12 Days till Christmas and I still haven't done any xmas shopping. Oh well. Hope everyone on my list likes frosty bud lol. Hate that I can't update here more often but I work a full time and after hours of traffic it's gym and garden time, so I unless there's a plant or laptop in front of me I'm rarely sitting still, so excuse the update dump haha.
Picked up a small radiator heater last month that's been keeping the rooms a steady 72F- 76F. Anyone else like growing this time of the year? Bought a Honeywell humidifier off someone for $25 to play with the plants VPD rate. Humidity was 50 - 55%, as low as 45% on a few colder days. Pushing it now to 60-65%. Going to keep notes and see how they like it. My hope is a higher VPD will help the SIPs wick better and the plants access more nutrients to keep up with increased photosynthesis of the OPTICs. I top dressed in 2Tbsp of E.B. Stone All Purpose 2 weeks ago after seeing purple steams, yellow centers, and yellow new growth. Since I was only top feeding 2Cups of teas every 3 - 5 days I'm not sure how well they accessed it. Tried to water over where the fertilizer was scratched in. Does that even help? lol. Not even sure if the 8Tbsp I added on transplanting is all gone
This is so different from bottled nutes buuuuut I like it. Did notice the stems and centers green back up over a week, lower new growth stayed yellow and dry. Was keeping the Optic COBs at 36", lowered them to 30" this week since I was seeing light green centers and some stretching nodes but no other serious signs deficiencies that might be from the LEDs. Keeping a very close eye on that this round. Goal is to run these guys much closer. The bushiest plants are under the LEDs, but the 6 under the 600W HPS had the happiest, vibrant looking leaves. Been monitoring leaf surface temps and they're 70-75.
Bad news, I got fungus gnats. Was hoping the problem was just isolated to that 1 SIP. According to my sticky traps it was not, oh well. Been doing a 3-4 day rotation of Captin Jacks, Neem Oil, and EWC spray from the beginning but I guess it couldn't stave them off. Added Neem meal to my last tea and watered that in, rebrewed then sprayed, noticed them buzzing around immediately. Got a Neem/Kelp/Alfalfa tea brewing right now for tonight. Part to help with the bastards, part to help with what I think is a potassium and magnesium deficiency.
Added water back to the lower res of all but the smallest plants on Monday morning. The darker lower line is where they were this morning. Big improvement from the last try. Now I know to wait longer before relying on the wick. Happy to see teas paid off. I'm really liking this method. After top watering the tea I set the bag in water again and brew for another 8 - 12hrs and use that as a foliar.
Speed Day 44. Under 600W.
Speed Buds under Optic 6 COB. The Speed Buds are doing good. Recovered from the overwatering pretty fast, took well to the topping and LST, pistils and buds coming but still giving very veg like growth. Liked this strain last round and I like it this round too, can't wait for those fatty dense nugs again.
The Dark Devils honestly are looking like crap. Quite a few are still small, some with hooked leaves, most did not like the topping, and they seem to firm in flower with stiff stems and slow growth. Might kill the weakest to thin out the room and make space. 3 are doing great with nice structure, noticed some odd stretching that's why I think I may have a K def. All are turning a lovely black that is slowly tempting me to give them another chance.