Alright, so I know I said I was in LITFA mode, and I mostly still am 
but I took a few of the largest fan leaves off, in the interest of keeping light to as much of the plant as possible. While doing so, I noticed some progress, so I figured I would take some pictures.
Plant 1 Branch 1
Ooooooo this is the fun part, you get to watch your plant start giving back for all the work you put in 
Looking great!!
@TheValleyPhantom This is my nonsense over here. Iām always happy to answer questions about stuff. I waffle on whether to be extremely detailed or err on the side of āpeople will ask if theyāre curiousā when making posts.
Nonsense is my forte sir 
I also prefer a detailed. Intelligent conversation so I imagine we will get on well. Let me make a mocha and Iāll start from the top here 
Iāll be sure to ask any questions
Water maintenance today, for the first time since setting up the new reservoir, probably could have put it off even longer, but it felt like a good time for it.
Getting closer to the light, probably still enough room(?)
Plenty of room so far. Looking solid!
I concur! And if it gets too tight, there is always super-cropping 
Yeah, I had not intended that to be part of my first grow, since Iād originally planned to top much earlier and not let them get remotely close to too tall. But Iāve researched it in case it becomes necessary.
I should also be able to get more space out of the top if I take out the ratcheting adjusters and just zip tie the light to the bars or something. Hoping to not have to mess with it, but itās an option.
2 things (literally had to add this for my own memory ) ā¦
A par meter is your friendā¦ I picked up a pretty cheap one from Amazon that connects to my phone ($60ish Canadian I think). It seems to be pretty accurate compared to what the light is supposed to put out. Thatāll tell you when youāre too close and when you still have room . I found out 2 of my lights hit 3000+ par on the edges and 1200 in the middle, which takes me to my second pointā¦
Bud clips . Supercropping can be tough to do mid-budding, but the bud clips that adjust are awesome for making lots of little changes
I used to supercrop every plant, since I got the clips I donāt think I will supercrop again.
Anyway, just my 2 cents, the plants are looking awesome!!! 
Oh, Iāve been using the adjustable clips I printed, I just wasnāt sure if that was going to be sufficient for later stages. I have only so much I can do because the branches are pretty robust at this point, so I thought I might need the harsher methods.
The par meter has had me torn. Early on I had the light pretty close to the plants, until they were different sizes, then I raised it up and just left it there. Iāve since been letting the brightness control the temp and VPD. I have various phone apps that are meant to check the light, but I havenāt messed with them, because every time I thought about trying to adjust based on that parameter, something else went sideways, so I never bothered. Maybe for the next go Iāll pay more attention to it. Or if it becomes an issue during flowering I suppose.
I do know if thereās a āthis is too big to clipā sized branch (there totally could be, I honestly donāt know), but if itās that big your fingers will be killing you trying to soften it to bend and twist over (although, youāll still need to soften it a bunch to get a clip on it soā¦ Half a dozen of oneā¦ 
)
I tried a couple apps on my phone, when I got into the tent all of the said I needed a diffuser on the phone sensor, lol. I honestly donāt think you have ANYTHING to worry about, your grow looks amazing (coming from a guy who openly admits he has way over done his own lighting )
Iām like you. Iāve considered getting one but since I burnt up my second grow Iāve gotten to where I watch the plants and increase or decrease based on them. Itās worked out well so far.
Itās entirely possible Iām being too gentle with them. This falls into the āthings I canāt learn until I have plants in front of meā category. One nice thing with the printed clips is that I can use them to help get leverage for bending the branches. I am just always paranoid about it
There are some things that Iām going for monitors and tracking with hard numbers, and some stuff that Iām trying to just learn to read what the plants need. Thereās a ton of stuff that is more complex than I will pick up on in a single grow, but ātoo hot/brightā is an easy starting place. Since different strains might have different needs, I figure being flexible on some parameters makes sense.
I would probably also feel differently if I was trying to squeeze every possible bit of yield out of the plants.
When it comes to bending, Iām not sure you can be too gentleā¦ Iāve broken soooo many branches because I bent them before they were soft enough, even when using clips.
Again, just my 2 cents , you are doing a great job!
Do you have any buds starting up??
You asked at a good time, I stopped in the basement after taking the dog out. I didnāt keep track of which branches are on which plant, but hereās an array of closer photos. The more developed ones are definitely on Plant 2 though, which makes sense because itās taller. Poor plant 1 got stunted a bit with all of the water bullshit right after Iād trimmed the roots and flipped to 12/12 shortly after.
Oohhh very nice!! Those are gonna stack up beautifully
As reference, this is with my light spending most of its time on setting 2 of 10 since switching to 12/12 on Sept 20th and in the same position as in the photo from earlier today (obviously the plants have gotten closer to it though as theyāve stretched).
I can only imagine what theyād look like if I had full environmental controls and had the lights maxed out.
You could probably turn that up, eh?
Lol, par meter 
Oh Iām sure I could from a āplants can handle itā standpoint. This is what I was talking about with using the light to control temp and VPD though. I figured Iād give it a try and see what kind of results I get. If Iām happy with what I get, then it works! If not, then Iāll look at environmental modifications for next run.
I have it set up in the controller to have a base level, then adjust by 1 light level per .1 ā¦vpd, whatever the unit is that it is away from my set point. Iām actually due to turn up the vpd number, I think theyāve recovered plenty and theyāre 2 weeks into 12/12, so Iāll bump that up.
Buckle up, we might hit light level THREE!!
