Are you running CO2? The chart you shared shows both ambient CO2 and CO2 enriched conditions. Without extra CO2 plants usually follow the lower curve with the sweet spot more in the mid 20s C. With added CO2 they can handle and even prefer warmer temps in the 30s. If you are not enriching keeping the tops around 25 to 28 C will usually give better results.
I’ve noticed you let this one go a little larger than usual- intentional? That additional mass can have an impact on the area which would be out of character from what you’re used to.
It stretched a little more than I thought it was going to, & I probably could have chopped off more of the lower side nodes & shortest tops. I still might. Lately I’ve been taking out full lower fan leaves & partial uppers, & a combo from the middle.
I probably could have flipped a little earlier. But I also like to let some roots grow before I flip.
Not on CO2 & looking at the lower curve of the leaf temp chart. Whoever made it I think was talking about using CO2, but it happens to have the regular curve in there too, so that’s why I grabbed it.
But I’m lowering temps because of the bud temps.
I saw 83.5f on that tallest button & decided to lower the exhaust fan target temp.
Ambient temps are cool enough today to where I didn’t have to make the a/c cooler, & it’s supposed to be a little cooler in general for the next few days.
After three hours of cycling, the Wall Thermpro now topped out at 80.4f, probably running 81.5 out in the center area based on my last Thermpro-comparo, & when I shot the tallest button again a few minutes ago after letting the cab heat up until the main exhaust fan just started running again, it was 81.5f.
That 81 to 82 range at the tops sounds about right for the lower curve so you are in a safe spot. I do not think you need to go crazy with more branch pruning, maybe fans, the structure looks like it will do fine as long as airflow and temps stay steady.
Thinking about it & I think it stretched a little more than expected probably because I brought in too much bloom channel on the Kind light at the start of flip (I set both to 25%, maybe should have set veg to 50% & bloom to 25% at first. Pretty sure the instructions mention this & I’ve probably tested it before. I’d have to check the power numbers but at that point it might be easier to just start off with the Photontek, at least at flip. I like the Kind, but I think everyone has seen that it’s just a little too small for this cab for a full grow. But since I have it, I try to use it a little to get some moneys worth out of it. & it’s not a bad spare light if I need to throw something in there. I moved all of my HPS/MH stuff back into deep storage instead of in the storage spot below my exhaust fan, & I keep the Kind there now in its box when not in use.
makes sense the channel balance at flip can definitely influence stretch. The Kind still has its place but I agree it looks like the Photontek matches the space better. Looks sweet too. Having the Kind as a backup is smart though always good to have a spare you can throw in if needed.
It’s basically only 20 watts more to start off with the P-tek at 25%, vs the Kind Veg only at 25%. Plus I might have to turn the Kind up to 50% veg only to get enough ppfd. And there will still be some far red in the Photontek, so, if I really want to get away from the far red until the flip then I’d start off with the Kind. I’ll probably just try starting out with the P’tek next run, since it will be a little easier setup-wise, & then I can go back to messing around with the Kind in a couple runs, if I think I need to. One thing I noticed about the newest version of my Kind light is that they isolated the UVA channel & the Far Red channel using switches. I thought it would be good to be able to turn off the UVA until later in flower, so it’s cool that they did that on their newer model (I think it’s sold under Gorilla now) I think it would also be interesting to be able to run the far red only, right at the start of the dark cycle, for an increasing amount of time each cycle, maybe one second the first day & add two or three seconds each cycle, for about a week or ten days, to see if it hastens flowering. The Kind actually flashes far red only for about a second at shutdown, & I was playing around with one of those far red pucks & thought I saw some interesting results that seemed promising when trying to do this, but the puck is not enough of a flood light for my smaller box & was too focused in the center. But I’m done trying weird experiments for the most part. I tried most of the weird stuff that I wanted to, earlier in the thread.
Right now the P-tek is at 50%, & the tallest fan leaves in the strongest light are in like 900 to 950 ppfd (maybe too much for right now). Funny thing is, is the tallest fans on the other side of that same top at the same height are in like 820 to 850 ppfd (about where I want them now), just because it’s a little weaker directly in the center, & then there’s a belt around the middle with the strongest rays, & then tapers down again towards the walls, & then down a little more at the corners.
About the curve, keep in mind that is for leaf temps, but right now I’m looking at the bud temps. I think I’m maybe over the max for bud temps at around 83.5f, I feel like around 81.5 might be around the max I should shoot for, for the buds. I seem to be hitting that now, so next I’ll start shooting the hottest leaf temps at a few key moments to see what they look like. I’m expecting them to still be somewhere in that ideal range on that chart. From there I’ll probably start checking elsewhere on the plant, just to see what they are doing. Then I can start seeing what the leaf VPD numbers might actually be doing, but basically it’s doing about a half-gallon a day, & the PPMs are staying around the same between top-off & refill, & the pH has been predictible & manageable.
Whole leaf should still stay alive, probably. That one already had something going on with it where I tied on the floss, those light green damaged spots, & I was going to cut if off anyway. Pretty sure there was a Japanese beetle in there, munching on a couple leaves. I caught one yesterday walking around in front of the box.
Wall Thermpro, past 24h: Once the lights came back on, the temp fan was digging early for an hour before it cycled off, then a couple more half-hour cycles before it settled into not running for so long to shut off.
Past week: Took a big chunk out of the temps with the adjustment yesterday. RH increased, but she still drank about a half-gallon today. Ambient RH was fairly humid today also, but she still drank well.
‘Screen’ Thermpro: This is interesting because it ends up running a little warmer down there during lights-out vs. lights-on. (Ignore the three big temp spikes, I had moved it to temporary ‘center thermpro’ duty there.)
Removed & partially pruned more fans down below. I also added 30 seconds to the osci fan on-time. Now they cycle for 2’30" on, 2 off. I should probably snip off some of those lower buds, but I moved & gathered some stuff around with green wire instead, so at least they won’t be laying on top of each other.
What I’ve ended up doing with the partial res changes is to do a 1-gallon partial on the third day after a full change, then again on the seventh day, then full change on the tenth day. I’ve found that going four days works better for the second stint vs the first stint or the third stint, in terms of pH stability, & it makes more sense than doing a partial every three days just to do a full change a day after the last one.
Humidifier barely ran anyway. It’ll run when the wall thermpro hits around 55%, & it hasn’t run much lately. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve added 8oz of water to it. Maybe I’ll add a point if tomorrow the plant looks like it took a stun-shot from the dry air today.
Week6 since the flip started today.
Did a full 10-day res change, & ratio change. PPM has been around the same for around a couple weeks I guess, & I kept it around the same. I started adding some epsom salts today.
Added a small white paper panel over the black velcro in the left corner, I think it was stealing light away from the bud in front of it. Also have three ‘main’ stalks being pulled to where I want them with floss.
Yep things have been cooling down. Interestingly I can get into the situation during the transition where the a/c doesn’t cycle as often & the box ends up running a little warmer, & I’ll have to lower the a/c target temp by a degree. But overall, ambient temps are easier for me to deal with, vs. high RH. I just have to ride out high RH.
Much easier fighting humidity when outdoor temps drop. At least where I am. Gearing towards seasonal harvest in the winter. Vs all year round, better end product.
In general if there’s no precip, it’s good enough for me. If it rains or is really humid for at least a couple days -long enough to affect ‘lung room’ air, then it’ll slow transpiration & could be be a concern for other issues as well. I simply don’t want to run a dehumidifier.
I did a 1gal partial res change this morning after 4 days, & a 10-day full res change will be due in three days. I’m still on the same nute PPM & ratio as last week.
The leaves in the strongest light are actually slightly underlit for Week7 according to ppfd & dli chart. Chart calls for a reduction next week, which would put it around where it is now. So I think I’ll leave it alone thru next week, & then probably take some time out of lights-on for week 9 according to the chart.
Pulled a couple more tops (from behind & to the left of the big one in the center) to the right with some floss, & used some wire underneath to push stuff away from the walls.
Also been starting to roll the PPMs back slightly.
