🌱 Sour Diesel — Week 8 (Flower Week 3) — Strategic Reset Week ⸻ 🔁 Quick Recap — Where We Are • Genetics: Sour Diesel • Timeline: Week 8 from seed • Flowering: Week 3 • Height: ~60–70 cm (compact structure) • Room Temp: 28°C • RH: 65% • Feed EC: 2.9 • pH: 6.5 (kept above 6.0 intentionally) • Lighting: LED • Action this week: Strategic defoliation This plant is not tall — she’s compact, dense, and structurally tight. Which means airflow and internal light penetration become critical early. And that’s exactly why this week mattered. ⸻ 🍃 The Defoliation — Not Aesthetic. Architectural. This was not cosmetic trimming. It was: • Removing large fan leaves blocking interior bud sites • Cleaning inner congestion • Opening airflow channels • Resetting light distribution across the canopy • Helping the entire room environment (not just this plant) The room needed air — this plant was advanced enough to handle stress. That’s key. Week 3 of flower is the transition window: • Stretch is slowing • Bud sites are set • Energy shifts toward stacking At this stage, a strategic defoliation: • Improves transpiration efficiency • Reduces microclimate humidity pockets • Prevents internal leaf-to-leaf condensation • Encourages bud site activation below the top canopy This was structural architecture. Not haircut vanity. ⸻ 🌡️ 28°C in Flower — “Too Hot?” Let’s Go Deep. People panic when they hear 28°C in flower. But here’s where most growers confuse: 🔥 HPS vs LED Heat Behavior Under HPS: • Radiant heat warms leaf surfaces directly • Leaf temperature often equals or exceeds room temp • 28°C air under HPS can mean 30–32°C leaf temp • That pushes VPD dangerously high Under LED: • Less infrared radiation • Leaf surface temp is typically 1–3°C LOWER than room temp • So at 28°C room temp, leaf temp might be 25–26°C And VPD calculations depend on leaf temperature, not air temperature. ⸻ 🌿 What Is Leaf VPD? VPD (Vapor Pressure Deficit) measures the difference between: • Moisture inside the leaf • Moisture in the surrounding air But if you calculate VPD using only room temp, you’re missing the real transpiration dynamics. With: • 28°C air • ~25–26°C leaf surface (LED) • 65% RH Leaf VPD sits in a very workable mid-flower zone. Not extreme. Not stress-inducing. Not shutdown territory. We’re driving metabolism, not cooking terpenes. ⸻ 💧 Why 65% RH Isn’t Dangerous Here Context matters: • Good airflow • Opened canopy • Compact but cleaned structure • Early-mid flower (Week 3, not Week 7) At this stage: • Pistils are forming • Bud density is still moderate • Transpiration is active High humidity becomes dangerous when: • Bud mass is dense • Internal airflow is poor • Late flower resin traps moisture We’re not there yet. And we just improved airflow with defoliation. ⸻ ⚡ EC 2.9 — Aggressive but Intentional That EC is strong. But: • Plant is compact, not oversized • Sour Diesel can eat • pH 6.5 keeps availability wide (Ca, Mg, P balance) The key will be: • Watching leaf tips • Monitoring runoff behavior • Watching for clawing or salt stress Right now, if she’s praying and stacking, she’s handling it. ⸻ 🔍 What To Expect Next Week (Flower Week 4) After defoliation: You may see: • Slight pause (24–72 hours) • Increased vertical bud push • Better lower-site activation • More defined pistil clustering • Stronger apical dominance response If recovery is clean: • Buds begin early stacking phase • Internodes tighten • Resin production initiates at bract level If stress appears: • Slight leaf droop • Tip burn acceleration • Reduced upward leaf angle But based on structure and timing — this looks calculated, not reactive. ⸻ 🧠 Why This Week Matters Long-Term This week determines: • Airflow pattern for late flower • Mold resistance later • Bud density uniformity • Final trim efficiency • Light-to-bud conversion efficiency This wasn’t about now. This was about Week 7 and 8 survival. ⸻ 🙏 Appreciation Section To: • The OGs here since seed • The new followers discovering the journey • The silent readers • The critics • The skeptics • The lovers • The haters • The platform • The sponsors • The community • Grow Diaries itself Everyone has a place here. Growth happens in public. And that takes courage. Respect to all of you. 📡 Please stay tuned they can try and take us down but we never quit https://www.youtube.com/@DOGDOGTHEDOCTOR NEW 🙏 Thank you for your patience and continued support. FOR DISCOUNT CODES AND MORE JUST FOLLOW THE LINK https://website.beacons.ai/dogdoctorofficial 📲 Don’t forget to Subscribe and follow me on Instagram and YouTube @DogDoctorOfficial for exclusive content, real-time updates, and behind-the-scenes magic. We’ve got so much more coming, including transplanting and all the amazing techniques that go along with it. You won’t want to miss it. GrowDiaries Journal: https://growdiaries.com/grower/dogdoctorofficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dogdoctorofficial/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dogdoctorofficial Deleted by Youtube Vimeo : https://vimeo.com/dogdoctorofficial Under construction stay tuned ⸻ Explore the Gear that Powers My Grow If you’re curious about the tech I’m using, check out these links: 🔆 Lighting & Environmental Control • Future of Grow — Advanced LED lighting technology https://www.futureofgrow.com/ DISCOUNT CODE: DOG20 • Lumiflora — Under-canopy LED lighting https://lumiflorade.com/ • TrollMaster — Environmental controllers and automation gear (past collaboration) ⸻ Genetics • Zamnesia Seeds — Genetics used in this project https://www.zamnesia.com/ ⸻ 🌱 Soil, Substrates, Boosters & Root Support • Plagron — Substrates, bio mixes, and supportive products https://plagron.com/en/ ⸻ 🎒 Storage, Curing & Preservation • Grove Bags — Curing and storage solutions https://grovebags.com/ ⸻ 📸 Photography Equipment & Tools (Not sponsors, but part of my creative toolkit) • Sony A6700 • Sony full-frame macro lens + few more • Stacking photography workflow - learning • iPhone (for behind-the-scenes shots) We’ve got much more coming as we move through the grow cycles. Trust me, you won’t want to miss the next steps, let’s push the boundaries of indoor horticulture together! As always, this is shared for educational purposes, aiming to spread understanding and appreciation for this plant. Let’s celebrate it responsibly and continue to learn and grow together. With true love comes happiness. Always believe in yourself, and always do things expecting nothing and with an open heart. Be a giver, and the universe will give back in ways you could never imagine. 💚 Growers love to all 💚 📸 P.S. – The Eye Behind the Lens All photos in this diary (for now — except for the ones showing the camera, which I took with an iPhone) are taken with a Sony A6700 paired with a Sony full-frame macro lens and a few more. Photography is part of the story — it’s how we share the fine textures, the glow, and the quiet details that words can’t always capture. I’ve also started experimenting with photo stacking — a technique where multiple images, each taken at a slightly different focus point, are layered together to create one perfectly sharp image from front to back. It’s not digital enhancement or AI; it’s pure photography — a way to reveal the plant’s beauty in microscopic depth, from trichome to petal. You’ll even see a few shots of "ghost me" capturing the shots — camera, lens, setup — because every grow deserves not just to be cultivated, but documented like art. FOR DISCOUNT CODES AND MORE JUST FOLLOW THE LINK https://website.beacons.ai/dogdoctorofficial NEW DISCORD - Official Server Invite Link : https://discord.gg/ksjAkA5T74