it that a sign of a problem the way the leaves curl upward at the edges?
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I think that might be from the light. Maybe the outer edge is drying
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@Mr.Sparkle You probably said this already somewhere in part 1, but I’m curious what you’re using to test your tds? I want to start using *megacrop on my babies but I don’t currently have anything for testing. Kinda just winging a lot of it.
Edit* not sure where the roo came from
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Nah that’s low humidity that’s causing the leaf curl. Always an issue when you get a lot of light in a small space in warm weather. It’s more of an issue when they are small cos they cant create a decent micro climate until they get to a reasonable size. I spotted his humidity gauge in an earlier pic at 45% and when they are small like that they try to retain moisture when it gets too dry for them. They will still grow but slower and will be prone to other issues cos thye cant take up nutes properly, cant transpire water through leaf pores etc. They seem to love it when it’s about 60 - 65% RH at that size and a bit bigger.
I’m not being critical here at all cos the guy’s been doing a great job from what i can see and i have just recently been caught out by this same issue. Even after growing weed for well over 20yrs.
I should have added, for those who might also have this issue there is a great FAQ on Vapour-pressure deficit, or VPD right here on this most excellent forum 
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@Albannach Wouldn’t doubt that’s exactly the problem with that one and just being a bit more susceptible genetics wise, to note the cab is running at a lower light level right now.
I’m not at all concerned though as the plant is healthy and happy, but yeah the humidity has been low to start 40-50% this first bit but once the mass of foliage has increased in the cabinet the humidity will go up and will probably be battling it on the other end of the spectrum.
As for the VPD yes very handy and does make an impact if one can dial in there stuff in that happy range and i have the chart saved for that purpose. Unfortunately for micro growers we can’t really control that much apart from exhaust air. More run what you brung 
lol
@Fewding I use a TDS-EZ meter by HM Digital been using mine for years and was $20-30, its a 0.5 conversion meter so 1.0ec = 500ppm. No complaints whatsoever with it, and recommend it especially for the price.
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So… how’d that resin treat you? we need the full conniseur menu description…
I’m curious, (well i’m just damn curious) because some sativas might take 6 MONTHS to flower completely, and feel the more complex, rarer terpenoids & flavors are… the ‘old-school’ high, etc, the medicinal effects, are all tied in there.
In other words, can David the Gnome weed match Vine-Ripened stuff in terms of thricome compositions? 45 days for the 
buds vs. immaculate, long-flowered stuff? It just seems unlikely to me from the time-to-make-stuff perspective. Also curious about the autoflower’s trichome gland size… as it appears strain-to-strain variation is pretty big(?).
Yeah, i’m tired. 
edit i.e. Mono-Terp’s vs. Sesqui-terp ???
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Woohoo. The answer to my prayers lol. I’ve been looking for one but seeing as I’ve never used one (outdoor grower) I didn’t know what the hell to look for but if its good enough for my bud @Mr.Sparkle then (it’s probably too high tech for me 
) I’m going with it
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First @HappyBaba did a refill on my filter as it was time.So took some pictures for you to give you an idea of how mine is constructed.
Front
Back side with one edge cut back just so i can get it past my lights “tight fit”
Disassembled and how much carbon im using for this thing
Filled wiuth one of the squares of filter material going down first also i have a fill line for the carbon but just coincidence a 16oz cup is right around the right amount.
Taped back up, i pre fold the tape to 90 degrees as it makes it easier to stick it in place to get it in the corners
Then i just slip it up and into place and a magnet that was drilled and glued into the roof holds it in place apart from the sides of the fan holding it too.
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Now to the update.
Day i don’t know … have to look above and count … Day 19 supposedly
They had a rough weekend…
Moved all Friday to our new place so they got put in a box that had an insert that i cut to fit the cups so that they didn’t get banged around or fall over. Worked great but they spent the day in cardboard box and only got some window light quite late in the day “6pm and on”
Then i got them in the cabinet Saturday morning and changed out my filter “see above” but didn’t have the time to fill their reservoirs just cause i was too busy and had relations stay over that were passing through town that don’t need to know i grow yet so i wasn’t gonna mix up a batch to feed them so, they just got some infrequent watering with plain water, till sunday afternoon, which by then they were very thirsty and hungry.
So started them off with straight water and filled the reservoirs with some 950-970ppm feed, also upped the cabinet power to 99watts same time as the res fill.
And this is them today. So yeah rough weekend for the plants, but they will power through now that things are back and normalish.
Have to watch my one watering timer though as i may have a dodgy power wire in it “right side” as it wasn’t working this morning till i played with disconnecting my pump and such. More reason to pull out that sonoff to see if i can play with the timer inter vaults i want,
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so good and good OF you
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Well the Blue Dream’atics got tall at Day 21, with the one being about a cm away.
So time for some flopping.
Here’s some pics.
As you can see quite close, we don’t need that yet.
So here’s a pic of the back plant as we will use it as the reference for photos. Look for the blurry screwdriver tip pointing in from the right side at mid photo noting which node i’m gonna pinch just above.
Started crushing,this is my say third pinch say one above and below and one where my fingers are, If you zoom in you can actually see that i split the stem vertically for a little ways “Zero concern as this actually helps and what im going after” Doing so allows the two sides of the stem to have an easier time during the “flop” over event as it gives the stem more room to play.
Then i just bend it the direction i want it to go
And here we are almost bent over, if you need to go back and support or flatten the bend point with your fingers just to have the stem react favorability this is where i do it, and did on this plant as it was buckling a little till i re pinches slighty while it was bent over to get the radius i like
As mentioned elsewhere this is no different than say tube bending, and the issues that can come up are the following with flattening working the best i’m my opinion but its really all of them.
Note: not my photo just borrowed from “theSamba” VW forums so credit where its due.
Here is the plant bent over with some of the other foliage adjusted, this is when you can rotate leaves and or move/shape aux shoots to how you want them as it gives them a bump in what direction you want them to go or space to fill. When rotating leaves i just roll them with my fingers and go about 45-90 degrees past where i want them to sit as the spring back places them back if the position i want.
Did the other plant and rearranged “rotated” the plants a bit so they fill the space the best without fighting each other for space/light and or being jammed against a wall if i can help it.
So here is how they sit directly after the first treatment of adjusting, once the stems build there strength back up is when i will have to incorporate rubber bands to hold them in place, so watch what happens over the next couple days. I’ll add photos as we go.
BTW just realized i left the lights on to the plants all last night so they never got a dark period 
, im sure they will probably be fine, but crap good thing they are autos… anyways it happened because i was using my timer’s on off auto button for when i was grabbing voltages readings of diodes on my solstrips “go to the solstrip thread on why i was doing it if your wondering”
Anyways they will be perky tomorrow.
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I use a pair or tweezers, slide the stem I want to bend into the tweezers to about where you normaly grip them. Put your fingers on both sides of the stem and squeeze. I can feel the crunch and if I dont have a big enough flat, then I move the tweezers just slightly up or down and repeat. Im too heavy handed and always hurt my plants when i do it by hand, this way has helped me a lot.
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Around 12hrs later, the one in the back the main apex bud im gonna expect will still be dominant so i’ll probably tie it down when i get home later tonight. But you can readjust things right now a force down the apex buds now if they are still giving it. But this is where you will have less and less movement in the stem as it rebuilds and heals.
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If I may be so nosey, Mr., reflecting on your journey in the MicroCosm, what are some of the lessons learned, surprises, etc.? I.e., how did you progress to here & were there any stumbling blocks? (besides Duff beer) 
Does the scaling down apply evenly to all plant/environment factors, or is it more significant with heat dissipation or whatever?
Overall, what definitively sets micro-grow challenges apart from more typical containers/cabinets?
That’s a fantastic post on the stem training/bending, 
<— Dark Devil Auto F1’s a-soaking…
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Great post on your flopping method! As you know I’ve done this with old growth and it’s a lot more difficult so everyone trying this should consider the structure and age of a stem first and make a solid plan.
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Everything is a learning experience and one should take the journey as such, i do everyday. Shit also happens, but learn from it, try to do better.
I believe if you can grow well small, you can grow well big as you have more challenges growing small that you do large. But i progressed to where i am soully for the purpose of seeing if i can do something or to see if its possible. Sure i could of just grown one large plant at a time to fulfill my needs, but then i wouldn’t of gotten to play around with all the different genetics and possibilities in growing. You need plant numbers to learn and try different things, no way around that, and one can’t be afraid of failure, let things burn if they need to in order for you to see the mistakes or intricacies that make you learn.
As for my quest of going smaller i don’t smoke much and have never sold, shared sure, but when growing for “personal consumption only”, really how much does one need, ive just been honest with myself most of the time and what i desire, and as my skills progressed and tech as well i was able to reduce over time. Saying that i still grow way more than i ever need, which has allowed me to try other things, like resin making, genetic hunting, seed production and breeding but have been honest if that has been my purpose behind doing such things.
In regards to scaling down yes i would say it applies evenly, but you have less room for error whether height restrictions, area restrictions or media & watering challenges. Number one factor though if root binding is a state of mind, only really effective way at keeping plants small.
Looking back on hurdles watering and running way too many plants for there pot sizes and jamming as many as possible into my spaces has always been an issue, but i wouldn’t know all the tricks at keeping plants in check without going through those challenges. But i will say knowing what i know now give plants space or limit there root volume so they can grow the happiest possible with minor and infrequent adjustments by us.
As for micro vs cabinet differences, to me there are the same, just micro your gonna have to build a lot of your own stuff just due the size limitations, and also accept that you won’t be able to grow things perfectly its not like we have air-con/dehumidifier units easily, and there is a finer balance between light/heat/size, larger spaces also mean larger margins to play within.
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Btw… 24hrs later and they don’t even care , i plucked some of the lower most fans such as the first single bladed leaves and the three bladed ones after that as they were just crowding the top of the pot, where they aren’t doing much apart from producing moisture, allows the top of the pots to air out a bit now.
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Succintly put, basically what I was guessing. It is definitely more intimidating than “how big can i grow a plant”.
Have you pruned roots in the past? That is standard Bonsai techique but i see with Auto’s, perennial techniques are basically irrelevant…right?
Thanks for such a thought out & thorough answer. 
(meanwhile 3/4 DarkDevils popped & planted in under 24hrs, left 4th soaking)
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I have root pruned when its a mother plant or im revegging a plant or if using a fabric pot as it does it anyways, but in general if you can its best to leave them alone. Determine your final container size with some trial and error, and then adjust things “lst, flopping, pruning” if needed.
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Day 23 They don’t care at all.
Threw a rubber band on the back plant to keep the main apex bud down.
As for the others this was from the morning
Literally 10 hrs later
The front left plant is gonna need to be flopped some more, and the back right is on the verge of bolting, so i expect an interesting weekend.
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