twice the size of the MegaCrop fed roots. Another interesting aspect of this process. I don't have great expectations for an awesome yield from these two plants. I think at this point the comparison grow between the two different nutrient mixed might be moot. I was so hoping the MegaCrop was going to out perform. Unfortunately not.
A final note to the process. The flushing afterward was difficult. It required several gallons to bring the runoff pH down under 6. I would pour, drain, measure pH and then tilt and try and empty the reservoirs as as possible. Rinse and Repeat. I also went with a slightly lower nutrient mix for a slightly lower PPM. I am anticipating a few days at the least for these girls to hopefully recover. This is not what I wanted to do at the end of stretch and during the flowering period.
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Nice and big!
Had a face palm moment there, didn’t you? 
The best news is it’s behind you.
