Sorry for the delay in updates, challenges with work and struggles with mental health (depression) have made it tough to get up the energy to update the journal. I may tend to "go missing" from time-to-time, as my life-long journey with depression can sometimes cause me to withdraw a bit.
But, the lack of updates does not mean lack of progress.
February 15, 2020
Starting from Feb. 12th I started LST on my plants, and we'll pick up from Feb. 15. No pictures for this update, was simply too mentally spent.
Performed more LST on all 3 plants. Many bud sites popping up, especially on plants 1 and 2.
Plant 2 is the top-performer, with good bud sites and big healthy fan leaves. Pinched and tucked some leaves to get air and light to cramped bud sites. Dirt felt dry knuckle-deep, watered with 1L of regular tap water that had been sitting in the tent a few days. A hint of light burn on a few top leaves, which I believe is because the temp and humidity is jumping too high until I can figure out a solution for timing the fan. Because my basement is cold and dry, I need to program fairly specific schedules as I can't run my ventilation 24/7 or it'll suck the heat/humidity out of the tent.
Plant 1 is also doing well, although branches are a little stretchier than plant 2. Tucked some leaves and checked bud sites, things seem good. It’s the second-best performer in my opinion. Leaves seem okay, though they still have the mottling that's been with them since sprouting. Watered with 1L of regular tap water.
Plant 3 is the weakest of the three, but I'm going to let her be for now. Did some tucking, and bent a wire into a hook to anchor a young stem with a bud site to the ground. Hoping it grows outward. Watered with 1L of regular tap water.
Otherwise, I've also rotated all 3 plants in the tent just out of curiosity.
February 18, 2020
The plants are really taking off, or so it seems to my untrained eye.
More bud sites popping up, especially on plants 1 and 2. Raised the light a few notches on the hangers to ensure the light isn't too intense for the plants.
Plant 2 continues to be the top performer. Color is good, very bushy, quite a few bud sites, strong stalk, delicious smell. I pinched and tucked some fan leaves to give bud sites more light. One stem on a fan leaf cracked when pinching it, so I taped it. Otherwise I performed LST on this plant as it's growing very full. Noticed one leaf near the bottom has a couple small rust spots on it, and the leaf tip has turned brown. You can see it in the picture below, but I wonder if it's because I spilled water on that leaf when watering on the 15th. A couple other leaves also show the faintest hints of brown on the very tip of the leaves. Watered with 1L of regular tap water that had sat for a few days as it was dry knuckle-deep.
Plant 2 Pictures:
Plant 1 is looking fairly good as well. Color is okay, the leaves are a little mottled but I'm assuming that's the pheno as they've been that way since sprouting. Good amount of bud sites and the smell is fantastic. This one is not as bushy as plant 2 and the stems seem to be a little more stretchy. But, the fact it isn't as bushy at least makes leaf management easier. Pinched and tucked some leaves and bent the main stem down with LST. Watered with 1L of regular tap water that had sat for a few days.
Plant 1 Pictures:
Plant 3 continues to be the worst performer of the bunch, but after having an internal debate about culling it, I decided to keep it. Even if it doesn't produce much, it will be a good learning experience. It's smaller than the other 2, not very bushy at all, but to be fair there are bud sites popping up all over. Similar to plant 2, the color is mottled but again I believe it's the pheno. Smell is great, however, and otherwise the plant seems healthy. Tucked some leaves on this one, nothing else was really required. Watered with 1L of room-temp water straight from the tap, as I ran out of water that had been sitting out.
Plant 3 Pictures:
Tent Conditions
After struggling for just over a week with high temp and humidity in the tent due to a warm spell, I bought a WiFi smart plug so I could program detailed ventilation schedules via my phone. Still can't run the fan 24/7, the basement is too cold and dry. So, the ventilation fan runs for 10 minutes every 20 minutes, which has brought the tent conditions under better control. Unfortunately it tends to bring humidity a little low, around 35% at the end of the fan cycle. I don't have the money for a humidity controller or humidifier, so this will have to do for now. During the week or so I was fixing the heat/humidity, all 3 plants were subject to some stress but things appear to have improved.
A small USB-powered fan was also added to the tent for air movement. It's small and doesn't move a ton of air, but the tent is also small so the fan works well.
Group Picture:
What I Need to Do
Finally got some distilled water to calibrate my PH pen., After calibrating I tested my tap water and was surprised to find it has a PH of 7.7 which is too high. Now that I know, I'm going to adjust the PH for future watering.
Question
Is it okay if I simply water at the correct PH from this point forward, or should I do something else since I watered a few times with (apparently) high PH water? It doesn't appear I'm suffering from lockout yet, but again I'm a new grower so I can't say that with confidence.
Oh, and here's a bonus "artistic" photo. I'm a black-and-white addict so I couldn't resist.