Week 5 – A Warmer Home, Steady Growth & a Curious Apex Day 28 since sprouting | Royal Queen Seeds – Epsilon F1 Auto This has been a week of important changes for Dionisio, especially regarding environmental control. After several weeks of struggling with low temperatures, I’ve finally managed to stabilize the grow tent conditions. 🌱 Plant Development Dionisio has reached approximately 13 cm in height, growing from around 9 cm at the end of last week. The main stem is getting noticeably thicker and stronger, internodal spacing remains compact, and several lateral branches are developing actively. The overall structure is becoming bushier, with plenty of new growth emerging from multiple nodes. The mature fan leaves remain predominantly green, although the newest growth has a rather unusual appearance, which I’ll explain below. 🌡️ Temperature & Humidity – Major Upgrade On November 5, I installed a Spider Farmer 540W grow tent heater (SF-Heater-03) to address the persistent low temperatures inside my Mars Hydro 60 × 60 × 140 cm tent, located inside an outdoor greenhouse. Previously, temperatures had dropped as low as 11.3°C, with weekly averages around 16°C. The heater is now running in thermostatic mode, set to 20°C at power level 2. Initial Govee monitoring showed a significant improvement: * Average overnight temperature: approximately 20.5°C * Recorded temperature range after stabilization: 20.1–21.1°C * Average overnight relative humidity: approximately 45% * Lowest recorded humidity: approximately 42% While the heater has dramatically improved temperature stability, relative humidity has dropped considerably. This appears to be partly due to the increase in air temperature, although changes in absolute humidity were also observed. I’ve switched off the dehumidifier and set the Mars Hydro inline extractor to run continuously at minimum speed, maintaining a small passive air intake. I also adjusted the Govee calibration against the Mars Hydro sensor, applying a −1.0°C temperature offset and a +2.5 percentage-point humidity correction. Since the probes are positioned differently, these adjustments remain approximate. 💡 Lighting On November 6, I increased the Mars Hydro TS1000 from 50% to approximately 65%, raising the fixture to 42 cm above the canopy. The photoperiod remains 18/6, with lights running from 18:00 to 12:00. The aim is to provide more light during vegetative development while avoiding abrupt increases, especially given the unusual appearance of the newest leaves. 💧 Watering & Nutrients On November 5, Dionisio received her first light feeding with BioBizz Bio·Grow. * Watering volume: 900 ml * Bio·Grow: less than 1 ml in total * Estimated concentration: approximately 0.8 ml/L * Substrate: BioBizz Light Mix * Container: 12L Air-Pot The concentration was intentionally kept low for this first feeding. No additional nutrients were used. 🔍 An Unusual Apex – Community Opinions Welcome! One thing I’ve been noticing throughout this grow is the unusual morphology of the newest leaves. The main apex produces very narrow, elongated, upright leaves, with some twisting and curling. Several lateral growth tips show similar characteristics, while the older fan leaves look relatively normal. The newest growth is also noticeably lighter green, with occasional yellowish areas. Interestingly, Dionisio has displayed some of these characteristics since early development, so I’m wondering whether this could be a genetic trait of the Epsilon F1, a developmental abnormality, or a response to the environmental stress experienced during the first few weeks. Despite this, the plant continues to grow, producing new nodes and lateral branches. I’ve decided to postpone defoliation for now and observe how the next leaves develop under more stable conditions. I’d really appreciate some feedback from the GrowDiaries community: Has anyone seen this kind of narrow, upright, twisted growth on an Epsilon F1 or another autoflower? Does it look like a possible genetic mutation, environmental stress, a nutrient-related issue, or something worth checking for pests? I’m particularly curious because the older leaves seem relatively normal, while the unusual growth is concentrated around the main apex and younger shoots. Any observations or similar experiences would be very welcome! 🌿 Overall I’m pleased with the structural development this week. Dionisio is becoming stronger, with a thicker central stem, compact internodes, and increasingly active lateral growth. The biggest achievement has been improving temperature stability after a challenging few weeks. My priorities now are maintaining consistent environmental conditions, observing the response to the increased lighting, and understanding the unusual apical growth. Let’s see what Week 6 brings!