It’s been a while since my last update, but I didn’t take any pictures this morning, so I’m going to post some words now and some pictures later.
I’ve been slowly getting my nutrients, environmental factors, and watering dialed in. I had been underwatering the soil plants, and have since corrected that and they’re responding really well. All the new growth is coming in with good color, and I’m not seeing any deficiencies in the leaves or stems. Originally, I was given some guidance that the Fox Farm soil would be good for weeks without adding additional nutrients, but that ended up not being the case. In my situation, I was seeing purple stems that indicated phosphorus deficiency (from what I read), and that has cleared up since I started feeding the soil plants. No signs of nutrient burn yet either, so I’m hoping they’re getting about what they need.
In terms of my DWC plant, it is quickly becoming an advertisement for hydroponics over soil. 
I’m really impressed with how this plant is almost double the size of anything I have growing in soil, and I haven’t had to worry about over- or under-watering. I did a little defoliating today, since it was getting hard to manage, or even to get a clear view of the stem.
That said, it hasn’t been without issue. First, I messed up my nutrient conversions and was only giving about 75% of what I should have been. Ended up seeing some purple stems and some light discoloration on the larger fan leaves. I corrected that and the new growth is looking much better. In addition to the nutrient mix up, I also added some Great White to the reservoir. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, but when I added it, it was very murky in the water and ended up leaving a lot of dark brown sediment all over the roots. It looked like root rot, so that was a scare. Today when I changed the water in the reservoir, I rinsed off the roots and they still seem fairly white, albeit a little stained from my nutrients. I didn’t add the Great White this time, and I want to see if the issue returns or can be attributed to the murkiness of the Great White. I’d be surprised if I started getting root rot so suddenly after my temperatures have been cooler than they had been during the first few weeks of my grow.
I’ve also switched to a 12/12 light schedule today. An additional mistake to add to my list is that I didn’t really plan out my full grow schedule when I started. I’m going to travel at the end of the year, so I need to finish up this grow before late December. Flipping today will give me about 60 days of flowering time. I don’t expect this will actually be enough, but I’m trying to avoid having to get a baby sitter for the plants while I’m out of state. Not ideal, but again, I’m learning a huge amount during this grow, and it has already paid off in that regard, in my mind. Season 2 is going to be all hydro!