Diary PCBuds mini-grow

[PCBuds]

Almost 20" tall today.
She's really stretching now.
I may remove the 2 1/2 gallon bucket soon.

I think that she is pretty much flowering now, so she could be starting her flowering stretch.

Top of the main cola...

I gave her another 2 liters of nute solution with just bloom nutes at full strength.

There was still about an inch of solution left at the bottom of the planter that was at a PH of 6.85.

The PH of the new solution was 6.01 and there is about 4 1/2 inches of solution in the planter now.
The PH dropped to 6.38.

 

[piramidon]

Good job Bud, keep it up mate!

 

[PCBuds]

Thanks piramidon.

Now I'm trying to decide when to turn on the side lights.

I'm wondering if she will slow her stretch if I turn them on now ?

I only have 8 strips on right now. (4 double length strips) and I've got 36 more to turn on.

 

[PCBuds]

She's getting kinda big now, so I decided to remove the bucket while I can still comfortably remove the plant from the closet.

I turned on the side lights and got around 8000 lux from the side at the top, dropping to 3000 lux at the bottom of the plant.
I'm getting 15500 lux at the top of the plant.

I've only got the 24, 3500k side lights on right now, and they are turned way down.

I will slowly turn them up, then add the 12, 5000k strips to bring her up to full broil to give her a good tan.

I'm aiming for a big ass purple plant. Lol

 

[PCBuds]

 

[PCBuds]

She grew over three inches in 24 hours, so I turned up the side lights.
They are at about 1/3 power now.
I haven't turned on the 5000k strips yet.

I don't think I can stunt her growth now. She's stretching like crazy.

 

[ReikoX]

Nice, I was going to suggest turning on the side lighting now and you already have. Seems like her roots have hit that bottom resivoir and she is taking off!

 

[Sampas92]

I think you should start the side lights a bit earlier buds, like one week or a few days before they start stretching and try to make a even light from top to bottom, i want to see another monster in there buds

Peace

 

[PCBuds]

Seems like her roots have hit that bottom resivoir and she is taking off!

I forgot about that part.

I remember having a 2 1/2" window plant that had 5" roots.

Perhaps if the same ratio applies for an older plant, then I figure that a 12" plant should have its roots to the bottom of my 15" deep planter by then and I could turn on the side lights ?

My last plant (the short one) didn't have roots to the bottom of the planter. Only about half way down.

 

[PCBuds]

I think you should start the side lights a bit earlier buds, like one week or a few days before they start stretching and try to make a even light from top to bottom,

I was worried that she would stop growing/stretching if I turned them on.

My last plant was really the first plant that didn't grow big and I don't really know why?

This plant was shaping up to be short as well until I turned off the side lights, so I was worried that turning the side lights on would stop the stretch.

I want to see another monster in there buds

Peace

Yeah, me too. It's just that I'm not sure what I need to do to make that happen again.


I think I'm going to turn on all the lights now, and turn them up some more.

f-e has the same light meter that I've got, and he checked the calibration of it.
He says that 20,000-25,000 LUX is optimal. Anything more than that I would need CO2.



I figure it's probably best to just give her full light as soon possible so that she can make use of it.

She's kinda spindly right now.
She's got a lot of beefing up to do.


I'm trying to use my light meter more often now because I have some reliable numbers to work with.

My lux meter phone app was completely useless.

 

[PCBuds]

There we go...

I'm getting about 20,000 lux now up and down the plant, and at the top.

The strips are at about 3/4 power.

I expect that the fan leaves will start to resorb and die off in a week or two.
I remember that happening before with a plant after turning on the side lights.

She might actually look kinda crappy while I cook her fan leaves off.
I remember that the plant shed the fan leaves and new smaller, lighter green leaves grew in to take their place.


She has grown another 1/2" since my last photos 4 hours ago. Lol


She's starting to get thirsty too. The water level is dropping faster.

I'm getting excited about when she'll need two liters a day.

 

[PCBuds]

I think you should start the side lights a bit earlier buds, like one week or a few days before they start stretching...

Perhaps I can time it for when I first see pistils coming out of the preflowers?
That seems to be about a week before the real stretching begins.

 

[PCBuds]

She's five weeks old today, almost 32" tall and doesn't appear to be suffering any ill effects from having all the lights turned on, except for a few fan leaves that look a little droopy.

She's got her flowers starting...

And the top of the main cola...

 

[piramidon]

She's five weeks old today, almost 32" tall ...

Nah, she's almost 31''...

 

[PCBuds]

Nah, she's almost 31''...

OK.
I'll check her in a few hours. She should be 32" by then. Lol

 

[PCBuds]

OK.
I'll check her in a few hours. She should be 32" by then. Lol

It's been about 4 hours and she did grow about 1/4" but the tips of the top leaves are almost at 32". Lol

Things are looking good !!

I may have to top this plant !!

That's exciting.
I haven't topped a plant in quite a while now.

 

[PCBuds]

It's about an hour before lights out and my plant has completely flaked out.

She may just be getting ready for bed, or she may be getting too much light too fast ??


I'll see what she looks like in the morning.

 

[ReikoX]

My guess is she is getting ready for bed.

 

[PCBuds]

She's looking a little better but she's still wilting.

The stems of all the fan leaves are turning purple.
That happened pretty fast.

I figure that she is fine and is just reacting to a couple of days of heavy sun tanning. Lol

I did turn the lights down a little bit.

I didn't think she would turn purple that fast.
She will probably grow new leaves now that are adjusted to the new light level.


She is over 32" tall now, but her growth appears to have slowed down.

Perhaps it's better to turn up the side lights slower, to not impede her vertical growth.

We'll see how much taller she gets and I'll keep an eye on her growth rate.
She's got about 12" left of vertical space.

 

[PCBuds]

My guess is she is getting ready for bed.

I figure it was that as well as some heat exhaustion. Lol

She did perk up quite a bit and I figure that she is pretty stressed right now.

I don't recall her ever wilting before. (but I'm not normally awake at lights out, and I don't pay too much attention. Lol)


It really does appear that you can control a plants growth/stretch with lighting.


If I can get her to grow another inch a day for another week or so, that would be perfect.

EDIT: She was 31" tall yesterday at 2:30 pm, and less than a day later at 10:30 am, she is 32 1/4" tall, so she is still really stretching.

She does appear to really get her stretch on during lights out.