Day 19
Chocolope aka Persephone is growing soooo much slower than the random bag seed! Like at half speed. Same conditions, Im just not overwatering this one. Lol.
I am finding that in my setup, if I dont mist the top of the soil twice a day in between waterings, my soil becomes hydrophobic. So that’s exciting. But at least I realized it!
This is Persephone on Day 9 (today for her)
And these are the random babies on their Day 9
Hi Lou, they’re looking good. Yes, Choco is definitely lagging a bit but there could be multiple reasons for that, we know what she actually is and more Sativa than indica so maybe that could be it? Have no idea what the others really are or if they’re even females. Do you have a ph tester, might be worth testing your water prior to watering just to get a reference point. I know they’ve all been getting the same treatment but it never hurts.
The only other thing I would say is, you’re going to want to cut some slits down the sides of her cup per GreenJewels thread so that later on you can see her root structure & know when to transplant. Once you’ve cut slits down the side of cup, place that cup inside another Uncut red cup to keep the cut one from opening up, w plenty of holes to allow for drainage. I would do that sooner rather than later so as not to potentially damage her roots which will be more of a chance of hapening the longer one waits & the roots develop.
Aroma: Yep, pretty cool right, mine started their wafting pretty early on too, had to install the filter on em.
She’ll be fine once she’s in her next pot, you just want to keep her nice & healthy right now.
Day 23!
Thanks for the advice @Mote !
I do have a pH meter and have been keeping the water going in at 6.3-6.4. The only difference between growing Persephone and the Trio, was that I grew the Trio in clear cups until someone suggested covering the outside of the cup so the roots had darkness. So I dont know if it helped them have a growth spurt at first or what.
I’m getting some gardening wire to start some lst on the Trio, soon. I’ll need to if I have to wait even longer for Persephone to catch up. I did cut slits in her cup and place inside another one, as suggested as well.
I also just took time and cleaned out my tent, prepped the soil for Persephone’s permanent home. I watered it and mixed it all up really well because I didnt pre-water the Trio’s soil and I’m fighting the soil daily to actually absorb and not be hydrophobic. Fml…lol. So I’ll let it set for a few more days, and if I need more time I’ll just water and mix it again.
ALSO, set up my big 440 cfm fan again instead of my small fan. I started to smell the babies and hooked it up to the filter and the negative pressure wasn’t so bad as before. I only need to leave 1 passive vent open and let my small intake fan run. I’m either getting some blackout fabric to put over the vent, or making a light-trap so it can stay open during flowering. Thanks to @dbrn32 for fan help. Welcome to my grow journal. Lol. 
Before re-arranging, with my supurrvisor
Afterwards
Day 24 Trouble
So, I woke up this morning and checked on the kids. Unfortunately to me, it looks like theyre developing a deficiency. This hydrophobic soil issue is probably not helping.
Theyre in FFOF, and haven’t been given any extra nutes besides a dose of Cal-Mag on their last good watering, 6 days ago. I dont know what to do about the soil without hurting them. It’ll retain SOME water, but it runs out the bottom so quickly that I know it cant be absorbing much.
Ph is 6.3-6.4 going in. Havent watered to runoff that even gave enough runoff to sample, yet. Didnt want to over water. I never know when/how much to water. Ugh. So thats probably my main issue.
Help! Lol.
@raustin @Mote @OldSchoolGrower @Missiles
Edit: was just reading about deficiencies, and when I read about sulfur that seemed to fit – but also an overall deficiency, because my stems have purple-ish to them and it said thats a sign…
Frick.
Some tips on one plant are curving a bit upward, the other 2 plants look more claw-like, going down.
Your plant is large enough to water to runoff, so the next time you water make sure she gets a thorough drink so that all the roots are saturated, then test the runoff water for Ph and PPM. That soil has everything the plant needs for veg growth, if you’re not watering enough then those nutes can’t be released.
@raustin thank you! How much runoff should I get? Because it runs out quickly due to the dry soil on top (I think). Should I just make sure it all gets a good soak?
It sounds like your soil has dried out from underwatering. It might take some work and patience, but just keep watering so that all the soil soaks up the water, do it slowly and it’ll work. You need to rehydrate the soil.
When watering soil, do it in small amounts over a half hour to an hour time frame so you don’t get it running out of the pot as much from the start. What size pot is the plant in now?
Somebody told me they looked overwatered (even though I didnt think that was possible) so I guess I underwatered even more.
Alright, sounds like some work, but I have a gameplan at least. Sweet.
These are in 3g plastic pots.
My Chocolope will be in a 5g fabric pot, and I’ve pre-watered that FFOF so we wouldnt have this issue. Lol.
@Bubblehead it was on some cannabis grow site article about transplanting and soil. It said something like to throughly wet the soil 24-48 hrs before planting and it’ll help it not be hydrophobic. So I mixed my soil for my next transplant last night and am letting it set a couple days then planting my Chocolope.
I was researching how to prevent and fix hydrophobic soil since that’s what my issue has been.
Alrighty.
Gave them a thorough watering over the course of an hour and collected enough runoff to test. I really do think they just needed a good drink…
Kalliope- pH out: 6.7 / ppm out: 1366 (most visible yellowing)
Kalypso- pH out: 6.8 / ppm out: 1141
Klio- pH out: 6.6 / ppm out: 971
Should I now water til some runoff each time I water? Waiting several days in between?
I think the thorough soaking fixed the soil! I tested it and it wasn’t hydrophobic anymore.
Also, started some lst with the 2 taller babies. For now using hemp string, but have garden wire tie stuff on the way.
Persephone had a growth spurt and is finally looking like a little plant!
Excellent! Glad you’re back on track.
Transplanted Persephone to her permanent home, tonight!
I need to get another bag of soil, and fill the pot a little more, but I havent had a chance to get it yet.
Also started lst on the 3rd random plant. She grew like 2 inches in just over 24 hours, so I couldn’t bend her over as far down. Their main stems were already surprisingly sturdy.
Hopefully now that Persephone has more room, she’ll catch up to her siblings. Haha.
Day 31
The Trio got another good watering last night. Initial runoff ppm was high on all 3, so I watered them excruciatingly slowly until I got the numbers down to a more reasonable range.
The one whose ppms were highest, was showing early signs of nute burn on the tips. Hoping the watering will help with that.
Im really enjoying the LST technique. However, I think I need to transplant my Trio into 5 gallon buckets? However, I’d only be able to comfortably have 2 plus Persephone. So, one of the 3 would need to be culled… sad.
My 2 faves
Least healthy looking, highest ppm
Persephone!! (ilgm Chocolope)
Def transplant. More roots equal happier plants.
