06.07.2026 Preflower stretch Hi Growmies, welcome back to week 5 of my Fast Buds Auto Grow! Weather and Conditions The past days have been warm but not extreme. No rain at all during this period, which is starting to become noticeable now — especially as my rain barrels are slowly running low. Temperatures have been stable in a comfortable summer range, without any real extremes. The greenhouse still builds up a good amount of heat during the day, but overall conditions are fairly balanced. Water management is slowly becoming more important again, as everything now depends fully on irrigation without any natural rainfall support. Growth The ladies have officially entered the pre-flower stage and the stretch is fully underway. Every day they are noticeably taller and are quickly filling out the available space. Papaya Cookies is currently leading the pack. She is already showing slightly coloured pistils, and the first proper bud sites are clearly forming. Apricot and Tangie are just a bit behind but are also stretching heavily and starting to stack nicely. At this point, I’ve stopped all LST. From here on out I don’t want to stress the plants during this sensitive transition phase anymore. The risk of hermies is not worth it, so I’ll let them grow naturally from now on. Feeding Last week I started feeding with T.A. TriPart nutrients together with T.A. CalMag, as I assumed the Plagron Bat Mix was starting to run low on nutrients. Apricot reacted with slight nutrient burn on a few leaf tips, while the other two handled the feeding without issues. Some older leaves have started yellowing, which suggests the soil is indeed slowly running out of available nutrients. For now I’ll slightly reduce the feed strength for Apricot and keep observing how all three respond over the next days. Pests First signs of leaf miner activity showed up on a few leaves. I removed the affected leaves immediately and will keep monitoring the situation closely, but for now everything remains under control. Apart from that, still no aphids, thrips or snail damage — so overall I’m happy on that front. Final Thoughts Despite a few small issues, I’m really happy with the overall progress. The stretch is in full swing, flowering has clearly started, and the girls are developing nicely. Now the real flowering show is about to begin. Catch ya next week, guys! Smoking_Joe_Frazier