Long overdue update, but just not much interesting has been happening. They're still short and bushy and I kept snapping branches trying to lst them, (I am using silica) so I've kind of been just letting them grow. I prune a little every day and try to keep close eyes on them for any spots of moisture building up on the leaves. I have two fans on them, one above and one below turned up pretty high and the exhaust going strong, but I feel I ought to do a little more chopping. A couple of questions if anyone is still riding along:
Is removing a few leaves a day better or worse than defoliating heavily say once a week or two?
And, since leaves are the food production system, should I let the leaves grow on shoots that I want to grow faster? Or does the "food" travel around the plants at a pretty good pace so that it doesn't matter which leaf is taken?
Contrary to the mainlining tutorials, I've left the giant fan leaves on the bottom outsides of the plants grow. My logic is not only that more food will be made and perhaps less stress, but also if shit hits the fan, then maybe those fan leaves will buffer whatever the problem is long enough for me to correct it. I don't think they're causing any harm down there.
I chopped the hell out of these plants early on in the manifolding technique and it really stunted their growth. On my previous grow I didn't defoliate nearly enough and wound up with a lot of weird buds growing without light, so I know I need to find a middle ground.
They have really started perking up in the last week, so I flipped them to 12/12 a couple nights ago. I'll keep a close eye on the stretch, prune any shoots that just aren't going to get up into the light, and keep the canopy thin enough for air to move freely around, but I'm kind of just going to watch and learn the rest of this grow. I'll do something to ensure the colas are far enough apart to prevent any sort of problems. I think I have enough room for that and if any are too in the way, I'll give 'em a chop. I'm going for quality this time, not mere quantity.
I'm sure my logic is faulty on several aspects, so I am wide open to any advice, observations, or suggestions.
And as a bonus track to this thread, I transplanted my little auto on Sunday into a ten-gallon fabric pot with Ocean Forest and perlite. I think I may have been starving her a little because once I got her in the sun she seemed a little droopy and anemic. The soil in the solo cup was bone dry, so I know I was also starving her, but she seems much happier now. It's been cold and rainy this week, and since the soil was already plenty damp, I put the pot in my glass porch, which I thought might cause some slowing, but in the last day she's really shot up. This is the last day of week three and I'm not sure how big she should be at best, but given she should start flowering in about a week, I think she may end up being a runt since she's only this big now. I should have been feeding her in the solo cup and probably should have gotten her out of it sooner. The weather just wasn't cooperating.
Sunday:
Today--finally back out in the open air. It's in the fire pit to protect it from my dig happy dog. I've lost many a happy plant to her in the past.