Jack's on Third

Starting Week 6! Afraid I switched to flower too soon and it may flower before its done filling the tent. All went well over the week leading up to W6. Just starting to stretch and hoping for more. Each plant was originally topped twice, giving 4 stems to grow under the screen. I believe stems on #2 have reached the edge of the back of the tent, so I topped two stems there to let the side shoots grow at a right angle to the stem. This should fill the corners of the tent well. Beginning of this week I LST each stem on all plants down using 16 gauge wire. Hydro is nice as you have lots of things to hook LST wires to. #1 and #2's top stems split as a result which I mended with grafting tape and loosened the wire holding them down. I did not refill water and left the nutrient level the same as last week. did not top off either. The plants aren't using too much water as they are small and air temps are not high. It is arid here in winter, but our Jan monsoon season has rolled in early giving us a solid 7 days of rainy weather now. #3 and #4 are growing slower than 1 and 2 for some reason. All, things are equal. I did put the two more-vigorous growing plants in the back so perhaps it is a variance in this breed. Interesting observation though. Small is just starting to pick up. Fan leaves are thick. #1 had some rusty leaves on its lowest set of fan leaves this week, which I clipped off for now. #3's growth site has a small fan leaf with a streak of yellow in it which is interesting. Everything else is solid green. Have not defoliated much at all other than pulling side choose under the screen. I'm afraid I pulled too many. Last grow I topped way too many times (I think 6 or 7 vs 2 here) so I at least didn't do that. Doing a little bit of HST, breaking the inner membrane to encourage flat growth. I feel that too much HST leads to short stems between nodes and slow growth in general. Good way to manage a stretch period but counter-productive during veg when growth rates are manageable as it is. Lights and fans have been on 100%. System is not leaking and all is well so far. I'm noticing the nutrient mix in the reservoir is of a different feel and pH than the growth buckets but not crazy. I am finding pH readings at the plant sites to be more accurate and precise between buckets vs readings in the reservoir.