Auto Grow: La Bella Afrodita

[JeffInCanada]

36 Days
She seems to be responding well to the LST last week. I've had to trim some more fan leaves to keep the light on bud sites. I've had to tie down a few more branches as well. Pretty sure it has started to flower Overall I think it's going pretty good.

[SoOrbudgal]

I love when this happens. She looks dang good with the defoliation yes sir she's showing her girly parts.

[JeffInCanada]

43 Days
It's going good I think. Started feeding with bloom nutes. Total lighting wattage up to 358 watts.

[YYCannabis]

Looks great 👍
But i gotta ask...do you have reflectors on the top-side of those lights?

[YYCannabis]

Wasted light is wasted food. Light that has to bounce around the tent before reaching the plant is nearly useless for strong, healthy growth. While you have 358 watts of light, what percentage of it is is actually direct-to-canopy light? 20%? Maybe 30%? That would mean that your light is actually more like 140 watts direct-to-canopy. With that said, your one plant is totally loving 140(?) watts she’s getting because it’s plenty for a single plant. And I love the way you placed the lights around the plant instead of all just overhead 👍

Reflectors would help improve the amount of quality, useable photons for the plant. Cannabis loves light...lots and lots of light balanced with adequate food supply.

It’s one of those “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” things...she looks great and well balanced growth.

[JeffInCanada]

Thank again YYCannabis that is a great answer. Totally makes sense what you say regarding the wasted light. I'm going to see what may work. Even if I install some reflectors it'll help. I'm always trying to see what I can adjust here and there to make my grow better, bit by bit. Thanks again!!

[YYCannabis]

After each grow, i will update or add something new to my grow space to help make the next grow easier/better. Learn from one, improve on the next.

[SoOrbudgal]

If i may say i have reflector on my CFL get it at any hardware store or farmers co-op, about $5 US and it has a clamp

[JeffInCanada]

50 Days
Cruisin' right along...I have managed to keep it all green so far. Usually by this time I have some yellow leaves showing up. I am following the GWE GH Flora series nutrient guide. It seems to be working so far. Definitely full into flowering, buds developing everywhere. I have been defoliating a little. I get a little nervous cutting leaves off, not a lot of experience with defoliating...do you think that it could use some more defoliating? So far I am very happy with how this plant is turning out. I don't want to screw it up now

[Canuck147]

Looks great - could use more defoliating in my opinion. I say that cuz I have had white powdery mildew for the past couple of years - so - I keep my girls hairs trimmed. I don't allow most leaves touching each other.
So if it were my plant - most of those bottom leaves would be gone as well as most leaves that are growing towards the middle of the plant. Better airflow.

[JeffInCanada]

Thank you Canuck147 That's exactly the type of stuff I'm looking for. I have noticed that where the leaves touch each other the moisture really building up there. I'll have a close look and at least get rid of any leaves doing that. Thanks again!

[JeffInCanada]

57 Days
Another week, another update. I have noticed that the top leaves are fading a bit in color when compared to the lower leaves. Not sure if it is a concern or not but I'll keep my eye on it. The buds are filling in a bit. Looking pretty good I think. And she's smells wonderful , carbon filter system on full.

[PeterMatanzas]

Outstanding work

[Catfish22]

Could be a little light fade on those upper leaves.
Just make sure that it doesn't affect your buds!

[JeffInCanada]

Thanks everyone! I sure do appreciate the comments and thoughts from all you fine, fine folks I was wondering about light fade as well Catfish22, I was doubting it though with my CFL lights. I am sure the LEDs that I have in the mix are not that powerful. I didn't think I had to worry about too much light with them but I'm going to look into it.

[SoOrbudgal]

She's pulling all she's got into them buds. She's looking frosty i would not worry about the slight yellowing.

[JeffInCanada]

61 Days
Oh poop! Things are going sideways....seems to happen to me every grow about half way through flowering. Not too worried, I'll mange to steer this baby home somehow. Although, I am sort of mystified about what's going wrong. I'm just hoping I can keep it healthy enough to finish with a half decent harvest.

Burnt tips Sure looks like nute burn but I am surprised. I have been feeding very light, in my opinion. Every 3rd watering less than 400 ppm (GH Flora Series + Calimagic) including the 165PPM out of my tap.
Run off PH has been pretty consistent at 6.3 (maybe a little high??).
Overall yellowing of the top leaves Again, I am wondering what is causing this. Light burn?? With my CFLs?. The LED lights that I have in the grow are not very strong (I don't think) although I do not know much about LED lights. Maybe I have had them too low for most of the grow?? If someone can comment on the LED lights as far as distance goes I sure would appreciate it. In the meantime I will try and figure it out. You can see the LED lights and the typical hanging distance in past photos I have posted. Amazon link here: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Any suggestions on improvement are greatly appreciated. The breeder says 65-70 days but I expect to go a bit longer than that. I'm not in a rush. Just hoping to keep her healthy as possible to the end.

[YYCannabis]

I think she is looking for more Nitrogen. Unless you did something to your lights recently, i don’t think it would be light burn (or is she still stretching?).

She doesn’t look bad but the overall pail coloring is worrisome this late in flower. If it is nitrogen, she might not fatten up as much as she is capable of. Try boosting N for the next feeding and keep an eye on her. You may have cut back on the nutes a bit early. If a producer says 65-70 days, it’s more like 75-80 days.

[SoOrbudgal]

I don't think she's looking to starved maybe it is the spectrum not sufficiant enough to keep her greener? They sure seem to like blue & white light on my veg only switch but i only keep it on the photos for 2wks then i use both switches. Heck my are also same time frames nearly and i'm still going with 70days on 1 she's not fading at all just plumping.

[JeffInCanada]

YYCannabis Thank you very much for the reply. I think you may be right about the Nitrogen. With the burnt tips I'm a little gun shy to give it anything but maybe she is low on nitrogen. Maybe I'll push the flush back little and give it some. Thanks again!!

[JeffInCanada]

Thanks for the replies everyone I'm still scratching my head though wondering what is going on or what I could have done better. Pretty sure that the tips of the leaves should not be getting burnt. Pretty sure that the whole plant should not be turning yellow. It's frustrating when it keeps happening at the same time every grow. No matter how much I keep an eye on everything. As far as I can tell the plant has nute burn and is deficient in something, now what do I do? Not sure if there is anything I can do now other than keep it watered and hope that the buds fatten up.

[Catfish22]

It just looks so much like heat/light stress. What are your temps/humidity like?

Also Nebula's nute schedule does back down pretty good on the nitrogen about week 9 so if you are following it I don't know. I did keep calmag at one tsp until recently. Ì am about 3-4 days ahead of you I think.

It could be your strain, double hybrid isn't it? Whatever is going on you'll bring it on home I'm sure!

[JeffInCanada]

Hi Catfish22 Thanks for the reply. You could be right about the heat stress. Temp have been a little high, not crazy high but a little. It is possible. And you're right, who knows, maybe this strain is shy on the heat. I got my crash helmet on, seat belts fastened, gonna drive this plant home. It may not be pretty

[JeffInCanada]

I feel like this..if learning to bake a cake was learning to grow weed.

[FarmerJoe]

JeffinCanada, Be Patient Man, your Girls look good. Don't pay much attention to the Breeders time frame recommendations. I feel like 65 or 70 days is usually for ideal, perfect conditions and environment. Seldom found by most of us .Auto’s Typically take at least 90 days for me. give or take a week. Depends on the strain, weather conditions…..etc..

I have experienced something similar in the past, and chalked It Up to unstable temperatures. In the winter sometimes I find it very hard to keep a consistent temperature, during the Dark Hours especially. Usually end up overthinking, over correcting light distance & nutes For an unconfirmed problem. Not helping actually making it worse in the long run.

The pictures look good, be patient, They will let you know if they need something extra.

I had a few plants with a similar problem. finally ended up just flushing them really good with plain water to make up for all the unneeded corrections I had tried. That seemed to help more than anything else to get them back healthy looking. I will look again, but from your pictures they look fine, Leaves start turning yellow towards the end.. You’ll know when they're ready for Harvest. Those last few weeks they can really kick ass, fatten up surprisingly quick. Plant some new ones to have ready & take their place, At Harvest. Just my opinion. Happy growing.

[JeffInCanada]

Hi FarmerJoe
Thanks a lot for posting. I really appreciate the words. I'm finding it very challenging to keep these plant healthy until the end. But I sure do enjoy it. I think your approach is wise. Take it slow, do nothing in a knee-jerk quick way. Tweek this, adjust that...over time we get better. I do put a lot of care into it and when a curve ball comes it's a wild ride when you're unsure as you go. It's very reassuring to hear from others who have been there. Thanks!

[Sudsnbuds]

This is counter to the other posts, but I think your lights are too far away. I’d move them closer. And I would hit it with more nitrogen. I would sprinkle on the soil top and mix in your water powdered oyster shells. And a day after watering in that manner, I’d use a higher nitrogen fertilizer mixed half load with a half load bloom fert. The oyster calcium will allow the plants to eat the nitrogen and it will correct the deficiency. Closer lights will let photosynthesis occur faster and your buds will get fat. Just a thought based on the yellowing.

[JeffInCanada]

65 Days
It's not all bad news....the buds seem to be fattening up a bit, getting frosty too. I'm still thinking about the burnt tips and yellowing leaves. It's always a roll of the dice (at least for me) trying to determine exactly what is going on and then act accordingly but I'm going with reducing the rooms temperature (I started up the room A/C- had it off all winter) and I am going to feed one more time. Then, keep it watered with just PHd water until the end. She's gonna look a little rough by the then I think but I'm feeling confident it's going to be worth all the love.

[YYCannabis]

Nute burn will not heal itself once it occurs. Is it progressing or is it stabilized? Sometimes we get focused on what is there and don’t keep track of it’s progression or stagnation.
I’d suggest to keep feeding her.

[JeffInCanada]

YYCannabis Great point about watching the progression. Honestly I am not sure if the tips are still getting worse or not. I'll watch them. And, I'm going to keep a close eye on the buds and trichs. If they look like they have some more time to go I will keep in mind that another feeding will be ok before the flush time. I feed it yesterday, we'll see what happens. Thanks so much!!

[MrPNW]

Same thing happened to me, I think it was light burn. My strain proved sensitive to light at other times. I had been slowly lowering my light every couple weeks into flower. At 100% I think I just got to close in the end. Either that or the Flower Power Girl I was using at the end may have contributed, but that’s lower on nitrogen. Those were my only changes. Up until then the leaves were fine.
The other option might have been my plants were just sacrificing those last fan leaves to put everything into the buds. Yeah I like that one...I’ll go with it.

[JeffInCanada]

71 Days
She is looking a little rough around the edges...yellow all over. The burnt tips seem to be not getting worse and the buds are getting fat. Trichomes are mostly clear with some cloudy. I am still feeding her. We're getting close, I think that she'll survive until the end.

[SoOrbudgal]

My thinking at this point is to remove all bottom leaf on each branch or did you in the 2nd pic? She could go longer than you think. Don't worry she's looking great tad yellow I think the CFL are the issues and it needs more sunlite spectrum. But she'll give you a decent harvest i'd be happy with.

[JeffInCanada]

Thanks SoOrbudgal I didn't remove any leaves between the 1st & 2nd pic...the pics don't really show it but there is good space between the leaves. Over the grow I have removed any lower leaves that were touching each other, in the way of bud sites or otherwise in the way. I am hesitant to remove more. My thinking is to leave them on the plant, to draw nutrients from if the plant needs them. I am terrible at the whole nutrient thing. The leaves are my safety net. You could be right about the CFLs (and removing the lower leaves). I'll have to look into the whole light spectrum requirements thing (man there is so much to learn growing this weed). I have grown with the CFLs before and I didn't get the yellowing and I do switch between different K values for veg-flower but I have to figure what happened so it could put me on the right track. Thanks again.