Daily Update: Perpetual Tent - Week 12, Day 4
Maintenance notes:
- Auto Destroyer got a Growth Energy drench
- All the seedlings in the tent got watered. The seedlings in The Tiny Closet got watered last night when I noticed signs of thirst. The living room has the air conditioner and they're under those intense lights for 18 hours, so they dry out faster, or so it seems. I started keeping record of watering (about time, eh?) so I'll be better able to track that from now on.
- Filled the SWICK under Auto Destroyer.
Shall we?
The day began with a Growth Energy drench for Auto Destroyer, mixed at a rate of 7.0 ml GE and 0.7 ml Tea. I'm beginning to get a rhythm with these and a nice feel for what the pot needs. I knew I wanted to drench with 5 cups of water, so I measured out 0.2 ml of Tea into one cup. That's about a third of what I'll be using and I want three of the cups of water to be Tea. Starting with a slow cup of tea conditions the soil to accept the next cup. Continuing on like that, slowly and lovingly watering, you make sure every bit of the pot gets wet.
With the water added you get this light brown tone. I start with two cups of Tea dilution, spaced ten minutes apart.
On a side note, I put this pot on the working SWICK yesterday morning and was surprised to find that it hadn't wicked up any further than 1/3, which actually worked out nicely for my purposes, because it meant the upper 2/3 of the pot were going to get completely saturated with the drenches and the moist under layer would pull the rest right down to the bottom. That was exactly the way it worked out.
The GE drench cups got mixed with 3.5 ml in each of two cups. Note the darker tint. Yep, ten times the solution = darker tint
While all this was going on Auto Destroyer was being particularly coy, dancing in the moving sunlight. She compelled me to take some glamour shots.
OK, I have to say it. These little plants are beginning to look significantly better with each passing day. Sure, the big fan leaves are terribly burned, but the new growth and the leaves close to the cola are so green and healthy looking, with this lovely sheen to them. I'm impressed as I can be at this point. Auto Destroyer still has new pistils shooting out all over, and the trichomes are beginning to look really interesting.
Intersperset with my love affair with Auto Destroyer I was watering the seedlings. I have a nice rhythm going with this too. First off, that little water bottle sitting next to the cups is my favorite watering tool for cups. It slips right under things and holds just the right amount of water.
They start out nested in the cup as I drip tiny amounts on the dry surface to condition the soil to accept the water. These are very well-draining soils, the LOS more so, and it behooves me to work super slow when I water. When I've added about half the water I think the cup will hold I move it to the grate to the left and get out the next specimen to drop into that cup and start the process over again. The cup over the grate gets watered slowly until it begins to drip through. I let it sit for a few minutes before dripping more water on, ONLY until it drips through. The key here is s-l-o-w drips. It sits until it stops dripping, goes back into the tent and a new seedling comes back to join the fun.
You see I had my impromptu breakfast and coffee as I gardened. Breakfast has become a struggle for me lately, and I've always advocated a good breakfast. At least this is nutritious. It's also about half the calories of what I was eating when Dale and I shared breakfast, which may, in part, explain the weight loss.
On to the other tent inhabitants.
African Buzz, buzzing right along at 77 days (Oooooo.... That warm and fuzzy feeling from double 7s.
) Pictures do not do her justice. Underneath, where it's impossible to photograph (OK, haven't tried hard enough - I'll own up to the fault) there's some serious growth of flowers going on.
It was actually this picture that made me reevaluate how I feel about these plants. I'd been letting myself see the surface. That was a mistake. I took her for granted, and I think I've learned to never take this species for granted. I've said that before, haven't I?
And then we have Cheese Candy, at Day 78. I snipped another small bud to hang in the hallway for later this week. She and I had a talk. She's OK with it.
Obviously quite a ways to go, even here in the front where things are maturing much more quickly. Still lots of new growth.
What a beautiful plant she's grown into.
It's like a whole different plant growing under here. I know at some point I'm going to take the top from the break and leave all this to mature. This is just stunning, what's going on under here. I keep looking at it and thinking "reveg this baby!" I really need to figure out how to make that happen I can build a box for her if that's what it would take. I need to research. This is too good to pass up.
If I take this pot out to reveg I can replace it with the 15 gallon pot. Oooooo....... What LOS wonder shall I plant in that? Maybe something quick to condition the pot and follow it with something I veg in the tiny closet. Starting to get excited here.
Expansion never stops, does it?
The LOS seedlings. Strawberry Blue is working on her 4th node. Nice, tight nodes. I love CFLs.
The High BrixBlend babies. Auto Jack Herer took a full cup of water (the HBB cups had a smattering of Tea added to their water), which suggests to me that there are some nice roots forming in there.
Humidity is a bit low??? Question: is this acceptable, or should I be resorting to some methods to increase humidity? This mixed community tent is still new to me. I suppose I could find a way to increase humidity in spots, if need be.
I figured out why the temperature spikes like that. I'd been curious, because when I open the tent, with everything blazing away, it's always lower than that spike. This morning I noticed that there's a point when the sunlight comes streaming through the transom window over the balcony door, directly across from the tent and hits the tent for about 30 minutes. I choose not to be concerned about it.
One last look on the way out.
The Tiny Tent.
Afghani #3 and #1 (Days 15, 16)
Afghani #2 (Day 15) and Carnival (Day 14)
Here's that close-up shot you wished I'd dropped in earlier. It's nice to finish with something really sweet, and this baby fit the bill today.
I hope you enjoyed our little visit. Now it's time to get out there and do something joyful. I'm feeling like a fine-tuned machine today. I did Callanetics late last night and the next day my muscles hum and sing with joy every time I move. The further along I get in my journey the more pronounced that effect is, and right now it's pretty powerful. Of course, I'm pretty buzzed too, so that may have something to do with it.
Regardless, I feel joyful to the extreme. Time for a walk to the labyrinth. It's stinking hot out there, so this should be fun. A good time for my Army PT shirt. It wicks sweat like a dream. Remember water Susan.
Have a wonderful day everyone. I'm so glad we could spend these brief moments touching each other's lives. I'll be seeing you around the threads.
I must get into organic, it seems with organic more trichomes are produced or it just looks that way haha. I caught up on the news of your partner, you are a joyous ball of energy that shines so much light and love. I know that even though his physical form has left your side, his spirit never will 
