[rama777]

You know don’t even worry about all of that. My vision is finally complete :))

Gonna be a pretty good show in this packed out tent!

They seem to be at around 90% of perfect health. From watching how they respond to feedings relative to the climate swings, I’d say the 10% shy comes down almost exclusively to running a higher than optimal VPD. Feeding strength really boils down to those transpiration rates. If I were closer to 1-1.1 instead of my average 1.5ish, I could have put probably 50% more nutrients in the soil by now. That’s my theory anyhow.

[rama777]

Okay I think I have a game plan for the screen. Right now I’m thinking I’ll let them keep stretching and then at around day 14-21 of flowering, I’ll pull them out for lollipopping. Then I’ll put them into their final position and drop a screen down and feed the tops through carefully.

I am getting the feeling that because of how crowded things are that I should probably do a fair amount of defoliation. I’ll keep assessing things as they grow. But, if I do have to do a good bit of defoliation (independent of the lollipopping that is..), I get the sense that I risk putting the plants into shock and messing up my yields by both defoliating and lollipopping at the same time.

So, with my plan for pruning the lower third in about 10-15 days from now, when then should I defoliate?

My gut says to be pulling 4-6 leaves every single day. Or I could do defoliation in one big session.

decoliate daily? Defoliate all at once at day 10, day 14, day 18, day 21?

Lillipop separately or with defoliation? Lollipop on day 18, day 21? If separately, lolly  on 18, then defoliate on day 21? Lolly on day 18 OR 21, but defoliate on day 10, 14, 16?

Or again I could just be plucking from above and below little by little every day. I was pulling leaves from the lower portion every couple of days during veg. That never seemed to slow them down. Not sure if they react differently to light pruning during flower.

Lastly, during the stretch and before flower set, do you treat that stage as you would veg with respect to VPD?

[rama777]

Cool thanks! I’ve got screens ready. I flipped to flower already. I need to do whatever amount of pruning of the buttons before I put the screen down otherwise I won’t be able to access the back plants. But, I also feel like I should let them stretch more before doing so in order to get close to getting the bottom third. Or, I could just pull the bottom HALF now then put the screen in. Seems like people recommend to  do pruning later into flowering and to leave them alone at this stage. Or I could drop the screen down without Doug any defoliation until later and very carefully pull the screen up to prune, and then bring it back down again? Seems risky but I don’t know. I am very patient so I wouldn’t mind doing that. Just can’t decide what to do when because I have no experience!

[rama777]

[rama777]

[rama777]

Gotcha, that makes sense. Heck I’ve got pepper plants that produce hardly any leaves and grow super tall and thin and then I have peppers that practically form a mat all widespread with a canopy of endless foliage. No two strains behave quite alike..

I’ll be curious to see how much they stretch. I’m hoping quite a lot for a couple reasons.

Since I’ve wound up with 100 or so tops, I think a trellis net makes good sense. I’ve got a 3.5” grid and a 6” and I plan to put the smaller mesh in first. Not sure if the second one will get used or not.

I need to wait for some real stretch before I can do a thorough lollipop pruning. I basically refuse to undertake that task with screens in place since I can only work from the front. Most people advise waiting a few weeks into 12/12 before doing that. If I waited that long to put a screen in, then the screen becomes useless, hanging out above the canopy.

So I don’t know. This strain is almost definitely going to stretch 2x minimum. So I’m thinking I could wait until they do maybe 1.75x stretch, then lollipop a bit more than the lower third with the assumption that it will wind up being around an actual 1/3 if the overall height. And then put the screen down as low as I can get it and hope that they stretch another 5” which they “probably” will.

Does that sound like a smart plan?

It’s either that or wait until the stretch is about done, prune and then use stakes. What might you do with these 100 or so tops on 4 plants?

[rama777]

Definitely could use some advice on adding the agsil I bought, if you have any experience to offer with that. I think I may just give it during waterings only (always calmag too thought..), not during feedings. I see how to make a concentrate in solution, just not sure how much ppm to add to my waterings, or how often. Right now I do water only about once a week. Some people are against using it after the stretch phase. Any thoughts on that? Lots of conflicting opinions about how much to use it and when, and I trust you 😉

Also, silica first, then calmag or vice versa for any reason? Any special instructions concerning buffering the water after adding it? Allegedly it makes the pH go super high but maybe it doesn’t matter?

I have a feeling my plants will benefit from it, even at this late stage, but I’m not gonna dive in with it without some guidance..

Thanks man!

[rama777]

If I decide to do a runoff test, I guess to do that I should let the pots dry out “completely” and water until runoff? Basically break the living soil rule once to get a runoff reading?

Is that best done when not adding nutrients during a watering?

[rama777]

I’m trying to get a handle on how to prune and support. I ordered a couple screens, different mesh size, just to keep at the ready in case I need them.  I probably will.

Because these plants are trained so low, and because they will stretch probably 2.5x or so, lollipopping the bottom third as I’ve done really does not at all represent the finished height bottom third.

So there will definitely be some major pruning that will need to happen during flower. I guess maybe around the second week. If I add screens before then, pruning the back plants will be hell, if it’s possible to even effectively accomplish.

So, if I do use a screen or even two as support, will it still be effective if I wait until the second week of flowering, right after the major pruning? This strain supposedly continues to stretch, which may be in my favor. If I pruned and then put a screen in and they just stopped stretching, well then the screen would do nothing 🙂

I’m imagining that I will be able to prune in flower and then screen. Sound like a reasonable plan?

[rama777]

I figured it out. I added 24oz of bottom watering to every pot. That worked things out I think. Also realized I could just reverse the riser order. Instead of saucer with riser on top, I made it riser with saucer on top. Now if and when needed I can still bottom water without shuffling anything around.

So far besides the dry bottom inch, I kind of feel like I have the watering thing almost mastered. I use a pump sprayer. Kind of annoying how long it takes but I feel like I’ve been keeping all the pots at a perfect moisture level throughout, so it feels worth it.

[rama777]

Or maybe I should ditch the risers. If If end up with a scrog net, I’ll lose the ability to bottom water with the risers in place.

[rama777]

Or really to give the bottom couple of inches a good soaking I would think. I’ll probably start adding in a bottom watering every other watering for now. Just not sure how much yet. I imagine the risers cause this.

[rama777]

So I bought a cheap moisture meter. I have been watering every 3-4 days with 5-7% volume of water depending. What I’m noticing is that I think the very bottom 2” of the soil is dry. For 7 gallon pots. How much do you think would be a good amount to bottom water them to moisten the bottom couple of inches of soil?

[rama777]

I specifically got calmag that didn’t have nitrogen in it. I think I’ve just overfed nitrogen some.

Git some silica today. Do you have any recommendation on how much to use and how often? Is it cool to mix it with calmag?

[rama777]

Thanks man, almost totally filled out!

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